Maybe, like me, you bought the Xbox Series S with 512GB of storage and realized, after installing Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, that you don’t have much (or any) space left for any other games. And maybe, like me, you had to hunt for another drive so you could install other games to play.
If you’re still in that boat, you might want to consider Western Digital’s 2TB WD_Black NVMe solid state drive. It’s currently on sale at Amazon for an all-time low of $179.99 ($50 off), or about 22 percent off the standard price, and will provide you with plenty of additional storage to work with. To put the price in perspective, it’s only $30 more than the 1TB version, which isn’t on sale. WD is also one of two manufacturers I’m aware of that make these easy plug-in cards — the other is Seagate.
There’s no fiddling around with screws or anything to get it to work, either. Just pop it into the back of your Xbox Series S / X, and bam, you’re good to go. Plug and play at its finest, baby.
But let’s pivot to another good deal real quick.
Amazon and B&H Photo are also selling Apple’s brand-new M4 MacBook Air, which just launched in March, starting at $899 (its best price to date). That’s $100 off Apple’s starting price of $999, which itself is already $100 cheaper than the entry-level price of the M3 model last year.
And, with the M4, you get 256GB of starting storage instead of 128GB, which is probably fine for most folks who don’t need a lot of local storage. Like me, for example. I’m using an M2 MacBook Air for work, and I only have 82GB used.
The latest M4 model also has a better 12-megapixel Center Stage camera that will follow your face around while you’re on camera (better said: it’ll keep you in frame) and 16GB of RAM. The design is unchanged from last year, which means you’re still getting just a MagSafe charger and two USB-C ports. But the update to M4 allows you to add two external monitors while also leaving the display open, for a total of three running screens. Good for multitasking.
It’s a MacBook Air. It’s the best MacBook for most people. You really can’t go wrong here.
Microsoft revealed earlier this year that LG TVs would get access to Xbox Cloud Gaming, and now the Xbox TV app is rolling out to select LG smart TV models starting today. The Xbox app will let LG TV owners stream Xbox games directly to their TVs, and use a wireless controller to play them.
The Xbox app will be available for LG’s 2022 OLED TVs, select 2023 smart TVs, and newer models and smart monitors that are running webOS24 or higher. It will also soon be available for LG’s portable StanbyME screens. The Xbox app is built into the LG gaming portal on the latest 2025 LG TVs, but for older models you’ll have to head into the LG app store and download the Xbox app.
LG’s 2022 OLED TVs and select 2023 smart TVs will also need the latest firmware upgrade to run the Xbox app, and you’ll have to connect a Bluetooth-enabled controller and subscribe to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to stream Xbox games to your TV.
Microsoft first launched its Xbox TV app on Samsung’s range of smart TVs in 2022, before expanding it to older models a year later. The app looks very similar to the web version of Xbox Cloud Gaming, and aims to provide a console-like experience without the need to purchase an Xbox Series S / X device. The Xbox TV app is a big part of Microsoft’s strategy to expand Xbox to multiple devices and make it clear that it thinks every screen is an Xbox now.
The creators of Halo and Destiny are finally ready to show off their next big project: Marathon. It’s a long-awaited title from Bungie and revives the classic Marathon IP in the form of a PvPvE extraction shooter. After a teaser nearly two years ago, the Sony-owned studio just spent an hour showing off Marathon gameplay and game mechanics and revealed the game will launch on September 23rd on PS5, Xbox Series S / X, and PC, with full cross-play and cross-save. There’s even an alpha test for fans to try out the game later this month, ahead of its full debut this year.
Marathon is set in a sci-fi universe in 2850, in the remains of Tau Ceti IV, which Bungie describes as a lost colony whose inhabitants disappeared without a trace. Rival factions have hired Runners to scavenge for what’s left behind, and anyone who signs up to be a Runner has given up their human form for a biosynthetic shell with unique abilities and stats.
As a Runner, you fight in a crew of up to three players across a variety of zones and points of interest. You can face rival runners in maps of up to 18 players, so up to six teams, in a bid to grab as much loot as possible and get out. While Marathon is designed to be played in crews, with contextual pings and shared objectives, you can also play solo instead of having to form a dedicated three-person team.
In Marathon runs, there will be what Bungie calls security forces, PvE enemies that roam the world. There are also creatures on these planets that are a threat when you’re navigating toward points on a map. You’ll have to choose whether it’s worth engaging with these enemies and risk revealing your location to rival teams or use a strategy of avoiding these threats in this PvPvE environment.
The maps are filled with bold and vibrant artwork and weapons, materials, and equipment that can be scavenged. Before a run, you build a loadout and select the Runner that fits your play style. In the alpha test, which starts on April 23rd, there will be four runners to choose from, including the stealthy Void character that can go invisible much like a Hunter from Destiny 2.
There’s also a Glitch runner that has fast-paced abilities and, like its name implies, can glitch out enemies. If you’re more of a run-and-gun type of player, Locus has a shield ability and looks similar to the slide and shotgun play of a Titan from Destiny 2. The final runner in the alpha test is Blackbird, designed for recon and scanning the area around you. While there are four runners in the alpha test, there will be six to choose from when Marathon launches in September.
During its livestream, Bungie published a nearly 20-minute video of highlights from 40 creators it says it recently invited to try the game.
If you die, you’ll drop your gear. But if you survive, your loot moves with you to future runs so you get more powerful gear and level up. Teammates can also revive you if you fail a mission.
