Intel to Drop Celeron and Pentium Branding From Laptop Parts In 2023

While we’re still over a quarter out from the end of 2022, Intel already has its eyes aimed at 2023 and its eventual refresh of its mobile processors. To that end, today the company has announced that they are making some branding changes for the low-end.

Starting in 2023, Intel will be retiring the Pentium and Celeron brands for laptop processors. In its place, Intel will have a singular “Intel Processor” brand for the low end of the market, while the Core branding (with its multiple tiers) will remain in place for the rest of Intel’s mobile product stack.

“Whether for work or play, the importance of the PC has only become more apparent as the torrid pace of technological development continues to shape the world. Intel is committed to driving innovation to benefit users, and our entry-level processor families have been crucial for raising the PC standard across all price points. The new Intel Processor branding will simplify our offerings so users can focus on choosing the right processor for their needs.”

-Josh Newman, Intel vice president and interim general manager of Mobile Client Platforms

Notably, this change only applies to future laptop parts. At this point Intel is not announcing a change for desktop parts or embedded parts. But with that said, I would not be the least bit surprised if these change ultimately came to desktops as well, as mobile is effectively Intel’s leading consumer market segment these days. So technology and names tend to percolate up to the desktop segment, keeping the two in sync.

Intel’s current generation Pentium and Celeron offerings are both based on Alder Lake-U processors with a single performance core and four (one block of) efficiency cores. The only differences between these SKUs, besides price, is clockspeeds – specifically, that the Celeron parts lack turbo. So if Intel is going to pursue a similar strategy in future generations, then it’s not outlandish to fold two similar products under a single brand. Though the decision to forgo any kind of specific branding is an unusual one for Intel.

With that said, there’s also been a notable absence of “pure” Atom parts in this segment in this generation. Intel has yet to produce a true entry-level part using its Gracemont Atom cores; so everything below the Alder Lake Pentiums/Celerons has been the last-generation Tremont Atoms. So larger changes may be afoot for Intel’s cheapest laptop product segment.

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EVGA and NVIDIA To Split: EVGA Won’t Make Next-Gen NVIDIA Cards

In a move that will have significant repercussions for the video card industry in North America and Europe, EVGA today has announced that the company is parting ways from NVIDIA. As a result, the company will not be producing video cards based on NVIDIA’s next-generation of GPUs – and won’t be immediately switching allegiance to AMD or Intel, either. Consequently, NVIDIA is losing their largest add-in board (AIB) in North America, and the broader North American video card market is losing one of its biggest and best-known vendors.

In a brief announcement posted on EVGA’s forums, the company outlined their parting from NVIDIA, while underscoring that this affects the next-generation of video cards, and that EVGA will continue to provide current-gen products and support existing customers.

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NBA 2K23 Rebirth Quest Guide – Where To Find Ronnie 2K In The City

NBA 2K23 allows players to respec and rebuild their MyPlayer characters, but only after completing the Rebirth questline involving Ronnie 2K. To complete the questline, you’ll need to find Ronnie several times inside the game’s online hub without the help of map markers. The game delights in not revealing exactly where and when you can find him, so we’re here to walk you through how to complete this lengthy quest and earn some great rewards along the way. Here’s where to find Ronnie 2K in NBA 2K23.

All Ronnie 2K Locations for the Rebirth quest

Ronnie 2K will appear at four different spots throughout the quest and hand out a different reward each time you find him. Your player will need to reach specific overall ratings for each encounter to earn Ronnie 2K’s prizes.

First location and reward – 65 OVR

Once your player reaches an overall of 65 or higher, head to the northeast side of the map to find Ronnie 2K. He’s near the Northside Knights zone, just to the left of the Knights Station icon. He’s standing next to a dumpster in a bright pink hoodie, so he’s hard to miss. Speak to Ronnie to get a shirt with his image on the front–not a worthwhile prize, but the best is yet to come.

Ronnie 2K’s first location in the Rebirth quest

Second location and reward – 75 OVR

After reaching a 75 overall, use the train to get to the West Mall Station. Ronnie will be standing just east of the station, between the Finders Keepers and Embellish stores nearby. This time, he’ll reward you with the ability to choose where you spawn when entering The City. To set a custom spawn point, simply open the map and press the ‘Select’ prompt when highlighting any train station.

