If you're not a keen follower of the AI space, then the name Hugging Face may not mean anything to you. But the company has just been acquired by NVIDIA, which continues to reinforce its new identity as an AI company.

Announced today by NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, Hugging Face will be joining the company in an acquisition priced at just under $13 billion.

Hugging Face is an open platform that has been likened to GitHub, except for local, open AI models that anyone can use. NVIDIA's plans are to keep Hugging Face the same as it is today but to scale. Because if you're not scaling AI these days, what are you even doing?

"Hugging Face will remain an open platform for the entire AI ecosystem. Developers will choose the models they want, the frameworks they want, the clouds and inference service providers they want and the computing platforms they want. NVIDIA compute will not be required to build on or deploy through Hugging Face.

Hugging Face will continue to support open source and open weight models from across the ecosystem, from every model builder. It will continue to support multi-cloud and multi-accelerator development and deployment, so builders can use the hardware and infrastructure that best fit their work."

Keeping personal opinions about AI aside, I'm certainly more in favor of real people being able to use AI models without having to rely on massive, un-evironmentally friendly data centers from the likes of Microsoft and OpenAI.

AI is very much here to stay, whether we choose to embrace it or not. But I'm definitely on the side of being able to use it however you want to use it and without feeding all your data to companies that don't necessarily deserve it.

NVIDIA is very much AI-first these days, though. Gone are the days we'd all look at its shiny new GPUs, and our only thoughts would be about gaming. It does make you ponder what the future holds for gamers, though.

I've got an RTX 5090, for example, and it's still overkill for gaming. But with 32GB of VRAM and a ton of compute horsepower, it's pretty damn good for local AI use. But is this where future products will be aligned first? Everything's getting more expensive, and AI is definitely to blame for a good chunk of it.

Alas, here we are. If you use Hugging Face currently, it doesn't sound like anything's going to change. But if you're a gaming customer of the company, as I am, I am starting to wonder how important we're going to be in the future.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is fast approaching now that the traditional yearly beta test is out of the way. Included for the first time this year was a look at the next iteration of Call of Duty: Warzone, the free-to-play battle royale that ties in with a current year's game.

It's bittersweet for folks still on an Xbox One or a PS4, though, because they weren't able to try out the new Zodiac map, and they're never going to, either.

Modern Warfare 4 will be the first Call of Duty title to drop support for Xbox One and PS4, and along with it, Warzone. The announcement was made back in June, but for now, the game is still playable.

That's going to change fairly soon, though. Here's what's already happened, what's going to happen, and crucially, when we think the final shutdown will happen.

Why is Call of Duty: Warzone on Xbox One and PS4 being shut down?

The simple answer is that Warzone is shutting down on Xbox One and PS4 because Modern Warfare 4 will not be on those platforms.

Despite Warzone being free-to-play without any requirement to own the latest Call of Duty game, crucially, it integrates with each year's new game.

As Modern Warfare 4 will be taking over from Black Ops 7, and it won't be supported on the last-gen consoles, Warzone will no longer be playable.

When do we think Call of Duty: Warzone is shutting down on Xbox One and PS4?

The official documentation states:

"Call of Duty: Warzone on PlayStation 4 and XBOX One will be available to play through the end of Season 06 for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7."

Activision hasn't given an exact date yet, but we can make an educated guess based on how the new games have rolled out in previous years.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 will release on Friday, October 23, 2026. The assumption may be that this is when the Warzone shutdown will happen, but it's not that straightforward.

Traditionally, the Warzone integration doesn't go live when the new game launches. It follows on when Season 1 of said new game begins.

In the case of Black Ops 6 and Black Ops 7, Season 1 began 20 days post-launch of the game, and this is when Warzone was updated with the new game's integration. In the case of Modern Warfare III, it was actually almost a week longer.

We expect Season 06 to begin on September 17, given it's both a Thursday and the date the Season 05 battle pass expires. Unlike the jump from Black Ops 6 to Black Ops 7, where there was a month without a seasonal update, it looks like this year's transition will leave us with content right to the very end.

This year isn't an in-house transition like the past two Treyarch releases. Given how long the seasons in Black Ops 7 usually are, we could be looking at Season 06 ending after Modern Warfare 4 launches.

This means Xbox One and PS4 players could have until around November 12 to keep playing Warzone. But we'll know for sure once Season 06 begins when we can expect it to end.

But it wouldn't be crazy to assume that Black Ops 7, the Season 06 content, Battle Pass, and Warzone that is linked to it all could remain live this long. It would be about 20 days after the Modern Warfare 4 launch, too.

Can I still get Call of Duty: Warzone on Xbox One and PS4?

For now, you can only play Warzone on Xbox One or PS4 if you have previously added it to your library.

No new downloads are being offered on either console, but if you're a past player, you can still reinstall it and play until the shutdown date.

The store is also disabled now, despite showing up in the launcher. You're unable to spend anymore money or redeem COD Points.

What happens to all the stuff I've bought in Call of Duty: Warzone on Xbox One and PS4?

The in-game store has been closed for a while now, preventing players from spending real money via the Xbox One and PS4 versions.

But your purchases aren't disappearing. Because you have an Activision ID in order to play, all those purchases are tied to your account.

As such, if you log in on another platform at any time, you'll have everything there waiting for you.

I don't have an Xbox Series X|S, PS5, or gaming PC, so how can I keep playing Call of Duty: Warzone?

If you don't have more current hardware to move to or don't want to upgrade, you're all but out of options.

You do, however, have the ability to play Warzone via the cloud, either through Xbox Cloud Gaming or NVIDIA GeForce Now. The former, you can use on your Xbox One.

Is it the same experience? Not totally. The visuals and frame rate will certainly be an upgrade (especially on GeForce Now) but you do have to consider that you will have some additional latency concerns.

The game will be playing on a piece of hardware that's in someone else's building. While server latency in the game won't be too bad, you then have to stream the game to your own device. Cloud gaming has come a long way, though, and unless you're the absolute most competitive player, it might well be good enough.

The downside is that you're going to have to pay, even though NVIDIA does have a free tier. This one is limited to an hour's play, and you have no priority access, so if the servers are full, you'll be in a longer queue. And who wants to be chucked out in the final circle?

Likewise, you can't play Warzone via the cloud for free with Xbox Cloud Gaming, either. Ultimate gets you the best quality stream, but you can play via the cheaper Xbox Game Pass tiers, too.

So, that's where we're at. While Warzone has indeed been playable on Xbox One, it's hardly been the best experience. The Xbox One X still does OK, but being attached to the Xbox One generation it has to say goodbye, too.

But there's still probably a couple of months at least left to play from the time of writing this, so enjoy.

