By Navin Shenoy @ Intel

Over the past several weeks, we’ve been developing and validating updated microcode solutions to protect Intel customers against the security exploits disclosed by Google Project Zero. This effort has included extensive testing by customers and industry partners to ensure the updated versions are ready for production. On behalf of all of Intel, I thank each and every one of our customers and partners for their hard work and partnership throughout this process.

Based on these efforts, we have now released production microcode updates to our OEM customers and partners for Kaby Lake- and Coffee Lake-based platforms, plus additional Skylake-based platforms. This represents our 6th, 7th and 8th Generation Intel® Core™ product lines as well as our latest Intel® Core™ X-series processor family. It also includes our recently announced Intel® Xeon® Scalable and Intel® Xeon® D processors for data center systems.

The new microcode will be made available in most cases through OEM firmware updates. I continue to encourage people to always keep their systems up-to-date. There is also a comprehensive schedule and current status for planned microcode updates available online.

Read on…

Check out these latest hardware announcements for today from around the web. Also included are some hardware news bits, and on some days, a few rumors tossed in for good measure. Click on the links below to read the official press release, visit the products web page, or to an independent news source.

• Corsair Announces Obsidian Series 500D ATX Mid-tower Case
• Apacer Intros Commando Series DDR4-3600 and DDR4-3466 CL16 Memory
• ASUS Adds GeForce GTX 1050 2GB and GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Cerberus Series Graphics Cards
• Alphacool Announces the Eisbaer Liquid Cooler LT AIO Family
• Fractal Design Expands Meshify C Mid-tower Case Line-Up
• AOC Agon AG352UCG6 34-inch Curved Gaming Monitor Announced
• New Iiyama ProLite XB3270QS Monitor Offers QHQD at 32inch with IPS

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege Operation Chimera is officially deployed on the Test Server until March 2nd. Interested players can join exclusively on PC.

The Test Server is an alternative version of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege. The Test Server allows players to test upcoming gameplay features that will make their way into the main game itself. A consistent gameplay experience is not guaranteed on the Test Server.

Operation Chimera introduces two all new operators to the multiplayer roster, Lion and Finka, Elite members of the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN) Threat Unit. Additionally, Lion and Finka represent French and Russian counter-terrorism units, respectively, as biohazard specialists. Along with traditional, competitive Rainbow Six: Siege multiplayer matches, these new Operators will see their weapons and gadgets put into action in Outbreak, a new four-week co-op event that starts March 6th.

The limited-time Outbreak event will be made available periodically throughout the Test Server phase starting on February 20th, allowing the development team time to improve and implement fixes as necessary.

To get all the latest news on Rainbow Six: Siege, please visit www.rainbow6.com.

New DLC pack joined by a free content update featuring fully playable female faction leaders

The harsh environments of Africa and Arabia’s deserts forged hardy warriors and cunning leaders who used the shifting sands to their advantage. These are the factions of the Desert Kingdoms, coming to Total War: Rome II on 8th March.

The Desert Kingdoms Culture Pack introduces four new playable factions: The Kingdoms of Kush, Saba and Nabatea of the African/Arabian subculture, and the Masaesyli of Numidia. Each faction boasts unique new rosters of differing military strength, new building chains, and new technology trees.

A closer look at these four factions can be seen in the Desert Kingdoms Announcement Trailer HERE.

As well as the Desert Kingdoms Culture Pack, a free update to the base Total War: Rome II game will provide players with new playable female leaders and generals such as Cleopatra and Teuta. As well as these leaders, important female characters have been added to all campaigns and factions.

Full details on both this free update and the Desert Kingdoms Culture Pack can be found in the patch notes blog, HERE.

Desert Kingdoms is available for 10% off until its release day on 8th of March on Steam.

Total War: Rome II can be purchased via Steam HERE.

Submariners! We have excellent news for you.

Command: The Silent Service, the upcoming expansion/standalone for Command: Modern Air / Naval Operations will emerge from the oceans to reach your shelves on March 1st!

Undersea warfare from post-WW2 to the present: Explore the progression of submarine operations from the Korean War right up to today’s headlines. Witness first-hand how technological advances like the snorkel, nuclear power, cruise and ballistic missiles, silencing measures and advanced sonars, computers and torpedoes have radically expanded both the remit and capabilities of the submarine platform – and how its hunters on the surface and in the air improved their own gear and tactics to keep up in the race.

