Gaming in Taiwan. Reviews, Walkthroughs, News

The Tensor G3 found in the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro has so far disappointed when compared to its competition, making it imperative for Google to switch over to a fully custom solution to rival Apple’s A-series and the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 4. Unfortunately, it will take some time for the rumored Tensor G5 to arrive, but according to the latest update, it will be mass produced on TSMC’s N3E process, the same one used to fabricate next-generation SoCs for Qualcomm and MediaTek.

Sony has released its PlayStation Plus lineup for November.

Steam Deck OLED, Valve's updated handheld gaming device, is launching later this week. Ahead of the Steam-powered console's release, Valve has unveiled release timings. The handheld gaming device will be available to purchase November 16 at 10am PST in the US, Canada, the UK, and Europe via the Steam store. To combat scalpers who purchase newly launched devices in bulk to resell them at a markup, the company has limited purchases so each customer can only buy one model per week. Additionally, the company has announced a limited-edition version, featuring a smoky translucent case, available for $679 (about Rs. 56,500). This is available only in the US and Canada.

Valve has revealed the time when fans can expect to purchase the Steam Deck OLED, which was recently announced for a November 16 release. The announcement came with a renewed promise to combat bots and resellers, which have been an ongoing concern amid major releases like this one.

Every time Pokemon unveils some sort of weird crossover, you think that's it. After more than 25 years, the collaboration well has run dry. There's Pokemon milk for kids in Taiwan, Van Gogh-themed Pokemon merch in Amsterdam, and even collectible Pokemon Oreos. The crossovers keep on coming though, and the next one on Pokemon's agenda is a pricey one. A team-up with Tiffany & Co. which will include a Pikachu pendant priced at more than $31,000.

Disney Pixar's PSP title, Up, is coming to PlayStation's Classics Catalogue.

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. warned that a hoped-for smartphone market recovery is another year out, and that geopolitical tensions are fomenting a serious glut in global chipmaking capacity.

Valve has introduced the Steam Deck OLED, which offers more than just a better screen. It has many other improvements over the original model, ranging from faster Wi-Fi to a bigger battery. All of that being said, it isn’t advertised as a successor, and it’s no more powerful at running games than any other Steam Deck. It’s simply a premium alternative, like the Nintendo Switch OLED is to the regular Switch. You can check out our full review on the Steam Deck OLED.

Yet more evidence has pointed to an upcoming announcement for Lego 2K Goooal.

Unannounced football game Lego 2K Goooal! has leaked yet again, this time with official artwork via a listing on the PlayStation Store.

We’re still waiting for Konami to reveal new details on the trifecta of Silent Hill games it announced last year – Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill f, and Silent Hill: Townfall – but the company also has other projects in the works that aren’t officially confirmed. One of those – Silent Hill: The Short Message – has come to light thanks to classification ratings in South Korea and Taiwan, and now, more new details on the game have seemingly leaked.

Humble has announced the line-up of games for Humble Choice this month, which includes our 2021 game of the year Unpacking and has a bit of something for everyone.

India's viewing patterns have shifted from family viewing to personalised content consumption which is here to stay, as per Taiwanese display solutions company BenQ.

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.'s October sales slid, reflecting uncertainty in its business after Beijing launched an investigation into the world's biggest iPhone assembler.

The weekend is here, and some interesting stories from the world of artificial intelligence have also come to the surface today, November 4. In the first development, a group of researchers are now looking at AI to unlock the vocal and physical cues of a host of animals, with a special emphasis on cats. Scientists believe that AI can help us understand these creatures better. In other news, a Taiwanese American model has accused that a leading designer has uploaded an AI-edited image of her, in an attempt to make her appear white. The allegation raises a question about the malicious usage of AI to promote discrimination and racism.

Immutable operates both games and a Web3 gaming platform. And today it announced it is working with three upcoming web3 games: GensoKishi Online, Cursed Stone, and Sailwars.

Taiko no Tatsujin RHYTHM CONNECT is now available for iOS via App Store and Android via Google Play in Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau as a free-to-play title with in-app purchases.

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.

 Broadcom Inc. said on Monday that it expects its $61 billion deal to buy software maker VMware Inc. to close before a November deadline, working to reassure investors amid concerns that a slowdown in China's review process could quash the deal. 

NVIDIA's Blackwell B100 GPUs have reportedly entered the supply chain certification stage which is another step in the development of the next-gen AI powerhouse.

