**The Console War and the Rise of Independent Gaming Platforms**

It's no surprise that the $2.5 trillion dollar company is losing the console war when selling on their own platforms starts to make sense. The reason behind this decline is largely attributed to the fact that consumers are becoming more aware of the value of independence and flexibility in gaming. With the rise of independent gaming platforms, users have more control over their gaming experiences, allowing them to access a wider range of titles without being tied to specific console brands.

This shift has led to a significant change in the way gamers consume and interact with games. Independent platforms like Nintendo Switch, PlayStation Now, and Xbox Game Pass offer a vast library of games that can be accessed without the need for expensive hardware upgrades. This model allows gamers to try out new games, discover hidden gems, and play their favorite titles on any device they choose.

For developers, independent platforms have opened up new opportunities for creating and distributing games. With lower barriers to entry, more creators are able to bring their ideas to life, resulting in a proliferation of innovative and diverse gaming content. The success of indie games like Minecraft, Cuphead, and Celeste demonstrates the viability of this business model, where small studios can produce high-quality titles that rival those from established developers.

However, the rise of independent platforms also raises questions about the future of console gaming. As users become more accustomed to playing on multiple devices, will traditional console manufacturers struggle to adapt? Will gamers continue to flock to independent platforms for their gaming needs?

**Brilliant: A Hands-On and Interactive Way to Learn STEM Topics**

In an effort to make learning STEM topics more engaging and accessible, Brilliant has launched a comprehensive online platform that offers thousands of lessons on computer science fundamentals. With new topics being added each month, users can explore cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science in a fun and interactive way.

Brilliant's approach is designed to make complex concepts more understandable by providing hands-on exercises and projects. Students can work through problems using real-world examples, making the learning process feel more relevant and applicable. The platform also includes video lessons, quizzes, and discussion forums to facilitate peer-to-peer learning and collaboration.

Whether you're a student looking to improve your coding skills or an adult seeking to upskill in computer science, Brilliant offers a unique opportunity to learn by doing. With its focus on interactive learning, the platform can be used as a supplement to traditional education or as a standalone resource for personal growth and development.

**NASA's Mars Sample Return Mission: A Costly Venture**

Despite being one of the most ambitious space missions in recent history, NASA's Mars sample return mission has encountered several challenges and setbacks. The estimated cost of the mission has skyrocketed from an initial $4.4 billion to potentially double that amount, due to various factors such as inflation and technical issues.

One of the primary concerns is the fate of the Perseverance Rover, which was designed to collect samples on Mars but may have succumbed to the harsh Martian environment. If the rover has indeed died, the sample return mission will need to be revised to ensure collection. To mitigate this risk, NASA has updated the plan for sampling and retrieval.

Another factor contributing to the increased cost is inflation. As the global economy continues to experience fluctuations, the price of resources and materials used in space exploration has risen significantly. It's estimated that even the simplest components, such as a loaf of bread, can be several hundred dollars due to their rarity and production costs in space.

**Google's DeepMind: A Leap Forward in AI**

Google's DeepMind has announced its latest model, Gemini, which promises to surpass the capabilities of its predecessor, ChatGPT. While details about Gemini's features and functionality remain scarce, enthusiasts are abuzz with excitement at the prospect of a more advanced language model.

The Gemini model is said to combine the powers of large language models with reinforcement learning techniques that helped AlphaGo defeat a Go champion in 2016. This integration promises to create a more sophisticated AI system capable of performing complex tasks and generating human-like responses.

However, concerns about Gemini's capabilities have been raised by critics who question how DeepMind plans to make it work without being completely transparent about its inner workings. Some worry that the model might resort to making up answers or engaging in creative writing, rather than providing accurate information.

**Meta Quest Plus: A Subscription Service for Gamers**

In an effort to expand its gaming offerings, Meta has launched a new subscription service called Quest Plus. This exclusive program provides users with access to two games every month, handpicked by Meta's team of experts.

The first month's titles include Rhythm games and a first-person shooter, while the second month promises Walkabout mini golf, mother gunship Forge, and other exciting experiences. For $7.99 per month, subscribers can enjoy these new releases without having to purchase them separately or worry about keeping track of multiple game libraries.

