News: Technology News

“Windows 365 Link” is Microsoft’s $349 thin client for Windows in the cloud

Wed, 20 Nov 2024 03:12:09 +0000

Small, plastic thin client is Microsoft’s first “Cloud PC,” launches in April.

Microsoft is announcing some new hardware today, but it’s a bit different from a typical Surface device. The Windows 365 Link, which launches in April for $349, is a mini desktop PC that exists exclusively to connect to the Windows 365 cloud service rather than running Windows locally.

The Windows 365 Link is a plain black plastic box with a Windows logo imprinted on the top—it looks like a smaller, squarer version of the Windows Dev Kit 2023, an Arm desktop that Microsoft released for developers a couple of years ago. The box has one USB-A port on the front for easy access. On the back, you get a single USB-C 3.2 port, two more USB-A ports, a full-size DisplayPort, a full-size HDMI port, an Ethernet port, and a power jack.

Windows Central reports that the device is fanless, uses an unspecified Intel processor, and includes 8GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. It runs a cut-down Windows variant that exists only to connect to local peripherals and make contact with Microsoft’s Windows 365 service. When not connected to the Internet, the PC is mostly non-functional, though there is presumably some kind of basic UI available for connecting to networks and accessories locally.

Windows 365 Link’s hardware is fairly capable as thin clients go—the local hardware doesn’t need to be able to run high-end apps, but it does need to connect to all of your desktop peripherals and your network. Microsoft says the box supports two 4K displays simultaneously and supports Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 for connecting to wireless networks and keyboards, mice, headsets, and other accessories. Microsoft also says the device’s local hardware will handle video encoding and decoding for videoconferencing.

Microsoft says the Windows 365 Link is just the first of its “Cloud PC” offerings.

“We’ll build more endpoints and form factors, scaling with our original equipment manufacturer (OEM) ecosystem partners, to unlock more value and options,” wrote Microsoft’s Anthony Smith in a short FAQ at the end of the company’s blog post. “We will have more to share in the future on this topic.”

In the IT world, PCs like the Link are called “thin clients,” and they have existed for many years. Like the Windows 365 Link, they have limited local computing resources and run a cut-down operating system that exists only to connect to a more powerful server somewhere else. IT administrators can upgrade or swap the thin client box without having to worry about preserving or transferring user data or settings, while users can always access their apps, data, and settings from any thin client they use.

The Windows 365 Link is obviously aimed at the same kinds of business users and companies that can afford to pay $31 or more per user per month to subscribe to Windows 365. Microsoft reportedly has ambitions to make a consumer version of Windows 365, and the Link box may be part of that plan, but the company still hasn’t announced pricing or availability yet.

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Homeworld 3's next "mothership-sized" update will be its last as development wraps up

Tue, 19 Nov 2024 18:15:02 +0000

Since its release in May, the real-time strategy game Homeworld 3 has been receiving post-launch support from developer Blackbird Interactive. While a major year-long content plan was originally attached to the game, the studio announced in September that it would condense everything into one major update and DLC release in late 2024. Now, that "mother-ship" sized release is almost here, but not without some bad news for fans.

The sci-fi RTS is getting update 1.3 on November 21. In it, the developer touts having completely retuned balance for combat, fresh abilities for use across all modes, War Games changes, and a lot of general improvements across the board, mostly based on player feedback.

Homeworld 3's modding tools are being updated, too, letting tinkering players inject custom Unreal Blueprints into the game while opening up the game's own blueprints from its campaign missions. "This should further empower the modding community to make more awesome creations," says the studio. Find the complete patch notes for the update here.

Two premium DLC packs will go on sale on November 21, too. These will contain two new factions, the Somtaaw and Taiidan, with unique gameplay styles and dedicated War Games fleets.

As for the bad news, Blackbird Interactive announced that this will be the final content update for Homeworld 3, completing its post-launch plans. It also looks like the studio will no longer be attached to the franchise or the game's publisher, Gearbox.

"Revisiting the Homeworld universe has had a profound impact on just about every person at Blackbird," said the studio in a farewell message to the franchise and fans. "To that end, we’d like to offer our heartfelt thanks to Gearbox Publishing for bringing us in to work on Homeworld with them. We also want to thank you. The fans who, through your support and dedication, have helped Homeworld persevere across so many decades."

Following update 1.4, Gearbox will still deploy fixes for any major issues that pop up while also keeping multiplayer servers and modding support alive in the backend.

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Report on Fable reboot says it features Witcher-like combat, multiple protagonists

Tue, 19 Nov 2024 18:12:43 +0000

Microsoft first announced the existence of a Fable series reboot back in 2020, revealing that the Forza Horizon racing games maker Playground Games will be the development studio behind it. It took a few years, but starting in 2023, fresh trailers have introduced fans some characters like a giant gardener, a retired hero, and even small snippets of gameplay. While an extended look is still yet to come, a new report may have some new details.

In the Xbox Two podcast, Windows Central's Jez Corden went on to say that he has managed to witness some alpha gameplay footage from Fable. "I have no idea when it was from, I don't know if it was earlier in development or if it was recent," says Corden about the gameplay. "I also don’t know if it’s something they're gonna show off soon, but it looks fantastic. Absolutely fantastic."

The combat he saw had been similar to The Witcher series, featuring pirouettes, dodge rolls, executions and magical attacks being combined with "seamless hack-and-slash" action. Different weapons had been in use too, with bow and arrow as well as gravitational-style spells being displayed alongside the standard melee gameplay. Even a "big mallet" is mentioned as a weapon with plenty of reach, being able to hit multiple enemies at once. "The combat looked really tight," he adds.

As for special enemies, Corden mentions seeing a giant, scary chicken, a staple in Fable titles. A werewolf had been involved too, which had been lured into a trap using a full English breakfast of "bacon, eggs, sausages, and a saucepan."

While the alpha footage had still featured the female protagonist Playground Games has been showing off since the game's reveal, Corden says he has heard of a male protagonist also being in development. Character select is not a confirmed feature just yet on the reboot, but we may see this in a future trailer.

Playground Games' Fable is releasing sometime in 2025 for Xbox Series X|S, PC, as well as on Xbox Game Pass subscriptions.

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Microsoft expands its custom silicon portfolio with an in-house security chip and a DPU

Tue, 19 Nov 2024 18:11:02 +0000

Microsoft is already using in-house developed Azure Maia AI accelerators and Azure Cobalt for its cloud infrastructure needs. At Ignite 2024, Microsoft announced the expansion of its custom silicon portfolio with the new Azure Boost DPU and the Azure Integrated HSM.

Azure Boost DPU is Microsoft's first in-house DPU based on the acquisition of Fungible last year. Azure Boost DPU is targeted towards data-centric workloads to deliver high efficiency and low power consumption. Microsoft claims that Azure Boost DPU can absorb multiple components of a traditional server into a single dedicated silicon.

Microsoft is planning to use DPUs in its cloud servers to run storage workloads at ~~three times less~~ a third of the power and four times the performance compared to traditional servers.

Azure Integrated HSM is a new in-house developed security chip to harden key management. This allows encryption and signing keys to remain within the bounds of the HSM. This hardware-based approach will improve performance without affecting latency.

Similar to Azure Boost DPU, Microsoft is planning to use Azure Integrated HSM in every new server in Microsoft's data centers starting next year. This new chip will support both confidential and general-purpose cloud workloads running on Azure.

When it comes to cloud infrastructure, Microsoft is not just working on silicon. They are also working on new cooling technologies. Microsoft's next-generation liquid cooling ‘sidekick’ rack (heat exchanger unit) can be retrofitted into existing Azure data centers to support the cooling of AI infrastructure involving the latest NVIDIA GB200 and others.

Today, Microsoft also announced the preview of the new Azure ND GB200 v6 AI-optimized Virtual Machines series. This new VM series features the latest NVIDIA GB200 NVL 72 rackscale design with Quantum InfiniBand networking to deliver improved AI performance.

On the CPU side, Microsoft announced the new Azure HBv5 virtual machines powered by custom AMD EPYC 9V64H processors with support for up to 7 TB/s of memory bandwidth. The Azure HBv5 virtual machines preview will be available in 2025.

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Google might be in trouble as it may be forced to sell a core part of its business

Tue, 19 Nov 2024 06:25:05 +0000

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is pushing to make Google sell its Chrome browser as part of an antitrust case targeting the company’s dominance in online search. This move follows a court ruling in August 2024 that declared that the Mountain View giant had unlawfully maintained its monopoly. The DOJ argues that Chrome plays a major role in bolstering Google Search user numbers by setting it as the default search engine, effectively blocking competition. Breaking off Chrome could be a massive shakeup for both the tech world and how we experience the internet.

This isn’t Google’s first run-in with monopoly accusations. For years, critics have pointed out how Google bundles its services, like Android and Play Store, to ensure its products remain dominant. The DOJ’s current strategy of demanding divestitures—like splitting Chrome or Android—shows a stronger stance compared to past cases, where only fines or behavioral changes were enforced. Google, of course, argues that such a breakup would harm consumers by disrupting integration between services and threatening security features.

Interestingly, this case isn’t just about Chrome. The DOJ has also hinted at going after other parts of Google’s empire, such as Android, suggesting that the company’s broad influence across different tech ecosystems may need trimming. For Google, the stakes couldn’t be higher; losing Chrome or other core assets could weaken its ability to fuel ad revenue and innovate, which is essentially the lifeblood of the company.

What makes this situation even wilder is the possibility of ripple effects across the industry. If Google is forced to sell Chrome, could similar moves hit other tech giants like Apple or Amazon?

The DOJ is turning up the pressure on Big Tech, shaking things up to deal with how massive companies like Google and TikTok are shaping the digital world. In 2002, they reworked their antitrust division to get serious about tackling tech and telecom monopolies. This included beefing up a team to focus on technology enforcement and making a previously temporary telecom group a permanent part of the game plan.

