<![CDATA[ Windows Central RSS Feed ]]> https://www.windowscentral.com Tue, 22 Oct 2024 03:02:15 +0000 en <![CDATA[ Grab a sweet discount on the award-winning Geekom A7 mini PC with this pre-Black Friday deal ]]> Geekom builds some of the best mini PCs currently available, managing to pack an awful lot of hardware into some very small packages. A prime example is the tiny but mighty Geekom A7 R9, which we’re currently swooning over thanks to a very nice early Black Friday discount – one that makes it even better value for money than usual.

The Geekom A7 R9 lives up to the mini PC moniker, with a compact aluminum chassis that measures in at just 112 x 112 x 37 mm (4.4 x 4.4 x 1.5 inch), yet squeezes in a powerful AMD Ryzen R9 7940HS CPU, 32GB of DDR5 RAM and a comfy 2TB NVMe SSD with Windows 11 pre-installed. The system includes Radeon 780M graphics that can drive up to four displays at 4K resolution, or a single display at 8K. It’s also a competent casual gaming machine, and has loads of other features like Wi-Fi 6E, Gigabit Ethernet, an SD card reader and USB ports galore.

Want to know more? Check out the Geekom A7 mini PC review from our colleagues at TechRadar (spoiler: they loved it, awarding it a Highly Recommended badge), or take a deep dive into the hardware over at Anandtech.

Save $120
This powerhouse mini PC is discounted to one of the lowest prices we have seen, and offers compelling value for productivity or even gaming use. If you don’t want to scoop it up from the Geekom US online store using the promo code TTA7120OFF at checkout. It can also be purchased at the same price directly from Amazon for $629.View Deal

Save £150
Readers in the UK will be chuffed by a sizable £150 discount on the Geekom A7 R9, bringing it down to a price that will appeal to anyone keen on a potent mini PC. You can grab it straight from Geekom UK for just £599 using the promo code A7150OFF at checkout.

View Deal

Geekom A7 R9 mini PC: was AU$1,299 now AU$1,089 at Geekom.com.au
Save AU$210
Australian buyers get an equivalent price to the US and UK for once (after accounting for exchange rate and taxes), and the Geekom A7 R9 offers great bang for buck. Better yet, the AU$1,089 price from the Geekom online store (using the promo code A7DL210OFF at checkout) is the lowest price we’ve yet seen for this mini PC. Alternatively, it can be purchased from Amazon AU for the same AU$1,089 using the same A7DL210OFF checkout code.View Deal

The deals above are available until October 31, but Geekom is also getting in ahead of the Black Friday sales and has discounted a wide range of other mini PCs by up to 40%. Find out more at the official Geekom site for your region:

Geekom is a PC Gamer preferred partner (What does this mean?)

]]> https://www.windowscentral.com/hardware/computers-desktops/grab-a-sweet-discount-on-the-award-winning-geekom-a7-mini-pc-with-this-pre-black-friday-deal jbsHvtHUcDGoQJWH3e2Go4 Mon, 21 Oct 2024 22:14:42 +0000 <![CDATA[ Is Dragon Age: The Veilguard coming to Xbox? ]]>

Is Dragon Age: The Veilguard on Xbox?

Yes, Dragon Age: The Veilguard will release on Xbox — as well as other platforms — when it launches on October 31, 2024. Specifically, the game will be playable on Xbox Series X|S as well as PS5 and Windows PC through a variety of services. Like most new AAA titles nowadays, it's skipping the previous Xbox One and PS4 console generation.

The new Dragon Age comes to Xbox at launch

From physics-driven action titles like Dragon's Dogma 2 to Atlus' Persona-like Metaphor: ReFantazio and everything between, 2024 has been a great year for players who love roleplaying adventures. What could be another of the year's best RPGs, though, is still on the way — and it's not far off. The game I'm referring to, of course, is Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which is slated to drop in just a few short weeks on October 31, 2024.

That Halloween release date officially makes it the spookiest game launch of the year, but it's also one of the most highly anticipated. After all, it's a direct follow-up to the award-winning 2014 RPG Dragon Age: Inquisition that's been a decade in the making, and BioWare's Dragon Age franchise itself is one of Electronic Arts' biggest properties. As a result, it's not surprising that tons of gamers are hyped to jump into the single player fantasy adventure, and it's also not surprising that many of those fans are hopeful the game will come out on Xbox consoles.

If you're one of them, I've got good news for you: Dragon Age: The Veilguard is officially launching on Xbox Series X|S systems when it comes out on October 31, and is available to preorder now for $69.99 (check out our Dragon Age: The Veilguard preorder guide for more info). Note that while the game won't be on Xbox Game Pass, it is expected to eventually be playable through Xbox Game Pass Ultimate since it will likely come to the regular tier of EA Play in the future — a service that Game Pass Ultimate gives you access to. Another thing to keep in mind is that the game will not be playable on last-gen consoles like the Xbox One, Xbox One S, or Xbox One X.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard

After a ritual goes wrong, terrible elven deities are unleashed on the land and seek to wreak havoc. Playing as Rook, it's up to you and your band of companions to explore the world and set things right. You'll be able to make different decisions that impact the story along the way.

Buy Standard Edition (Xbox): Walmart | Amazon | Best Buy
Buy Deluxe Edition (Xbox): Walmart | Amazon | Best Buy
Buy Standard Edition (PC): CDKeys | Steam
Buy Deluxe Edition (PC): CDKeys | Steam

Other Dragon Age: The Veilguard platforms

Like previous Dragon Age titles, The Veilguard will allow you to be a Warrior, Mage, or Rogue, with each class featuring a variety of unique subclasses called specializations. (Image credit: Electronic Arts)

Xbox players will be happy to know that you'll be able to play Dragon Age: The Veilguard on Microsoft's consoles, but where else will you be able to embark on your adventure to save Thedas? At launch, the game will also be available on PlayStation 5 and Windows PC in addition to Xbox Series X|S, with the PC version purchasable on a couple different storefronts. Namely, you can get it on Steam, the Epic Games Store, and Electronic Arts' EA app launcher.

