Kinect - Inital Impressions

By Spookie
in Xbox

 Share

Recommended Posts

Grand Master

Spookie

Posted
Posted

b3u7hd.jpg

Thought this deserved a thread so we could post all the stupid gifs, huge copypastas quotes and comment on what was no about the weirdest experiences E3 has ever housed. Better than having one Mega-thread in GH.

PS. Who ever makes the MS Conference thread please make it separate from this to prevent confusion.

Gaming is already sort of a weird cult. But Microsoft took things to a distinctly creepy new place at the reveal of its new Kinect motion control system at the Galen Center in Los Angeles. The much-hyped event was conceptualized and produced by Cirque du Soleil, and the troupe's whimsical granola aesthetic was in heavy play.

Walking through the doors to the sounds of tribal drumming, attendees were sent first to a row of tables, where Microsoft representatives handed them white satin smocks, complete with ballooning shoulder pads. The unquestioning invitees donned them and were ushered two-by-two down a black-curtained hallway, where more oddness awaited.

At the end of the hall, a low, wide-screen television-shaped hole was cut into a wall. Behind it, a gleaming nuclear family sat in a perfect living room, inviting us inside. I acquiesced, but not without some hesitation. The whitebread parents were creepy enough, but it was the two children that set my teeth on edge. They waved at me, all smiles, beckoning me in. What must they be thinking? I stepped through, my cultist white robe catching on the wooden frame of the Fourth Wall as I did. And then things started to get really weird.

Imagine a giant, darkened basketball stadium with robed figures filling the floor and seats. It looks like a staging area for extras in a Star Trek episode. Now suspend a leopard-print couch from the ceiling, and perch a family of three on it. Opposite them, a shirtless man in a loincloth sits atop a faux boulder while elven wood nymph types frolic at the edges. Green gauze, piles of plants and giant (and I mean giant) media screens line the perimeter. It's as if the people who design Rainforest Cafes got incredibly high together and decided to spend $1 million.

Speaking of enormous sums of money, let me back up. Microsoft has been hyping its new controller-free gaming initiative since the last Electronic Entertainment Expo. Since then, it's gone under the name Project Natal. And it was supposed to stay that way until this evening's E3 2010 reveal, where we would learn the finished product's new lineup (and hopefully a bit more about it). But thanks to an early slip in USA Today's online version, the name Kinect and a list of games was released in advance. Not a huge deal in the overall scheme, but the leak did take some of the wind out of Microsoft's white satin sails. When the name 'Kinect' finally materialized on an enormous vertical projection screen in the middle of the event, it served more as a period than an exclamation point for the audience, most of whom had already read about the new name on the iPhones they were asked not to bring to the event.

To be clear, the Kinect unveiling was not designed for super-gamers, most of whom still greet the idea of controller-less gaming with a skeptical narrowing of the eyes. It was, in a way, the anti-console launch. With its purposeful lack of detail and obtuse artistic posturing, it pushed aside most expectations of an E3 product unveiling. There were no speeches, no executives, no price points, no release dates. There weren't even any developer names or game titles mentioned. Instead of retail porn, attendees were bathed in image and metaphor.

What if humans regained their rightful places at the center of the technology experience? What if interactive entertainment took an evolutionary leap past controllers and other handheld devices? What if a young boy rode a multimedia elephant and climbed inside of a rotating living room full of multiple fun-filled families? Excellent questions, all.

Kinect was, of course offered up as the answer to all of the above, and the latter half of the event featured lengthy demos of several upcoming games for the system. The usual suspects appeared – kart racer, family sports medley, fitness program, virtual pet, etc. Some, like the endearing Kinectimals and a clever looking Star Wars game, seemed fresh and interesting. Others fell squarely into the inoffensive family fare category. Safe and likely fun, but not extraordinary.

Unlike most gaming events, the Kinect reveal was distinctly calm and atmospheric. It was less about providing information and more about, you know, standing around and doing whatever. Living in Seattle, I frequently see shirtless, dreadlocked hippie guys hanging out in parks. I often wonder, what do these guys grow up and do for a living? There are only so many organic grocery store jobs, after all. But now I know. They move to Montreal, join Cirque Du Soleil, dance around in unitards, and eventually try to sell me gaming peripherals. Small world.