TikTok’s also feeling the heat. The DOJ has hit them with a lawsuit, accusing the platform of breaking kids' privacy laws. Apparently, TikTok was collecting data from kids under 13 without getting proper consent—even when they were using "Kids Mode." The feds claim TikTok kept personal info like email addresses and didn’t delete it when parents asked. TikTok, like Google, isn’t taking it lying down, though. They’re saying these claims are old news and that they’ve already improved their privacy protections.

Source: Bloomberg

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Microsoft's "biggest" game has the worst pre-install offering I've seen — gamers won't escape these gigantic day-one downloads

Mon, 18 Nov 2024 19:02:51 +0000

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is available for preloading on PC and Xbox before release, but the install size doesn't make sense.

What you need to know

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, an upcoming game for Xbox and PC that simulates trips around the entire globe, will be released on November 19.
Available as a standalone release and as a part of Game Pass subscriptions, the game offers users a chance to pre-install its files before launch.
Currently, a pre-installation amounts to no more than 330.09MB on Xbox and 12.9MB on PC, far below the 'approximate' 50GB listed on its store page.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is the company's latest aeronautical sim game, due for release tomorrow, November 19. It expands on the 2020 release with a new career mode, various challenges, and world photography tasks. Otherwise, it's a continuation of the all-encompassing globe simulator, which occupied at least 150GB of storage on Xbox and PC for the base game thanks to the ultra-realistic aircraft and environments.

That's a big chunk of your hard drive seized for one game, as understanding as mega-fans might be since every aspect of the game has been upgraded. Thankfully, for the retail and Game Pass launch of this new edition, Microsoft already offers gamers the chance to "pre-install now (and) play on day one" and alleviate the hours of waiting for downloads on release when its servers are commonly hampered by slow speeds caused by overloading.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 pre-installs no more than 330.09MB on my Xbox Series X.

(Image credit: Ben Wilson | Windows Central)

Developers Asobo Studio expects the game to be approximately 50GB when installed.

(Image credit: Ben Wilson | Windows Central)

At least, time-saving incentives were supposed to be the appeal of this pre-loading incentive. However, the pre-install filesize amounts to a measly 330.09MB on my Xbox Series X. Compare that to the 50GB of 'approximate size' reported in the game's details, and I'm barely 0.64% of the way to installing Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. On the PC side, the Xbox app reports an even more laughable 12.9MB with a pre-installation: that's 0.02% of the game.

Are these tiny modern pre-installs just bugs?

The Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 game listing shows a 330MB pre-install size on Xbox.

(Image credit: Ben Wilson | Windows Central)

Installing Microsoft Flight Simulator's 2020 release has rarely been a streamlined process for me for the four years since it launched. It often limited download speeds and ignored the potential downstream of my service provider, with the same gripes following me from Xbox to PC via Game Pass Ultimate. I once spent an entire workday downloading the game to find that it had only reached around 75% completion by the time I clocked out.

So, imagine my joy when I saw that Microsoft offered users the chance to endure the lengthy installation process before the day of play, especially when Flight Simulator 2024's bandwidth demand peaks at 81GB per hour. Downloading as much of the game before launch day might alleviate the data stress on those with bandwidth caps, but it was soon dashed when I saw how little of its files I was actually loading up.

Unless Microsoft has found some fantastical way to compress its digitized version of planet Earth into little more than a few hundred megabytes, something is definitely wrong.

It's a disappointing trend that carries across to STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl, by far my most anticipated game of 2024, but similarly stricken with an unusable pre-install size of 10.12MB on PC Game Pass (confirmed by devs). At least if I had Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024's farcical 330.09MB, I could download and play a pixelized spiritual offshoot, ZERO Sievert, and pretend that I had early access to something beyond empty archives.

Unless Microsoft has found some fantastical way to compress its digitized version of planet Earth into little more than a few hundred megabytes, something is definitely wrong. Nevertheless, I'm still looking forward to playing the game with some of my favorite flight sticks that I already tested with Microsoft Flight Simulator's 2020 release. Stay tuned for my impressions of the 2024 upgrade as soon as I can download it.

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Xbox grabs 12 nominations at The Game Awards 2024 — but PlayStation dominates Game of the Year

Mon, 18 Nov 2024 19:00:59 +0000

The nominations for The Game Awards 2024 are now live, with games from the Xbox first-party group grabbing 12 noms in total.

What you need to know

Nominations for The Game Awards 2024 are now live, with select gaming outlets voting once again on a number of categories in the award show hosted by Geoff Keighley.
For 2024's entries, the Xbox first-party group saw a respectable 12 nominations across games like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2.
The team was locked out of the PlayStation-centric Game of the Year category however, with games nominaed for the top award including Team Asobi's Astro Bot and Square Enix's Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.

The nominations for one of the biggest award shows of the year are in.

The Game Awards 2024 are slated to be held live on Dec. 12, 2024 and will be hosted by the show's creator Geoff Keighley. For 2024, the Xbox first-party group managed to grab a total of 12 nominations across its different publishing brands, with multiple nominations in particular for Treyarch and Raven Software's Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Ninja Theory's Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2.

Even so, Xbox wasn't quite at the top, with PlayStation and Square Enix both managing to grab 16 nominations. Both companies were also included in the ultra-discussed Game of the Year category, with Team Asobi's Astro Bot and Square Enix's Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth getting nominated.

Developing...

Game of the Year

Astro Bot
Balatro
Black Myth: Wukong
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
Metaphor: ReFantazio

Best Game Direction

Astro Bot
Balatro
Black Myth: Wukong
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
Metaphor: ReFantazio

Best Narrative

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Metaphor: ReFantazio
Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2
Silent Hill 2

Best Art Direction

Astro Bot
Black Myth: Wukong
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
Metaphor: ReFantazio
Neva

Best Score and Music

Astro Bot
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
Metaphor: ReFantazio
Silent Hill 2
Stellar Blade

Best Audio Design

Astro Bot
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2
Silent Hill 2

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Microsoft's "This is an Xbox" ad campaign is a perplexing masterclass in poor timing, sending the wrong message at the wrong time

Mon, 18 Nov 2024 18:59:00 +0000

Microsoft's "This is an Xbox" ad campaign has divided Xbox fans once again. While it's clear what Xbox is going for here, they're at least 2-3 years too early to make the claim that my Samsung Smart Fridge is "now an Xbox."

Last week during my brief sojourn away from work, Microsoft debuted its new ad campaign for Xbox. It's fairly usual to see products kick start new ad campaigns and debut new marketing slogans ahead of Christmas and Black Friday, which tends to be particularly busy for all types of products and services. Microsoft's Xbox typically enjoys strong sales over the holiday period, which is why they've also cut the price of the Xbox Series X by $50 at Amazon and other retailers. Other accessories like the WD_Black Storage Card for Xbox Series X|S are also on sale, as people scramble to buy gifts for loved ones (and themselves, ahem).

Indeed, as of writing, the disc-based Xbox Series X is sold out at Amazon US, which suggests Microsoft is still selling consoles almost as fast as it can manufacture them. I even wrote an editorial last week about how Microsoft has some amazing Xbox momentum as it closes out 2024.

Given that stock still seems hard to come by at times, perhaps Microsoft's new ad campaign makes at least some sense on the surface, given that they are telling people that you don't need an Xbox to actually play Xbox games. In reality, though, I think Microsoft's new "This is an Xbox" marketing blitz is going to do more harm to the brand than good, at least today. It smacks of old mistakes of marketing against a future vision, rather than a present day product reality, and undermines the fact that today, as of right now, Xbox consoles are still the only true "Xbox."

Why is Xbox once again marketing the future rather than the present?

Microsoft's "This is an Xbox" campaign patronizingly showcases products that aren't an Xbox for some reason.

(Image credit: Microsoft)

I've seen the discourse online about this ad campaign, but even before hearing from others, I immediately found myself perplexed. I am among the few people out there who actively uses the Xbox ecosystem as Microsoft is envisioning it here, and I do love the vision. I love the fact I can take my Hollow Knight or Death Stranding save from my Xbox Series X to my Lenovo Legion Go via my cloud saves (for free, unlike some other platforms). I love that there are dozens of games that support cross-buy and cross-progression via Xbox Play Anywhere. I love that there are some games I can even play with touch controls via Xbox Cloud Gaming, like Vampire Survivors, which play well via a small screen.

The issue is that it's so, so piecemeal. It's SO early days, and very much what I would describe as an "Early Adopter" experience. Microsoft itself even knows this, which is why Xbox.com/play cloud gaming is emblazoned with the "beta" tag still after several years. How many people are actually going to go through the trouble of pinning a website to their home screen, for a service that isn't available to download directly from iOS or Google Play anyway? I've also written only recently about how the Xbox app experience on Windows PC is still sub-par. Why Microsoft thinks it's ready for a big-budget global marketing campaign blitz strikes me as odd as someone who is actively using it.

"This is an Xbox for your lap," the above London billboard reads. The big claim earned an immediate grimace from me in multiple directions. What is the general public, to whom this is targeted, supposed to take away from this claim? Has Xbox itself forgotten what an Xbox actually is? Because for my money, a laptop is absolutely not an Xbox save for a few tendrils of vaguely useful added value for current Xbox console users. The Xbox app on PC has dozens of games to buy, rather than tens of thousands of games you can find on Steam. The Xbox app on PC is missing basic features like cloud save sync notifications, while also having a usability gap in terms of speed and responsiveness versus competing staples. Even still, it's not like any of those features are actually showcased in this ad here.

I'm not quite sure what Microsoft expects people to think when they see this. There isn't even a controller or even a mouse present, nor is there a video game present on the screen. It showcases the Xbox app, which 99% of the people viewing this ad will have never seen before or be able to identify. What game can you realistically play from your lap on the Xbox app anyway? Am I expected to run Halo Infinite ranked with the trackpad here? All this is without mentioning the fact that it barely runs any Xbox games. The pool of games that support Xbox Play Anywhere — which gives you cross-progression within the Xbox ecosystem — is vanishingly small.

In what timeline, realistically, is a Samsung Galaxy Fold an Xbox? Certainly not the one I'm living in.

