Xbox Game Pass may be getting a price hike commensurate with Microsoft's new $80 video games policy.

Microsoft recently made the unpopular announcement that it will raise prices of its consoles, games, and accessories. New Xbox games will cost $80, and the first one was revealed to be Obsidian's The Outer Worlds 2, which is a smaller-scale game compared to AAA RPG megaliths like Skyrim. The Xbox Series X 2TB console costs $729, which is more than Sony's $699 PS5 Pro. There was just one thing missing from Microsoft's reveal: an Xbox Game Pass price hike.

Now it looks like we may have evidence that Xbox Game Pass is getting another price increase in accordance with Microsoft's new inflation-adjusted cost models. A new string referring to a subscription price increase was purportedly spotted in the Xbox Cloud Gaming website's source code by Twitter user redphx, but we were unable to verify independenty through a quick right click -> view source lookup on Chrome.

The Nintendo Switch 2 has already made its way into the hands of now what will be more than 3.5 million people, and according to new data, the Switch 2 is now much more than the "fastest-selling Nintendo hardware."

Data provided by Mat Piscatella, Executive Director and video Game Industry Analyst at Circana (NPD), shows that the Switch 2 sold more than 1.1 million units in the US within its first three days of availability, marking a new all-time launch week sales record for the most video game hardware sales in the US. The record was previously held by the PlayStation 4.

Piscatella added that the sales projection for the week ending June 7, 2025, excluding sales from the My Nintendo Store, is around 1.3 to 1.35 million units. A more accurate figure is expected to be published in the coming weeks.

During its big Xbox Games Showcase last week, Microsoft announced the new ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X gaming handhelds, which will be coming later this year. Developed in collaboration with ASUS, this new generation of PC gaming handhelds will feature a new optimized version of Windows 11 that will immediately launch into an overhauled Xbox App to allow gamers to play without any unnecessary background tasks or Windows bloat impacting performance or battery life.

The flagship ROG Xbox Ally X is set to be something of a beast. It will be powered by the new AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme Processor with integrated RDNA 3.5 graphics, 24GB of fast LPDDR5X-8000 memory, 1TB of SSD storage, and a full-HD 1080p 120 Hz display that supports VRR. The same display is featured in the lower-powered baseline ROG Xbox Ally that is also on the way, which sports an AMD Ryzen Z2 A Processor with integrated RDNA 2 graphics.

Many wonder why the flagship premium ROG Xbox Ally X handheld doesn't feature an OLED display, a technology widely considered the gold standard for gaming across all platforms. Well, ASUS has answered this question, and the reason is simple.

NVIDIA Reflex is a technology designed to reduce PC latency for competitive games like Fortnite, Apex Legends, and others, improving responsiveness. Basically, with NVIDIA Reflex enabled, the time it takes from the moment you fire off a shot with your mouse to the action being rendered on-screen is significantly reduced. Reflex is available for all GeForce RTX gamers and is currently available in nine of the top ten competitive shooters.

Since its debut in 2020, Reflex technology has continued to improve. NVIDIA announced earlier this year that Reflex 2 is set to introduce a fascinating new technology called Frame Warp, which will further cut latency in half by predicting the camera movements from mouse input and intelligently shifting or warping the frame.

NVIDIA Reflex is also a key technology used for NVIDIA's DLSS Frame Generation and the new DLSS 4 Frame Generation, as it allows for the smoother perceived performance you get from an AI-generated frame to feel responsive and on par with the improved frame rate. And with that, this week, NVIDIA Reflex has passed an important milestone: It's now available in over 150 games.

AMD announced its new Instinct MI350 series AI accelerators during its huge Advancing AI event, also teasing its next-gen Instinct MI400 and next-next-gen Instinct MI500 series AI GPUs.

On the financial side, AMD is poised to make somewhere between $10 billion and $12 billion of revenue from its AI GPU department in 2026 according to some Wall Street analysts. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst, C.J. Muse, sees AMD making $6 billion in AI revenues for the second half of 2025, after AMD launches its new Instinct MI350 series in Q3 2025.