My moment of zen came not as the burlapped elf men playfully dangled tin cans from sticks or when the show-closing music swelled as images of Xbox Live Avatars flew against a starry sky. For me, the highlight of the evening was watching Ninja Gaiden creator Tomonobu Itagaki walk into the event in his white robe, taking in the scene behind his traditional sunglasses. He looked around a few times, stood quietly for a few moments and then turned around and left.

IGN

HERP DERP DERP LET'S SPEND ALL THE MONEY THAT HAS EVER BEEN PRINTED IN AMERICA SO WE CAN USE GAME JOURNALISTS AS UNWITTING ACCOMPLICES IN A RIDICULOUS MTV COMMERCIAL FOR OUR EYETOY! ALSO, CIRQUE DU SOLEIL!

HERP DERP DEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRP

Destructioid (Jim Sterling is still a ****ing moron.)

Dean: There has to be something about kicking off one of the most anticipated E3 shows in recent memory and the pressure it must have on a company such as Microsoft. When Project Natal was first unveiled, it was a thing of mystery—nay, wonder. It was something I wanted to try, and it made me think about what it was to play a video game. I can safely say that after tonight, all those hopes and wonders were nullified.

When I heard Microsoft was doing a dedicated event for Natal, I figured they had something worth showing. Instead we got an entirely scripted evening of families playing party games that have little to no appeal due to their extremely derivative nature. Nothing about Natal's offering seemed genuine or original, particularly when the scripting went so wrong. Absolutely nothing shown was in real-time, and when they attempted to mimic what was happening on screen, it had all the believability of twins trying to match each others' movements in a mirror.

Couple the above with canned applause put over the speaker system to make it seem like people were genuinely impressed by the creepy avatars playing a Wii Sports knock off, and you've got yourself a pretty decent picture of what happened tonight. Everyone seemed bummed about the entire thing, and I am too.

I have one thing to say to you, Microsoft: you had better hope you can turn this **** around; you've hyped this thing up so much and it fell horribly flat tonight. I can't imagine anyone was happy with what they saw, and I have a hard time believing you're truly happy too. Hopefully E3 can only go up from here.

Amber: After an hour and a half of standing in line followed by another hour of sitting and waiting, Natal needed to be hella impressive to make up for my aching feet and back. Starting the "Natal Experience" by dressing me in a white sheet so I could participate in their Xbox light show didn't sweeten my mood. You'll have to forgive me, I'm running short on sleep here so I may struggle to be coherent but I think I can sum up my experience in a single word: bull****.

The show lasted over an hour but honestly, I couldn't tell you much about Natal because everything we saw was scripted. It was around ninety minutes of window dressing and high concept demoing writ large in deafening music, giant screens, and performers whose movements were mimicked twitchily by their digital doppelgangers. At least that was the impression the performance was supposed to convey. The games we saw looked like Microsoft branded Wii Sports with a splash of Mario Kart, except instead of waggle you flail at the air. I wasn't exactly impressed. Well, at least I got a plush tiger out of it. Oh yeah, and the fake elephant was cool.

Matt: We were promised an experience, and we got one, all right. It seemed fairly promising when we were still waiting outside the Galen for our chance to file in, but when they filed us through a TV-shaped hole into a living room with actors playing a family and ordered us to put on the Cult of Kinect robes—robes whose significance really sank in when the giant Xbox logo lit up and the LEDs sewn into the shoulder pads glowed green in kind—I knew something was horribly wrong.

Eventually, though, I just had to laugh. Between the glitchy Avatar reels running before the show and the obvious sync problems with the scripted videos, there was just so much B-grade cheese going on that I found I was really enjoying myself. Every now and again I'd catch a glimpse of a little game or application on the reels that seemed kind of interesting, but then they'd turn around and smother it with overlong, overproduced presentations or something just plain weird. I expect that when I look at the little stuffed leopard cub they gave me on the way out, I'll have plenty memories of hilarity to look back on. Natal—excuse me, "KINECT"—may not fare nearly so well. I wonder how the public will react when they get to see this insanity tomorrow?