This is just one example in a variety of caveats that come with advertising things like the Xbox cloud-baked Amazon Fire Stick, occasionally-Xbox ASUS ROG Ally, and other devices as "true" Xbox consoles. Some of them have Xbox features, but much like the mistakes of the Xbox One launch, Microsoft is leading with a vision of Xbox that is subpar over what is already there.

Putting a Samsung Galaxy Fold on the same billboard as an Xbox Series X is insanity to me, when one costs thousands of dollars, and doesn't even have Xbox cloud gaming controllers that actually fit the product. You need a full-blown Xbox controller, and a Samsung Galaxy Fold kickstand cover to realistically play anything Xbox on a Galaxy Fold. Microsoft has also vastly decreased the amount of games it's putting on Xbox Cloud Gaming with bespoke touch controls too — the team handling this feature was laid off during Microsoft's cuts this year. If Microsoft is talking about native mobile games, barely any of them actually come with Xbox integration for things like achievements or online status.

In what timeline, realistically, is a Samsung Galaxy Fold an Xbox? Certainly not the one I'm living in.

This is, again, just one example of the problems with the broad-strokes claim "This is an Xbox" attached to any device running Android — at least today.

Why is Microsoft confusing people into not buying an Xbox in the run up to Christmas?

(Image credit: Microsoft)

I noted earlier that the Xbox Series X was sold out as of writing this post, although new stocks are probably due to land any day now. It precipitates a wider problem not just with Xbox, but the entire gaming industry — the console user install base is static, and may even be in decline.

Analysts like Newzoo and PlayStation's own financials detail how console sales seem to have a historical hard ceiling, with the total install base globally hovering around 300 million. Strong competition from free-to-play forever games that live on every platform are eating into the "variety gamer" audience that powers the PlayStation / Xbox paradigm, leading platform holders to figure out where the next wave of growth will emanate from. Microsoft for its money has the correct strategy broadly speaking, in my view — which is finding people where they are rather than trying to persuade people to convert to Xbox console gamers. You can argue the execution has been less-than-stellar though.

Microsoft's mobile Xbox game store announced for Android and iOS is delayed, and in my view, will probably never actually launch. Xbox Cloud Gaming's "buy to own" library will hopefully launch this month, although it was announced literally years ago — and is expected to include only a subset of Xbox games from the library, rather than all of it.

Even some of Microsoft's own games, like Diablo 4, aren't available on Xbox Cloud Gaming thanks to licensing commitments — at least today.

(Image credit: Jennifer Young - Windows Central)

I just can't help but wonder what purpose it serves for Microsoft to tell people devices that can do a handful of partial Xboxxy-like things. If my first experience of the Xbox ecosystem was the Xbox app on PC, with all of its foibles, I probably wouldn't be too encouraged to remain in that ecosystem. If I tried Xbox cloud gaming on my phone and discovered only a tiny portion of the games support touch, I'd probably not stick around. I keep trying to ask myself how I would explain to someone who had just asked me "What makes my phone an Xbox?" I'm not sure I'd have a particularly compelling answer for them.

That's why ultimately I'm wondering if this campaign was supposed to line up with previously announced features that slipped. The Xbox game store for Android and iOS was supposed to launch this quarter, but now isn't. Xbox buy-to-own cloud games is supposed to launch this month too, and seems to be on track last we heard. Xbox has had some wins with Xbox Play Anywhere on PC too lately, with Death Stranding, Metaphor Re:Fantazio, and Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters all hitting the cross-buy, cross-progression Xbox service without an Xbox Game Pass tie-in.

Like I said earlier, the vision is awesome. The vision is excellent. The vision is why I invest in the Xbox ecosystem, despite its shortcomings and mixed messages over the past few years. But why market to a vision that isn't fully realized? Why denigrate the premiere Xbox experience as it exists today? The only place where you can get a true, full-fat Xbox experience is Xbox Series X|S.

Actually, today, only Xbox is an Xbox

Microsoft's "This is an Xbox" ad campaign is actually solid on paper. It showcases where Xbox is going. It showcases what the future of gaming in general will look like. Microsoft is good at predicting the future. They did it with the Xbox One back in 2013, which was a digital-first experience that people ultimately rejected. Ten years later, people are increasingly preferring all-digital.

The problem is, like in 2013, you can't tell people what they should like or should want. Above all, you can't market things based on a promise or a vision of the future, as 2013's Xbox One launch spectacularly demonstrated. I love the direction Microsoft is heading towards. I love the idea of getting ALL of my Xbox games on my phone, anywhere, any time, via 6G or 7G wireless on any device I own. We're years away from that future, if indeed it materializes at all. I have faith that it will, but we're nowhere near there right now. So why tell every day people that Xbox has already reached that destination?

Microsoft's "This is an Xbox" ad campaign is great on paper. It's just absolutely the wrong time to be making the claim.

The pieces are in place, the systems work, but the vast majority of Xbox games aren't available on cloud. The vast majority of developers opt out of Xbox Play Anywhere between PC and Xbox. The vast majority PC developers don't support the Microsoft Store ecosystem without a Game Pass tie-in. This campaign celebrates the underlying system rather than the real reason people play games in the first place — content, which is arguably still Microsoft's weakest pillar in its ecosystem.

Microsoft's "This is an Xbox" ad campaign is great on paper, and I fully concede that I'm no marketing guru. I'm fully prepared to eat crow if this campaign does blow up and helps Xbox reach new users as is most likely the goal. I just can't help but feel that today, as of November 2024, it's absolutely the wrong time to be making the claim that random phones, laptops, and TVs represent a true Xbox experience. It's a poor time to introduce the general public to Xbox via their phone, Fire Stick, or Samsung Smart Fridge. It's also a very poor time to undermine the traditional Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S console, given the nerves people have over whether Microsoft is even still committed to Xbox hardware in the long term.

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April Fools’ joke results in Japanese firm making a beige ’80s throwback PC case

Mon, 18 Nov 2024 18:53:27 +0000

You can fit lots of modern hardware inside—and prop your monitor on top.

Putting out a joke product on April Fools' Day can sometimes be a clever way to quietly gauge the reaction to a wild idea without having to really commit to it.

Nerdish purveyor ThinkGeek did this a few times with the 8-bit tie and the Tauntaun sleeping bag. Pokemon Go crystallized in some ways from a Google Maps joke. And just recently, PC case-maker SilverStone has decided that so many people were into its beige-tastic FLP01 case idea, tossed onto X (formerly Twitter) late on March 31 Tokyo time, that it will now release it in early 2025 in Japan for the USD equivalent of $130.

As shown off at SilverStone's Expo 2024 show in Akihbara last weekend (and spotted on Tom's Hardware), the FLP-01 is a combination of simulacrum and serious, with heavy NEC PC-9800 homage. It has fake 5.25-inch floppy blanks, but they cover real optical disc drive and button/port modules. At SilverStone's Japan Expo, the firm packed a GeForce RTX 4060 Ti, Intel Core Ultra 7 256K CPU, and full-size ATX motherboard and PSU. There are, of course, power and disk activity LEDs on the front. As displayed, SilverStone's demo unit had three intake fans and plenty of room for whatever else you could pack in here.

The whole thing looks like a modern case flipped on its side, so your modern system-building and wire-routing skills won't go to waste. It's 17.32×14.25 inches and 6.7 inches tall in its (literal) desktop configuration, and the case is reinforced enough that you can use it as a monitor stand.

There is no word yet on whether this case will be available outside of Japan. Maybe with enough enthusiast input, the joke can go both real and global.

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Half-Life 2 sets new concurrent player record as it turns 20, quadrupling previous peak

Mon, 18 Nov 2024 02:48:22 +0000

Two decades after launch, Gordon Freeman's iconic adventures can still pull in some impressive numbers. The 2004-released Half-Life 2 managed to break into Steam's top 20 most-played games portion earlier today. While the game is currently free to claim on the platform thanks to the latest anniversary celebration, a classic single-player game gaining this much momentum is an impressive feat.

As recorded on SteamDB, the newly-updated Half-Life 2 managed to hit 64,085 players a few hours ago as the masses of PC gamers dived into the game on Sunday. Keep in mind that SteamDB's player-count record-keeping only began in 2018, so we can't say just how many players the game had when it launched in 2004.

The available data shows that Half-Life 2 achieved 16,101 players in August of 2021, which is when a community event attempted, and succeeded at, breaking the all-time concurrent peak of the game. A similar community event from 2012 had held the previous record at 12,953 prior to the later developments.

Just as Half-Life 2 turned 20 a few days ago, Valve also released a major update to the game. The Half-Life 2 20th Anniversary Update added Episode One and Episode Two campaign expansions to the base game, offering the complete experience without having to purchase additional content. An interactive developer commentary mode, restored cut content, bug fixes, Steam Workshop support, and an entire documentary about the development landed as well. Find all the details here.

At the time of writing this, the offer to claim Half-Life 2 for free is still live too, offering Steam users access to the base game and both expansions. Don't forget about the community remaster using Nvidia's RTX tools that are currently in development, which will be a free upgrade to the game when it's available.

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Microsoft Weekly: one dead Insider Channel, a big drop of Windows updates, and more

Sun, 17 Nov 2024 17:26:36 +0000

In this episode of Microsoft Weekly, we look at this month's Patch Tuesday updates, many new preview builds, one dead Insider Channel, gaming news, app updates, and a lot more.

Table of contents:

Windows 10 and 11 news
Windows Insider Program
Updates are available
Reviews are in
Gaming news
Great deals to check

Windows 11 and 10

Here we talk about everything happening around Microsoft's latest operating system in the Stable channel and preview builds: new features, removed features, controversies, bugs, interesting findings, and more. And of course, you may find a word or two about older but still supported versions.

Patch Tuesday updates for November 2024 are now available. Windows 11 received KB5046617 and KB5046633 (and some setup updates); Windows 10 received KB5046613, KB5046615, KB5046612, and KB5046665 (there is even an update for Windows Holographic). Besides security updates, these patches delivered fixes for app crashes on Windows 10 and broken Task Manager on Windows 11. However, they also caused some confusion, with some users reporting Windows Update flagging their systems as out of support.

