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At Computex 2024, we went hands-on with one of NVIDIA's impressive digital humans as part of the Covert Protocol tech and game demo (developed in collaboration with Inworld AI and powered by NVIDIA ACE technologies). How it works is relatively straightforward: In-game characters are all AI-generated with personalities, knowledge, and relationships, so using text or voice, the goal is to find specific information in a detective-style role.

Check out my full report on how it works and how I extracted critical information from one of the characters by skipping a few puzzle-like steps. It's a fascinating look at the future of game development, with the demonstration running locally on a high-powered GeForce RTX 40 Series GPU.

At Gamescom 2024, NVIDIA is presenting an actual in-game version of the technology running in Mecha BREAK, a multiplayer mech game from Amazing Seasun Games currently in development. The game is powered by NVIDIA's new Nemotron-4 4B NIM small language model for game characters - a breakthrough NVIDIA says will help bring Digital Humans to games sooner rather than later.

NVIDIA is adding three of the biggest PC games available now or soon to its GeForce NOW cloud gaming platform, including Black Myth: Wukong, Star Wars Outlaws, and Final Fantasy XVI from Square Enix. Yes, the highly-anticipated Final Fantasy 16 is coming to PC in September, and with a free-to-play demo available today as part of its Gamescom debut, you'll also be able to stream the demo over the cloud with GeForce NOW.

With 2,000 games available to play with GeForce NOW, the innovative and industry-leading cloud gaming platform leverages PC gamers' existing Steam, Epic Games, and Xbox libraries to offer up to GeForce RTX 4080 levels of performance up to 4K with DLSS, Frame Generation, ray-tracing, and even G-SYNC support for a smooth presentation.

Both Black Myth: Wukong and Star Wars Outlaws offer full ray-tracing with DLSS 3.5 Ray Reconstruction technology that improves image fidelity, so the GeForce NOW version of these games will interestingly be one of the most impressive ways to play these games.

Half-Life 2's Nova Prospekt level is an iconic location: a rundown prison with memorable checkerboard tiling, bugs, and combine soldiers. Plus, there are plenty of items to interact with using the game's gravity gun - like hurling tables at enemies. At Gamescom 2024, lucky attendees can go hands-on with the classic level as part of the impressive Half-Life 2 RTX: An RTX Remix Project.

RTX Remix is NVIDIA's robust set of modding tools. It can take older PC games and inject them with new ray-traced visuals, AI-enhanced textures, and models. By automatically converting games like Half-Life 2 and offering access to a modern suite of development tools, modders can assemble an impressive remake or remaster.

Half-Life 2 RTX: An RTX Remix Project has been in development for a while now, with the team of over 100 modders at Orbifold Studios updating all aspects of the game, which includes new character and object models, new textures, full ray-traced lighting, DLSS 3.5, and more. The latest trailer shows us the Nova Prospekt level, and the difference between the RTX Off and RTX On versions of the game is night and day.

NVIDIA's G-SYNC technology continues to evolve. What started as a way to enhance a game's visual performance and presentation by tapping into the power of variable refresh rates has evolved in recent years. We've also seen advances like ULMB 2, Ultra Low Motion Blur, and G-SYNC Pulsar, announced last year and earlier this year.

However, G-SYNC's more advanced features, which improve latency and motion clarity and reduce motion blur to present a crisper and more impressive image, require displays with dedicated G-SYNC hardware. For VRR or G-SYNC's variable refresh rate features, displays without hardware can tap into this via NVIDIA's G-SYNC Compatible platform, which ensures a minimum but high-quality level of performance.

Well, all of this is about to change. Thanks to a new partnership with NVIDIA and MediaTek, PC gaming displays are going to level up significantly. All cutting-edge G-SYNC features will be integrated into MediaTek scalers, eliminating the need for a separate G-SYNC module.

Although it's described as delivering high frame-rate gaming performance in an SFF build, the new ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 4070 Blower GPU's old-school design probably works just as well in a workstation rig running generative AI tasks. The two-slot design sports a traditional blower fan cooling design with a single intake and hot air exhausted through the vents on the rear.

