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“007: First Light Releases Updated System Requirements Alongside Apology from IO Interactive”

Young’un James Bond game 007: First Light has had a little redo of its PC system requirements, after “an internal miscommunication” – according to developers IO Interactive – led to last week’s specs reveal containing some whoopsies. “We’re sorry for the confusion this caused and appreciate everyone who brought it to our attention”, sayeth the company’s tXeet.

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Amazon Presents New MacBook Air M4 at a Reduced Price compared to Refurbished Versions on Apple’s Site

Apple didn’t hesitate to kick off the new year with an enticing offer on one of its best-selling laptops. Just a few weeks into 2026, the 2025 MacBook Air has already seen a significant price reduction, making it considerably more affordable for students, professionals, and casual users as well. Amazon is now featuring the M4-equipped MacBook Air with 256GB of storage priced at $799, a considerable drop from its initial $999 tag.

Weighing only 2.7 pounds, this newest MacBook Air continues to be the perfect partner for commuters, travelers, and anyone who favors a lightweight setup without compromising on performance. The sleek design conceals remarkable hardware, including a 10-core CPU and up to a 10-core GPU, and can support as much as 24GB of unified memory. Driven by Apple’s M4 chip, the laptop provides a significant boost in speed—up to double the performance of the M1 Air and significantly quicker than previous Intel-based models (23 times faster, to be specific).

### Everyday Performance

Apple designed the M4 chip to work flawlessly with its expanding collection of Apple Intelligence features. As a result, users experience smoother multitasking, faster response times, and enhanced efficiency across resource-intensive applications. Whether you’re managing spreadsheets, editing photos and videos, or running numerous apps and browser tabs, the MacBook Air manages it all effortlessly while remaining cool and silent, thanks to its fanless design.

Battery life continues to be one of the Air’s greatest strengths. With up to 18 hours of usage on a single charge, it’s engineered to endure long work periods or extended study times without the constant need to find a power outlet.

The improved 12MP front-facing camera captures clear 1080p video, making it a great option for remote work, online classes, and video conferences. Coupled with a three-microphone array, voice clarity is exceptional even without extra accessories.

Usability features for daily tasks are well addressed. The backlit Magic Keyboard ensures a comfortable typing experience in various lighting situations, while Touch ID allows quick and secure access. Connectivity options include two Thunderbolt ports for fast data transfers and external displays, MagSafe charging for increased safety, and – thankfully – a conventional headphone jack for wired audio enthusiasts who refuse to part with their AUX-based headphones.

For those already part of Apple’s ecosystem, the MacBook Air integrates smoothly with other devices. Features like AirDrop, iMessage, and Handoff enable a seamless transition between an iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

Several configurations are currently available at discounted rates. The base 256GB model begins at $799, while the 512GB variant is priced at $999, with both including 16GB of RAM. A higher-end option featuring 24GB of RAM and 512GB of storage is available for $1,199. All represent a $200 discount from their original prices and come in four finishes: sky blue, silver, starlight, and midnight.

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The Elder Scrolls Online Confirms Smaller Expansions Are Unrelated to Last Year’s Layoffs

“Last year was a hard year for the studio,” Elder Scrolls Online’s executive producer Susan Kath says. “It was a hard year for all of us.” In 2025, as part of sweeping cuts made across all their businesses, Microsoft laid off a significant chunk of Zenimax Online Studios. They did this despite CEO Satya Nadella later calling the year one of “record performance”, with revenue up 15% and hitting $281.7 billion.

So, last week, when Zenimax Online Studios revealed it was moving from releasing major expansions every 12 – 18 months to smaller, more frequent updates every three months, it looked very much like the team could no longer manage those big releases.

Kath tells me that reading of events is wrong.

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Garmin Introduces Forerunner 55 at Unprecedented Low Price to Facilitate Your 2026 Fitness Objectives

Data has become an essential instrument for athletes striving to enhance their performance. From reducing your pace by seconds to increasing endurance and maintaining consistent training, access to the appropriate metrics can significantly impact your results. This is where a high-quality running watch becomes valuable. Whether you’re preparing for a marathon or getting ready for a local 5K, a dependable device enables you to track progress and stay inspired. The Garmin Forerunner 55 is crafted specifically for those with active lifestyles and fitness-oriented individuals, and at present, it’s even more enticing due to a limited-time Amazon promotion that lowers the price by $50, bringing it down to only $149.

At its heart, the Garmin Forerunner 55 serves as your personal fitness trainer right on your wrist. Its integrated GPS accurately monitors your running routes while supplying crucial data like distance, pace, and time. The watch also boasts wrist-based heart rate tracking, making it perfect for runners who utilize heart rate zones for optimizing performance and recovery. Beyond running, it accommodates a variety of activities, such as HIIT, cycling, strength training, and more, rendering it a multifaceted choice for athletes who enjoy varying their workouts.

### Daily Suggested Workouts

Via the Garmin Connect app, users can access complimentary adaptive training plans developed by professional coaches. These plans sync directly to the watch and adjust based on your progress, alleviating much of the uncertainty from training. Rather than questioning whether you’re overdoing it or not doing enough, the watch ensures you’re adhering to a structured and effective route towards your goals.

The Garmin Forerunner 55 continues to function even after your workout concludes. It persistently tracks your heart rate throughout the day and assesses overall health metrics. Users value the Body Battery score, which gauges energy levels by considering factors like heart rate, stress, and daily activities. This information aids in determining when to exert effort and when it’s wiser to take a break. Intentional training can help prevent burnout.

