As pressure mounts over Sony and Microsoft's (in)ability to deliver their current-gen PS5 and Xbox Series S|X consoles at a fast enough pace to satisfy demand, it seems that users now have yet another reason to throw their gamer hands up in the air in frustration. Stocks of new PS4 / PS4 Pro and Xbox One S|X have been increasingly harder to come by in recent times, and especially in the US, stock of the last-gen consoles on Amazon, Target, Walmart and GameStop is virtually non-existent. The only choice prospective gamers have is to find a second-hand last-gen console - and pricing on those seems to be (predictably) going up.

When one looks at it, it does make sense that last-gen consoles are also becoming hard to find, despite the fact that they haven't been discontinued yet. It all pertains to the finite resources at manufacturers' disposal. Even if there are no common components between last and current-gen consoles, the difficulties faced by the supply chain in procuring even raw materials for fabrication means that manufacturers have to prioritize resource allocation - and it seems obvious that both Sony and Microsoft would prioritize current-gen consoles over the alternative. The stock issues even extend to peripherals - controllers for Sony's PS4 are also out of stock, and while the PS5's Dual Sense sees healthy stock levels, that controller has no backwards compatibility, meaning that users looking for a replacement or additional PS4 controller have to make do with either used ones or third-party alternatives. As for Xbox controllers, fear not - they're in stock, for both current and last-gen systems.

Microsoft has recently confirmed that AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) technology will be coming to Xbox Series X/S. The new feature is AMD's response to NVIDIA's DLSS 2.0 AI processing found in RTX series graphics cards. The two technologies both aim to increase frame rates in select titles with various upscaling technologies without a significant reduction in visual quality. AMD boasts compatibility with a wider set of graphics cards including older NVIDIA GTX 10 series cards while also making the technology open-source. AMD will launch FidelityFX Super Resolution for select PC games on June 22nd which will show if they can hope to compete with the well-established DLSS 2.0. Microsoft has confirmed that they will bring the technology to their Xbox Series X/S consoles running custom AMD processors.

MicrosoftAt Xbox, we're excited by the potential of AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution technology as another great method for developers to increase framerates and resolution. We will have more to share on this soon,

It's not only graphics cards and CPUs that are best kept on the edge of manufacturing processes; in truth, one could even say that consoles have more to gain from these transitions when it comes to their manufacturers' financial outlooks. This happens because usually, consoles are subsidized by manufacturers in that their actual retail price is lower than manufacturing costs; this works as a way for console players to increase their platforms' attractiveness and user base, so they can then sell them games and subscription services, where the big bucks are actually made. We knew this already, but Microsoft's head of Xbox business development, Lori Wright confirmed it yesterday at the Apple vs Epic Games hearing. Lori Wright is quoted as answering "We don't; we sell the consoles at a loss" when asked whether Microsoft does or does not turn a profit on Xbox Series S | X hardware sales.

Considering the similarities between the Xbox Series X and PS5's SoC, it's very likely that Sony doesn't make a profit on console hardware sales either - or if it actually does, it's nothing actually meaningful. This is part of the reason why consoles are usually actually in the forefront of manufacturing processes' advancements, as it's a way for console players to quickly reduce the BoM (Bill of Materials) for their consoles. Since the specifications don't change within a console generation (discounting Pro models, which both companies have taken to launching some years into their generations), they choose to take advantage of process advancements due to the transistor density increases that allow for both lower silicon area for the SoC, and lower power consumption - which sometimes enables them to develop slim versions of their gaming consoles.

Remember that neat Microsoft engineering trick that boosted previous-gen's games' performance on their latest and greatest Xbox Series X|S consoles? Well, Microsoft has released a new update for FPS Boost which increases the number of titles from the previous 23. The update adds the FPS boosting capability to a mind-boggling 74 games in one go, increasing their performance up to 60 FPS at their respective rendering resolutions.

