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Source: Future Publishing / Getty / White Xbox Series X
Didn’t care for the black Xbox Series X console? Well, there might be a white option on the way.
Exputer has shared leaked images of a white All-Digital Xbox Series X sporting the “robot white” look of Series S. The Verge reports it has seen documents confirming the photos are genuine.
While there should be excitement for the white All-Digital Xbox Series X, it can also mean that Xbox’s console refresh, the leaked “Brooklin” console, could have its wig pushed back.
The Verge reached out for comment but has not gotten word back.
The Brooklin console was also disc-less, but instead of box-shaped, it sports a new circular design plus a much-needed increased internal storage of 2TB, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, improved efficiency, 15% reduced PSU power, and a $499 price.
Xbox was allegedly gunning for a November release date, but speaking on the leak, Xbox chief Phil Spencer threw some cold water on those expectations.
“It is hard to see our team’s work shared in this way because so much has changed, and there’s so much to be excited about right now and in the future,” Spencer said in a September post on X, formerly Twitter. “We will share the real plans when we are ready.”
Exputer also reports that the All-Digital Xbox’s new coat of white paint and lack of disc drive are not the only upgrades. Some internal components, including the heatsink, which cools the console, will see an upgrade.
As for the price, Exputer reports the console will cost $50-$100 less than the current $499 Xbox Series X console.
Gamers Have Thoughts
The news of the white All-Digital Xbox Series X is sparking reactions. “Charging more while getting less. A tale as old as time. At least the ps5 slim still has a drive for $500, “one person wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“Why wouldn’t you just get a PC at this point? The whole thing about consoles is the physical media with them and their exclusives. And the Xbox won’t have either anymore if this is true,” another post read.
Again, this isn’t confirmed, but if Xbox does verify its existence, we are intrigued to see how it will be received.
Hit the gallery below for more reactions.
1. Damn, flat out no.
2. Well, someone is excited
6. It might be cheaper
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Source: Rockstar Games / GTA 6
Grand Theft Auto 6’s 2025 date release could be in danger.
According to a Kotaku report, Grand Theft Auto 6, the next highly anticipated installment in the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise, could have its wig pushed back.
GTA 6 is still slated for an “early 2025” release date, but that date is in jeopardy due to “production delays.” The game could be released in late 2025 or sometime in 2026.
Per Kotaku:
As remote workers struggle with an unwanted return-to-office mandate from Rockstar Games, Kotaku has learned from sources with knowledge of the game’s development process that GTA 6 could miss its 2025 release window and slip into 2026.
Kotaku has also learned that it’s becoming more and more likely that the sequel might not land until late 2025. It’s also possible that it could even slip into 2026 as production reportedly falls behind.
While security and quality are reportedly the main reasons Rockstar is instituting the mandate to return to the office, I was told by sources—who wish to remain anonymous to avoid possible retaliation—that development on GTA 6 has started “falling behind.” I’m told this has leadership at Rockstar nervous and worried about the game missing the 2025 window and slipping into 2026, and is another big reason the company is pushing for a return to the office in April.
Is Rockstar Games Pushing Out Remote Workers?
Kotaku’s report comes after Bloomberg’s report that Rockstar Games was ending remote work, ordering employees back to the office following numerous leaks.
The drastic change was met with immediate criticism and caught many by surprise, leading to frustration. According to Aftermath’s reporting, some employees initially hired to work remotely felt like they were being pushed out of the company by not complying and completely upending their lives.
Some workers expressed concern to Aftermath that Rockstar Games was reverting back to its old crunch ways.
“We’re concerned about going back to that,” one Rockstar employee told Aftermath.
“I’ve been through a couple of projects, both of which had crunch. The first one was extremely difficult. I had way less gray hair back then. … We want to continue the strides we’ve made as a company to remove that toxic culture.”
Gamers also react to the news that they may have to wait even longer for GTA 6.
Some want Rockstar Games to take its time with the game, others don’t want the developers to experience crunch, and some are just overwriting; it’s been about 11 years.
You can see those reactions in the gallery below.
1. LOL, damn
4. Exactly
5. No, not yet
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Source: Anadolu / Getty / Xbox
Xbox has been in the news A LOT as of late, primarily due to fanboys losing their sh*t about the company’s new direction, but this latest development is something many gamers are on board for.