Apple Event October 2023: Apple Inc. celebrating eve of Halloween with a spooky-themed "Scary Fast" product launch event.

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.

The Tensor G3 ended up being a bitter disappointment from Google, despite being found in pricey flagships, as the SoC continues to be outperformed by the three-year-old chipset A14 Bionic. Fortunately, the company’s grand plans include developing its own chipset to rival what Apple mass produces every year for its iPhones, with one tipster stating that the Tensor G5 arriving in a couple of years will have a custom CPU and a self-made GPU too.

Apple enthusiasts may soon have a reason to celebrate, as a new leak hints at the return of the 12-inch MacBook in a more budget-friendly avatar. The 12-inch Macbook was discontinued in 2019 after introducing it in 2015 as the MacBook Air took its place. However, users have been speculating for a while whether Apple plans to introduce cheaper MacBooks that could provide a more affordable alternative to their existing lineup.

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Excellent news today, folks. The RPS guides team is once again back at full strength as we welcome two fresh faces to the Treehouse. Please give a big warm hello and welcome to Kiera Mills and Jeremy Blum.

The Wrath of the Lich King Classic PTR has been updated to Patch 3.4.3 Build 51831, which included two new mount models, the Magic Rooster and the Blazing Hippogryph. There is currently a promotion on Taiwan Realms for Wrath Classic players, after purchasing 90 days of game time you will be rewarded with the Magic Rooster. Both the Magic Rooster and the Blazing Hippogryph were previously available as TCG Loot Cards, releasing in 2009 and 2010. Before Chinese Realms were shut down, Chinese players were able to purchase TCG Loot Rewards on Classic realms.

Key iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. said it will collaborate with Chinese authorities on unspecified probes, following a report that officials are conducting tax audits and reviewing land use by parent Foxconn Technology Group Co. 

TSMC doesn't believe that Intel Foundry will surpass them in the coming years since the company revealed that its 3nm process is on par with Intel's 18A node.

The US Department of Commerce has announced new export restrictions on a range of Nvidia GPUs, with the focus primarily on preventing shipments to China. Predictably, the list of chips acquiring export-contraband status include Nvidia AI-optimized hardware. But a gaming GPU has made the list for the first time, too. Yup, no more GeForce RTX 4090 cards for China.

Foxconn, the world’s biggest electronics manufacturer, announced a strategic partnership with Nvidia to accelerate the development of electric vehicles and the AI that drives them.

The golden age of cheap memory and SSDs has been good to us all, but like all good things, it was never destined to last. At least not according to Techspot, which has reported that, due to forthcoming production cuts, the industry is likely to see an upswing in consumer prices towards the end of this year.

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.

A brand new poster for Studio Ghibli’s latest animated fantasy has been revealed, teasing the global releases of Hayao Miyazaki’s newest movie.

The North American WoW Token broke its previous records earlier today, reaching an all-time high of 402,169 gold! Thankfully, the price has already begun to drop since that peak earlier today, the market adjusting itself as players cache out on the record breaking sale, currently sitting around the mid-350k range according to wowauction.us and wowtokenprices.com. Graph and breakdown courtesy of wowauction.us. Interestingly, this spike earlier today also marked the first time that the North American token had surpassed the European one in concurrent value. It remained far lower than the Taiwan token though, which reached a worldwide record setting 1 million gold price tag last month, resulting in Blizzard actually suspending sales for several days, before releasing an updated policy requiring accounts to have purchased at least 30 days game time and have over 30 days played in order to purchase tokens for gold — new measures to try to combat the much more rampant bots and gold farming in that particular region. Opinions abound over what has caused this alarming inflation, with some blaming bots and other professional gold farmers, as the price has been growing from its low point of ~140k shortly after the launch of Dragonflight.

A mysterious user has been trying to infect US politicians and Taiwan’s president with spyware by circulating malicious links on Twitter/X.  

If you've been playing Baldur's Gate 3, you're likely to have missed out on a companion or two — as making certain decisions can affect who's available. Heavy spoilers for Baldur's Gate 3 are included in this article.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is said to be a step behind the A17 Pro as it is reportedly mass produced on TSMC’s N4P process instead of the Taiwanese’s next-generation 3nm process. Regardless of this difference, one rumor claims that Qualcomm’s upcoming flagship silicon is 30 percent more efficient than what Apple has outfitted in the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max this year, but consuming less power can often mean compromising on performance.

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang is expected to visit Taiwan, where he will reportedly attend Foxconn's yearly "Technology Day" event & expand collaboration with the company.

