Halo Infinite's campaign will not have a pre-load option on consoles or PC, it has been confirmed.

Halo Infinite is a digital-based game that must be downloaded directly from Microsoft. This includes both the free-to-play multiplayer and the $59.99 singleplayer campaign. The retail Halo Infinite disc does not contain a playable game and is instead a physical DRM authentication check.

Despite being a forced download game, there's no way to pre-load the campaign onto Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, or PC. It doesn't matter if you're an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriber or if you bought the physical disc--you still cannot pre-emptively download the full game in preparation for the December 8 release.

Sony has released new internal schematic diagrams showing exactly how its new DualSense controller works.

As part of its annual Technology Day conference, Sony reveals the engineering advancements used in its new PlayStation 5 DualSense controller. The footage highlights the DualSense's new dual actuation technology used for fine-tined controller vibrations as well as the pressure-sensitive haptic triggers.

Sony hardware engineer Takeshi Igarashi says the DualSense's multi-range vibrations are made possible by dual rumble systems that are housed in each of the DualSense's handles, making for roughly 4x the force of a DualShock 4. Sony has also developed an easy-to-use software suite that developers can use to add vibration features to their PlayStation 5 games.

Ubisoft is getting into NFTs, and they're calling it Ubisoft Quartz.

Ubisoft makes good on its promise to jump into blockchain and NFTs with a new program called Ubisoft Quartz. Ubisoft will use the Tezos blockchain for its Quartz platform for its NFTs, which are called "Digits". These are basically glorified cosmetic weapon and armor skins/textures that can be purchased and re-sold for cryptocurrency on NFT trading sites like Rarible. Ubisoft will receive a cut from every transaction on these sites. Although Digit NFTs are 100% cosmetic, the scheme is literally like the Real Money Auction House that killed Diablo III back in 2012...only for cosmetics.

Here's a baseline of how it works:

• Connect your Tezos-compatible crypto-wallet to Ubisoft Quartz
• "Acquire" the Digit NFTs from Ubisoft for crypto, earning them in-game, or via freebie promotions
• Sell the NFT on a platform like Rarible for crypto gains

Australian computer scientist and businessman, Chris Wright, has won a civil trial against the family of his deceased business partner David Kleiman who said they were owed a fortune: over $50 billion.

In the end, the Florida judge found that Wright did now owe half of the 1.1 million bitcoin to the family -- worth around $50 billion at the time of writing -- but the jury did award $100 million in intellectual property (IP) rights to a joint venture between the two businessmen, a mere taste of what Kleiman's lawyers wanted.

Craig Wright claims that he is the notorious "Satoshi Nakamoto", the inventor of Bitcoin -- where with his brother Ira, claimed David Kleiman and Wright were close friends, and co-created Bitcoin through a partnership. Some of the very first bitcoins ever mined were at the center of the trial -- 1.1 million bitcoin, worth around $50 billion.

Marvell will ship its 5 billionth HDD controller next month, a milestone that took the company 25 years to reach.

The company explained in a press release that the "achievement is a testament to the longevity of Marvell's HDD business and underscores the company's ongoing commitment to investing in and developing cutting-edge Bravera™ HDD products and IP to address the ever-increasing need for greater storage capacity".

Marvell has been at the forefront of the new push of continued digital transformation across multiple industries: cloud services, digital payments, artificial intelligence, and 5G, requiring higher capacity data storage. Marvell's in-house Bravera HDD controller and preamplifier solutions power over 1500+ HDD-related patents, as well as 18 generations of Read Channel IP.

Halo Infinite's singleplayer campaign has two parts: 1) main story missions that can't be replayed, and 2) free roam with bases, objectives, and side missions.

Similar to most open world games like Breath of the Wild, Assassin's Creed, or even Far Cry, Halo Infinite will not allow gamers to natively replay story missions and levels once they are beaten. Infinite also won't have a NewGame+ mode like some of those other games. Infinite has four saves, and you beat the campaign missions for each save, you're done with them for good.

This is a huge departure from the classic Halo campaign experience, which has a linear playlist of campaign missions that can be replayed once they are beaten.

Halo Infinite's retail version only contains an installer and acts as a DRM check--it doesn't include a playable game.

Players who get their Halo Infinite discs early still won't be able to play campaign. That's because the disc doesn't have a full playable game and instead is basically a physical key that proves ownership of the game. Halo Infinite's full campaign still has to be downloaded and even then it can't be accessed until 343i activates the switch on December 8.

The news was discovered by Digital Foundry's John Linneman, who criticized Microsoft's decision on Twitter. "My biggest complaint regarding Halo Infinite really is that the disc doesn't contain a playable game. This'll be the first Halo game you can't really own as a standalone copy. This is not a good trend and I hope MS reconsiders things like this."

NASA recently extended its existing contract with SpaceX to include additional missions to send astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).

SpaceX already has six crewed flights to the ISS using its Crew Dragon system planned as part of its contract with NASA. Now up to three more flights have been added to the contract. NASA solicited other companies before extending SpaceX's contract, but none met NASA's requirements.

"SpaceX's crew transportation system is the only one certified to meet NASA's safety requirements to transport crew to the space station, and to maintain the agency's obligation to its international partners in the needed timeframe," said NASA in a statement on December 3rd.

NASA has launched a sounding rocket from Norway to help understand the dense region of the upper atmosphere on Earth's sun-facing side.

There is a gap in Earth's magnetic field in a region known as the polar cusp. This gap allows solar winds from the sun to reach Earth's atmosphere, causes radio and GPS signals to behave strangely, and slows down spacecraft as they pass through this region. The air in this region is denser than elsewhere in spacecrafts' orbits around Earth, but it is not understood how or why.

The Cusp Region Experiment-2 (CREX-2) is funded by NASA and headed by Mark Conde from the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute. The mission aims to understand the dynamics in the cusp, first set to do so in 2019 as part of The Grand Challenge Initiative's Project CUSP. However, it was delayed due to little solar activity, and the Covid-19 pandemic only served to delay the flight further. Now, CREX-2 was finally able to launch on December 1st from a launchpad in Andenes, Norway, at 3:25 a.m. EST.

On December 7th, 2021, NASA plans to launch and test its $320 million high-speed laser communications device.

The experimental device will be launched aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas 5 rocket as part of a US Space Force mission. It is attached to a Space Force STPSat 6 satellite, the primary payload for the Atlas 5 rocket, which is destined for a geosynchronous orbit above Earth.

Lift-off is due for a two-hour launch window opening at 09:04 UTC on Tuesday, December 7th, from Cape Canaveral. Previously scheduled for December 5th, the launch was delayed due to a leak in the launch pad's kerosene fuel storage system.