There is renewed talk about video game preservation as nearly all video game manufacturers have said they will be ending physical media, and validating your licenses through the internet. What are your rights as a consumer, and what can you do to make sure you can actually use the media you BOUGHT?
Hardware is getting more expensive, which makes it harder to sell consoles that people use to play those games. The cost of subsidizing hardware is getting more expensive, and many companies are going to stop the subsidication. Take Valve’s Steam Machine for instance. We are going to talk about that.
And is gaming on Windows getting worse? There have been changes to the Xbox app which has impacted my computer, and we are going to talk about that.
Here’s all the news that we cover on the podcast:
MIcrosoft
- Microsoft’s Windows 11 push backfired, so it’s quietly keeping Windows 10 alive for another year
- I ditched my WSL tab after Microsoft added real Unix commands to Windows
- Microsoft to fix Windows 11 RAM-heavy apps in upcoming update
Xbox
- Xbox Game Pass Starter Edition expands to more players
- “This is an unacceptable situation” Xbox CTO apologizes for its biggest outage in recent memory
- Another ex-Xbox studio hit with layoffs following exit from Microsoft
- Xbox Game Pass failed to hit targets because most people don’t play lots of games, says analyst
- Xbox just had its worst quarter in years
- Fallout 40th anniversary releases officially unveiled by Bethesda
- Game Pass July 2026: major removals and notable new additions
- Xbox CEO details three-stage plan to return Xbox to growth
- Xbox and Ubisoft reveal new partnership that brings free games to players starting today
- Windows 11 chief outlines plans to reduce memory footprint for 8GB RAM devices
Sony
- Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser weighs in on PlayStation’s physical game disc debate
- God of War creator explains ‘uncomfortable truth’ behind why PlayStation is killing discs
- Sony and Microsoft reveal August 2026 game lineups
Valve
- I stopped chasing RTX cards after realizing my Steam Deck runs my entire backlog better
- Steam Deck experience shifts focus from GPU upgrades to software gains
- Linux developer introduces feature that can boost Steam Deck’s 1% low fps by 31%
- Steam gamers are finding creative ways around an all-digital future
- Steam Frame nears launch as chip price hike looms
- Steam Deck loses top handheld spot after major price hike
Other tech news
There’s some other news but won’t have time to talk about it but the links will be on the Ocmodshop website later.
- I benchmarked a 5-year-old AMD APU against modern integrated graphics and the results surprised me
- PC builders face soaring RAM costs as pre-builts gain appeal
- Gamer uses insulated piping and duct adapters to create a PC heat ventilation system
- The Raspberry Pi’s 15-year reign is quietly ending—here’s why
- Your monitor’s HDMI port is a trap—here’s why DisplayPort matters
- AMD says the MI430X is the fastest FP64 GPU ever built, but you can’t buy one until 2027
- After a decade on Windows, I finally understand why Linux users never go back
- Actually, yeah, let’s give all dormant IPs back to their creators
- I ditched my NAS for a mini PC and got triple the performance for less money
- LG to block smart TV apps running hidden proxy services
- Gamer pairs RTX 3090 with RTX 3050 to offload frame generation work
- No more Logitech gaming handhelds? ‘Bigger things to focus on,’ exec says
- Microsoft to enforce TPM checks for Windows Server activation
- 5 reasons why an M.2 2230 SSD has replaced all my flash drives
- The hottest component in your PC isn’t the one with the giant cooler
- Docker is no longer the best choice for homelabbers
- I found out why it’s so difficult to plug 4K UHD Blu-rays into a PC