Of course, one might want some more changes to be made to the game. However, remember that this a wholly Microsoft endeavor - there's no developer work required or being done here. some developers have released "next-gen" updates to some of their releases from the Xbox One and PS4 era, but FPS Boost is developer agnostic, and works via the Direct 3D API on the Xbox consoles. Titles getting an FPS Boost include Assassin's Creed Unity (maybe now finally is the time to play that one Assassin's Creed game, uh?), Deus Ex Mankind Divided, Alien Isolation (get some scares at double the framerate, what's not to love?) Wasteland 3, and Far Cry 5 all moving to 60 FPS.

The worldwide new-gen game console sales are still booming with no indication of slowing down. However, pairing a new-gen console with a compatible high-resolution display that can push the limits of 120 Hz high refresh rates and beyond remained an unfathomable mission...until now. GIGABYTE's newly launched AORUS 4K gaming monitors have shed a new ray of hope for the long-awaited gamers. The full HDMI 2.1 compatibility that comes with the new AORUS monitors enable gamers to unlock higher frame rates and resolutions on new generation consoles, such as the PlayStation 5 and XBOX Series X.

The GIGABYTE AORUS 4K tactical gaming monitors are the ultimate two-way monitors. Not only do they promise an esports-grade display performance of up to 144Hz refresh rate and 0.5 ms response time, they also take full advantage of the HDMI 2.1 connector's bandwidth for getting the most out of the new-gen consoles, making them the ideal displays for gaming across different platforms. Through the HDMI 2.1 connectivity, gamers are able to fully enjoy extreme gaming performance powered by high-end graphics cards, such as the RTX 30 series while gaming on PC. When paired with the new-gen consoles, gamers for the first time can play their favorite AAA game titles at 120Hz for ultra-smooth gameplay at a stunning 4K resolution. In addition to the display performance supremacy, GIGABYTE has also succeeded in optimizing gaming experience with AORUS exclusive tactical features.

AMD has announced that Microsoft's Xbox Series S|X now features support for the company's FidelityFX suite. This move, which enabled previously PC-centric technologies on Microsoft's latest-generation gaming consoles, will bring feature parity between RDNA 2-powered graphics, and will eventually enable support for AMD's FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution), the company's eventual competition to NVIDIA's DLSS tech.

This means that besides the technologies that are part of the DX 12 Ultimate spec (and which the consoles already obviously support), developers now have access to AMD's Fidelity FX technologies such as Contrast Adaptive Sharpening, Variable Rate Shading, ray traced shadow Denoiser, Ambient Occlusion and Screen Space Reflections. All of these AMD-led developments in the SDK allow for higher performance and/or better visual fidelity. However, the icing on the cake should be the FSR support, which could bring the Series X's 8K claims to bear (alongside high-refresh-rate 4K gaming) - should FSR turn out be in a similar performance-enhancing ballpark as NVIDIA's DLSS, which we can't really know for sure at this stage (and likely neither can AMD). No word on Fidelity FX support on the PS5 has been announced at this time, which does raise the question of its eventual support, or if Sony will enable a similar feature via their own development tools.

4A Games is one of those rare developers that seemingly gives more to its fans and game-owners than it takes. The company has just announced they're readying a new, Enhanced Edition version of Metro Exodus - receiving significant graphical updates that are mostly focused on added raytracing capabilities. The new version of the game will be made available for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles - but carries additional features in the all-powerful PC version, including Ray Traced Reflections (which will not be included in the console version) as well as support for NVIDIA's DLSS 2.0, the best iteration of the technology so far.

According to the developer, the engine changes are so substantial that they couldn't push it as a simple update/game patch - the entire game has had to be recompiled to allow for the seamless integration of the new features. 4A Games announced that the new, Enhanced Edition, which will be available later this year, will be available for all Metro Exodus owners as a free, additional download. The new version makes such extensive usage of raytracing - every light source is now raytraced, per-pixel-raytraced global illumination, and a plethora of other changes you can see in the feature comparative below - that the company is now listing a raytracing-capable GPU (whether AMD or NVIDIA) as the minimum requirement. Now if only one could find decent raytracing graphics cards readily available...