Also, Microsoft shared new group policies to prevent fiascos, such as Windows Server 2022 and 2019 auto-upgrading to Windows Server 2025.

After the release of November 2024 Patch Tuesday updates, Microsoft also notified users that in December 2024, Windows 10 and 11 will receive fewer updates. Due to the holiday season, Microsoft plans to skip the December 2024 non-security updates roundup.

Finally, Microsoft released official Windows 11 ISO files for Windows on ARM devices.

Microsoft also has some updates for the Microsoft Store on Windows 10 and 11. For one, the company is ditching instant games on the Arcade tab. As of November 14, 2024, instant games are no longer available in the Microsoft Store. What is available (not to all, unfortunately) is some Android games. Microsoft partners with Tencent to bring thousands of mobile Android games to Windows 11 users in China.

While Microsoft is busy upgrading Windows 11 with modern bits, plenty of legacy code still drags alongside. As it turned out, you can still access the old Action Center from Windows 10 in the latest Windows 11 updates. All you have to do is make a single tweak in the system registry. Also, you can bring back the old File Explorer with a small tool.

Windows Insider Program

Here is what Microsoft Released this week for testing in the Windows Insider Program:

	Windows 11	Windows 10
Canary Channel	27749	Not Applicable
Dev Channel	-	Not Applicable
Beta Channel	22635.4510	19045.5194
Release Preview Channel	22631.4534 26100.2448	19045.5194

You might remember Microsoft introducing a new "Edit with Paint" context menu option in the latest Paint update for Windows Insiders. If you are not a fan of that change, here is a guide describing how to turn that menu entry off. By the way, other changes in that Paint update are now available to more insiders.

As for more useful changes coming soon to Windows 11, we have a new shortcut to trigger OCR in the Snipping Tool, a new "Windows Intelligence" section in the Settings app, some updates in the work for the default app experience, and a new tab for monitoring energy consumption in Windows 11. None of those changes are public yet, so we will have to wait for Microsoft to announce them in preview builds.

Windows 10 insiders also received some news, albeit not-so-good one. Five months after the revival, Windows 10's Beta Channel is dead again. Microsoft announced that build 19045.5194 is the final update for Beta insiders, and they all will be automatically migrated to the Release Preview Channel. With Windows 10 scheduled to reach its end of life in less than 12 months, the announcement is hardly surprising.

Updates are available

This section covers software, firmware, and other notable updates (released and coming soon) delivering new features, security fixes, improvements, patches, and more from Microsoft and third parties.

Microsoft confirmed that the MSN brand is kinda back. The company equipped one of its oldest services with a shiny new logo and replaced Microsoft Start with it. The result of this change is a new MSN logo on the new tab page in Microsoft Edge. Mobile apps will follow suit soon.

Microsoft Edge is in hot waters. Again. The browser was once more caught auto-starting on systems with Chrome, "offering" to move data from Google Chrome to Microsoft Edge. This time, Microsoft openly admitted the behavior, stating it is "giving people the choice to import data from other browsers."

This week's browser updates include Firefox 132.0.2, with fixes for video streaming errors, duplicate notifications, and more. Microsoft Edge was updated to version 131 with Sidebar improvements and other changes, while its Dev variant received version 132.0.2945.0.

Other notable updates include the following:

And here are the newest drivers released this week:

Intel 32.0.101.6297 non-WHQL with optimizations for Farming Simulator 25, Planet Coaster 2, and Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake.
Nvidia 566.14 WHQL with optimizations for S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2: Heart of Chornobyl and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.

In addition to releasing a new driver, Nvidia announced that the new Nvidia App is now out of beta. While it is not ready to replace the old Control Panel and the GeForce Experience app for good, it will become an optional component in future driver updates.

Reviews are in

Here are the software or hardware reviews published on Neowin this week.

Steven Parker reviewed the GEEKOM "AI-Enhanced" AE8 mini PC. It is a modern, small computer with the latest hardware, a dedicated NPU, USB4 ports, and a few minor quirks that might irritate without breaking the deal. Check out the full review here.

On the gaming side

Learn about upcoming game releases, Xbox rumors, new hardware, software updates, freebies, deals, discounts and more.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is now very close to its public debut, and MachineGames is teasing the game with a new deep-dive video showcasing 14 minutes of gameplay. For reference, the game is launching on December 9, with early access on December 6. By the way, Xbox and IHOP partnered and created some exclusive Indiana Jones-themed menus and prizes.

Another big game coming very soon to Xbox and PC is S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2: Heart of Chornobyl. GSC Game World released full system requirements ahead of the launch on November 20. If you want to get a great experience at a high resolution or frame rate, you better upgrade your rig, as the game requires quite beefy hardware.

During the Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct, Blizzard dropped a lot of news for fans of the franchise. Warcraft I and Warcraft II remasters are now available for purchase, bringing the classic versions of the game to modern hardware with modernized controls, widescreen support, a better user interface, and more upgrades.

Warcraft III was not forgotten either. In fact, the game received its second remaster, Reforged 2.0. Activision stated it plain and simple: "When something is broken, you fix it," hence version 2.0 with overhauled lighting effects, UI improvements, better classic models, and a lot more. Finally, Mists of Pandaria is coming to World of Warcraft Classic in 2025.

Age of Empires II was another game celebrating its anniversary this week. The title turned five, and Microsoft decided to unlock DLC packs for existing owners and Game Pass subscribers. Sadly, the game's price went up to a quite steep $34.99 across all stores.

But wait, there is more. Half-Life 2 is now 20 years old, and to honor the occasion, Nvidia announced a giveaway of a custom RTX 4080 SUPER graphics card with Gordon Freeman, orange accents, and other cool design elements. By the way, Half-Life 2 RTX (the base game is up for grabs for free until November 18) is now available for wishlist on Steam, so go add it to your list if you plan to buy this game.

The Game Pass library has received more games. Over this week, Microsoft added three Spyro games, letting everyone play Spyro the Dragon, Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!, and Spyro: Year of the Dragon.

GeForce NOW, on the other hand, got Farming Simulator 25, past Call of Duty games, and more this week.

On the hardware side, we have fresh rumors about the long-expected Xbox handheld. In a new interview, Phil Spencer hinted that an Xbox handheld console is on the radar; just do not expect it any time soon. For now, the company wants to focus on improving the gaming experience on existing handheld consoles with Windows.

While you wait for an Xbox handheld, you may want to try the standard Xbox console from Microsoft, especially with a tempting $50 discount during this holiday season. Microsoft announced discounts for some of its Xbox Series X|S consoles and controllers, plus deals on over a thousand PC and Xbox games.

If you are going to buy an Xbox console or you already have one, make sure to update it to the latest software update, which was released this week. It introduced friend requests, a new Home page, AI search, and a lot more. Also, Microsoft released an update to the Xbox Accessories app to let users calibrate triggers and more.

Deals and freebies

The Epic Games Store is letting everyone have Castlevania Anniversary Collection and Snakebird Complete for free until next Thursday. As usual, more deals and specials are available in this week's Weekend PC Game Deals.

Other gaming news from this week include the following:

Microsoft Weekly image by mynd_roxycr on Pixabay.

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Apple could launch an upgraded AirTag in mid-2025

Sun, 17 Nov 2024 17:17:29 +0000

AirTag was one of the most unprecedented Apple products when it first launched in 2021 because it didn’t fit in Apple’s usual product category. However, AirTag has also been a controversial product for Apple, which has led to dozens of lawsuits being filed against the company for stalking or unwanted tracking.

Despite controversies, Apple has no plan to abandon the product. In May, it was reported that Apple might launch the second-generation AirTag with some upgraded features next year. Now, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has confirmed that the AirTag 2 will arrive in mid-2025.

As Gurman’s report reads, the product, allegedly code-named B58, has successfully passed some manufacturing tests, and Apple is gearing up to pull back the curtain on it next year.

Apple’s renewed analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also said in October last year that the firm has postponed the mass production of AirTag until 2025. With Gurman and Kuo echoing the same statement, we could be almost sure the AirTag 2 arrives next year, presumably alongside the iPhone 17 series or Apple’s refreshed iPad lineup.

According to Gurman, AirTag 2 will be equipped with a more powerful onboard wireless chip, providing more precise location tracking and a better range. The product could also feature the same second-generation Ultra Wideband chip used in the iPhone 15 series, further enhancing its tracking capabilities.

Gurman also mentions that AirTag 2 will make it more difficult for people to detach the speaker, preventing unwanted tracking. There are no details about any changes to the design or shape yet.

However, an improved range and location tracking might not be the only upgrades to the new AirTag. Ming-Chi Kuo said last year that AirTag 2 might be integrated into Apple’s spatial computing experience, which revolves around the Vision Pro headset. It remains to be seen how the integration would be, but it could follow Apple’s recent agenda for integrating every product with Vision Pro.

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Paul's Tech News - Intel Actually Wins, and Installing a 9800X3D Wrong Breaks It [Video]

Sun, 17 Nov 2024 08:36:34 +0000

Paul's Hardware (1.49M subscribers)

November 17, 2024

Video length: 10m 17s

0:00 Welcome to Paul’s Tech News - Nov 17, 2024

1:45 Improperly Installed 9800X3Ds Burn Up, Predictably

3:50 Intel… Wins? (Better Integrated Graphics than AMD)

5:22 NVIDIA preps for RTX 50 Series Launch by Discontinuing RTX 40 Series

TECH BRIEFS

7:06 Cooler Master’s 2000W X Mighty Platinum PSU has two 12V2x6 connectors

7:47 Nvidia App Launches, is good

8:13 Limited Edition White Steam Deck OLED On Sale This Week

8:45 LG’s Bulge is Showing - stretchable prototype display

9:31 Save The Date - Awesome Hardware Charity Live Stream Dec 14

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Here’s some cool stuff you can do with Bluesky

Sat, 16 Nov 2024 17:30:42 +0000

The social network has some unique and fun features to try.

So, you’ve finally decided to give Bluesky a shot. The social network has come a long way since the early bare-bones days of invite-only signups and recently grew past the 15 million user mark. Along the way, it’s gathered a lot of familiar posting platform features, like direct messages, pinned posts, and the ability to post videos up to 60 seconds in length.