The analyst noted: "if AMD is able to scale its system-level solutions on time and without issues, like those seen at NVIDIA, we believe there could be considerable upside to our CY26 estimates for Data Center GPU (we currently model $8B but see upside potential for $10-12B)".

Ocypus has just announced the launch of its new Gamma C60 series chassis, including the new Gamma C60 and Gamma C60 ARGB, acting as the latest additions to its PC case family.

The new Ocypus Gamma C60 series cases continue building on the brand's signature minimalist design language, combining sleek aesthetics, advanced cooling architecture, and uncompromising compatibility, ready for any and all PC builders and PC hardware.

The new Gamma C60 cases have 6 x fan mounts and an intelligently optimized airflow path that generates a positive pressure environment, dynamically enhancing internal air circulation, efficiently dissipating heat, and maintaining consistent system cooling over time, explains Ocypus. The new Gamma C60 ARGB comes with 4 x 120mm ARGB fans on the front and rear.

Rockstar is reportedly working on a pretty big feature for Grand Theft Auto 6, which would allow music artists to upload their music directly into GTA 6.

Grammy-winning music producer Jermaine Dupri revealed during a chat in the New Rory and Mal show that artists would be able to upload their music directly into an unspecified GTA title... we shouldn't expect this to be GTA V as the release of Rockstar's next-gen GTA 6 is cooking in the ovens of the developer for 2026.

Dupri said that rapper Drake would have his own radio station in the game, and that the rapper himself could upload music to the game that's not available anywhere else... meaning GTA 6 could turn into a music streaming giant of the likes of Spotify, especially if said music isn't available anywhere else (like YouTube Music, Tidal, etc).

AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics cards ship with 16GB of GDDR6 memory made by either Samsung or SK hynix, but you might want to check which VRAM manufacturer has its GDDR6 inside, as Samsung GDDR6-powered RX 9070 XT cards are slightly slower than those using GDDR6 memory made by SK hynix.

In a new test by hardware channel 51972 on Bilibili, which ran a full suite of tests on virtually every single Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics card that's available in China -- an entire 22 different RX 9070 XT cards -- each of the RX 9070 XT cards powered by Samsung GDDR6 memory were around 1-2% slower in 3DMark's Speed Way benchmark run, than their SK hynix GDDR6-powered counterparts.

Even when using the fastest Samsung GDDR6 memory chips on the Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics cards resulted in lower scores than even the slowest SK hynix GDDR6 memory, with 51972 confirming that they corroborated these findings by testing the VRAM specifically using the Clamchowder cache benchmark tool, which showed generally improved results and lower latency on SK hynix GDDR6 memory compared to Samsung GDDR6 chips.

The Nintendo Switch 2 has become the fastest-selling console in history, and with the latest piece of Nintendo hardware now in the hands of millions of owners, some have noticed the company has failed to fix one of the more infamous problems with the original Switch.

Despite the numerous problems with the original Switch, the handheld device sold incredibly well and forged what is now an extremely lucrative and evolving handheld market. One of the bigger problems of the previous console, and something widely reported on, was stick drift.

This issue resurfaced when the Switch 2 hardware was first detailed by Nintendo, with officials confirming they didn't adopt Hall Effect sticks for the Joy-Con 2 joysticks, which are significantly better at reducing the likelihood of stick drift occurring. We are now seeing the first reports of stick drift on the new Joy-Cons.

Microsoft has been pushing its first-party games onto PlayStation for quite some time, but this might be an industry first for the green team - PlayStation is exclusively getting physical discs of Xbox games, while the Xbox physical versions come with a digital game code.