Members form the UK Parliament are apparently preparing to introduce a bill that would regulate the scalping phenomenon that's being witnessed worldwide. According to Scottish politician Douglas Chapman, in an interview to IGN, "The issue of scalping first came up with constituents contacting me to explain their frustration about being unable to get hold of certain games consoles or computer components pre-Christmas." He then expanded on that by adding that "On investigation, we uncovered more details of the unscrupulous practice of 'scalping' by automated bots to bulk buy these goods and sell them on at inflated prices." Oh, and this bill is unlikely to pass, by the way.

Scalping, however, isn't done only in the UK; it's a pervasive international issue that crosses borders. And scalping, as it is known, is nothing but a form of speculation, which some might say is part of the backbone that keeps the world's capitalist blood pumping through the economy - some might even argue that scalping occurs directly due to mechanisms of supply and demand, and thus, isn't an unlawful activity in and of itself. Companies, corporations, and all other legal entities, however, have to adhere to strict anti-monopoly/anti-cartelization laws, which deal with the same base issue, although in another facet of it. The problem is that it appears that in some countries, speculation is regulated at the enterprise level, but not at the citizen level. And herein lies the crux of it.

Michael Driscoll, an Oracle data engineer, has written a data scraper that runs through eBay listings for the latest hardware, comparing products with their sale price. The objective was to see just how pervasive scalping actually is, and to get a (flawed and incomplete, but still extremely interesting) outlook at the scalping ecosystem and their gains with the current hardware and console shortages. Driscoll analyzed sales for the Xbox Series X|S, the PS5 (discless and disc-based) as well as NVIDIA's RTX 30-series, AMD's RX 6000 series, and Zen 3 processors. There are some assumptions on the gathering and analysis of this data, but that is part of the beast.

The results are potentially desperation-inducing. AMD's Zen 3 CPUs have sold for sometimes 240% of their MSRP (looking at the biggest offender, the Ryzen 9 5950X. The RX 6800 XT graphics card has been selling for within an inch of 200% of its MSRP as well, with a median price over the past week set at $1247 (compare that to the $649 MSRP). The RTX 3080 has been selling at 180% of its MSRP for the past week, but it has been moved at 220% of its MSRP before. The case repeats with several degrees of severity for the Xbox family and PS5 consoles.

XBOX boss Phil Spencer recently warned interested parties on the new Microsoft Xbox family of devices that supply shortages may not be so short-lived as we would've hoped. More recently, XBOX chief Financial Officer Tim Stuart said he believes that demand will continue to outstrip supply well after the holiday season and at least until April 2021 - a point at which Microsoft might just be able to match demand with its supply.

"I think we'll continue to see supply shortages as we head into the post-holiday quarter, so Microsoft's Q3, calendar Q1," said Xbox chief financial officer Tim Stuart, Speaking at the Jefferies Interactive Entertainment Virtual Conference (transcribed by Seeking Alpha). "And then when we get to Q4, all of our supply chain continuing to go full speed heading into kind of the pre-summer months. And that's where I start to - I expect to see a little bit of the demand - the supply profile, meeting the demand profile." Microsoft's fiscal Q4 runs from April through June. Whether or not that's true, one thing we can now for sure: while supply isn't enough to satisfy demand, we'll see scalpers continuing to sell what consoles and graphics cards they managed to snag for outrageous prices. Don't cede: vote with your wallet and don't give them a pat on the back with your hard-earned money.

Teaming with 343 Industries, Seagate today announced the latest addition to its popular line of storage for gamers - Game Drive for Xbox Halo: Master Chief Limited Edition. Celebrating the legendary Master Chief from the Halo video game franchise, this limited edition Game Drive features a one-of-a-kind sleek case design that celebrates the Master Chief John-117. A limited Master Chief vinyl die-cut sticker set also comes in the box for fans to collect. The new drive is available in 2 TB and 5 TB capacities so gamers can install more games and downloadable game content by balancing their gaming workload between console and external HDD.

