POOLS brings the eerie walking simulator to PS VR2 today with native 120Hz support, and a free VR-supported demo is now live.

Developed by Tensori, POOLS is an eerie walking simulator where you wander through these strange swimming pool environments looking for the exit. Originally released as a flatscreen PC game last year, you may recall it received PC VR support in May's free update. Now, it's launching on PS5 with optional PlayStation VR2 support and the Chapter 0 expansion.

Speaking to UploadVR before today's release, Tensori informed us that it's been “very pleased” with the reception to the PC VR release. Stating it focused heavily on performance to ensure things ran smoothly, this pushed the team to learn more about its tools and then apply these same principles to the PlayStation VR2 release.

“We applied the same principle to the PS VR2 version. We actually went so deep that we had to rebuild most of the visual aspects of the game from the ground up to get our target performance. We wanted the foveated rendering to work as best as it could, and in order to do that, we needed to create a custom solution for our water visuals. To do that, we’ve learned a ton about shader programming. It was a serious amount of work, but we feel it was worth the effort.”

Delving into specifics about the PlayStation VR2 edition, Tensori confirmed this work means POOLS runs at native 120Hz. However, the developer warns there might be a few frame rate drops in larger areas if you're using a standard PS5 console. Performance will benefit naturally from the PS5 Pro's improved specs, though dedicated Pro enhancements are planned as a post-launch update.

While today's release uses eye-tracking for foveated rendering, Tensori informed us that more “advanced” use of the headset's haptics isn't available at launch. Though it didn't elaborate on what they specifically are targeting for improvements, the studio confirmed that “we are planning to include improved haptics soon-ish in a future update.”

Finally, given that POOLS has made its way to iOS, can we expect to see it reach Apple Vision Pro, or other VR platforms like Quest? Tensori didn't commit to further platforms yet, though it's not ruling them out either.

“We are always looking to bring POOLS to as many players as we can. If it’s a platform that we feel we can create a great experience on, then we will have a look and see if it’s something we can do. We’re huge fans of Apple Vision Pro and the Quest, so we will definitely have a look and see if POOLS can make its home on these platforms.”

POOLS is out now on PC VR and PlayStation VR2. Free VR-supported demos are available on both platforms.

POOLS VR Review: A Darker Take On The Original

POOLS adds a compelling new dimension to this backrooms-inspired experience with PC VR support.

UploadVRK. Guillory

The compact MINISFORUM M1 Pro brings serious desktop performance to the palm of your hand. With Intel’s latest Core Ultra chip, dual USB4 ports, and even an OCuLink connection for external GPUs, it’s one of the most capable and expandable Mini-PCs that we’ve tested.

As we close in on the first couple post-launch weeks for Call of Duty Black Ops 7, the team at Treyarch have been slowly but surely teasing their plans for Season 1. Described as “biggest Season 01 ever” a full content roadmap has been shared, featuring a ton of new additions across every single mode.

Taking to their blog to detail the upcoming update, Black Ops 7 Season 1 officially arrives on the 4th of December and will bring with it far more than can be listed here. The full roadmap can be found HERE, but some of the most notable additions include:

Endgame

• 4 new world events
• 8 new exotic skills
• New Phantom skill track
• CODmas limited-time event

Multiplayer

• 4 brand new maps
• 3 remastered maps
• 5 returning game modes
• 1 new game mode
• 2 limited-time game modes
• 1 new scorestreak and 8 returning streaks
• Half a dozen returning field upgrades / equipment from BO6

Zombies

•  Astra Malorum main zombies map
  • Featuring new traps, a wonder weapon, main quest and more
• Exit 115 Survival map
• Zarya Cosmodrome Survival map
• Ashes of the Damned Directed mode
• Jingle Hells LTM
• Mule Kick perk with new augments
• 5 returning field upgrades / ammo mods with new augments
• Leaderboard events
• New Gobblegums

Warzone

• Full integration with Black Ops 7
• New Verdansk POIs
• Revamped perks
• Haven’s Hollow Resurgence map
• CODmas LTM

Of course, alongside these mode specific pieces of content, Season 1 also brings with it a bunch of game-wide additions, including but not limited to:

• 7 new weapons
• 6 new attachments for existing weapons
• Weekly challenges
• Limited events
• Seasonal camos
• S01 Battle Pass

As mentioned, the blog post itself is incredibly lengthy and goes into far more depth regarding all aspects of each addition (including changes made to Battle Pass XP earn rates, challenge rewards and more).