Ronnie 2K’s second location in the Rebirth quest

Third location and reward – 88 OVR

Once you’re at an 88 overall, make your way to North Station, which is located to the west of the Northside Knights zone. Ronnie is northeast of the station, standing underneath a large 2K Sports sign. His third reward grants players the ability to go shirtless when playing games in The City.

Ronnie 2K’s third location in the Rebirth quest

Fourth location and reward – 90 OVR

Lastly, after reaching a 90 overall rating, go to the South City Vipers zone in the southwest corner of The City, just south of Ronnie 2K’s second location. Ronnie is waiting near the entrance to the Vipers’ territory. He’s standing in front of the large, wooden sign. Once you’ve completed this game of hide and seek, Ronnie will finally allow you to use the rebirth feature.

Ronnie 2K’s fourth location in the Rebirth quest

What does Rebirth do?

Essentially, the rebirth feature will allow you to create a new MyPlayer for MyCareer mode while saving your current progress. Your player will revert back to a 90 overall with a number of pre-unlocked badge points. You’ll still need about 200,000 VC to upgrade stats, but completing the Rebirth quest will save plenty of time when it comes to grinding out entirely new created players.

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CoD: Modern Warfare 2 MP Beta Introduces Satisfying Maps And Overhauled Gunsmith

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s multiplayer beta is officially live, and this weekend gives PlayStation users first crack at Infinity Ward’s continuation of the rebooted Modern Warfare series. Modern Warfare 2’s multiplayer beta offers a pretty familiar offering, but there are some solid maps and a completely overhauled Gunsmith feature worth checking out.

Better map designs than Modern Warfare 2019

One of Modern Warfare 2019’s biggest shortcomings was the over-abundance of massive and cluttered map designs used across multiplayer for matches of various player counts, so it’s nice to see the developer scale back Modern Warfare 2’s standard maps to better fit Call of Duty’s traditional 6v6 combat. We only get to sample three standard maps in the current beta, but as previously announced, all of Modern Warfare 2’s standard maps were designed for traditional 6v6 matches. This gives hope that Modern Warfare will have an overall stronger map pool at launch.

The beta 6v6 maps include:

Valderas Museum is a museum located in Spain. The map feels like the largest of the three, with plenty of space to fight in and around the museum. This map works well for Domination, and looks to be a solid map for other objective modes at launch.

Farm 18 is a military facility set inside an abandoned cement factory. This is a map the developer said was inspired partly by the small Shoot House map from Modern Warfare 2019, and it definitely feels reminiscent of that or even Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare’s Vacant map.

Mercado Las Almas is a small marketplace with fast-paced routes. The matches play quickly and chaotically, especially near the marketplace center. I also appreciate the vibrancy of this map. Modern Warfare featured mostly drab-looking maps with washed-out color palettes, so it does feel nice to see a bit more color to the environment.

Modern Warfare 2 still features interactable doors, but it’s not like Modern Warfare 2019’s abundance of loud and clunky ones. There are far fewer doors that can be opened and closed on the beta maps, so it doesn’t feel like an overwhelming amount of extra pathways and camping spots to stress over.

Although not showcased in the beta yet, Infinity Ward says Ground War has separate maps designed specifically for the large-scale modes. One Ground War map called Sarrif Bay will be available sometimes during the open beta. An additional map looks to also be available later in the beta, with the large-scale Invasion mode being added in the coming days. More impressions to come with Ground War’s integration into the beta.

Mostly familiar MP with a few new objective-based modes

Modern Warfare 2’s beta includes two classic Call of Duty modes: Team Deathmatch and Domination. Additionally, the beta lets players test out new modes called Prisoner Rescue and Knockout.

Prisoner Rescue is a 6v6 mode that requires players to take turns either trying to defend or rescue two prisoners on the map. Rounds of Prisoner Rescue can also work like Call of Duty’s Search and Destroy objective mode, ending if one team is completely wiped out. Of course, players can revive their fallen teammates to get them back in the match to avoid a full team wipe.

