Gaming - Page 195

ASUS has made its ROG Flow Z13 premium gaming tablet official at CES 2025, rocking AMD's new Ryzen AI Max+ 395 "Strix Halo" flagship APU, up to 128GB of RAM, and 40 Compute Units of RDNA 3.5 GPU power. Check it out:

The new ASUS ROG Flow Z13 gaming tablet features a 13-inch 2.5K 180Hz touchscreen Nebula Display with 500 nits of peak brightness and Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection, a new stainless steel and copper vapor chamber, larger intake vents, and 2nd Gen Arc Flow Fans which provide 70% more airflow for quiet, and efficient cooling.

ASUS has included a larger 70Wh battery inside of the ROG Flow Z13, as well as a larger touchpad and keycaps, a convenient Command Center button for quick access to vital system functions, dual USB-C ports (both support USB4 and power delivery), a dedicated HDMI 2.1 port for up to 4K 120Hz output, and more.

Over at CES 2025, NVIDIA has announced that it will release a native GeForce Now app for the Steam Deck.

While that's certainly not the most high-profile revelation for Team Green at CES 2025 - far from it, what with the RTX 5000 launch, alongside DLSS 4 and other AI trickery such as texture compression to make the most of VRAM - it's going to be of interest to those with one of Valve's portables.

Steam Deck owners will be able to install the native app for the cloud gaming service later this year, NVIDIA tells us, without giving a specific timeframe (so it may not be coming all that soon).

NVIDIA has caused a tsunami of news with its numerous announcements following its CES 2025 keynote being wrapped up. The company has officially unveiled Reflex 2 Frame Warp, and how it will pair with the new family of RTX 50 series graphics cards.

NVIDIA first released Reflex in 2020, and for those that don't know the RTX feature is designed to reduce the latency between a player input and what appears on screen. More specifically, enabling Reflex synchronizes the CPU and GPU rendering pipeline to provide lower latency between, for example, a mouse click that initiates a gun being fired in-game, and the gun being fired appearing on the screen. These are milliseconds we are talking about here, but when in competitive first-person-shooter titles sometimes life or death can be determined by just a few miliseconds.

NVIDIA's Reflex 2 Frame Warp builds upon the latency reduction of NVIDIA Reflex, and further reduces latency by a significant margin. For example, NVIDIA states Embark Studios' THE FINALS measured 56ms of latency without Reflex being enabled. With Reflex Low Latency enabled the latency was reduced to just 27ms, and with Reflex 2 Frame Warp, latency was reduced to just 14ms. That's a reduction of 75% when compared to no Reflex being enabled. The same applies for Riot Games' Valorant, but the results are even better.

DOOM: The Dark Ages from veteran studio id Software is one of 2025's most anticipated games. It continues the fast-paced single-player FPS action of DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal.

As part of NVIDIA's big GeForce RTX 50 Series reveal at CES 2025, we've confirmed that the game will launch with Path Tracing, Ray Reconstruction, and DLSS 4's new addition to the DLSS team - DLSS Multi Frame Generation.

Powered by the latest idTech engine, DOOM: The Dark Ages will look incredible, and we've got our first RTX On look at the game's iconic protagonist, the Doom Slayer. idTech games always look and run great on GeForce RTX hardware. However, adding DLSS 4 will make it a must-have for GeForce RTX 50 Series owners.

NVIDIA just finished its CES 2025 keynote where it unveiled its new family of RTX 50 series graphics cards, and to go along with that announcement the GPU maker has published several press releases detailing features RTX 50 series owners will be able to enjoy.

Among the tsunami of NVIDIA news, team green has detailed how each week for many, many weeks now games are being integrated with RTX technologies such as DLSS, ray-traced effects, and other RTX features.

The weekly integration has increased the total number of #RTXOn games and apps to a whopping 700, and according to NVIDIA, the RTX 50 series and its new RTX exclusive features be available at launch on 75 games and apps.