Black Ops 7 is in an interesting spot right now. While the game itself represents a strong entry for Call of Duty, years of anti-consumer practices and a lack of listening to fans has tainted the series – with BO7 feeling the brunt of this.

That said, there is no denying that Treyarch seems to be trying their best to address fan complaints, and Season 1 appears to be another solid step in this direction. Whether it will be enough to turn the tides, we will have to wait and see when Season 1 launches on the 4th of December.

KitGuru says: What do you think of the Season 1 roadmap? Are you checked out of Call of Duty for this year? When all is said and done, will fans look back fondly on Black Ops 7? Let us know your thoughts down below.

The post Black Ops 7 Season 1 full content roadmap revealed first appeared on KitGuru.

When you think of video game crossovers, one series which does not come to people’s mind is Assassin’s Creed. Despite this, the Ubisoft-published franchise has collaborated with a number of interesting franchises in the past. That said, in a highly unexpected announcement, the latest Assassin’s Creed Shadows is set to crossover with none other than the popular anime series Attack on Titan.

Making the surprise announcement, the team at Ubisoft officially unveiled their upcoming collab – Assassin’s Creed Shadows x Attack on Titan. Set to go live on the 25th of November (today), this limited-time crossover will be available until the 15th of December and will include a new free quest to complete.

As expected however, if you wanted to get your hands on the Mikasa-themed cosmetic skin for Naoe, you’ll have to pay up (though no price has been provided so far).

As mentioned, this isn’t the first time that Assassin’s Creed has crossed over with another franchise, with the likes of AC Origins offering a Final Fantasy collab back in 2018 and Shadows itself having already crossed over with Dead by Daylight earlier this year.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is an important title for Ubisoft, with the game said to have been a bit of a make or break moment for the publisher prior to its release. Whether an Attack on Titan crossover will make a major difference in this regard, we will have to wait and see, but it is welcome at the very least to see the quest itself being included for free.

KitGuru says: What do you think of this crossover? Would you prefer some more thematically-appropriate collabs? Let us know down below.

The post Assassin’s Creed Shadows x Attack on Titan officially announced first appeared on KitGuru.

The latest addition to LaCie's popular range of Rugged external hard drives is the Rugged SSD4, a drive aimed at photographers, filmmakers and audio professionals. Using a USB4 40 Gbps interface, it offers fast performance while protecting against water, dust, and drops.

Inside the familiar bright orange rubber enclosure (designed by multi-award-winning designer Neil Poulton) sits an NVMe PCIe Gen 4 SSD to make the most of the USB 40 Gbps (USB4) interface. Available in 1TB, 2TB and the flagship 4TB versions, the drive is rated for up to 4,000MB/s reads and up to 3,800MB/s writes.

The official line on the protection afforded by the drive's enclosure is that it is IP54-compliant (if the cover for the USB port is firmly in place) and can withstand a 3m drop and 1 ton of pressure.

LaCie backs the drive with a 3-year warranty, and you also get a very useful three years of Seagate's Data Recovery Service included to recover your data in case of product failure.

Physical Specifications:

• Usable Capacities: 4TB.
• NAND Components: n/s.
• NAND Controller: n/s.
• Interface: USB 40Gbps (USB-C).
• Form Factor: external.
• Dimensions: 17.33 x 66.87 x 105.34mm
• Drive Weight: 108g.

Firmware Version: ULFS91.6

The post LaCie Rugged SSD4 4TB Review first appeared on KitGuru.

In the lead up to each new Far Cry title, Ubisoft have released a short film or two to give fans a taste of what to expect from the next entry in this now-iconic series. That said, in a surprise announcement (though it was leaked a while back), a full proper Far Cry TV show has now been greenlit – with It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia creator Rob Mac set to star in the project.

As reported by the publication Variety, distribution company FX has now greenlit a series adaptation of Ubisoft’s Far Cry video game series. While details remain light at the moment, the show is seemingly set to comprise multiple seasons and will “follow an anthology format like the games and feature a different cast and setting each season.”

Speaking of the cast, Rob Mac (formerly McElhenney) is set to serve as co-creator, executive producer and will star in the show – though his role has not yet been confirmed.

Given the fact that the show will consist of multiple Seasons in an anthology-like format, it will be interesting to see whether the series will directly adapt each game’s story/narrative, or whether it’ll simply be used more for inspiration.