Bungie isn’t putting a limit on team compositions, so that means everyone on a three-person team can select the same runner. There will be end-game challenges, ranked play, seasonal storytelling, community events, and more.
Bungie has even produced an original short cinematic that’s set in the Marathon universe. Written and directed by Alberto Mielgo (Love, Death, and Robots), this nearly nine-minute short will have Bungie fans poring over it for days to discover every little detail about the Marathon universe.
While Marathon is very slick-looking, there’s a lot riding on this game. It’s entering a crowded market of shooters and live-service games that have tried and failed to break through in recent years. Concord, also from a PlayStation studio, was the biggest example of a shooter that failed to take off recently, forcing Sony to take the game offline less than a month after launch and eventually shut down the studio behind it.
Spectre Divide, a Valorant-like free-to-play shooter, also shut down just months after its launch, with the developer behind the ambitious shooter shutting down, too. These high-profile failures add to the pressure that Marathon is already under on the back of Bungie’s success with Halo and Destiny and Sony’s ambitious live-service game effort that it has been scaling back recently.
The Marathon alpha test will be an opportunity for Bungie to show the world exactly how its latest game will stand out from the competition, and whether it does enough to tempt people away from hero shooters or Call of Duty and Fortnite into the extraction shooter genre that Escape from Tarkov has popularized.
The big question left for Bungie to answer is how much Marathon will cost. It’s not a free-to-play game, but the studio isn’t ready to talk about exact pricing just yet. Destiny 2 is technically free-to-play with an optional season pass, but a lot of additional content requires payment for access to raids, dungeons, and even some of the story content. It’s been a confusing model for new players over the years, so I’m hoping Bungie lands on a clear pricing structure for Marathon.
Marathon debuts on PS5, Xbox Series S / X, and PC on September 23rd. You can sign up for the Marathon closed alpha test on Bungie’s website or on Discord.
I know, I know. Itâs become a bit of a faux pas to describe one game using another and yet I am compelled. After a few hours with Blue Prince, I realized this game elicits the same feelings in me as Balatro. Not because it has anything to do with cards or passive-aggressive clowns named Jimbo, but because those hours I played passed as breezily by completely unnoticed as they did when I was knee deep in the poker roguelike. Blue Prince is a time-stealer and as with Balatro, you will be happy to be robbed.
Blue Prince is an architectural puzzle mystery game from developer Dogubomb. In it you play as a young man who inherits his uncleâs magical mansion. On your first day at the house you receive a note laying out the rules by which you will earn your inheritance. This house has 45 rooms. Find the secret 46th room thatâs not displayed on any of the mansion’s blueprints (get it, Blue Prince / blueprints) and the house is yours.
To find the 46th room you must create or âdraftâ rooms one after the other connecting them via their doors. You start each day with 50 steps and passing into a room takes one step (or more depending on the type of room). When you run out of steps y …
Black folks are loud. We laugh loud, we love loud, we protest loud. But when we really want to show our approval, we get quiet first. When we laugh at something funny, like really laugh, it sounds like a thin wheeze before sound bursts forth like a storm. And within seconds of starting South of Midnight, as I walked around the protagonist Hazelâs home and seeing a piece of art that was an obvious and deliberate homage to the painter Annie Leeâs Blue Monday, I wordlessly put my Steam Deck down and took a quiet lap around my living room before I started shouting.
South of Midnight is the latest title from Compulsion Games, a Canadian studio best known for making We Happy Few. It follows Hazel, a young woman who must rescue her mother after a hurricane sweeps their home away. Along her journey, she comes into her powers as a Weaver, or guardians who can see the strands that connect all life in what’s known as the Grand Tapestry and can repair it when those strands get knotted by pain and trauma.
The game is an action platformer. Hazel progresses by using her Weaver abilities to heal the blighted landscape and defeat enemies called haints â a Southern term used to describe gho …
Microsoft unveiled its Xbox AI era earlier this year with a new Muse AI model that can generate gameplay. While it looked like Muse was still an early Microsoft Research project, the Xbox maker is now allowing Copilot users to try out Muse through an AI-generated version of Quake II.
The tech demo is part of Microsoft’s Copilot for Gaming push, and features an AI-generated replica of Quake II that is playable in a browser. The Quake II level is very basic and includes blurry enemies and interactions, and Microsoft is limiting the amount of time you can even play this tech demo.
While Microsoft originally demonstrated its Muse AI model at 10fps and a 300 x 180 resolution, this latest demo runs at a playable frame rate and at a slightly higher resolution of 640 x 360. It’s still a very limited experience though, and more of hint at what might be possible in the future.
Microsoft is still positioning Muse as an AI model that can help game developers prototype games. When Muse was unveiled in February, Microsoft also mentioned it was exploring how this AI model could help improve classic games, just like Quake II, and bring them to modern hardware.
“You could imagine a world where from gameplay data and video that a model could learn old games and really make them portable to any platform where these models could run,” said Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer in February. “We’ve talked about game preservation as an activity for us, and these models and their ability to learn completely how a game plays without the necessity of the original engine running on the original hardware opens up a ton of opportunity.”
It’s clear that Microsoft is now training Muse on more games than just Bleeding Edge, and it’s likely we’ll see more short interactive AI game experiences in Copilot Labs soon. Microsoft is also working on turning Copilot into a coach for games, allowing the AI assistant to see what you’re playing and help with tips and guides. Part of that experience will be available to Windows Insiders through Copilot Vision soon.
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