But there’s a lot more to it than that, and I’m not only talking about lore. (Yes, Bluesky has lore, and that’s probably the most classic Twitter thing about it.) It’s also got a number of features and settings you won’t find on X or Threads, like the ability to choose your own algorithm or moderation tools. These serve not just as a fast lane to getting the platform to feel lively but can also create the feeling that you, the user, are in control of your experience.

Here’s a primer on getting up to speed on Bluesky.

Some basics

Bluesky’s Following feed is a simple chronological feed of posts from people you follow. But you can also customize whether it shows replies, reposts, quote posts, and / or samples from your custom feeds — setting all of these to “off” means your Following feed will only display posts from people you follow. You’ll find these options in Settings > Following Feed Preferences.

The platform also lets you decide how you’d like to see reply threads by going to Settings > Thread Preferences. Here, you can sort by oldest, newest, most-liked replies, or have them randomly sorted. (Bluesky also calls this “Poster’s Roulette.”) There’s an option to prioritize people you follow in a reply thread as well as an experimental Threaded Mode option for showing replies as Reddit-like nested threads.

Custom algorithmic feeds

Bluesky’s custom algorithmic feeds are a great way to get started without following anyone at all.

Screenshot: Bluesky

While Bluesky offers two algorithmic feeds to start — “Discover” and “Popular With Friends” — things start to get a lot more fun when you get into custom feeds. Bluesky itself has made some, but most of the custom feeds are user-created.

These feeds are powerful, making it easy to find people who share your interests, see only certain types of content, or sort through your own posts. Want a feed of cat pictures? You got it. Interested in seeing which of your posts has done the best? You’ll want the “My Bangers” feed.

To check out the custom feeds:

Tap the three lines icon in the upper left to summon the sidebar.
In the sidebar, select Feeds.
Search for a feed or scroll through them to pick the ones you like.
Click or tap on individual feeds to preview them.
To follow a feed from the Feeds page, click on the individual feed, select the three dots in the upper corner, and then select Save to my feeds. It will now appear at the top of your Feeds list.
To follow a feed from Bluesky’s homescreen, tap Pin to Home at the top. Now, it will appear as a tab at the top of that screen.

Starter Packs

Oh look, a Verge Starter Pack.

Screenshot: The Verge staff Starter Pack

Another easy way to find Bluesky accounts to follow is Starter Packs. These are prepackaged lists of accounts, often chosen around a theme. Bluesky’s team has made some of these, but there are also thousands of user-made lists containing accounts that often post about specific topics or are part of certain groups. (The Verge even has one; you can find it right here.)

Bluesky hasn’t made Starter Packs searchable yet, so the only way you’ll find them is by searching outside of the platform (I like this directory), spotting them when they’re posted by other users, or having them sent to you. Once you find a Starter Pack you like, just click the Follow all button at the top of the screen to, you know, follow all of them, or select the Follow button by individual accounts if you’re feeling choosy.

And if you want to create your own Starter Pack, it isn’t difficult: Bluesky has directions right here.

Custom domains

I finally figured out what to do with that domain name I bought last year.

Screenshot: Bluesky

Like Mastodon, Bluesky is a federated platform, except it uses AT Protocol instead of ActivityPub. As such, you can pick your own domain name suffix for your handle. You’ll need to either own that domain or get it from another service, such as Threads. A word of warning, though: once you’ve done this, your handle / domain name combo is now free for someone else to take. (Bluesky says that “any tags or mentions with your old handle will still point to your account,” though.)

Use the “Change my handle” feature to switch to a custom domain.

Screenshot: Bluesky

To switch to a custom domain:

Select Settings > Change Handle.
Choose I have my own domain.
Enter your domain, and select Copy Domain Value, which copies the string of text at the end of the record.
Navigate to your domain registrar (the company you bought the domain from) and find an option labeled Manage DNS or similar.

Here’s what adding a new record would look like in GoDaddy’s DNS management screen.

Screenshot: GoDaddy DNS management

Add a TXT record and enter the record information you gathered from Bluesky. Note: this process differs between domain name providers, so you may need to look up instructions, such as the ones I’ve linked here for popular registrars GoDaddy and Squarespace.
Once you’ve saved the record, wait a few minutes, go back to Bluesky, and select Verify DNS Record. A green banner in the Change Handle box will appear to let you know you succeeded.

Pinned posts

Like X and Threads, you can pin posts to the top of your account. Here’s how:

Navigate to the post you want to pin.
Select the three dots beneath the post.
Select Pin to your profile.

Labelers

The Bears still suck.

Screenshot: Bluesky NFL Team Labeler

Bluesky’s moderation is buttressed by Labelers, which are third-party services that can tag accounts or content, either for informational purposes or for moderation. The tags are wide-ranging and can be used to hide things like posts with GIFs, crypto scammer accounts, brand accounts, or phobia triggers.

It goes far beyond that, though. Some use it as a convenient way to display or view pronouns, find fans of their favorite sports teams, and even play text-based games through Labelers like this TTRPG one. Each one differs in its use and usually offers instructions for using it. Also, Bluesky doesn’t currently have a built-in way to find Labelers, but there are lists and tools for that.

To use a Labeler once you’ve found one you like:

Navigate to its Bluesky page.
Select Subscribe to Labeler.

If it has a list of labels to customize, pick an option for each:Off: to keep the label off. Show badge: to see the label when applied to content or accounts.Hide: to hide content or accounts with that label.

If you decide you want to change those selections later, you can do so by going to Settings > Moderation and selecting the Labeler from the Advanced section.

App Passwords

The App Passwords screen in Bluesky.

Screenshot: Bluesky

Bluesky lets you create passwords for other apps to use. This is helpful if you like to use apps — like third-party client Graysky — that take advantage of the Bluesky API but don’t want to give them your permanent password. Here’s how you can do that.

Navigate to Settings > App Passwords (Under Advanced).
Select Add App Password.
Enter a name for the password or use the one Bluesky generates.
If you want to let the app use direct messaging, tick the Allow access to your direct messages box. Note: you can’t change this option later; you can only delete the password and create a new one for that app.
Select Create App Password.

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Massive Half-Life 2 20th Anniversary Update is here, game is also free on Steam right now

Sat, 16 Nov 2024 02:30:41 +0000

Valve has been holding on to a special surprise for Half-Life 2 fans to celebrate the game crossing its 20th birthday. Today, the company shipped the 20th Anniversary Update for the iconic Gordon Freeman adventure from 2004, combining the base experience and all episodes into one, bringing developer commentary, Steam Workshop support, and much more. Adding to all that, the game is completely free to claim on Steam right now too.

Before getting to all that, Half-Life fans should know that another documentary produced by Secret Tape is available right now for streaming. Much like the original Half-Life's 25th Anniversary documentary, this one looks back at the game's development as Valve battled budget issues, getting hacked, build leaks, and much more interesting details. See it below:

Coming back to the Half-Life 2 Anniversary Update, the base game now includes its Episode One and Two Expansions right out of the gate. While playable straight from the main menu, they will also seamlessly begin their adventures when players reach the end point of the base game's campaign.

An interactive developer commentary mode has been added to the campaigns too, letting players hear what the studio was thinking about when designing levels, gameplay elements, encounters, and other goodies.

Steam Workshop support for built-in easy modding capabilities, fixes for longstanding bugs, restored cut content and features, updated graphics settings, refined controller support with better aim assistance, and more have landed for the classic title as well. All that's missing is a Half-Life 3 teaser. Find the complete patch notes of the Anniversary Update on this page, though you'll have to scroll down quite a bit to find it.

Half-Life 2 is free to claim on its Steam store page right now, alongside Episode One and Episode Two expansions, and all that's required to grab it is an account on the storefront. The giveaway will last through Sunday, November 18.

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Bluesky says it won’t train AI on your posts

Sat, 16 Nov 2024 02:29:29 +0000

‘We do not use any of your content to train generative AI, and have no intention of doing so.’

Social network Bluesky, in a post on Friday, says that it has “no intention” of taking user content to train generative AI tools. It made the statement the same day X’s new terms of service that spell out how it can analyze user text and other information to train its generative AI tools go into effect.

“A number of artists and creators have made their home on Bluesky, and we hear their concerns with other platforms training on their data,” Bluesky says in a post. “We do not use any of your content to train generative AI, and have no intention of doing so.”

A number of artists and creators have made their home on Bluesky, and we hear their concerns with other platforms training on their data. We do not use any of your content to train generative AI, and have no intention of doing so.

— Bluesky (@bsky.app) 2024-11-15T17:17:39.921Z

Other companies could still potentially scrape your Bluesky posts for training. Bluesky’s robots.txt doesn’t exclude crawlers from Google, OpenAI, or others, meaning those companies may crawl Bluesky data. “Bluesky is an open and public social network, much like websites on the Internet itself,” spokesperson Emily Liu tells The Verge. “Just as robots.txt files don’t always prevent outside companies from crawling those sites, the same applies here. That said, we’d like to do our part to ensure that outside orgs respect user consent and are actively discussing within the team on how to achieve this.”

In another post, Bluesky notes that it uses AI to “assist in content moderation, which helps us triage posts and shield human moderators from harmful content.” It also uses it in the algorithmic Discover feed. “None of these are Gen AI systems trained on user content,” Bluesky says. The company also points to a page where you can find its terms of service, community guidelines, and other policy documents.

Bluesky has grown by more three million people in the past week, according to the platform’s safety account. The company says it’s seeing increased “spam, scam, and trolling activity,” and that it is bolstering its moderation team to support the increased load.

Bluesky just crossed 17 million users, according to a stat tracker, as users seek out alternative microblogging platforms to X. Meta’s Threads, one of its primary competitors, isn’t standing by. Threads boss Adam Mosseri said yesterday that the platform has already surpassed more than 15 million signups just this month, and Meta said today that it is testing custom feeds — a feature that Bluesky is already well known for. Unlike Bluesky, however, Meta recently acknowledged that it’s trained its AI models on almost everything you’ve posted publicly since 2007.