Additionally, Rob Mac as an actor is known best for his comedic roles, and so the shift to what will likely be a more serious tone is worthy of note. Speaking on the project, Mac stated: “Ubisoft has been remarkably generous, entrusting us with one of the most iconic video-game worlds ever created. And through it all, my FX family continues to lift me up with their constant belief and support.”

Full comments from Rob Mac; co-creator Noah Hawley; FX and more can be found HERE.

KitGuru says: What do you think of this announcement? How would you like a Far Cry show to be structured? Would you like them to directly adapt the games’ stories? Let us know down below.

The post Live-action Far Cry TV show adaptation officially announced first appeared on KitGuru.

Last week, the team at Sucker Punch Productions announced that they would be releasing a major patch for Ghost of Yotei, featuring a bunch of new additions including NewGame+; a harder difficulty option; new cosmetics and more. Available right now, patch 1.1 actually brings with it much more than expected – including a bunch of new graphics options; quality of life improvements; VRR support and more.

Releasing the patch notes to their support site, the team at Sucker Punch Productions officially detailed update 1.1 for Ghost of Yotei. Available to download now, the patch includes all of the previously-announced additions, namely:

• NewGame+
• Ghost Flower Vendor
• Harder difficulty option
• Extra trophies to earn
• Photo mode expansion
• New weapon upgrades
• Replay option

While all of this is of course welcome to see, patch 1.1 brings a number of even more exciting additions which they did not mention previously, including:

• VRR support (smoothed or uncapped)
• New 40fps ‘Balanced’ and ‘Ray Tracing Balanced’ graphics mode
• Fall damage toggle
• Auto-loot enemies toggle
• Additional loadout slot
• More controller customisation
• Option to display a visual indicator when being led by gold birds, foxes, and the wolf

Many first-party PlayStation titles have offered similarly significant 1.1 updates in the months following their initial release. Even so, it is welcome to see Ghost of Yotei continuing this trend while also offering even more than initially promised.

KitGuru says: Have you been waiting for this update? Will you be hopping into NewGame+? Is 40fps a good sweet spot for you performance-wise? Let us know down below.

The post Ghost of Yotei update adds VRR support; 40fps mode; NewGame+ and much more first appeared on KitGuru.

Considering the success Hit-Point has had with Neko Atsume on both mobile and VR, it’s been a surprising wait for the company to make a dog-themed follow-up to the pet care simulator that won the hearts of millions. Rather than making its way to the platform after finding success elsewhere, Inu Atsume VR is debuting in mixed and virtual reality. As more of a dog person myself, I’m delighted.

Inu Atsume VR will be instantly familiar to anyone who enjoyed their time with Neko Atsume Purrfect. There isn’t an adventure to beat, just pets to meet, photograph, play with, adopt, befriend, train, and love for as long as you like. It's an immersive Nintendogs offering everything you need to pretend you have a dog without the cleaning or vet bills that come with one.

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Dogs are very different animals from cats, so there are certainly gameplay aspects that have changed compared to Neko Atsume Purrfect. You pick your first dog by playing fetch with a frisbee in the park and giving them a collar, though you can also play with and befriend any dogs you encounter without the commitment of bringing them home when you visit in the future. After that, they live with you, and you need to give them enough to keep them entertained.

They’ll need a bed and food and water, naturally, but you can also get more toys and presents for them. You can teach them tricks and, if incentivized by enough treats, they’ll learn them permanently. You can have them sit or lie down on command at any time.

If they’re done digging holes in the garden to find currency for new toys, gizmos, and other surprises, you can simply call them over and pet and stroke them. Endlessly. Having lived with dogs for much of my life while living in the UK, I've only been able to see the family dog through a screen since moving abroad. Even spotting a dog while on a walk and sometimes getting to greet them can be a highlight. Getting to do that at any time in Inu Atsume VR, especially with how adorable they are, is worth the price of admission. I could watch them run and stroke these virtual dogs in my pets-not-allowed apartment for hours.

Actually, I think I spent close to an hour doing this before I even realized it during my first session.

