Shadow Bankruptcy, OVH Fire, and Game Exclusivity
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The Tech Landscape Under Fire
This week brought significant turbulence to the tech world. Most notably, the game streaming service Shadow has officially filed for bankruptcy. While the service remains operational, its future is uncertain as creditors eye their high-end hardware during a time of extreme silicon shortages.
Data Center Disasters
- The OVH data center in Strasbourg was devastated by a massive fire, resulting in the total destruction of the SBG2 facility and significant damage to others.
- This event underscores the critical importance of off-site backups and redundancy, as unmanaged server clients faced potential permanent data loss.
Gaming Industry Shifts
Microsoft and Bethesda
Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda is officially complete, marking a major consolidation of intellectual property. Experts anticipate an aggressive focus on platform exclusivity to bolster the Xbox Game Pass ecosystem, positioning it as a distinct competitor that operates differently from traditional hardware-only models.
Hardware and Mining
- GPU Bottlenecks: Recent analysis by Hardware Unboxed highlights that Radeon GPUs often outperform NVIDIA alternatives when paired with lower-end CPUs due to driver overhead, challenging conventional wisdom.
- Mining Concerns: The industry faces ongoing backlash over mining-specific GPUs which are criticized as e-waste. Additionally, there is growing scrutiny regarding ADATA's component swapping in their SX8200 SSDs.
"Anyone who makes it to the top of the game at anything is no dummy that's just not how that works."
Community and Industry News
- The team discussed the bizarre Russian internet throttling incident where an attempt to slow down Twitter inadvertently impacted large swaths of the internet.
- Plans for a new, lighthearted Tech Trivia event featuring notable creators were revealed, aiming to fill the void left by the absence of LTX.
- Updates on GameStop (GME) stock holdings were shared, with the hosts reiterating a 'diamond hands' approach while maintaining that the situation warrants careful financial navigation.