Having been released over two decades ago, now Microsoft has what is being seen as ironic plans to break IE’s very functionality intentionally—and in the process, push its current users over to the new Edge instead.

Now, you are probably setting there, scratching your head and asking why would this be seen as ironic?  The irony lies in the very fact that in its earlier day, IE’s initial appeal was based on its ability to offer a better choice for compatibility with the internet at large.

When IE was introduced, it hit the ground running.  In the late 1990s, it had quickly taken the title of the dominant browser from Netscape Navigator.  It touted to have held the browser market to the tune of approximately 90 percent at its highest peak.

In the early days, those versions of IE did little to pay attention to the time’s web standards.  Adding that it dominated market share and was conveniently bundled with Windows, many developers in those days made a move to construct both their services and sites around the IE platform.

Now, when any change is not setting too well with consumers, Microsoft has decided to make a slow push towards ending their IE support and put the platform out to pasture—as it were.  As they say—out with the old, in with the new—and in this case Microsoft is all about the Edge browser.

Edge is reportedly based on Chromium, which happens to be the same engine that Chrome uses, from Microsoft’s leading competitor Google.  With the release of Edge 84 this past summer, Microsoft has been actively testing its forcing of migrations for some of it is IE users.  To that extent, intel indicates that they will flip the switch totally on all IE users through the release of Edge 87 sometime next month.

This switch is being made possible by using a new DLL (dynamic link library) file that Microsoft has injected into the Edge programming—which is basically a plugin.  When you surf to a site, IE will reference this file and compare the site against a list of 1,156 websites. 

If the user visits one of the sites included on a list within IE—such as Asana—they will, unfortunately, receive an error message.  This message will state: “This website doesn’t work with Internet Explorer!  Microsoft recommends continuing your browser session in Microsoft Edge to avoid any further interruptions.”  When the user then chooses to click on the “continue browsing” button provided on the error popup, it will open the Edge application.

Although admins do currently have the ability to set up group policies to prevent IE from forcing their users to edge, there is still the fact that IE will soon be DOA.  As such, Microsoft officially announced that any support for IE 11 would end on August 17, 2021.

Canadian lawmakers stated that gaming was strictly licensed and controlled in their country.  The loot boxes the defendants participated in was a gregarious breach of Canadian laws.  The named defendants operated a gaming system that was unlicensed through their loot boxes.

With the filing of the lawsuit, Canada and its consumers are seeking to hold the named defendants entirely accountable for their unlawful conduct in an attempt to recoup their losses.

The suit itself has been filed on behalf of two different plaintiffs—one located in British Columbia and the other located in Ontario.  Through EA’s Madden NFL and NHL series, each plaintiff were offered and subsequently purchased loot boxes.

The two games specifically named in the suit are not the only ones involved.  There is a list of approximately 21 individual games currently on the list.  What is even more interesting about the lawsuit is that the game Star Wars Battlefront 2, which was one of the main contributors to kicking off the backlash over the loot boxes, is not present on the games list.

The lawsuit also states that “loot boxes are considered part of the compulsion loop of game design to keep players invested in the game.”

The suit went on to say that these types of compulsion loops contribute in a significant manner to the addiction to videogames—so much so that they are most often compared to addictions to gambling.

The mechanism uses that variable-rate reinforcement schedule very similar to those used by slot machines that dole out prizes.   This attraction is especially dangerous for drawing in children.  The element of randomly winning an item from the loot box will likely entice players to pay for the chance.

The lawsuit purports that EA’s game function in a similar fashion with their loot boxes, with the note, that when purchased, the payment is made with real money or that of virtual currency.  The suit also mentioned that some of the loot boxes provided in-game advantages, making their appeal even more desirable to the players. 

With that said, the claim gives the implication that even those that don’t affect overall gameplay can still provide a somewhat insidious attraction.

The service was officially launched in September by Microsoft after going through several months of beta testing.  These newest additions bring the current total of an estimated 150 games offered on Android devices via the game streaming xCloud.  Those gamers whose Game Pass Ultimate subscription is currently active have full access to an extensive library at no additional cost.

