Today Intel is launching their first retail 3D XPoint based SSD - the Intel Optane SSD 900P Series. Unlike Optane Memory, which is a cache SSD, the Intel Optane 900P Series are full blown SSDs and will function as such. Initially, the 900P series will be offered in two capacities and two form factors - U.2 and Add-In-Card (AIC).

At this time, the U.2 form factor is only available at 280GB. The AIC form factor is available at both 280GB and 480GB capacity points. It is important to note that unlike flash based SSDs, Optane SSDs don't rely on capacity for higher performance. The 280GB 900P is just as fast as the 480GB 900P.

3D XPoint (Intel Optane) memory media has many advantages over NAND flash memory media. Random performance at low queue depths can be as much as 7X better than the fastest flash-based NVMe SSDs. What this means in the real-world is very well illustrated by the following:

PCI-SIG, the organization behind the PCIe standard has released the finalized specs on PCIe 4.0, with some highlights that impress. We have up to 16GT/s of bandwidth with PCIe 4.0, up from the 8GT/s of bandwidth offered on PCIe 3.0 - but it's PCIe 5.0 that has my mouth watering with a huge 32GT/s of bandwidth, and will arrive in 2019.

As for the PCIe 4.0 highlights, this is what Chairman and President of PCI-SIG, Al Yanes, had to say:

What will PCIe 4.0 provide us, other than just ridiculous amounts of bandwidth? As Tom's Hardware points out, PCIe 4.0 will provide the bandwidth to make cheaper NVMe SSDs possible, as they'll need just half the PCIe lanes, while 10GbE connections over a single PCIe lane would be made possible. That kind of speed is impossible right now with limited PCIe lanes.

Amazon has made the decision to put its 4v4 PVP brawler Breakaway into "indefinite hiatus," sources have told Kotaku.

Amazon Game Studios first announced Breakaway in 2016, and has since ran the game through numerous beta tests. The game, which features team-on-team action, obviously had lofty esports aspirations and the retail titan assuredly hoped Breakaway would align perfectly with its game streaming platform Twitch. "Breakaway is a 4v4 mythological sport brawler built for fast action, teamwork, and live-streaming," reads the game's description.

Now key sources close to the matter have told Kotaku that Breakaway has been put to sleep, joining the likes of the Mass Effect and Deus Ex franchises. The sources didn't reveal exactly why Brekaway was put on hiatus, but the current state of the video games industry paints a clear picture: it's very likely that Amazon saw Breakaway wasn't heating up and attracting gamers, and 2K Games' ill-fated Battleborn is a warning sign to all games-makers everywhere.

I'm confident in saying at one stage or another, we all owned a Microsoft Intellimouse growing up. The Microsoft Intellimouse was symbolic for innovation since it was introduced in 1996 and eventually made extinct in 2012. Microsoft have announced that after 5 years, the Microsoft Intellimouse series will resurface with the Microsoft Classic Intellimouse.

"Inspired by the Microsoft Intellimouse 3.0, the new Microsoft Classic Intellimouse has made modern improvements to a fan favorite. The features that fans loved about the original are still here - customizable buttons, the classic ergonomic look and feel, and the wired USB connection" Microsoft says.

The Microsoft Intellimouse was a pioneer for the PC mouse, with introducing the world to everyday features we take for granted such as a scroll wheel, optical sensor and auxiliary buttons- All this began with the Intellimouse. The Classic Intellimouse will feature a respectable 3,200 DPI sensor, three customizable buttons, Microsoft BlueTrack technology and that elegant, stylish yet simple design associated with a classic Microsoft mouse.

Steam offer various methods to help friends and family purchase games, with the ability to gift games and purchase physical gift cards from retailers. Steam have introduced another method to help top up your friends and family's Steam Wallets, with the introduction of Steam Digital Gift Cards.

As you could imagine, it's pretty straight forward and works much in the way of physical Steam Gift Cards... except you don't have to leave your house! Users sign into their Steam account, select the amount you wish to gift and the recipient and then the funds will then be transferred straight to the recipients Steam Wallet. These funds can then be spent as they desire- hardware, software, games or in-game items.

If you're feeling generous, head over to Steam's website for more details.

UPDATE: We're still not sure what kinds of safeguards Ubisoft has put in place to limit certain transactions, ie limiting how many ability points players can buy in a given day or time period. We'll be sure to update this post if we get more information.

Assassin's Creed: Origins embraces microtransactions in a familiar way, and Helix credits are back. the game's monetization strategies align with our original predictions in a number of ways.

In the months leading up to Assassin's creed: Origins' launch, I predicted that the game's RPG mechanics and randomized gear hooks would be heavily monetized. Lo and behold, Ubisoft is offering a number of optional time-saving microtransactions that can dramatically speed up your efficacy. In a very real sense, you can theoretically pay enough money to become extremely powerful the first day you buy the game. I say theoretically because the Ubisoft Store where you buy the premium Helix currency isn't online yet, so I can't report prices.

B.J. Blazkowicz is back with Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, and publisher Bethesda have revealed the PC system requirements ahead of its October 27 release date. The system requirements are quite a step up from 2014's Wolfenstein The New Order, with mid-range systems likely to require some tweaking.

Minimum:

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770/AMD FX-8350 or better

Microsoft introduced their Kinect sensor for the Xbox, if you can believe it... 7 years ago, selling 35 million units in a time when Nintendo was killing it with their super-popular Wii console.

After a few years, Kinect 2.0 was introduced as a central part of the Xbox One, until gamers completely rejected it. Back in 2014, Microsoft stopped bundling Kinect with the Xbox One, and then it slowly died, and is now officially over.

Microsoft's head of Xbox Devices Marketing, Matthew Lapsen, said: "When we introduced Xbox One, we designed it to have the best experience with the Kinect. That was our goal with the Xbox One launch, but like all product launches, you monitor over time, you learn and adjust".

AMD is hitting Intel where it hurts with a huge price drop on their flagship Ryzen Threadripper 1950X processor from its introductory price of $999, with $120 slashed from the price bringing it down to $879.

Intel's current-gen Core i9-7960X costs a magnitude more at $1739 on Amazon at the time of writing, nearly double the price of the Ryzen Threadripper 1950X. For the megataskers and enthusiasts, the X399 chipset rocks 64 PCIe 3.0 lanes which is plenty for massive amounts of super-fast storage, as well as allowing multi-GPU users to ramp up to x16/x16/x16/x16 configurations for the ultimate in performance.

This price drop is pretty significant, at $120 it will hurt Intel in the long run even more than they are now. Intel will have to react to this yet again, and with their track record we can expect another CPU series announced next week.

According to NPD Group analyst Mat Piscatella, who wades in the vast sea of video game sales data, there's no evidence that loot boxes are having adverse effects on game sales.

Following the big controversy surrounding Shadow of War's optional war chest microtransactions, enthusiast gamers have pushed back en masse against "exploitative anti-consumer practices" of loot boxes, which typically power gaming's biggest billion dollar titles, calling for boycotts of games that use them. But there appears to be a disconnect between enthusiast gamers and everyday consumers: there's no evidence that the inclusion of lootboxes are causing game sales to dive--but the reverse is also true.

In a recent interview with Games Industry.biz, NPD Group analyst Mat Piscatella said that controversy hasn't affected sales potential of games with loot boxes. "I would not say that the presence of loot boxes causes games to sell at higher levels than games without loot boxes. What [this week's] release does suggest is that the loot box or microtransactions controversy has not yet resulted in clear noticeable limitations of the sales potential of the games with [those mechanics]."