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MediaTek announced during GTC 2024 last week that four new automotive SoCs within its Dimensity Auto Cockpit portfolio, with the new chips featuring NVIDIA GPUs ready for AI workloads.

The next-gen Dimensity Auto Cockpit SoCs feature Arm-based Cortex cores under the latest Armv9 instruction set architecture, as well as NVIDIA's next-gen GPU that runs AI workloads including large language models (LLMs). The built-in NVIDIA GPU inside of the SoC will handle real-time ray tracing graphics and even DLSS 3-based AI upscaling.

NVIDIA DRIVE OS is the heart behind the system, which allows automakers to use all of NVIDIA's software and IP designed for the platform.

NVIDIA revealed its next-generation Blackwell B200 AI GPU at its recent GTC 2024 (GPU Technology Conference) event but left out some details that we're now discovering... like the new AI GPU consuming up to a whopping 1200W of power.

The new information on the Blackwell AI GPUs comes directly from NVIDIA SVP and GPU Architect, Jonah Albe, along with Ian Buck, the VP of Hyperscale and HPC at NVIDIA. Jonah pointed out that NVIDIA's new Blackwell GPU uses a completely different microarchitecture to Hopper, with Blackwell featuring 2nd Generation Transformer Engine Technology that adds both FP4 and FP6 compute formats, which along with new software optimizations that NVIDIA has made, unleashes Blackwell to be the fastest AI chip on the planet.

Blackwell has a 32% increase in FP64 compute performance with B200 versus Hopper H100, with Blackwell being an AI GPU first and foremost, FP64 compute performance isn't as important from an AI workload standpoint, where the lower you go, the faster the AI inferencing and training capabilities become.

NVIDIA announced its next-generation Blackwell GPU architecture and the world's fastest AI GPU, the Blackwell B200 AI GPU, last week at GTC 2024 (GPU Technology Conference). CEO Jensen Huang said it'll be around 10 years before something like DLSS 10 renders every frame using AI.

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang predicted the future of AI in gaming, saying that in under 10 years we will see AI generating every single pixel in every game, all in real-time. Jensen said: "I think with almost, almost everything in technology, the S curve is not longer than a decade once it becomes true, once it becomes practical and better. And, of course, ChatGPT is not only practical; in most cases, it's better. I think it's less than ten years away".

Jensen continued: "In ten year's time, you're at the other end of that S curve. In five years from now, you're probably right in the middle where everything is changing in real-time, and everybody's going, 'Oh, look at that, this is happening.' And so you just got to decide, are we two years into it, into that ten years? Probably. We're probably already two years into it. And so I would say that within the next five to ten years, somewhere in between, it's largely the case".

Reports indicate that Grand Theft Auto VI could be delayed into 2026, and if that happens, Take-Two will have a sizable reduction in its revenue forecasts. But GTA V could help save the day (again).

How long can GTA V sustain the Grand Theft Auto franchise? If reports are accurate, the 11-year-old game could do some more heavy lifting. Sources have told Kotaku that GTA 6 might be pushed back as far as 2026 to give Rockstar Games more time to polish the game, which is believed to be one of the most important new releases for the modern games industry. The events of 2023 and 2024 (mass layoffs, budget cuts, lower-than-expected profit margins) have led to a mass culling of the industry and GTA 6 is seen as a savior of sorts that could uplift the market.

There's just one potential issue: Rockstar Games are perfectionists that require a lot of time to make their games. Red Dead Redemption 2 was delayed 3 times, and Rockstar has even reportedly rebooted GTA 6 in 2019. It's possible GTA 6 could miss its intended 2025 launch, a timeframe that could coincide with the rumored PlayStation 5 Pro console that's believed to be coming sometime in September - December 2024. If GTA 6 is delayed, and Sony does indeed release a PS5 Pro system, then Rockstar might have an opportunity to still boost its revenue while it works on GTA 6.

When it's finally released, Grand Theft Auto 6 will be one of the biggest games of all time, but according to the latest rumors, Rockstar is falling behind schedule and could delay it out of 2025 and into 2026.