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As PC prices continue to rise, seeing a new release at $799 is a welcome sight, and that's where we're at with the new Samsung Galaxy Book6.

It's a decidedly mid-range laptop, but at a mid-range price, and it's not like you're really losing out on much, either.

That is, as long as you're not (for some reason) looking to have Copilot+ since the NPU on the included Intel chips doesn't meet the standard. But it's 2026, so there's still plenty of AI focus on tap, with Samsung's own tools.

Despite the more affordable price, the 14-inch Samsung Galaxy Book6 doesn't skimp on one key spec: Battery life. Samsung claims up to 25 hours, backed by 45W charging that can add 33% charge in half an hour if you do need a top-up.

But in real-world use you're looking at a laptop that will easily get you through a full day off the charger, be that for work or for school. Here's what we're looking at spec-wise:

I like that there's anti-glare, and I like that there's a decent array of ports, including a full-sized HDMI output. While the cheapest version will be the Intel Core 3, with the lowest RAM and storage on offer, there is at least an option at an attractive price, and for many, it'll be plenty.

After all, it turns out having 8GB of RAM on a Windows 11 PC is just fine for a lot of users.

Being a Samsung laptop, if you also use a Galaxy smartphone or tablet, you'll unlock some additional integration, such as second screen support and the ability to use a single keyboard and mouse across multiple devices.

Galaxy AI has a few neat features, too, despite the low-powered NPU on the Galaxy Book6, with some useful tools for images and note summarization.

It's also available in two colors, a dark gray and a "Violet Silver." The Galaxy Book6 isn't going to set performance records, but that's not who it's for. It's for someone who wants a good-quality laptop to do everyday, normal things, and for that, it doesn't look bad at all.

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Today was supposed to be an opportunity for "fans" to get a chance to pre-order the new, limited edition Xbox Series X25. Yet it's questionable as to how many genuine fans may have actually got their hands on one.

Reddit is filled with bad experiences, people talking about having a console in their cart and it was gone before they could check out. That stock evaporated in "milliseconds."

And yet almost instantly they were cropping up on eBay. The highest listing I saw was for a ridiculous THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS.

To its credit, eBay seems to be taking action and shutting these listings down, as three I've already seen have been ended due to the "item no longer being available", not "sold". It was never available in the first place, and frankly, handing over thousands on a promise of getting a thing in the future is the dumbest idea anyway.

Obviously this is a limited edition, with each console uniquely numbered, and was always going to be in hot demand. But while eBay might be taking listings down, more are popping up across the globe.

Scalpers are going to scalp. They're not going to cancel their order, and they're going to try somehow to move it on for a premium price. It's the Pokémon card fiasco all over again.

My advice is clear: Do not buy a console from a scalper. In fact, if you can't get one directly from a retailer, don't buy one unless you actually see it and can pick it up with your bare hands. These people have no morals; don't hand over your money and trust that you'll actually even get the thing.

I was never going to try and get one myself, as I don't have a spare $899 to throw at a console I already have in a different body. But scalpers really make me angry. It's a constant battle in trading card collecting, especially. There's reselling and then there's just existing to rip people off by using your bots to scoop up stock from legitimate buyers.

Anyway, rant over. If you did manage to secure an Xbox Series X25 let us know in the comments. Unless you're a scalper.

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Physical media is present in the news cycle quite a bit of late, what with the latest news from Xbox about its disc-to-digital program. Then there's PlayStation's double whammy of removing digital content from libraries and then announcing it will be stopping new game discs from 2028.

The move to all-digital has been on the cards for some time, and PC gamers have already long embraced that future. But in a bizarre twist of fate, it seems some are reversing this process and actually starting to make their own physical copies of digital PC games.

I stumbled across a YouTube video by Archades Games (which is embedded below) that's been up for many months, but nevertheless, its subject matter made me click. On PC there's quite often a way where there's a will, and with GOG especially, it's actually pretty easy to create your own physical installer for your game library.

Of course, it requires having the necessary hardware to do it, and Blu-ray drives (like everything else) have been getting more expensive in recent years. But if you have a drive and some discs, there's little else to stop you.

There's a wider discussion that is ongoing regarding game preservation and generally good data backup habits. But in this specific instance, GOG will offer DRM-free offline installers, and the right Blu-ray discs can last at least your own lifetime, and potentially many more besides.

The process itself seems pretty straightforward, though the video and a follow-up, which goes into more depth, including multi-disc scenarios, walk you through every step. Multi-disc is certainly something you'd need for Cyberpunk 2077.

Essentially you need a Blu-ray or DVD drive capable of writing to discs, the right discs, a copy of MakeMKV (which, as the site is currently offline, you'll have to grab from an archived version of the page), and ImgBurn to both create an ISO file and burn it to the disc.

Archades Games goes one step further and even creates a nice-looking label for the discs, just to add a finishing touch. Though that's entirely optional.

You can also write your own autorun file to add to the disc so that when you insert it into a PC, it will immediately open up the installer. Just like in the old days when you'd buy a big box PC game.

I haven't tried this yet, and I'm not necessarily sure I will. But recent events have certainly made me start to think about "ownership." I don't own anything in my Steam library; I don't own any of the digital movies I've bought over the years from Apple, Google, and Amazon. Long-term rentals are only fine as long as the rights holders say so.

I've been buying up physical copies of movies I only have digitally on Blu-ray and creating a digital copy of those Blu-rays to store on my NAS. I'm not suggesting it's practical to create a full library of PC games on disc, and in many cases, you can't get new releases on GOG or anywhere else with an offline installer.

But preservation is something we should all care about. I've thought more and more about it as my children are growing up and I'm able to enjoy content with them. My son is absolutely loving being able to play games on Xbox from before he was born, and much of that is thanks to backwards compatibility.

But we also have an Xbox 360 running every day right now, with physical copies of games that we can use for as long as the disc lasts.

The idea of "cold storing" important data on Blu-ray discs is something I've been toying with, too. With the right discs, such as M-Discs designed for archiving, that data can be preserved for centuries. So long as you have a way in the future of actually reading them, of course.

It might be a fun project for game installers, but for treasured memories, photo libraries, and things that are irreplaceable, having a copy that could stand the test of time is looking more important. Good backup processes are something we should all be doing.

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The Division 2 is one of my favorite games for a number of reasons. One of those is how it's been treated by Ubisoft, a company that faces its fair share of well-founded criticism.

The original plan would have seen new content end long ago, but it was so popular with such a dedicated community that it's still here today. There's an absurd amount of content in this game, and now we're getting another DLC expansion.