N-Sider

Having just returned from the Microsoft world premiere event showing off the newly named Kinect camera for Xbox 360 (formerly known as Project Natal), we're left with a burning question. The games demoed at the event ran the gamut from driving a car to driving a boat to driving a mine cart -- all with graphics that would make a Nintendo Wii blush -- and cool hardware aside, who's going to want to play these games?

... However, as impressive as the event itself was, the first round of Kinect games demoed seemed, well, exactly like first-generation games.

... But after all those game presentations, we're struck by how similar they are to games we've already seem for platforms including the PlayStation EyeToy (which originated on the PS2 in 2004) and Nintendo Wii. The EyeToy is a particularly apt comparison as it also used only hand and body movements, not a control stick like the Wii or upcoming PlayStation Move.

Like the software titles for the EyeToy (and actually a good deal of Wii software as well), these are all good proof-of-concept demonstrations, but they rarely translate into compelling gameplay, or the type of retail software you'd want to purchase and play. With the advanced nature of sophisticated games such as Heavy Rain, Red Dead Redemption, or even ModNation Racers, does adding a new hardware interface mean the games themselves have to take a five-year step back?

... At the very least, even if the initial run of Kinect games seem overly derivative and more like tech demos than anything else, Microsoft knows the golden rule of appealing to a room full of jaded 20 and 30-something gamers. When in doubt, cut to Darth Vader.

Cnet

Thoughts? :p

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/910332-kinect-inital-impressions/
Share on other sites
Grand Master

Spookie

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Everytime I read about Project Natal/Kinect, I'm reminded of the "Well, bam! There it is." video:

:laugh:

That was my initial thoughts. It seems after all the gaffs at the last E3 they made it separate this year, faked all the videos and prevented footage being filmed. Clearly did them a world of good. :p

Another photoshop attempt: Linkie

Wow the human lag in that GIF is bad :p

Kinect can read minds. Boom. :laugh:

Grand Master

Colin-uk Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

Does this mean if I'm playing with Kinect and my girlfriend is chilling on the sofa, reading or something, I have to ask her to put on a white robe?

"hey babe, you know how you like dressing up in the bedroom, well, uh...'

Dont forget the wizard hat.

Grand Master

MR_Candyman

Posted
Posted

No matter how many videos or whatever i see i still dont believe its a accurate as they claim it is and developers will screw it up.

I feel the same. I just can't see how this could be a good user experience. Basically I'll believe it when I use it. Unfortunately nobody I know actually WANTS one of these, so I'll have a tough time trying it out

Grand Master

Spookie

Posted
  • Author
Posted

E3 2010: The Top 20 Kinected Press Reactions

20. @oliviamunn: Walked in late to Microsoft Natal E3 event with every single person in white rob shirt thing.... No. No, I don't want any koolaid, thank u.

19. @jeffcannata: Yes, Kinect does nintendogs, too. But it is a tiger! Extreme!

18. @mattbertz: Somewhere in Los Angeles, Nintendo is laughing

17. @CheapyD: And the only thing better than playing motion control sports mini-games is watching video of other people playing them

16. @Vahn16: That Star Wars trailer was so obviously pre-rendered. I think this event is actually making me angry with it's underwhelming-ness.

15. @CheapyD: I'm in a marketing acid trip!

14. @jwhdavison: At Microsoft thing. Wearing a white sheet, having stepped through a hole in the wall to be greeted by a family in multiple languages.

13. @Vahn16: If any creepy dancing people touch me, I will fight them.

12. @BenKuchera: Guys, you can take the ponchos off, it's called kinect and it has Wii Sports. We know already.

11. @jeffcannata: You know what wod make this event better, Microsoft? Anything.

10. @DanRyckert: According to tweets I've seen, the Kinect event seems to involve: KKK members, magic smocks, floating couches, and people dancing on flowers

9. @GI_AndyMc: In any other place this many people in white sheets would be hit with tear gas. I hate myself right now.

8. @louiethecat: I don't know WTF to think about this but I am scurred and wanna go home.