With dogs being more active creatures than the aloof and independent feline, Inu Atsume VR offers a few features not found in its predecessor for interacting with your dog. You can take them to events - simplistic minigames such as maze navigation offer a break from the more passive experience found elsewhere. In this maze game, for example, you can navigate your dog through simplistic labyrinths using either a navigation panel in front of you or voice commands. Unfortunately, voice recognition is very poor and rarely works. Attempting to call and have my dog respond is neat, yet I found myself going to menus and buttons both in and out of minigames. It's only worked for me around 10% of the time during my experience with the title.

That said, it’s the returning Mixed Reality mode from Neko Atsume Purrfect that remains a highlight. Using your room as a space for this dog to roam, playing with them, or simply watching them walk around is one of the platform's best uses. I say that as someone who misses the joy a dog’s mere presence can bring to any room. I watch George scratch at my shoes with joy, not anger, and find myself doing odd tasks with my Quest headset in this mode in a way I haven’t in other mixed reality modes, just so I can occasionally spot them having fun as I clean my room.

Mixed reality often falls short, not from poor execution but from how unnatural it feels to have these events taking place in the real world. Yet despite the stylized appearance of these dogs, it simply feels right. I actually felt a little sad when the headset was put away and George wasn’t around, which I didn’t expect.

Mostly, though, this isn’t a game to pick up and play for long sessions. Your coins needed to play minigames and get toys are only drip-fed, and once you’ve fed and played with your pets, it’s perfectly acceptable to go about your life until returning the following day. The daily login system encourages this further, offering goodies for every day you log in.

A dog lover like myself would inevitably prefer Inu Atsume VR compared to Neko Atsume Purrfect, but Hit-Point has done more than a species swap with this new game. It's taken advantage of VR to bring new features and ideas that feel natural to the medium and make this an engaging and adorable pet simulator that can stick with you for months. Now, if you don’t mind, George needs some food, and then we’re off to play frisbee.

Inu Atsume VR is out now on the Meta Quest platform.

CleanSheet Pro, a subscription-based VR soccer sim for goalkeepers, is now available on Quest.

Developed by Belfast studio INCISIV, we first learned about this CleanSheet Soccer successor back in May. Described as a simulator built for serious athletes, CleanSheet Pro sees you moving between five divisions in a progression-based career mode as you hit promotion targets to move up the ranks. Similarly, poor performance gives you relegation targets to avoid dropping.

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Progressing through this career mode gradually unlocks more stadiums, new cosmetics for the footballs and gloves, and the ability to transfer to new clubs. This comes with three fictional teams: Forgehill Rovers, Waveport City, and Stanton United, each with its own identity and environment. Different clubs offer different coaches, stadiums, and more.

Further CleanSheet Pro features include scenarios designed to emulate real-life soccer moments, seeing you face corner kicks and penalty shootouts alike. INCISIV states these are based off motion-captured data from professional footballers.

Other options include a custom shot creator, mixed reality support, and a monthly standardized test through a 'Profiler Mode' to recalibrate the game's difficulty. A companion app for tracking progress and scheduling sessions is also available on iOS and Android.

CleanSheet Pro is now available on Quest through monthly ($29.99) and annual ($239.99) subscriptions, with a free seven-day trial and 50% off the first month. You can find out more in our previous interview below.

CleanSheet Pro Is A Subscription-Based VR Goalkeeping Sim Coming To Quest 3

CleanSheet Pro is a subscription-based VR soccer sim for training goalkeepers, and the sequel arrives this year on Quest 3.

UploadVRHenry Stockdale

The Meta Horizon Store's Black Friday sale, now on, offers 40% off hundreds of Quest games via the discount code BFCM25.

There are far too many eligible titles for us to reasonably list, but you can see the full selection here.

Eligible games range from blockbusters like Assassin’s Creed Nexus, Reach, Asgard's Wrath 2, Metro Awakening, Alien: Rogue Incursion, Resident Evil 4, and Arizona Sunshine 2 to indie gems like Ghost Town, Superhot VR, Dungeons of Eternity, Walkabout Mini Golf, Real VR Fishing, and GOLF+.

We could go on all day here, but the TL;DR is that you can get 40% off almost every major title on Quest for the next week. A notable exception is Deadpool VR, which isn't eligible since it only came out last week. You'll still need to fork out $50 for it.

To apply the 40% discount for the eligible titles, just enter the code BFCM25 at checkout.

You can use it as many times as you want, up until 11:59 pm PT on December 2, a week from now.

Quest 3S Is $250 At Best Buy And Comes With $110 Of Black Friday Perks

Quest 3S is on sale for $250 at Best Buy, and comes with a $50 gift card, 1 month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, and The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners.