Prisoner Rescue mode

Knockout is a mode Infinity Ward described as Gunfight meets core multiplayer. This mode features fast rounds in a best-of-five match, where both teams fight to hold a bag of cash. A team can choose to either hold the bag for 60 seconds or eliminate the entire enemy team to win the round. While Gunfight is traditionally a 2v2 or 3v3 small-scale mode with one life per round, Knockout is a 6v6 mode with the ability to revive teammates.

Unfortunately, both new 6v6 modes are a bit underwhelming based on our limited time so far, especially when Knockout is said to be inspired by Modern Warfare’s popular Gunfight mode. There are few differences between how the two modes play, so I’m not sure why Modern Warfare 2 would even need both options, as Knockout and Prison Rescue are both round-based modes that usually devolve into rounds of Team Deathmatch with very few people ever bothering to play the objective. It typically comes down to whether you want to pick the mode with the cash bag or the hostages. Between the 6v6 player count and the ability to revive, neither add the intensity or satisfaction that comes from winning a fast round of 2v2 Gunfight, where the stakes feel much higher and rounds are usually won from intense 1v1 or 2v1 situations.

I’d love to see Knockout or Prisoner Rescue modified to add more interesting layers of complexity, perhaps with elements of Black Ops 4’s Heist mode, which was a no-respawn, round-based, tactical mode that required teams to steal a bag of cash and reach an extraction point. Heist also allowed teams to win simply by eliminating the enemies and not playing the objective, but doing so wasn’t easy in the earlier rounds, as Heist eliminated custom player loadouts in favor of a Counter-Strike-style “Buy” system to earn better guns and gear for later rounds. You had to really play your life and earn better gear to be successful. Heist and Gunfight 2v2 were much more interesting and more satisfying to play, so hopefully we see more inspiring modes later down the line for Modern Warfare 2.

Mostly similar movement feel, but new movement mechanics

Overall, the player movement feels mostly the same this year, though sliding doesn’t quite feel as fast and fluid as before. A second movement option has also been added with Modern Warfare 2 with the ability to “dolphin dive.” Dolphin diving involves diving into a forward prone position, which was a movement originally made popular in Treyarch’s older Black Ops titles.

In addition to choosing to dive headfirst into battle or slide towards or away from the action, players can also hang from ledges. Players have the option to fire their pistol while hanging from ledges, but I didn’t find myself in many of these situations in the standard map playlist. This is definitely something that will be better utilized in the large-scale Ground War modes and even Warzone 2.0.

Weapons and Gunsmith overhaul

The Gunsmith’s new look

Overall, the guns look and sound great, with the reload animations and gunfire audio similar to Modern Warfare 2019. Longtime fans will recognize assault rifles like the M4 and M16 and there are three submachine guns to choose from, with one being the return of Modern Warfare’s Fennec. The only sniper made available in the beta is the Signal 50, which is a beefy-looking .50 cal anti-material rifle, but it doesn’t unlock until level 20. Week one of the beta is level capped at 15, but players can get hands-on with this sniper during week two, which has a level cap of 30.

While Vanguard gave players 10 attachments to include in their custom gun build, Modern Warfare 2 is dialing the customization back with a limit of five attachments. However, it also adds a whole new layer of complexity with the Gunsmith’s new Platform system, which is designed to eliminate the grind of unlocking the same attachment over and over for different guns. Check out our full explanation of Modern Warfare 2’s overhaul of the Gunsmith 2.0, but while it does sound a bit overwhelming at first, it should help unlock attachments a bit faster than the last two Call of Duty games. When you unlock a gun in the same shared family, you also have the same attachments unlocked and ready for the new weapon.

Changes to perks and killstreaks

Modern Warfare 2 features a familiar list of multiplayer perks, but they do work a bit differently this time around. Perks now come in “packs” of four. Players can customize which perks they want within their pack, but they’ll only have two “base” perks active at the start of the match, while a bonus and an ultimate perk are both earned during the course of a match. The bonus perk is earned four minutes into the match, while the ultimate is earned eight minutes into the match. Players may not like the idea of earning some of their perks, but this might be a good change to possibly incentivize players to play the objective more, as the perk timers are sped up by earning score via kills, assists, objective play, and such. Maybe more teammates will help capture the B flag in Domination if it helps them earn their last two perks.