While the game streaming xCloud stood pat on requiring gamers to make use of a controller from Xbox or some other type of accessory in the past, it seems that is not always the case now.  The fact is that previously Microsoft had tested several touch controls with the game Minecraft Dungeons early in the beginning of the month of October.

This move allowed gamers who wanted to play the game without using the once required type of controller to do so.  There is also the added convenience that gamers can customize their controls by changing either the size or the position of the various elements.  Those gamers who tested the change praised it widely, stating it was an intuitive solution for those gamers using their Xbox Game Pass on their mobile devices.

Now, Microsoft has made even more Xbox games available and can be played using the touch controls on mobile devices.  This support has recently been added to those games such as Dead Cells, Tell Me Why, and Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice.  A total of ten new titles have been added that can be played sans a controller, with the full list being available on Microsoft’s Twitter page.

A blog post written by the tech giant offered details explaining the feature and how the tech team worked to design the controls, which were done individually for each game.  By making the feature game-specific, the tech team ensured that the perfect working of the button layout and interface for each individual game.

With the Xbox Series X/S consoles launch just mere weeks away, Microsoft is shifting much of its focus to that of Xbox Game Pass.  It would appear that the company’s move would not only be an essential tool, but one of the most important features in regards to the brand’s expansion.  When Microsoft moved its Xbox Game Pass onto mobile devices, it also chose to add a select number of high-profile titles to its existing library.

In the overall scheme of things, Microsoft’s decision to add touch controls to even more of its games on the Xbox Game Pass makes good business sense.  With the tech giant planning to expand their service and take in more platforms eventually, the move to make the titles play easier on mobile devices without a controller’s requirement will undoubtedly entice even more gamers to try the service and its games out.

The Oculus Quest 2 features a significant number of improvements in its hardware compared to those features of its predecessor.  Along with the newest advancements is a significant new development when in that is said to include a mandatory account integration with Facebook.

Many gamers have claimed that they have been completely locked out of their headsets by Facebook, citing that the social media giant told them due to their accounts’ problems.  This new protocol has only left gamers with a somewhat expensive and admittedly useless paperweight.

When it comes to the arena of burgeoning VR, Oculus has been a rather prominent competitor and carries its fair share of gravitas. 

The Oculus Quest, the company’s recent advancement in the field, functions as a self-sufficient headset—in that it doesn’t require a PC or any form of external cameras.  This significant feature allows more accessibility for anyone who wants the VR experience.

With the newest Quest 2, there is a significant amount of advances and upgrades, some of which include improving upon resolution, longer quality of the controller’s battery life, and the most significant improvement that of the lowering in price.

After the Quest’s unprecedented success, gamers had every reason to be over the moon excited about the new Quest 2.  However, that excitement was quickly squelched when it was learned that Facebook would begin the forcing of account integration come October. 

This news served to incite outrage on a widespread scale and push the enthusiasm for the new release to a massively low level.

It seems that, after the release of Quest 2, the rage amongst gamers appears to be somewhat justified.  In an effort and attempt to quell the anger that Facebook was receiving, Andrew Bosworth took to Twitter to post a Facebook AMA that was published by Benjamin Bega.

Bega assured users that his team was hard at work tracking down any and all Facebook account that shows as rendering a Quest 2 useless.  With this said, Bega was quick to note that the cases were relatively small in number. 

He went on to offer that the only advice he can give at this point is that gamers make sure their Facebook accounts are in “good standing.” 

This advice is all good and well, but what about those gamers who have already been locked out of their recently purchased headsets?

A VR headset is a costly investment, and as such, gamers need to be assured that they will be able to use said headset before they fork out the money for one.  However, Facebook is choosing the route of sticking to its guns that has led to hundreds of dollars being wasted by games on the Oculus Quest 2.

In the gaming arena, Microsoft’s newest offering, Xbox Series X, is slated for next month’s release.  Its smaller counterpart, the Xbox Series S, is scheduled to release at the same time.  Gamers and fans are doing their research as they gear up to choose between the Xbox consoles or their competitor from Sony of the PlayStation 5.

