"Other Ideas ... Had to Just Fall by the Wayside": Fallout: New Vegas Director Says Obsidian Had to Limit the...
Fallout: New Vegas was developed by Obsidian Entertainment in a razor‑thin 18‑month window imposed by Bethesda. Director Josh Sawyer explained the team leaned heavily on Fallout 3’s engine and assets to prioritize narrative, quest design, and open‑world reactivity. The constrained scope forced the studio to drop many ideas, but the focus on story helped the game become a cult classic and often hailed as the franchise’s best entry.
LEGO Batman’s New Adventure Is Selling Strongly, and Xbox Players Are Showing up More than Steam
LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight has sold roughly 1.2 million copies and generated about $83 million in revenue, according to Alinea Analytics. PlayStation leads with over 612,000 PS5 units, while Xbox outpaced Steam with more than 289,000 copies sold. The...
Microsoft Confirms Plans to Integrate Copilot with the Taskbar on Windows 11 This Summer: Ask Copilot Expected to Debut "Mid-2026"
Microsoft confirmed that the Ask Copilot chat box will replace the Windows 11 taskbar search field, shipping as an optional feature this summer with a broader rollout slated for mid‑2026. The AI‑powered interface lets users query local files, apps, and Microsoft 365 services...
Razer Huntsman V3 Pro TKL 8kHz Review: The Fastest, Most Precise Competitive Gaming Keyboard Ever Made?
The Razer Huntsman V3 Pro TKL 8KHz is a tenkeyless gaming keyboard that pushes Razer’s V3 platform to its limits with an 8,000 Hz HyperPolling rate, 2nd‑Gen Analog Optical switches, Snap Tap and Rapid Trigger technologies. Priced at $169.99, it delivers sub‑0.13 ms...
Why the Dell Inspiron Stands Out as a Solid Mid‑tier Windows Laptop with Surprisingly Sharp 2K Display Quality
Dell has slashed the price of its 16‑plus laptop, offering the Intel Core Ultra 7‑256V model for $899.99, a $530 discount from the $1,429.99 list price. The machine pairs a 16‑inch QHD+ 2.5K IPS panel with a 120 Hz refresh rate and...
"I Regard It as a Great Missed Opportunity": Former DOOM Dev Reveals New Details About Xbox's Canceled Halo 'Titan' MMO...
Microsoft’s Xbox division cancelled the ambitious Halo‑set MMORPG “Titan” in 2007, ending a project that had been in full development since 2004 under Ensemble Studios. Former Ensemble and DOOM designer Sandy Petersen recently disclosed that the game featured pre‑Forerunner lore,...
Celebrating the Community: Introducing Windows Central REPLAY, a New Way to Win Prizes and Share Your Wildest Gaming Moments
Windows Central has launched REPLAY, a new hub where gamers can submit 30‑second clips of memorable moments and compete for a monthly $100 Amazon gift card (about $127 for UK entrants). The program welcomes content from PC, Xbox, ROG Ally and...
007: First Light's Global Launch Times Have Been Announced — Here's Exactly when You Can Play James Bond's Latest Adventure...
IO Interactive announced global launch times for its upcoming James Bond prequel, 007: First Light. Early‑access players who pre‑ordered the Digital Deluxe Edition will receive the game on May 26, 2026, with the public release following on May 27, 2026....
Forza Horizon 6 Is Now Available on Xbox Game Pass, Just as Fourteen Other Games Have Been Revealed for May...
Microsoft added Forza Horizon 6 to Xbox Game Pass on May 19, 2026, after a high‑profile early‑access run that attracted more than 270,000 Steam players. The second batch also brings 13 additional titles—including Dead Static Drive, Remnant II, and Echo Generation 2—across cloud, console...
The Xbox Game Pass 'Stream Your Own Game' Library Grows Again with Nearly 70 New Titles to Play From the...