The beta includes typical Call of Duty perks like Overkill for carrying two primary weapons and Scavenger to resupply ammo and throwing knives from dead players. One of the brand-new perks introduced in the beta is Pitcher, which is a perk that lets players throw equipment farther and see a preview of the item’s trajectory. The Ghost perk is back to keep players off enemy UAVs, but unfortunately, the popular perk is now set to the fourth slot as an ultimate perk. So players may view this as a negative change, as it means no one will be able to stay off UAVs early in a match, and Ghost will need to be earned in-match now.

As for getting hands-on with Modern Warfare 2’s killstreaks, the beta doesn’t include much that Call of Duty players haven’t used before. Streaks include the usuals like the UAV, Counter-UAV, Care Package, Sentry Gun, Chopper Gunner, and more. However, one great change this year is the option for players to choose if they want their streaks to be scorestreaks or killstreaks. The choice isn’t tied to a perk or any disadvantage; players can simply pick how they want to earn their streaks. For example, a UAV requires a four killstreak to use, or it can be earned with a score of 500 points.

Just like Modern Warfare 2019 and Vanguard, multiplayer will not feature Call of Duty’s traditional minimap with red dots appearing from enemies firing non-silenced weapons. However, Modern Warfare 2 does include a perk called Bird’s Eye, which pings enemies on the map, reveals their direction, and zooms out the minimap. Players will just have to determine if having the intel of a traditional minimap is worth taking up a perk slot in their customized pack.

Farm 18 map

Gallery

New equipment and field upgrades

The beta also lets players get acquainted with some of Modern Warfare 2’s new equipment and field upgrades, which includes a Rainbow Six Siege-type lethal device and an unusual decoy item.

Tactical equipment in the beta is mostly the same as Modern Warfare 2019, with the return of smoke grenades, flashbangs, medical syringe, and snapshot grenades, but there is a new shock stick tactical item. The shock stick is thrown to stick on surfaces or players, temporarily disabling players or vehicles with a zap. You can use this in standard multiplayer, but it seems much more useful in Ground War due to the presence of vehicles.

Lethal equipment is also familiar with the frag grenade, claymores, and semtex, but the beta does include Modern Warfare 2’s new Drill Charge equipment, which attaches to surfaces to drill a hole and shoot a grenade into the area, which can penetrate walls and even vehicles to damage enemies or flush them out. This works much like the Cluster Charge that Fuze uses in Rainbow Six Siege, but Modern Warfare 2’s version is a throwable item that players can toss at vehicles or nearby buildings. So far, this is something I don’t find myself using in standard multiplayer, but could come in handy in Ground War with bigger situations and pesky tanks to clear out.

Field Upgrades return with staple options like Munitions and Dead Silence. And, yes, Dead Silence returning as a Field Upgrade means that Modern Warfare 2 lacks a Dead Silence or Ninja-type option as a perk to silence footsteps. Footstep audio is loud, but it does sound slightly quieter than Modern Warfare’s. One teammate running past doesn’t sound like an entire herd of elephants, so hopefully this will stay the same or further improve for the launch of the game.

There’s also a new Inflatable Decoy used as a Field Upgrade. This lets players deploy an inflatable soldier meant to confuse the enemy team. Tossing out an inflatable soldier feels a bit silly to use, but it does provide cues to player locations, much like Alibi’s decoys in Rainbow Six Siege. I’m sure players will find ways to have fun and troll with the decoys, and at least they do deploy with the environment in mind. The inflatable soldiers will have poses depending on where they are deployed, with a swimming pose used for those deployed in water.

As far as the gunplay and the fast time-to-kill, this all feels very much the same as Modern Warfare 2019. However, the multiplayer beta does provide the sense that Infinity Ward is mostly improving on what worked and didn’t work in Modern Warfare 2019. The scaled-back maps definitely make for better pacing, and it’s nice not having so many doors to worry about. The new 6v6 modes included with the beta leave much to be desired for round-based objective play, so I hope it adds modes like Kill Confirmed, Hardpoint, or Search and Destroy to the latter portions of the beta.

