Author: Computer Tech

Yesterday, Nintendo’s Hong Kong office announced the establishment of a new subsidiary company in Taiwan—specifically, in Taipei City. Their official statement mostly outlines upcoming improved service benefits for local customers. The House of Mario has relied on contracted partners to take care of smaller regional markets. Evidently, their Taiwanese audience has relied on a third party company for over a decade. An older subsidiary—Nintendo Phuten—was shuttered back in 2014. The successor is chaired by Hiroyuki Matsumoto—on February 18, the new company representative delivered a message: “Thank you for your long-term support and love, I would like to express my sincere thanks. In order to further strengthen the business foundation in the Taiwan market and improve the service quality of customers, the company will establish a new local legal person ‘Taiwan Nintendo Co., Ltd.’ as one of the subsidiaries of Nintendo Co., Ltd. Starting from April 1, 2025, we will officially transfer our business in Taiwan to ‘Taiwan Nintendo Co., Ltd.’, and adhere to the business philosophy of Nintendo Group to continue to promote business development.” As reported by Nintendo Life, the veteran video game house has made serious inroads in the region—Taiwanese fans were greeted by a larger than expected (current-gen) Switch console showcase at Taipei Game Show’s 2024 edition.

On a surface level, Nintendo’s reestablished operation in Taiwan seems to be a customer-focused initiative. Certain gaming news outlets have disclosed more elaborate theories; based on reported problematic market conditions in China. The Chinese Nintendo eShop will be phased out by mid-May 2026, likely in reaction to the government’s introduction of new rules that: “limit the encouragement of spending in online games and battle video game addiction among young people.” Coincidentally, Shuntaro Furukawa (Nintendo’s President) recently new announced “contingency plans”—with a manufacturing model that will become less reliant on Chinese factories. The company chief discussed revised strategies in an interview with Reuters: “Nintendo Switch is not only manufactured in China, but in places such as Vietnam and Cambodia as well. We are predicting various geopolitical risks and establishing ways to respond…While we anticipate a certain impact, the influence on this year’s financial results is expected to be minimal. We will continue to observe the trends, and thoroughly consider how to respond.”

Under normal circumstances, Grand Theft Auto VI-related leaks have emerged from nefarious sources. Mid-February news reports have pulled information from an unlikely, yet fairly legitimate announcement. GTA franchise fans would not expect a leak to emerge from a company dealing in peripherals, but Corsair Gaming’s Ronald van Veen disclosed a slightly surprising prediction during a recent company call with investors. The organization’s financial VP believes that incoming AAA-blockbuster title will launch on PC mere months after an exclusive debut on home gaming consoles (PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series). Famously, Rockstar Games reserves a sizable time gap between its console and PC rollouts. An official statement—made back in December 2023—revealed a potential repeat of this release cadence; PC-bound GTA players feared another agonizing two to three year wait.

During an earnings call, Corsair’s finance chief discussed the impact of high-profile franchises: “in terms of new games, I mean, there’s been a steady stream of games. What we really haven’t had for the last year or two is what we could call a ‘Fortnite moment’ or ‘PUBG moment.’ So, people are typically playing older games. And I think for our component business and for people looking at new cards, obviously, that tends to depend on new games that are super demanding that you need high-performance graphics in order to get 60 frames a second…If you actually look at the numbers across the last five years, peripheral sales are substantially up, like 50% or 60% up compared to pre-COVID. So, more people are gaming, but not all are gaming on new games. The activity around PC builds or gaming PC builds is roughly on par with pre-COVID now….GTA VI is probably the one everyone is talking about. And we’ll get a glimpse of that, I think, later in the year for console. My understanding now it’s going to come out in the fall for console, and then early 2026 for PC.” Take-Two’s CEO—Strauss Zelnick—believes that Grand Theft Auto VI will boost consoles sales upon launch.

Earlier this month, IGN cornered the head of publishing—according to their resultant report: “Zelnick told IGN that the PC version of a multiplatform game can generate 40% of overall sales, or even more with certain games.” A direct quote reads as follows: “so with Civilization VII, it’s available on console and PC and Switch right away…With regard to others in our lineup, we don’t always go across all platforms simultaneously. Historically, Rockstar has started with some platforms and then historically moved to other platforms.” The Grand Theft Auto VI development team has toiled away for more than a decade—they are (reportedly) very accustomed to delays. GTA’s collective audience is bracing itself for a possible pushback into 2026.

