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The Nvidia RTX 5090 Founder’s Edition in an Ncase M1. The Nvidia RTX 5090 FE barely fit my 12.7-liter small form factor case, but using it was a dream. In 2022, I wrote that GPUs were headed in the wrong direction — their price, size, and power consumption were off the charts. And while I still believe that’s true, I can now confirm Nvidia has at least made one phenomenal exception in the size category: the two-slot “Founder’s Edition” of its RTX 5090 graphics card, on ***** January 30th. The last time Nvidia made a two-slot flagship graphics card, it was the 2021 RTX 3080 Ti FE — the 3090, 4080 and 4090 were gigantic by comparison. [/url] So, while my colleague Tom Warren was busy writing his full review of the new 5090 using the best gaming CPU, I wedged one of the $2,000 cards into my own aging mini desktop. I wanted to see whether the surprisingly small flagship GPU was truly ready for small form factor (SFF) cases — or, whether my beloved 12.7-liter Ncase M1 chassis is well and truly obsolete. To my surprise, it worked: all I needed was a new power supply to turn my backpack-sized daily driver into one of the most powerful gaming PCs in the world. At 4K resolution, I’m typically seeing more than double the framerate I get with an RTX 3080 Founder’s Edition, one of the last cards that could comfortably fit in the Ncase M1, to give you some idea. But I’m not going to suggest you do the same! For starters, we’re talking about a two thousand dollar graphics card and a one thousand watt power supply — which I actually saw consuming up to one whole kilowatt (as measured by my trusty Kill A Watt at the wall) in my Cyberpunk 2077 tests. With an RTX 3080, my system consumed over 200 fewer watts. Not that I minded having a space heater on these cold January days! But I literally had to wedge the 5090 into my Ncase M1 to make it fit, and even remove and reattach the video card’s bracket inside my case. And even then I couldn’t fully seal my desktop because the GPU’s new 12V-2x6 power connector occupies a chunk of space where my case’s side panel is supposed to go. You’ll want an SFF-ready case with more clearance than I have. It took a bit of elbow grease to get it in there. If not for that power cable... Still, leaving my desktop’s guts exposed was a small price to pay to toy with this much power! It’s enough to play games at 4K at their maximum settings, save for full ray tracing (aka path tracing). It’s even got enough horsepower to turn on path tracing, too, if you combine it with dynamic upscaling and/or fake frame generating tech. I normally play Helldivers 2 on an old 3060 Ti graphics card I bought for just $400, where I’m forced to rely on those tricks just to get smooth 4K-ish gameplay. It was quite nice, if expected, to finally max out that game on the 5090 instead. What I didn’t expect: my aging, space-constrained AMD 5800X desktop delivered the same performance as Tom’s open-air testing rig in quite a few of our 4K gaming benchmarks. I knew it was possible, but it goes to show that Nvidia’s fancy two-slot “double flow through” cooler really is suitable for SFF PCs. It depends on whether your games are CPU limited, of course, as my older PC does have a slower CPU — and most of today’s games tend to be at least somewhat CPU limited at 1440p resolution, where Tom’s system often pulled far ahead by 20 to 60 percent. Facing down the alien swarms and flying particles in Returnal, for example, Tom pulled 201 frames per second at 1440p while my diminutive desktop managed just 169fps; in Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, the most CPU-limited game we’re testing, my bottlenecked system averaged just 123fps to Tom’s 200fps. But that’s still over 120fps on max settings, more than enough for butter-smooth sessions of these single-player games! And if I were to pair my tiny tower with a 4K TV in my living room instead of a 1440p monitor, as many SFF PC builders might like to do, I’d have a blast — my 4K results always averaged over 60fps, and were often within just a few FPS of Tom’s open bench. And again, I’m typically seeing the RTX 5090 delivering more than twice the horsepower of an RTX 3080, making it quite the upgrade for SFF fans with deep pockets. That’s not necessarily something to celebrate, though: the $2,000 RTX 5090 admittedly costs more than twice as much as a $700 RTX 3080 did at its 2020 launch, and will be out of reach for most gamers even if shortages and scalpers don’t rear their ugly heads. When it comes down to it, I think the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 is a damn cool piece of kit. It makes me want to quote Ferris Bueller’s Day Off because it is so choice. It’s a noteworthy exception to the very annoying trend of GPUs expanding in every direction. But at $2,000, 575 watts of power by its lonesome, and with no other Nvidia board partner offering anything nearly as compact, it’s the exception that proves the rule. Photography by Sean Hollister / The Verge View the full article