Rockstar Games first revealed Grand Theft Auto 6 back in December 2023, but now Kotaku "has also learned that it's becoming more and more likely that the sequel might not land until late 2025". The site continues, saying that it's even possible GTA 6 could "even slip into 2026 as production reportedly falls behind". Sigh.

The developer pushed in a mandate for its staffers to return to the office instead of working from home, with Kotaku sources who wanted to remain anonymous to "avoid possible retaliation" said that the development of GTA 6 has started "falling behind". Kotaku says that their sources said that leadership at Rockstar is nervous, worrying that the game might miss its 2025 release and slip into 2026.

Overwatch 2 is poised to break a huge KPI milestone as soon as April, Blizzard says.

Overwatch 2 is an interesting case of a publisher actively experimenting with a new strategy, failing with said strategy, and actively pivoting while the game continues its live service delivery. Blizzard's new free-to-play endeavor has missed the mark with profitability, leading to cut budgets for the dev team, but that doesn't mean it's not popular.

According to OW2's devs, the franchise is set to achieve 100 million lifetime players by April. It's important to clarify that this milestone refers to the total sum of players of both Overwatch games and does not refer to just Overwatch 2.

Square Enix may have just teased the hotly anticipated FF9 Remake on stage at PAX East 2024.

Final Fantasy IX is expected to be the next game to get the full-on remake treatment from Square Enix, but official details have been slim. The existence of the FF9 Remake was accidentally leaked as part of NVIDIA's gigantic GeForce Now server hiccup from 2021. Things have certainly changed since then--the games industry has shrunken by over 16,000 workers--but it seems possible Square Enix kept FF9R's flame alive.

At PAX, Final Fantasy XIV director Yoshi-P outlined the MMORPG's new Dawntrail expansion, announcing two interesting in-game items that can be had with collector's edition pre-orders. Final Fantasy IX's main characters Zidane and Garnet will soon be included in the MMO as wind-up minions. Gamers quickly speculated that a FF9 Remake announcement could be imminent.

In a stunning show of self awareness and understanding of its core fans, Square Enix has decided to push Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail's expansion release date in order to make room for Elden Ring's thunderously anticipated Shadow of the Erdtree expansion.

Elden Ring took the world by storm in 2022, and FromSoft's fantasy RPG is poised to make a big mark on 2024 as well with the new Shadow of the Erdtree expansion. This is a big one, with FromSoft saying that it's their largest-ever expansion, complete with a premium $40 price tag. Everyone is looking forward to it, even Final Fantasy XIV game director Yoshi-P, and publishers have taken note from the game's success. Rather than compete, it might be best to just...get out of the way of Elden Ring, at least for a little bit.

That's exactly what Square Enix decided to do. At PAX East 2024, Yoshi-P broke the fourth wall and once again showed why he's such a beloved figure in gaming.

Final Fantasy XIV's new expansion Dawntrail is on the horizon, and Square Enix is prepping a huge $215 collector's edition...but there's some details you need to know before you buy.

At PAX 2024, Yoshi-P revealed tons of new details about the upcoming FFXIV Dawntrail expansion. Dawntrail is a big deal for Square Enix and previous expansions have also had CEs in the past, but this one comes with some restrictions.

Dawntrail's big box collector's edition comes packed with a bunch of extras including a handsome figurine of the new Viper class, a cloth map that would look incredible on your wall, a neat little pen case and journal set, and a gleaming box with breathtaking artwork from Yoshitaka Amano. There's just one potential problem: The CE doesn't come with a console version of the game--only PC or Mac.

Square Enix's Creative Business Unit III lays out what the next 10 years of Final Fantasy XIV will look like, and more intense and thrilling battles are a big part of the plans.

A bit ago, Square Enix confirmed that FFXIV would last at least another decade. The MMORPG has grown to 30 million registered users and is big consistent contributor to the publisher's earnings. It's definitely a cash crop, but the team has to keep innovating, iterating, and evolving the game over time to keep players interested.