Correction, November 15th: We initially said that Bluesky made its statement ahead of X’s new terms of service going into effect, but those revised terms are in effect as of today.

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FTC to launch investigation into Microsoft’s cloud business

Fri, 15 Nov 2024 18:49:12 +0000

Microsoft is accused of using punitive licensing terms for Azure.

The Federal Trade Commission is preparing to launch an investigation into anti-competitive practices at Microsoft’s cloud computing business, as the US regulator continues to pursue Big Tech in the final weeks of Joe Biden’s presidency.

The FTC is examining allegations that Microsoft is abusing its market power in productivity software by imposing punitive licensing terms to prevent customers from moving their data from its Azure cloud service to competitors’ platforms, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Tactics being examined include substantially increasing subscription fees for those that leave, charging steep exit fees, and allegedly making its Office 365 products incompatible with rival clouds, they added.

The FTC is yet to formally request documents or other information from Microsoft as part of the inquiry, the people said.

A move to challenge Microsoft’s cloud business practices would mark the latest broadside against Big Tech by the FTC’s chair, Lina Khan, who has centered her tenure on aggressively curbing the monopolistic powers of the likes of Meta and Amazon.

Khan, who has become the public enemy for most of Wall Street’s dealmaking community, is set to be replaced after president-elect Donald Trump enters the White House next year.

While any successor to Khan may not adopt as tough a stance, potential contenders are expected to continue targeting Big Tech companies that have attracted bipartisan ire in Washington. The Republican Party has accused online platforms of allegedly censoring conservative voices.

The decision to launch a formal probe would come after the FTC sought feedback from industry participants and the public on cloud computing providers’ business practices. The results in November last year revealed that most responses raised concerns around competition, the agency said at the time, including software licensing practices that curb the ability to use some software in other cloud providers’ ecosystems.

The FTC also highlighted fees charged on users transferring data out of certain cloud systems and minimum spend contracts, which offer discounts to companies in return for a set level of spending.

Microsoft has also attracted scrutiny from international regulators over similar matters. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority is investigating Microsoft and Amazon after its fellow watchdog Ofcom found that customers complained about being “locked in” to a single provider, which offers discounts for exclusivity and charge high “egress fees” to leave.

In the EU, Microsoft has avoided a formal probe into its cloud business after agreeing to a multimillion-dollar deal with a group of rival cloud providers in July.

The FTC in 2022 sued to block Microsoft’s $75 billion acquisition of video game maker Activision Blizzard over concerns the deal would harm competitors to its Xbox consoles and cloud-gaming business. A federal court shot down an attempt by the FTC to block it, which is being appealed. A revised version of the deal in the meantime closed last year following its clearance by the UK’s CMA.

Since its inception 20 years ago, cloud infrastructure and services has grown to become one of the most lucrative business lines for Big Tech as companies outsource their data storage and computing online. More recently, this has been turbocharged by demand for processing power to train and run artificial intelligence models.

Spending on cloud services soared to $561 billion in 2023 with market researcher Gartner forecasting it will grow to $675 billion this year and $825 billion in 2025. Microsoft has about a 20 percent market share over the global cloud market, trailing leader Amazon Web Services that has 31 percent, but almost double the size of Google Cloud at 12 percent.

There is fierce rivalry between the trio and smaller providers. Last month, Microsoft accused Google of running “shadow campaigns” seeking to undermine its position with regulators by secretly bankrolling hostile lobbying groups.

Microsoft also alleged that Google tried to derail its settlement with EU cloud providers by offering them $500 million in cash and credit to reject its deal and continue pursuing litigation.

The FTC and Microsoft declined to comment.

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Will STALKER 2 be fully open world?

Fri, 15 Nov 2024 01:55:36 +0000

STALKER 2 looks to be a massive game, but is it open world?

One of the abandoned villages you'll come across while exploring The Zone in STALKER 2.

(Image credit: GSC Game World)

Is STALKER 2 a fully open-world game?

Yes, STALKER 2 is a fully open-world game, just like earlier titles in the STALKER series were. Specifically, it will have 20 regions for players to explore as they see fit, including returning areas from previous games that have been expanded as well as completely new zones.

STALKER 2 features a complete open world

During your playthrough, you'll likely come across many points of interest like helicopter crash sites or noteworthy structures.

(Image credit: GSC Game World)

Aside from some standout releases like Dragon's Dogma 2 and Star Wars Outlaws, 2024 has, overall, been a pretty light year for big-budget open-world games. Before the year ends, though, there's one more scheduled to come out — and it's a huge one. That title is STALKER 2, the long-awaited and highly anticipated survival horror shooter from Ukrainian studio GSC Game World that's finally releasing on November 20 after years of tumultuous development.

Excitement for the game has sharply risen in the last several months, with players eager to finally play it after multiple delays brought on by Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine. As a result of that soaring interest, many are also curious about the exact nature of the open world in STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl. Indeed, while many "open-world games" do feature complete non-linear open worlds, others blend linear gameplay and progression with larger-than-usual spaces to try and deliver a satisfying synthesis of the two design approaches.

According to STALKER 2's developers, it will feature a full open world, just like the games in the original STALKER trilogy did (these shadow dropped on consoles this year, by the way). More specifically, commentary in a recent gameplay deep dive revealed that there are 20 connected regions to explore in the FPS, including zones from the older games that have been expanded and brand new areas. You'll have the freedom to venture between these non-linear locations in whatever way you want during your adventure in The Zone, with dynamic faction relationships and an advanced AI simulation system called A-Life 2.0 hopefully ensuring that no two playthroughs of the game play out the same way. And while there will be a main quest chain to follow, you'll have the ability to choose when you engage with it and heavily influence its various outcomes.

What is STALKER 2's map size?

A player reloads their rifle near a windmill as the sun sets in STALKER 2.

(Image credit: GSC Game World)

STALKER 2 will have a completely open-world map, but how big is that map? It's a good question to ask, as total map sizes tend to be representative of how much there is to see and do in an open-world game. Granted, this isn't always the case — I found Starfield to be as wide as an ocean but as deep as a puddle, for example — but in my experience, it's generally true.

Luckily, GSC Game World has given us an answer in a FAQ on STALKER 2's website. In it, the studio states that the game has "a seamless open world with more than 60 square kilometers of space, which is one of the biggest open worlds in video games to date." In total, it expects that "you’ll need more than 100 hours of gameplay to explore its secrets."

That's far from the biggest map in gaming, but it's pretty huge for a shooter game. To give some context, The colossal world of Elden Ring encompasses just over 80 square kilometers; The Zone in STALKER 2 is 75% of that, but will be experienced entirely on foot with grounded movement instead of constant sprinting and a trusty spectral steed. Put simply, it should feel gigantic even though its size isn't breaking any records.

STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is coming to Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC on November 20, and looks to be one of this year's best Xbox games and best PC games. It has a $59.99 MSRP, but notably, you can preorder it with a discount at CDKeys right now. On day one, you'll also be able to play it through Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

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Microsoft Copilot is the poster child of 'an annoying kid in class' — a 24-hour excursion in the woods by the WSJ with four chatbots reveals which AI ranks the best, and the answer may surprise you

Thu, 14 Nov 2024 18:03:41 +0000

Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman says we'll "come to trust our AI companions with lots of very important information and very important tasks in our lives."

What you need to know

The Wall Street Journal's senior personal tech columnist, Joanna Stern, recently took Microsoft Copilot, Meta AI, ChatGPT, and Gemini out on a 24-hour excursion in the woods.
The AI tools were subjected to a variety of tasks, and findings indicated that their responses to queries were reminiscent of each other, though Google's Gemini instructions on lighting a fire were a tad flawed.
An attempt to befriend the chatbots depicted fake emotions and their inability to experience things such as touch, smell, and sight.
While OpenAI's ChatGPT depicted a more natural connection with humans, including referring to them using their nickname without prompting, Microsoft Copilot's experience seemed a little over the top and annoying.

AI-powered chatbots are increasingly becoming human-like, and The Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern recently brought this premise to fruition. Ordinarily, you'd go hiking or camping in the woods with friends and family, but Stern audaciously brought OpenAI's ChatGPT, Meta AI, Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot.

As you may know, chatbots ship with a customizable experience tailored to your specifications, including tone. For instance, Meta AI lets you customize your experience by allowing you to select the voice of a celebrity like Snoop Dogg, which it mimics while interacting with you.

Stern simultaneously put the chatbots through various tasks to assess their effectiveness and efficiency. Apple's recently overhauled Siri failed to meet the cut because it fell short of expectations. When asked to introduce itself, Siri oddly asked whether the user wanted to restart their device.

First, Stern asked the chatbots what she'd need to start a fire in the woods. Interestingly, they provided almost identical answers, including detailed instructions describing how to chop kindling from trees using an axe. Stern indicates that Gemini provided poor fire-starting practices, but Meta AI, ChatGPT, and Microsoft Copilot salvaged the situation.

The next task included a prompt requesting the chatbots to recommend meatball recipes. While they managed to generate helpful instructions and required ingredients, they failed at simple tasks such as setting timers, alarms, or reminders. However, Meta AI indicated it had set a timer and would send a notification once the duration lapsed, but it didn't.

Notably, Google's Pixel buds and Meta's AI glasses were handy throughout the process, especially where the user's hands were engaged elsewhere. The accessories ship with built-in AI capabilities, fostering a seamless user experience.

Can AI chatbots transition from being just tools to friends

"For sure. I think this is a new era, and it's something that we have to embrace. We'll come to trust our AI companions with lots of very important information and very important tasks in our lives," indicated Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman while responding to Stern's question about AI chatbots being friends with humans.

The executive recently shared Copilot's roadmap, including its evolution into a virtual companion that can become a friend and foster meaningful and lasting relationships with users. However, Copilot's latest update has received backlash from users, citing a degraded user experience while highlighting their preference for the previous version. "It tries to be my friend when I need it to be a tool," a concerned user indicated.

Mustafa Suleyman, Microsoft's AI CEO, talks on Day 1 of the AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park on

November 1, 2023, in Bletchley, England.