The Pokémon Company The latest batch of new Pokémon TCG Pocket cards finally has a concrete release date, but it seems like you won’t be able to trade them right off the bat. The Pokémon Company announced today that Space-Time Smackdown, Pokémon TCG Pocket’s latest expansion, is set to debut at the end of the month right after the game’s trading feature launches on January 29th. While cards from the last set could all be obtained from a single type of pack, Space-Time Smackdown — which includes a number of monsters from Pokémon Diamond / Pearl / Platinum — will come from packs featuring the legendary Pokémon Dialga and Palkia. [Hidden Content] Along with Space-Time Smackdown’s announcement, TCPi also revealed a bit more about how the trading mechanic will involve two new types of in-game currencies — trade houseglasses and trade tokens. It seems as if there will be cooldown periods as well as a cost if you want to swap cards from Pocket’s Genetic Apex and Mythical Island sets with other players. But there will definitely be some waiting involved for people hoping to trade Space-Time Smackdown, which will not be tradeable until a later date after it drops on January 30th. View the full article

Extremely OK Games has announced the cancelation of its hotly anticipated title, Earthblade. The Celeste studio first announced the game back in 2021, but several years, delays, and in-house issues later, it has made the sad decision to pull the plug on the project before it could see the light of day. Fans who were looking forward to Earthblade will have to wait and see what comes next for Extremely OK. View the full article

The 2025 Oscar nominations have finally been unveiled, with Emilia Pérez, Wicked, and The Brutalist set as frontrunners, and crowd-pleasers like The Substance and Dune: Part Two also landing some solid hits. Read more View the full article

Dwarf Fortress is still the champion when it comes to the most in-depth sandbox games on PC, but there's another side of it that's just as rich and rewarding, and perhaps even an easier way to get started. Adventure mode transforms the dwarven management sim into a turn-based RPG with roguelike elements. Last year, developer Bay 12 Games brought its adventure mode to the Steam release in public beta testing and now, nine months on, it's finally ready for official launch. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: The most detailed sandbox game ever hits its lowest price on Steam Long-awaited Dwarf Fortress adventure mode is now playable on Steam Dragon's Dogma's goblin fights have nothing on Dwarf Fortress View the full article

2024 was the year of ARPGs. Between Last Epoch and Path of Exile 2, we've seen plenty of dungeon crawlers slither out of the shadows in the past few years, each of which adds their own spin to the traditional ****** slaying and build crafting experience. In the case of Sword of the Necromancer, the classic 2021 ARPG from Grimorio of Games, you can bend your foes to your will, resurrecting them to use as your own private army. Sitting at a 70% rating on Steam, Tama is back and better than ever in Sword of the Necromancer: Resurrection, a brand new remaster that you can play right now. Read the rest of the story... View the full article

Nvidia's GeForce RTX 5090 is here, bringing next-gen power with a $2,000 price tag. Featuring a 23% larger die, 33% more cores, and blazing-fast GDDR7 memory, it's built to dominate – but is it worth it? Read Entire Article View the full article

The r/Warhammer subreddit, a community of 388,000 Warhammer 40k and Age of Sigmar fans, has banned all links to the site formerly known as Twitter, X.com. It joins a growing number of online communities that have set up firewalls against X content since Elon Musk's speech at Donald Trump's inauguration. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Landmark Warhammer 40k CRPG Rogue Trader is almost 50% off for one day only The Warhammer 40k Horus Heresy book order, explained Warhammer 40k factions - all 40k armies and races explained View the full article

It’s only been a couple of weeks since the launch of the 2025 League of Legends season, and players are already complaining about the new Noxus map—with some even wanting an old-school festive map to return. The first split in the 2025 season for League will focus on Noxus, with the map, skin releases, battle pass, and more being related to this specific region in Runeterra. And with that, Summoners Rift has received a darker makeover, honing in on the spirit of Noxus. The map color has gone from bright, vibrant colors to a darker tone—in some ways, it feels like an autumn version. View the full article

Guilty Gear: Strive is a downright gorgeous game—gorgeous enough that it actually introduced me to the fighting game genre after a lifetime of abstinence. (I'm still a little sketchy on my dragon punches.) Its character intros and outros are lovingly animated in a 3D style that mimics 2D anime—which means it's only fitting that Guilty Gear Strive: Dual Rulers, an honest-to-keikaku anime, is arriving to Crunchyroll in April... Read more.View the full article