Following on from last year's Battle for Brooklyn, which took us literally back to where it all began in the first game, we're now going to a previously unseen part of New York City in "Echoes of Central Park."

One of the city's most iconic locations hasn't been part of The Division to this point, but it will be the central focus in the next expansion, announced for the first time as part of a Ubisoft The Division 2 panel at Gamescom in Cologne.

Naturally there will be an expanded story with new missions, but we're being promised something a little different this time around.

The summary that's been shared with me prior to the panel certainly gets my attention. With this new location we're promised that the Upper West Side is petrified with fear, and that fear is going to be an underlying element that our Agents will be dealing with in this expansion.

That's particularly interesting because all through The Division franchise, Agents have felt like superheroes. Equipped with wild tech and insane weapons to take down the worst that the post-Dollar Flu apocalyptic world has to offer.

That fear itself is going to be an enemy is a different approach. Echoes of Central Park, we're told, is going to follow a darker tone to previous content in the franchise, with horror themes taking us down a very different path.

It'll start in a familiar manner; Division Agents will receive a distress call from inside Central Park and will be dispatched to answer it with no idea what's there or what's been happening since the outbreak.

Other tidbits include a warning that we'll have to prepare and untangle the mysteries before finally finding out what lies within the park. Mysterious indeed.

Ubisoft also says that Echoes of Central Park isn't just another story expansion. They really wanted to focus on the gameplay, and it certainly sounds like it'll be something a little different to what we're used to.

A full reveal of Echoes of Central Park is slated for a special presentation on September 24, where we'll also get our first look at the new map and gameplay. Given what happened so far in New York City across the two games in the series, I always assumed Central Park would have been turned into some kind of mass grave, but I guess I'm wrong on that.

Bring on September 24.

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Just before the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 beta early access weekend started, I wrote an article based on my brief initial play test prior to it going live. It was simply titled "I might have been wrong about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4."

I'm not going to go over too much old ground, but the tl;dr was that I expected not to enjoy this year's game at all based on past experience from the Modern Warfare reboot series.

But I am going to follow up after putting some hours in during said early access weekend on whether or not I was actually wrong. And yes, I was. Mostly. It's not perfect by any stretch, but from what I've seen so far, I am actually looking forward to playing this year's Call of Duty after all. But there's still some stuff I don't like.

The good about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4

Everything I said previously I liked about Modern Warfare 4 still stands. Possibly more so having shifted from playing on console initially over to PC.

It's easily the best-looking Call of Duty game in recent memory, for starters. The Silkworm map, especially, looks absolutely glorious if you turn up the graphics settings a bit.

But it's the campaign I think that'll really benefit here. We've only had a single mission, Entrenched, to play so far, but the visual appeal is clear, and it's absolutely filled with atmosphere.

The most competitive players will always turn the graphics right down, but for the rest of us, it's nice to be playing a Call of Duty that actually looks like a modern game.

The movement is also, I think, spot on. It doesn't feel as crazy fast as Black Ops 7; you can't jump up walls here, but it's fast enough. And it's only taken players a couple of days to figure out how to exploit it as best they can, be that positive or negative.

But combine the movement with the excellent gunplay, an aim assist that doesn't feel like it's doing all the work for you (at least in my opinion), and some solid weapons, and the core experience is very enjoyable.

I'm also a fan of the way Modern Warfare 4 handles its attachment unlocks. Once you get an attachment, it's automatically unlocked for all of the weapons you can use it on.

The Apex attachments you unlock when you reach max level are also an interesting addition. It's similar, I guess, to the prestige unlocks in Black Ops 7, except you don't lose an attachment slot to use them. They go on top of everything else.

The menu design is also excellent, and overall it's just a really solid player experience. Of particular note is more clarity on the server you're connected to, and I've been seeing low ping across the board.

The bad about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4

As good as the gameplay is, I'm not so much of a fan of the maps. There will be more at launch and in subsequent seasons, of course, but I don't think what they've given us in the first beta is the best way to show off this game.

If I have to play Transit 213 again, I'm going to lose my mind. It's another of those Call of Duty maps that are really small, where you're constantly on top of each other, and it falls into what I call the brainrot category.

Think Stakeout from Black Ops 6, Shipment from previous Modern Warfare games. It's not as bad as Shipment, but its only purpose in existing is for people to pad their stats and probably for camo unlocks. Otherwise it's horrible.

Silkworm, while looking amazing, isn't overly fun either. The middle lane is essentially a long open street, so you force yourself down the outer lanes, which both have lengthy open runs, too.

Rooftops feels like it should be a good map, with a mix of external and internal sections paired with elevation changes. But there's something about the way it plays right now that feels a little off.

Of the debuting maps, Cachette is a decent challenge, I feel, and I enjoyed Lotus the most by far. Both feel like they play more into a properly competitive, tactical way of playing rather than just running full speed at the opponents.

The meta also has not and will not change (outside of Ranked Play at least) from UAV spam. They're so easy to get; you'll be spammed constantly with multiple UAVs, and since they give away your positions, you become easy pickings. It also forces you to buy into that meta or be on the backfoot, and I'd rather use my streaks a different way.

I'd love to see Infinity Ward change the UAV so it's harder to get, but I don't see that happening. Add in the Personal Radar Field Upgrade and you may as well just walk around with a glowing beacon on your head inviting your opponents to take you down.

There's also a healthy round of weapon balancing that needs to happen, and I'm sure it will, as it always does. Snipers are obviously strong, but they're way too strong right now and too easy to use. Spawns are also pretty bad right now, but Infinity Ward is already working on that ahead of the second weekend of the beta.

Overall, though, I'm a lot happier with Modern Warfare 4 than I expected to be. Lots would say the last two Black Ops games were bad, and that's their opinion they're entitled to, but I've really enjoyed Black Ops 7 in particular. I usually do when it's a Black Ops game.

But I've gone from trepidation and expecting not to play this year's game (in part thanks to GTA 6 looming) to back on board the Call of Duty train. It's a shame we're not getting to see DMZ in the beta, as that's the mode I'm most excited for, but I am curious to see how Warzone will be. At least we can try that out in the open beta, which begins on Friday, August 28.

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From the get go, as soon as I heard that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 would be this year's entry in Microsoft's biggest franchise, my head dropped.

Since Modern Warfare was rebooted, it's been my least favorite. Modern Warfare (2019) was OK, and I played it for a little while but lost interest quicker than in any previous Call of Duty. I barely touched the two that came after it.

I've always preferred Black Ops, and while the last two in that series haven't been perfect by any means, I've really enjoyed playing them. But I've now finally played Modern Warfare 4 for the first time as part of Call of Duty: NEXT, and I'm man enough to admit my initial trepidation may well have been way off base.