Overall, fans of the previous Modern Warfare will likely enjoy jumping into the beta, and there might be just enough changes to appeal to those who didn’t like the feel of the reboot’s multiplayer. I think it’s worth jumping into the beta to find out.

I’m playing the beta on PlayStation 5 and the performance has been great so far. I haven’t noticed any graphical issues or lag problems, but CharlieIntel tweeted that some players on PlayStation 4 consoles are reporting crashes, so your mileage may vary.

This first week is a PlayStation-exclusive beta, but the second beta weekend for Modern Warfare 2 will allow the other platforms to jump into the mix. Xbox and PC players can join in starting September 22 for those who have preordered, and then Modern Warfare 2’s multiplayer beta will be open to all players for the final days from September 24-26.

For those who missed all the news from Call of Duty Next, here are all the biggest announcements for Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2.0.

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EVGA Terminates Relationship With Nvidia, Leaves GPU Business

Ahead of Nvidia’s GTC 2022 keynote next week, where the company is expected to announce its new 40-series consumer GPUs, manufacturer EVGA has announced that it is terminating its relationship with Nvidia and exiting the GPU market.

The massive business shift, which was confirmed by EVGA on its forums, has been broken down in a detailed report by Gamers Nexus, who spoke directly to EVGA CEO Andrew Han to get the details of the split. According to Han, Nvidia has been difficult to work with for some time now. Like all other GPU board partners, EVGA is only told the price of new products when they’re revealed to everyone on stage, making planning difficult when launches occur soon after. Nvidia also has tight control over the pricing of GPUs, limiting what partners can do to differentiate themselves in a competitive market.

Furthermore, Han was critical of how Nvidia routinely undercuts its own partners with its Founders Edition cards, which offer identical products at discount prices that partners are barred from matching. This has resulted in some massive losses for EVGA, with Han stating that RTX 3080 and higher GPUs lost the company hundreds of dollars with each sale.

Gamers Nexus presented some counter arguments to some of the claims, stating that EVGA has also established a pattern of producing more stock than it can sell, leading to losses when a new generation is being prepared for launch. This occurred during the 20-series and the current 30-series, with the recent cryptocurrency crash and eradication of Ethereum mining contributing to the issue even more. Speaking further to Han, the publication also learned that the CEO wants to spend more time with his family and feels that the way Nvidia conducts business is no longer worth the time he must spend away from them.

That leaves the company in a strange position, however. With 250 employees, many people are dependent on EVGA continuing business, but without GPU manufacturing it has lost 80% of its total revenue stream. Han has made it clear that there are no plans to sell the company and no plans to manufacture GPUs for AMD or Intel but claims that job losses will be minimal. It’s difficult to see how both can be true, with the company now likely in search of a whole new purpose, as it continues to produce power supplies and various other PC accessories.

EVGA will continue to sell its remaining 30-series stock, which it believes will run out by the end of 2022. Reserve stock is being kept to fulfill any RMA requests, while warranties will still be honored by the company as long as they’re valid for.

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Apex Legends’ Best Flatline Skins Just Got Nerfed

When it comes to weapon nerfs, most people think recoil or weapon spawn rates, not cosmetic items. But Apex Legends developer Respawn Entertainment announced via blog post that two cosmetic weapon skins for the Flatline assault rifle have been changed to negate the potentially unfair advantage the skins’ original designs allegedly gave users compared to other Flatline skins.

The skins in question are the reactive Heat Sink skin, a Legendary-tier reward for completing Season 4’s battle pass, and the Revelations skin from the recent Gaiden event. Both skins had cosmetic designs that made ADSing a bit easier on the eyes than the standard iron sights experience should.

“Competitive integrity is and will always be a core pillar for Apex Legends,” reads the developer’s blog post. “As part of that, our default iron sights are designed to push players to loot for better optics. We also believe that skins shouldn’t be a factor in the sights functionality as well. During Season 4, we released the Heat Sink reactive skin for the VK-47 Flatline rifle and we heard feedback from some players that the Aim Down Sights (ADS) felt superior to any other skin available.”