Spotted on VG247, the Microsoft gaming division is reportedly looking to make a big splash in the handheld gaming department after seeing Sony’s surprising success with its cloud-based/remote-play PS5 companion device, the PlayStation Portal.
On a recent episode of the Xbox Two podcast, Windows Central managing editor Jez Corden claims the Microsoft gaming company already has working prototypes.
Per VG247:
Speaking on the Xbox Two podcast, Jez Corden said that he knows that “[Xbox] have got handheld prototypes right now.” He clarified that they are “new prototypes” and not old ones that were supposedly previously in the works, and he also made sure to point out that it’s “not a cloud handheld” it’s “a fully native Xbox handheld.” This was pointed out on the podcast too, but it should be noted that just because Xbox is working on a handheld prototype, if it is, that doesn’t mean it will ever actually release. Projects like these are cancelled all the time, so don’t go writing any comments complaining it never came out when it was never guaranteed in the first place.
A “Fully Native” Handheld Sounds Clutch
This news isn’t all that surprising because Xbox is pushing the plan to make Xbox Game Pass available on devices other than Xbox Series X, S, or PC.
You can now run the subscription gaming platform on handhelds like Steam Deck, ASUS ROG Ally, Logitech G Cloud, the Lenovo-Legion Go, or your smartphones via a cloud gaming app still in beta.
However, a dedicated device would be a clutch, especially if paired with an Xbox Game Pass.
Gamers are reacting positively to the rumor of a “fully native” handheld console.
“I want a Xbox Handheld – its time As much as I like my ROG Ally, portable hardware that plays all my Xbox games with a simplified UI and not having to worry about system settings with improved battery life In other words a pick up and play experience,” Kinda Funny (XCast) and Gamertag Radio host Parris Lilly wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
You can see those reactions in the gallery below.
1. From your lips to God’s ears.
2. We hear you Parris
3. It would be nice
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Source: Lightspeed Studios / Undawn / Will Smith
Even Will Smith wasn’t enough to prevent this video game from flopping like his film Wild Wild West.
Undawn, the zombie survival game featuring Will Smith, bombed epically, according to a report from Reuters. The website reported that the game was a “key” in-house project at Tencent and “flopped spectacularly” even with Smith’s involvement and the game’s closet to 1 billion yuan (around $140 million).
We first reported on the game’s existence in May 2023. Before its June launch, 2.3 million people pre-registered to play it. That didn’t matter, as the game didn’t meet expectations.
In the game, which eerily resembles Smith’s film I Am Legend, the actor plays Trey Jones and serves as your guide in the game.
It was billed as a free-to-play mobile and PC game, as well as these other features:
Base construction and survival mechanics
An expansive open-world
Vehicular combat
Customization elements
PvPvE platform
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Per Reuters, through research firm Appmagic reporting, Undawn only brought in $287,000. The game’s poor performance resulted in Tencent shifting strategy in its mobile division, canceling a mobile game based on Square Enix’s Nier franchise and delaying the Assassin’s Creed: Jade mobile game.
News of the game’s flopping has taken many by surprise, with many people saying they didn’t even know it existed.
One person on X, formerly Twitter, wrote, “…there was a Will Smith-fronted zombie survival game called Undawn?”
“I’m not shocked as someone who’s only just hearing about The Will Smith-fronted zombie survival game Undawn,” another X user wrote.
Well, we knew. We just thought people didn’t care.
In the gallery below, you can see more reactions to Will Smith’s game, Undawn, flopping.
3. Apparently you and everyone else
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Source: Marvel / Skydance / 1943: Rise of Hydra
Marvel video game fans, we might have a banger! The first trailer for the Black Panther and Captain America game, now titled 1943: Rise of Hydra, is here and looks absolutely amazing.
We didn’t see what the Amy Hennig-led game looked like until now, as it was first unveiled during the Disney and Marvel Games Showcase during the D23 Convention in 2022 that was until now.
During the State of Unreal keynote, Marvel and Skydance New Media delivered an epic story trailer showcasing the power of Unreal Engine 5, and it’s f***ing awesome.
Per Kotaku via Marvel, the game’s narrative reads as follows:
As the game’s narrative unfolds, players will assume the role of four central characters: a young Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America; Azzuri, T’Challa’s grandfather and the WWII-era Black Panther; Gabriel Jones, a US soldier and member of the Howling Commandos; and Nanali, a Wakandan spy embedded in Occupied Paris.