I'll preface this by saying I haven't seen much of the game so far. I'll be enjoying the full multiplayer experience, that campaign mission, and the new Warzone map for the first time during the beta like everyone else.

But what I have already experienced has given me hope, because two aspects in particular I was expecting not to enjoy have turned out to be far better than I anticipated: Movement and gunplay.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4's movement feels good

I'm no "movement demon" on Black Ops 7, but I do enjoy the fast fluidity to it. I enjoy the pace of Call of Duty when it's flying along, and I appreciate that not everyone does. I don't enjoy slower-paced, more tactical shooters nearly as much.

I just want to run, gun, and then run and gun again. Have some fun.

Modern Warfare 4 is more grounded in that there's no wall jumping, but it still feels fluid. The pace isn't quite at Black Ops 7 level, but it's not slow. Sliding is smooth but doesn't feel ridiculous, and I think the best way I can describe the movement overall is that everything feels deliberate.

You don't feel like a superhero. You feel like you have some weight behind you, like you can't just use movement to get you out of a hole. You actually need to know what you're doing.

I like Modern Warfare 4's gunplay

Again, this is based on only a very brief playtest before the beta opens, but so far I like the gunplay a lot. The way the weapons move as you're running, the way they move when you're firing, and even the way the whole experience looks.

It's pretty satisfying.

Of course, I haven't yet experienced levelling up weapons, strapping on attachments, and such, but I do hope that we don't end up in a position, as we do every year, where there's a single meta that makes every weapon shoot like a laser beam with no recoil.

As it stands out of the gate, I like the recoil, and I like that you actually need to be able to aim a little to hit your shots. I'm not very good, but I like it.

It feels good hitting your shots, especially with a pistol. Call of Duty isn't realistic by any stretch, but Modern Warfare 4 so far seems to be headed in a better direction in this aspect than the last two Black Ops games.

Visually Modern Warfare 4 is the best Call of Duty in a while

Nobody plays Call of Duty because it's a particularly good-looking game, and those who indulge primarily in PvP action on PC always turn the graphics down anyway to get the extra frames. Console players can't do that, so there needs to be a balance.

I've played so far on the Xbox Series X, and I think Modern Warfare 4 looks pretty good. Certainly more like you'd expect a modern shooter to look.

Part of this, I do wonder, is it down to the decision to ditch last-gen consoles? I played Black Ops 7's beta last year on an Xbox One X, and it wasn't great. Visually it looked fine, close enough to the Xbox Series X, but the frame rate was awful. But I also felt like the last-gen consoles were holding back the visuals on the more modern systems.

Everything about the visuals on Modern Warfare 4 so far feels like an upgrade over Black Ops 7. The lighting is nice, textures are decent, and I think the weapons look fantastic. It's just generally all-around nice to look at.

Black Ops 6 and Black Ops 7 were OK, and I get that Modern Warfare has a whole different aesthetic, but it feels less 'fake' and altogether a more pleasing environment.

That's not to say that there isn't plenty more that needs to be experienced to decide whether Modern Warfare 4 is a "good game" or not. There's still the matchmaking experience, for example, that could make or break things, and plenty of other decisions that could affect the player experience.

But on the face of it, I'm prepared to admit my preconceptions were wrong that I'd immediately dislike this game. The fundamentals of it are a lot better than I expected.

Like everyone else, I'll be really getting to grips with Modern Warfare 4 during this weekend's early access beta. Things kick off today, Friday, August 21, at 9am Pacific for Call of Duty: NEXT, with access for everyone else with a code beginning at 11am Pacific.

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Back in August 2015, Microsoft was working to link console, PC, and mobile gaming into a single network. Coverage at the time framed this "games everywhere" approach as a major shift, with Windows, ironically, serving as the central hub to keep game libraries synced across devices. Phil Spencer was early in his tenure, working through the fallout of the Xbox One's rocky launch and its controversial DRM policies. Industry observers remained skeptical, and players questioned whether Microsoft could actually pull off cross-platform play and cloud integration.

Eleven years later, that initial push sits at the center of Xbox's modern business model. Under Asha Sharma, Microsoft Gaming has pulled back on its controversial "This is an Xbox campaign," trying to reprioritize the console, while deemphasizing Copilot AI. Indeed, there is a big list of things that need fixing. Oh, and apparently it's now XBOX.

The original questions around brand identity and hardware relevance haven't gone away, but their context has completely changed. Looking back at this 2015 report shows that the foundation for today's strategy was already being built, even if the execution took over a decade to solidify (if you can even call it that). — Daniel Rubino, Editor-in-Chief.

The original article below, "The future of Xbox is bright, and it's everywhere," was published on August 13th, 2015, by Richard Devine.

Gamescom 2015 was a blast for Xbox fans. Just as E3 was before it. Microsoft keeps floating the phrase, "the best games line up in Xbox history," and it's probably true. After a flaky launch for the Xbox One by anyone's standards, under Phil Spencer's stewardship things are going in the right direction.

And that direction is out. Xbox is finally becoming something bigger than the box that sits under your television. Gaming is important to Microsoft, and Xbox is its brand. Everywhere.

There have been smatterings of it outside the console for a while, like Xbox Live Achievement support for Windows 8 and Windows Phone games, and the now revoked Xbox branding for Microsoft's music and video services. With the removal of the latter, Xbox is now exactly what it should be for Microsoft. It's all about the games.

The big push really began in January when Spencer appeared at Microsoft's big Windows 10 event. It was the launch of Xbox on Windows 10 and while it all sounded grand, as the months have passed the vision has become so much clearer. Phones, tablets, PCs, consoles, HoloLens, Xbox is going to be everywhere. Cross-buy, cross-play and game streaming are but the beginning.

Take this quote from Spencer in a recent interview with Polygon as an example:

Our recent trip to Cologne for Gamescom helped further put this into perspective. The vast space that was the Xbox booth was lined with both consoles and Windows 10 side-by-side. Windows wasn't shoved away in a corner; it was right there alongside the biggest new titles Microsoft had to show. Games like Fable Legends and Gigantic played together on both platforms. The only difference, your preference for a controller or keyboard and mouse.

Windows 10 is a big step forward for Microsoft in so many spaces. It's allowing the company to do things that it, nor anyone else has done before. Sure, Sony has dabbled with game streaming, but unless you own a PlayStation and at least one other Sony product, it's useless. How many more people already have what they need to stream Xbox One games? A Windows PC. Sony can't boast what Microsoft is able to do with its games on Windows 10. No-one can.