There’s no word yet on whether other weapon skins may suffer the same fate. For now, Respawn doesn’t seem to be planning on any immediate changes.

“As our good friend Kuben Blisk puts it: ‘You kill me, you’re better. I kill you, I’m better.'” reads the end of the blog post, quoting Titanfall 2’s main antagonist and the current commissioner of the Apex Games. “We hope players who own these skins will appreciate these improvements and support us as we work to keep Apex Legends fun and fair.”

Apex Legends is free to play on console and PC. A mobile version of the game, Apex Legends Mobile, is available for download on Android and iOS devices.

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Trials Of Osiris Rewards This Week In Destiny 2 (September 16-20)

Finally, the Trials of Osiris returns to Destiny 2, with the first top-tier PvP event in Season of Plunder. This season sees some new weapons you can earn from Trials, including the new shotgun The Inquisitor and combat vow Whistler’s Whim. Here’s where you’ll play Trials of Osiris this weekend and what weapons you can earn.

Map — Midtown20 rounds won — Pinnacle Trials Engram7 matches won — Pinnacle Trials EngramReputation Rank 10 — The Inquisitor (Arc Shotgun)Reputation Rank 16 — Whistler’s Whim (Kinetic Combat Bow)Flawless run — Forgiveness (Adept) (Arc Sidearm)

Trials weapons now carry the Alacrity Origin Trait. It gives you increased aim assist, reload speed, stability, and range on your Trials guns when you’re the last living member of a fireteam or running solo. You can also choose to swap to the Crucible Origin Trail, One Quiet Moment, which greatly enhances your gun’s reload speed when you reload while out of combat.

As always, Trials be available from Friday’s daily reset at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET until the weekly reset at the same time the following Tuesday. During that time, you can also pay a visit to Xur to see what Exotics he’s selling. Make sure to pay a visit to Saint-14 in the Tower to pick up a Trials card, which will dictate certain bonuses (such as whether you get bonus rewards at certain milestones or if a loss will be forgiven).

Trials of Osiris is a weekend PvP mode that runs from the daily reset on Friday until the weekly reset on Tuesday, giving you four days to take part. Your goal in the Trials is for you and the other two players in your fireteam to achieve a “Flawless” run, in which you win seven matches without losing any.

Go Flawless, and you’ll earn a trip to the Lighthouse and receive some special rewards, including the new Adept weapons. These have additional stat bonuses, making them among the most coveted items you can get your hands on.

Thanks to a bunch of changes to Trials this season, though, the mode is a little easier to get into than it has been. The Trials of Osiris now features matchmaking, so you can jump into matches even if you don’t have a full squad of three players to take it on. Your Trials Passage, the card you purchase from Saint-14 that grants you access to the mode and tracks your wins, now does not track your losses–so you can keep playing and earning rewards even if you lose out on a Flawless run. Bungie has also adjusted Trials so that you earn rewards based on the number of rounds, rather than matches, you’ve won during your session, and added a reputation system that’s similar to the Crucible and Gambit, making it easier to earn some of the Trials of Osiris’s unique loot.

Finally, you’ll earn Trials Engrams for participating in the mode, which you can cash in with Saint-14 during the weekend you receive them. Thanks to the new update, you can tune those engrams to yield specific pieces of loot, or take your chances with random drops that will expand what’s available in your loot pool. So even if you’re just jumping into Trials alone, there are plenty of ways you can earn great new gear.

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Hollow knight Silksong Is Coming To PS4 And PS5

Hollow Knight Silksong, the highly-anticipated sequel to Hollow Knight is coming to PS4 and PS5. Team Cherry’s upcoming game was previously announced during a Xbox & Bethesda showcase and only confirmed for Xbox, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

Sharpen your needles – confirming Hollow Knight: Silksong is coming to PS5 and PS4 pic.twitter.com/poIclQDfvr

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) September 16, 2022

With Sony’s announcement, Hollow Knight Silksong will now pretty much be available on all major gaming platforms. For Xbox Game Pass subscribers, Hollow Knight Silksong is also a day-one release.

There is no concrete release date announced yet. Players have been waiting for Hollow Knight Silksong for quite a while. The sequel was first announced in 2019, and it took until the Xbox & Bethesda showcase to get an official confirmation of some sort of release date, vague though it may be.

