Folks who admire their MacBook Pros can be divided into two broad categories that cannot see eye to eye - those who hate the touch bar, and those who think it did no harm. Either way, Apple felt it was best to send it the way of 3D Touch, after facing constant criticism over its lack of reliability.

To be fair, the touch bar was never a bad idea. It was entirely Apple's implementation and lack of usability updates that made it a chore to use. However, there remain people who miss its presence, as it was somewhat useful when scrubbing through videos or throwing in emojis every now and then. For such people, ENIAC technology has started a kickstarter campaign that promises to bring back the utility - and woes - of the infamous touch bar.

Grab your gear and your controller, soldiers. It's time to return to the battlefront. During yesterday's Nintendo Direct, Aspyr and Lucasfilm Games revealed Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection, which will see the beloved Star Wars Battlefront (2004) and Star Wars Battlefront II (2005) introduced to a new generation. Coming March 14 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC via Steam for $35.01.

Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection features restored online play for up to 64 players, expansions to Hero Assault mode, and all previously released bonus content for both titles. Steam users will also enjoy Steam Deck support. Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection includes a galaxy of content inspired by the original and prequel trilogies, from famous battles across Episodes I-VI, to playable heroes and villains like Asajj Ventress, Darth Vader, and more, to unique modes and challenges.

You can now play the demo for 9-Bit Armies: A Bit Too Far in the Steam Next Fest. Start your first strategic steps into 9-Bit Armies with the Overlords campaign. Play the first three missions, each with unique objectives and unlocks to try. Can you get a perfect result against our new AI challengers? After you have established control of your new forces commander try our new challenge mode, each one comes with a unique set of goals and twists to the game. Come back for a new challenge as we update them over Next Fest and see if you can reach the top spot on the leaderboard. Be sure to wishlist us and prepare for the full release that will include the co-op campaign, skirmish and multiplayer modes, and new modding support going far beyond what the previous game could do. Now go blow something up commanders!

Retro Real-Time Strategy Cranked Up To 9!
From Real-Time Strategy veterans Petroglyph comes 9-Bit Armies: A Bit Too Far the sequel to their triumphant 8-Bit series of games. In 9-Bit Armies rally your military forces across a variety of battlefields and act out your strategy over land, sea and air. Deploy your airborne soldiers, destroy bridges, and aim your superweapons in a new kind of pixelated pyromania. Whether you are brand new to real-time strategy wargames or an experienced commander - 9-Bit Armies provides an extra bit of fun.

Steam Next Fest is here and we're thrilled to have you join us to play the first-ever public demo of Stormgate! The Steam Next Fest demo includes full access to the current closed beta phase, codenamed "Elephant." (Each Stormgate playtest build is named after a classic RTS unit, in alphabetical order.) Here are some key insights into the current game state and what you can look forward to during the playtest.

How to Play With Friends
While our party system is still under construction, you can easily play with friends by creating custom games, either public or private, and sharing the Lobby ID. Crush that smack-talkin' Major Galt together in our 3P co-op map, WRECK HAVOC!

Ancient forces threaten Sanctuary. Aided by your Seneschal Companion, hazard the many traps and devastating Constructs beneath the deserts of Kehjistan. Deep beneath the swirling sands, elemental forces are amassing for malicious whims of the demon Malphas. Only by descending far below the surface will you be able to cull this cursed threat from its root. Season of the Construct begins on January 23 at 10 a.m. PST. Prepare to uncover the powerful secrets of Zoltun Kulle's Loom with a new Dungeon type called Vaults, a seasonal robotic Seneschal Companion, and Weekly Leaderboards in The Gauntlet. Several key quality-of-life features—including almost constant Helltide events—arrive to help aid your conquests while fighting in the Vaults.

UNEARTH ZOLTUN KULLE'S LEGACY IN A NEW QUESTLINE
A new threat lurks deep beneath the sands of Kehjistan, where the Loom, an ancient technology—designed by Zoltun Kulle and Ayuzhan of Caldeum—has been usurped by the forces of evil. The Demon Malphas is responsible for twisting the Loom for his cruel whims. Zoltun's former companion Ayuzhan leads you through the treacherous Vaults, desperate to stop the formidable Malphas and his deadly constructs from overtaking Sanctuary. Travel to the Gatehall, a town center underneath Kehjistan that serves as your base of operations in the fight against the Constructs. The Gatehall is your conduit to access the deadly Vaults—riddled with elemental Hazards and Constructs, these Vaults are the key to harnessing the true potential of the Loom. Travel to the Loom to stop the threat at its source and defeat Malphas in a new Boss fight. To play the Season of the Construct Seasonal Questline, you must create a new character on the Seasonal Realm and have completed the Main Campaign. Take advantage of the Skip Main Campaign feature once you've completed the prologue if you want to jump right in!