Both Microsoft and Sony have been upping the ante with their aggression in pushing their respective systems.  According to recent rumors and speculation, it would appear that the Xbox is currently keeping the lead.  In fact, an expert analyst has gone so far as to predict that the Xbox Series X will outsell the PS5 by twice as much in the months after their release.

With the official release dates for the next-gen consoles growing closer and closer, the manufacturers have been offering more and more reporters and critics some serious hands-on time.  A lot of information about the systems has come out of these early feedback sessions, which has given gamers and prospective buyers a little better idea of the system’s features.

For instance, some of those who have had a chance to be in the same room and use the Series X console have reported that there seems to be a problem of seriously overheating.  With this said, one of the testers reported that they had used a thermometer and states that the next-gen console is running much cooler than the Xbox One did.  Considering that speculation and rumors are not always the most reliable of information, it does aid in giving gamers an idea of what they can expect from the newest consoles.

GamesRadar+ got its hands on a console and took to Twitter to share their personal experience when using the Series X console, and unfortunately, the news isn’t the best for gamers.  The gaming website announced that after testing the console, they found the Xbox Series X takes just as long when it comes to the system downloading from a disc to the system—much the same as its predecessor—Xbox One. 

Specifically, the test team attempted installing Titanfall2 and found that the game took a full 35 minutes to download completely.  This severe lag in download time was followed by an update of 30GB that only proved to bog and slow things down even that much more.

Even with this said, there are still many reasons to get excited about the Xbox Series X.  With the constant evolution of gaming, Microsoft has promised that big things are yet to come.  However, it is sad for gamers that Xbox Series X just can’t deliver any of those anticipated big things now with its creation.

The word is that the next Pokemon GO update will serve to improve its current controversy with the Mega Evolution mechanics.  The improvement will allow gamers to hold more of their Mega Energy at one time and make the Mega Evolutions last much longer.

The change’s announcement comes just in time for the start of Pokemon GO’s official October Community Day.  The event will serve to put a spotlight on the fire type Charmander, after placing second in a recent Community Day pool—losing out to Porygon.

Since being added to the game back in August, Pokemon GO’S Mega Evolution mechanic has been controversial at best.  Having been a long-awaited addition, the feature was meant to mirror the mechanic previously added to the Pokemon 6^th generation games.  As such, the mechanic’s expansion was to allow Pokemon to temporarily evolve into a superpowered form.

Although fans and gamers have been on the edge of their seats to see the Mega Evolutions arrive on Pokemon GO, it seems that complaints started filtering in as soon as the company added the feature. The complaints revolved around the cost of Mega Evolving a Pokemon being so high and the inherent difficulty of gathering enough Mega Energy even to begin the transformation.

Niantic issued a statement that said they promised they would fix Mega Evolutions, and to that end, has already made several changes to the current system.  Even so, gamers are still upset over the high cost of the features and their limited usefulness.

Niantic has now announced that it will be making another improvement and change to Mega Evolutions in two distinct ways.  The first of the upgrades is that instead of Mega Evolutions lasting for four hours, as previously, it will now last eight hours.  This change allows players not to have to rush so fast to get the full benefits of Mega Evolutions before Pokemon reverts to their previous normal form.

Another change is that the cap on Mega Energy will be raised from 999 to 2,000.  Although this is a much smaller change, it does mean that players can save up their Mega Energy for when it is really needed.  Both of these Mega Evolution changes are immediately effective.

With these changes to the Mega Evolutions, Pokemon GO will work towards alleviating current problems with the system, but it will not fix the issues completely.  Since the addition of Mega Evolutions to Pokemon GO, the company has been accused of misusing the system in order to direct and funnel players to the microtransactions connected to the game.  Even though the eight-hour increase in the Mega Evolution may be useful, the Mega Energy cost to initiate the transformation is still persisting.

The higher cost involved in the Pokemon GO game, in conjunction with the persistent problems inherent in the system, gives gamers plenty of reasons to be unhappy with Niantic.

The video game retailer saw a significant boost in its share after the initial announcement.  GameStop will reportedly now focus heavily on the use of the back-end solutions offered by Microsoft as a means to meet customer needs better.

What went mostly unnoticed in the announcement is the sentence stating both companies, GameStop and Microsoft, will “benefit from the customer acquisition and lifetime revenue value of each gamer brought into the Xbox ecosystem.”

