Topic: hardware costs
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Cloud Gaming on TVs: The 'No Console' Future Arrives in 2026
Cloud gaming is set to become a central, premium feature of high-end televisions by 2026, integrated directly by manufacturers to rival traditional consoles. Rising hardware costs and the maturation of 4K 120Hz streaming technology are making subscription-based cloud gaming an increasingly attrac...
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Switch 2 Game Cards Too Slow for Star Wars Outlaws, Dev Claims
The Nintendo Switch 2 shows a significant performance gap in load times, with Game Cards lagging behind faster options like MicroSD Express and internal storage. Nintendo's choice to use slower Game Cards may be due to hardware cost savings, though cartridge production expenses remain high and pu...
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Sony replaces PC focus with AI in PlayStation strategy
Sony's 2026 SEC filing reveals a strategic shift away from PC gaming expansion and toward artificial intelligence, with a key commitment to PC releases removed entirely. The report also drops the word "profitable" from its growth goals, suggesting Sony anticipates tightening profit margins due to...
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The Golden Age of Robotics Startups Is Here (And It's Not Just AI)
Venture capital investment in robotics has surged, with $6 billion deployed in the first seven months of 2025, driven by tangible commercial successes and clearer market applications. The sector's growth was catalyzed by Amazon's 2013 acquisition of Kiva Systems, which inspired new companies and ...
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Xbox's 2026 PC Strategy Shift May Mean Leaving Steam Behind
Microsoft is reportedly evaluating its PC market strategy, with insider Jez Corden suggesting the company is taking steps that could theoretically allow it to pull out of Steam, though he doubts this will actually happen due to the significant financial losses involved. The potential move is tied...
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The Future of Humanoid Robots: Are We There Yet?
The humanoid robotics field is experiencing massive investment and hype, but a significant gap remains between impressive staged demonstrations and truly autonomous, reliable machines that function in the real world. A core challenge is the lack of rich, varied data needed to train robots for unp...
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Xbox CEO details priorities in memo following major reset
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has set a goal to return the company to player and revenue growth by the end of fiscal year 2027, while improving profits to industry averages through accountability across all functions and studios. Sharma outlined four core priorities for fiscal year 2027,Core, Content, Cre...
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Game Studios Rejecting Generative AI: A Full List
A growing coalition of game studios is taking a principled stand against generative AI, condemning it as a destructive force built on theft, environmental harm, and the erosion of human creativity. These developers argue that AI models are "plagiarism machines" trained on scraped data without con...
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PlayStation Days of Play Sale Starts Tomorrow with PS Store and Retail Deals
The PlayStation Days of Play promotion offers up to 33% off a 12-month PlayStation Plus membership, but recent price hikes in regions like Australia have significantly eroded the discount's value. Veteran players are frustrated by the loss of flexibility to stack discounted subscriptions onto exi...
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Build a Multicolor MacBook Neo from Apple Spare Parts
Apple's Self Service Repair store allows MacBook Neo owners to purchase spare parts in different colors, enabling custom color combinations like an indigo base with a citrus green bottom case. This customization incurs additional costs, with individual components such as a bottom case for $34.32 ...
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iPhone 18 Pro Reportedly Doubles Base Storage to 256GB
The iPhone 18 Pro will reportedly keep a 256GB base storage, matching the iPhone 17 Pro, despite a nearly 40% jump in component costs. Retail price increases for the iPhone 18 Pro lineup are "unavoidable" due to soaring RAM and storage chip prices, with U.S. starting prices potentially rising $20...
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Valve admits Steam Machine costs more than expected
Valve admitted the Steam Machine's final price of $1,049 is higher than hoped, citing unavoidable costs for components, manufacturing, shipping, and distribution. The company declined to predict future price drops, stating it is too difficult to speculate on market conditions and component costs....
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Steam Machine's 8GB VRAM Is Fine, But Valve's 4K60 Claims Are Not
The Steam Machine's 8GB VRAM is a deliberate design choice to balance cost and performance for a mid-range living room device, though its marketing claims of achieving 4K60 gameplay in all titles using upscaling are contentious. Hardware constraints, such as the GPU's 128-bit memory bus and the c...
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Xbox Price Hike Looms as Global RAM Shortage Worsens
A global RAM shortage, driven by high demand from AI data centers, is increasing manufacturing costs and may lead to higher prices or shortages for Xbox consoles. Sony reportedly secured large quantities of GDDR6 memory at lower prices, protecting PlayStation 5 production from market fluctuations...
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