By
Paula ParisiJanuary 22, 2025
At CES 2025 this month, LG Electronics debuted its LG UltraGear OLED Bendable Gaming Monitor, positioning it as the world’s first 5K2K-resolution bendable OLED display. The 45-inch 45GX990A can transition from completely flat to a 900R curvature within seconds, allowing users to customize their gaming experience. An upgraded Dual-Mode feature can switch easily between resolution and refresh rate presets, accommodating different aspect ratios and picture sizes. And the zippy 0.03ms (GtG) response time aims to provide heightened immersion. It did not go unnoticed at the show that the display also offers smart streaming options. Continue reading CES: LG Debuts a Dual-Mode Bendable 5K2K Game Monitor
By
Paula ParisiJanuary 21, 2025
Sony has debuted a full-body Mocopi mobile motion capture system as part of the ecosystem to support its new extended reality brand XYN (pronounced “zin”), also launched at CES 2025 in Las Vegas. The Mocopi Pro Kit for the new professional mode of Mocopi is available as a PC app and as the XYN Motion Studio app. The apps provide capture and editing functions, while each Pro Kit includes two sets of six lightweight Mocopi sensors, two newly announced Sensor data receivers and an additional set of Sensor bands. The new professional mode expands coverage by connecting 12 Mocopi sensors. Continue reading CES: Sony Mocopi Adds Full-Body Pro Kits for PC, XR Mocap
By
Paula ParisiJanuary 21, 2025
Sony has launched XYN, a platform for the creation and display of spatial content. Pronounced “zin,” XYN is an integrated software and hardware solution that “accurately captures real-world objects, human motion, and backgrounds, recreating them in virtual environments for 3D computer graphics production,” according to Sony. In addition to the XYN Motion Studio, at CES 2025 this month the company shared prototypes for a XYN spatial capture solution and a XYN headset equipped with 4K OLED micro displays and video see-through function that Sony says is intended for production purposes. Continue reading CES: Sony Bows Production Tools for Metaverse, Digital Twins
By
Hank GerbaJanuary 15, 2025
Lenovo announced the Legion Go S, the first device outside of Valve’s own hardware to officially ship with SteamOS. Launching in May 2025, the $499 handheld gaming PC joins Valve’s Steam Deck in the lower-price segment of the PC handheld market. The device features an 8-inch display with 120Hz variable refresh rate and runs on a Lenovo-exclusive AMD Ryzen Z2 Go chip. Lenovo plans to release both SteamOS and Windows versions, with the Windows variant arriving first. The device introduces several technical improvements over its predecessor, replacing detachable controllers with an integrated grip design. Continue reading CES: Lenovo Reveals Third-Party SteamOS Gaming Handheld
By
Douglas ChanJanuary 9, 2025
During the “Speed, Customization, Innovation: AI in Gaming” panel during CES this week, game publishers and developers shared their latest insights regarding how they use generative AI tools. A prevailing question involved the impact of AI’s ability to generate pixels and video frames efficiently — especially in light of Nvidia’s keynote the prior evening announcing its new Blackwell RTX 50 Series GPUs’ enormous ability to do so. Other opinions shared during the panel included thoughts on whether AI is overhyped for gaming and wish lists for fixing the limitations of AI tools. Continue reading CES: Thoughts on the Benefits and Limitations of AI in Gaming
By
Debra KaufmanJanuary 9, 2025
When it comes to gaming, Microsoft is not just about Xbox, the popular gaming console it introduced in 2001. Microsoft VP of Global Revenue & Business Planning Jonathan Stringfield wants brands to know that they can reach a broad ecosystem of gamers not just on its console but on mobile devices and PCs. “Consumers expect to be able to watch entertainment across platforms,” he said during a CES 2025 panel discussion. “That’s what we’re doing in the gaming space. And that’s a space that is exploding — not just in overall numbers but who those gamers are.” Continue reading CES: Microsoft Courts Brands for Its Three Gaming Platforms
By
Douglas ChanJanuary 8, 2025
Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang kicked off CES 2025 with a keynote that was filled with new product announcements and visionary demonstrations of how the company plans to advance the field of AI. The first product that Huang unveiled was the GeForce RTX 50 series of consumer graphics processing units (GPUs). The series is also called RTX Blackwell because it is based on Nvidia’s latest Blackwell microarchitecture design for next generation data center and gaming applications. To showcase RTX Blackwell’s prowess, Huang played an impressively photorealistic video sequence of rich imagery under contrasting light ranges — all rendered in real time. Continue reading CES: Nvidia Unveils New GeForce RTX 50, AI Video Rendering
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Douglas ChanJanuary 8, 2025
In the conference track of CES this year is a lineup of talks and panels on gaming and esports. During the “Generational Shifts: The Evolution of Gaming” panel, moderated by Consumer Technology Association (CTA) Senior Manager of Market Research Steven Hummel, industry executives and thought leaders shared their views on market trends emerging post-pandemic and how those trends are driving gaming across other media. While it is not surprising to hear that the average age of gamers tends to skew younger these days, perhaps the bigger takeaway is that gaming has become the new social media for many. Continue reading CES: Gaming Is the New Social Media for Young Generations