UploadVRDavid Heaney

Sale Bundles

Separately, Meta is also offering 11 sale bundles, letting you get multiple games and/or DLC together for a lower price than buying them individually:

• Vader Immortal Series
• Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge + Last Call DLC
• Squad Up: Pavlov Shack + Tactical Assault VR
• Freddy’s Bundle: Arizona Sunshine Remake + Arizona Sunshine 2
• Sandbox Chaos: Plastic Battlegrounds + Newton's Playground: Physics Sandbox
• Supersized Battles: UNDERDOGS + Kaiju Battle Simulator
• Walkabout Fan Favorites: Walkabout Mini Golf + Around the World in 80 Days + Atlantis + Raptor Cliff's + Venice
• Ghosts of Tabor Black Friday PAYDAY Bundle: Ghosts of Tabor
  + PAYDAY DLC
• Xtreme Riders: Virtual Skate + MotoX
• Real VR Fishing Japan DLC bundle: Real VR Fishing + Japan DLC Part 1 + Japan DLC Part 2
• Black Friday Pass: NightClub Simulator VR + Nightclub Simulator Multiplayer

If you already own one of the games in a bundle, the price is lowered to reflect that.

Meta's WorldGen AI system generates trimesh 3D worlds from text prompts, though the company doesn't think it's ready for Horizon Worlds yet.

Meta first teased that its Horizon Worlds creation tools would get the ability to AI-generate entire 3D worlds back in May, when announcing the related AssetGen 2.0 model. Then, in June, the company revealed that this feature would be called Environment Generation, teased example generations, and said it would launch "very soon".

Horizon Worlds Creators Can Now AI-Generate Islands, Add AI NPCs “Very Soon”

Meta’s Horizon Worlds Desktop Editor now lets creators AI-generate island environments, and will let them add conversational AI NPCs “very soon”.

UploadVRDavid Heaney

Environment Generation launched in August, but it was (and remains) only capable of generating a very specific kind of island, a very limited scope compared to the goal of generic world creation.

At Connect 2025 in September, Meta teased an overhaul of its Horizon Worlds creation tools, called Horizon Studio, which hasn't yet launched. The tease depicted an AI Assistant capable of generating just about anything a creator wants, including entire worlds, specific assets, custom NPCs, and specific gameplay mechanics, in a matter of seconds or minutes. But it's unclear whether what Meta was showing was notional or representative of real technology it was waiting to deploy.

Meta Horizon Studio Will AI-Generate Just About Anything For Horizon Worlds

Meta Horizon Studio, the new name for Horizon Worlds Desktop Editor, is getting an upgraded AI Assistant that can generate or change just about anything.

UploadVRDavid Heaney

That brings us to WorldGen, the new AI system Meta published a paper for.

Meta describes it as "a state-of-the-art end-to-end system for generating interactive and navigable 3D worlds from a single text prompt", leveraging a chain of 2D and 3D techniques, rather than being a single model.

"WorldGen is built on a combination of procedural reasoning, diffusion-based 3D generation, and object-aware scene decomposition. The result is geometrically consistent, visually rich, and render-efficient 3D worlds for gaming, simulation, and immersive social environments."

To be clear, this is not producing a Gaussian splat like World Labs' Marble, nor an interactive video stream like Google DeepMind's Genie 3.

Meta's WorldGen creates a layout of traditional trimesh 3D assets, making it fully compatible with traditional game engines and rendering pipelines. And it also includes a navmesh for collision detection and NPC traversal.

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Here's the underlying sequence WorldGen goes through after you input a prompt, according to Meta:

(1) Planning
1. Procedural blockout generation
2. Navmesh extraction
3. Reference image generation

(2) Reconstruction
1. Image-to-3D base model
2. Navmesh-based scene generation
3. Initial scene texture generation

(3) Decomposition
1. Part extraction with accelerated AutoPartGen for scenes
2. Data curation for scene decomposition

(4) Refinement
1. Image enhancement
2. Mesh refinement model
3. Texturing model

So why isn't WorldGen rolling out in Horizon Worlds Desktop Editor, or at least being announced as a launch feature for Horizon Studio?

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Meta says it's not satisfied with the fact that WorldGen currently only produces 50×50 meter spaces, and that it takes a long time to do so. The company says it's working to address both limitations.