Xbox announced that its Stream Your Own Game service is gaining roughly 70 new titles this month, expanding the cloud‑gaming catalog for subscribers. The rollout includes high‑profile releases such as Forza Horizon 6, which launched simultaneously, alongside a mix of indie...
Is the New Surface Pro for Business (12th Edition) Worth an Upgrade over the Pro 11? Here's What You Need...
Microsoft’s Surface Pro for Business (12th Edition) upgrades the flagship 2‑in‑1 with Intel Panther Lake Core Ultra Series 3 CPUs, optional 5G, Wi‑Fi 7, and an anti‑reflective display. Starting at $1,949.99, it is $250 pricier than the 11th Edition and $750 above the Snapdragon‑based Surface Pro 11, which...
Forza Horizon 6 Pulls in over 270,000 Steam Players at Launch, and the Number Is Still Climbing as Playground’s Racer...
Forza Horizon 6 launched on May 19 2026 after a five‑day early‑access window for Premium Edition owners, instantly attracting over 270,000 Steam players. The title marks the series’ first foray into a Japan‑based open world, expanding its geographic palette. Critics responded enthusiastically, awarding...
Winhanced Update Adds PlayStation Integration and Emulator Support, Turning Windows Gaming Handhelds Into True All‑in‑one Hubs
Winhanced released version 0.9.6.9, adding native PlayStation library support that lets users sign in with their PSN account and launch PS5 titles via remote‑play. The update also introduces an Emulator Library featuring over 108 emulators and a new Apps Library for...
Microsoft Is Rebuilding XBOX and Windows 11 While Surface Collects Dust
Microsoft is accelerating fixes for Windows 11, adding a driver‑rollback feature, WinUI updates, and the upcoming Low Latency Profile to improve responsiveness. Xbox has officially rebranded to all‑caps, cut Game Pass pricing, and abandoned the recent "This is an Xbox" campaign. Both...
Microsoft Nearly Solved One of Folding Phones’ Worst Problems: New Patent Reveals Spring-Loaded Hinge Design for Canceled Surface Duo 3
Microsoft’s newly uncovered patent reveals a spring‑loaded hinge that would have equipped a third‑generation Surface Duo, codenamed "Neon," with one‑hand opening capability. The design proposes two implementations: a button on the device spine or integrated into the power button. Filed...
"I'm Confident Alienware Can Deliver" — A New Budget Gaming Laptop Is Here, but How Does It Compare to the...
Dell’s Alienware brand has entered the budget gaming laptop segment with the new 15‑inch Alienware 15, priced from $1,299. The model offers AMD or Intel CPUs paired with RTX 4050‑5060 GPUs, matching the core hardware of the higher‑priced 16 Aurora. The Aurora starts...
This SSD's Massive 4TB of Storage Could Jumpstart My Gaming PC, as SanDisk's Absurd Price Is Finally Chipped Away
SanDisk’s WD_Black 4TB SN850X PCIe 4.0 SSD has slashed its price from $1,701.99 to $653 on Amazon, a 62% discount. The drive offers 7,300 MB/s sequential reads and 6,600 MB/s writes, making it one of the fastest consumer SSDs available. Its large capacity...
"It Was Sort of Amateur City": Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Believes Sam Altman Was Fired Out of Jealousy, Not for...
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella took the stand in the Musk v. Altman trial, saying he was blindsided by Sam Altman's abrupt ouster and suggesting jealousy drove the board’s decision. He recounted Microsoft’s early $1 billion 2019 investment in OpenAI, the current $10 billion stake, and a...
Windows Central Podcast: How Does Windows K2 Impact the Next Xbox?
Microsoft’s gaming division rebranded to Xbox, with a leadership overhaul led by Asha Sharma. The company unveiled Project K2, a Windows 11 overhaul that introduces a WinUI 3 Run box, indefinite update pauses, and a low‑latency profile claimed to speed app launches by...
How I Access Windows 11’s Newest Experimental Features Before Release and What It Reveals About Microsoft’s Roadmap
Microsoft added a native Feature flags page to Windows 11, allowing Insider users to toggle experimental capabilities without third‑party tools like ViveTool. The new setting lives under Settings → Windows Update → Windows Insider Program → Advanced Options, where users can enable, disable, or leave features to system...