Drow Paladin Minthara seems like a cool character, even if she placed dead last in PC Gamer's Baldur's gate 3 companion ranking. To recruit her, you have to betray most of act one's questgivers and friendly NPCs to help a bunch of stinky goblins instead, and this route also sees you waving goodbye to companions Karlach, Wyll, Halsin, and possibly Gale.

In a new front in the U.S.-China tech war, President Joe Biden's administration is facing pressure from some lawmakers to restrict American companies from working on a freely available chip technology widely used in China - a move that could upend how the global technology industry collaborates across borders.

The advent of silicon photonics is the next big thing in the semiconductor industry, and it is now being reported that TSMC has joined hands with NVIDIA and Broadcom to accelerate R&D efforts.

Samsung and TSMC have yet to see yield improvements in their respective 3nm technologies. Though the Taiwanese foundry has already secured Apple as a long-term client, with future SoCs said to be mass produced on the updated N3E process, Samsung’s 3nm GAA node has yet to pick up steam, with a report stating that Qualcomm will not place orders if those yields do not climb to 70 percent.

Huawei circumvented the U.S. sanctions and introduced the Kirin 9000S to the industry, but it has broader goals for the future, and to help achieve that, some Taiwanese technology companies are helping the Chinese firm build chip firms all across the region.

One professional League Of Legends team not only won the gold prize at a tournament but also won an exemption from South Korea’s mandatory military service.

In Celebration of the Chinese 2023 Mid-Autumn Moon Festival on September 29th, Blizzard Taiwan has sent out a Wrath-themed gift box to friends and family that is based on their traditional puppet show retelling the fall of Arthas and subsequent rise as the Lich King. Blizzard Taiwan's Story of Arthas Puppet Production The gift box contains two kinds of traditional festival snacks themed after Arthas Menethil and Muradin Bronzebeard as well as a miniature Frostmourne replica. Instagram user laira918 provided photos of the gift box.

Years ago, I visited Houtong Cat Village, a former coal mining town in Taiwan that has since been taken over by cats. The place is a cornucopia of feline residents: black cats loafing on parapets, white ones lazing on motorbike seats, and even an exhausted calico lounging on top of the town’s weathered mascot statue. Cat-themed cafes and kitty kitsch are plentiful, and you cannot walk a few meters without crouching to greet a sleepy tabby. Time seems to slow down significantly there. Yet before you know it, the sun has set, the cats have retreated to the snuggest of nooks, and it’s time to leave.

As Patch 10.2 grows ever closer, Raider.IO is celebrating the end of Dragonflight Season 2 with another Break the Meta competitive dungeon event starting October 3rd, allowing players to showcase their mastery of off-season specs classes and earn awesome prizes like pets, game time, and the Smoldering Banner of the Aspects! In order for a keystone to be eligible for Break the Meta, it must be completed in time and made up of ONLY the following eligible specs:

MSI has launched a limited edition Nvidia green themed graphics card, the RTX 4060 Gaming X NV Edition. Only 6,000 of the cards will be made, with stock limited to a handful of countries.

We're thrilled to announce the return of GamesBeat Next, hosted in San Francisco this October, where we will explore the theme of «Playing the Edge.» Apply to speak here and learn more about sponsorship opportunities here. At the event, we will also announce 25 top game startups as the 2024 Game Changers. Apply or nominate today!

NVIDIA has reportedly finalized a deal with TSMC to utilize its 3nm process node for the creation of its next-gen Blackwell B100 GPUs for AI.

Pegatron, an Apple iPhone manufacturer, on Monday suspended iPhone assembly at its facility near Chennai, Tamil Nadu, due to a fire incident. The incident happened on Sunday night, three sources told Reuters. Pegatron, a Taiwanese firm, called off all shifts for the day at the factory. Workers are yet to be informed whether the facility will function on Tuesday. Pegatron in a statement told Reuters that "there was a spark incident" at the facility that is currently under control, and the incident "does not have significant financial or operational impact" for the company.

TSMC is reported to have bumped up orders for advanced CoWoS packaging equipment amid the influx of huge demand from tech companies like NVIDIA and AMD.

Magic: The Gathering’s Hasbro Pulse Con 2023 exclusive Secret Lair drops have been revealed, bringing with it not just another new series of Chibi Planeswalkers, but exclusive figures and a crossover with, of all things, Nerf.