Last week Bethesda announced AMD as its exclusive partner for Starfield on the PC platform, although the short video presentation did not tease upcoming hardware/software bundles. Details of a Ryzen 7000-series CPUs promotional campaign emerged seven days later thanks to a mini-store page appearing on Newegg's retail site. The Starfield promo was not active at the time, but AMD Taiwan has made it official that the event will be going live on July 11 (at least in that territory).

According to the freshly published event site their offer will be running until September 30, and product serial numbers will not be redeemable after October 28. Eligible hardware includes the aforementioned Ryzen 7000 processor family, as well as Radeon GPUs. Thankfully Team Red has made sure to make a significant number of RDNA 2 models eligible for the Starfield incentive, with the entry point being RX 6600. All discrete RDNA 3 cards qualify—starting with RX 7600 and jumping up to the expensive RX 7900 XT and 7900 XTX GPUs. AMD Taiwan's info graphics show a two tier system—Standard Edition (NT$1990) applies to buyers of Ryzen 5/7 7000 series CPUs or Radeon 6600 through 7600 cards. Premium Edition (NT$2890) will grant a 5-day early access period—exclusive to buyers of Ryzen 9 7000 CPUs or Radeon cards starting at RX 6700.

You've been asking for it, and today is the day. With two upcoming downloadable content releases and additional, exciting cosmetic updates, players can look forward to a new level of adventure in Dead Island 2. Let's dive into what awaits:

First expansion: How does a billionaire prepare for the zompocalypse? A techno-death cult with a healthy splash of debauchery and gore! The first story expansion, Haus, will release in Q4, 2023.

Second expansion: Welcome to the SOLA festival, where LA's party people can greenwash their way to ecstasy and save the planet, one rave at a time. So L.A! SOLA Festival, will launch in Q2, 2024.

A huge thank you to all of our Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition players for your record-setting support and to everyone who has played Return of Rome so far! This is the biggest DLC launch in Age of Empires II history! We've been listening to your feedback and would like to share our plan to address the concerns regarding your in-game experience and your desire to see Age of Empires campaigns in Return of Rome.

We are actively monitoring the issues you're reporting and will address them as soon as possible. This includes disruptions to your hotkey settings, issues preventing UI mods from loading in correctly, and games failing to load. The hotkey disruption was a one-time adjustment. You can visit our support page if you need help getting them reconfigured. Our teams are paying close attention to the reports you make and are thankful for your continued trust.

Over the last few months, we have communicated details about customization, Endgame offerings, moment-to-moment gameplay, and given players a first-hand taste of Sanctuary through Act I during our Early Access and Open Beta Weekends. But what about the post-launch experience, and how do we plan to increase the heat? We'll answer this question by explaining our approach to Seasons, Season Journeys, Battle Pass, and the Shop, and how they work in unison to enhance and diversify the robust campaign and Endgame offerings available to players at launch. There was also a Diablo IV Developer Update Livestream today (see below) that further expands on the aforementioned areas—give it a watch after reading this blog.

Stoking the Flames of Hell: Seasons
Seasons are quarterly releases that will add additional gameplay features, questlines (with new and old faces alike), Battle Passes, Legendary Items, class balance changes, quality-of-life improvements, and much more. Seasons will introduce fresh concepts and ideas into the world of Sanctuary, for all wanderers to enjoy while simultaneously iterating upon your baseline experience. Above all, we want Seasons to be celebratory moments; something to look forward to and enjoy with your friends and other members of the Diablo community. Season 1 will begin in mid to late July, and to embark on this next chapter, you must first complete the Campaign. Because of this, we recommend you begin your pursuit of Lilith in advance so you can jump into the first Season as soon as it becomes available.

Deep Silver's intended hype train, has been derailed slightly today, for its forthcoming zombie splattering blockbuster ARPG shooter Dead Island 2. A launch trailer was uploaded to the game's official YouTube channel this afternoon, in hope of generating more pre-release internet interest. The uptick in marketing efforts has gained some gaming community attention, but leaked gameplay footage was uploaded to YouTube only hours before the debuting of the official launch video. A streamer identifying as Lucas Cosmico is reported to have played a pre-release version of Dead Island 2 last night, and proceeded to stream the opening moments of the single player campaign - 30 minutes of gameplay footage is still accessible on their YouTube channel at the time of writing, but potential legal action is likely to result in a takedown order.