It's also going to become, I believe, less important to focus on how many consoles Microsoft sells versus Sony. And that's because of the platform. In the same way that a smartphone is a way to deliver Microsoft services to your pocket, the Xbox One will be a way to deliver Xbox to your living room. With Xbox as the games platform available here and on hundreds of millions of Windows 10 PCs around the world, who really gets the bigger marketshare?

And let's not forget that as of Windows 10, official Xbox peripherals, including the forthcoming Elite Controller, are compatible out of the box. Just plug 'em in and away you go.

We're only at the beginning. There's so much to look forward to that we do and don't know about. The new Xbox One experience powered by Windows 10, cross-play games like Gigantic, Fable Legends and Killer Instinct, not to mention Halo Wars 2 in 2016. Engineers have told us that yes, they'd love to reverse the Xbox One game streaming feature, but whether it happens or not is still an open question. The Xbox app on Windows 10 will get better every month and we've got things like Crackdown 3, leveraging the power of the Microsoft cloud, to look forward to.

To sum up, I heard this phrase while at Gamescom that I think says everything. What if you could imagine a future where there weren't Xbox One games and Windows games, there were just Xbox games.

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I've always been a fan of physical media, be it movies, music, or games. I'm also old enough that I grew up in a time when it's all we had; there was no Spotify or Netflix.

Slowly I'm working through it all to create digital copies for both archival purposes and convenience since there are plenty of situations where it's not practical to put a disc in a machine and consume its content.

Right now I'm working through a vast stack of CDs acquired from the days when cars had CD players, not just screens connected to your phone or directly to streaming services. But I quickly found that the app I've used for this process in the past, the stock Windows 11 Media Player, nowadays isn't up to scratch.

It will still rip CDs, but it's no good for the metadata anymore. Microsoft turned off the online tool that you could use to grab it, but even then, I figured I could just enter it manually, right?

Seems that doesn't work all the time, either. Even on the few CDs I have that actually have the metadata on them already. It took ripping a few discs for me to realize that information wasn't being applied to some or all tracks, and the artwork wasn't sticking, either. So I needed a replacement, and frankly, I should have just gone for this out of the gate.

Enter Exact Audio Copy (EAC). A free app that is absurdly powerful and does the job right the first time.

Without online metadata the process takes too long anyway

Admittedly, it's been a while since I last digitized a stack of CDs, and it had completely passed me by that Microsoft had turned off the service to get the information online. It's a pretty poor experience for a stock app, even if it's a feature that's increasingly used by fewer people.

A better solution would have been to update the app, allowing its users to find an alternative source of this information. There are options out there, such as MusicBrainz, a free and open-source database of metadata. Maybe I'm asking too much; after all, Microsoft didn't even update the app to remove the option to check for metadata.

It's still there; it just gives you an error if you try and use it. I actually quite like the stock Media Player app, and still use it to play music. It's simple and mostly nice to use. If it's not going to work properly, though, just remove it altogether.

Exact Audio Copy is the perfect solution

Fortunately there is always an alternative, and in this case, it's called Exact Audio Copy (EAC). There will be folks out there that have known of this app for years and are screaming at my incompetence for not going straight to it.

But I didn't know it existed. I'm glad I do now.

This isn't a full tutorial on how to use the app, mostly because I'm doing one specific thing, but it is really powerful. There are plenty of better tutorials out there, such as this one.

All I want is an accurate rip in FLAC, a standardized filename structure, metadata, and album artwork applied. The good news is that if you just want the same thing every time, EAC will run you through a setup wizard when you first use it. From there, you shouldn't need to touch your settings again.

The only thing I did need to change was the metadata provider. The default option is only free for 10 rips, but you can change it within the app to MusicBrainz, which is completely free.

I now know I should have used this all along. AccurateRip will check your CD against a database of other exact rips to ensure yours is as perfect as it can possibly be. It can deal with scratched discs (of which I sadly own several), and it communicates directly with the hardware.

I may be underselling it, but I'm as far from an expert as there is on this stuff. There are plenty of more knowledgeable folks out there, like this post on Flemming's blog that is an excellent resource for getting set up properly.

EAC isn't the only alternative to using Media Player, but it's the one I tried first, and I'm happy. I may try and get in the weeds at some point, but for now it's doing what I need. Archiving my CDs accurately, with good quality, and all the necessary metadata.

If you've any tips or tricks to share on this process, or even an alternative worth trying, be sure to drop them in the comments below.

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I'm a big fan of the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) not least because I like Linux, and it means I can run it from the same PC as Windows 11 without the need for virtual machines or dual-booting.

It's been around for quite a while now and is a pretty powerful tool for developers, especially, and it's come to light that for Canonical, at least, WSL might soon be the biggest source of users of Ubuntu.

It comes to light from comments made by Canonical's VP of Engineering, Jon Seagar, actually back in April to The Pragmatic Engineer‘s Gergely Orosz spotted by the team over at Windows Latest.

Not only is Ubuntu growth on WSL continuing to increase, it's actually starting to outpace the desktop. So much so that it's expected that Ubuntu on WSL will soon be bigger than native Ubuntu use.

Obviously Linux is more than just Ubuntu, and its overall use is still dwarfed by Windows 11. But Ubuntu is one of the biggest distros, and this is pretty interesting to hear.

WSL does have GUI support for apps, but it's not the same as running a full desktop, but in most cases, developers and system admins don't need a full desktop. The terminal is just fine, and WSL has seamless integration into Microsoft's VS Code as well.

I've written in the past that WSL is a great tool to use to learn about Linux as a beginner since you can fire it up within the comfortable surroundings of your existing Windows 11 PC. But that same principle can apply for professionals who need access to both.

It's convenient and gives access to the Linux tools needed, including nowadays for AI, and some tools are built specifically for or work best on Linux. But with WSL you have integration with your existing Windows 11 file system.

I use probably 5% of the potential of WSL on my own PC, but it's still one of the first things I set up whenever I'm moving on to a new machine. You're not limited to Ubuntu, either, with Fedora my own distro of preference. But there's plenty to choose from.

Microsoft keeps improving it, too. The most recent development is WSL Containers, and it even has its own version of Linux now for users to deploy in Azure Linux. There are still plenty of cases for having a bare-metal Linux machine, but with Windows 11 and WSL working together, you've got a hybrid that's good enough for many.

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Sim Update 6 for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 was first revealed a couple of months back at the FlightSimExpo. Since then it's had some beta testing, and now, it's ready for prime time.

Sim Update 6 for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is rolling out now, and it's not a huge download, coming in under 4GB on my PC.

There are a few headline features, a ridiculously long list of tweaks and fixes, and something that hasn't made the cut from the beta period.

