We've been through a crazy week or so with Ubisoft, with the company deliberately gimping the PC version of Watch Dogs, claiming that the next-gen console version of Far Cry 4 will be equal to "Ultra High" settings on PC, and The Division being locked at 30FPS. Can it get any worse? Yes, yes it can.

GameSpot recently interviewed the studio behind The Division, Massive Entertainment, which had some interesting things to say. When asked about "making a console game after spending so many years in the PC space", Ubisoft Massive Managing Director, David Polfeldt said: "We were a very, very hardcore PC gamer studio before. And we never understood the previous generation of consoles very well from a technological standpoint. But then when we saw the specs for this generation consoles... I remember we had a meeting at Massive and we just looked at each other and said 'Is this what I think it is?!' 'Is this our home turf?' Because on this hardware, we can be excellent; we can be one of the best. And as soon as we had that, we just started focusing on this generation of consoles like crazy".

So in that quote, we see that Massive went from being a "very, very hardcore PC gamer studio" to "focusing on this generation of consoles like crazy" after Massive saw what would be powering the next-gen consoles. In the quote above, Massive talked about next-gen consoles, saying that "because of this hardware, we can be excellent; we can be one of the best". The proof is right there.

When Ubisoft unveiled The Division at E3 2013, most - including myself - were quite blown away. Could this be? A true next-gen title? Well, we thought so until this year - but even with the game hitting only next-gen consoles and PCs (with no release on previous generation platforms) - the game is being gimped, just like Watch Dogs.

This is just a rumor right now, as we can't prove it like the modders did with Watch Dogs, but according to Whatifgaming, a source close to them said that Massive Entertainment - the studio behind The Division - has already removed "quite a lot of screen space reflections from the game" and that The Division will not look as good as it did during the reveal at E3 2013.

This source had some interesting things to say: "We really loved the reception to the demo we showed on the PC version at E3. Currently as it stands, there is definitely a lot of push coming from publishers to not make the experience so different on consoles as to alienate people into thinking that next generation is not as powerful as PC. This is probably what happened at Ubisoft Montreal. I think that while making stability changes is definitely important, it does not completely obliterate a lot of enhanced rendering applications".

Intel has asked AMD for access to its Mantle API, with Intel confirming it asked its competitor for access to Mantle, for something it has called an "experiment". Intel has reaffirmed its position with DirectX, saying that it remains committed to the open standard.

AMD has over 47 game developers signed up for its Mantle API, with its competitor NVIDIA only signing up Crytek and Ubisoft to its GameWorks program. So we know that AMD and NVIDIA are wanting to get game developers on their side, but what is Intel's play in all of this? In Q2 of this year, according to data from Jon Peddie Research, AMD and NVIDIA have 33% of the GPU market share, combined. The rest is dominated by Intel.

Richard Huddy, who just joined AMD again as its "gaming scientist" said: "I know that Intel have approached us for access to the Mantle interfaces, et cetera. And right now, we've said, give us a month or two, this is a closed beta, and we'll go into the 1.0 [public release] phase sometime this year, which is less than five months if you count forward from June. They have asked for access, and we will give it to them when we open this up, and we'll give it to anyone who wants to participate in this".

Microsoft has been forced to make a statement regarding Games for Windows Live, which is a service for PC gamers, and whether it will be shutting down. The software giant has formally denied that it is shutting down the service.

The company talked with Game Informer, where it said: "We are continuing to support the Games for Widows Live service. We remain committed to investing in PC gaming in the years ahead, and look forward to sharing more in the future. Although customers are unable to purchase new games from the marketplace or receive title updates, they can continue to enjoy previously purchased content by downloading them through the Games for Windows Live client as usual".

We heard back in March that Microsoft had "a renewed focus on Windows and PC gaming" when the head of Microsoft's head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, stepped up and talked about it. Is the future of PC gaming DirectX 12? For me, I think we're going to see big changes soon, but Microsoft won't be at the center of it.

The second update to Windows 8.1 is expected to roll out in the coming months, with Windows 8.1 Update 2 set to roll out to users across the world in August-September, but there's news now on just how big this download will be.