‘); $(‘.tpu-fancybox-wrap’).css(‘maxWidth’, maxWidth);*/ instance.$refs.stage.on(‘transitionend’, function() { updateButtonPos(instance); }); }, onUpdate: updateButtonPos, afterShow: function(instance, slide) { updateButtonPos(instance); instance.$refs.inner.find(‘.fancybox-tpu-nav’).show(); }, beforeClose: function(instance, slide) { instance.$refs.inner.find(‘.fancybox-tpu-nav’).hide(); }, afterClose: function(instance, slide) { $(‘.tpu-fancybox-wrap’).contents().unwrap(); $(‘body’).removeClass(‘tpu-fancybox-body-wrap’) }, baseTpl: ‘

‘, }); }); } loadjs.ready([‘jquery’, ‘fancybox’, ‘swiper’], function() { attachLightbox(‘a[data-fancybox]’); if ($(window).width()<600) { $(‘.imgcontainer’).each(function() { var $this=$(this); if (($this.find(‘a’).length==1) || ($this.find(‘a’).length>7)) return; $this.addClass(‘swiper-container’); $this.find(‘a’).addClass(‘swiper-slide’).css(‘width’, ‘auto’).wrapAll(”); $this.find(‘.swiper-wrapper’).after(”); new Swiper ($this.eq(0), { slidesPerView: ‘auto’, slidesPerGroup: 1, spaceBetween: 15, pagination: { el: ‘.swiper-pagination’, clickable: true } }); }); } $(‘.newspost’).on(‘click’, ‘.spoiler > .button, .spoiler > a’, function(e) { e.preventDefault(); $(this).next(‘div’).toggle(); }); $(‘.newspost’).on(‘click’, ‘.ispoiler’, function(e) { e.preventDefault(); $(this).find(‘div’).css(‘filter’, ”); $(this).removeClass(‘ispoiler’); }); $(‘.contnt’).on(‘click’, ‘.newspoll_btn’, function() { popup.Show(‘TechPowerUp Quick Poll’,’Loading…’); $.get(‘/news-poll/options?id=’+$(this).data(‘id’), function(data) { $(‘#popup_content’).html(data); }); }); }); ]]>

Welcome to another week of new game releases and this week’s AAA title takes place in the same world as Pillars of Eternity, for those that were a fan of that game from a decade ago. If RPG games aren’t your cup of tea, how about a face full of Norwegian snow, or maybe the summer of 1995? How about some equestrian challenges, some pirate ninjas or maybe something a bit more dystopian? If so, we got the games for you this week.

Avowed / This week’s AAA title / Tuesday 18 February
Avowed is a first-person fantasy RPG set in the world of Eora, where your choices carve a path through war, intrigue, and ancient mysteries. Navigate a land in turmoil, forge powerful alliances or deadly rivalries, and wield magic and steel to shape the fate of the Living Lands—and your own destiny. Steam link

SNØ: Ultimate Freeriding / Monday 17 February
SNØ is a game about downhill skiing where you carve your way down various mountainscapes trying to score as many points as possible by pulling off high risk maneuvers and tricks. Go for the high score or simply flow through serene, arctic landscapes. The controls are easy to learn, and there are endless procedural mountains to explore. Steam link Lost Records: Bloom & Rage / Tuesday 18 February
Embark on a new narrative journey by the creators of Life is Strange. Film your summer of 1995 and create memories of a lifetime with your new friends. 27 years later, confront the dark secrets that made you all promise to never speak again after that fateful summer. Steam link Unbridled: That Horse Game / Wednesday 19 February / Early Access
Unbridled: That Horse Game offers you the ultimate horse experience, giving you the freedom to follow your own dreams and create your own unique story. Experience the freedom of riding, the challenges of horse sports, and the joy of breeding horses – all in a stunning virtual world. Steam link Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii / Thursday 20 February
Embark on an over-the-top, modern-day pirate adventure with an ex-yakuza, now pirate captain & his crew. Engage in exhilarating combat on land and sea in the hunt for lost memories and treasure. Steam link Peripeteia / Friday 21 February / Early Access
Peripeteia is a first-and-third-person role-playing stealth game taking place in alt-history cyberpunk Poland. Inspired by immersive sims from Ion Storm and Looking Glass Studios, Peripeteia expands on the formula with new ideas and an original setting. Steam link Also launching this week:
Microtopia and Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog

‘); $(‘.tpu-fancybox-wrap’).css(‘maxWidth’, maxWidth);*/ instance.$refs.stage.on(‘transitionend’, function() { updateButtonPos(instance); }); }, onUpdate: updateButtonPos, afterShow: function(instance, slide) { updateButtonPos(instance); instance.$refs.inner.find(‘.fancybox-tpu-nav’).show(); }, beforeClose: function(instance, slide) { instance.$refs.inner.find(‘.fancybox-tpu-nav’).hide(); }, afterClose: function(instance, slide) { $(‘.tpu-fancybox-wrap’).contents().unwrap(); $(‘body’).removeClass(‘tpu-fancybox-body-wrap’) }, baseTpl: ‘

‘, }); }); } loadjs.ready([‘jquery’, ‘fancybox’, ‘swiper’], function() { attachLightbox(‘a[data-fancybox]’); if ($(window).width()<600) { $(‘.imgcontainer’).each(function() { var $this=$(this); if (($this.find(‘a’).length==1) || ($this.find(‘a’).length>7)) return; $this.addClass(‘swiper-container’); $this.find(‘a’).addClass(‘swiper-slide’).css(‘width’, ‘auto’).wrapAll(”); $this.find(‘.swiper-wrapper’).after(”); new Swiper ($this.eq(0), { slidesPerView: ‘auto’, slidesPerGroup: 1, spaceBetween: 15, pagination: { el: ‘.swiper-pagination’, clickable: true } }); }); } $(‘.newspost’).on(‘click’, ‘.spoiler > .button, .spoiler > a’, function(e) { e.preventDefault(); $(this).next(‘div’).toggle(); }); $(‘.newspost’).on(‘click’, ‘.ispoiler’, function(e) { e.preventDefault(); $(this).find(‘div’).css(‘filter’, ”); $(this).removeClass(‘ispoiler’); }); $(‘.contnt’).on(‘click’, ‘.newspoll_btn’, function() { popup.Show(‘TechPowerUp Quick Poll’,’Loading…’); $.get(‘/news-poll/options?id=’+$(this).data(‘id’), function(data) { $(‘#popup_content’).html(data); }); }); }); ]]>

AMD is readying two important client segment processors powered by the next-generation “Zen 6” microarchitecture, according to a sensational new report by Moore’s Law is Dead. These are the “Medusa Point” mobile processor, and the “Olympic Ridge” desktop. The former is a BGA roughly the size and Z-Height of the current “Strix Point,” but the latter is being designed for the existing Socket AM5, making it the third (and probably final) microarchitecture to do so. If you recall, Socket AM4 served three generations of Zen, not counting the refreshed “Zen+.” At the heart of the effort is a new CPU complex die (CCD) that AMD plans to use across its client and server lineup.

The “Zen 6” performance CCD is being designed for a 3 nm-class node, likely the TSMC N3E. This node promises a significant increase in transistor density, power, and clock speed improvements over the current TSMC N4P node being used to build the “Zen 5” CCD. Here’s where it gets interesting. The CCD contains twelve full-sized “Zen 6” cores, marking the first increase in core-counts of AMD’s performance cores since its very first “Zen” CCD. All 12 of these cores are part of a single CPU core complex (CCX), and share a common L3 cache. There could be a proportionate increase in cache size to 48 MB. AMD is also expected to improve the way the CCDs communicate with the I/O die and among each other.

Going all the way back to the Ryzen 3000 series “Matisse,” the two CCDs on the client desktop processor have had Infinity Fabric links to the I/O die, but no direct high-bandwidth interconnects between the two CCDs. For threads to migrate between cores of the two CCDs, they would have to make a round-trip through the main memory. AMD is looking to solve this with the introduction of a new low-latency bridge connection between the two CCDs. If the goal is to enable threads to seamlessly migrate among cores of the two CCDs, cutting out round-trips to the main memory, then the purpose of this bridge interconnect is to establish cache coherency between the two CCDs. This would vastly lower intercore latency.

