The highly anticipated sequel, Death Stranding 2, is inching closer to its release. Recent reports suggest that the motion capture filming and recording for the game have been successfully completed. Now, the project will enter an “adjustment phase,” where the renowned creator Hideo Kojima will fine-tune every aspect until it meets his exacting standards.

As reported by Famitsu (translated by Automaton, thanks to GamesRadar+), Kojima recently made an appearance on a radio broadcast to discuss the ongoing development of the game. The meticulous director announced the completion of filming and recording for the cast of Death Stranding 2, leaving some uncertainty about whether he was referring to the English or Japanese cast.

Additionally, Kojima mentions that the game is currently going through an “adjustment phase” that he anticipates will last for at least a year. This phase will focus on refining gameplay and visual elements, giving the QA team ample time to address any lingering bugs or glitches. We’ll have to exercise patience and wait until the latter half of 2025 to get our hands on it, at the very least.

 

Need for Speed Unbound will be supported for a second year, which was confirmed when the game was added to PS Plus Extra earlier this year. The first free content drop based on a previous entry will be available today on PS5. “Drift & Drag” is the theme for Need for Speed Underground’s three new game modes: Drift, Drag, and League. You can get the content for free, and if you want extra body parts and decals, you can buy the Premium Speed Pass.

You’ll be able to use a new handling system made just for drift builds in the new drift mode. There will also be Drift playlists just for PvP and free roam. Up to four players can then test their manual gear shifts, strategic lane changes to avoid obstacles, and perfectly timed nitrous boosts in Drag. After that, League Mode is meant to improve the free-roaming experience for one player by letting you fight other racers head-to-head.

“This feature also introduces a community challenge, requiring collective effort to unlock the final boss and claim a new custom,” a release says. “With rivals showing up regularly and with new leagues on the way, this is where strategy, skill, and community converge, pushing players to earn their place among street racing legends.” It also adds two new cars, the Ford Mustang Dark Horse ’24 and the BMW M3 Competition Touring ’23.

After the Drift & Drag update, between August and October, the Cops vs. Racers content drop comes out. It was inspired by Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. The creator says that a fourth volume will also come out at the end of 2024. You can still get the game on PS Plus Extra, so you can try out both the base game and any updates that come out after launch.

Microsoft wants to make generative AI a big part of Windows and the PCs that run it.

This week, at a keynote event before its annual Build developer conference, the company showed off a new line of Windows computers it calls Copilot+ PCs. The computers also have generative AI-powered features like Recall that help users find apps, files, and other content they’ve seen before. Copilot is Microsoft’s brand of generative AI, and it will soon be a lot more built into Windows 11. Also, new Microsoft Surface gadgets are on the way.

All the important news has been put together here.

The Copilot+ PCs

Copilot+ PCs are Microsoft’s idea of the best Windows hardware for AI. All of them have special chips, called NPUs, that power AI games like Recall. They also come with at least 16GB of RAM and SSD storage.

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite and Plus chips will be in the first Copilot+ PCs. Microsoft says these chips can power up to 15 hours of web browsing and 20 hours of video playback. Intel and AMD have also promised to work with a number of manufacturers, such as Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Samsung, to make processors for Copilot+ devices.

Some Copilot+ PCs can be preordered today for as little as $999.

Surface Book and Surface Pro
The Surface Laptop and Surface Pro, which Microsoft just released, are designed to be fast and last a long time.

The most recent iteration of the Surface Laptop, which comes in either a 13.8- or 15-inch size, has undergone a redesign featuring sleeker screen bezels and contemporary aesthetics. According to the company, the device has a battery life of up to 22 hours and is claimed to be 86% faster than the Surface Laptop 5. Additionally, it is compatible with Wi-Fi 7 and features a touchpad with haptic feedback.

Regarding the new Surface Pro, Microsoft claims that it offers a performance boost of up to 90% compared to the previous-generation Surface Pro (the Surface Pro 9). It also features a new OLED display with HDR, Wi-Fi 7 (with the option for 5G connectivity), and an improved ultrawide front-facing camera. In addition, the keyboard of the device has been strengthened with extra carbon fiber and now includes haptic feedback.

Retrieve

Windows 11’s upcoming Recall feature has the ability to retain information about apps and content that a user accessed on their PC, even if it was weeks or months ago. This feature can be helpful in locating specific information, such as in a Discord chat where the user was discussing potential clothing purchases. Recall’s timeline feature allows users to easily review their recent work and navigate through files, such as PowerPoint presentations, to find relevant information for their searches.

Microsoft claims that Recall has the capability to establish connections between colors, images, and other elements, enabling users to search for virtually anything on their personal computers using natural language, similar to the technology employed by startup Rewind. The company asserts that all user data linked to Recall is maintained as private and stored on the device without being utilized for training AI models, which is of significant importance.

Here is additional information from Microsoft: “Your snapshots are stored exclusively on your personal computer and are not shared or stored elsewhere.” To delete specific snapshots, modify and remove time intervals, or pause the process, you can access the corresponding options in the Settings menu. Alternatively, you can directly perform these actions by clicking on the icon located in the System Tray on your Taskbar. You also have the option to apply filters that prevent certain apps and websites from being saved.

Photo manipulation and real-time language translations
Windows now incorporates a greater amount of artificial intelligence (AI) than ever before, with certain AI features available exclusively on the new Copilot+ PCs.

The Super Resolution feature has the ability to automatically enhance and enlarge old photos. Copilot now has the capability to analyze images and provide users with suggestions for creative compositions. Users can utilize the Cocreator feature to generate images and instruct the AI model to modify or transform the image based on their drawings.

Additionally, live captions with live translations can translate any audio that passes through a PC, regardless of its source (such as YouTube or a local file), into the user’s preferred language. Live translations will initially support approximately 40 languages, including English, Spanish, Mandarin, and Russian.

The Windows Copilot Runtime is a crucial component for your system.
Enabling features like Recall and Super Resolution is the Windows Copilot Runtime, a set of approximately 40 generative AI models that Microsoft refers to as “a new layer” of Windows. Similar to an IT project manager, the Windows Copilot Runtime enables generative AI-powered apps, including third-party apps, to run on an individual Copilot+ PC without relying on an internet connection. The semantic index and a vector-based system are responsible for making this possible.

According to Microsoft’s announcement, CapCut, the well-known video editor from TikTok owner ByteDance, will use the Windows Copilot Runtime to improve the effectiveness of its AI capabilities.