First up is the bad news, and that's the rolling back from the planned upgrade to FSR 4 with this update. There are some compatibility issues with FSR 4 Frame Gen that the team is currently working through alongside AMD. The FSR version will still be shown, though, according to your GPU's software.

As such, it's back to FSR 3, the same as was present in Sim Update 5.1. There are no such issues for NVIDIA users, though, and DLSS 4.5 has been added as the new default upscaler with Dynamic Frame Generation with in-game VSync support.

One of the big new features is the return of Bush Trips, brought over to Flight Simulator 2024 from Flight Simulator 2020. They're all here, and you'll find them in the Activities menu in the game. Guided tours are now also found here.

There are a host of lighting improvements added with Sim Update 6, too, as well as some bits just for developers, and career mode gets a little attention as well. I've previously covered the headline features coming with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Sim Update 6, so check that out for a summary.

Otherwise, you can dive into the extensive patch notes, but be warned, they'll take longer to read than the update will to install. Definitely grab a beverage!

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If there are two features I'll turn off in every single video game in which they are present, it would be chromatic aberration and film grain.

I get why it exists, but I wish it didn't because it never gives the look (in my opinion anyway) that you think the developers are aiming for.

So, not being able to turn either off in Halo: Campaign Evolved, a shiny futuristic space epic, seems like a misstep.

On PC there were ways around it, but now that won't be necessary, as the next update will allow both to be disabled. As it should have been from the start.

Such is my dislike for both of these graphical 'features' that I haven't even opened Halo: Campaign Evolved yet. I shouldn't need to use config files to turn off something this basic.

The updates to Sgt. Johnson sound pretty important, too, if progression being blocked has been an issue until now.

There isn't much to go on besides the X post shown above, with the update scheduled for some time next week. Full patch notes will be available at that time, and these are just the "highlights," so there'll be a bunch of lower-level stuff as well, it seems.

Crucially, it looks like you'll need to make sure you're at a save point at the end of a mission before the update drops, or else you'll lose some of your progress. The post specifically only mentions mid-mission save points, so everything else will be fine.

In our full review of Halo: Campaign Evolved, my colleague Brendan Lowry said:

"Campaign Evolved ultimately delivers an incredible reimagining of the original Halo, enhancing it with jaw-dropping audiovisual presentation, carefully considered gameplay and level additions, an enjoyable new three-mission story, and a suite of over three dozen collectible Skulls for tons of replay value."

It's not perfect, sure, and it literally is just the campaign with some new missions added, but overall it's pretty well executed. The next update at least will fix some of the irritations.

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Scrolling through social media recently, I stumbled on a Reel (and I'm sorry; I forgot to save it, so my apologies to its creator for not being able to link out) where a dad was explaining how he cancelled Disney+ and saved money in the long run.

But he did it by buying an Xbox One S.

When it first released, one of the killer features beyond being a slimmed-down, brick-less Xbox One was its 4K UHD Blu-Ray drive. We take it for granted now, but the Xbox One S was the first in the family to get that hardware. For $300 you got the ability to play 4K Blu-ray discs, significantly less expensive than most of the dedicated players out there.

Being an affordable 4K Blu-ray player is still one of the strengths of the Xbox One S; only now, it's generally even cheaper. Though yes, let's acknowledge before anyone says it in the comments, obviously you don't get Dolby Vision.

Seeing the aforementioned Reel made the penny drop. It could actually be a viable way to break free of the endless cycle of subscribing to streaming services and buying digital content that we now know for sure could disappear at any time.

The Xbox One S and physical media has always been a winner

The crux of the Reel that inspired this post was that buying a used Xbox One S, plus picking up their kids' favorite movies used on Blu-ray, was cheaper than a year of the Disney+ plan they were paying for.

Obviously on Disney+ there's a ton of content, but the value is only there if you're consuming it. It'd be like paying for Xbox Game Pass for a full year and playing only one game; it doesn't make sense. In this case, most of the content was never being watched, so it worked out cheaper to cancel and just buy the discs.

But Disney+ is just one service. We went from a world where breaking free of cable TV was exciting and a way to save money by only watching what we wanted without the guff. But now we're in a worse position, because the content is locked behind so many paywalls that by the time you add it all up, you may as well have just had cable.

It's frightening, frankly. Looking at my own bills, I'm subscribed to Netflix, Disney+, TNT Sports on HBO Max, Apple TV+, and Amazon Prime Video, though the latter I don't really count because Prime is worth it just for the free shipping.

But counting the first five, I'm paying at least what I used to pay for my premium TV package back before I became a 'cordcutter.' And I don't even get everything I want when I want it!

I've always been a fan of physical media. I love my games; I love my movies. Hell, I still have a stack of music cassettes and a Walkman. Today's generation may be finding this stuff for the first time; some of us never let it go.

But depending on how much you spend versus how much you actually watch, maybe it does make sense to buy the physical versions of the stuff you actually care about? At least it won't disappear.

Not owning your content isn't really the answer

If you already have an old Xbox One S spare, or even a One X or your current Xbox Series X (sorry, Series S owners), you're already in a prime position. If you don't, you can pick a used One S up right now at least fairly cheaply. Though as ever, location will have an effect on that.

Xbox also had a leg up on PlayStation, remarkably, which didn't have 4K Blu-ray capabilities on any of the PS4 lineup, despite being able to play games at 4K on the PS4 Pro.

It's a prudent thing to think of, though. There's a whole community out here of folks who like to digitize their own media with a Plex or Jellyfin server, but if you have the discs, this is far simpler.

The argument has been brought to light recently by Sony. First by removing video content from its customers' libraries that they had paid for, and then by deciding to end physical game production from 2028. When you buy digital, you have no ownership of your content.

When you buy a piece of digital content, you're buying a license to consume it. But only for as long as you're allowed to, which apparently isn't forever. At least when it's a physical item in your possession, you have the control.

I'm going to deploy my Xbox One S again

I won't be cancelling the various streaming services I subscribe to anytime soon, more's the pity. When you've got two kids who watch most of them regularly, familial bliss is the price to pay for the, well, price. That and I do enjoy some of the content on them you can't get anywhere else.

But if it's a piece of media I care about and want to truly enjoy for years to come, I already lean towards buying a Blu-ray. The quality is better, it's mine, and I can digitize all of my Blu-Ray discs on my PC and toss a copy onto my NAS.

I have been using my Xbox Series X, but I don't generally keep that in the front room attached to my 4K TV. I'd actually forgotten until thinking about this post that I still have my old Xbox One S stashed away. So it's going to be coming out of retirement to live a second life as a full-time movie box. I think I still even have a PDP Xbox remote control somewhere.