Regarding battery life, the watch’s actual endurance is another significant benefit. With GPS activated, the watch can last up to 20 hours, making it ideal for long runs or race days. Without GPS, it can go up to 14 days on a single charge. For the majority of runners, if you’re running several times a week, you’ll likely find yourself charging it about once a week. This convenience surpasses many smartwatches that necessitate daily charging.

Although it primarily emphasizes fitness, the Garmin Forerunner 55 also includes other beneficial smart features. When synced with your phone, it can send notifications for calls, texts, and emails directly to your wrist, allowing you to stay connected without distractions. Typically priced at $199, the current 25% discount offers great value. You can select from three band colors: black, white, or aqua.

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Exploring the Shift Away from Crunch: Insights from Developers at Ubisoft, Naughty Dog, and Remedy on the Origins of Overwork

LinkedIn today is a terrible den of web3+ grifters, obsolete CVs, frog-boiling pressure to buy a subscription, and scurrilous journalists hunting for leaks in job listings. But every now and then it comes good. For example, there’s a discussion underway between various senior developers, including current and former staff of Remedy, Ubisoft and Naughty Dog, about the causes of crunch, aka ruinous overwork.

There’s a pervading atmosphere of former triple-A blokes warming up their soapboxes for a GDC talk down the line, and a certain amount of insider jargon about “pipelines” and so forth – somebody should probably do a piece on the etymology of “pipelines” in software development. But it’s otherwise a useful chat. There is minimal indulgence of the old saw about crunch being unavoidable because ‘passionate’ creative people are inherently prone to burning themselves out. The emphasis is on crunch as a structural phenomenon.

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New Ecco the Dolphin Game in Development by Original Creator, Countdown Announcement in Progress

There are two blue wolves inside you. One is actually a hedgehog, prone to loop-the-loops and drowning in caves. The other one is actually a dolphin, who is also prone to loop-the-loops and drowning in caves. Clarification: when I said you I meant me. I’m referring to my own squalid psychological architecture as a Sega Mega Drive player with vivid memories of Sonic the Hedgehog (especially the Star Light Zone) and Ecco the Dolphin.

While Sega’s pugnacious pinball mascot continues to star in videogames of all flavours, poor Ecco has been absent from screens since the early noughties. No longer: this year shall be the year of Ecco. Developers A&R Atelier – whose members include the character’s original creator, Ed Annunziata – have declared that they are working on “several” new Ecco things, including a videogame. No, I won’t accommodate any criticism of my framing here. If we can have a year of Luigi and a year of Shadow, we can have a year of Ecco.

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Previous BioWare Developer Talks About the Possibility of Anthem Evolving into a Single-Player Experience

**The Conclusion of Anthem: An Aftermath Review**

Anthem, the ambitious looter shooter from BioWare, has officially been discontinued, prompting both fans and developers to ponder what led to its downfall. Mark Darrah, a former producer at BioWare who played a role in the project, recently shared a nearly four-hour postmortem video that details the game’s unfortunate outcome and proposes potential strategies that might have rescued it.

One of the most captivating elements of Darrah’s review is the disclosure that Anthem could have functioned on local servers, a shift that may have enabled it to persist even after Electronic Arts (EA) opted to discontinue the project. He notes that BioWare had local servers operational in a development setup right up until shortly before the game’s release in 2019. While it is uncertain if these servers are still active, the code to restore them is reportedly still accessible.

Darrah suggested that running Anthem on local servers could greatly minimize the expenses tied to maintaining the game. “The reason you do this, it pulls away the cost of maintaining this game,” he noted, proposing that instead of depending on dedicated servers, which can be costly, player consoles could themselves act as the necessary game servers.

The idea that alternatives were present to preserve Anthem adds a layer of disappointment for both the development team and the gaming community. EA initially justified the decision to shut down Anthem without presenting an offline mode by asserting it was “designed to be an online-only title.” However, the earlier existence of local servers hints that a different direction could have been pursued. The choice to completely terminate the game is perceived as a more straightforward but ultimately damaging decision.

Additionally, in his video, Darrah described a theoretical reworking of Anthem that could potentially convert it into a single-player experience, appealing to a wider audience. He estimated that realizing this vision would conservatively require around $10 million, and if the game sold over 400,000 copies, it could be economically feasible. He proposed transitioning the game to current-generation consoles and creating AI companions to enhance gameplay that was initially meant for multiplayer interactions. This reworking could include upgrading existing NPCs to companions or introducing several new characters to round out the party.

“If you can do those two things and turn the local servers on,” Darrah commented, “what you have essentially reverse-engineered is a BioWare game without romances with a decent BioWare-style story.” His vision suggests that numerous fans of BioWare’s narratives may have never engaged with Anthem due to its multiplayer-only framework, presenting an opening for a different kind of interaction.

Ultimately, Darrah expressed doubts about whether EA would entertain such a proposal, despite its seemingly cost-effective nature compared to ongoing server upkeep. The notion that Anthem could have survived in a revised format is disheartening, especially since the backdrop of its shutdown has left many feeling deceived by EA and BioWare.

In summary, while Anthem’s servers may have been permanently muted, discussions surrounding its possibilities endure. The insights derived from Darrah’s postmortem provide a glimpse into what could have been, underscoring the necessity of grasping player expectations and the feasibility of alternative solutions in the gaming realm.