The Quest Plus service offers an attractive alternative for gamers who want to explore a wide range of titles without breaking the bank. By providing access to curated content, Meta aims to create a more engaging and inclusive gaming community that caters to diverse tastes and preferences.

**The Future of Console Gaming**

As independent platforms continue to grow in popularity, it's likely that traditional console manufacturers will need to adapt to remain relevant. Will gamers flock to Quest Plus for their gaming needs? Will other subscription services emerge to rival Meta's offerings?

One thing is certain: the rise of independent platforms has changed the landscape of gaming forever. With new opportunities for creators, developers, and consumers alike, the future of console gaming looks bright and exciting.

In conclusion, the rise of independent platforms has opened up a new era in gaming, offering users more flexibility, freedom, and access to diverse content. As we look to the future, it's clear that traditional console manufacturers must evolve to stay competitive and relevant in this rapidly changing landscape.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enNvidia may be gearing up to launch an RTX 4090 TI if leaked photos are any indication although many are speculating that the photos might depict a new RTX Titan or perhaps another graphics card that isn't remotely worth its MSRP I'm Riley Murdoch this is techlinked and this massive cooler was first spotted in October last year and was claimed to have a cooling capacity of 900 watts double the TDP of nvidia's current 4090 Flagship more than likely however this heatsink was a prototype for the 4090 GeForce RTX is written on it whereas Titan cards normally say Titan as a way to differentiate between a card bought by a normal person and a card bought by someone continually looking for something to fill the endless void in their soul use money to smother the sadness it is a money-shaped hole other evidence from this being a 4090 prototype is that the heatsink says RTX 4090 on it which is it's pretty cut and dry but here's the thing if you're one of the many that thinks the 4080 should have been the 4070 TI when it came out out or that the upcoming 4060 should have been a 40 50. it's possible that the best bang for the buck 4090 might have also gotten a downgrade during development and this heatsink will end up on a future 4090 TI we can't know which is why we said the word might about 20 times in the story don't do the math speaking of the upcoming 4060 leaked 3dmark tests for the card show a 23 performance improvement over the 30 60 12 gigabyte version so there's actually a chance this card could be a good deal AMD and their Partners seem to think so since multiple Radeon RX 7600 models have been discounted days before the 4060s release do you see Gamers do you see what happens when you simply don't buy an overpriced product like the 4060 TI I'm getting a transmission from the future the RTX 49 DTI sold out on day one damn it why don't you listen Gamers we've talked about this many times gamers Gamers no one wanted stadia to fail except everyone so now YouTube is internally testing a new way to play online games instantly according to an email seen by The Wall Street Journal I mean after Google got a taste with stadia they couldn't just cold turkey quit offering gaming Services no one wants their newest alleged foray is called playables and will make online games instantly playable within YouTube's website and apps which sounds less like the next big thing in gaming and more like 2008 when your Facebook was flooded by requests from every one of your casual acquaintances to help them grow corn I didn't help anyone the only game mentioned in the email is stack bounce in which players aim to smash layers of bricks with a bouncing ball sounds like my kind of Friday night you know what I mean while both The Verge and polygon think it sounds like a clone of the popular Atari game Breakout I used a radical new journalistic technique called Googling to find stack bounce and it seems to be the game you see in every mobile game ad that doesn't feature Pedro Pascal I wish his are the best after stadia was retired the services general manager Phil Harrison did say Google wasn't giving up on gaming and that stadia's underlying Tech could make its way to Google services like YouTube what Harrison didn't say was you'd now be able to play it all of the shovelware games that advertise on YouTube without leaving the website finally a convenient new feature for the lowest common denominator we need more of those there's not enough stupid things and Microsoft has made some lofty claims while defending themselves in court since the FTC simply will not let them be in a legal filing arguing that Nintendo should be considered part of the high-end console Market questionable along with the Xbox series X and PS5 Microsoft argued that both Xbox and Playstation offer cheaper consoles priced similarly to the Nintendo switch Microsoft brings up the Xbox series s and the PS5 digital Edition while also saying Sony is expected to release a PlayStation 5 Slim later this year at a 400 price point this is probably a reference to the PS5 console with a detachable disk drive that was first reported on back in September of last year it's so kind of Microsoft to help their rival Sony announce their products that was so sweet they only fight sometimes but but maybe don't believe everything Microsoft