Stars and workhorses: Take charge of some of the most famous boats and classes of the post-war period – and some that you may have never heard of. USS Nautilus, the first-ever nuclear-powered submarine – and her counterparts beyond the Iron Curtain, the November-class. HMS Swiftsure, nemesis of the Soviet Northern Fleet in ’77. USS Parche, the most highly decorated vessel in the US Navy. Sturgeon-, Los Angeles- and Seawolf-class, frontline of the US sub force from the 1960s to the late-00s. Soviet/Russian conventional and nuclear-powered attack subs, worthy adversaries of NATO during the Cold War and beyond. Giants of the deep like the carrier-killer Oscar-class and the ballistic missile-toting Delta-class. And much more…

The busiest platform at sea: If you thought subs are only good for sinking ships and other subs, prepare to be amazed. Lay minefields right on the enemy’s backyard with them being none the wiser. Launch carefully-plotted cruise missile attacks against defended land targets. Creep up to surface vessels close enough that you can take underwater hull and screw photos – and remain undetected. Detect and record sensitive electronic emissions, the ones that radar/comms operators dare activate only when they think nobody’s around to sniff. Provide unseen escort to merchant ships in the middle of a crisis. Shower distant land targets with ballistic missiles armed with multiple nuclear warheads. Tap undersea communications cables in the worst moment of the Cold War. Covertly deliver special-operations teams ashore, or deploy swimmer delivery vehicles (SDVs) against capital ships to eliminate them out of the blue. And of course hunt down anything on the sea surface or underneath it, from miniscule patrol boats all the way to battleships, supercarriers and strategic missile submarines, using an array of torpedoes, missiles and other means. The depths are your domain – and your playground.

Watch the official Command: The Silent Service trailer HERE.

Check out these latest hardware announcements for today from around the web. Also included are some hardware news bits, and on some days, a few rumors tossed in for good measure. Click on the links below to read the official press release, visit the products web page, or to an independent news source.

• ID-Cooling Intros DK-03 Halo AMD Red CPU Cooler
• An Apology from EK Water Blocks to all the Enthusiasts
• EK Water Blocks Releasing New Monoblock with Digital LEDs for GIGABYTE X399 Motherboards
• EK Water Blocks Releasing New X399 Based RGB Monoblock for MSI Motherboards
• ASUS ROG Launches ROG Gladius II Origin Gaming Mouse
• Gigabyte Announces Aorus Z370 Ultra Gaming 2.0 Motherboard with Improved VRM
• Corsair Launches ONE Elite Small Form Factor Gaming PC
• AMD Provides Support for BIOS Update on 2nd Gen Ryzen – Boot Kit Available
• ELSA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB ST Graphics Card Released
• ASUS Unveils New GeForce GTX 1060 6GB Phoenix Graphics Card
• Thermaltake Completes Riing Plus RGB Series with 200mm Fan Model
• Ozone Launches Two New Giants Gaming Mousepads
• Raijintek Intros Macula 12 Rainbow RGB Fans

Cooperative Play, Historical Missions and Four New Divisions Debut

Paradox Interactive and Eugen Systems are making history today, with the release of Back to Hell for Steel Division: Normandy 44. Now available on Steam for Windows PC, the game’s second expansion features first-ever cooperative play, seven new historical missions, four new divisions, two new exclusive ace models and 58 new units. Don’t be a saint, get Back to Hell now for $14.99 MSRP.

In Back to Hell, players will lead 11 never-before-seen divisions into seven historically accurate battles (including five in co-op and multiplayer), based on real world operations. For each historical mission, divisions are set, and players have to choose the pre-made battlegroups they want to command. Battlegroups must fit into a greater plan to achieve common goals, which means players will have to fight and accomplish objectives with what they are given, not always what they would have chosen.

In addition to historical missions, Back to Hell features four new divisions: Allied (Demi-Brigade SAS and the 7th Armoured Division “Desert Rats”) and Axis (Festung Gross-Paris and 2. Panzerdivision), with 58 new units, like the Staghound, Wasp Mk.IIC, FFI Jagdpanzer IV, Jeep SAS, Maultier Mun and Panhard MG.

Back to Hell arrives alongside a free content update, Bulls on Parade, which adds a long-awaited random map option to the lobby, and features the free historical mission Operation Atlantic in solo, co-op and multiplayer. The 11th Armoured Division “Black Bull” is playable for the first time, and only available in this mission. It will team up with the 3rd Armored and face off against the 16 Luftwaffe and the 21 Panzer divisions.