A Microsoft representative has reportedly taken to the EightForums, stating that the company is currently training its support employees for Windows 8.1 Update 2. This rep confirmed the August-September timeframe for its release, which will be released into the Windows Store. Something that should surprise most is that Windows 8.1 Update 2 will be a huge 3GB in size.

Considering Update 1 was 'just' 700MB, 3GB is a huge contrast in sizes. This person could just be talking nonsense, but we could also expect Windows 8.1 Update 2 to be 3GB, and if it does, what do you think about that?

A rumor has hit the web claiming that some of the specs of the new Nexus 9 tablet have been revealed. The specs leaked on the tablet claim that it will be an 8.9-inch unit with a screen resolution of 2048 x 1440 with 281 ppi.

The leak claims that the processor under the hood of the tablet will be an NVIDIA Tegra K1 64-bit unit paired with 2GB of RAM. The tablet's rear camera is pegged at 8MP resolution with a 3MP front facing camera. Other specifications tipped for the tablet include 16GB and 32GB storage options.

The Nexus 9 will have zero gap construction and will be 7.9mm thick with a weight of 418 grams according to the leak; it will also have front facing stereo speakers. Pricing, according to the rumor, is set at $399 for the 16GB version and the 32GB version will start at $499.

YouTuber 'XBLToothPik' has modified the Xbox 360 version of Grand Theft Auto V, adding in an incredible looking first-person view. There's a video below which gives you a closer look at how the first-person feel would translate into the third-person smash hit.

It actually looks quite impressive, even more so that it's modded on the console. The PC version of the game has been promised to be something truly special from Rockstar, so we should expect modders to do some truly awesome things with the PC version of GTA V. Now all we need is some Oculus Rift support, and we could spend the next few years in GTA V.

Intel is poised to launch its X99-based chipset in September, where we should see the launch of the 16-threaded processor from the company - the Core i7-5960X. Well, DDR4 is what will be getting slotted into the motherboards, something that has just hit Japan retail shelves.

The DDR4 RAM is being sold in 16GB and 32GB modules, which are priced at $350 and $685, respectively. Expensive, but you could actually build a system with 128GB of RAM, which is a great thing for high-perfomance and enthusiast users. Intel should better introduce us to both DDR4 and its X99 chipset at the upcoming IDF event, so continue checking back until then.

It wasn't even 48 hours ago that I wrote my article about Ubisoft and the future of PC gaming, but now there is news floating around that Crytek is in some serious trouble. The studio is reportedly not seeing developers using CryEngine that much, with German videogames magazine Gamestar throwing around the word bankruptcy.

Gamestar has said that the adoption rate of CryEngine is not that great, and that word of mouth at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) a couple of months back was negative. During GDC, Crytek announced that it was offering up CryEngine as an 'engine as a service' which should've seen more developers jumping onto the graphics engine, but this wasn't the case.

Another problem was the Xbox One exclusive 'Ryse' which didn't sell well for the company, and Microsoft. Ryse was a 'catastrophe' for the company, with the studio only completing it by getting more staff onto the job. There is reportedly a cash injection deal close to completion, which will see the company hopefully headed toward a brighter future, but DSO Gaming is reporting that "a lot of big publishers are waiting for a possible bankrupt in order to sign the talent and shop the IPs from Crytek".

Businesses struggle to keep their data secure, but find it even harder to deal with data breaches once they already happen. Companies that try to bury their heads in the sand and keep breaches secret could be harming themselves more than anything else, and should be more transparent.

Some companies try hiding data breaches or only confirm the news after security incident details are released. That can lead to major problems from shareholders, customers, and law enforcement officials.

"It's brought it to a point now where businesses have to pay attention," said Al Pascual, Javelin Strategy & Research senior analyst, in an interview with journalists. "Before, it was more of a concern for folks in the back office. They may have had some minor concerns about regulators or government officials, but now they have to worry about being punished by their shareholders, being punished by consumers who are pretty likely not to come back or to reduce their patronage."