Zotac isn't the first company to release a GeForce RTX 4070 GPU in a compact two-slot form factor with blower fans; similar models are available from companies like ASUS, GIGABYTE, and others.

The GeForce RTX 4070 is a perfect candidate for this type of design, especially in the AI PC era, as the single 8-pin power connector and 200W TDP with 12GB of GDDR6X memory make it a great cost-effective solution for generative AI workloads. And one that will scale easily by adding more GPUs into the mix.

The surge in enterprise SSD prices by over 80% is being driven by a spike in orders for AI servers, with SK hynix and its subsidiary Solidigm, ramping up NAND flash production.

The AI boom has been here for a while now, which started being fueled by HBM memory chip demand, and is now pushing the enterprise SSD market upwards, too. The volume of data stored on AI servers is rising exponentially, with companies scrambling to secure high-capacity SSDs, with Chosun reporting that "some even paying above-average prices to ensure supply".

SK hynix and Solidigm are responding to the market demand of enterprise-class SSDs by prioritizing scaling up production of high-capacity SSDs using quad-level-call (QLC) technology, which is tailored specifically for enterprise use.

SK hynix Vice President Ryu Seong-su has announced the South Korean AI memory leader is working on developing a product with 20-30x the performance of current-gen HBM memory.

During the recent "SK Icheon Forum 2024" event held at the Grand Walkerhill in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, South Korea, the SK hynix VP said: "We aim to develop products with 20 to 30 times the performance of current HBM, focusing on introducing differentiated products".

Ryu emphasized SK hynix's focus on responding to the mass market, with AI memory solutions (HBM) through execution capabilities, reports Business Korea. This strategy by SK hynix has been crucial in the demand of high-performance memory to grow, driven by the insatiable demand for AI GPU hardware.

Tesla is currently hiring people to wear motion-capture suits and VR headsets, to train its Optimus AI robot, and paying up to $48 an hour. Check out the latest on Optimus below, and apply for the job here (you'll need to live near Palo Alto, California).

If you're accepted into the position of a "Data Collection Operator, Tesla Bot" then you'll need to walk a pre-determined test route daily for data collection into Optimus, while wearing a motion capture suit and a VR headset, performing designated movements and actions, based on the project requirements.

You'll need to start/stop recording devices and perform minor equipment and software debugging, while providing feedback on the performance of the equipment, and then analyzing and reporting on that data during your shift. You'll need to upload data collected and write daily reports detailing your observations and issues, while ensuring equipment is in proper and safe working condition and safely transported to various collection sites.

Zotac Gaming is launching a custom limited edition version of its GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER Trinity graphics card to celebrate the launch of Black Myth: Wukong, which is out this week. Per Videocardz.com, which broke the story and provided the images you see here, this custom GPU will be limited to the Chinese market - a shame.

Zotact's Trinity design is an OC version of the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER with a faster out-of-the-box boost clock of 2505 MHz compared to the default 2475 MHz. The GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER debuted earlier this year and includes 12GB of GDDR6X memory and a larger 7,168 CUDA Core count compared to the non-SUPER variant.

Our reviews show that it's enough to deliver a notable and impressive bump to 1440p gaming performance. With DLSS 3 and the latest RT hardware, this is the sort of GPU you'll need to play Black Myth: Wukon with its cutting-edge ray tracing effects and stunning character and world detail.

Samsung is rumored to tape-out its next-generation HBM4 memory in Q4 2024, with mass production of HBM4 expected by the end of 2025.

The AI industry is fueling the growth of HBM memory, with HBM makers SK hynix, Samsung, and Micron pumping out as much as it can, and it hasn't been enough. SK hynix is sold out of all of its HBM3 and HBM3E for both 2024 and 2025, and with HBM4 on the horizon, all things are leading to who can be the biggest HBM4 supplier to AI GPU companies like NVIDIA and AMD.