The Adventure Mode update for the paid version of Dwarf Fortress is officially out of beta and available to play. This content drop expands Dwarf Fortress with the addition of a turn-based roguelike mode, which is just as replayable and open-ended as the base game. View the full article

Desperate for more cards to drop in Pokemon TCG Pocket, because your army of cute soldiers can never be large enough? Well, good news, another new expansion is dropping for it next week, featuring new packs that'll give you a chance to pull Dialga and Palkia, who've apparently been messing with the fabric of the universe. . Read more View the full article

There's a new rumor regarding the world of graphics cards, hinting that the Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti ***** date could be February 20. This information comes from a European retailer, Proshop, which has put up the dates for several 5070 Ti cards from brands such as Asus and MSI. Nvidia has not indicated specifically when it plans to launch the RTX 5070 Ti. The more powerful variation of the two mid-tier Nvidia GPUs was expected to launch around the same time as the RTX 5070, but Proshop hasn't listed dates on any 5070 cards on its site. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 release date, price, and specs *** retailer only has "single digit" Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 stock for GPU launch Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 review: The fastest gaming GPU ever, but with a catch View the full article

A ***-based retailer has confirmed that stock of the upcoming Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 and 5080 gaming GPUs will be "mega tight." Overclockers ***'s Andy Gibson, or "Gibbo", the Purchasing Manager at the company said you would need "patience" if you wanted to buy one of the new Nvidia graphics cards. We've already assessed the new card in our Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 review, and while it's expensive, it's also the best graphics card you can buy now in terms of sheer power. Gibson's statement lines up with previous leaks stating that Nvidia is struggling to supply stock of the new RTX 5000 GPUs. He even suggests not selling your current GPU, or even buying an older, cheaper RTX 30-series or 40-series card in the meantime. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 review: The fastest gaming GPU ever, but with a catch Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 beats 4090 by up to 53% in shock 3DMark benchmark leak Nvidia brings DLSS 4 to 75 games as it gears up for GeForce RTX 5000 launch View the full article

The devs of art of rally, Funselektor Labs along with Strelka Games have announced over the hill, a new offroading exploration sim where you can bring a friend along for the ride. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6 is the best selling game of both December 2024 and the full year 2024 in the U.S., returning to the No.1 spot after Hogwarts Legacy took the crown in 2023. This is according to Circana data and analysis by Mat Piscatella shared with IGN. The annual Call of Duty release historically is almost always the No.1. best-selling game in the U.S. each year by dollar sales going back to 2008, with a few exceptions. Both Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption II beat it out in their respective release years, and in 2023, Hogwarts Legacy took the crown. Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6 was back on top this year, though it's possible that victory is short-lived given Grand Theft Auto VI's expected release late this year. This year, Call of Duty was also once again the best-selling franchise in the U.S. for a record 16th year in a row. EA Sports College Football 25, the No.2 best-selling game of 2024 and the No.3 best-selling game of December, was also the best-selling sports game in U.S. history. Not a single Nintendo game cracked the top 20 for 2024, though that's possibly because Nintendo does not share digital sales data with Circana, meaning all Nintendo first-party games on this list are only including physical sales in their rankings. That said, on the Nintendo Switch console, Super Mario Party Jamboree was the best-selling game of the year, followed by Mario Kart 8 at No. 2 and Mario & Luigi: Brothership at No.3. Most of the rankings for the month of December were releases from earlier in the year or even prior years, given a low number of new releases. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was the only new release ranking in December, at No.14. Because Circana tracks in dollar sales, we don't see new releases Marvel Rivals (free-to-play) or Path of Exile 2 ($30, as opposed to $60) on the top-selling games list. However, both ranked on Circana's tracking of the top games in the U.S. by Steam MAUs (No.1 and No.3 for December, respectively) and Marvel Rivals was also No.3 on PS5 and Xbox Series by MAUs. For the full year, content spending in the U.S. increased by 2% to $50.6 billion, the second highest total for content spending in U.S. history, behind 2021's $52 billion. There was an 11% drop in console content spending, but it was balanced out by growth in all other content areas. For December by itself, video game content spending was down 5% year over year to $5.8 billion. There was a 21% drop in console content spending in December, but PC content spending grew 13%. Hardware spending for 2024 dropped 25% from 2023 to $4.9 billion, with PS5 as the best-selling console of both the month and the year. Switch was second place for the year in unit sales, while Xbox Series finished second in dollar sales. Digital editions made up 45% of PS5s sold in the U.S. during 2024, and 44% of Xbox Series. For the month of December alone, hardware spending was down 29% from 2023 to $1.1 billion in December. All three console makers saw the drop: PS5 hardware spending dropped 18%, and Xbox Series and Switch both dropped by 38%. For the full year, overall spending on games was down 1.1% to $58.7 billion. For December, total spending dropped 8.9% year over year to $7.5 billion. The top 20 best-selling games in the U.S. for the month of December, based on dollar sales:Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6Madden NFL 25EA Sports College Football 25EA Sports FC 25Super Mario Party Jamboree*Sonic X Shadow GenerationsHogwarts LegacyAstro BotMinecraft*NBA 2K25*Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZeroElden RingMarvel's Spider-Man 2Indiana Jones and the Great CircleHelldivers IIMario Kart 8Mario & Luigi: Brothership*God of War: RagnarokThe Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom*Just Dance 2025 EditionThe top 20 best-selling games in the U.S. for the full year 2024, based on dollar sales:Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6EA Sports College Football 25Helldivers IIDragon Ball: Sparking! ZeroNBA 2K25*Madden NFL 25Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023)EA Sports FC 25Elden RingEA Sports MVP BundleHogwarts LegacyDragon's Dogma IIWWE 2K24*MLB: The Show 24*Grand Theft Auto V*Minecraft*Final Fantasy VII: RebirthTekken 8Marvel's Spider-Man 2NBA 2K24* * Indicates that some or all digital sales are not included in Circana's data. Some publishers, including Nintendo and Take-Two, do not share certain digital data for this report. Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to [email protected]. View the full article

