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The HakuX original Xbox emulator has released version 1.2.0, bringing notable performance gains especially on Adreno-based Android devices. Testing on a Retroid Pocket 5 reportedly showed 80% of supported games hitting their original frame rate caps at double resolution, including titles like Halo: Combat Evolved, Jet Set Radio Future, Forza Motorsport, Crazy Taxi, and Call of Duty 3.
Netflix reportedly offered Microsoft $500 million for a seven-year deal to adapt Xbox franchises into shows and films, but Microsoft countered at $800 million, and the deal collapsed, according to Puck. Xbox said it has received 'record-breaking interest' in its IP and remains excited about existing projects with Netflix, including animated Minecraft and Diablo series.
Sipeed has announced the MaixStation, an AI workstation built around Axera's new AX8860P chip, featuring 128GB of LPDDR5X memory on a 256-bit bus at 273 GB/s. Sipeed told Tom's Hardware Premium it expects the 128GB model to launch around $3,999 with Kickstarter discounts, undercutting Nvidia's DGX Spark ($6,950) while matching AMD's 128GB Ryzen AI Halo. Sign-ups are open now ahead of a Kickstarter campaign planned for late 2026, with shipping expected within three months of the campaign closing.
Xbox has pointed to recent community projects, including jailbroken PlayStation 5 units and a browser port of Halo, as evidence of consumer interest in modding. The company suggests this trend could become a relevant use case for its Project Helix initiative, though specific product plans were not detailed.
Jason Jones, co-creator of Halo and Destiny, wrote a manuscript imagining an AI takeover told through roughly 100 characters across 40 countries. He and author Margaret Stohl built that concept into Stone Kite, a 'worldbuilding studio' with 22 in-house staff and more than 250 outside contributors. The studio has released the first chapter of a four-part graphic novel called One Zero One and is now publishing a chapter from Jones' original manuscript.
Reverse-engineering projects for titles including GoldenEye 007, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Halo: Combat Evolved, and a 2009 Call of Duty entry have recently reached major milestones, with one developer using 17 AI agents to rebuild a playable Call of Duty build from its compiled executable. Similar AI-driven efforts have produced open-source clones of Adobe applications and informed commentary on COBOL systems tied to a drop in IBM's stock earlier this year.
Microsoft's Xbox unit announced a new division called XP that will expand its game franchises into film, television, merchandise and live events. The division includes four arms—Xbox Pictures, Xbox Products, Xbox Places and Xbox Partnerships—and will be led by Kayleen Walters, former executive producer of A Minecraft Movie. Maria Angelidou-Smith, previously of Meta and Reddit, was also named the new CEO of Mojang and Minecraft.
Microsoft has formed a new internal division called Xbox Experiences (XP) to oversee the expansion of its gaming franchises into movies, television shows and physical products like toys. The unit will be led by former Mojang CEO Helen Chiang, who previously worked as an executive producer on A Minecraft Movie.
Recent efforts in reverse-engineering classic video games have led to unofficial ports and modifications, allowing titles like Halo and The Legend of Zelda to run on web browsers or non-original hardware. These projects often involve AI assistance and operate in legal gray areas, raising questions about copyright and ethics.
AMD released generative AI performance data for its new Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 495 'Gorgon Halo' chip, comparing it to Intel's Core Ultra X9 388H using ComfyUI throughput tests. The company reported performance advantages ranging from 1.1x to 32.2x, though the top figure appears to be an outlier possibly tied to an unverifiable model or optimization issue.
Microsoft is expected to reveal pricing and a release date for its Surface Laptop Ultra at an upcoming event, according to the report. The laptop, first shown in June, is among the first devices to use NVIDIA's new RTX Spark chip, an Arm-based processor built for running large AI models locally, and features a 15-inch mini-LED display with up to 2,000 nits of brightness.
Researchers studying black hole jets observed that the jets produce a halo effect in the surrounding gas, according to a report published on nature.com. The findings detail how energy from the jets interacts with nearby material to create this observable structure.