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BioWare's new RPG is also launching on NVIDIA's GeForce NOW cloud gaming service, with "free" copies offered to new and existing members that buy six months of GeForce NOW Ultimate for $99.99. This is a great way to get The Veilguard without spending money on it directly if you like playing games via streaming services, though NVIDIA is taking this offer off the table after October 30. If you like the sound of it, take advantage of it while you can. Another service that'll give you day one access is the Xbox Game Pass-like $16.99/month EA Play Pro that's exclusive to PC.

If the GeForce NOW or EA Play Pro routes aren't for you, you'll have to pay $59.99 for the fantasy epic on Steam, the Epic Games Store, or the EA app — a full $10 less expensive than what it costs on Xbox and PlayStation. Along with two different options for using subscriptions, that lower MSRP makes the PC edition of Dragon Age: The Veilguard the best one to get if you've got a rig that meets its PC system requirements (or a strong and stable enough internet connection to enjoy GeForce NOW streams smoothly).

]]> https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/is-dragon-age-the-veilguard-on-xbox Ec3nxcpuoeoqcFgc8Kuq8J Mon, 21 Oct 2024 21:48:15 +0000 <![CDATA[ I'm completely impressed by this homemade Xbox gaming handheld — But it makes me long for an official Xbox handheld ]]> What you need to know
  • PC gaming handhelds like Steam Deck, ROG Ally, and Legion Go have become extremely popular in the last few years.
  • There has also been speculation that an Xbox handheld is in the works.
  • In a tweet, Redherring32 recently posted a portable Xbox PC handheld that they built.
  • It features a 9-inch 480p display and 100W USB-C charging. Redherring32 plans to add WiFi 6 and wireless Xbox Live functionality in the future.

Handheld gaming has long been a popular method for enjoying video games, but it was only with the release of the Nintendo Switch and shortly thereafter with the Steam Deck that we really started to see a significant shift of AAA titles on these portable devices. Since then, we've seen additional PC gaming handhelds like the ASUS ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go also enter the market to varying degrees of success. With this new focus on the on-the-go experience, many people have wondered if Xbox will create its own Xbox handheld sometime soon. Our own Jez Corden even wrote about how An 'Xbox handheld' isn't just likely. For Microsoft, it's absolutely necessary.

Ahead of any actual gaming handhelds revealed by Xbox or Microsoft, X user (formerly Twitter), @Redherring32 tweeted a post showing off an Xbox gaming handheld they had built, and I'm very impressed by it.

According to @Redherring32, this portable Xbox device features a 9-inch 480p display with pure digital video/audio, and 100W USB C charging. They also have plans to add WiFi 6 in order to make Xbox Live possible. To create this Xbox dream device, Redherring "trimmed [an] original Xbox motherboard," making it so the device can play all games within the Xbox library. Apparently, this process took over four months since "nobody had ever tried it before," and it required "reverse engineering nearly the entire board" while using "12! (sic) different fully custom PCBs." That's really quite an impressive feat and something that would have taken a lot of time and effort.

As part of their post, Redherring32 also provided links to the PCBs on Github, as well as the Xbox trimming guide for anyone interested in checking those out.

An official Xbox gaming handheld seems very likely

Lenovo Legion Go with Xbox Logo

You can currently access Xbox app on ROG Ally, Legion Go, and Steam Deck. However, it seems likely that Xbox will get its own gaming handheld in the future. (Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)

It's pretty clear that many people are interested in getting a portable Xbox gaming device, but is an official Xbox handheld in the cards?

More gaming handhelds

Lenovo Legion Go (2023)

(Image credit: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central)

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• Legion Go vs ROG Ally

While consoles and traditional PCs continue to be popular, it seems likely that our shift toward handheld gaming will only grow as time goes on. Nintendo opened up the industry's eyes when it released the hybrid Switch, which can not only play the company's AAA games while docked to a TV in the standard way but can also be taken on the go and played anywhere. That convenience is something we're likely going to continue to see as Xbox and PlayStation continue to release hardware.

And honestly, I'll be very surprised if Xbox isn't already deep into planning some kind of Xbox gaming handheld. After all, last year in an exclusive interview with our own Jez Corden, Xbox CEO Phil Spencer previously said, "I think about those handheld PCs, almost extensions of my Xbox console." I myself have an ROG Ally and a Legion Go, which I frequently use to access the Xbox app and play my Xbox Game Pass games. So, in that way, it really does feel like I'm playing an Xbox console on the go at times.

Of course, during that same interview, Spencer also explained that he was traveling with his Legion Go, and that in and of itself tells me that he already keeping handhelds in mind and planning for what Xbox might do within that arena in the future.

I won't be at all surprised if one of the next devices announced by Microsoft/Xbox is a gaming handheld. For all our sakes, I hope it's one that incorporates a handheld-tailored OS similar to Steam Deck's SteamOS, which is currently far easier to navigate than Windows 11 on handhelds. Depending on how the company goes about it, Microsoft could even make it so that Windows 11 is easier to navigate on handhelds with a Windows 8-style tile design. We'll have to wait and see.

]]> https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/homemade-xbox-gaming-handheld-built Yx2m6NQj2YLkyihqFpMn4H Mon, 21 Oct 2024 20:25:53 +0000 <![CDATA[ Fallout TV show star says Season 2 starts filming soon, and that her character's "got some things up her sleeve" ]]> What you need to know
  • Just over six months since the first season of Amazon's Fallout TV show debuted in April, one of its stars has confirmed that Season 2 will begin filming soon.
  • Specifically, actress Leslie Uggams recently stated in an interview that the second season is scheduled to start filming in November.
  • Leslie Uggams plays Betty Pearson, one of Season 1's most prominent characters who temporarily serves as Vault 33's Overseer. Though outwardly kind, viewers eventually learn there's a dark side to her backstory, and it seemingly lines up with Uggams' comment that "Betty's got some things up her sleeve" for the second season.
  • Since Season 1 came out two years after filming for it started, it's reasonable to guess Season 2 will come out in late 2026. However, early 2026 or even late 2025 are plausible given that many of the costumes, props, and sets made for the first season can presumably be reused.

Six months after the explosive debut of the first season of the Fallout TV show that's based on the acclaimed RPG series, we finally know when Season 2 will begin filming — and according to the actress behind one of its major characters, it's happening soon.