NVIDIA's next-generation Rubin R100 AI GPU uses HBM4 memory, so SK hynix and Samsung are both doing everything they can (spending many tens of billions of dollars, setting up and expanding semiconductor fabs in South Korea, Taiwan, and the United States) to pump more HBM memory (HBM3, HBM3E, HBM4, and even HBM4E) for 2025 and beyond.

Digital has been a significant driver for Capcom's game sales, new data and analytics show.

Capcom recently reported its Q1'FY24 results, showing a reduction in all major metrics: Net sales were down by -44%, operating income was also down by -48%, and total game unit sales were down by around -30% year-over-year.

Charting the game sales trends yielded interesting results. According to Capcom's latest financial report, the company is selling substantially more digital copies of its games than it is physical. The reasoning for this is quite simple: Prices of games sold on digital stores like the PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store, and Steam can more easily be discounted and adjusted. Capcom relies strongly on heavy discounts and price reductions of its games in order to sell more copies, and the publisher has routinely marked down game prices over various quarters like clockwork in order to spark game sales. So far, the plan has worked incredibly well for Capcom.

Capcom still aspires to sell 100 million games per year, and tells investors that it intends to efficiently manage ROI (Return on Investment) via maximizing game sales and not cutting its development budgets.

Capcom recently posted its Q1'FY24 results and an accompanying Q&A session with investors and analysts. The Japanese games-maker has reiterated its plan for success, saying that game unit sales are still the main focus for the company as a whole.

The house of Monster Hunter, Resident Evil, and Mega Man still holds its lofty goal of achieving 100 million annual game sales, but it still has a long way to go--throughout FY23 (April 2023 - March 2024), Capcom had sold a total of 50 million games. The publisher's plan hinges on the cumulative effect of game sales through one main lever: Strategically-planned discounts across its library of evergreen games. Capcom has seen significant success with this tactic as its games regularly go on sale on digital platforms like Steam, the PlayStation Store, and the Microsoft Store.

It's official: Final Fantasy XVI will launch on PC next month in September, Square Enix has announced.

Final Fantasy XVI is coming to PC storefronts Steam and the Epic Games Store on September 17, 2024, and a demo for the PC version is currently up on Steam.

The PC port will be priced at $50 for the base game, and $70 for the complete edition that includes all paid DLC--Echoes of the Fallen and The Rising Tide. FFXVI's PC launch comes at a time when Square Enix's overall quarterly revenues have fallen to their lowest point in years, so this release should help boost the company's earnings for the Q2 period (July - Sept) and well into the holiday Q3 period (Oct - Dec).

In a move to boost its CSR status and to help spark new game developers, Capcom plans to hold an 11-day course at a Japanese university utilizing its proprietary RE Engine.

Today Capcom announced some interesting news: The Japanese games publisher will lend its powerful RE Engine to students at Kindai University and let them make a game in Capcom's first-party toolset. Capcom will teach a game development course at the university, providing students access to the RE Engine through Amazon Web Services.

The current RE Engine has powered a multitude of Capcom's best-sellers, including Monster Hunter World, which has quickly become the company's single top-selling game of all time with over 20 million units sold worldwide, as well as every new mainline and remake Resident Evil title. Capcom is currently working on its next-generation RE Engine, which is codenamed RE NeXt, and could power Capcom's games across Gen 9 consoles and carry through to the PlayStation 6, Switch 2, and new-gen Xbox systems.

Newzoo's latest market report lays out revenue predictions for 2024, showing that things aren't necessarily dire for the interactive entertainment industry.

Newzoo has just published its 2024 Global Games Market Report laying out estimates for how much money the games industry will make throughout 2024. According to the data, the analyst firm expects that gaming will generate $187.7 billion in total revenues throughout the year, up 2.1% year-over-year.

This growth is driven primarily by mobile with $92.6 billion (49% of earnings), console with $51.9 billion (28% of earnings), and PC in third place with $43.2 billion (23% of total 2024 revenues). Console gaming is the only segment among the three that is not expected to grow in 2024 and is projected to drop by around 1% from last year.