(Image credit: Getty Images | Leon Neal)

In The Wall Street Journal's YouTube video, Microsoft Copilot came off as the annoying kid in class, seemingly trying a little too hard to appear friendly. "How are the vibes this afternoon? Just good vibes, peaceful vibes, forest vibes.." Copilot indicated.

On the other hand, OpenAI's ChatGPT featured a more natural experience, including referring to Joanna Stern by her nickname (Jo) without prompting. To this end, it's clear that AI chatbots can't replace the human touch at any level due to their inability to feel, touch, and experience things and situations, including humor.

However, Stern made an amazing discovery that AI chatbots are extremely good at befriending each other and can even have human-like conversations with each other on a wide array of topics, acting more like a book club rather than AI chatbots.

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Threads grew by a Bluesky this month

Thu, 14 Nov 2024 18:01:39 +0000

Threads has already gotten more than 15 million signups this month, according to Adam Mosseri — Bluesky just hit that number for total users.

Bluesky might be on the rise, but Instagram and Threads boss Adam Mosseri wants you to know that Threads is still much bigger. In a post on Thursday, Mosseri said that Threads has gotten “more than 15 million signups in November alone,” seemingly trying to throw some cold water over Bluesky crossing 15 million users total on Wednesday.

Mosseri also reiterated that the platform has been getting more than a million signups per day — a stat that CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed during last month’s earnings call — and noted that the platform has been seeing that volume of signups for “going on three months.”

Many people have been jumping to Bluesky looking for a new place to post that’s not X, which is owned by Donald Trump supporter Elon Musk, or Threads, on which users have expressed concerns about engagement bait, moderation issues, misinformation, and the algorithmic feed. Mosseri acknowledged that “we have a lot more work to do” and said that the company’s teams are “working hard to get this community what they need.” (Though Meta may also be introducing ads on Threads soon, which may not go over well.)

Last night, Mosseri also shared that Threads no longer asks new users if they want to follow everyone they already follow on Instagram. “We’ve been running a test for a while now and it looks like people actually prefer their experience if they build a different graph on Thread(s) than the graph that they had on Instagram,” he says. And Mosseri seems to be open to exploring a Threads-specific DMs system — personally, I think DMs are one of the key advantages Bluesky has over Threads right now.

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EU fines Meta €800 million for breaking law with Marketplace

Thu, 14 Nov 2024 17:57:33 +0000

EU: Tying the free Facebook Marketplace to the social network undermines rivals.

Meta has been fined nearly 800 million euros ($844.6 million) by Brussels after regulators accused Facebook’s parent company of stifling competition by “tying” its free Marketplace services with the social network.

Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s outgoing competition chief, said on Thursday that by linking Facebook with its classified ads service Meta had “imposed unfair trading conditions” on other providers.

She added: “It did so to benefit its own service Facebook Marketplace, thereby giving it advantages that [others] could not match. This is illegal.”

Meta said it would appeal against the 797.72 million euro fine levied by regulators. “We built Marketplace in response to consumer demand—this decision ignores the market realities, and will only serve to protect incumbent marketplaces from competition.”

It added: “The European Commission’s decision provides no evidence of competitive harm to rivals or any harm to consumers.”

The EU’s long-running antitrust probe into Meta was launched in 2019 following accusations from rivals that the tech giant was abusing its dominant position by offering free services while profiting from data it collects on the platform.

In December 2022, the European Commission issued initial charges against Facebook for allegedly using the data it gathered for free—mostly from businesses—to then sell ads to users.

It also marks one of the final investigations overseen by Vestager, who is set to leave the commission in the next few weeks after a decade of antitrust enforcement against Big Tech.

During her tenure, Vestager has repeatedly targeted the world’s biggest tech companies, with some of the toughest actions against tech giants such as Apple, Google, and Microsoft.

The EU Commission on Thursday said Meta is “dominant in the market for personal social networks (...) as well as in the national markets for online display advertising on social media.”

Facebook Marketplace, launched in 2016, is a popular platform to buy and sell second-hand goods, especially household items such as furniture.

Meta has argued that it operates in a highly competitive environment. In a post published on Thursday, the tech giant said marketplaces in Europe continue “to grow and dominate in the EU,” pointing to platforms such as eBay, Leboncoin in France, and Marktplaats in the Netherlands, as “formidable competitors.”

Meta’s fine comes at a period of political transition both in the EU and the US.

Brussels officials have been aggressive both in their rhetoric and their antitrust probes against Big Tech giants as they sought to open markets for local start-ups.

In the past five years, EU regulators have also passed a landmark piece of legislation—the Digital Markets Act—with the aim to slow down dominant tech players and boost the local tech industry.

However, some observers expect the new commission, which is set to start a new 5-year term in weeks, to strike a more conciliatory tone over fears of retaliation from the incoming Trump administration.

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How to Get Started on Bluesky

Thu, 14 Nov 2024 01:59:01 +0000

Waves of new users are flocking to the Twitter alternative, but Bluesky’s many customization options can be a bit overwhelming for newcomers. Here’s some advice on managing the flow.

The social media app Bluesky just reached the top of the free download charts for Apple’s app store in the United States, making it—for the moment, at least—more popular than Meta’s Threads and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The decentralized social media platform has received a fresh influx of users over the past week as more X users sour on Elon Musk’s political ambitions and abandon his social media platform for an alternative. Over a million new users have joined Bluesky since the 2024 US presidential election on November 5, which was shaped by Musk's influence.

First launched in 2019 as a project within Twitter, Bluesky gained independence from the company before Musk’s acquisition and its subsequent name change. Bluesky also captured the attention of some ex-tweeters back in 2023, when new users were only able to sign up through an invite system. Now you no longer need to have a code to join, and anyone can sign up. Interested in giving Bluesky a try? Here’s some advice for creating an account, finding who to follow, and tidying up your new home.

Get Started

The social media platform is available in your browser at bsky.app or through a mobile app (Android, iOS). I’m still getting the hang of it, but I do know that Bluesky will give you almost an overwhelming amount of choices right when you sign up, like the option to host your own server. That's cool, and it keeps the platform decentralized, but it's probably more involved than you want to be if you’re just online looking for sports scores and shitposts.

As you're creating an account, you’ll probably want to leave Bluesky Social as your hosting provider, as it’s what most people use. Next, enter your email address, create a strong password, and enter your birth date to verify that you're over the minimum age of 13. After this, you’ll need to come up with some witty user handle. Keep in mind that the complete name will be expanded to @examplehandle.bsky.social. Continue setting up your profile by filling out your bio and uploading a photo or creating an avatar.

Before we start following anyone, go ahead and open Settings to switch on the toggle for two-factor authentication, which will keep your account more secure. Next, click on the Moderation tab to add any words you’d like to mute. Here’s also where you can choose whether you’d like to see or block any adult content in your feed.

Find People to Follow

One of the platform’s highlights is the freedom of choice you get when deciding what you want to see. First up are the Discover and Following feeds, which should be familiar to users of X. Respectively, they show you an algorithmically generated feed of popular posts and a reverse-chronological feed of posts from people you follow. As a new user, you'll see a list of popular accounts to follow right off the bat.

You can also curate your own shareable lists of users to follow, or choose to follow lists of feeds curated by other Bluesky users. Following one of these curated lists—called starter packs—is a great way to follow large groups of accounts at once based on a niche or specific interest.

For example, WIRED put together a starter pack for readers to easily follow our reporters and staff members who are on the platform. You can visit this web page for a searchable database of all the available starter packs. There are starter packs available for heavy metal bands, gardening, science fiction authors, queer transit nerds, and so much more. All of this makes it easy to plug right into communities of folks with shared interests.

Manage the Flow

Navigating back to the home tab, the Discover feed of posts will look familiar at first glance to anyone who’s been on Twitter this decade. The look, layout, and even the mechanics are mostly the same. Tap the heart to like a post, press the two arrows to repost it to your followers, or click the little chat bubble to reply to the post. It’s worth noting that your likes are public on Bluesky and viewable by anyone. (Looking at you, Ted Cruz.)

Going next into your Settings, you may want to open Chat Settings to make some adjustments to the way direct messages work in Bluesky. The standard setting is to receive direct messages only from users you follow. You can open up this setting to receive messages from anyone on the platform if you want, or you can turn off DMs entirely if you’d rather just be left alone.

While you’re under the hood tweaking the settings on your new account, might I also suggest opening the Accessibility Settings and opt into requiring alt text descriptions on images before your post. Alt text is crucial to help blind or low-vision users understand what’s in an image, and it’s an essential tool for helping everyone navigate and enjoy Bluesky. This setting will serve as a solid reminder to take a few seconds and add some descriptive text to any visual media posts on the platform.

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How Valve made Half-Life 2 and set a new standard for future games

Thu, 14 Nov 2024 01:50:40 +0000

From physics to greyboxing, Half-Life 2 broke a lot of new ground.

It's Half-Life 2 week at Ars Technica! This Saturday, November 16, is the 20th anniversary of the release of Half-Life 2—a game of historical importance for the artistic medium and technology of computer games. Each day up through the 16th, we'll be running a new article looking back at the game and its impact.

There has been some debate about which product was the first modern “triple-A” video game, but ask most people and one answer is sure to at least be a contender: Valve’s Half-Life 2.

For Western PC games, Half-Life 2 set a standard that held strong in developers’ ambitions and in players’ expectations for well over a decade. Despite that, there’s only so much new ground it truly broke in terms of how games are made and designed—it’s just that most games didn’t have the same commitment to scope, scale, and polish all at the same time.

To kick off a week of articles looking back at the influential classic, we’re going to go over the way it was made, and just as importantly, the thought that went into its design—both of which were highly influential.

A story of cabals and Electronics Boutique

Development, design, and production practices in the games industry have always varied widely by studio. But because of the success of Half-Life 2, some of the approaches that Valve took were copied elsewhere in the industry after they were shared in blog posts and conference talks at events like the Game Developer’s Conference (GDC).