This statement drew the attention of Domo Capital Management, and with that intrigue, the company decided it needed to dig a little further. According to an article posted on the Ars Technica website, the private equity firm reached out directly to GameStop, confirming with the retailer that it “will receive a portion of the downstream revenue from any device we will bring into the Xbox ecosystem.”

What this boils down to is that GameStop has secured itself a pretty sweet deal, in that it will get a cut from any digital download, content downloaded, any microtransaction or subscription paid made through any of the digital gaming consoles that GameStop sells.

At first glance, this appears to be a development of significant proportions.  But as many suspect, the actual percentage that will be received by GameStop doesn’t appear to be amounting to all that much.  What is apparent is that GameStop is now being given an incentive to sell all digital Microsoft consoles and those that still accommodate physical media.

Analysts do not expect GameStop to receive all that much from the agreement because Microsoft isn’t offering an incentive that will give away that much money.  Whether or not Microsoft made the deal, they would undoubtedly do quite well in the selling of their consoles, GameStop withstanding.  Either way, the retailer is able to remain engaged and connected to the gaming community through entering into the deal with Microsoft.

Upon the deal’s announcement, Microsoft stated that it viewed GameStop as a vital component to its ongoing gaming ecosystem and added that it was “pleased to elevate our partnership.”  After much closer inspection, it seems that this refers to meaning both financially as well as through their back-office support.

So, the question still remains out there—how sweet of a deal is it really for GameStop, and exactly how much of a cut does the retailer stand to garner from it?  Neither of the two companies seems to be forthcoming, and no one has been able to acquire a concrete answer.  When Ars Technica reached out to GameStop, and the retailer has yet to receive a reply or comment.

A PR representative for Microsoft offered: “We have an incentive structure with GameStop as we do with many of our partners across multiple channels.”  This reply appears to be the closest to a tactful confirmation as we are going to get at this time, without offering any real details.

However, the push was in vain. Reportedly most of the streamers flocked to the Twitch platform instead.  Data shows that the share of broadcast hours on many major live-streaming platforms jumped this quarter by over 14 percentage points in a recently released report.  This data show an equaling out to nearly just over the equal 14 percent market share held previously by Mixer.

According to a new report released by Streamlabs & Stream Hatchet, with Mixer now out of the picture, data showed that Twitch acquired up to 91.1 percent of overall hours spent streaming, between July and September on the platforms.

The report looked at all streaming activity conducted on Facebook Gaming, YouTube, and Twitch, and discovered that even though they made a push for Mixer members, Facebook Gaming only saw a growth of 3.4 to 2.4 percent.  The data also showed that YouTube saw a slight shrinkage of 5.5 to 6.7 percent.

Mixer was an American live streaming platform for video games.  The streaming platform, initially launched in 2016 under the name of Beam, before being acquired by Microsoft later in the same year.  Microsoft then renamed the streaming platform in 2017 when it became known as Mixer.  When rebranded, the platform was then integrated into the Xbox division, also owned by Microsoft.

The fact that Twitch won in acquiring the majority of Mixer members is more than a little surprising, as Facebook made an earnest effort to pick up Mixer members for their gaming platform.  During its final month online, Mixer started an advertising campaign that presented Facebook Gaming to its member.  Even today, Mixers website continues to forward visitors to Facebook gaming.

Although when it comes to determining where streamers are choosing to spend their time, “hours streamed” can be a useful metric.  But what it all comes down to is that in the overall scheme of things, this metric doesn’t necessarily matter.  These platforms, such as Twitch and Facebook Gaming, are competing primarily for viewership—and as a result, Twitch shows as having lost some vital ground.

A report shows that Twitch is now offering a market share of 63.6, down from a previous 67.6 percent.  This drop should concern Twitch as its two competitors, YouTube and Facebook Gaming, both showed growth in market share this quarter.  With the data showing that the Mixer platform showed only 1.4 percent of hours streamed, which means that the two services are growing at a much faster pace than that of Twitch.