At CES 2025, NVIDIA announced the GeForce RTX 50 Series, headlined by the flagship GeForce RTX 5090 for $1999 and a mid-range GeForce RTX 5070 with RTX 4090 performance levels for $549. One of the significant new features is DLSS 4, and the new DLSS Multi Frame Generation boosts performance by up to 8X compared to native rendering - incredible stuff.

Even though DLSS Multi Frame Generation is exclusive to the new GeForce RTX 50 Series and its next-gen Tensor Cores with 2.5X AI performance, the entire DLSS suite of RTX technologies, from Super Resolution to the existing Frame Generation, is getting a major overhaul and upgrade with DLSS 4.

DLSS 3 Frame Generation is being enhanced for increased performance and reduced memory usage, which means less VRAM is required to run games with DLSS 3 enabled on the GeForce RTX 40 Series. Even the GeForce RTX 30 Series and the now-aging GeForce RT 20 Series are getting DLSS improvements courtesy of DLSS 4. Here's a handy chart from NVIDIA breaking it down.

NVIDIA has announced at CES 2025, and a via an update on its website how NVIDIA ACE will provide a next-generation gaming experience through "autonomous game characters".

NVIDIA explained via its blog post that ACE characters will be able to plan, perceive, and "act like human players," and even become a players' teammate. In fact, NVIDIA will be integrating its ACE characters into PUBG sometime later this year, which will enable gamers to queue up with a "PUBG Ally," which both NVIDIA and PUBG publisher Krafton state is the "world's first Co-Playable Character (CPC)."

How will this work? The PUBG Ally will utilize all of the tools a human player uses, with NVIDIA writing that PUBG Ally's will be able to communicate in-game using the common lingo, provide players with strategic recommendations in real-time, find and share loot, drive vehicles, and, of course, engage in combat with other players.

Microsoft's next-generation Xbox console will be released in 2026 and is called "Xbox Prime" according to the latest rumors.

The next-generation Xbox Prime console was leaked by TheGhostOfHope on X, who mostly posts leaks about Call of Duty, where he said that the next-gen Xbox console "is still coming in 2026 and will be called Xbox Prime". He continued, saying it was unclear if that's just a codename for the new Xbox or the actual name.

The leaker has also heard that Infinity Ward's next-gen Call of Duty game -- which should be Modern Warfare 4 -- is still being considered as a day-one release for Microsoft's next-gen Xbox Prime console. The post on X was to a reply from his original post on May 18, 2024 where he said at the time "hearing from trusted sources that the next Xbox is planned to be released in late 2026. Very likely that COD2026 is a day one release for it".

Grand Theft Auto 6 will be one of the biggest releases of any product in any category ever, but thanks to some new leaks, we're hearing that it will be one of the most interactive game worlds we've ever seen.

I spotted a post on X from a GTA 6 leaker that provided some details from some light playtesting they did, saying that the world feels "very, and I mean very alive" something that "will make the gameplay even more next level". How exactly? The leaker says that everything (90% or so) has a physical place in the game, meaning that debris, litter, and more will react to both you (the player) and the world of GTA 6 around you.

GTA 6 reportedly has maintenance and cleaning crews that you'll be interacting with the in-game world, and what you (the player) does in that world. The leaker says that after something like a big crash that leaves debris and broken poles on the street, traffic jams will naturally occur until those teams clean it up.

At CES 2025, AMD announced its next-generation Ryzen Z2 Series processors for PC gaming handhelds. Featuring upgraded RDNA 3 Radeon graphics, the new APU series is designed to deliver "console-class gaming in a handheld" with vastly superior efficiency for improved battery life. It also supports FSR technologies like Super Resolution, Frame Generation, and driver-based Fluid Motion Frames.

Interestingly, AMD confirmed that the Ryzen Z2 Series is set to arrive this year in several handhelds, from the Lenovo Legion Go series to ASUS's ROG Ally handheld and even Valve's Steam Deck.

Even though Valve has made it clear that we won't be seeing a Steam Deck 2 anytime soon because it's waiting for a massive generational leap in performance, efficiency, and affordability, we might end up seeing a mid-generation refresh ala the PlayStation 5 Pro.