In the gorgeous cinematic trailer for 1943: Rise of Hydra, we follow both Captain America and Black Panther as they take down Nazis in Paris. At the same time, Captain America is hunting Black Panther, and the two heroes eventually bump heads on a bridge, but we all know they will eventually team up at some point in the game.
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We have no idea how this game will play, but the trailer has already hooked us.
Gamers Are H Y P E D
Gamers on X, formerly Twitter, have been sharing their reactions, specifically showing love to actor Khary Payton (The Walking Dead), who plays T’Challa’s grandfather Azuri, who carries the Black Panther mantle in the game.
We also have to salute the fact that we have not one, not two, but three lead Black protagonists in a AAA video game.
What a time to be alive.
Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra will be released in 2025 on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Sorry, Nintendo Switch owners, you cannot take this ride.
You can see more reactions to the game in the gallery below.
2. SAY LESS!
3. We do too.
4. Yes, yes it is.
5. Video games have come a loooooonnnnnngggggg way.
6. He’s incredible
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Source: NurPhoto / Getty / Sony / PS5 Pro
The video game section of the internet was talking after specs for the PS5 Pro were “leaked” and then confirmed to be true. Sony is reportedly putting on its detective hat to find out who did it.
According to Insider Gaming’s Tom Henderson, Sony is reportedly launching an internal investigation to determine how leaked documents about “Project Trinity,” aka the PS5 Pro, hit the internet.
The leak occurred over the weekend during a third-party developer rollout. It could lead to more security measures being implemented for additional third-party developer Push Square reports.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Henderson wrote:
As expected, Sony has launched an internal investigation into the leaked documents on Trinity as it leaked during a third-party rollout.
Not sure on the implications yet as I don’t think they can catch one individual, but Sony could reduce its third-party developer pool for new tech as a result.
According to the leaked documents shared by YouTuber Moore’s Law is Dead over the weekend, the PS5 Pro boasts some impressive specs that could put it on par with powerful gaming PCs. Some say that on paper, it sounds like the PS5 6.
It could also set Sony up to push out more consoles when Grand Theft Auto 6 finally arrives.
The PS5 Pro Specs:
Rendering 45% faster than PS5
2-3x Ray-tracing (x4 in some cases)
33.5 Teraflops
PSSR (PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution Upscaling) upscaling/antialiasing solution
Support for resolutions up to 8K is planned for future SDK version
Custom machine learning architecture
AI Accelerator, supporting 300 TOPS of 8-bit computation / 67 TFLOPS of 16-bit floating point
We will continue to monitor this situation as it develops.
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Source: NurPhoto / Getty / PlayStation VR2
According to reports, the PlayStation VR2 is looking like a flop.
Spotted on IGN via Bloomberg’s reporting, Sony has hit the pause button on the production of the PlayStation VR2 headsets.
The website claims the tech giant is trying to clear the backlog of unsold units, signaling what many have been saying about the PSVR2: it’s a flop.
Per IGN:
Bloomberg reported sales of the $550 virtual reality headset have “slowed progressively” since its launch in February 2023, causing a buildup of stock. According to the site, Sony produced “well over” two million PSVR2 units.
The relative success of the PSVR2 was called into question earlier this year when Sony announced a number of upcoming games for the device, none of which were from its first-party studios. Then, as part of a wave of devastating layoffs affecting 900 staff, Sony’s VR-focused London studio was earmarked for closure.
According to Sony, the PSVR2 sold nearly 600,000 units six weeks after its launch, and according to analysts, just over one million units in its first year.
Giving the impression that PlayStation VR2 did not sell well over the holiday season, SIE’s head of global business, Eric Lempel, told The Financial Times that the peripheral was a “bit of a challenging category right now,’ adding he believed “there was a higher expectation generally for what VR would do to gaming.”
Welp.
Meta Is Killing The VR Game
Sales of the PSVR2 were well behind Meta’s Quest 2 and 3 headsets during the holiday season.
The PlayStation VR2’s future is uncertain, but maybe its reported compatibility with PCs, a feature that Sony is currently testing, will help get it in the heads of more gamers.
Until then, the gallery below shows more reactions to the unsurprising news that PSVR2 is not selling well.
1. Fair point
2. More excellent points
3. Sounds about right
5. Sony listen to Nicholas
10. Do they?
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Source: Konami / WayForward / Contra: Operation Galuga
During my young gaming years, Contra on the NES was one of those games that had me and other gamers screaming at their televisions. The franchise is back, and WayForward and Konami put a fresh spin on the game, giving folks like myself a different take on the beloved classic and the opportunity to finally conquer this digital demon.
