AMD is cooking up its next-gen Zen 5-based Ryzen Threadripper 9000 series "Shimada Peak" CPUs, which are leaking through new shipping manifests spotted online.

The first SKU to pass through is a 96-core part, which could very well be the full-fat version of the next-gen Zen 5-based Threadripper CPU. We should expect the new Zen 5-based Ryzen Threadripper 9000 series CPUs to slot into the existing sTR5 socket that the current "Storm Peak" CPUs use.

AMD took the time at Hot Chips this week to deep dive into its new Zen 5 core architecture, which is already powering the Ryzen AI 300 series "Strix Point" APUs for laptops, and new Ryzen 9000 series "Granite Ridge" CPUs on the desktop.

At Hot Chips this week, AMD went into detail abhout the journey of its Zen core architecture and how it launched in 2017 to fight Intel at levels never before seen, and AMD hasn't let up since. Zen was quickly followed by Zen+, Zen 2, Zen 3, Zen 4, and now Zen 5.

Zen 3 launched with a 19% increase in IPC performance over the Zen 2 architecture, while Zen 4 delivered another 14% IPC performance improvement over Zen 3, and now Zen 5 delivers a 16% IPC lift over Zen 4. Along the way, the Zen architecture picks up new features and tricks, like AVX-512 (FP-256) instructions, more cache, X3D models, and using TSMC's newest nodes.

Sony is raising the price of the PlayStation 5 in its home country for the third time, the company today announced.

The PS5 duo is about to get more expensive in Japan. Sony has revealed plans to raise the domestic MSRP of both the PS5 disc and digital editions alongside a multitude of peripherals within the region, culminating in the third PS5 console price hike in Japan since the system's launch.

The PlayStation 5 disc price will now be 79,980 yen ($550), an increase of roughly 13,000 yen ($90) from the previous cost. The PS5 digital edition is now priced at 72,970 (roughly $506), representing yet another increase of 13,000 yen ($90).

Windows 11 or 10 gamers who use a PS5 DualSense Edge controller for the titles where they prefer a gamepad to the mouse and keyboard will doubtless be pleased to learn that it's now possible to fully customize the peripheral on PC.

This is thanks to Sony releasing a new PlayStation Accessories app for Windows which lets you adjust all manner of parameters for the DualSense Edge.

As The Verge reports, you can use the app to customize the buttons, intensity of the haptic feedback, and also to adjust the deadzones for the triggers, and play with the stick sensitivity. Essentially it's possible to really fine-tune the DualSense to your own particular preferences for PC gaming.

Embracer Group's new quarterly report shows just how much the decentralized entertainment empire has cut from itself in an effort to stabilize and maintain profitability.

Like most of the video games industry right now, the Embracer Group has enacted some pretty harsh cost-cutting measures to help boost its margins. The group, which used to house a multitude of development teams and IPs from across the globe, went through a mass culling that saw thousands of people being laid off, and dozens of studios being shut down alongside dozens of game cancellations.

Recent figures from Embracer's Q2 2024 earnings report underlines how far these cuts actually went. We put together some numbers and graphs to illustrate the reductions in headcount, actual game projects, and studio closures.

Intel has announced new details on its new Xeon 6 SoC, Lunar Lake mobile processor, and Gaudi 3 AI accelerator and its OCI chiplet at Hot Chips 2024 this week.

First off, is the new Intel 6 SoC that combines the compute chiplet from Intel Xeon 6 processors with an edge-optimized I/O chiplet built on Intel 4 process technology. This enables the Xeon 6 SoC to deliver performance boosts over previous-generation Xeon CPUs with improved power efficiency and transistor density compared to previous-gen tech.

Intel will have more details about its next-gen AI PC processor, Lunar Lake, with Arik Gihon, the lead client CPU SoC architect, to talk about the new Lunar Lake CPU and how it's designed to "set a new bar for x86 power efficiency while delivering leading core, graphics and client AI performance".

Ubisoft's upcoming scoundrel-simulator Star Wars Outlaws may be pulling in solid pre-order numbers on PS5, updated PlayStation Store data indicates.

Star Wars Outlaws appears to be doing well on the PS Store. A quick look at the best-selling games on Sony's digital storefront shows that Ubisoft's third-person Star Wars game is in the top 10 games on the list, clocking it at #9, with mega-hits like NBA 2K25, GTA V, and Roblox taking a few spots above it.

This is a good sign for potential strong pre-orders for Star Wars Outlaws, at least in its current position on the charts. It's also interesting to note that reviews for the game have recently dropped and Outlaws has garnered a 77 rating on Metacritic with generally positive reviews.

IBM has just unveiled its new Telum II processor and Spyre AI accelerator, which it plans to use inside of its new IBM Z mainframe systems powering AI workloads.

The company provided details of the architecture of its new Telum II processor and Spyre AI accelerator, which are designed for AI workloads on the next-gen IBM Z mainframes. The new mainframes will accelerate traditional AI workloads, as well as LLMs using a brand new ensemble method of AI.

IBM's new Telum II processor features 8 high-performance cores running at 5.5GHz, with 36MB L2 cache per core and a 40% increase in on-chip cache capacity for a total of 360MB. The virtual level-4 cache of 2.88GB per processor drawer provides a 40% increase over the previous generation. The integrated AI accelerator allows for low-latency, high-throughput in-transaction AI inferencing, for example enhancing fraud detection during financial transactions, and provides a fourfold increase in compute capacity per chip over the previous generation.

Nintendo recently announced it is shutting down Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp's current iteration as a F2P mobile game, but it'll be coming back as a pay-to-play title on iOS and Android. Nintendo's historical earnings data might give some clues as to why this is happening.

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is Nintendo's 3rd most-popular mobile title with over 10 million downloads, so why is the company shutting it down, and re-launching it as a pay-to-play game? There's a few possible reasons for this.

The first is that NDCube, the development studio responsible for Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, may be too busy to actually upkeep the live game over time with new content and in-app purchases--especially via Pocket Camp's own subscription service. After all, NDCube has been pretty busy over the past 6 years, having developed 5x Switch games including two Mario Party titles.

AMD's new Zen 5-based Ryzen 9000 series CPUs are now out in the wild, but new high-end X870E motherboards aren't quite yet... but they will be soon: on September 30.

The news of a September 30 release for the high-end X870E and X870 motherboards is coming from Kenny on the Bilibili forums, who received the new ASUS ROG STRIX X870E-E GAMING WIFI motherboard, where he said that he can share his experience on September 30.

Kenny explained: "The newly launched X870 series motherboards for AMD Ryzen 9000 series processors are finally available. According to the official time specified by AMD, the motherboard can only be unboxed and basic specifications introduced without lighting on August 20, 2024. The official user experience sharing will be released on September 30, 2024".