Hollow Knight is an acclaimed indie metroidvania, and Silksong follows the journey of an unplayable NPC in the original–Hornet, princess-protector of Hallownest.

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Destiny 2’s King’s Fall Raid Gets More Challenging With Master Mode Difficulty Next Week

King’s Fall is one of Destiny 2‘s most iconic Raids, and for those players looking to play the pinnacle PvE activity in its most challenging form, they can start preparing for a Master Raid run from next week. After the Destiny 2 weekly reset on September 20, Master King’s Fall will be live and will feature extra rewards for any fireteam confident enough to take on the Taken King at his most powerful.

All encounters are set at Power level 1600, several points above the current seasonal power cap of 1580. You can shorten that gap slightly with the Skeleton Key seasonal artifact if you’ve unlocked its additional power but be prepared for a version of King’s Fall where every inhabitant of Oryx’s Dreadnaught hits much harder and faster.

To sweeten the pot, Bungie has added stat-focused armor as a reward, and completing encounter-based challenges will award players with Adept weapons. In the normal mode for King’s Fall, completing these challenges will reward players with extra encounter loot and the objectives will rotate in and out on a weekly schedule.

Depending on the perk rolls and stats of the armor that players can earn, this could be the best of the best gear up for grabs if a fireteam can survive the wrath of the Taken King, his daughters, and Gologoroth. It’s not clear yet which path Bungie is taking for Adept weapon rewards, as Vault of Glass hands out high-end weapons with a curated roll while Vow of the Disciple gives out random Adept weapons upon completion of its challenges.

If you want to start working on a strategy, you can check out the King’s Fall Raid guide for tips, tricks, and walkthroughs through each challenging encounter. In other Destiny 2 news, the PvP Control mode now has a Quitter penalty, Titan Exotic Loreley’s Splendor has been nerfed, and you can see where Xur is when he enters the Sol system for another weekend of arms dealing.

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Tekken 8 Is Built From The Ground Up In UE5, Is A “Turning Point” For The Series

Tekken 8 was announced at PlayStation’s September State of Play, and now director Katsuhiro Harada has revealed even more info about what we can expect from the fighting game sequel.

Aside from more exciting father versus son showdowns, Tekken 8 is built from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5, Harada said in a new IGN interview. None of Tekken 7 has been re-used, and Harada was excited to describe the impressive in-game footage.

“This is actually the first time that we’re taking rain and outside effects and having that effect of rolling down the character models. And not just that,” Harada said. “But when they fall down on the ground, their clothing gets dirty as a result. So you can see the kind of results of the battle on the character models.”

As for the story, Harada called Tekken 8 a turning point and promised that the story mode hasn’t been shrunk from what players saw from Tekken 7. “Tekken’s story has always been about the Mishimas and their blood feud, and Tekken 7 showcased Heihachi Mishima and Kazuya and the showdown that took place there. And that finished with that installment,” Harada said. “So now we’re showing everyone a pinnacle of the story from the start of the campaign, but this is showing the remaining Mishimas, the two of them, the only ones left, and then you’ve got Jin Kazama and what he’s trying to achieve.”

Harada did not answer when asked if Tekken 8 will include Rage Arts as seen in Tekken 7, though he did comment on the unpopularity of the Rage system and Rage Arts when the features were first implemented. It’s unknown if Tekken 8 will include Rage Arts or how the system will be modified.

Looking toward the future, Harada expressed optimism about the longevity of fighting games. “Some of the younger players now have this impression, although inaccurate, that the fighting game audience has shrunk because there are fewer titles, but that’s not necessarily the case,” he said. “There may be less mid-sized titles coming out, but big fighting game IPs and indie fighting games are still going strong.”

Harada also said he was interested in how the fighting game scene will shift, commenting on the transition from arcade to console, and now what could possibly happen in the future. “I’m quite interested in what’s going to happen with [Riot Games’] Project L. Maybe there’s another shift in the fighting game business model,” Harada said. “I don’t think they’ve said yet, but they typically do free-to-play titles.”

Tekken 8 will be coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC via Steam sometime in the future.

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