At CES 2025, AMD formally announced the latest version of its AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution technology, FSR 4. Explicitly developed for RDNA 4, starting with the upcoming Radeon RX 9070 XT and 9070 GPUs, FSR 4 represents a significant evolution for the upscaling technology because it marks a shift to a new ML or AI-powered approach.

Although we weren't given a release date or full specs for the upcoming Radeon RX 9070 XT, which is seeing a name change to match the latest generation of Ryzen CPUs and its GeForce RTX competition, we do know that the new RDNA 4 architecture features new "supercharged" AI hardware.

This means FSR 4, like NVIDIA DLSS and Intel XeSS, will use GPU AI hardware for upscaling and frame generation. AMD has undoubtedly decided to make this change to improve FSR's image quality and bring it closer to NVIDIA DLSS.

Elden Ring: Nightreign, which was surprise unveiled during The Game Awards 2024, will be extremely different than any other Soulsborne, or FromSoftware title.

For those that don't know, Nightreign will be strictly focussing on co-op gaming experience, as players won't be able to kill each other, there won't be any summons either for assistance with bosses, no invasions, and now recently confirmed by IGN Japan, no player messages. According to Nightreign's director Junya Ishizaki, players will still be able to see the ghosts of other players, but the ability to leave messages on the floor for other players to find has been removed from Nightreign.

But why? According to the game director the ability to leave Soapstone messages was removed due to the developers believing players won't have enough time to both read and write messages. Ishizaki states that each session will be approximately 40 minutes in length, and that given the nature of the session, players won't need to leave messages or read messages from other players. Soapstone messages are easily one of the biggest community aspects of Soulsborne games, as it gives players ways to assist other players with hints, informative messages, and, of course, trolls.

Acer is reportedly preparing its new NITRO Blaze 11 and NITRO Blaze 8 gaming handhelds for CES 2025, rocking AMD's new Strix Point APU inside.

In a new report from VideoCardz, we're learning that Acer's new NITRO Blaze 11 and Blaze 8 gaming handhelds will be powered by AMD's new Ryzen AI 300 series "Strix Point" APU, which is a BIG upgrade over the Ryzen 7 8840U "Hawk Point" APUs inside of Acer's current-gen NITRO Blaze 7 gaming handheld.

ASUS has its ROG Alloy, Valve with its Steam Deck, Lenovo with the Legion GO, ZOTAC and its ZONE handheld, and even MSI and its Claw are all on the market with various gaming handhelds, but Acer was late to the game with its NITRO Blaze 7. Things could change with the new Strix Point APU-powered NITRO Blaze 11 and Blaze 8 handhelds, offering far more CPU and GPU power than the current-gen designs.

2025 is here, and Valve has now capped off the new year by revealing the best-selling and best-earning Steam games of the prior year.

2024 was a big year for Steam. The platform-and-launcher consistently set new player records throughout the year, eventually establishing the new top concurrent record of 39.3 million. Valve also raked in billions of dollars through game sales and monetization, collecting their share of live service and AAA singleplayer spending.

The top-earning Steam games of 2024 saw some new entrants break into the list, including Helldivers II, Palworld, and the chart-topping Black Myth: Wukong. All of these newer challengers have sold over 10 million copies each. Other interesting trends see Baldur's Gate 3 retain a spot on the chart, alongside usual suspects like Counter-Strike, Apex, PUBG, DOTA, and Call of Duty. It's also good to see Destiny 2 on the list given Bungie's and Sony's current financial issues.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has published a new Nintendo patent for AI-based image upscaling, giving us an idea of the kind of tech being used in the upcoming Switch 2 console.

Note: The following patent was published on December 31, 2024 in the United States, but was originally domestically filed on July 13, 2023 and published on November 9, 2023 in Japan.