The Dead Island 2 development cycle has not been a pleasant experience for those involved, according to multiple news pieces reported across the project's lifespan of more than a decade. Several studios have worked on the game, but publisher Deep Silver sought to remove the involvement of Yager and Sumo Digital at different stages of development. Dambuster Studios was declared, by THQ Nordic back in 2019, as the final resting place for Dead Island 2's production push. The Nottingham, UK-based studio happens to be a subsidiary of Deep Silver - the studio was offloaded to D.S. by Crytek in 2014, following substantial financial difficulties.

The Return of Rome campaign is set for a May 16 2023 release date according to a tweet posted by the official Age of Empires account. The latest campaign expansion for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition follows several (almost) yearly DLC drops since the re-mastered strategy game's debut in late 2019 - Lords of the West (January 2021), Dawn of the Dukes (August 2021) and Dynasties of India (April 2022). Last year's India campaign added a significant amount of content, in the form of three new civilizations: the Bengalis, Dravidians, and Gurjaras. Three new campaigns were added to the base game and introduced a trio of new empires: Babur, Rajendra, and Devapala. The entire Indian civilization within the game was renamed to the Hindustanis.

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Return of Rome was first announced, albeit briefly, during a livestream on 25 October 2022, which celebrated the 25th anniversary of the real time strategy game series. Details are scarce about the actual content on offer, but the upcoming campaign is expected to feature all 16 of the original civilizations from the first entry in the franchise (AoE) according to an internal Xbox Games Studios memo.

Relic Entertainment, Inc and SEGA Europe Limited are excited to announce that Company of Heroes 3, the next instalment in the beloved RTS franchise, releases on PC via Steam on November 17th, 2022. Company of Heroes 3 will bring fans and newcomers to the series with the biggest and deepest single player experience in the franchise's history. CoH3 will offer four playable factions at launch and two unique single-player experiences, with the Italian Dynamic Campaign and the North African Operation.

Those eager to get their hands on Company of Heroes 3 won't have to wait until November to play it. Head over to CompanyOfHeroes.com now and sign up for Relic's community feedback program, COH-Development, to gain access to one mission from the newly revealed North African Operation. Players can try out the Mission Alpha and take command of the infamous Deutsches Afrikakorps (DAK) as they attempt to repel the British from their entrenched positions. The Mission Alpha is free to play on Steam for one week from Tuesday July 12 to July 19.

Activision today announced the reincarnation of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, called Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered. "Originally developed by Infinity Ward, and now remastered by Beenox, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered delivers the full story experience with stunning high-definition visuals and the latest audio advancements. Whether you lived it back in 2009 or have yet to play this iconic blockbuster campaign, this is an experience hailed by critics as one of the most memorable and incredible single-player story campaigns ever." - said Activision in their announcement blog post.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered is now available on the PlayStation 4, while support for the rest of the platforms will come on April 30th. Below you can check out the game trailer.

Born to fulfill gamers' satisfaction, MSI and Intel team up to offer gamer a game software pack bundle which includes up to eight games available such as Warhammer: Vermintide II and X-Morph you must not be missing. By purchasing a selected Intel 300-series motherboards and desktops from MSI, we grant you a free $180 plus software pack. The bundle starts from May 1st to June 30th.

News reported by Polygon paint the next installment in the metronome-like cadence of annual Call of Duty game releases as a much less interesting package than gamers are used to. Citing industry sources, Polygon is reporting that Call of Duty Black Ops 4 is going to shed its single player campaign entirely, citing a lack of development time to deliver it on launch. This is strange for a number of reasons. First, Treyarch, who's helming the games' development this time around, enjoyed a three-years development period to make the game happen; second, there's no need to do anything else than some incremental changes to the game's engine, as has been the case for COD games for years, so that couldn't have taken up much development time; third, using development resources to "just about" finish the games' campaign and then ultimately deciding to scrape it altogether just seems like a very bad business move.

Corsair, in a welcome, interesting and heartfelt marketing ploy, has taken its place on the side of gamers worldwide against the unintended, hear-wrenching abuse felt by graphics cards used for mining everywhere. The soft, unyielding music does a great job of just showing how much of a "crying out" these graphics cards that are being put to sweaty, inhuman, ever-worsening working conditions are releasing.

If you were as touched as other users (and Corsair marketers) in doing this video, there are a lot of ways for you to donate and contribute to the liberation of these shackled miners. For your donation, Corsair will buy back a mining-set graphics card, and send you a photo of your "adopted" GPU happily crunching frames inside a gaming computer - its real home. Just contribute via PayPal, your choice of credit card, venmo, or... Bitcoin?