But whether it's to free yourself of the streaming services, throw a middle finger up to the digital future being forced upon us, or you just like to own your stuff, the Xbox One S is still a great value way to enjoy high-quality content. Owned, not rented.

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It's that time in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7's seasonal rotation for a Reloaded refresh, and once again the big deal for many is Zombies.

Black Ops 7 Zombies is reaching its narrative conclusion as the Rex Infernus map is open for business when Season 05 Reloaded goes live on August 20 at 9am Pacific.

"As reality stands on the cusp of destruction, the crew face their ultimate challenge. Cleanse the Shadowsmith places of power, find the Warden’s inner sanctum, and put an end to his loathsome existence."

As ever, completing the main quest will bring forth your rewards. If you get it done before Directed Mode launches, you'll get a unique Calling Card that will become unavailable when it does.

Other rewards include the "Bloodthorn" Wonder Weapon skin, calling cards, and 10,000 XP. Collect all the Intel to get another Calling Card and 10,000 XP.

Widow's Wine is also back, complete with new major and minor augments to research, and a new GobbleGum, "Fully Packed," will upgrade your weapon to Pack-a-Punch level 3. So that's definitely going to come in handy.

Two new Ultra-Rarity weapons are being added to the mystery box, too, with the TR2 marksman rifle and the Olympia shotgun joining the ranks of Zombies-based gambling.

It's bittersweet for Zombies players, as this is it. The last new full map content that we're going to see for some time. Modern Warfare 4 doesn't have a Zombies mode, so for now, that's all she wrote.

Naturally Season 05 Reloaded covers all aspects of the game, not just Zombies. The PvE extraction Endgame is about to reach the end of its free-to-play run, as it'll return to being a Black Ops 7-owned (and Game Pass) exclusive when Season 05 comes to a close.

During that time, though, the Burn Run Assignment will continue to appear across Avalon. Keep tabs on your map for the skull icon for a little Forza racing in Call of Duty action. The maximum combat rating you need for any of these is only 45, too, so they're pretty accessible.

Multiplayer will see a new pinball-themed Turbo Tilt map based on Nuketown history, complete with interactive bumpers and ramps. Freerun: Descent is getting a new course, and Cranked Moshpit is back if you like a bit of that.

As for Warzone, Loaded Resurgence will be coming back for another go around. It does also get some new gameplay features, though, with the Quickdrop Kit, which reduces redeploy time in Resurgence, and a Special Delivery Drone you can shoot down in all modes to earn yourself some weapon camos.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Season 05 Reloaded goes live on August 20 at 9am Pacific.

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Euro Truck Simulator 2 is, outside of the well-known titles such as GTA 6, one of the most hyped upcoming console releases. We know it's coming to Xbox Series X|S and PS5, but other than that, nothing.

The lack of information is only adding to the build-up, but now, finally, there's a strong chance it might be ready for people to see for the first time.

Its maker, SCS Software, has announced it is going to Tokyo Game Show for the first time. While it means we're probably not hearing anything at Gamescom a few weeks prior, SCS is hoping to have a playable console version of Euro Truck Simulator 2 on the Tokyo Game Show floor.

"We're also doing everything we can to bring playable demonstrations of our upcoming Road Trip and Coaches projects to Tokyo Game Show, along with a PlayStation 5 version of Euro Truck Simulator 2. While we're not quite ready to make any promises, our teams are working hard behind the scenes, and we hope to give visitors an early hands-on look at these exciting new experiences."

Alright, so first up, it's the PS5 version of Euro Truck Simulator 2. Which, given it's in Tokyo, makes a lot of sense. Xbox will also be at the show, but let's face it, PS5 is the clear king in Japan of the two. There will be more players at that event that are on PS5 than on Xbox.

It's also not a guarantee, but the fact that SCS has even mentioned it at all must mean they're somewhat confident of making it stick. The other content they're hoping to show off we've at least already seen to some degree. The console version is the unicorn right now.

There are so many questions players have over how the experience will translate to console. It has to be flawless on a controller, for example, and I'm confident enough it will be. I play both Euro Truck Simulator 2 and American Truck Simulator on my Steam Deck regularly with its built-in gamepad.

But a PC game supporting a controller is not the same as a truly controller-native console experience. It's also great news for the development of the game if SCS believes it's in a good enough state to allow members of the public to take a look.

What it very much isn't, though, is any confirmation of imminent release. For one, it's only one of the two games. American Truck Simulator isn't mentioned. Is there a chance we'll hear more about the desired timeframe? Possibly.

Either way, for console players who are waiting impatiently for the insanely popular truck simulators to finally break free of their PC exclusivity, this is the best piece of news since they were first revealed.

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The beauty of a handheld gaming PC is its size and that it's also a full PC. The downside is that, unlike a laptop, you need to accessorize in order to achieve productivity status.

A Nintendo Switch 2 may well have a 'mouse' now, but you're not going to use it to bang out some emails and spreadsheets on the train.

I've had a Steam Deck since the very beginning, and as an open fan of Linux, I'm more than happy using it as a PC as well as a handheld games machine. Razer has now released a new product to go with one of its existing products that's particularly useful for the former.

Unlike everything else Razer makes, it doesn't have some wild monicker. It's simply the Razer Travel Case Folio, and it's designed to transport your favorite portable keyboard and prop up your favorite portable device.

Nothing overly fancy, but in the case of handhelds, it's actually pretty nifty.

The keyboard part is designed primarily around the Razer Joro wireless keyboard, which I have, and is the only keyboard I ever travel with in conjunction with my Steam Deck. The box also says it's a seamless fit with Apple's Magic Keyboard, if you're so inclined.

As yes, one of the reasons you'd want to buy this case is if you're an iPad owner (other tablets are also available). It'll support up to a 13-inch tablet to use with your keyboard, as the back of the case opens up in a manner regulars in these parts will be familiar with.

The Travel Case Folio has a Surface-style kickstand on the back.

I have to say I'm surprised at how sturdy it is. It has zero struggle propping up my hefty Valve handheld, and in the same vein as a Surface kickstand, you can adjust your angle to suit.

The keyboard doesn't lock into place or anything, but it's secure when the case is closed, kept in snug by the magnetic closing flap. I also like that there's a cutout on the case to connect a charger without needing to open it up. One is for the Joro, and one is more centralized for Apple's keyboard.

One small gripe I have though, and it is only small, is that the cutout for Razer's own Joro could have been a little larger or had a secondary one for the power switch. I never remember to turn the keyboard off, and every single time I've pressed something as I've packed it away, and that translates to something happening on the screen.

So I have to get it out again, open up the case, turn off the keyboard, and pack it all back up. And no, after many, many times of doing this, I still haven't remembered.