The three Xbox games now under the spotlight are Ninja Gaiden 4, The Outer Worlds 2, and Gears of War: Reloaded. Per Amazon listings, which are currently still live at the time of writing, Ninja Gaiden 4 Deluxe Edition is available to pre-order on PlayStation 5 for $89.99 and it comes with a physical disc, while the same Deluxe Edition on Xbox comes with a "Digital Game Code" that owners redeem to begin the download of the game. The same thing has been spotted for The Outer Worlds 2, as seen in the image below.

To add even more fuel to the fire, it appears Gears of War: Reloaded won't even be getting an Xbox physical release; it will just be a digital download from the Microsoft Store / Game Pass. However, there will be a physical version of Gears of War: Reloaded for PlayStation 5 owners.

Intel has announced it is discontinuing its Arc Alchemist GPUs, which were launched in 2022. Their lifetime is less than three years.

According to a new Product Change Notification posted to Intel's website, the Alchemist line-up, which was the company's foray into discrete GPUs, will say goodbye to the Arc A750 and Arc A770 this year. The A750 will be discontinued first, with its death date being set for June 27, 2025, as that will be the last time the product is ordered. The last shipment date for the Arc A770 will be on September 26, 2025. The Arc A770 will be discontinued on the 18th of November, and its last shipment is scheduled for May 20, 2026.

What does this mean? Add In Board (AIB) partners will only have a few months to place an order on the A770, but can sell the card for the first half of 2026. Intel's discrete GPUs aren't the only models being discontinued, with multiple mobile Arc Alchemist GPUs also being on the chopping block. According to another Product Change Notification the following mobile Arc Alchemist GPUs are now discontinued: A530M, A350M, A730M, A770M, A570M, and A370M.

Sony corporate signals that PlayStation Plus subscription price hikes could be on the horizon as the company adds more value, features, and content to the service.

While Sony has yet to raise the price of the PlayStation 5 console in the United States, the PlayStation Plus service is a different story. Sony has raised PS Plus prices twice now, once globally in 2023, and then a second time this year in select regions (US remains unaffected).

Yet gamers are still subscribing to the more expensive tiers. Sony's data shows that 38% of total PlayStation Plus users are subscribed to the Extra ($135/year) and Premium ($160/year) plans. This does mean, of course, that the vast majority (62%) of users are opting for the cheaper PS Plus Essential plan ($80/year). It's also worth mentioning that Sony discounts these plans to drive up adoption, especially during the State of Play sale where PS Plus Premium dropped to $107/year.

Microsoft only recently unveiled its new PC handheld device made in partnership with ASUS, and now retailers have leaked when that device is scheduled to release and how much it will cost.

The information comes from eXtas1s, a known gaming-industry leaker who stated that he has spoken to two European retailers about the new Xbox ROG Ally. Both said pre-orders are scheduled to begin in August, with the official launch scheduled for October 2026. The two new consoles, the Xbox ROG Ally and Ally X, are two new PC-based gaming handhelds featuring 7-inch 1080p 120Hz displays and dedicated Xbox buttons. The Ally X boasts 24GB of RAM, surpassing the Series X.

These two new consoles represent Microsoft's new push into the future generations of its Xbox brand, and how Xbox won't just mean the traditional hardware console, but now any console that is capable of playing Xbox games. However, Microsoft has a long road ahead of it when it comes to making these devices attractive to consumers, as currently, Windows 11 gaming performance on handheld devices is lagging behind competing platforms such as SteamOS.

Every day, millions of people wake up to their iPhone alarm going off, and some that aren't as disciplined as others hit that snooze button and go straight back to sleep, only to wake up again precisely 9 minutes later.

If you have ever wondered why this is the case, Apple currently doesn't let users change the snooze duration within the Clock app. Why do you ask? Honestly, I have no idea. Custom snooze durations have been present on stock Android for the better part of a decade, with some of the earliest versions of custom snooze options dating back to Android KitKat, which was released in October 2013 on the Nexus 5.