When it comes to streaming viewership, this year has seen a massive explosion.  This explosion appears to be attributed to the fact that people are staying in more than usual due to the current coronavirus pandemic.   The same report indicates that viewership as a whole was up across all three services to the tune of 7.64 billion hours just last quarter, which shows an increase from 3.89 billion the year previous.

As a result, many gamers were left empty-handed, and more than a little upset.  Even those individuals who were lucky enough to get their preorder to go through, and received a purchase confirmation, may also find heartache in that the odds are they will not receive their console on time due to issue with stock.

It was previously suggested that COVID-19 would possibly play a part in creating issues concerned with manufacturing, as certain materials required for the construction of the next-gen console saw significant price increases.

So far, Sony has denied any rumors that may indicate that this may be the case and refuse to comment on whether the coronavirus pandemic or other such external factors stemming from the virus are causing a delay or hindering of production.

The fact still remains that with reports of many retailers stating that they do not have near enough stock to fulfill orders, the concern is growing that of an announcement of the cancellation of preorders could come any day now.  If nothing else, this may be a warning that similar issues will arrive in November when the next-gen console officially launches.

Sony may continually assure gamers that all is going as planned, and there is nothing to worry about. However, given the chaos and mayhem that ensued during the preorder phase, one could understand why many gamers are more than a little leery.

It is understandable by worries and anxieties are running exceptionally high, with the news from some outlets in the UK having canceled preorders on the PS5 once they heard the news from Sony pertaining to official allotments.

Although it is possible that many smaller retailers and distribution centers may receive a smaller amount of stock than initially expected, it is considered unlikely that PS 5 preorders will see a massive cancellation.

Even with the recent chaos and pandemonium centered around the recent preorders, many retailers are still able to queue up and order the consoles.  Feeling that canceling the preorders would only serve to cause even more frustration for gamers, Sony has promised that preorders would indeed be both accessible and available.

It only goes without saying that there exists a high probability that the preorders could sell out, particularly in those days leading up to the next-gen console’s release in November.

Coupling the fact that console releases previous to this one were hindered by shortages or preorders, with the issues in manufacturing possibly being created by the current coronavirus p, odds are that there will be more problems to come over the next month leading up to the official release.

As a result, several publications have created posts that detail hands-on videos and images of the console, which provides gamers with a more realistic look at the console as well as some gameplay of titles.

A publication in 4gamer shows photos of the PS5 system standing both horizontally and vertically.  The stand included allows the gamer to position the console in either manner, with the stand securing the system.

The system has an onboard cooling system, and in reviews by 4gamer, the individual stated they weren’t able to hear the cooling fan.  They also made a note of the fact that they couldn’t feel much exhausting of heat from the console while in use.

Admittedly, all of the reviews so far have been done in a minimal environment, but one item did stand out.  Photos of the system reveal the presence of a mysterious silver latch or bolt, which appears housed inside the console’s top-right section.

In previous statements, Sony had indicated that PS5 owners would have the option to expand their storage with regular SSD drives.  However, when it comes to these next-gen consoles, we have yet to see how the concept will work.

Some have surmised that the latch may be the method with which access is gained to expand storage—seeing as how it appears to give access through the removal of the side panel. 

Otherwise, we are still awaiting word from Sony on how to handle the expanding of storage, as there appears to be no other manner in which to slot an SSD card into the console.

For weeks gamers were aware the next-gen PS5 would prove to be the biggest gaming console in history thus far.  From the photos that have popped up online, it is pretty much a given that if you want the console to sit vertically, in a TV stand, for instance, then be prepared to clean out some room. 

Otherwise, you will have to be happy with sitting the console horizontally.  From the looks of the photos, when lying flat, the PS5 appears to be more than capable of fitting into most TV stands on the market.

As for the videos that have been posted, the PS5 console itself is not shown in that great of detail.  The videos focus primarily on the gameplay aspect of the console.  However, the YouTube channel Famitsu offers a look, although brief, of the next-gen console’s hardware up close.

Along with getting a close up look at the console itself, the Japanese publications and Youtubers also got an eagle eye view of the new DualSense controller with the console. 

Unfortunately, none of the photos or videos appear to have been able to show the console’s dashboard or UI elements.  These components still continue to remain a mystery.