7. @Andrew_Reiner: I don't even know what to say...

6. @jeffcannata: Microsoft now has a standing army.

5. @jeffgerstmann: So does Sony rename their thing to Müv or Mooove or something now to complete in the misspelled motion controller wars?

4. @Vahn16: From now on, when I'm embarassed, I'm going to imagine everyone in these ponchos.

3. @andrew pfister: Can't wait to see what E3's closing ceremony is like.

2. @Vahn16: The only way this could have been worse was if James Cameron came out and talked for two hours

1. @GI_AndyMc: Now I know why Robbie Bach quit.

edit: Now updated with cnets rather brutal thoughts on the events.

Grand Master

spenser.d

Posted
Posted

I don't remember any bashing, TBH. :blink: I just remember it being a hit from the start.

Are you kidding? The thing was torn apart by a great deal of people all the way up until release and then for a great while after.

I'm still looking forward to Kinect, mainly from a technological standpoint.

Grand Master

Corris Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

I don't like the name, why they went for something that isn't quite spelt correctly I don't know, using Kinetic would have been perfectly fine without trying to be silly with the name.

Riiiiight. And I remember all the bashing the wii got, we saw how that turned out.

Most core games made fun of the name and the controls and to this day still don't like the Wii much? lol.

No doubt the casual crowd will like this and might be fun for parties, but besides wanting to move the NXE UI around, I don't think I will want one till something less casual is shown.

Grand Master

George P Global Moderator

Posted
  • Global Moderator
Posted

Ninty weren't playing catch up with anyone though. Or launching right next to a competitor with a similar product.

The similar one is Sony's move, if you think about it, in regards to the Wii. Natal/Kinect while the same idea is a few steps ahead. Price and games that use it right is all it needs.

Guest xiphi

Posted
Posted

Are you kidding? The thing was torn apart by a great deal of people all the way up until release and then for a great while after.

I'm still looking forward to Kinect, mainly from a technological standpoint.

No, I'm not kidding. I never saw any bashing of the Wii, apart from Sony and MS. I just didn't see it, and loved it since the day it was revealed. Didn't get one till this year, though.

You're probably thinking of people making fun of the name, Wii.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Posts

    • An actual cosmic "Eye of Sauron" had been looking straight at us all along

      By +Edouard · Posted

      @Sayan...I have defended you at various points as I hope you know. This headline however is utter trash...shame on you sir!
    • An actual cosmic "Eye of Sauron" had been looking straight at us all along