Knightcore: Sword of Kingdom, the upcoming strategy RPG by developer Marscat Games, is now open for pre-registration in domestic regions. Originally released exclusively in Taiwan, the developer confirmed that it’s coming to Western Android devices on October 20, 2023.

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Intel Corp. Chief Executive Officer Pat Gelsinger, plotting a comeback for the once-dominant chipmaker, made the case that the company's technology will be vital to an industrywide boom in artificial intelligence computing.

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.

TSMC's predicted revenue for upcoming years is suspected to decline amid concerns about wafer output and the company's plans to "delay" its manufacturing processes.

The White House said it believes China's moves to institute and expand a government ban on iPhones is an attempt to retaliate against the US as it weighed in for the first time on the backlash against Apple Inc.

PC case maker Phanteks is pushing back against allegations that the company copied a fan design approach from rival vendor Lian Li. 

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.

Lian Li is suing a rival PC component manufacturer, Phanteks, for patent infringement, claiming that its new fans infringe on one of its patents involving daisy-chaining technology for RGB fans.

Meta has started rolling out its Meta Quest v57 update for its Quest virtual reality headsets. The update brings a range of new features and upgrades for Quest users such as unsending image messages, horizon feed, and more. But one of the most important feature upgrades to come from the update is an improvement to the avatar creator, as the company adds better customization options for users to fine-tune their appearance. Users will now be able to do a bunch of customization previously not possible such as adding highlights to hair, using a slider to pick a specific base hair color, and even choosing the color of your eyebrows. This was a feature many had asked for in the past and Meta has finally delivered.

By Jay Peters, a news editor who writes about technology, video games, and virtual worlds. He’s submitted several accepted emoji proposals to the Unicode Consortium.

Korean media reports that TSMC has teamed up with Broadcom & NVIDIA to develop cutting-edge silicon photonics, in order to provide massive transmission speeds for AI computing.

Italian tech website Chips 'n Bits reckons it has it on good authority that AMD will «sacrifice next Radeon gaming GPUs (RX 8000) output at TSMC in order to pump up FPGA and GPGPU production.»

TSMC has acknowledged that the immense demand from the AI sector has severely hindered their supply chain, claiming that the shortage of AI GPUs from NVIDIA and other companies could last up to 1.5 years.

In the tech manufacturing equivalent of digging around down the back of an old sofa, Framework has unearthed a bunch of completely functional old laptop mainboards while shutting down its original Framework 13 factory. It's checked them out, updated the firmware, and is now selling them for a fraction of the original price, with an i5 board costing just $199.

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries has begun exploring a foray into semiconductor manufacturing, a move that could address its supply chain needs and cater to growing chip demand in India, two people familiar with its strategy said.

Apple iPhone launch event: The smartphone industry is abuzz with hype about the Apple Wonderlust event where the iPhone 15 series is set to be unveiled. The Cupertino-based tech giant is expected to launch four devices as part of its next iPhone series - iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. While the standard models have been tipped to receive a handful of new features such as Dynamic Island, 48 MP camera, and USB Type-C, the Pro variants are set to gain more premium features such as an action button, and a titanium frame.

MediaTek decided to skip its upcoming Dimensity 9300 launch casually and, through a joint press release with TSMC, officially announced that both companies have developed the world’s first 3nm chipset. The announcement comes less than a week after Apple is set to unveil its own 3nm SoC, the A17 Bionic, but sadly, MediaTek’s cutting-edge silicon will not be available this early because, according to the details, it will enter volume production in 2024.

The fall season is upon us, which means one thing: an import of new K-dramas on Netflix.

Intel plans on taking the help of TSMC in the future, as its foundry division becomes a victim of delays and process inefficiencies.

The date is set for the launch of the iPhone 15 series after Apple confirmed that its ‘Wonderlust' event will take place on September 12. Among all the models, this year a special focus is on the iPhone 15 Pro Max due to the huge list of rumored upgrades it may feature. A periscope zoom lens that can take its optical zooming capabilities to 5X-6X is being considered by many experts as the game changer. However, all these improvements are also expected to come at an increased price. So, what can the iPhone 15 Pro Max price be? Let us take a look.

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.

The surprise launch of a sophisticated $900-plus Huawei Technologies Co. smartphone has captivated China's technology industry, inspiring hopes that the country's biggest firms can overcome US sanctions seemingly designed to thwart their ascendancy.

Chinese law enforcement may be behind a disinformation operation that’s been trying to spread propaganda across dozens of social networks, according to Facebook’s parent Meta.