Here we go folks, Best Buy’s Day 1 Black Friday Doorbuster deals are now live! Yesterday we featured the brand’s Black Friday sneak peak online ad as well as some of the early Doorbuster deals as part of Best Buy’s early access sale for Plus and Total ...
Apple finally included a telephoto lens in its iPhone 15 Pro Max last year, with the upgrade extended to the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. This is just one of the many examples of how the Cupertino firm adopts various standards much later than the competition, likely because it wants to offer the best configuration to customers. One other technology that the company is said to bring for the iPhone 18 that rivals like Samsung introduced years ago is variable aperture for the main camera, and according to one analyst, another supplier will provide these parts. Sunny […]
The use of TSMC’s second-generation 3nm process for the M4 series has made Apple’s latest chipsets more thermally efficient, but that does not mean that a capable cooling solution should be ignored from the rest of the hardware configuration. In fact, depending on how robust that solution is, we can actually get more performance from the M4, as demonstrated in the latest Premiere Pro 4K Export test, where the redesigned Mac mini is faster than Apple’s updated 14-inch MacBook Pro. However, one other hardware ends up taking the crown, and we will discuss why this is happening. The 24-inch M4 […]
For a while in the late 2010/early 2020s, it seemed liked gaming subscriptions may be the future of the hobby. Microsoft certainly wanted us to think it was the future, pushing Xbox Game Pass every chance they got, and Sony eventually joined the party with their own expanded PlayStation Plus service. Ultimately though, enthusiasm for gaming subscription services hit a wall. Xbox Game Pass badly missed growth targets back in 2022, and since then, execs like Phil Spencer have struck a more reserved tone when discussing subscriptions, saying Game Pass would likely never account for more than 10 to 15 […]
The former NPD Group (now named “Circana”) has released its full North American sales data for March, and it seems like it was an up-and-down month for the industry. Players spent $4.9 billion on games, additional content, and hardware in March, up 4 percent year-on-year. This increase came from mobile and software spending, as hardware sales were down 31 percent year-on-year with PS5 #1 in terms of unit and dollar sales, Switch #2 in terms of unit sales, and Xbox Series X/S #2 in terms of dollar sales. In terms of software, Capcom’s Dragon’s Dogma 2 was the big winner […]
The former NPD Group (now named “Circana”) has released its full North American sales data for February, and it seems like it was a pretty solid month for the industry. Players spent $4.7 billion on games, additional content, and hardware in February, up 2 percent year-on-year. Hardware was a weak spot, down 30 percent year-on-year, with PS5 #1 in terms of unit and dollar sales, Switch #2 in terms of unit sales, and Xbox Series X/S #2 in terms of dollar sales. On the software front, the big story was the surprise success of Helldivers 2, which was the #1 […]
The former NPD Group (now named “Circana”) has released its full North American sales data for January, and it seems like it was a pretty solid month for the industry, although direct comparisons are difficult because five weeks, including the first few days of February (up until February 3 to be exact) were reported on this time around. Regardless, players spent $5.1 billion on games, additional content, and hardware in January and early February. The PlayStation 5 was the #1 console as usual, with Nintendo and Microsoft battling it out for second place honors – Switch was #2 in unit […]
The makers of Baldur’s Gate 3 have made it pretty clear that the game won’t be coming to subscription services like Xbox Game Pass any time soon, saying they believe the amount they charge for the game is fair. Now in a new statement responding to Ubisoft saying we should get used to no longer owning games, Larian boss Swen Vincke has gone a step further. Vincke’s strikes an interesting position, going beyond the usual straightforward arguments about value, saying subscription services becoming dominant would reduce the vibrancy of the industry, as those who own the sub services would have […]
The former NPD Group (now named “Circana”) has released its full North American sales data for November, typically the biggest gaming month of the year, and surprisingly, the results weren’t that great. Players spent $5.9 billion on games, additional content, and hardware in November, a 9 percent year-on-year decrease. This was largely driven by a 24 percent drop in hardware spending, with all consoles being down double digits year-on-year. The PlayStation 5 was the #1 console, followed by the Xbox Series X/S, with the Switch really dropping off this season. It seems like inflation, and rumors that a new Switch […]
The former NPD Group (now named “Circana”) has released its full North American sales data for October, and it was a bit of an up-and-down kickoff to the holiday season. Players spent $4 billion on games, additional content, and hardware in October, a 5 percent year-on-year decrease. The PlayStation 5 was the #1 console, followed by Switch and Xbox Series X/S, but hardware sales were down 23 percent year on year, with all consoles experiencing a double-digit decline in business. On the software front, there were winners and losers – Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 was #1 with a bullet, selling twice […]
Bethesda’s newest giant role-playing game Starfield, which hit Xbox’s Game Pass service the day of its release, enjoyed a very loud launch last month. In fact, its developer singled it out as “the biggest Bethesda game launch of all time.” Now new data...