The news comes from a new Screen Rant report, in which the publication noted that during a New York Comic Con interview about the recently released film Deadpool & Wolverine, actress Leslie Uggams briefly discussed Amazon's Fallout show. In addition to talking about the quality of the series itself and her role as Betty Pearson, Uggams also directly confirmed that filming is scheduled to begin next month.

"That is an amazing, amazing show. I am with the Vault People, so I didn't get to see what the Earth people were doing. So when it came on, I was blown away. But Betty's got some things up her sleeve. Just stay tuned," Uggams said, hinting that her character is hiding something or has secret plans that could have a major impact on the events of Season 2. "We start November. I'm excited about it," she added.

Leslie Uggams as Betty Pearson in the Fallout TV show. (Image credit: Prime Video)

Betty Pearson — a former Overseer of Vault 33 that takes office once again during the events of Season 1 — is one of the show's more enigmatic characters, and arguably one of its best outside of the main cast of Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell), the Ghoul (Walton Goggins), and Maximus (Aaron Moten). I won't spoil anything specific here, but when Lucy's brother Norm MacLean (Moisés Arias) starts investigating Vault 33 and its neighboring Vaults, he learns something significant about her, and she has some eyebrow-raising reactions to some of his comments that suggest there's more to her pleasant demeanor than she lets on.

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It's no surprise, then, that she likely has an ace in the hole or a scheme she's working to carry out. What is surprising, though, is that Fallout Season 2 is already about to start filming even though it's only been just over half a year since the show's April 10 premiere. That means the second season's script and pre-production work was completed in that time, which is a pretty quick turnaround.

Shoots for Season 1 began two years before its debut in July 2022, so if Season 2 follows a similar schedule, it may not come out until around fall 2026. With that said, an earlier release date is entirely possible, especially since the show's production staff now have experience working on it and can presumably reuse many of the costumes, props, and sets from the first season. Many applauded the showrunners' decision to largely use practical assets instead of tons of computer-generated imagery (CGI), and that choice may help accelerate production moving forward.

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Maximus in his Brotherhood of Steel power armor in the Fallout show. (Image credit: Prime Video)

Of course, Season 2 will undoubtedly require the creation of plenty of new set pieces too, so between the time needed for that and the filming and editing process itself, it's clear that the next act of this new Fallout story is still quite a ways off. I'd say early 2026 is a pretty reasonable guess, but we may see Amazon and Bethesda push for a late 2025 release, too. After all, the show won two Emmy Awards and reached over 100 million viewers on Prime Video earlier this month.

As for the content of Season 2, it's been all but confirmed that at least part of the story will move to the Mojave Wasteland and the city of New Vegas, both of which were the setting of the beloved 2010 title Fallout: New Vegas. The show — set 15 years after New Vegas' events — will follow up on "one of the myriad canon endings" of the game, as well as Season 1's many different cliffhangers.

Something worth noting is that all of the Fallout games are available to play on Microsoft's gaming subscription service Xbox Game Pass, with the PC-only Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics exclusively available on PC Game Pass (Xbox Game Pass Ultimate includes access to every Fallout game available on both Xbox and PC). Many of them are some of the best Xbox games and best PC games I've ever played, and even the ones I don't love like Fallout 76 are still at least worth checking out.

]]> https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/fallout-tv-show-star-says-season-2-starts-filming-soon-and-that-her-characters-got-some-things-up-her-sleeve aXed296UdonvEMRrdRQpkg Mon, 21 Oct 2024 19:06:11 +0000 <![CDATA[ PlayStation tried to lock a major third-party game into an exclusivity deal (but the devs said no) — but still, it looks like Xbox fans will continue having to endure exclusionary deals like 'Silent Hill 2' going forward. Should Xbox start doing similar? ]]> What you need to know
  • Crimson Desert is an upcoming action adventure title from Korea-based Pearl Abyss, and it looks pretty damn great.
  • The game has been announced for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC, although there's another timeline where Xbox would be excluded.
  • A recent session at Kiwoom Securities in Korea with Pearl Abyss revealed that PlayStation had attempted to lock Xbox out of Crimson Desert, in much the same way it did with games like Silent Hill 2, Final Fantasy 7, and more.
  • Microsoft has seen some of its own third-party exclusivity deals bear fruit for Xboxo in recent years, with Q1 viral-hit Palworld, and soon, STALKER 2, set to release in November.

On paper, 2024 looked like it might have been a light year for PlayStation.

With few first-party titles on the docket, 2024 looked as though the lion's share of first-party exclusive game launches would land for Xbox Series X|S instead in the great battle of the high-end consoles. The reality, however, hasn't exactly panned out that way. Thanks to some savvy timed exclusivity deals across games like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Silent Hill 2, Black Myth Wukong, and Stellar Blade, PlayStation was still able to boast an incredibly strong line-up of exclusive titles for its core fans. PlayStation's Concord might have been a uniquely spectacular failure, but Helldivers 2 and Astrobot have more than made up for it. Conversely, Xbox first-party efforts like Hellblade 2 and Starfield: Shattered Space launched to mixed opinions, while other games like ARA: History Untold have skipped Xbox altogether so far. Microsoft has also seen other titles like Avowed and Towerborne pick up delays into 2025. Xbox has had its own wins too, though, but more on that in a minute.

Indeed, why are we talking about all of this? The timed exclusivity discourse heated up again today, with news that another major third-party title might have been gobbled up by PlayStation to the detriment of Xbox customers.

Korea-based financial reporter 에이치피엔스 shared details on the session with Pearl Abyss (via Knoebel), which revealed some details about how Sony attempted to lock Xbox customers out of access to hotly anticipated Crimson Desert, while also scooping up the PC distribution rights in the process. The reporter has since offered their own English translation of the proceedings, which you can read below.

"We [Pearl Abyss] spent a lot of time considering our release strategy. Sony has essentially seen the entire game and expressed interest in publishing it, offering several favorable terms. If we had gone with Sony as a publisher, the game would have been exclusive to PlayStation for a year, with no release on Xbox, and PC distribution rights would also belong to Sony. Despite these restrictions, Sony's marketing power and various unique incentives were appealing. However, after evaluating the expected sales and revenue-sharing structure, we decided that self-publishing would be more beneficial. It's 99% certain that we will publish the game ourselves.