says because that same legal filing says Sony is set to release a handheld version of PlayStation 5. live later this year for under 300 if that is a reference to Sony's already announced project Q either Sony vastly undersold Q during his announcements and we're about to get out on wonderful surprise or Microsoft is throwing whatever legal arguments they can at the legal argument wall to see what sticks it's mostly government on there a little bit of spaghetti the high school kids love that wall I'm sorry everyone it's probably the latter case after Phil Spencer said during the hearing that Microsoft bought Bethesda to prevent Sony from making Starfield a timed exclusive for the PS5 and he said that Sony uses the 30 cut on any Microsoft game sold on Playstation platforms to help fund strategies to quote reduce Xbox's Survival on the market by presumably doing harmful bad things like offering competing products and services I mean when you think about the fact that poor Microsoft only gets a mere 70 of Microsoft games sold on Playstation as opposed to the 100 they get when selling on their own platforms it really starts to make sense why the 2.5 trillion dollar company is losing the console war donate today now it's time for quick bits brought to you by brilliant a Hands-On and interactive way to learn stem topics brilliant offers thousands of lessons with new topics to learn each month like their computer science fundamentals course after all if you don't understand the basics behind a problem where to even start your troubleshooting the legal argument wall their services can be used to supplement a college education or you can use it if getting smart and correcting all the bad and wrong people in your life is just a passion of yours the first 200 people who had a brilliant.org TechLink will get 20 off an annual premium subscription so do that hey hey eyes up here I'm more than just Tech dues okay I'm a person I'm not a piece of mate well I am that but the cost for NASA to collect exotic sand is looning according to well NASA the Mars sample return mission is meant to pick up the samples taken by the perseverance Rover over the last two years and transfer them back to Earth for study the cost estimate however has jumped from up to 4.4 billion in 2020 to up to potentially double that amount ooh there are multiple factors to this costly mistakes made by the jet propulsion Laboratories updated sample retrieval plans to ensure collection if perseverance has died by the time the mission launches and worst of all inflation and we're not talking about the balloons that are used by the Rover it's I'm assuming there's balloons don't Google it because not even robots in space can believe the price of a loaf of bread these days the CEO of Google's deepmind told wired that their next Generation model Gemini will be more capable than chat gbt without saying in what way exactly like will it stop making things up about me and emailing them to my friends and family because I'm not sure that was supposed to be a feature can it juggle Gemini will combine the powers of a large language model with the kind of reinforcement learning techniques that quote helped alphago defeat a go champion in 2016 which would be impressive if a human hadn't just beaten one of the top go-playing AIS last year Google please just test this one before you demo it that was embarrassing meta has launched a new meta Quest Plus subscription service joining the exclusive ranks of PlayStation Plus Apple TV slash Fitness slash other things plus Disney plus and many many more the word plus basic maths way of saying this but more so for 7.99 subscribers will receive two games every month two specific titles that meta chooses for you July's titles are Rhythm games slash first person shooter pistol whip and video game about playing a video game Pixel ripped 1995. August's titles however will be Walkabout mini golf and mother gunship Forge and I desperately wish I was the kind of person who would enjoy all of those games equally they must be so happy UK police are blaming a recent Android update for an uptick in emergency center butt dials one new feature automatically dials Emergency Services when the power button is pressed five or more times something that can be accidentally accomplished while trying to dig out a particularly pernicious wedgie did you think about that UK police or as the British call it wedgie but in the accent like oh the feature was already available on Pixel phones but there's been a major increase in British butt cheeks unknowingly dialing 999 now that the feature is available on all Android devices a Google spokesperson said that device manufacturers will address this issue shortly and that users that continue to experience this issue should switch emergency SOS off for the next couple of days so if you're looking to commit a crime somewhere in Britain in the near future here's your chance arson arson Carson and Amazon is recruiting small businesses to help deliver packages throughout the us including coffee shops clothing stores and florists because that's what your local grocer slash bookstore slash U-Haul Depot needs another side hustle these are intended to be last mile delivery outposts which receive packages from larger distribution centers and drop them off at customers doors Amazon didn't say exactly how much it will pay per package but they did say that they expect partnering businesses to make around twenty seven thousand dollars a year delivering