Image: Microsoft Game Studios It’s a mad world once again. At its Xbox Games Showcase at Summer Game Fest, Microsoft revealed the latest entry in the sci-fi shooter series: Gears of War E-Day. It’s being developed by The Coalition, Xbox’s internal studio dedicated to all things Gears. The game doesn’t currently have a release date, but it being built on Unreal Engine 5.The announcement trailer harkens back to the classic “Mad World” commercial for the original Gears. Fittingly, E-Day is set 14 years before the first Gears, and “tells the story of the first Locust emergence on Sera.” It once again stars Marcus Fenix and is being billed as an origin story.This will be the first title in the series since Gears 5 in 2019, which was part of a plan from Microsoft to turn... Continue reading…

Image: Bethesda Softworks The rumors were true: the next Doom is heading to a dark fantasy realm. At Xbox’s big June showcase event, id Software officially unveiled the next entry in the demonic shooter series, which is called Doom: The Dark Ages. As the name implies, it takes the franchise back to a medieval-like era, with the slayer killing enemies in a more fantasy realm. In that way, it seems to serve as a prequel of sorts. It still looks as gruesome and gory as ever, though. Also, you can fly on some kind of cyberpunk dragon.The game is launching in 2025, and will be coming to Xbox (including Game Pass), PC, and PS5.The franchise has taken a few years off, at least when it comes to mainline entries. id Software rebooted Doom in 2016 with a fast-paced... Continue reading…

Developments in the AI sector have taken the computing landscape by storm. From Dell, Lenovo, and other big-name laptop manufacturers to software companies like Microsoft and Adobe, every tech firm is making quick strides on the artificial intelligence front to earn a slice of the AI pie.

There are times when it can be a godsend to have an external hard drive around to back up important files from your Windows 11 computer. It can also be useful to have an external drive around to expand your storage capacity in general, whether that's a larger external HDD or a more pocketable USB-C flash drive. When storage drives work, they're an essential part of keeping our computers running smoothly. But, like any electronics, external hard drives have their fair share of issues. Their portable nature means that they get thrown around more than normal hard drives, which can be bad news for the electronics inside. This may be less of a concern now that external SSDs are more affordable, but any external drive can run into issues that can cause it to stop showing up in Windows. Here's how to get that drive working again.

Image: Xbox Game Studios Microsoft is officially putting a release window on Fable, which is now set to arrive at some point in 2025. After an initial trailer at last year’s Xbox summer showcase, today, we got to see some early gameplay.The new footage was mostly focused on the characters and story of the fantasy game. Fable will be centered on a hero named Humphry, who “will be forced out of retirement when a mysterious figure from his past threatens Albion’s very existence.” It appears that choice will once again play a big part in the experience, though not a lot of hard details have been revealed about the game just yet.Playground Games — best-known for the Forza Horizon series — is the developer behind this latest installment of Fable, which will be the... Continue reading…

Image: Bethesda Softworks Bethesda’s sci-fi universe is about to get bigger. Bethesda has finally unveiled Shattered Space, the first major expansion for Starfield, which comes nearly a year after the open-world RPG debuted. Based on the first trailer, it has a much darker tone than the main Starfield campaign. No release date was revealed, but it’s coming sometime in 2024.Here’s the official premise:A mysterious power stirs in the city of Dazra on House Va’ruun’s hidden homeworld. Investigate a frightening cosmic threat, explore a new planet, and find unique weapons, spacesuits, and gear in this all-new adventure.Additionally, Bethesda announced a new update was coming to the game today, with new gear and bounties, as well as the addition of “creations,”... Continue reading…

Image: Microsoft Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is arriving on Xbox and PC on November 12th. The next installment in the legendary franchise will include hot air balloon trips, aerial firefighting, and much more.During the Xbox Games Showcase, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 developer Asobo showed off commercial flight, air ambulances, and even aerial advertising. Asobo has been working on adding a variety of new planes to the game, and you’ll even be able to fly as part of a search and rescue team, or help with agricultural aviation and aerial firefighting. Asobo has also been working on additions like air racing, skydive aviation, and even VIP chartered services.Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 debuts on Xbox Series S / X and PC on November 19th. Continue reading…

Image: Microsoft It’s been four years since we first found out that a new Perfect Dark game was on the way, and now Microsoft has revealed the first gameplay during the Xbox Games Showcase today.The new Perfect Dark is a reboot of the original game, being developed by The Initiative and Crystal Dynamics. In the gameplay trailer we got a first look at Joanna Dark in a near-future Cairo setting. “Team Perfect Dark has pulled inspiration from elements of the first two games, but crafted an entirely new story and universe around them for this reboot,” says Xbox wire editor in chief Joe Skrebels.Perfect Dark is the usual first-person secret agent shooter, and it will be a single-player experience with a set amount of missions. There will be choices in how... Continue reading…

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge Humanoid robots are one of those dreams that sometimes feel like we’re on the precipice of realizing. Boston Dynamics has its Atlas robot, and Tesla is pursuing robotics, while companies like Mercedes, Amazon, and BMW are or will be testing robots for industrial use. But those are all very expensive robots performing tasks in controlled environments. In the home, they might still be far off. Enter Apple. Mark Gurman at Bloomberg has said its robotics projects are under the purview of former Google employee John Giannandrea, who has been in charge of Siri and, for a time, the Apple Car. With the car project canceled, Vision Pro launched, and “Apple Intelligence” around the corner, is that the next big thing?According to his information,... Continue reading…

Microsoft’s holiday lineup of new Xbox consoles. | Image: Microsoft Microsoft is making the white version of the Xbox Series X official today. The new console option won’t include a disc drive, and will be entirely all-digital. Inside it’s identical to the Xbox Series X, with the same performance for existing Xbox games. This new white model will be available with 1TB of storage later this year, priced at $449.99.Xbox president Sarah Bond revealed the new white Xbox Series X during the Xbox Games Showcase today, alongside a 2TB “Galaxy Black” version of the original Xbox Series X. There’s also a $349.99 1TB Xbox Series S coming in white, too. Image: Microsoft The Xbox Series X will soon come in a white option. The white coating on the exterior of this new Xbox Series X matches... Continue reading…

Image: Bethesda Softworks The Fallout games have seen a big boost in popularity since the live-action TV series, and Fallout 76 is primed to take advantage of that with its next major expansion. It’s called Skyline Valley, and for the first time, it will actually expand the game’s map, introducing a new Shenandoah region in the south. Bethesda says that players will “investigate the cause of an electrical storm circling overhead and unveil the mystery around Vault 63 where they will meet its dwellers and discover a shocking new Ghoul type – The Lost.”You can get a feel for the expansion in the trailer above, though it won’t be long before you can play it, as Skyline Valley launches on June 12th. The trailer also teased a much-requested feature coming to the game... Continue reading…

Image: Activision Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will debut on October 25th. The next installment in the popular franchise will be set in the early ’90s, and it will launch day one on Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass subscription service. Developed by Treyarch and Raven Software, Black Ops 6 will include a new campaign, a multiplayer mode with 16 new maps at launch, and a new zombies experience. The main campaign is set after Black Ops Cold War and even includes flashbacks to Black Ops 2. It’s all set in the early 1990s during the end of the Cold War. Raven Software has developed the campaign, which includes immersive spy missions amid government conspiracies. The game will be set across Southern Europe, the Russian Tundra, the US, and the Middle... Continue reading…