Gamers can easily begin their Halo journey as the Game Drive is compatible with and automatically recognized by the full family of Xbox One devices, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S consoles, and easily installed in under two minutes through Xbox OS. It is USB 3.2 Gen 1 bus powered and does not need a separate power cord to play so fans can unite in their mission from anywhere. Users can play legacy games and archive next generation games on the Game Drive which can store more than 502 downloaded games.

Developer CD Projekt Red has announced that Cyberpunk 2077 is now facing another delay - this one of just 21 days. The game is now slated for release on December 10th, which gives the developer more time to work on the launch-day patch so that everything runs as smoothly as possible when the game is out in the wild and in the hands of millions of expectant gamers.

The developer clarified that the reason for the game's delay is the need to launch it concurrently on all platforms they've committed to - current-gen, next-gen, PC, and Stadia. In total, the developer is working on polishing and testing nine different versions of the game (PS4, PS4 Pro, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox One S, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, PC, and Stadia). This is just mind-bogglingly complex, as you might expect. We also have to take into account that CD Projekt Red has its own shoes to fill when it comes to final quality, and we must remember that first impressions make or break a videogame's reception in the current climate (remember Mass Effect: Andromeda or any other number of games). It seems that the cautious, methodical approach may be the best one for such a high-stakes release. I, for one, would much rather enjoy a game with less chances of game-breaking bugs than a rushed release - especially considering the amount of platforms the game is shipping for.

Dolby have recently announced that the Xbox Series X and Series S will support Dolby Atmos games at launch and Dolby Vision games later in 2021. This will be the first time a generation of consoles have supported the standards in-game. Dolby Vision creates the best HDR experience with a compatible screen as it offers per scene metadata adjustments and 12-bit color depth. Dolby Vision is already available through Netflix on Xbox One but this will be the first time both technologies are offered for console games. Dolby Atmos support will be included at launch, however, a 15 USD license fee will be required if you don't own Atmos speakers.

Microsoft today finalized the pricing and announced availability dates of its next-generation Xbox entertainment systems. The company has segmented its console lineup to target two price points, with the mighty Xbox Series X being priced at USD $499 (ERP), and the newly announced Xbox Series S at $299 (ERP). Both models will be available from November 10, 2020, but pre-orders for both begin from September 22. The Xbox Series X covers the complete next-generation hardware feature-set of Microsoft's next-gen console, offering 4K UHD gaming, and an optical disc drive for physical media.

The Xbox Series S, on the other hand, is an all-digital console, meaning that the games you own are downloaded onto its local storage to play, there's no optical disc drive. The Xbox Series S further offers 1440p gameplay at frame-rates of up to 120 FPS, or 4K UHD gameplay upscaled from a lower resolution, or high refresh-rate 1440p/1080p gameplay. You still do get the full DirectX 12 Ultimate feature-set. The NVMe SSD-based local storage for the Xbox Series S is 512 GB, half that of the Xbox Series X.

Microsoft today surprised us with the Xbox Series S announcement. The Xbox Series S offers "next gen performance" and is the "smallest Xbox ever." The company promised to share more details, but when it goes on sale, it will cost just USD $299 (ERP). The announcement teaser had a pretty clear image of the finished product, revealing it to be barely more than two controllers in volume. A large fan intake makes up one of its side panels. It retains the general design of the larger Xbox Series X. Microsoft stated it will share more details about the new console.

We reported on rumors about the cheaper next-generation Xbox console back in June, and after this latest leak we can be sure it will be called the Xbox Series X. Twitter user Zak S has obtained images of the Xbox Series X controller and packaging, which confirm compatibility with the Xbox Series S. The packaging details that the controller will work with both Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles along with Xbox One consoles, Windows 10, Android, and IOS.

This Xbox Series S is expected to be announced by Microsoft in the coming weeks, the console is designed to complement the Xbox Series X as a cheaper alternative for casual gamers and media consumption. The console is rumored to feature 7.5 GB useable memory compared to the 13.5 GB useable on the Xbox Series X along with graphics power of 4 TFLOPs or roughly 3x worse then the Xbox Series X at 12 TFLOPs.