"A Realm of Remarkable Efficiency and Performance": Lenovo's New Yoga Slim 7x and Its Snapdragon X2 Elite Chip Are a...
Lenovo’s Yoga Slim 7x (Gen 11) pairs a 14‑inch OLED chassis with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 Elite SoC, delivering desktop‑class performance in a sub‑1.2 kg ultrabook. The top configuration offers 32 GB LPDDR5x RAM, a 1 TB PCIe 4.0 SSD and a 2.8 K OLED screen for $1,899, while...
Xbox’s Most Underrated Co‑op Shooter Gets a Surprise Sequel, and Its 4‑player Bug‑hunt Vibe Has Me Very Excited
IGN unveiled the first trailer for Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2, the long‑awaited sequel to the 2021 co‑op shooter. The new title expands to four‑player co‑op with full cross‑play on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and PC, and introduces a specialist class that blends...
"62% Won’t Pay $70 Anymore": Gen Z's Shift Toward Xbox Game Pass Has Me Rethinking How We Buy Video Games...
According to the IGN and Dentsu “Generations in Play: 2026” report, 62% of gamers—driven largely by Gen Z—no longer purchase full‑price games, opting instead for subscription services like Xbox Game Pass. The study highlights a generational shift toward treating games as...
"You Had Lightning in a Bottle and Decided to Pry the Lid Off Yourself": Helldivers 2 Reviews Crash to 'Mostly...
Helldivers 2’s Steam rating has slipped to “Mostly Negative,” with only 38% of roughly 10,000 recent reviews positive. Players cite persistent bugs, confusing balance tweaks, and a lack of meaningful end‑game rewards, especially after an update that bolstered exosuit health while...
Windows 11 Can Block Google Chrome's 4GB AI Model From Reinstalling Itself on Your PC — A Simple Registry Tweak...
Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge now download a 4 GB on‑device Gemini Nano AI model by default, prompting privacy and storage concerns. Windows 11 Pro introduces a Registry policy, GenAILocalFoundationalModelSettings, that lets administrators block or remove the model for both browsers. The setting...
The Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 Is "a Solid Device Performance-Wise and a Step up From Previous Galaxy Book Pro...
Samsung’s new Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 pairs a 16‑inch 3K AMOLED 120 Hz touchscreen with an Intel Core Ultra 7 256V processor and a 47 TOPS NPU, delivering strong performance for both productivity and creative workloads. The 2‑in‑1 includes a wireless S Pen Pro, 16 GB...
"The Most Fun I've Had in Halo PvE in a Long Time": I Played Halo Infinite's Surprise New Gauntlet Mode,...
Halo Studios surprised players with a new Gauntlet mode in Halo Infinite, delivering a four‑player co‑op PvE experience that feels like Firefight on steroids. The mode drops teams into random arenas where they face endless Banished waves and minibosses that...
Microsoft Edge Will Load All Your Passwords Into Memory in Plaintext, but Microsoft Says It's Not a Security Concern
Microsoft Edge was found to load every saved password into process memory in cleartext when the browser starts, a behavior not seen in other Chromium‑based browsers. Security researcher @L1v1ng0ffTh3L4N demonstrated that an attacker with administrative rights could scrape these credentials....
To Save Xbox, Asha Sharma Doesn't Have to Defeat PlayStation or Steam — She Has to Defeat Microsoft Itself.
Microsoft’s post‑Activision‑Blizzard strategy forces Xbox to chase a 30% profit‑margin target by 2030, a level unprecedented in gaming. The push for higher margins has led to deliberate under‑stocking of Series X|S consoles, a 50% Game Pass Ultimate price hike (later rolled...
"You Need to Be a Hacker to Use Windows": This Free Tool Lets You Rebuild Windows 11 without Copilot or...