Recently, Stellar Blade signed an exclusive deal with Sony, but that was mainly because they didn't have the necessary publishing team, unlike us.

In a typical contract, 30% of revenue goes to platform fees, and the remaining 70% is split between the developer and publisher. Since we already have the capability to self-publish globally and have overseas branches, we concluded that using our own resources would be more advantageous."

Crimson Desert is a fantastic-looking title, from the same studio that brought us Black Desert Online. Crimson Desert is, however, a single-player title, which has been compared to The Witcher 3 and other high-fidelity action adventure RPG games.

Thankfully, publisher Pearl Abyss sidestepped Sony's "lucrative" offers, but what intrigues me is the fact that it doesn't sound like Xbox was in the running at all.

Xbox has been known to grab exclusivity deals of its own, but it tends to come in early and help fund development. STALKER 2 is one such example. STALKER 2 is an independently-developed game and is absolutely fantastic-looking so far, but Microsoft has pretty much been there since the start of this current iteration of the game, per our interview with the developers. Microsoft also landed an exclusivity deal with Palworld, which was similarly "indie" and developed using funds from Microsoft. Pearl Abyss describes Sony as having seeing the "entire" game almost, which suggests these deals are less about helping developers from the outset, and more about locking out Xbox from the equation.

It's a business strategy that clearly works for PlayStation, which is outselling Xbox Series X|S at a rapid pace. Xbox fans have celebrated this year that titles like Final Fantasy 16 got essentially confirmed for an Xbox version, while Genshin Impact is finally set to hit Xbox — but fans are getting them several years after the fact.

If I'm a customer deciding which console ecosystem to buy into or buy for my coming-of-age young gamer relative, do I get the one that has more exclusive games or the one that has fewer?

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Should Xbox be more aggressive in pursuing third-party deals like PlayStation?

Crimson Desert

Crimson Desert looks fantastic, and to have lost it to an exclusivity deal would have been a big blow for Xbox players. (Image credit: Pearl Abyss)
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Microsoft once tried its hand at a third-party timed exclusivity deal, and the backlash from the mainstream media was absolutely palpable. Rise of the Tomb Raider was very briefly exclusive to Xbox One consoles and PC, and since then, Microsoft has avoided committing itself to similar deals, likely in fear of triggering a similar backlash. Meanwhile, PlayStation has never really been subjected to the same scrutiny over its Xbox-exclusionary deals.

Xbox is clearly going to benefit from its partnership with GSC Game World on STALKER 2, however. It also benefitted from timed Xbox exclusivity with PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, which remains one of the world's biggest service games. But these types of exclusivity deals may be on the way out for reasons Pearl Abyss itself described. Square Enix has famously sworn off doing further timed exclusivity deals with PlayStation and has begun revamping its developer pipeline to support simultaneous multi-platform launches.

There's also the Nintendo Switch 2 wildcard. A more powerful Nintendo Switch 2 will likely lend itself well to receiving a greater share of AAA game support, without the types of compromises its aging predecessor requires. In that universe, does PlayStation continue to simply target Xbox for exclusionary deals, or does it pay more to also exclude Nintendo? If it's the former (and it most likely is the former), then I think Microsoft has a duty to its customers to get ahead of the curve.

I would argue it's neglectful of Microsoft to have even allowed PlayStation to lock games like Silent Hill 2, Black Myth Wukong, and Final Fantasy 7 into exclusivity contracts, given the chilling effect it has over broader customer and developer faith in the Xbox platform. Obviously, you can't win them all — but if you can't win them all, then perhaps it would be savvy business to seek out more of your own deals like PUBG, Stalker 2, and Palworld. Things have gotten better over the years, but Xbox should still have an answer lined up for every major piece of content that skips the Xbox platform owing to exclusionary deals. And this is all without getting into the Xbox multiplatform strategy discourse, by which Microsoft itself has begun giving Sony money directly to help them essentially fund these types of deals. But hey, it works both ways. Through game sales on PlayStation, Xbox should have more money of its own too to fund exclusivity deals, right? Righhht?

What do you think? Should Xbox gun for more exclusivity deals for console? Or is it a pointless waste of cash that won't move the needle either way? Hit the comments.

]]> https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/xbox/playstation-tried-to-lock-a-major-third-party-game-into-an-exclusivity-deal-but-the-devs-said-no-but-still-it-looks-like-xbox-fans-will-continue-having-to-endure-exclusionary-deals-like-silent-hill-2-going-forward-should-xbox-start-doing-similar HVAUZTLRvKMykoFSvRGLNo Mon, 21 Oct 2024 18:27:11 +0000 <![CDATA[ $22 billion Microsoft deal with U.S. Army could be in jeopardy unless the tech giant can get the price of its militarized HoloLens to be "substantially less than" $80,000 per unit ]]> What you need to know
  • The U.S. Army wants Microsoft to reduce the cost of IVAS militarized augmented reality headsets to "be substantially less than" $80,000 per unit, which is the current project cost.
  • IVAS has faced several delays and challenges for several years, but Microsoft's deal with the U.S. Army regarding the headsets could be worth almost $22 billion.
  • Microsoft discontinued HoloLens 2 recently and the company's mixed reality efforts are largely dead.

When Microsoft discontinued HoloLens 2 and announced end of support for the mixed reality headset, many asked if the announcement would affect the tech giant's planned military headset. Microsoft clarified at the time that it is "fully committed" to its Visual Augmentation System (IVAS), even after discontinuing HoloLens 2. While Microsoft is committed to IVAS, it appears the U.S. Army may have some hesitations. That is, unless Microsoft can lower the cost of individual IVAS units.

Microsoft needs to get the cost of an IVAS headset to "be substantially less than” $80,000, as highlighted by a report by Bloomberg. That figure is the current projected cost of an individual IVAS unit. Microsoft's current deal with the U.S. Army could be worth up to almost $22 billion, but several hurdles have to be cleared before things continue.