Forget Contra: Rogue Corps; that game didn’t happen. WayForward got that bad taste out of our mouths with a remix of the original NES classic Contra, with Operation Galuga, a proper love letter to the 1988 game that many still have not beat unless you used the cheat code.
Contra Operation Galuga doesn’t just reinvent the wheel. It brings back all of the nostalgia and feel of the original brutally hard run-and-gun shooter, but this time, it makes it more tolerable. Don’t worry, purists; the challenge is still there.
The main game, which you can beat in hours, features eight chapters and tries to deliver a remix of the 88 game’s original story. But when did people ever play this game for its narrative? The answer is never.
Like the original, you take on the roles of elite Contra commandos Bill Rizer and Lance Bean. They now get some help from other playable warriors to take on the Red Falcon army, which is after a mysterious otherworldly power on the island of Galuga to push their agenda of world domination.
Like a great B-action movie, the game’s plot won’t blow you away. The voice acting is fine, and the cut scenes are gorgeous, but in the end, this ride is all about the action—or, in this sense, the gameplay.
Operation Galuga Adds New Features & Stays Faithful To The Orignal Contra
Source: Konami / WayForward / Contra: Operation Galuga
Contra: Operation Galuga isn’t just the 1988 game with a fresh coat of paint on it. Yes, WayForward did a fantastic job with Operation Galuga, reimagining the original game while paying homage to those games before it.
As soon as the first level begins, you are taken back to those NES days because the jungle location is very familiar. Other areas, like the waterfall and inside the giant alien (if you made it that far), will tug on your nostalgia pearls.
The enemies, who are not the most innovative AI-controlled bots in the world, still pose a challenge even though they carry out simple commands and come at you from all angles, forcing you to take out challenges quickly.
Those “floating footballs” filled with your favorite weapon power-ups like the spread shot, flamethrower, homing rockets, laser, grenade launcher, or machine gun return. You will find yourself landing on a favorite; for me, it was the homing rockets and spread gun.
What’s new with the weapons is that if you collect two of the same type, they become even more powerful. An added boost is the addition of an overcharge feature that introduces a secondary effect like a shield, floating turrets, or slowing down time.
Contra was also known for its epic boss battles, and that continues to be the case here with challenging bosses and sub-bosses that you might find familiar from the previous games.
New Features Make It More Accessible, But It’s Still Challenging
Source: Konami / WayForward / Contra: Operation Galuga
In Operation Galuga, I was thrilled to learn that WayForward also included a life meter, giving your player three hits instead of the classic one-shot death from the original game.
For the purists, the one-shot death is still available if you want to keep the challenging feeling of the 1988 game.
Source: Konami / WayForward / Contra: Operation Galuga
Also introduced into the game is a new perk system, giving the game a roguelike feel and allowing you to begin levels with certain advantages like an extra life bar or starting with a weapon power-up. You can purchase perks after completing each mission using the currency you acquire during missions.
Other welcome features include not having to start from the first level after you run out of lives, starting from mid-points if you get deep into a level, and a 4-player coop that adds a new dimension to Contra.
Plus, being able to play with different characters also adds a unique experience to each playthrough because no character is the same.
Final Thoughts
Source: Konami / WayForward / Contra: Operation Galuga
Contra: Operation Galuga isn’t a perfect game, but it checks all the boxes for a solid remake. It’s the definitive experience for gamers who have never experienced the original game, Operation C, or Super Contra on the Super Nintendo.
For those who played those games listed above and even the awful spinoffs, this is a refreshing reboot of Contra that introduces many new features, a rebooted story, and tons of new characters added to the Contra lore.
The replay value isn’t extremely high, but different modes will keep you entertained during road trips or flights while playing on your Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, or PlayStation Portable.
Contra: Operation Galuga took me back to my childhood and allowed me to put the finishing touch on a game my five-year-old self thought I would never finish.
Operation Galuga is available now on Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox, and Steam.
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*Steam code for Contra: Operation Galuga provided by Konami.*
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All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. Board games for adults are one of the easiest ways to entertain your friends once the conversation slows down. Rather than […]
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. The holidays connect us with our friends and family, but there’s only so much food and conversation to fill the night. […]