      By hellowalkman · Posted

      An actual cosmic "Eye of Sauron" had been looking straight at us all along by Sayan Sen Image by Kovin P. Vasquez via Pexels | Not representative An international team of researchers has solved a long-standing mystery surrounding a distant blazar known as PKS 1424+240, helping explain why it produces some of the brightest high-energy gamma rays and cosmic neutrinos ever observed despite appearing to have a relatively slow-moving jet. The findings were published on June 6 in Astronomy & Astrophysics Letters. The study addresses a broader challenge in astrophysics: understanding how extreme cosmic objects accelerate particles to very high energies and produce very high-energy (VHE) photons and neutrinos. PKS 1424+240 is located billions of light-years from Earth. It has attracted attention for years because it is both a powerful source of VHE gamma rays and the brightest known neutrino-emitting blazar in the sky, according to observations by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. It is also associated with one of the strongest peaks in IceCube's nine-year neutrino sky map A blazar is a type of active galactic nucleus powered by a supermassive black hole that pulls in surrounding matter and launches jets of plasma moving close to the speed of light. What makes blazars unique is their orientation. One of their jets points almost directly toward Earth, making them appear exceptionally bright across the electromagnetic spectrum and allowing scientists to study some of the most extreme physical processes in the Universe. The scientists exclaimed it's like the 'Eye of Sauron' in deep space. Usually, the brightest gamma-ray-emitting blazars are expected to have jets that appear to move very quickly. However, radio observations of PKS 1424+240 suggested that its jet was moving much more slowly, creating a contradiction that became part of a long-running problem known as the "Doppler factor crisis." To investigate, researchers analyzed 15 years of observations from the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), a network of 10 radio antennas spread across the continental United States, Hawaii and St. Croix. Using a technique called Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), astronomers combine signals from widely separated radio telescopes to create a virtual Earth-sized telescope capable of revealing extremely fine details. The team combined 42 polarization-sensitive radio images collected between 2009 and 2025, creating a much deeper and more detailed view of the jet than had previously been possible. The observations were carried out as part of MOJAVE (Monitoring Of Jets in Active galactic nuclei with VLBA Experiments), a long-running program that studies the brightness, polarization and magnetic field structures of jets produced by active galaxies. The project aims to better understand how activity near supermassive black holes is linked to high-energy radiation and neutrino emission. “When we reconstructed the image, it looked absolutely stunning,” said Yuri Kovalev, lead author of the study and Principal Investigator of the European Research Council-funded MuSES project at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy. “We have never seen anything quite like it — a near-perfect toroidal magnetic field with a jet, pointing straight at us.” The image revealed an unusual geometry. The researchers found that Earth lies almost directly in line with the jet, with a viewing angle of less than 0.6 degrees. In simple terms, astronomers are looking almost straight down the jet. This turned out to be the key to the mystery. Because the jet is aimed almost directly at Earth, a relativistic effect called Doppler boosting dramatically increases its apparent brightness. The study found that this effect boosts the emission by a factor of about 30 while also making the jet appear slower than it actually is. “This alignment causes a boost in brightness by a factor of 30 or more,” said Jack Livingston, a co-author at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy. “At the same time, the jet appears to move slowly due to projection effects — a classic optical illusion.” The nearly head-on view also gave scientists a rare look at the jet's magnetic field. Using polarized radio signals, they detected a clear toroidal, or doughnut-shaped, magnetic field component. The observations suggest the jet carries an electric current and that its magnetic field helps launch, shape and stabilize the flow of plasma. Researchers believe this magnetic structure may also play a key role in accelerating particles to energies high enough to produce both gamma rays and neutrinos. “Solving this puzzle confirms that active galactic nuclei with supermassive black holes are not only powerful accelerators of electrons, but also of protons — the origin of the observed high-energy neutrinos,” Kovalev said. The research was conducted under the MuSES (Multi-messenger Studies of Energetic Sources) project, which investigates how active galactic nuclei accelerate particles and generate different cosmic signals, including light and neutrinos. Scientists say understanding how protons are accelerated and linked to neutrino production remains one of the major unanswered questions in astrophysics. The findings help explain why some blazars can appear to have slow jets while still producing extremely bright high-energy emissions. More broadly, the study strengthens the link between relativistic jets, magnetic fields, gamma rays and high-energy neutrinos. Researchers say the results provide new clues about how some of the Universe's most powerful natural particle accelerators work and offer important insights for multimessenger astronomy, which combines different types of cosmic signals to study extreme events in space. Source: European Research Council, EDP Sciences This article was generated with some help from AI and reviewed by an editor. Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, this material is used for the purpose of news reporting. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.
    • What browser do you prefer to use, and why?

      By AnotherITguy · Posted

      Edge
    • Classic Outlook vs New Outlook — Which one do you prefer and why?

      By AnotherITguy · Posted

      Gotenks98 is right... Outlook (new) is absolute trash. Doesn't Mozilla have an Enterprise Version of Firebird?
    • Microsoft Weekly: Surface Laptop Ultra, Windows 11 context menus, Build 2026 recap, and more