[The video has been removed since]

Intel has decided to rollback investment - read, funding - for its "Intel inside" marketing campaign, which has been with us since 1991. The "Intel inside" campaign is one where Intel has been offering OEMs and system integrators some amount of compensation and marketing funding for their Intel-based products, and is aimed at helping OEMs and channel partners drive PC sales growth. However, if CRN's report is right, Intel is looking towards cutting funding for this program by 40% to 60%.

OEMs have been including Intel's "Intel inside" funding as part of their annual marketing budgets, and the reduction of this funding from Intel can go one of two ways: manufacturers reduce marketing budget, or keep the same budget, but pass on the increased expenses towards consumers. For companies, the second option is likelier to be true, simply because marketing plays such a prominent role in company's visibility in the usually crowded markets.

Microsoft Corp. today commemorated its 30th Employee Giving Campaign and announced that U.S. employees raised $1 billion in cash since 1983 for approximately 31,000 U.S.-based nonprofits and community organizations. CEO Steve Ballmer announced the milestone during a special town hall event at the Microsoft Redmond campus, which included Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and Washington State Gov. Chris Gregoire.

"Today, I'm thrilled to announce that since our Employee Giving Campaign started in 1983, Microsoft employees have donated a total of $1 billion to more than 31,000 nonprofits," Ballmer said. "I'm incredibly proud of our employees, and this is truly a time to celebrate, not just because we've raised a record amount of funds, but also because together with our nonprofit partners, we have impacted and improved the lives of hundreds of millions of people."

Intel Corporation's biggest marketing campaign in nearly a decade kicks off this week with television commercials, online experiences and print ads that the company is hailing as "cinematic and epic."

The multi-faceted global campaign, called "A New Era of Computing," is aimed at marketing the Ultrabook experience in exciting and innovative ways to consumers. Valued at hundreds of millions of dollars, the campaign is the largest marketing spend for the company since launching Intel Centrino in 2003.

Recognizing standout marketing campaigns within the Intel Inside and Intel Brand Advantage programs, Intel Corporation feted a handful of companies with the first Intel Marketing Innovation Awards.

Fujitsu took the Grand Prix for its LIFEBOOK4Life campaign, being the best all-around entry among the various award categories. Fujitsu's campaign sought to increase brand relevance and drive sales for LIFEBOOK notebooks based on the second-generation Intel Core vPro processor family. The campaign targeted IT decision-makers in SMB, enterprise and the channel in 40 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India. The campaign resulted in a 65 percent sales increase by integrating innovative social media activities via LinkedIn, Facebook, word-of-mouth, augmented reality and viral videos with standard advertising.

Today, SteelSeries, the leading global manufacturer of competitive gaming peripherals announced that this weekend during the Major League Gaming (MLG) Winter Championship in Columbus, Ohio, attendees and professional players will have an opportunity to provide feedback about the mouse, mousepad and keyboard designs for the upcoming SteelSeries and MLG co-branded products.

"We introduced the SteelSeries Design by Gamers campaign in 2011 by asking our large Facebook community which mouse design they preferred; and as a direct result of this feedback, we released the black and orange SteelSeries Kana Mouse. We are taking that concept to the next level together with Major League Gaming," said SteelSeries CMO, Kim Rom. "MLG Winter Championship attendees will be asked what features, functionality and designs they prefer. What better way to understand exactly what the MLG gamers, audience and fans want out of their peripherals than by asking them first hand?"

A website has emerged campaigning for Microsoft to step up development of Windows 7 and launch it earlier than planned. The beta released in the last month has created much excitement across the tech world, and many people are eager for the release of Microsoft's new OS, currently slated for Q4 2009 to Q1 2010. Many websites are posting positive reviews of the public beta, a reason behind this movement. The founder of the site, Kelly Poe has said,

I'm a BIG Windows fan and have been loving what Microsoft has done with the recent Beta Release of Windows 7. There have been so many great reviews from people like Leo Laporte (twit.tv, TWIT Podcast) and Paul Thurrott (www.winsupersite.com, Windows Weekly podcast), needless to say I'm jones'n for the release of Windows 7.

So here we are...let's join together and get Microsoft to release Windows 7...enough with this Beta stuff...release it already!!! Let the beautiful little birdy (with the odd name) fly!!!

At the time of writing the site had a backing of 646 votes, which was constantly growing. You can find the website and join the campaign at releasewindows7.com