Microsoft’s Windows 11 25H2 release deepens AI integration with features like Copilot and Windows Recall, sparking privacy and usability concerns. Third‑party tool NTLite v2026.04 now lets users strip those AI components from Windows image files, shrinking installation size and simplifying the...
Microsoft Will Hide Windows 11's Annoying MSN Feed by Default as It Moves to Reduce Ads and Noise Across the...
Microsoft released a new Windows 11 preview that hides the MSN news feed in the Widgets panel by default, favoring a cleaner, customizable widget experience. The update also disables "open on hover" and taskbar badge notifications, and opens the widget view...
This 4TB SSD Hits 7,000MB/S Read Speeds, Perfect for PC Gaming — I Can't Believe It's $914 CHEAPER than Normal...
Western Digital’s Black SN7100 4 TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD has slashed its price to $499 at Best Buy, a $914 discount from its usual $1,414 list price. The drive delivers up to 7,000 MB/s sequential reads and 6,700 MB/s writes, matching flagship performance levels....
Roblox’s New Reality Mode Shows How Far NVIDIA’s DLSS 5 AI Upscaling Can Push a Simple Game
Roblox unveiled "Roblox Reality," a cloud‑edge AI upscaling system dubbed DLSS 5 Lite that aims to deliver photorealistic graphics on modest hardware. The solution streams high‑fidelity assets generated by NVIDIA‑style super‑upsampling through a CDN, letting the client render a video feed while...
"I Found a Project that Completely Solves This": PS5 and DualShock Controllers Get Full Wireless Features on PC Thanks to...
A GitHub project called DS5Dongle lets PlayStation 5 DualSense controllers work wirelessly on Windows PCs with full adaptive‑trigger and haptic support. The hack uses a $7 Raspberry Pi Pico 2W as a Bluetooth bridge, making the PC think the controller is wired. The latest...
"I Just Wanted to Take Solstice ... And Kind of Blow It up a Little Bit": This Solo Xbox Dev...
Xbox indie developer Riddle Master Productions is set to release OOLO, an isometric Metroidvania‑style puzzle adventure, on May 20, 2026. The solo‑crafted title features over 400 rooms, three difficulty settings, and a non‑combat focus on platforming, puzzles, and collectible upgrades....
Razer's PS5 Controller Also Makes for an Amazing PC Gamepad with TMR Analog Sticks and 2000Hz Polling Rates — and...
Razer’s Raiju V3 Pro controller, built for PlayStation 5 and PC, features magnetic TMR analog sticks, a 2000 Hz wired polling rate, and up to 36 hours of wireless battery life. The premium peripheral originally priced at £219.99 (≈ $280) is now 23% off...
Microsoft's Windows K2 Could Be Windows 11's Tipping Point, and Finally Deliver the Experience Users Expected: "When the Windows Brand...
Microsoft is rolling out a year‑long Windows K2 program to overhaul Windows 11’s performance, reliability, and user experience. The effort includes a redesigned, movable taskbar, a refreshed Start menu, and a recalibrated AI strategy that replaces Copilot in Notepad with new writing...
"Just Got Hit with Xbox One Flashbacks": Did PlayStation Just Adopt Bits of the Hated Xbox DRM Policy From 2013?...
Sony PlayStation is rolling out a mandatory 30‑day online check‑in for digitally purchased games, a move that echoes the controversial Xbox One DRM policy of 2013 but with a longer grace period. The requirement, announced in a March 2026 system update,...
“Your Apps Should Update Themselves” — Winget-AutoUpdate Is the Missing Piece for Automatic App Updates on Windows 11
Winget‑AutoUpdate (WAU) introduces a graphical interface that automates updates for apps installed via the Windows Package Manager on Windows 11. The tool lets users schedule updates, manage allow‑lists and block‑lists, and receive toast notifications without running manual commands like "winget upgrade...