ZOTAC has just launched its much-anticipated gaming handheld, the new ZOTAC GAMING ZONE, with pre-orders in select regions and e-tailer platforms at $799.

Inside, the new ZOTAC GAMING ZONE we have the AMD Ryzen 7 8840U "Hawk Point" APU based on the Zen 4 architecture with RDNA 3-based integrated graphics. This enables the ZONE to handle 120FPS gaming in usual suspects like Overwatch 2, Call of Duty, Apex Legends, while handling 60FPS+ in AAA titles.

ZOTAC GAMING is using AMD's in-house driver-level Fluid Motion Frames (FMR), and FidelityFX Super Resolution to further enhance performance. Inside, we've only got the one option for RAM and SSD storage, with the ZONE shipping with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB Gen4 SSD.

AMD has announced it is acquiring server maker ZT Systems for $4.9 billion, in a bid to better compete in the AI industry against juggernaut NVIDIA.

The company plans to pay for 75% of the ZT Systems acquisition with cash, while the remainder will be provided in AMD stock. As of Q2 2024, AMD has $5.34 billion in cash and short-term investments at the ready, and ZT Systems is one of those investments.

ZT Systems is an artificial intelligence infrastructure group that will help AMD create a better AI infrastructure, helping get AMD's new Instinct MI300 series AI accelerators into data centers. ZT Systems was founded over 30 years ago, and is a private company that builds custom computing infrastructure for some of the world's biggest AI hyperscalers.

Age of Empires is one the real-time-strategy games that carved itself into the Mount Rushmore of golden-age PC games, and now a spin-off of the iconic title is making its way over to mobile.

The mobile title is slated for a global launch on both Android and iOS on October 17, and according to the announcement it will be seamlessly blend classic elements of Age of Empires with "brand-new mobile gameplay." The idea behind the title is to bring players a "fresh gaming experience" while also making sure to capture what was loved most about the classic game.

Age of Empires Mobile was developed by TiMi Studio Group in collaboration with World's Edge and Xbox Game Studios. Reports indicate the new title will come with multiple single-player modes, and players will be able to lead their empires by selecting legendary historical figures such as Darius the Great, Joan of Arc, and more. As you can probably imagine, each of these historical figures will come with a unique set of skills and talents that can be used to swat down your enemies.

The International Space Station (ISS) is a floating laboratory that is manned by astronauts conducting vital science in microgravity.

At an altitude of approximately 250 miles and a moving speed of 17,500 mph, the ISS completes one orbit of Earth approximately every 93 minutes, which is 15.5 orbits every day. Given its position the ISS is certainly disconnected from many of the pleasures found on Earth's surface, and one of these pleasures is the joyous experience of eating fresh fruit. Up there fresh fruit is considered a delicacy.

However, a Russian cargo spacecraft arrived at the ISS over the weekend and delivered close to three tons of supplies, and included in those supplies was a small amount of fresh fruit. The moment was so monumental that it was captured on video and posted to ISS astronaut Matthew Dominick's X account. The short video showed a piece of an orange being pushed toward Dominick in microgravity, resulting in a floating piece of orange that was consumed mid-air by the astronaut.

In our reviews of Intel Arc graphics cards, we praised the entry-level and mainstream ray-tracing performance. With the upcoming release of Black Myth: Wukong, there's a good chance that Intel Arc A750 and A770 GPU owners will be able to get some decent 1080p visuals and performance. In addition to DLSS and FSR, the game supports Intel's AI-powered XeSS upscaling, so it should run great on day one.

This is especially true with official support added in the latest Intel Game On Graphics Driver release for Arc GPUs and integrated chips. Driver version 32.0.101.5971 is available now and provides day-one support for Black MytH: Wukong, Hunt: Showdown 1896, and World of Warcraft: The War Within. This is a non-WHQL Certified update, but one to get if you plan on playing these new releases.

Although Intel doesn't provide specific performance information for these titles, expect optimizations and compatibility across the discrete Intel Arc GPU line-up and Intel Core Ultra chips with built-in Arc graphics.