Valve might have had a long collaboration with HTC on the topic of virtual reality, but now the company is ready to present an own headset-- the Index, a device set for a May 2019 launch.

So far Valve offers no information on the Index, outside of a single teaser image and the aforementioned release date. However the image offered by Valve does match a previous leak posted by UploadVR on November 2018. The report suggests the headset offers a 135-degree field of view with "Vive Pro resolution," and what look like SteamVR tracking photodiodes under the plastic. It also has two wide-angle cameras taking care of inside-out tracking, allowing players to move around a round without need for base stations or external tracking cameras.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Nintendo is preparing not one, but two variants on the Switch-- one smaller and cheaper, the other aimed at gamer customers wanting a more high-end machine.

The sources for the report are parts suppliers claiming to have access to a prototype. They say the lower-end version of the Switch lacks the "HD Rumble" vibration functionality, and might not even have detachable controllers, making it something of a successor to the 3DS. Meanwhile the high-end version has “enhanced features targeted at avid video gamers," making it reminiscent of the likes of the Xbox One X and the PlayStation 4 Pro.

Many a company has taken a stab at offering a game streaming service (with varying levels of success) but now the biggest name of them all has thrown its hat in the ring at the Games Developer Conference (GDC) 2019-- Google.

Dubbed Stadia, the Google game streaming services promises to be the most powerful of them all. It requires no dedicated hardware, since the idea is to allow on gameplay on any screen, be it a desktop PC, laptop, tablet, smartphone or TV (via Chromecast), so long it is able to decode video. Google already tested the idea earlier last year with "Project Stream," a means to play Assassin's Creed Odyssey on the Chrome browser, but the search giant now wants to all kinds of games, all running on Google datacentres.

A recently uncovered patent might reveal more details on Google experiments in Chromecast-powered game streaming-- specifically what the controller used for such a service could look like.

Google revealed plans for a game streaming service back in October 2018. Dubbed "Project Stream," it was presented in the shape of an invite-only beta allowing users to play Assassin's Creed Odyssey using the Chrome browser. As such, it is Google take on services such as PlayStation Now and GeForce Now, with games streaming from Google servers (as opposed to something like Xbox Game Pass, which allows customers to download games from a pre-selected list for a monthly fee). #