At PAX East 2024, game director Yoshi-P outlined what gamers can expect from Final Fantasy XIV moving forward into the new Dawntrail expansion and beyond. A big goal is to keep combat fresh, exciting, and generally fun. Right now, depending on class and the role, combat is typically a rotation of spells and abilities that need to be carried out in specific sequences. According to Yoshi-P, this is a bit rote and he wants to spice things up.

Reports indicate that Microsoft is currently experimenting with new handheld gaming prototypes, presumably in an effort to help the hybrid market mature while raking in profits along the way.

Microsoft may be exploring a new handheld device capable of natively playing Xbox games. The news comes from a recent episode of the Xbox Two podcast where Windows Central's Jez Corden says that Microsoft has new gaming handheld tech in early prototype stages of development.

There's admittedly not a lot to go on. This topic is generally speculative in nature, and Valve's success with the Steam Deck is typically seen as evidence of a potential Xbox handheld. Corden cautions listeners by saying he's still investigating the matter and hasn't issued a report because info is still being gathered.

New compensation policies at Blizzard have cut bonuses for Overwatch 2 developers, sources tell Bloomberg's Jason Schreier.

New reports have pulled the curtain back on the complex inner-workings of game development at the industry's former-largest independent publisher, Activision Blizzard. On top of layoffs, a new compensation plan at Blizzard has further stressed developers. The plan has changed the way developers receive their bonuses (if at all).

The new policy was instituted in 2023. Before the change, Blizzard would dole out bonuses to all employees based on the overall success of the publisher. If Blizzard's earnings were up, then everyone would get a bonus. The new policy only gives bonuses to the teams that are successful. For instance, in 2023, Diablo IV generated $666 million in just 5 days via game sales alone. The Diablo team's success doesn't affect other teams within the confines of the newer bonus scheme.

Capcom is facing backlash and controversy from gamers for the new Dragon's Dogma 2 microtransactions that seemingly popped up out of nowhere.

Dragon's Dogma 2 just launched, and right at release, Capcom has injected microtransactions into the game. This has predictably kicked the hornet's nest and gamers aren't happy about in-game purchases being included in a singleplayer RPG, especially one that costs $69.99. After all, Capcom offered a ton of in-game purchase options for the original Dragon's Dogma.

While gamers didn't know exactly what to expect from Dragon's Dogma 2, the inclusion of microtransactions wasn't exactly intended to be a surprise. Capcom didn't really detail the in-game purchases to consumers, but DD2's mTX options were detailed in review documentation that was sent to journalists. Both the PlayStation Store and Xbox versions of the game mentioned in-game purchases months before release. Capcom's latest games, including singleplayer titles like Resident Evil 4, typically include time-saving convenience microtransactions.

The Apple Vision Pro is Apple's big bet on the future of spatial computing, but right now it's only available in one country. The Apple Vision Pro went on sale in the United States in February with no word on when a global launch would take place other than it happening later this year. Now, we might have a better understanding of which countries the headset will launch in.

Apple previously began advertising for a new role in the UK for a so-called Briefing Experience Specialist. The role has now also appeared in three additional countries; Japan, Australia, and China. The move has led some to believe that those countries, likely along with the UK, will be the next to receive an Apple Vision Pro launch.

The job Apple has now started to advertise appears to be one that will see the successful application promote the Apple Vision Pro to businesses and other professional settings. They'll inspire customer investment in the visionOS platform as well the Apple Vision Pro specifically, the job description says. In some ways, the role appears to be some sort of evangelist, but there is also a business component here as well.

Apple is expected to unveil the iOS 18 software update for iPhones this year with big AI improvements. Now, a new report claims that the company is hard at work bringing the know-how on board that is required to make that happen. The report claims that Apple continues to be in talks with both Google and OpenAI about the possibility of either company providing its Large Language Model and generative AI capabilities to iPhones as well as Macs and other devices.

It was already known that both Google and OpenAI had been sounded out by Apple but now it appears that discussions between the companies are still ongoing. Apple CEO Tim Cook had previously said that the company intended to "break new ground" in the world of AI this year, but it seems increasingly clear that the company needs help to make that happen.