It seems like a greatly upgraded future version of WorldGen will be necessary to deliver on the promise of Horizon Studio that Meta teased at Connect, and given the rate of advancement in AI, it's very possible that the company will be able to achieve exactly that sometime in 2026.

Notepad used to be a lovely plain text editor, useful for stripping out odd formatting and characters from documents that had been through one too many conversions.  You could usually count on…

It's an interesting time in the retro gaming world. Thanks to ongoing decompilation efforts, games formerly exclusive to a given platform are being made available on competing, rival platforms, including some that feature signature characters. Super Mario 64 and Spyro The Dragon, for example, are now playable on opposing platforms. That's

Apple has made some significant hardware and software updates this year, with the debut of the ultra-thin iPhone Air and overhauled user interface of its operating systems with the Liquid Glass design language. The company will be focusing on stability and performance for the next version of iOS, however, while attempting to bolster its AI

If you feel like Windows 11 has been trending less and less stable over the last few months, you're not imagining things. Microsoft has confirmed a nasty bug in Windows 11 version 24H2 (stemming from cumulative updates starting in July 2025) that's knocking out critical system components. According to support article KB5072911, several core

The latest Windows Insider build for Windows 11 features numerous performance fixes and additions, especially for File Explorer. One of the fixes, pictured below, is a reorganized right-click context menu in File Explorer. Perhaps the most interesting change is that Microsoft is considering pre-loading File Explorer in an effort to improve

Here at KitGuru we know you are sick of hearing about AI, however we have more bad news in this episode of Leo Says and it's all about the impact of AI. The shock is that Nvidia only has a minor part in this particular drama with the spotlight falling on Sam Altman of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT.

Previously we have blamed Nvidia for the runaway price of gaming graphics cards and now we can point the finger at OpenAI as we tell you about horrible, terrible and shocking things that are happening in the memory market where the cost of DDR5 has doubled in just the past two months.

Kitguru says: We are used to surges and pricing cycles but this time it feels different and we have a strong feeling that things won't change for the better in 2026 and may persist through 2027. Buckle up, it's going to get rough

The post Leo Says 83 – Nvidia, OpenAI & Rising RAM Prices: The Hidden Story first appeared on KitGuru.

We've covered many of MSI's Black Friday deals so far, focussed around monitors and DIY PC hardware. Today, MSI rolled out its list of laptop deals, cutting prices across gaming and business-oriented models.

Then MSI Prestige 14 AI Studio laptop is down from £1,399 to £979, packing an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor, 32GB of DDR5 memory and an RTX 3050 laptop GPU. For something with a bit more gaming grunt, there is the MSI Thin 15 with its 144Hz display, 13th Gen Intel Core i5 processor and RTX 4050 GPU, giving you access to more modern features like DLSS Frame Generation in supported titles. Normally, this model goes for £999 but is now down to £599.

The MSI Vector 16 HX AI houses a 16″ 16:10 QHD+ 240Hz display, an Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX, 16GB of RAM and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti for £1,499, down from its usual £1,899 price. For a cheaper option, the MSI Cyborg 15 Gaming Laptop has an Intel i7-13620H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 for £939.99.

If you are after a laptop with a current-gen GPU, then this newer MSI Cyborg 15 model with an RTX 5060 GPU instead is currently down to £1,049.

These are just a handful of the best deals, if you shop around at retailers like Currys, SCAN, Overclockers UK and even CyberPowerPC, you'll find a host of models at a discount for the next week or so.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Are you planning on picking up a new gaming laptop during the Black Friday sales this week?

The post MSI slashes laptop prices for Black Friday this week first appeared on KitGuru.

Microsoft has released the first public preview build of the Xbox Full Screen Experience (FSE), expanding its availability beyond handheld devices. The feature, previously limited to sub-10-inch displays like the ROG Xbox Ally X, is now officially accessible for testing on traditional desktops, laptops, and tablets via the Xbox Insider program.

The Full Screen Experience is designed with console-style navigation in mind, transforming the standard Windows 11 desktop into a streamlined, controller-first environment. Microsoft states that this mode also pauses background maintenance activities and mutes notifications to ensure consistent frame delivery. Furthermore, running FSE instead of the standard Windows Explorer shell can reportedly save approximately up to 2GB of system memory.