By
Debra KaufmanJanuary 7, 2025
During the COVID-19 pandemic, gaming enjoyed a tremendous surge in popularity — a high point that has suffered somewhat of a dip in the last year. However, gaming executives are bullish on their 2025 prospects. “During the pandemic we saw double digit growth in mobile, PC and console,” explained Sensor Tower SVP of Gaming & Entertainment Chirag Ambwani. “And now, in the last six months, we’re seeing gaming coming back to growth after that slight dip.” Better, some trends are highlighting the growing importance of gaming, suggest the experts. United Talent Agency’s Michelle Kim moderated a CES panel on Gamevertising to address the latest trends. Continue reading CES: In-Game Sponsorships, Gamified Promos Build Brands
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Debra KaufmanJanuary 7, 2025
Fourth Frame Studios Head of Studio Oluwafemi Okusanya held a conversation with Blizzard Entertainment Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Monica Austin on how her company is defining its IP in the marketplace. Austin reported that “World of Warcraft” just had its 20th anniversary and reached one-quarter of a billion players. “Blizzard was the first studio to recognize community,” she said. “For the next 20 years, we want to think about a modern version of building community. Community from a marketing and Blizzard lens is the biggest opportunity for exploring our IP.” Continue reading CES: Power of Gaming IPs, Why Games Are the New Comics
By
Paula ParisiDecember 12, 2024
World Labs, the AI startup co-founded by Stanford AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li, has debuted a “spatial intelligence” system that can generate 3D worlds from a single image. Although the output is not photorealistic, the tech could be a breakthrough for animation companies and video game developers. Deploying what it calls Large World Models (LWMs), World Labs is focused on transforming 2D images into turnkey 3D environments with which users can interact. Observers say that reciprocity is what sets World Labs’ technology apart from offerings by other AI companies that transform 2D to 3D. Continue reading World Labs AI Lets Users Create 3D Worlds from Single Photo
By
Paula ParisiDecember 6, 2024
Google DeepMind’s new Genie 2 is a large foundation world model that generates interactive 3D worlds that are being likened to video games. “Games play a key role in the world of artificial intelligence research,” says Google DeepMind, noting “their engaging nature, challenges and measurable progress make them ideal environments to safely test and advance AI capabilities.” Based on a simple prompt image, Genie 2 is capable of producing “an endless variety of action-controllable, playable 3D environments” — suitable for training and evaluating embodied agents — that can be played by a human or AI agent using keyboard and mouse inputs. Continue reading DeepMind Genie 2 Creates Worlds That Emulate Video Games
By
Paula ParisiNovember 13, 2024
Nvidia is updating its cloud-based GeForce NOW game platform with 1440p streaming, ultrawide resolution and, in lieu of a price increase, a 100-hour monthly playtime cap for new subscribers at the Priority tier (now called Performance), or Ultimate level, effective January 1. Existing Priority members will be automatically upgraded to Performance, which also lets members save in-game graphics settings across streaming sessions, including GeForce RTX features in supported titles. Ultimate members continue with RTX 4080-powered game performance of up to 4K resolution at 120 fps, or 1080p and 240 fps in Competitive mode. Continue reading Nvidia Ups GeForce NOW Gaming Cloud to 1440p Streaming
By
Paula ParisiNovember 12, 2024
Nintendo has released a new app designed to delight gaming fans who have embraced the music featured in popular games such as “Super Mario Bros.,” “The Legend of Zelda” or “Pokémon.” Nintendo Music parses nearly 40 years of musical history from the Japanese gamemaker, available free via the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service on iOS and Android. Users can stream songs or download for offline listening, building their own playlists to share or accessing Nintendo-curated programming. Recommendations will propagate based on a fan’s Nintendo Switch play activity. Continue reading Nintendo Music Debuts with 40 Years of Tunes for Switch Subs
By
Paula ParisiNovember 1, 2024
Propelled by increasing demand for artificial intelligence services, Microsoft cloud solutions, which includes the Azure platform, was the star of the quarter, bringing in $38.9 billion for 22 percent growth year-over-year. Revenue was $65.6 billion, up 16 percent, while profit increased by 11 percent, to $24.7 billion. While Microsoft financials don’t break out AI — now embedded across numerous products — Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella says AI “is on track to surpass an annual revenue run rate of $10 billion” by December 31, “making it the fastest business in our history to reach this milestone.” Continue reading AI Surges: Microsoft Quarterly Revenue Climbs to $65.6 Billion