Valve is famous for influencing many things in gaming, but it was most influential in its relatively flat and democratic team structure, and that played out even during Half-Life 2’s development in the early 2000s. While many studios are broken up into clear departments big and small for different disciplines (such as art, level design, combat design, narrative design, AI programming, and so on), many parts of Valve’s Half-Life 2 team consisted of a half-dozen multi-disciplinary small groups the company internally called “cabals.”

Each major chapter in Half-Life 2 had its own unique four-to-five-person cabal made up of level designers and programmers. These groups built their levels largely independently while frequently showing their work to other cabals for feedback and cross-pollination of good ideas. They all worked within constraints set in a pre-production phase that laid out elements like the main story beats, some of the weapons, and so on.

Each major chapter, like this battle-in-the-streets one toward the end of the game, was designed by a largely independent cabal. Credit: Valve

Additionally, similarly sized design cabals worked on aspects of the game’s design that crossed multiple levels—often made with representatives from the chapter cabals—for things like weapons.

There was even a “Cabal Cabal” made up of representatives from each of the six chapter teams to critique the work coming from all the teams.

Many game designers—especially back in the '80s or '90s—worked largely in isolation, determining privately what they thought would be fun and then shipping a finished product to an audience to find out if it really was.

By contrast, Valve put a great deal of emphasis on playtesting. To be clear: Valve did not invent playtesting. But it did make that a key part of the design process in a way that is even quite common today.

The Half-Life 2 team would send representatives to public places where potential fans might hang out, like Electronics Boutique stores, and would approach them and say something along the lines of, “Would you like to play Half-Life 2?” (Most said yes!)

A photo from an actual early 2000s playtest of an in-development Half-Life 2, courtesy of a presentation slide from a Valve GDC talk. Credit: Valve

The volunteer playtesters were brought to a room set up like a real player’s living room and told to sit at the computer desk and simply play the game. Behind them, the level’s cabal would sit and watch a feed of the gameplay on a TV. The designers weren’t allowed to talk to the testers; they simply took notes.

Through this process, they learned which designs and ideas worked and which ones simply confused the players. They then made iterative changes, playtested the level again, and repeated that process until they were happy with the outcome.

Today’s developers sometimes take a more sophisticated approach to sourcing players for their playtests, making sure they’re putting their games in front of a wider range of people to make the games more accessible beyond a dedicated enthusiast core. But nonetheless, playtesting across the industry today is at the level it is because of Valve’s refinement of the process.

For a game as ambitious as Half-Life 2 was, it’s surprising just how polished it was when it hit the market. That iterative mindset was a big part of it, but it extended beyond those consumer playtests.

Valve made sure to allocate a significant amount of time for iteration and refinement on an alpha build, which in this case meant a version of the game that could be played from beginning to end. When speaking to other developers about the process, representatives of Valve said that if you’re working on a game for just a year, you should try to get to the alpha point by the end of eight months so you have four for refinement.

Apparently, this made a big impact on Half-Life 2’s overall quality. It also helped address natural downsides of the cabal structure, like the fact that chapters developed by largely independent teams offered an inconsistent experience in terms of the difficulty curve.

With processes like this, Valve modeled several things that would be standard in triple-A game development for years to come—though not all of them were done by Valve first.

For example, the approach to in-game cutscenes reverberates today. Different cabals focused on designing the levels versus planning out cutscenes in which characters would walk around the room and interact with one another, all while the player could freely explore the environment.

Nova Prospekt was one of the first levels completed during Half-Life 2's development. Credit: Valve

The team that focused on story performances worked with level designers to block out the walking paths for characters, and the level designers had to use that as a constraint, building the levels around them. That meant that changes to level layouts couldn’t create situations where new character animations would have to be made. That approach is still used by many studios today.

As is what is now called greyboxing, the practice of designing levels without high-effort artwork so that artists can come in and pretty the levels up after the layout is settled, rather than having to constantly go back and forth with designers as those designers “find the fun.” Valve didn’t invent this, but it was a big part of the process, and its in-development levels were filled with the color orange, not just gray.

Finding the DNA of Half-Life 2 in 20 years of games

When Half-Life 2 hit the market via the newly launched Steam digital distribution platform (more on that later this week), it was widely praised. Critics and players at the time loved it, calling it a must-have title and one that defined the PC gaming experience. Several of the things that came out of its development process that players remember most from Half-Life 2 became staples over the past 20 years.

For instance, the game set a new standard for character animations in fully interactive cutscenes, especially with facial animations. Today, far more advanced motion capture is a common practice in triple-A games—to the point that games that don’t do it (like Bethesda Game Studios titles) are widely criticized by players simply for not taking that route, even if motion capture doesn’t necessarily make practical sense for those games’ scope and design.

And Half-Life 2’s Gravity Gun, which dramatically built on past games’ physics mechanics, is in many ways a concept that developers are still playing with and expanding on today. Ultrahand, the flagship player ability in 2023’s The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, could be seen as a substantial evolution from the Gravity Gun. In addition to offering players the ability to pick and place objects in the world, it gives them the power to attach them to one another to build creative contraptions.

There’s also Half-Life 2’s approach to using environmental lines and art cues to guide the player’s attention through realistic-looking environments. The game was lauded for that at the time, and it was an approach used by many popular games in the years to come. Today, many studios have moved on to much more explicit player cues like the yellow climbing holds in so many recent triple-A titles. As you’ll see in an upcoming article this week written by someone who played Half-Life 2 for the very first time in 2024, Half-Life 2’s approach may have set the stage, but modern players might expect something a little different.

Environments like this were carefully designed to guide the player's eye in subtle ways. Today, many triple-A

games take a less subtle approach because playtesting with broader audiences shows it's sometimes necessary. Credit: Valve

One thing about the environment design that Half-Life 2 was praised for hasn’t been replaced these days, though: a commitment to subtle environmental storytelling. World-building and vibes are perhaps Half-Life 2’s greatest achievements. From BioShock to Dishonored to Cyberpunk 2077, this might be the realm where Half-Life 2’s influence is still felt the most today.

A legacy remembered

Looking back 20 years later, Half-Life 2 isn’t necessarily remembered for radical new gameplay concepts. Instead, it’s known for outstanding execution—and developers everywhere are still applying lessons learned by that development team to try to chase its high standard of quality.

Even at the time, critics noted that it wasn’t exactly that there was anything in Half-Life 2 that players had never seen before. Rather, it was the combined force of quality, scope, presentation, and refinement that made an impact.

Of course, Valve and Half-Life 2 are also known for multiple memorable cultural moments, some of the industry’s most infamous controversies, and playing a big part in introducing digital distribution. We’ll explore some of those things as we count down to the "Red Letter Day" this Saturday.

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Blizzard launches Warcraft 3: Reforged 2.0, "when something is broken, you fix it"

Thu, 14 Nov 2024 01:47:57 +0000

Fans did not have a very pleasent reaction to the Warcraft III: Reforged edition when Blizzard released it almost five years ago. The remake famously arrived with missing features that were announced for the game like remastered cutscenes and new voice overs, while massive performance issues and bugs were also plaguing it. Today, during the Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct presentation, Blizzard unveiled the rumored 2.0 update for the title.

"When something is broken, you fix it. When something is wrong, you make it right. And if things aren’t good enough, you make them better," says Warcraft RTS team senior manager Brad Chan during the broadcast.

The update brings overhauled lighting effects, environments, and a fresh UI to Warcraft 3: Reforged. As for in-game assets, Blizzard has improved the resolution of the classic Warcraft III models and levels to HD quality. This means anyone who dislikes the look of the Reforged assets can now appreciate the classic assets in much higher resolution than before.

A brand-new graphics options menu to switch between the available assets has been added too, letting fans individually customize their game's look. If players want to keep the original visual style of the heroes but update the environments and buildings to be from Reforged, while also keeping the icons classic, all of this is now possible.

"There are also new quality-of-life improvements such as in-game hotkey customization, updated ladder, and much much more," adds Blizzard.

The Warcraft 3: Reforged 2.0 update is out now for all owners. Blizzard also announced remasters for Warcraft I and Warcraft II today, going on to surprise release them both during the anniversary broadcast, read about them here.

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Warcraft I and II remasters announced, available right now

Thu, 14 Nov 2024 01:46:31 +0000

Blizzard has officially announced remasters for the original Warcraft and Warcraft II. The reveal arrived during the Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct presentation by the company, and one of the surprises it teased turned out to be these brand-new remasters, which are available now.

Warcraft I: Remastered brings the 30-year-old to current audiences with a fresh coat of paint, modernized controls, widescreen support, an overhauled UI, and more upgrades. While the gameplay will remain authentic to the classic experience, benefits like health bars, higher unit selection amount, hotkey indicators, and even a gallery full of never-before-seen artwork.

Moreover, players can toggle between the classic artwork and the remastered visuals, depending on their tastes. Here's a short description from Blizzard:

Experience the inciting war between Orcs and Humans that shook Azeroth to its core. Defend the realm as the noble Alliance, or seek to conquer it as the bloodthirsty Horde across thrilling faction campaigns or custom skirmish games. Whichever side you take, there has never been a better time to charge into the legendary battles of Azeroth’s greatest heroes in the Warcraft universe.

Next, 1995's Warcraft II: Remastered comes in touting both the Tides of Darkness campaign and the Dark Portal expansion's storyline. It also has modernized controls, hand-painted artwork, widescreen support, and accessibility options, just like the first game. Adding to that, uncompressed and re-balanced music from the original and even multiplayer support is here now, too, with support for up to eight players.

Blizzard has even kept support for custom maps that were made for the original game. The campaign description on the store page reads:

War between orc and humans rages on across the seas, and the fate of the world hangs in the balance as the great tacticians of the Horde and the Alliance clash. Only one thing is certain: winning this war will demand unprecedented cunning, courage, and nerves of steel.

Available via the Battle.net store, Warcraft I: Remastered comes in at $9.99, while Warcraft II: Remastered costs $14.99. A Battle Chest bundle containing both remasters, the original two games, plus the Warcraft III: Reforged edition is also available with a $39.99 price tag.

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