The former NPD Group (now named “Circana”) has released its full North American sales data for September, and it was a good month for the industry. Players spent $4.5 billion […]
Sony's PS5 console is going strong in retail sales even when compared to the already highly successful predecessor, the PlayStation 4. The latest report issued by Circana (formerly NPD) reveals […]
The former NPD Group (now named “Circana”) has released its full North American sales data for June, and the horse race was an interesting one. Players spent $4.2 billion on […]
It's time for yet another article about the impressive records being set by Baldur's Gate 3. The triple-A cRPG made by Larian Studios reached position #9 on Steam's all-time concurrent […]
As part of its Q2 FY 2025 financial presentation, SEGA has announced the sale of Amplitude Studios, the Paris-based studio known as the developer of Endless Space, Endless Legend, Dungeon of the Endless, Endless Space 2, Humankind, and more recently, Endless Dungeon. SEGA explained this concludes its wave of restructuring the European business, which previously included the sale of Relic Entertainment and substantial layoffs. The Group recorded an extraordinary loss of approximately ¥5.9 billion ($38.7 million) in the second quarter for the fiscal year due to the sale of overseas development studio Amplitude Studios SAS through a management buyout. [...] […]
The Target 3-day early Black Friday sale is now live but we are also now onto Day 8 of its Black Friday Deals of the Day. There are now “thousands of deals” live over at Target alongside the now live Best Buy early Doorbuster sale, and the daily deals ...
For a while in the late 2010/early 2020s, it seemed liked gaming subscriptions may be the future of the hobby. Microsoft certainly wanted us to think it was the future, pushing Xbox Game Pass every chance they got, and Sony eventually joined the party with their own expanded PlayStation Plus service. Ultimately though, enthusiasm for gaming subscription services hit a wall. Xbox Game Pass badly missed growth targets back in 2022, and since then, execs like Phil Spencer have struck a more reserved tone when discussing subscriptions, saying Game Pass would likely never account for more than 10 to 15 […]
The former NPD Group (now named “Circana”) has released its full North American sales data for March, and it seems like it was an up-and-down month for the industry. Players spent $4.9 billion on games, additional content, and hardware in March, up 4 percent year-on-year. This increase came from mobile and software spending, as hardware sales were down 31 percent year-on-year with PS5 #1 in terms of unit and dollar sales, Switch #2 in terms of unit sales, and Xbox Series X/S #2 in terms of dollar sales. In terms of software, Capcom’s Dragon’s Dogma 2 was the big winner […]
The former NPD Group (now named “Circana”) has released its full North American sales data for February, and it seems like it was a pretty solid month for the industry. Players spent $4.7 billion on games, additional content, and hardware in February, up 2 percent year-on-year. Hardware was a weak spot, down 30 percent year-on-year, with PS5 #1 in terms of unit and dollar sales, Switch #2 in terms of unit sales, and Xbox Series X/S #2 in terms of dollar sales. On the software front, the big story was the surprise success of Helldivers 2, which was the #1 […]
The former NPD Group (now named “Circana”) has released its full North American sales data for January, and it seems like it was a pretty solid month for the industry, although direct comparisons are difficult because five weeks, including the first few days of February (up until February 3 to be exact) were reported on this time around. Regardless, players spent $5.1 billion on games, additional content, and hardware in January and early February. The PlayStation 5 was the #1 console as usual, with Nintendo and Microsoft battling it out for second place honors – Switch was #2 in unit […]
The makers of Baldur’s Gate 3 have made it pretty clear that the game won’t be coming to subscription services like Xbox Game Pass any time soon, saying they believe the amount they charge for the game is fair. Now in a new statement responding to Ubisoft saying we should get used to no longer owning games, Larian boss Swen Vincke has gone a step further. Vincke’s strikes an interesting position, going beyond the usual straightforward arguments about value, saying subscription services becoming dominant would reduce the vibrancy of the industry, as those who own the sub services would have […]
The former NPD Group (now named “Circana”) has released its full North American sales data for November, typically the biggest gaming month of the year, and surprisingly, the results weren’t that great. Players spent $5.9 billion on games, additional content, and hardware in November, a 9 percent year-on-year decrease. This was largely driven by a 24 percent drop in hardware spending, with all consoles being down double digits year-on-year. The PlayStation 5 was the #1 console, followed by the Xbox Series X/S, with the Switch really dropping off this season. It seems like inflation, and rumors that a new Switch […]
The former NPD Group (now named “Circana”) has released its full North American sales data for October, and it was a bit of an up-and-down kickoff to the holiday season. Players spent $4 billion on games, additional content, and hardware in October, a 5 percent year-on-year decrease. The PlayStation 5 was the #1 console, followed by Switch and Xbox Series X/S, but hardware sales were down 23 percent year on year, with all consoles experiencing a double-digit decline in business. On the software front, there were winners and losers – Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 was #1 with a bullet, selling twice […]
Bethesda’s newest giant role-playing game Starfield, which hit Xbox’s Game Pass service the day of its release, enjoyed a very loud launch last month. In fact, its developer singled it out as “the biggest Bethesda game launch of all time.” Now new data...
The former NPD Group (now named “Circana”) has released its full North American sales data for September, and it was a good month for the industry. Players spent $4.5 billion […]
Sony's PS5 console is going strong in retail sales even when compared to the already highly successful predecessor, the PlayStation 4. The latest report issued by Circana (formerly NPD) reveals […]
The former NPD Group (now named “Circana”) has released its full North American sales data for June, and the horse race was an interesting one. Players spent $4.2 billion on […]
It's time for yet another article about the impressive records being set by Baldur's Gate 3. The triple-A cRPG made by Larian Studios reached position #9 on Steam's all-time concurrent […]