This is one of those oversights that seem so glaringly obvious that it's confusing. If you wanted a different snooze length on iPhone, you would have to use a separate app for your alarm. Be that as it may, Apple is finally catching up to Android in the snooze duration department as the company plans to add custom snooze lengths in its soon-to-be-released iOS 26 update.

Still don't think Intel's got a higher-end Battlemage GPU incoming? It appears that Team Blue just dropped a weighty hint that such a graphics card is indeed in the works.

VideoCardz was on-the-ball enough to spot that Intel has updated some IDs in the Mesa drivers which previously read 'Intel Graphics,' but they now refer to a BGM-G31 product.

So, this is the long-rumored G31 GPU, and with four of the IDs changed, this suggests Intel might be preparing four different Battlemage graphics cards which use this chip as their engine.

Micron has been hit with a lawsuit that alleges the company engaged in a scheme to intentionally seek and destroy the reputation of a rival memory maker.

Chinese company, Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) has filed a complaint in the US District Court that claims Micron participated in a scheme to destroy the company's reputation and business through "spreading xenophobic lies that YMTC's market-leading flash memory chips are capable of being used to spy on millions of Americans who use the devices in which the chips are embedded, at the behest of the Chinese Communist Party or its People's Liberation Army."

The lawsuit states YMTC's chips are completely safe and these accusations from Micron are "false and unlawful" - even going as far as to say Micron knows they aren't legitimate claims.

Anker has announced it is recalling more than 1 million power banks after it discovered they were prone to overheating.

The recall has been detailed by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, which wrote that 11 instances of these power banks erupting resulted in more than $60,000 of property damage. The units affected by the recall were sold online in the US by Anker, Amazon, Ebay, and Newegg between the following dates: June 2016 through to December 2022 for approximately $27.

The specific unit prone to overheating is the "PowerCore 10000" power bank, which regulators urge owners to stop using immediately. However, not every PowerCore 10000 is affected by the recall; only units with the model number A1263 are. So, what should you do if you own one of these power banks? Firstly, stop using it immediately, and then begin the process of obtaining a replacement. Anker has detailed the steps in a post on its website, but I have listed what to do below.

Sony has no plans to kill the PlayStation 4 just yet--in fact, the platform is still a major contributor to the brand and is serving as a stable bedrock of earnings.

Nearly 12 years after release and the PlayStation 4 is still going strong. Sony today revealed how the last-gen PS4 is helping mitigate risk for the games division, and underlined that PS4 support isn't going anywhere any time soon.

During its annual corporate business strategy briefing, Sony asserted that the current PlayStation ecosystem is multi-generational and that PS4 users are still "active and spending" across the network. Company finance SVP Lynn Azar makes an interesting pointing regarding how Sony's virtuous cycle was key for continued growth, and how much the PS5's gen 9 is affected by the successful framework of its predecessor.

Sony's latest 2025 corporate business strategy briefing gives an update on PlayStation segment metrics.

The PlayStation 5 ecosystem is the most profitable console generation of all time for Sony, the company has re-confirmed with today's corporate update. The PS5 has generated over $136 billion in the last five fiscal years, and for comparison, it took the PS4 seven fiscal years to achieve just $107 billion in sales.

On a profit level, Sony discloses that the PS5 generation has made $13 billion in operating profit. With $13 billion in operating profit on $136 billion in sales, this indicates that Sony's 9th console generation has a profit margin of ~9.5%. Nintendo similarly sells its Switch and Switch 2 hardware at a profit, but conversely, Microsoft is known for selling its Xbox consoles at a loss.

If you own a certain model of Anker PowerCore 10000 power bank, you need to stop using it now due to a fire risk with the battery inside, and arrange for a replacement from the manufacturer.

Anker advises that PowerCore 10000 power banks which are labelled as model A1263 "may pose a fire safety risk due to a potential issue with the lithium-ion battery."

If the battery overheats, it could melt the casing and potentially lead to a fire. This is the case for the compact and lightweight power banks that were sold between June 1, 2016 and December 31, 2022 in the US.