View the Steel Division: Normandy 44 – Back to Hell release trailer HERE.

BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE! Paradox introduced a new bundle today, Steel Division: Normandy 44 Locked & Loaded, which contains the base game, deluxe edition content, Second Wave and Back to Hell. Available exclusively on Steam, Locked & Loaded gets players up-to-date on content and 10% off the cost.

For more information on Steel Division: Normandy 44, please visit the games official website.

Source: Gaming Intel

Call of Duty: WWII generated approximately $500 million in a $104.8 billion Gaming Industry during 2017. It’s a huge industry and Battle Royale games such as H1Z1, PUBG and Fortnite are becoming increasingly popular. With this in mind, Treyarch, the developers of Call of Duty 2018 will be looking to innovate new ideas. Could we see a Battle Royale Mode in Call of Duty for the first time ever?

The immense competition between Battle Royale Games such as H1Z1, PUBG and Fortnite has been the major topic of recent times. Fortnite managed to achieve another incredible milestone last week, the game hit 3.4 million concurrent players. If we compare that to PUBG, they’ve hit just over 3 million concurrent players on PC also. Between both Fortnite and PUBG, $1 billion was made last year so it’s fair to say that it’s in every developer’s best interests to tap into the Battle Royale community.

Battle Royale Games won’t be going away in 2018, in fact even more competitors will be going head to head against both Fortnite and PUBG. There’s no doubt Call of Duty will be looking into this and how this could affect their future earnings.

According to Activision, ‘the next three year slate for Call of Duty will be the best in the entire franchise’s history.’ This is very interesting considering Battle Royale is only quite recent. Their statement could be hinting that the next three years for Call of Duty will feature a Battle Royale Mode.

Here are several reasons why Battle Royale in Call of Duty 2018 is a strong possibility:

• Call of Duty won’t have to abandon Multiplayer and the Campaign – Fortnite originally started off as a PVE and later on added a Battle Royale mode.
• Call of Duty will be hoping to innovate new ideas and try out potential working formulas for the future.
• Battle Royale has made an appearance in Call of Duty Online China.

Also, for Battle Royale to happen, changes also need to happen:

• New and bigger maps
• Balanced Weapons – No overpowered assault rifles or shotguns we’ve seen in the past, Treyarch will have to be very aware and up to date on nerfing and buffing weapons.

With Battle Royale taking over the gaming market in 2017, there’s no doubt Treyarch and Activision will be wanting to join in on the action.

AMD has released the new Quad-Core Ryzen 5 2400G and Ryzen 3 2200G AM4 socket desktop processors, these new Ryzen CPU’s come armed with the world’s most powerful graphics on a desktop processor, featuring AMD’s Radeon Vega architecture. We have collected a number of reviews on AMD’s new Ryzen 5 2400G and Ryzen 3 2200G CPU’s, and you can read them via the links provided below.

• ANANDTECH
• TECHPOWERUP! – Ryzen 3
• TECHPOWERUP! – Ryzen 5
• HARDWARE CANUCKS
• TOM’S HARDWARE
• GURU3D – Ryzen 3
• GURU3D – Ryzen 5
• HEXUS

Check out these latest hardware announcements for today from around the web. Also included are some hardware news bits, and on some days, a few rumors tossed in for good measure. Click on the links below to read the official press release, visit the products web page, or to an independent news source.

• AMD Announces Ryzen 5 2400G and Ryzen 3 2200G with Vega Integrated Graphics
• Corsair Launches Wireless Version of the K63 Tenkeyless, Cherry MX Red Keyboard
• EVGA Announces All New G1+ Power Supplies
• EK Water Blocks Launches Two New EK Reservoir Combo Units for D5 Pumps
• BIOSTAR X370, B350, A320 Chipset Motherboards are AMD Raven Ridge APUs Ready
• AMD Introduces Wraith Prism CPU Cooler
• GIGABYTE AM4 Motherboards Add Support For AMD Ryzen Desktop Processors with Radeon Vega Graphics
• ASUS Gearing Up to Launch Their Strix Flare RGB Keyboard
• Silicon Power Introduces P32A80 and P32A85 PCIe NVMe SSDs
• New NVIDIA GPU is Named at Reuters, Called Turing