Pokémon TCG Pocket’s next mainline set has been revealed with Space-Time Smackdown and a major update introducing trading. If you want to know all the cards you can get your hands on, we’ve got the details you need. Space-Time Smackdown is the second main set in Pokémon TCG Pocket, following on from Genetic Apex and the Mythical Island mini set. The meta is shifting with the addition of over 100 new Pokémon to the game, along with new Trainer and Supporter cards. View the full article

Space strategy game Galactic Civilizations 4 is ramping up soon with the introduction of its next expansion. First launched in October 2023, the latest entry in the long-running series of interstellar 4X games is set to get its next paid DLC in February, which will bring a wealth of new content including a distinct tech tree for Cybernetic civilizations. Before that, however, a free update out today introduces plenty of welcome upgrades, polishing, and balance changes. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Stellaris and Civilization 6 unite as iconic strategy game hits Steam Galactic Civilizations 4 expansion finally gets a full release date Galactic Civilizations 4 Supernova lets you AI-generate your own civs View the full article

The celebration of the Lunar New Year is in full swing in many games, and Delta Force kicks off with a smaller event that features fireworks. You can find multiple fireworks, including the golden Fortune Firework. Here’s everything you need to know about Fortune Fireworks in Delta Force and what to do with them. View the full article

Bungie reveals major changes planned for Destiny 2's competitive PvP mode, Trials of Osiris when Episode Heresy launched in February. Originally a popular Destiny game mode, Bungie would eventually bring Trials of Osiris back to Destiny 2, following a less than successful attempt at creating a similar experience with Trials of the Nine. View the full article

The gaming world is abuzz with excitement for the Nintendo Switch 2. Finally, after months of rumors, Nintendo unveiled its next console, alongside a tease of what appears to be Mario Kart 9. View the full article

Sure, you can fight against dinosaurs in Dungeons and Dragons already, and that is admittedly pretty cool - but there are only enough different dinosaurs in the Monster Manual to make them an occasional treat, or the focus of a single adventure. If you have a far larger appetite for thunder lizards, then the upcoming supplement 'A Time Traveler's Guide to Dinosaurs' might be exactly what you're looking for. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: All DnD classes explained All DnD books for 5e, from 2014 to 2024 This new DnD boss fight is a counterspell spamming nightmare, and I love it View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Troy Baker's performance in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was applauded at the 14th Annual New York Game Awards on January 21, earning the actor the Best Acting in a Game award. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was released in December 2024, too late to snag any accolades at The Game Awards 2024. View the full article

There are tons of Holobytes in Hyper Light Drifter, and being familiar with them all is really helpful for buildcrafting as each new run begins. With all the different types and rarities of Holobyte, it can be tricky to know which will be most beneficial for any one build. Until the library is added to the game, likely with Pherus Bit in the Outpost, players will need to keep track of existing Holobytes and their effects on their own. View the full article

Funselektor, the studio behind indie racing games Art of Rally, Absolute Drift, and last year's Golden Lap - all of which are very cool if you're into artsy takes on things that go vroom vroom, has just announced it and collaborator Strelka Games' next title. Read more View the full article