The U.S. Army has been testing IVAS, and initial tests were not great. Soldiers experienced headaches and nausea during testing, but things have since improved. Army acquisition chief Doug Bush said that testing" is going much better than the first time around" and that "a lot of problems have been fixed." Those comments were made during the annual Association of the US Army conference last week.

Bush also shared the unit costs will be "a key factor next year when senior leaders make decisions about going into production."

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IVAS units are militarized augmented reality helmets that can provide soldiers powerful insights in real time, such as issuing warnings for threats. The headsets also include night vision and are much more durable than commercial or enterprise augmented reality systems. Those specs and the cost of developing IVAS add up. Bloomberg highlighted that the display, battery, and chest unit of an IVAS unit cost $41,824 (as outlined by budget documents for the project). The rest of the cost is related to engineering, software support, and working with the Army.

While IVAS units are expensive, Microsoft is looking into ways to reduce costs. "We are going through the program to identify where we can reduce costs," said Microsoft Corporate Vice President for Mixed Reality Robin Seiler.

"It’s a fairly complex system, so when you look at cost reduction you have to look at it from a component level, from a labor level and from your supply chain," she added.

Death of Microsoft HoloLens

The move of HoloLens to the Microsoft graveyard has spanned across several years. The saga included former HoloLens lead Alex Kipman being accused of "verbal abuse and sexual harassment" and leaving the company, HoloLens 3 being called a "s--t show," and Microsoft killing its Windows VR platform.

Microsoft has largely shifted its virtual and augmented reality efforts to making software work on other platforms, such as Meta Quest and Apple Vision Pro. Despite the shift in strategy, the tech giant seems committed to its plans to fulfil the IVAS contract with the U.S. Army.

The next major test of IVAS will occur from April to June this year, during which the headset will undergo further field testing. Following that testing, the Army will either commit to full production or move in a different direction.

]]> https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/virtual-reality/usd22-billion-microsoft-deal-with-u-s-army-could-be-in-jeopardy-unless-the-tech-giant-can-get-the-price-of-its-militarized-hololens-to-be-substantially-less-than-usd80-000-per-unit ksgMGaDFA6eemPeHTQgDPT Mon, 21 Oct 2024 16:41:24 +0000 <![CDATA[ OPINION: As Xbox Series X|S digital game sales reportedly hit a 91% share, Microsoft needs to ensure disc collectors don't get left behind with the next-gen Xbox — I think it's time to revive the "hated" 2013 disc-digital licensing model ]]> What you need to know
  • Over the past few years, gaming has shifted increasingly towards digital sales, over physical discs.
  • Recently, Circana's Executive Director of Games Mat Piscatella offered an update on the digital split, showing that Microsoft's Xbox platform has now hit 91% in the United States.
  • Earlier in the year, Xbox President Sarah Bond forged a new "forwards compatibility" team at Xbox, but we have to ask, does that also include disc-first players?

Microsoft and Xbox were ahead of the curve when it came to digital gaming on consoles, following platforms like Steam headfirst toward a more convenient (and more controlled) digital future. Yet, physical discs still live on.

Whether it's digital sales on the Xbox Store on console, Microsoft Store on PC, licenses through Xbox Game Pass, PC sales on Steam, or apps on iOS or Android — digital games have by far and away become the dominant format.

In the post-physical era, services like Netflix and Steam have completely obliterated the need to buy disc-based media. Steam was a pioneer in this space, although others were exploring the space as download speeds rapidly increased through the late 90s and early 2000s. Microsoft itself had a protozoic version of Xbox Live back in the day, called MSN Game Zone on PC.

It was a brave new world, and I starkly remember the vast backlash Valve endured when it forced its first wave of Steam account requirements onto Half-Life 2 discs. Now, Valve and its DRM platform are lauded as the industry leader and torch-bearer for all of gaming, depending on who you ask at least.

In any case, the rise of Steam ultimately changed the industry forever. Microsoft knew that it was only a matter of time before physical discs became a niche within a niche. It then moved to bridge the gap with its Steam-like plan to allow disc-based versions of Xbox games to come with a digital license attached too. Players would need to get the disc deregistered from their accounts at participating retailers before they could resell them. The trade-off would be friend and family Xbox license sharing, which is similar to the friends and family license pooling system Steam debuted to much fanfare earlier this year. Back in 2012, though, everyone hated it. Xbox has been on the back foot ever since. It goes to show how predicting the future and forging the future can be worlds apart in reality, right?

In any case, Xbox has struggled, and its focus on its digital systems and services has seen it hit over 90% physical vs. digital split on its games. The physical retail space for gaming is on the way out, with dedicated retailers like GAME in the UK on the ropes, and other electronics outlets ending sales of physical discs altogether. The digital split continues to skew away from physical, too.

Circana analyst Mat Piscatella describes the increasing shift towards digital-first gaming.

Xbox was ahead of the curve when it came to digital sales, but PlayStation is rapidly closing the gap. (Image credit: @matpiscatella.bsky.social )

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Mat Piscatella of U.S. analytics firm Circana recently posted some fresh data on BlueSky detailing disc-based games' slow march to obsolescence. Firms like Nintendo still maintain a large share of physical games, but that is doubtless about to end with the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2. Nintendo's cartridge system may eventually reach the upper limits of read/write speeds for more modern games, and I wouldn't be surprised if some more graphically intensive titles for the Switch 2 launch as digital-only versions to avoid the storage speed bottleneck. Of course, publishers tend to love digital sales over physical, because digital games are harder to trade in and refund — with regulatory consumer rights over digital properties woefully behind the realities of the space. But that's a discussion for another time.

RELATED: Steam clarifies that you don't actually own your games

PlayStation's split is also less skewed than Microsoft's, but it's rapidly closing the gap. Microsoft's Xbox platform meanwhile hit a 91% digital share, so if you're wondering why some retailers are no longer stocking Xbox discs, there's your answer.

Subscription services like Xbox Game Pass will likely do even more harm to the physical footprint on Xbox, as even massive games like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 set their sights on the $19.99 per month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription.

Physical disc-based games have already fully died on PC, and consoles are most likely next to follow. As the read/write speed and storage space requirements of modern games outpace what is offered by Blu-ray and other similar mediums, the demise of discs is purely economical.

