First up, break out the neon green confetti because we are celebrating a massive milestone: the Xbox 25th Anniversary! We’re looking back at the original, chunky black box that gave us Halo, the legendary Duke controller, and completely changed the console gaming landscape.
Then, we’re taking a hard pivot into the hype machine. We’re asking the controversial question: Is the current boom of AI just an illusion? We’re peeling back the curtain on the smoke, mirrors, and massive language models to see what’s actually real and what’s just clever marketing.
Plus, for all you retro and handheld nerds out there—and I know you’re listening—we’re checking out the incredible new AYN Thor. This dual-AMOLED Android beast is making waves, and we are going hands-on with some absolutely mind-blowing Xbox 360 emulation.
News
- Samaung galaxy xcover7 pro… a rugged phone with removable battery. Costs $600 with a 120hz 1080p lcd screen. You can have a removable battery phone. It still has waterproofing for 30 minutes.
- 10 easy ways to cool your gaming PC
- 5 things nobody tells you about switching to Linux from Windows
- Canceled Star Wars RPG surfaces 1 year after it was scrapped, revealing Jedi and Mandalorian combat
- Your entire PC build might be bottlenecked by a setting you enabled years ago and forgot about
- Roku’s controversial new channel is even worse than it sounds
- The most useful port on your motherboard is the one you’ve never plugged anything into
- Your PC still has a keyboard controller interface from 1984, and Linux keeps it as its second way to reboot
- Linux is now adopting a CPU requirement Windows already demands, but don’t worry, it’s not TPM 2.0
- RAM crisis sparks further rumors of GPU price hikes, and gaming monitors could get more expensive
- Older RTX 3080 makes a comeback thanks to double memory mods
- 6 silent PC hacks that don’t hurt your performance
- 6 PC components that age like milk, not wine
- 3 mistakes that ruined my first attempt at building a PC
- You might want to skip Newegg’s GPU trade-in program
- Your motherboard’s second M.2 slot might be crippling your SSD performance
- When you play video games every day, this is what happens to you
- The 10 biggest GPU flops in history
- 5 costs of self-hosting that nobody talks about
- 5 tips to help your CPU run even better
- The 2 types of SSD failure—one you can fix, one you can’t
Microsoft
- Microsoft’s major Windows 11 revamp sparks Windows 12 debate
- Windows 11 Media Player is no longer reliable for ripping CDs
- 4 20-year-old Windows utilities that still do things Windows 11 can’t
- The latest Windows 11 update has borked some games but Microsoft is on the case
- Windows 11’s hidden ‘End task’ shortcut is the one feature every power user should enable
Xbox
- 5 creative uses for an Xbox controller
- Xbox showed off some trading cards and fans want to know where to send their money
- Xbox wants to make cloud gaming free, if you watch an ad first
- How to reset an Xbox Series X controller
- 7 Xbox RPGs still trapped on original hardware
- https://wccftech.com/bethesda-artist-microsoft-xbox-no-layoff-era-yearly-cuts/
- https://www.purexbox.com/news/2026/08/xbox-25th-anniversary-controller-release-date-price-and-other-details-seemingly-revealed
- Mattel is releasing a full-scale building brick set of the original Xbox
- Xbox 25th anniversary celebrations are coming to McDonald’s, and in-game rewards are on the menu
- Xbox Game Pass subscribers, mark your calendars for August 31
- Xbox insider teases surprising announcement at Gamescom 2026
Valve
- I’ve used Steam for years, and Valve is still hiding its most useful settings from me
- Resourceful gamer shrinks Valve’s Steam Deck into Game Boy, with custom 3D-printed cooling
- The Steam Deck dominates handhelds, but the market it owns is tinier than you think
- There’s almost no reason to buy a Steam Machine if you have a Steam Deck
- Gamers are building Steam Machines from repurposed PS5 APUs
Sony
- PlayStation officially makes 10/10 masterpiece PS1 game free on PS Plus
- PlayStation releases 2 freebies you have until August 31 to download, no PS Plus required
Nintendo