Xbox Changes, DLSS Dominance & A Live WAN Show Wedding

The Shift at Xbox

After nearly four decades, Phil Spencer is stepping down from his role at Microsoft Gaming. While his tenure saw significant innovations and accessibility milestones, his leadership was marked by a complicated legacy of both successes and failures, including questionable console naming conventions and the evolution of Game Pass. Asha Sharma-formerly of Meta and Instacart-will take the helm as CEO. While some express concern regarding the appointment of a non-gamer, the mandate remains clear: no AI slop, and a focus on human-crafted experiences.

AI, Tech Trends & The Future

Upscaling Dominance

Data from recent blind tests suggests that DLSS 4.5 is overwhelmingly preferred by gamers, outperforming both FSR and native resolution. This shift poses existential questions for the future of localized high-end gaming hardware.

The Data Crisis

• Hard drive capacity for major manufacturers like Western Digital is almost entirely sold out for 2026, driven by massive AI data center demand.
• Privacy is becoming a mainstream concern, leading to growing interest in personal NAS (Network Attached Storage) solutions to avoid cloud harvesting.

The Wedding Surprise

In a landmark moment for the WAN show, DMS and Mochi were legally married live on air, with the ceremony sponsored by Thorum. This surprise event left the hosts stunned yet delighted to bear witness.

"I don't know how much we can or should say, but I'm very happy for them... anyone who thinks men shouldn't cry at weddings can go f*** themselves."

Notable Mentions

• Valve's Steam Deck is facing intermittent availability due to ongoing memory and storage shortages.
• Meta's AI grandma project: A patent outlines using LLMs to simulate deceased or absent users on social media, sparking debate about the ethics of digital immortality.
• F-35 software control: European defense sectors are raising concerns over US control of aircraft software and the possibility of remote kill switches.