It's 2025, and Nintendo's new Switch 2 console should be revealed soon. While gamers have been waiting, there's been a few Switch 2 leaks--some of which could be pretty huge if they turn out to be true. And just days ago, the USPTO published a very interesting new Nintendo patent that delves into how the company is using AI upscaling technology in the Switch 2 hardware.

The voice actor for G-Man from the Half-Life franchise has just teased his return to the Half-Life franchise in 2025, check out Mike Shapiro's post on X below:

Mike Shapiro is the voice actor behind both G-Man and Barney from the Half-Life franchise, posting on X a video celebrating the year ahead. Shapiro speaking in the G-Man voice said we can enjoy some "unexpected surprises" and that we'll see him in 2025... well then.

We've been hearing tons of new information on Valve's new codenamed HLX, which is expected to be Half-Life 3, which will push the boundaries of game physics, destruction, NPC AI behavior, and more. Valve has also been working on a new ragdoll and gore systems... something that would be perfect for not just Half-Life 3, but a future Left 4 Dead 3, too.

The 2924 Steam Awards winners have been announced, where the PC gaming community votes for various titles across various categories. The big winner for 2024 is Black Myth: Wukong, the visually stunning Souls-like action-adventure from Chinese developer and publisher Game Science.

Black Myth: Wukong won the Game of the Year Award, beating Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl, Helldivers 2, and Balatro. The game also won the Best Game You Suck At Award for its challenging but rewarding gameplay and the Outstanding Story-Rich Game Award for its impressive adaptation of the popular centuries-old Journey to the West story.

Other notable winners include Helldivers 2, taking home the Better With Friends Award for its engaging co-op multiplayer gameplay, beating out Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, Palworld, Sons of the Forest, and Satisfactory. Here's a look at all the winners (highlighted in bold) and nominees in each category.

Grand Theft Auto 6 is expected to make over $3.2 billion in its first 12 months on the market, with estimates of over $1 billion in pre-orders for the 2025 game already.

In some new projections from analysts at DFC Intelligence, Rockstar is poised to rake in $3.2 billion from GTA 6 in its first year alone, with analysts forecasting over $1 billion in pre-order sales before the game has even hit the market. Yoshio Osaki, the CEO of IDG Consulting, called GTA 6 "one of the biggest entertainment launches in history, not just in games but for all media".

Take-Two Interactive -- the publisher of GTA 6 -- CEO Strauss Zelnick, said "I think Rockstar Games will once against deliver something absolutely phenomenal". The Financial Times quoted Zelnick, who addressed the huge expectations, where he added: "I never claim victory before it occurs... but the anticipation is high".

Almost 19,000 PC games were released on Steam throughout 2024, 18,965 to be exact, a number that is around 32% higher than in 2023. 2024 saw the most significant single jump in game releases for a year compared to the past, with 18,965 in 2024 compared to 14,310 in 2023. However, with such a large number of new PC game releases, most of them are categorized as "Limited Games" on the platform.

As outlined by SteamDB, Limited Games on Steam are titles that haven't met a specific sales threshold to gain access to community features like Steam Trading Cards, emoticons and backgrounds, badges, and the ability for players to display in-game items and achievements in their showcases.

Of the 18,965 releases in 2024, Steam DB notes that 14,981, or 79%, are classified as Limited Games, more than the total number of games released on the platform in 2023.

One-Netbook has collaborated with Sugar Cubes on the new ONEXSUGAR gaming handheld, which rocks an interesting dual-screen design with a rotatable controller, check it out:

The new ONEXSUGAR gaming handheld features a Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC and will run the Android operating system, so it won't go head-to-head with Windows-based gaming handhelds. We don't know much about the detailed specifications inside of the ONEXSUGAR, as whoever worked on the video seems to love dark environments.

We do know that there are dual displays on the ONEXSUGAR, with both of them capable of being opened at the same time, or you can choose to just use the primary display. Once you've opened up the second display, the controllers on the ONEXSUGAR can be rotated, and attached to the bottom of the screen. This changes the entire orientation of the controls on the controller, providing some wicked customization on the new Android-powered gaming handheld.