Here’s where things get very interesting. Apparently, the “Medusa Point” mobile processor is chiplet-based, and will use a single 12-core “Zen 6” chiplet, with a large mobile client I/O die built on an older node, likely the N4P. This mobile cIOD will contain an updated iGPU that’s powered by the newer RDNA 4 graphics architecture. It will also contain the chip’s memory controllers, and an updated NPU. We hope AMD works to increase the number of PCIe lanes put out by this I/O die, or at least update it to PCIe Gen 5. Pictures show small rectangular structures on the mobile client I/O die causing some speculation that it is some kind of low power island CCX with “Zen 6c” cores, although MLID lays this to rest by saying that these are workgroup processors (WGPs) of the iGPU. There are eight of these and a large slab of L2 cache, which seems to confirm that the iGPU is based on the RDNA 4 graphics architecture, and has 16 compute units (CU).

Since AMD is using the same CCD for “Medusa Point” as the “Olympic Ridge” desktop processor, you could expect variants of “Medusa Point” with 3D V-Cache. The 3D V-Cache technology is expected to be implemented on “Zen 6” much in the same way it is on “Zen 5,” with an upside-down stacking—3D V-Cache die (L3D) below, with CCD on top.

Given the increase in CPU core counts, especially with “Olympic Ridge” getting up to 24 cores with two CCDs, and the inter-CCD bridge interconnect for cache coherency, AMD is going to need a new client I/O die for desktop. We’ve already discussed this in older articles. The new cIOD is expected to be built on the Samsung 4LPP (4 nm EUV) foundry node, which offers improvements over the TSMC N6 DUV node the current cIOD is being built on. A key area of focus for AMD will be the memory controllers, which will be updated to support higher DDR5 memory speeds using technologies such as CKD. You can currently run a “Granite Ridge” processor with memory speeds of up to DDR5-8000 but using a 1:2 clock divider is engaged between FCLK and MCLK, with 1:1 speeds being limited to around DDR5-6400. The new memory controllers will look to increase speeds with 1:1, and unlock speeds beyond 10000 MT/s with 1:2.

Then there’s the matter of AI acceleration, and the new cIOD will present AMD with the opportunity to implement at least a 50 TOPS-class XDNA 2 NPU. Intel received flack for giving its “Arrow Lake” processors a 16 TOPS-class NPU that doesn’t meet Copilot+ requirements, and the company is probably working to fix this in “Panther Lake,” and so if AMD decides to implement an NPU on the cIOD for “Olympic Ridge,” we predict it will be at least 50 TOPS-class.

Back in January, we covered a report about AMD designing its next-generation “Zen 6” CCDs on a 3 nm-class node by TSMC, and developing a new line of server and client I/O dies (cIOD and sIOD). The I/O die is a crucial piece of silicon that contains all the uncore components of the processor, including the memory controllers, the PCIe root complex, and Infinity Fabric interconnects to the CCDs and multi-socket connections. Back then it was reported that these new-generation I/O dies were being designed on the 4 nm silicon fabrication process, which was interpreted as being AMD’s favorite 4 nm-class node, the TSMC N4P, on which the company builds everything from its current “Strix Point” mobile processors to the “Zen 5” CCDs. It turns out that AMD has other plans, and is exploring a 4 nm-class node by Samsung.

This node is very likely the Samsung 4LPP, also known as the SF4, which has been in mass-production since 2022. The table below shows how the SF4 compares with TSMC N4P and Intel 4, where it is shown striking a balance between the two. We have also added values for the TSMC N5 node from which the N4P is derived from, and you can see that the SF4 offers comparable transistor density to the N5, and is a significant improvement in transistor density over the TSMC N6, which AMD uses for its current generation of sIOD and cIOD. The new 4 nm node will allow AMD to reduce the TDP of the I/O die, implement a new power management solution, and more importantly, the need for a new I/O die is driven by the need for updated memory controllers that support higher DDR5 speeds and compatibility with new kinds of DIMMs, such as CUDIMMs, RDIMMs with RCDs, etc.