an average of 30 packages a day so with the power of grade school math we can determine that they will be paying around 250 a package the other option available to them was to raise delivery driver wages in order to attract more delivery drivers instead of paying random florists to deliver packages but you know honestly I see where they're coming from it's a hard situation and I'll see where you're coming from if you come back for another episode of techlinked on Wednesday How will I see where you're coming from I'm a really good hacker okay I just I can hack stuff I'm big into hackingNvidia may be gearing up to launch an RTX 4090 TI if leaked photos are any indication although many are speculating that the photos might depict a new RTX Titan or perhaps another graphics card that isn't remotely worth its MSRP I'm Riley Murdoch this is techlinked and this massive cooler was first spotted in October last year and was claimed to have a cooling capacity of 900 watts double the TDP of nvidia's current 4090 Flagship more than likely however this heatsink was a prototype for the 4090 GeForce RTX is written on it whereas Titan cards normally say Titan as a way to differentiate between a card bought by a normal person and a card bought by someone continually looking for something to fill the endless void in their soul use money to smother the sadness it is a money-shaped hole other evidence from this being a 4090 prototype is that the heatsink says RTX 4090 on it which is it's pretty cut and dry but here's the thing if you're one of the many that thinks the 4080 should have been the 4070 TI when it came out out or that the upcoming 4060 should have been a 40 50. it's possible that the best bang for the buck 4090 might have also gotten a downgrade during development and this heatsink will end up on a future 4090 TI we can't know which is why we said the word might about 20 times in the story don't do the math speaking of the upcoming 4060 leaked 3dmark tests for the card show a 23 performance improvement over the 30 60 12 gigabyte version so there's actually a chance this card could be a good deal AMD and their Partners seem to think so since multiple Radeon RX 7600 models have been discounted days before the 4060s release do you see Gamers do you see what happens when you simply don't buy an overpriced product like the 4060 TI I'm getting a transmission from the future the RTX 49 DTI sold out on day one damn it why don't you listen Gamers we've talked about this many times gamers Gamers no one wanted stadia to fail except everyone so now YouTube is internally testing a new way to play online games instantly according to an email seen by The Wall Street Journal I mean after Google got a taste with stadia they couldn't just cold turkey quit offering gaming Services no one wants their newest alleged foray is called playables and will make online games instantly playable within YouTube's website and apps which sounds less like the next big thing in gaming and more like 2008 when your Facebook was flooded by requests from every one of your casual acquaintances to help them grow corn I didn't help anyone the only game mentioned in the email is stack bounce in which players aim to smash layers of bricks with a bouncing ball sounds like my kind of Friday night you know what I mean while both The Verge and polygon think it sounds like a clone of the popular Atari game Breakout I used a radical new journalistic technique called Googling to find stack bounce and it seems to be the game you see in every mobile game ad that doesn't feature Pedro Pascal I wish his are the best after stadia was retired the services general manager Phil Harrison did say Google wasn't giving up on gaming and that stadia's underlying Tech could make its way to Google services like YouTube what Harrison didn't say was you'd now be able to play it all of the shovelware games that advertise on YouTube without leaving the website finally a convenient new feature for the lowest common denominator we need more of those there's not enough stupid things and Microsoft has made some lofty claims while defending themselves in court since the FTC simply will not let them be in a legal filing arguing that Nintendo should be considered part of the high-end console Market questionable along with the Xbox series X and PS5 Microsoft argued that both Xbox and Playstation offer cheaper consoles priced similarly to the Nintendo switch Microsoft brings up the Xbox series s and the PS5 digital Edition while also saying Sony is expected to release a PlayStation 5 Slim later this year at a 400 price point this is probably a reference to the PS5 console with a detachable disk drive that was first reported on back in September of last year it's so kind of Microsoft to help their rival Sony announce their products that was so sweet they only fight sometimes but but maybe don't believe everything Microsoft says because that same legal filing says Sony is set to release a handheld version of PlayStation 5. live later this year for under 300 if that is a reference to Sony's already announced project Q either Sony vastly undersold Q during his announcements and we're about to get out on wonderful surprise or Microsoft is throwing whatever legal arguments they can at the legal argument wall to see what sticks it's mostly government on there a little bit of spaghetti the high school kids love that wall I'm sorry everyone it's probably the latter case after Phil Spencer said during the hearing that