Bloomberg reports that talks are ongoing although no formal announcement about any kind of deal is expected to happen any time soon. Apple is expected to announce the iOS 18 software update alongside new software for the iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple Vision Pro, and Apple TV during its annual WWDC event in June. It's possible more details could be shared then. Either way, the software won't be available immediately - Apple will likely subject the software to a months-long beta process that will then see the software released to the public in or around September. That month will also likely see Apple unveil the new iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro.

The Apple Watch had long been rumored to be planned to gain a new microLED display at some point and while that might still happen, a new report note claims that Apple's in-house team has been wound down in recent weeks which also means that there are being job cuts. It's reported that the cost and complexity of the development of the technology was simply too great, with Apple now having chosen to reorganize the teams that worked on engineering the displays. Several dozen roles in the United States and Asia are said to have been eliminated.

The move to microLED technology would have allowed Apple Watches to feature brighter and more vibrant displays, but that now seems to be a feature for much further down the line. There was also the assumption that microLED technology would expand to other products in Apple's lineup, but again, that now seems to have been put on the back burner.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that the move to cancel the project came around the same time that Apple also chose to ditch its plans to launch an autonomous car. It's said that, in both cases, Apple is giving affected people the chance to locate new jobs within the company while those who cannot find a new job will be laid off and provided severance.

Sony gaming CEO Jim Ryan has interesting things to say about Microsoft's proposed 10-year Call of Duty deal with Microsoft.

PlayStation head Jim Ryan will leave Sony at the end of March, but before he departs, Ryan appeared on CNBC to discuss the history of the gaming brand. In the interview, the games leader briefly talked about the $70 billion Microsoft-Activision merger and more specifically, the decade-long deal that Sony ended up signing with Microsoft in order to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation.

According to Ryan, Sony was "thrilled" to sign the deal. The deal Ryan is referring to is actually the third and final contract offered to Sony. At the beginning of the Microsoft-Activision merger proceedings, Microsoft offered an unsatisfactory deal that only offered Call of Duty up until 2027. Sony rejected that deal, and Microsoft offered a second deal, one that upped the terms to 10 years of Call of Duty access. The second deal was also turned down, but we still don't know why.

We'd pretty much accepted that Baldur's Gate 3 wouldn't get an expansion, but this has now been confirmed.

This comes direct from the founder and CEO of Larian, Swen Vincke, who at GDC confirmed that there definitely won't be an expansion for the hit RPG, according to IGN.

Indeed, Vincke went further than this, clarifying that not only are there no plans at all for an expansion or DLC drop of any kind, but there will not be a Baldur's Gate 4 - or another Dungeons & Dragons RPG from Larian for that matter.

Microsoft is busy fleshing out a number of the higher-profile default apps in Windows 11, and Notepad is the latest application to get some attention with the addition of a very useful feature.

This is a spellcheck ability that's now rolling out in testing for the Canary and Dev channels, and you'll see it with Notepad version 11.2402.18.0.

As you might imagine, this will highlight spelling mistakes just as the spellcheck does in Word, and you can choose from a bunch of options for a correction. And just as with Word, you can elect to add any word to the dictionary if it has been flagged up, but isn't actually incorrect.

This week on The TT Show, Jak and Kosta discuss all of the PlayStation 5 Pro news, the leaked specs, Sony's answer to DLSS, the big bump to ray-tracing performance, and more. The duo also examines NVIDIA's next-gen AI Blackwell announcement and what the new architecture means for the GeForce RTX 5090 and the new RTX 50 Series.

During its big AI GTC conference, NVIDIA once again showcased how generative AI can be used to create realistic "digital humans" for games, with the tech already in the hands of developers worldwide. And with that, they go through two big 2024 games that could become killer apps for the next-gen GeForce GPUs

In the world of esports and competitive gaming, Apex Legends was hacked during a live tournament - a first. With competition paused and postponed, it sets a new precedent for competitive tournaments.