Still, Microsoft has been selling discs for years. Many within the Xbox faithful have amassed vast collections of physical games over the years, representing hundreds of games and thousands of dollars worth of investments. I firmly believe that game preservation ultimately lies in emulation and the like, but there's a physical, tangible part of Xbox's history that also deserves to be preserved, even if Xbox's future is inevitably all-digital (like the Xbox Series X Digital Edition.) And really, it doesn't need to be that expensive for Microsoft, so support those fans and collectors — who represent some of Xbox's most dedicated customers.

Xbox should ensure that disc-owners don't get left behind, and maybe reviving the 2013 dual disc-digital licensing model is the way to do it

Xbox 360 games being guarded by Thanos

Thanos is about to pull a snap on disc-based games. (Image credit: Windows Central)
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The PlayStation 5 line-up has all digital versions that ditch the disc drive in exchange for some modest savings. Similarly, Microsoft's new Xbox Series X Digital Edition shaves $50 off the MSRP, too. However, unlike Xbox, PlayStation at least offers optional disc drive add-ons.

Earlier this year, Xbox President Sarah Bond announced the creation of a forwards compatibility team at Microsoft Gaming. Compatibility has been a key differentiator for Xbox, with the Xbox Series X|S offering unprecedented generational compatibility in the console space. The Xbox Series X|S can run dozens upon dozens of games from the Xbox 360 and OG Xbox era, as well as every single game from the Xbox One era. The next-gen Xbox consoles absolutely need to continue this tradition, even if the total demise of the disc drive is almost certain.

If we are carrying backward compatibility through to the next-gen Xbox consoles, which I firmly expect to include an Xbox handheld and a more traditional Xbox Series X successor, Microsoft needs to consider an optional Blu-ray disc drive. For users who have amassed a collection of disc-based games, forward compatibility represents something completely different to digital-first collectors like myself. Those fans don't deserve to be left behind.

In a perfect world, DRM-free like GOG would be the default. We'd fully own the games we've purchased, whether it's discs or digital. We don't live in that universe, though, and platform holders hold all the cards for how ownership of games ultimately plays out. I'm not here to discuss that aspect of the industry right now, but Microsoft did once try to find a system that would satisfy everyone involved, at least to some degree.

"People hated it at the time, but they might be ready for it now: Microsoft could perhaps explore reviving the 2013 dual-licensing disc-digital model."

People hated it at the time, but they might be ready for it now: Microsoft could perhaps explore reviving the 2013 dual-licensing disc-digital model it ultimately shelved for Xbox One after it failed to properly portray the benefits of the system. That would be particularly beneficial given the fact Microsoft is gearing up to let you play games you already own on Xbox Cloud Gaming. Disc-based gamers stand to completely lose out with this new cloud gaming feature. If it followed the 2013 model, we would also get the family game-sharing pool back. If people REALLY didn't want all the benefits that this would bring and prefer the existing model, Microsoft could also make it opt-in too, maybe. Somehow. Either way, the same feature has now enjoyed a successful reception on Steam — without the added benefit of physical discs. I thought about arguing that it could give retail a potential lifeline too, but eh, realistically I think that ship has probably well and truly sailed.

Even if that's no longer an option, some form of USB Blu-ray drive just to trigger the license for a local download would be enough, to at least keep that legacy intact. External USB Blu-ray drives go for as little as $50 bucks on Amazon, and logistically speaking, I would hope that it wouldn't be too complicated for Microsoft to create something similar for its most dedicated customers.

I realize it's not as simple as simply whacking a USB drive into the Xbox, given the DRM and security apparatus requirements. I don't doubt that restoring digital entitlement to disc-based games retroactively is also likely impossible. I think it's still well worth exploring and communicating on — if Microsoft truly is about future compatibility.

]]> https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/xbox/xbox-series-x-s-digital-sales-hit-91-per-cent-but-dont-leave-disc-based-gamers-behind s2ZuCy82qWhijE5DeR523d Mon, 21 Oct 2024 15:32:35 +0000 <![CDATA[ A TechTuber nostalgically runs Windows 95 on a Nintendo 3DS with 256MB of RAM and a stylus pen — but painfully slow boot times hashed his mellow ]]>

What you need to know

  • TechTuber MetraByte recently managed to get Windows 95 to run on the new Nintendo 3DS.
  • The modder encountered several setbacks during the process, including slow boot times, which can be attributed to the DOSBox's reliance on the system memory and x86 emulation on the new Nintendo 3DS.
  • While the experiment proves its possible to run Windows 95 on the Nintendo 3DS, it struggles in several departments like running simple apps such as Paint, prompting him to abort his earlier mission of making music with the device. 

Microsoft's Windows operating system has a broad userbase but users seemingly prefer older versions like Windows 95 or Windows 10 because of their seamless user experience coupled with decent design elements. As you may know, Windows 10 is slated to hit its end of support in less than one year on October 14, 2025. The move has brewed a cocktail of emotions among users who are seemingly hell-bent on sticking to the OS despite its imminent death.

Recently, Windows 11's market share has been on an upward trajectory, indicating users are upgrading to Microsoft's latest OS for continued support and security updates. It remains unseen whether every user will upgrade to Windows 11 or switch to Linux or macOS.

Recently, a TechTuber MetraByte boldly attempted to get Windows 95 to run on the Nintendo 3DS with the aim of trying to make music. For context, the tech enthusiast used the newer version of the Nintendo 3DS which features additional RAM (256MB of RAM) and processing power (via Tom's Hardware).

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Perhaps more interestingly, MetraByte leveraged the DOS tool (designed to help users run classic MS-DOS games) to boot Windows 95 on the Nintendo 3DS. And while he managed to get the operating system to run on the classic handheld, it was no walk in the park. This is especially true when he attempted to launch DOSBox and navigating through the command-line interface with a touchscreen and stylus.

The tech enthusiast attempted to install Windows 95 in the Nintendo 3DS several times, with each attempt taking up to 30 minutes. He finally managed to install the operating system in the classic handheld, it took over two hours. The process was characterized by the all-too-common Blue Screen of Death (BSoD), including multiple driver errors and a blue-and-gray interface.