      By TarasBuria · Posted

      Microsoft Weekly: Surface Laptop Ultra, Windows 11 context menus, Build 2026 recap, and more by Taras Buria This week's news recap is here, with Microsoft announcing the new Surface Laptop Ultra, fresh chips from NVIDIA for Windows on ARM, a no-build week, fixes for Windows 11's context menus, gaming news, reviews, and more. Quick links: Windows 10 and 11 Windows Insider Program Updates are available Reviews are in Gaming news Great deals to check Windows 11 and Windows 10 Here, we talk about everything happening around Microsoft's latest operating system in the Stable channel and preview builds: new features, removed features, controversies, bugs, interesting findings, and more. And, of course, you may find a word or two about older versions. At Computex 2026, together with NVIDIA, Microsoft announced the Surface Laptop Ultra, its most powerful laptop to date, powered by NVIDIA's RTX Spark processor. Details about this computer are currently scarce, as Microsoft has only revealed certain parts of its specs. So far, we know that the computer has a 15-inch mini-LED display, a rich set of ports, a powerful processor, and all-day battery life. It also comes with a new wallpaper, which you can already download here in full resolution. The Surface Laptop Studio is not the only NVIDIA-powered Surface, which Microsoft unveiled this week. At Build 2026, the company also debuted the Surface RTX Spark Dev Box, an odd-shaped desktop with a 20-core NVIDIA Grace CPU and an NVIDIA Blackwell RTX GPU with 6,144 CUDA cores and fifth-generation Tensor Cores with FP4 precision, connected via the NVIDIA NVLink-C2C chip-to-chip interconnect for high performance. According to Microsoft, it can run models with up to 120 billion parameters locally without relying on cloud GPU infrastructure. These two new Surface devices are likely to cost quite a lot, and for those who need a more affordable device, Microsoft is preparing the next-gen Qualcomm-powered Surface Pro and Surface Laptop. This week, details about these two devices leaked in plenty of detail. Other announcements at Build 2026 include the following: Microsoft unveils new security tools for IT admins and developers building AI products Microsoft announces Scout, an OpenClaw-powered personal agent for enterprise customers Microsoft unveils MAI-Thinking-1 reasoning and MAI-Code-1 coding models Microsoft announced a new Windows 11 native command-line utility Microsoft unveils Majorana 2 quantum chip, accelerating commercial timeline to 2029 Microsoft believes that AI agents will eventually replace apps through Project Solara Microsoft introduces Web IQ, a Bing-powered search system built for AI agents Last week, Microsoft released a new Experimental build, which introduced a major Start menu upgrade. It now lets you toggle off specific parts of the menu without affecting other features, resize the menu, and hide additional UI elements. We published a closer look here, so if you want to know what Microsoft is cooking without enrolling in the Insider program and installing unstable builds, check it out. Speaking of new features, many users are very annoyed about the way Microsoft delivers them. Recently, a frustrated user shared their experience with gradual rollouts, and even Microsoft engineers admitted there is a flaw in the system that prevents new features from applying properly. One of those new features includes the ability to uninstall AI models in Windows 11 with a single click. Windows 11 is finally getting fixes for its slow context menus. Marcus Ash from Microsoft confirmed that the company is working on fixing Windows 11's context menus. Reworked context menus are going to be faster, simpler by default, and "configurable to what you use most." According to Marcus, Microsoft will share more details soon. Windows Insider Program Windows 11 preview builds, released last week, are now available for download as standalone ISO files. These days, Microsoft regularly pushes new images, allowing users to clean-install its recent Windows 11 preview builds faster and easier. If you want to try the latest Windows 11 features without jumping through the Windows Update hoops, get those new images here. Sadly, Microsoft did not release new Windows 11 preview builds this week. Come back next time. Updates are available This section covers software, firmware, and other notable updates (released and coming soon) delivering new features, security fixes, improvements, patches, and more from Microsoft and third parties. Microsoft is preparing new features for Teams. Later this month, the messenger will receive a new download manager with auto-dismissing notifications, reducing clutter and making the overall experience less annoying when dealing with downloads. Mozilla released Firefox 151.0.3, a new bug-fixing update for the browser. It is a small release, which fixes problems with pasting into text fields and the oversized VPN button on the toolbar. The update is now available for all users in the Release channel. Here are other updates and releases you may find interesting: VS Code 1.123 introduces massive upgrades for persistent AI developer workflows Microsoft OneDrive is getting a simple yet much-needed feature Microsoft