PCWorld observes that Xbox appears to be losing ground as gaming shifts toward PC-based living room experiences, with handheld PCs and cloud streaming leading this transformation. Valve's Steam Deck shows 20% of users dock their devices for TV gaming, while rumors suggest Microsoft's next Xbox may actually run Windows rather than proprietary console hardware. This shift matters because it offers superior gaming experiences through services like GeForce Now on smart TVs and versatile handheld PCs that double as home consoles. While wandering the show floor at CES 2026, I was struck by the future of living room gaming. What was once the realm of gaming consoles seems to be turning into PC territory.

Guinness World Records recently announced a new world record in the category of most gaming consoles connected to a single TV. Game collector Ibrahim Al-Nasser managed to connect all of his gaming consoles to just one television set. According to the video published on YouTube, that involved 444 different consoles, starting with the Magnavox Odyssey (which was the first home gaming console in 1972) and ending with the PlayStation 5 Slim (which Sony released in 2023). Al-Nasser's console collection isn't just impressive for its size, but also because he owns a very rare system called the Super A'can, a fourth-generation 1995 console that was only shortly available in Taiwan. In the Guinness World Records video, Al-Nasser gives us a glimpse into his game room where we see his setup: a total of 12 HDMI switches and 30 RCA switches so he can switch back and forth between the many gaming consoles on demand.

To recruit good players in the new College Football 25 video game from EA Sports, you must be willing to engage in activities most adults would find odd. You will press a button to scour the social media of a high schooler. You will send a direct message to that high schooler. You will try to make that high schooler interested enough in you that they will accept when you offer to book them a visit to see you. Your significant other will think it's extremely weird that you stay up doing this until well after midnight.

Resolution: This is the big one you've probably heard of, and a higher resolution is generally better, but it's also worth considering the size of the monitor you're getting. The bigger the monitor, the more it will benefit from higher resolutions. That will allow you to have app windows that take up less space but are still legible. Refresh rate: This refers to how many times the display can refresh the picture per second, measured in hertz (or Hz). A higher refresh rate makes the action in games look smoother because you're seeing more information.

From its line-up of Surface touchscreen computers to its Xbox video game consoles, Microsoft is known for its impressive range of hardware product. But a new leak suggests that the tech giant could be venturing into the world of kitchen appliances with its next gadget. Images have emerged on Twitter showing what appears to be an Xbox Series S toaster. The toaster features two slots for toast and an'anti-jam function' and is said to cost £53 ($64/€60). While it might seem unlikely, Microsoft has previously surprised fans with an Xbox Series X mini fridge, in response to claims that its flagship console resembled a fridge.

According to a report from Reuters, ChatGPT is listed as the author or co-author of at least 200 books on Amazon's Kindle Store. However, the number of bot-written books is likely higher than that since Amazon's policies don't require authors to disclose their use of AI. Brett Schickler published on the Kindle Store a children's book written and illustrated by AI. Although Schickler says the book has earned him less than $100 since its January release, he only spent a few hours creating it with ChatGPT prompts like "write a story about a dad teaching his son about financial literacy." Science-fiction publication Clarkesworld Magazine has temporarily halted short-story submissions after receiving a flood of articles suspected of using AI without disclosure, which was reported by PCMag.

There is no such thing as the "best game console," but figuring out which one is right for you is more in reach. There are seven systems that you could reasonably call "current gen," and others, such as Valve's Steam Deck, further muddying the waters. Engadget staffers play games on pretty much every console you can think of, and a few that you might not have thought about for a very long time. For some, nothing but the highest-specced system will do; others just need the cheapest way to play the latest games; maybe you value portability over everything; or maybe you haven't played in years and are looking for a system for your family to enjoy together. There are endless use-cases for a games console, and that's why we've put together this article.

The UK's competition regulator has raised concerns about Microsoft's $68.7bn deal to buy the Call of Duty publisher, Activision Blizzard, and given the two companies five days to offer solutions. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) warned that the Xbox owner's proposed takeover of the company behind popular titles including World of Warcraft and Candy Crush, which would be the biggest ever gaming industry merger, "could substantially lessen competition in gaming consoles, multi-game subscription services, and cloud gaming services". The CMA added: "Microsoft already has a leading gaming console (Xbox), a leading cloud platform (Azure), and the leading PC operating system (Windows OS), all of which could be important to its success in cloud gaming." The two companies now have five working days to submit proposals to address its concerns, and if suitable suggestions are not submitted, the deal will be referred for a phase 2 investigation, allowing an independent panel of experts to examine the risks in greater detail. "We are concerned that Microsoft could use its control over popular games like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft post-merger to harm rivals, including recent and future rivals in multi-game subscription services and cloud gaming," said Sorcha O'Carroll, the CMA's senior director of mergers.

A customer waits in a queue inside an electronics store in Sydney on Nov. 12, 2020, on the day of the official launch of Sony's next-generation PlayStation 5 gaming console. A customer waits in a queue inside an electronics store in Sydney on Nov. 12, 2020, on the day of the official launch of Sony's next-generation PlayStation 5 gaming console. Sony said it's stopping all sales of its PlayStation consoles and software in Russia in response to the country's invasion of Ukraine. In a statement sent to NPR, a company spokesperson for its video game unit called for "peace" in Ukraine Wednesday and said that Sony has suspended all software and hardware shipments throughout Russia. The company will also pause shipments of the new racing game Gran Turismo 7 to the country.

Philippe Nieuwbourg, who ran the world's famous "Informatics Museum" at the time, graciously allowed me use one of his sets to tape it. The video was called "Business Intelligence 2020". And its goal was to recap some of the community's predictions for where the Data and Analytics space would be by 2020. At the time, some of the biggest market players hadn't gone public yet. In fact, the industry hadn't even embraced "The Cloud", "Big Data" or even "A.I."... How much the world has changed.