Once the FSE is enabled in Windows Settings, the interface can be accessed via Task View, Game Bar settings, or by pressing Windows key + F11. To access the official preview, users must be enrolled in both the Xbox Insider Program and the Windows Insider Program (Dev and Beta Channels). To join the Windows Insider and Xbox Insider programs, you first need to sign up for the Xbox Insider Program and install and open the Xbox Insider Hub application. In the app, go to Previews > Preview of PC Games, then select Join. Moreover, you'll also have to sign up for the Windows Insider Program and join the beta or dev channels.

The functionality is rolling out gradually with the latest Windows 11 preview release, 26220.7271. Microsoft expects that the Xbox Full Screen Experience will be rolled out to all Windows 11 users sometime next year.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru says: Are you interested in the new Xbox Full Screen Experience? Will you try it out while it's still in beta, or wait for the full release?

The post Microsoft rolls out Xbox Full Screen Experience preview for Windows 11 PCs first appeared on KitGuru.

Google and Nvidia have teamed up to introduce the GeForce Now Fast Pass, a new cloud gaming subscription tier built exclusively for Chromebook owners. The service offers access to over 2,000 “Ready-to-Play” titles from users' existing game libraries (Steam, Epic, Xbox, etc.), and every new Chromebook purchase now includes a one-year subscription for you to try it out.

The Fast Pass is positioned as a significant upgrade over the existing free service. It eliminates pre-roll advertisements and grants priority server access, allowing Chromebook users to skip the potentially long waiting queues often associated with the free plan. The service connects users to Nvidia's GeForce RTX servers, although not the latest RTX 5080 servers. The service also tops out at 1080p/60FPS at this tier, while Ultimate members get access to more resolution and frame rate options.

However, the new tier does come with a strict usage cap. Fast Pass members are limited to 10 hours of cloud gaming per month. While up to five unused hours can be carried over to the following month, this limitation positions the tier as a casual gaming supplement rather than a replacement for paid plans. For comparison, Nvidia's higher-tier subscriptions, which start at $9.99 per month, offer up to 100 hours of monthly playtime.

Neither company has confirmed the pricing of the Fast Pass outside of the one-year Chromebook bundle.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru says: Do you think this new tier will convince more gamers to get a Chromebook?

The post Nvidia launches GeForce Now ‘Fast Pass’ tier exclusive to Chromebooks first appeared on KitGuru.

The slow performance of the Windows 11 File Explorer has been a complaint since the operating system's debut. Microsoft has finally addressed this fundamental shortcoming, though the solution is less an architectural fix and more a clever workaround.

Microsoft (via Windows Central) has officially acknowledged the performance problems and is testing a solution in the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview builds, specifically 26220.7271. The key change is that File Explorer will now be preloaded into memory by default when the system boots or is idle. This keeps the necessary components resident in RAM, drastically reducing the “cold start” latency experienced when the user clicks the taskbar icon.

The company's motivation for this brute-force fix is clear: users often compare the sluggish start to the near-instantaneous file managers found in competing operating systems, with many pointing out that the problem did not exist in Windows 10. The performance degradation is widely attributed to the blending of modern XAML and WinUI components with the older Win32 shell, which supposedly creates unnecessary initialisation overhead.

While the fix should provide a snappy, near-instant launch, it has been met with skepticism, as some argue it masks the root cause of the inefficiency in how File Explorer was programmed. For users concerned about the permanent memory footprint, Microsoft has included a user-facing option in File Explorer's Folder Options to disable background preloading. The feature is expected to roll out to all Windows 11 users in a future update next year.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru says: Have you ever felt File Explorer was slow? Will you enable this option when your system supports it, or would you prefer to have more free memory?

The post Microsoft acknowledges Windows 11 File Explorer lag first appeared on KitGuru.

Chieftec has introduced a new Micro-ATX chassis, The Cube, that draws design inspiration from large audio speakers. As the name suggests, the case sports a minimalist, boxy design, with its signature look provided by a large circular front vent covered in breathable fabric, reminiscent of a subwoofer. 

The Chieftec The Cube is a compact 34.1-liter enclosure that measures 385 x 265 x 355mm (DxWxH). Despite its size, the case offers solid component compatibility, including support for mATX and Mini-ITX motherboards. There's also space for graphics cards up to 335mm long and CPU coolers up to 160mm tall. The chassis also supports standard ATX power supplies up to 160mm long (depending on whether internal drive bays are used). For storage, the system can house two 3.5-inch HDDs and two 2.5-inch SSDs simultaneously.