MetraByte also indicated that he encountered issues when trying to run applications like the 3D Maze screensaver and Paint on the device. The operating system took what might have seemed like eons to load each color palette on the Paint app. The performance setback can be attributed to the DOSBox's reliance on the system memory and x86 emulation on the new Nintendo 3DS.

While MetraByte's experiment nostalgically proves Windows 95 can run on the Nintendo 3DS, the setup is far from ideal, which prompted him to give up on his plan to make music using the device while running Windows 95. Mostly because of poor performance coupled with Blue Screen of Death errors.

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]]> https://www.windowscentral.com/software-apps/a-techtuber-nostalgically-runs-windows-95-on-a-nintendo-3ds MmyiNUAwrD8bKjq4fqR793 Mon, 21 Oct 2024 15:10:53 +0000 <![CDATA[ “Microsoft could be left behind if it is only using OpenAI technologies. It is a real race — and OpenAI may not win it”: Has the 'best bromance in tech' worth billions of dollars in investment run its course? ]]> What you need to know
  • A new report suggests Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI could be "fraying."
  • The companies have reportedly disagreed over their initial exclusive deal, which has potentially left OpenAI with the shorter end of the stick, spending large sums of money on computing power that barely meets the requirements for its AI advances.
  • OpenAI staffers say it'll be Microsoft's fault if another AI startup hits the AGI benchmark before the ChatGPT maker because of its insufficient computing power supply. 

Microsoft and OpenAI's partnership is arguably "the best bromance in tech." The Redmond giant has heavily invested in the ChatGPT maker and integrated its cutting-edge AI technology across its tech stack.

However, things changed when OpenAI's board of directors abruptly ousted Sam Altman as CEO last November. He was reinstated as CEO following an outcry from staffers claiming "OpenAI is nothing without its people." Microsoft has seemingly taken a back step and could be reevaluating its investment and partnership with the AI startup firm.

Over the past few months, reports emerged indicating OpenAI was on the verge of bankruptcy, with projections of a $5 billion loss within the next few months. However, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Thrive Capital, and other key investors extended the firm's lifeline through another funding after raising $6.6 billion, which pushed its market valuation to $157 billion.

Still, market analysts and experts predict OpenAI will burn through wads of cash chasing AI advances, making $44 billion in losses before seeing a profit in 2029. They further predict Microsoft could potentially acquire OpenAI within three years as the AI hype continues to fade and investors lose interest in the category, prompting them to channel money elsewhere.

Incidentally, investors have already raised concerns over Microsoft's spending on AI advances, citing difficulty in identifying a clear and reliable business strategy to generate profit. However, a separate report indicates OpenAI could potentially become the world's dominant AI company, worth trillions of dollars.

Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI has never been more complicated...

OpenAI and Microsoft have a complicated relationship. (Image credit: Getty Images | NurPhoto)

The New York Times reports that OpenAI's exorbitant computing power and funding demand has strained its partnership with Microsoft. This demonstrates key bottlenecks emerging startups face when chasing the AI hype, including an overreliance and dependence on cloud computing resources from key players in the industry like Microsoft and Amazon. 

However, as part of Microsoft's five-year deal with OpenAI, the ChatGPT maker exclusively agreed to leverage Microsoft's computing power and work closely with the company on new AI advances.

Interestingly, Microsoft and OpenAI partnered on a new project dubbed Stargate, setting aside $100 billion to free themselves from the shackles and overreliance on NVIDIA for AI chips. 

OpenAI has reportedly been trying to renegotiate its initial deal with Microsoft, perhaps for more computing power at a significantly lower rate. Top Microsoft executives have also raised concern over the tech giant's overreliance and dependence on OpenAI for its AI tech and smarts.

Microsoft reportedly made an exception to its exclusive deal with OpenAI, allowing it to sign a $10 billion computing deal with Oracle for its cloud computing needs. According to sources, Oracle provides computers with in-built chips for building AI, while Microsoft offers the software to run the hardware. 

According to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman:

"We’re deeply grateful for our partnership with Microsoft; the early big bet they took on us and the vast compute resources they’ve provided have been essential to our research breakthroughs, benefiting both companies greatly. We are excited and committed to pursuing our shared vision and achieving even greater things together far into the future.”

Despite the concern shared by Microsoft executives, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Kevin Scott:

“We have continued to invest in OpenAI at many discrete points in the partnership. We are certainly the very largest investor of capital in them.”

Microsoft officially listed OpenAI as a competitor in AI and search. It has also hired high-profile from rival AI firms, including former Inflection CEO and co-founder Mustafa Suleyman who now leads Microsoft's AI operations. Suleyman's presence at Microsoft reportedly doesn't sit well with OpenAI staffers, including CEO Sam Altman. 

According to some OpenAI staffers, Microsoft's AI head reportedly lost his cool during a video call, highlighting his frustrations over OpenAI not shipping new products and tech to Microsoft quickly. There are also reports that Microsoft engineers downloaded crucial OpenAI software without following the protocol in their agreement. 

Earlier this year, Microsoft insiders shared their concerns about Microsoft and OpenAI's partnership, citing it has seemingly turned into an overnight "glorified IT department for the hot startup." A former Microsoft executive alleged the partnership between OpenAI and Microsoft has led to the death of products like Azure Cognitive Search, Azure AI Bot Service, and Kinect DK.

According to Gil Luria, an analyst at investment bank D.A. Davidson:

“Microsoft could be left behind if it is only using OpenAI technologies. It is a real race — and OpenAI may not win it.”

Microsoft and OpenAI have reportedly made a couple of tweaks to the initial deal, but intricate details on the changes remain slim at best. However, Microsoft execs are reportedly happy about the changes. 

On the other hand, OpenAI is seemingly left between a rock and a hard place, coughing large amounts of money for Microsoft's computing power. OpenAI staffers have reportedly indicated that if another AI startup hits the AGI benchmark before it does, it'll attribute the setback to Microsoft not providing sufficient computing power to facilitate its sophisticated advances. 

In the interim, the ChatGPT maker is reportedly seeking to broaden its list of investors to secure additional funding for its AI advances and cloud computing needs. Apple, NVIDIA, and MGX are at the top of this list — Apple for its vast resources and NVIDIA for its AI chips. 