Microsoft bought Bethesda to prevent Sony from making Starfield a timed exclusive for the PS5 and he said that Sony uses the 30 cut on any Microsoft game sold on Playstation platforms to help fund strategies to quote reduce Xbox's Survival on the market by presumably doing harmful bad things like offering competing products and services I mean when you think about the fact that poor Microsoft only gets a mere 70 of Microsoft games sold on Playstation as opposed to the 100 they get when selling on their own platforms it really starts to make sense why the 2.5 trillion dollar company is losing the console war donate today now it's time for quick bits brought to you by brilliant a Hands-On and interactive way to learn stem topics brilliant offers thousands of lessons with new topics to learn each month like their computer science fundamentals course after all if you don't understand the basics behind a problem where to even start your troubleshooting the legal argument wall their services can be used to supplement a college education or you can use it if getting smart and correcting all the bad and wrong people in your life is just a passion of yours the first 200 people who had a brilliant.org TechLink will get 20 off an annual premium subscription so do that hey hey eyes up here I'm more than just Tech dues okay I'm a person I'm not a piece of mate well I am that but the cost for NASA to collect exotic sand is looning according to well NASA the Mars sample return mission is meant to pick up the samples taken by the perseverance Rover over the last two years and transfer them back to Earth for study the cost estimate however has jumped from up to 4.4 billion in 2020 to up to potentially double that amount ooh there are multiple factors to this costly mistakes made by the jet propulsion Laboratories updated sample retrieval plans to ensure collection if perseverance has died by the time the mission launches and worst of all inflation and we're not talking about the balloons that are used by the Rover it's I'm assuming there's balloons don't Google it because not even robots in space can believe the price of a loaf of bread these days the CEO of Google's deepmind told wired that their next Generation model Gemini will be more capable than chat gbt without saying in what way exactly like will it stop making things up about me and emailing them to my friends and family because I'm not sure that was supposed to be a feature can it juggle Gemini will combine the powers of a large language model with the kind of reinforcement learning techniques that quote helped alphago defeat a go champion in 2016 which would be impressive if a human hadn't just beaten one of the top go-playing AIS last year Google please just test this one before you demo it that was embarrassing meta has launched a new meta Quest Plus subscription service joining the exclusive ranks of PlayStation Plus Apple TV slash Fitness slash other things plus Disney plus and many many more the word plus basic maths way of saying this but more so for 7.99 subscribers will receive two games every month two specific titles that meta chooses for you July's titles are Rhythm games slash first person shooter pistol whip and video game about playing a video game Pixel ripped 1995. August's titles however will be Walkabout mini golf and mother gunship Forge and I desperately wish I was the kind of person who would enjoy all of those games equally they must be so happy UK police are blaming a recent Android update for an uptick in emergency center butt dials one new feature automatically dials Emergency Services when the power button is pressed five or more times something that can be accidentally accomplished while trying to dig out a particularly pernicious wedgie did you think about that UK police or as the British call it wedgie but in the accent like oh the feature was already available on Pixel phones but there's been a major increase in British butt cheeks unknowingly dialing 999 now that the feature is available on all Android devices a Google spokesperson said that device manufacturers will address this issue shortly and that users that continue to experience this issue should switch emergency SOS off for the next couple of days so if you're looking to commit a crime somewhere in Britain in the near future here's your chance arson arson Carson and Amazon is recruiting small businesses to help deliver packages throughout the us including coffee shops clothing stores and florists because that's what your local grocer slash bookstore slash U-Haul Depot needs another side hustle these are intended to be last mile delivery outposts which receive packages from larger distribution centers and drop them off at customers doors Amazon didn't say exactly how much it will pay per package but they did say that they expect partnering businesses to make around twenty seven thousand dollars a year delivering an average of 30 packages a day so with the power of grade school math we can determine that they will be paying around 250 a package the other option available to them was to raise delivery driver wages in order to attract more delivery drivers instead of paying random florists to deliver packages but you know honestly I see where they're coming from it's a hard situation and I'll see where you're coming from if you come back for another episode of techlinked on Wednesday How will I see where you're coming from I'm a really good hacker okay I just I can hack stuff I'm big into hacking\n"