It's a really nice product though. Spill resistant on the outside, soft and protective on the inside, and it works better than I expected as a kickstand for a handheld. Even with my Steam Deck in a case, it will still stand up just fine. Perfect for those of us who don't have a Legion Go.

At $55.99 from the Razer Store, it's not that expensive, either. Obviously, if you don't have one of the two keyboards it's built for, then it's probably not worth it, but given that the Razer Joro is a $140 portable keyboard, it's worth the investment. I think I'm more surprised it took this long.

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Xbox is legally required in some territories, such as the UK and, more recently, Australia, to verify the age of its users in order to access certain features.

Whether we like it or not, there's no way around it. Governments will always government. But what most of us objected to more was the use of faceless third-parties that were being used to verify some of our most personal information. In Xbox's case, it was Yoti, a company that's found itself in hot water before over its handling of data.

Fortunately, at long, long last, if you've held out on completing Xbox age verification, it looks like you won't have to. A message is hitting the inboxes of those accounts that haven't yet verified their age through other means but have been determined as having an "adult account" through their activity.

Our own Ben Wilson was one such holdout and got the message himself last night. Here's what it says in full:

Due to longstanding account activity, we've estimated your Xbox profile to be an adult account and updated its age verification status to "Verified." You are no longer required to complete full age verification for uninterrupted access to social features on Xbox. While no further action is required, you can update your privacy and safety settings on Xbox at any time. For more information, click "Learn more" below.

Reddit is likewise lighting up with folks who've had the same message and have been released from the requirements to verify their age for full access.

This seems to be taking place predominantly in the UK, with Australian age verification recently hitting the news as frustrated users see what us Brits were faced with at first.

But since Xbox can clearly identify your age effectively using your account data, why isn't it applied automatically to everyone immediately?

I don't personally care whether I have to be verified as an adult or not, but I do care about being asked to hand over biometric data to companies I have no usual business with. I remember many years ago, being told by a local shop they wouldn't photocopy my passport for me because they wouldn't handle personal information such as this.

Now we're being asked to funnel all that into a computer somewhere, trusting that they're going to behave responsibly with it.

But a win's a win. Even if it's a win that took a little long to get here. Hopefully it can roll out quickly in any subsequent markets that require age verification.

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Sony's decision to kill physical games from 2028 is the discussion that won't go away, and we're still waiting to see what the Xbox stance will be.

But wading in today is Strauss Zenick, CEO of Take Two (via IGN), otherwise known as the company that counts Rockstar Games among its portfolio. The same Rockstar Games that recently printed a ridiculous sum of money when GTA 6 pre-orders went live.

Only this time, and for the first time in the franchise, there will be no physical version at all. If you buy it from a retailer, all you get is a download code. Naturally, Zelnick is all for this.

“Our business is well over 90% digitally distributed,” Zelnick said. “It's already a digital business. So in certain instances, especially if it's a big game, discs just — and note I said discs — don't really make sense for the consumer.

Also, most instances you have to register online to play anyhow. So if you're already connected, who cares if you download digitally? It's all the same and it's much more convenient."

Granted, I'll give Rockstar Games specifically a little more slack here. GTA V came on two discs on the Xbox 360 originally because the game was too big for one (PS3 used Blu-Ray and was a single disc). Likewise, even on the larger capacity discs for Xbox One, Red Dead Redemption 2 suffered the same fate.

Nobody wants to get up and have to change discs. Not to mention more raw materials, manufacturing costs, etc. But I take particular exception to the second part of the quote above.

It's not our fault we have to register online to play a game. It's not our fault we need to have a Microsoft or Sony account, probably also a Rockstar Games account created alongside either of those. A subscription to play online. Alongside an account for every other different publisher who says we need to have an account.

Are digital games more convenient? Of course they are. But let's not pretend that this has anything to do with making our lives easier. Without a physical copy of something in our hands, we know that at any point it could just vanish without a trace.

It's not remotely surprising GTA 6 is digital-only. Even ignoring the likely technical issues fitting much of it onto a disc, it kills the resale market stone dead. Used game stores won't have copies of GTA 6 on the shelves after players are done with it. GTA Online is the cash cow, but there are still plenty of us who will play the campaign and call it a day. Those players can't sell on or trade in their copy anymore.

Curiously, Zelnick also said that "It doesn't mean that we won't have physical additions now and then, I'm sure we will in the same way that there’s still vinyl in the recorded music business." I don't even know where he's going with that one.

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As price rises hit everything thanks to the RAMpocalypse, with SSDs, memory, graphics cards, PCs, handhelds, consoles, and literally everything getting more expensive, let's celebrate when someone beats the system.

Sure, it's only one person, but at this point, I'm so utterly depressed with the state of things that I'm ready to buy this person a beer and shake their hand.

You see the doom and gloom everywhere, so when I was browsing Reddit this morning and came across a post where someone had secured an NVIDIA RTX 3050 graphics card for just FIVE DOLLARS, I have to shout it out.

Is it the greatest deal of all time? Honestly, even before the price rises, I'd have grabbed this, thrown down a $5 bill, and run out of the store before anyone realized what they'd done putting that price tag on it.

Is the RTX 3050 a particularly good graphics card? I mean, it depends what you want to do with it. It'd be pretty good as a budget video encoding card for streaming; it'll play games at 1080p fairly well, too. Hell, I'd have absolutely put it into a machine and given it to my son.

For five bucks I would have found something to use it for. Maybe slap it inside the home server I've been wanting to build again for years to handle video transcoding. I don't care; I'd have found something to do with it.

That's assuming it works properly, of course. The post does show a Windows boot screen, so it would appear it at least gives video output, so that's a start. With a used, mystery GPU like this, you'd have to test it properly, and most definitely you'd want to strip it down, clean it up, and give it some new thermal paste.

But for $5, who cares? Worth a go, right? It's just nice to see someone have a win right now. If you were to buy a brand new RTX 3050 right now, you're looking at paying at least $250 if you went to somewhere like Best Buy. Nobody should pay $250 for a two-generation-old budget graphics card.

It also gets me thinking: What's the absolute craziest deal you've ever found on a piece of hardware? I think I've only ever been so lucky once, managing to get a Surface Go 2 LTE with a price mistake once and securing it for essentially free with an inexpensive data SIM contract.

It should have been a couple of hundred British pounds, and I got it for £8. And even though it was a mistake, it was still honored, and I got my Surface Go 2.

So jump into the comments below and let me know your personal craziest deal. Meanwhile, I'm definitely raising a glass to this person. Hopefully it all works well, and if so, you've definitely beaten the system right now.

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