Interestingly, Apple was initially supposed to be part of OpenAI's just-concluded funding round but slipped out at the eleventh hour for unspecified reasons. OpenAI is also under pressure to transform into a for-profit venture in the next two years or risk returning the money raised by investors. Experts predict the move could spark regulator scrutiny on top of rejection from staffers and key stakeholders. The firm is already under fire from Elon Musk over a stark betrayal of its founding mission and alleged involvement in racketeering activities. 

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]]> https://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft/microsoft-openai-bromance-faltering RM9NkopWYfQzC3cP8BZfxZ Mon, 21 Oct 2024 11:57:43 +0000 <![CDATA[ Microsoft shuts up Salesforce CEO with Copilot agents that are "the new apps for an AI-powered world" and run on OpenAI's latest models ]]> What you need to know
  • Microsoft's Copilot Studio will soon support creating autonomous agents if you're part of the company's public preview.
  • Copilot agents are AI-powered tools that can help with a wide range of tasks and processes.
  • Agents can respond to specific triggers autonomously or respond to prompts.
  • Microsoft also introduced ten new autonomous agents in Dynamics 365 designed to help sales, service, finance, and supply chain teams.

Microsoft announced that the ability to create custom Copilot agents will enter public preview at Microsoft Ignite, which starts on November 19, 2024. Copilot agents are a step toward the future seen in films and television in which you can ask AI to take care of something for you. Agents can work either autonomously or respond to prompts to aid organizations and workers. Since it's possible to create custom Copilot agents, their capabilities will expand over time, but they can already help with tasks such as lead generation, processing orders, onboarding staff, assisting in sales, and automating a supply chain.

Copilot agents can get context from data in Microsoft 365 Graph, systems of record, and Dataverse and Fabric.

What is a Copilot agent?

Copilot agents are AI assistants that can be created to help with certain tasks. The agents can help departments such as IT, marketing, sales, customer service, and finance, according to Microsoft. The tech giant also sees value in the tools for travel, retail, and financial services.

Microsoft envisions a future in which organizations have a range of AI-powered agents acting autonomously or responding to prompts. Microsoft explains that you can think of Copilot agents " as the new apps for an AI-powered world."

Agents made with Copilot Studio run the "latest models," according to Microsoft. Most notably, OpenAI o1 powers some of the agents at the moment, though that is in limited private preview.

Copilot agents entered private preview recently and will enter public preview next month. Microsoft shared quotes from several companies that have used custom agents to showcase how the tool can help organizations.

“We’re using AI to do the time-consuming work so they can use their resource and expertise to make decisions quickly based on the data available,” said Pets at Home CIO William Hewish. “It’s truly helped us empower colleagues through both the level of information at their fingertips, and in time spent on more nuanced and insightful work. The agents solution allows the profit protection team to more effectively assess cases for potential profit loss and dedicate more of their time to skilled analysis, rather than simply information gathering.”

McKinsey & Company built a Copilot agent to help with reviewing client proposals and has seen early success. "We see tremendous potential for agents to help our clients rewire the way their businesses operate," said Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company Rodney Zemmel.

Salesforce CEO drama

Marc Benioff, chief executive officer of Salesforce Inc., speaks during a press conference at the 2024 Dreamforce conference in San Francisco, California, US, on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024.

Salesforce CEO Mark Benioff claims that Microsoft Copilot "doesn't deliver value." (Image credit: Getty Images | Bloomberg)

Recently, Salesforce CEO Mark Benioff called out Copilot, dubbing the new AI tool the "new Microsoft Clippy." The executive claimed that Copilot does not deliver value to customers and predicted the tool will not be around for long.

"When you look at how Copilot has been sold to our customers, it's disappointing. It doesn't work," said Benioff. "It spews data all over our floors, it doesn't deliver value. I haven't found a customer who has transformational work with Copilot. Copilot is just the new Microsoft Clippy."

Benioff believes that "Salesforce can beat Microsoft in AI." At least part of the CEO's confidence is due to Agentforce, a new tool from Salesforce that helps build customized AI agents. Agentforce can handle "a couple of trillion AI transactions per week," and Benioff has been effusive in his praise of the tool.

"This must be witchcraft, this is crazy with what's happening with my customers right now," said the Salesforce CEO.

Both Salesforce and Microsoft are working on tools for building custom AI agents, but it's early days for Agentforce and Copilot agents. Now that Microsoft's offering is in public preview, we'll be able to get a better gauge of how it stacks up against Agentforce.

Autonomous agents in Dynamics 365

Microsoft also introduced ten new autonomous agents in Dynamics 365 to help sales, service, finance, and supply chain teams. Microsoft highlights that the agents available in Dynamics 365 follow the tech giant's security, privacy, and AI responsibility standards and shared a few examples of agents now available in Dynamics 365:

  • Sales Qualification Agent: In a profession where time literally equals money, this agent enables sellers to focus their time on the highest priority sales opportunities while the agent Classified as Microsoft Confidential researches leads, helps prioritize opportunities and guides customer outreach with personalized emails and responses.
  • Supplier Communications Agent: This agent enables customers to optimize their supply chain and minimize costly disruptions by autonomously tracking supplier performance, detecting delays and responding accordingly — freeing procurement teams from time consuming manual monitoring and firefighting.
  • Customer Intent and Customer Knowledge Management Agents: A business gets one chance to make a first impression, and these two agents are game changers for customer care teams facing high call volumes, talent shortages and heightened customer expectations. These agents work hand in hand with a customer service representative by learning how to resolve customer issues and autonomously adding knowledge-based articles to scale best practices across the care team.

Microsoft will talk about custom AI agents at its Ignite conference, which runs from November 19-22. Tickets for attending Ignite in person are sold out, but you can also attend the event online. There, the tech giant will also showcase the tools in action and highlight how they help organizations.

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]]> https://www.windowscentral.com/software-apps/microsoft-shuts-up-salesforce-ceo-with-copilot-agents-that-are-the-new-apps-for-an-ai-powered-world-and-run-on-openais-latest-models Gt5HzJHWbTPbHYbbLjcehZ Mon, 21 Oct 2024 09:30:30 +0000