faces heat after quietly blocking promised Office features on Apple systems Microsoft resumes forced Copilot app installation on some Windows PCs Browser vendors pen an open letter to Microsoft, saying "enough is enough" Here are the latest drivers and firmware updates released this week: AMD Radeon Software 26.6.1 with optimizations for F1 25: 2026 Season, World of Tanks: HEAT, and various bug fixes. Reviews are in Here is the hardware and software we reviewed this week Steven Parker dropped more mini PC reviews this week. GEEKOM Air12 2026 Edition is a low-power, affordable computer with an Intel Tiger Lake Pentium Gold processor, up to 16GB of memory, and 512GB of storage, costing just $349. It is light, quiet, energy efficient, and has modern ports on the front. However, the front-facing USB Type-C is data-only, and there are some quirks with the computer's memory, so check out the full review. The AMD RX 9070 GRE has been released worldwide, and we published a benchmark review comparing this powerful graphics card to the RX 9070 XT, 7800 XT, the NVIDIA RTX 5070, and RTX 4070. It has solid, balanced performance, plenty of RAM, and low temperatures, but watch out for mediocre ray tracing performance and not the best efficiency. Also, we reviewed the Cuktech 10 Ultra, a compact, high-power charger with four ports and a big display full of various stats. This tiny charger can pull nearly 120W and spread that power according to each connected device's needs. It also comes with a high-quality 240W cable, three power modes, and retractable prongs. The best part? It is quite affordable, just make sure you have an outlet placed in the right spot to benefit from the built-in display. On the gaming side Learn about upcoming game releases, Xbox rumors, new hardware, software updates, freebies, deals, discounts, and more. Do you remember the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally, Microsoft's first handheld console designed in partnership with ASUS? This week, ASUS revealed a new version of the device to celebrate twenty years of its Republic of Gamers brand. The new ROG Xbox Ally X20 features an OLED display, a transforming D-Pad, TMR sticks, and other changes. However, the chip inside the console is still the same. Forza Horizon 6 launched last month to critical acclaim, but the game will soon have a new rival made by those who used to work on Forza Horizon titles. Mike Brown from Maverick Games announced Clutch, an upcoming racing game with a story-driven campaign, deep car customization, and rich multiplayer. The game is coming to PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5 in Spring 2027. The next update for Minecraft now has a release date. This week, Mojang announced that Chaos Cubed will be available on June 16, 2026. In addition, Mojang published a teaser of the next Minecraft movie. A Minecraft Movie Squared has now been confirmed for a release somewhere in 2027. NVIDIA GeForce Now is getting 18 new games in June. Those include Jurassic World Evolution 3, Fatekeeper, GOALS, Gothic 1 Remake, NTE: Neverness to Everness, and more. If you are a Game Pass subscriber, you can also get new games soon: Persona 5 Royal, Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions, and more are coming to the service this month. Sumer Game Fest 2026 happened this week, where we saw plenty of new games, including Alien Isolation 2, Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 3, Gen Atlas from the Shadow of the Colossus creator, a new Cuphead game in 8-bit style, a new expansion for Mafia: The Old Country, and more. Finally, here are this week's Weekend PC Game Deals, full of discounts and the latest freebies from the Epic Games Store. Other gaming news includes the following: God of War Laufey announced, introducing Kratos' wife as the new protagonist Ori studio's No Rest for the Wicked 1.0 release and console plans announced Microsoft launches Godot Sample to streamline Xbox PC game development on the engine Great deals to check Every week, we cover many deals on different hardware and software. The following discounts are still available, so check them out. You might find something you want or need. Samsung 990 PRO SSD 2TB NVMe - $389.99 | 39% off Sonos Sub 4 - Wireless Subwoofer - $759 | 16% off Logitech MX Creative Console - $159.99 | 20% off This link will take you to other issues of the Microsoft Weekly series. You can also support Neowin by registering for a free member account or subscribing for extra member benefits, along with an ad-free tier option.

  • Recent Achievements

    • Reacting Well
      X-No-file earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • One Month Later
      pestcontrol46 earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      pestcontrol46 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Week One Done
      JKR earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Rookie
      moog19 went up a rank
      Rookie

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      510
    2. 2
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      273
    3. 3
      Skyfrog
      75
    4. 4
      +Edouard
      71
    5. 5
      FloatingFatMan
      68
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!