Should You Debloat Windows 11? The Custom ISO Scene Is Bigger than You Think
Microsoft’s Windows 11 has accumulated numerous default settings that degrade speed and privacy, prompting a growing community of enthusiasts to create custom, debloated ISOs. Tools like ExplorerPatcher have already amassed tens of millions of downloads, but the newer AtlasOS project...
I Built a Retro Gaming PC for Less than $500 — Complete Guide to Hardware, Software, and How to Start...
The guide shows how to assemble a retro‑gaming PC for under $500 using an AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT APU, integrated graphics, and a curated parts list that totals $490.42. It highlights the suitability of the build for 8‑, 16‑ and 32‑bit emulators,...
Double the Storage of the Xbox Ally with Our Favorite Budget microSD Card with 245MB/S Read Speeds, That's Now on...
SanDisk’s 512 GB Extreme microSD UHS‑I card is now selling for $109.99 on Amazon, a 41% discount from its $184.99 list price. The card’s 245 MB/s read and 170 MB/s write speeds enable it to double the Xbox Ally’s internal 512 GB storage, effectively...
Devs Behind Canceled Xbox Game Are Hiring for an Unannounced AAA Open-World Title — Are They Reviving One of My...
Avalanche Studios, the creator of the Just Cause series, has posted senior‑level job listings that reference an unannounced AAA open‑world project. The studio’s previous Xbox‑exclusive, Contraband, was cancelled by Microsoft last year, leaving the team in search of a new flagship...
Xbox Free Play Days Has Acquired MLB The Show 26, Age of Mythology: Retold, and More for All Xbox Players...
Microsoft’s Xbox Free Play Days runs April 23‑26 2026, letting Game Pass Ultimate, Premium and Essential members download and play four premium titles at no extra charge. The lineup includes MLB The Show 26, Age of Mythology: Retold, Anno 117: Pax Romana and The Survivalists....
The Quiet Surrender: Why Xbox, PlayStation, and Steam All Handed Social to Discord
Console giants Xbox and PlayStation have discontinued their native social services, while Steam’s built‑in groups are increasingly bypassed. All three platforms now rely on Discord’s voice, text and community tools, which are embedded directly into their ecosystems. The shift reflects...
5 More AWESOME Xbox April Indies: Take a Break From Getting Beat up in Hades 2
Xbox’s ID@Xbox initiative added five fresh indie titles in April, offering alternatives to heavyweight releases like Hades 2. The lineup includes the cozy management sim Tiny Bookshop, cyber‑punk platformer Replaced, FMV adventure Hacked: The Streamer, horror co‑op game Content Warning, and...
Surface Fans Are Now 3D‑printing the Hardware Microsoft Won’t Build
A community designer has released a 3‑D‑printable dock that lets Surface Pro users attach a Lenovo ThinkPad TrackPoint II Bluetooth keyboard, improving lap stability and adding a pen holder. The design, posted on Printables, fits most recent Surface Pro models and costs roughly...
"An Excellent Controller and a Great Value": I Wish More Hall-Effect Xbox Controllers Had This Price Tag — Another GameSir...
GameSir’s Kaleid wired Xbox controller, equipped with Hall‑Effect sticks, triggers and RGB lighting, now sells for $39.99 after a 20% Amazon discount, down from its $49.99 MSRP. The controller offers microswitch inputs, two remappable rear buttons, a hair‑trigger mode and...
"Protect and Elevate the Xbox Brand": Microsoft Hires for Major New Comms Role, Pointing to a Potential Shift in PR...
Microsoft announced a new Senior Manager, Xbox Brand & Reputation role, the first senior communications hire since Asha Sharma became CEO. The position will oversee global strategic comms, PR counsel, influencer relations, and agency management for Xbox. Its responsibilities span...
“This Company Reeks of Desperation”: Microsoft Is Giving Away $1 Million and a Mercedes-Benz Just to Get You to Use...
Microsoft has launched a $2 million sweepstakes—including a $1 million cash prize and three Mercedes‑Benz cars—to persuade users in the US, Canada, Mexico and select European nations to make Edge their default browser. Participants can earn up to 465 entries by using...