The unique front design houses a single 200mm PWM fan that comes pre-installed, ensuring high-volume, quiet airflow. The top of the chassis supports additional cooling, including up to two 120mm fans (or a single 200mm fan) or a 240mm liquid cooling radiator. There's also space for a 120mm fan at the rear.

The connectivity panel is located above the front grille and features dual USB 3.0 Type-A ports, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, and audio jacks. The case is currently available only in black. The product is already available in the EU, priced at approximately €70.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru says: The case looks interesting and could certainly pass for a subwoofer, although we do wonder if the fabric covering the vent may restrict airflow. 

The post Chieftec’s latest mATX case looks like a subwoofer first appeared on KitGuru.

Last month, IO Interactive made headlines with its latest HITMAN elusive target mission, bringing legendary martial artist Bruce Lee into the game. Now, IO Interactive has a new target for Agents to take out, the one and only Slim Shady.

Eminem vs Slim Shady is the latest elusive target contract for HITMAN: World of Assassination. The new mission will see players take on a mission from the rapper himself, as he looks to put his Slim Shady persona to rest for good. The mission takes place in a reworked version of an existing Hitman map, but rearranged to look like an asylum, complete with a radio broadcasting studio, all littered with references to past Eminem albums. Yes, that does include a poisoned plate of Mom's Spaghetti.

IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak called the collaboration “something truly special and unique”. Better yet, the mission will be free to all owners of the game across PlayStation, Xbox and Switch consoles, as well as PC, mobile platforms and even the VR versions of the game.

Eminem is the latest in a growing list of celebrity cameos within Hitman. We recently, saw Bruce Lee added to the game, but other past appearances have included Sean Bean, Jean‑Claude Van Damme, Conor McGregor and more.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Will you be checking out the new elusive target mission in Hitman?

The post Latest Hitman elusive target mission puts Agent 47 up against Eminem first appeared on KitGuru.

AI can bring real-world objects into VR as 3D assets in seconds, with Meta's new SAM 3D Objects model setting a new standard for quality.

It has been possible for years now to generate a 3D model of a real-world object by capturing dozens of images of it from surrounding angles, leveraging traditional photogrammetry techniques. Epic's RealityScan, for example, takes around 15–45 minutes of cloud processing, while Apple offers an on-device Object Capture API for iPhone Pro models that takes around 5 minutes.

But over the past year or so, advanced AI models have emerged that can produce 3D assets from a single image in a matter of seconds. And while they don't offer the same quality of photogrammetry, the quality has steadily improved with each new model release, mirroring the overall rapid advancement of AI.

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For an example of how this applies to VR, Takahiro “Poly” Horikawa published a Quest app on SideQuest that uses hand tracking to let you frame a specific real-world object and take a photo of it, leveraging Meta's passthrough camera API. This image is then provided to Stability AI's Stable Fast 3D API, based on the TripoSR model, and the result is spawned as a virtual object beside the image capture spot.

TripoSR is now almost two years old, though. And a few days ago, Meta launched SAM 3D Objects, the new state-of-the-art model for generating 3D assets from a single image.

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You can test out SAM 3D Objects for free in your web browser on the Meta AI Demos page. Just provide it with an image and you'll be able to select which object you want to convert to a 3D model. Seconds later, you'll see a 3D view where you can pan around the object with your mouse or finger.

Meta's site isn't designed for mobile screens, so you'll probably want to use a PC, laptop, tablet, or VR headset. Also note that the model is only designed for inanimate objects, not people or animals.

SAM 3D Objects is open source, available on GitHub and Hugging Face. That means developers should be able to host it on a cloud computing platform that offers GPUs, and use it to provide the experience of that EchoTheReality demo but with higher quality output – essentially pulling an object from reality into VR.

Social VR platforms, for example, could let you conduct show-and-tell for objects in your real room in a matter of seconds. Or decorate your home space with items you crafted in the real world. Meta has no announced plan to add this to Horizon Worlds, but it would seem like a natural future step, complementing the Hyperscape worlds it just launched.

Horizon Hyperscape Now Lets You Invite Friends To Visit As Meta Avatars

You can now turn new Horizon Hyperscape captures into unlisted Horizon Worlds, letting you invite friends to join you in them as Meta Avatars.

UploadVRDavid Heaney