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Ex-Microsoft gaming VP reveals why Xbox was greenlit despite how “unlikely” it was — “they saw it as a hedge against the threat” of Japan in tech

25 years after the original Xbox's release, ex-Microsoft gaming VP Ed Fries says it was created to rival Japanese companies like Sony and Nintendo.

A photograph of Ed Fries.

Ed Fries served as Microsoft's vice president of game publishing and an Xbox executive until he left the company in 2004.

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Oop, Xbox's Halo: Campaign Evolved release date may have just leaked thanks to a retailer's mistake — it might have a Deluxe Edition with Early Access, too

New Halo: Campaign Evolved leaks suggest that the remake of Xbox's original flagship shooter will come out on Xbox, PC, and PS5 in late July.

Halo Studios master chief and elite

Master Chief dueling an Elite in the Unreal Engine 5 tech demo shown when 343 Industries rebranded to Halo Studios. This concept would ultimately evolve into Halo: Campaign Evolved.

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Xbox is finally giving Achievements a huge update with several new features — “We stood up a dedicated team to focus on fan feedback”

Xbox is finally giving Achievements the kind of upgrade fans have been asking for for years — new features, modern systems, and even a dedicated internal team focused entirely on community feedback.

Images showing off new Xbox Achievements update for April 2026

Images showing off new Xbox Achievements update for April 2026

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"I know that a lot of PC gamers are resistant to AI": SteamGPT shows up in datamined Steam files, suggesting Valve plans to add AI to help in these two key areas

Reference to something called SteamGPT has appeared in a datamined Steam update, which could mean that Valve is bringing in AI to help speed up support requests and to buff anti-cheat. Here's what you need to know.

A Steam Deck OLED handheld gaming console on a solid purple background

<p>Helldivers 2 runs pretty well on Steam Deck, all things considered.</p>

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If you bought an Xbox controller recently: Read this — Microsoft says you might be eligible for free batteries.

Did you buy an Xbox controller between December 2025 and April 2026? You might be in luck.

Batteries in an Xbox controller.

Xbox controllers usually come with batteries, but Microsoft shipped a ton that were missing batteries since Winter. Microsoft has got your back, though.

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Here's a closer look at the gigantic Forza Horizon 6 Japan map, easily the greatest in the series' history

The full map for Forza Horizon 6 has been revealed, and it's a big one. From the vast Tokyo City to the snowy mountains and everything in between, here's how it's all laid out.

The cover car for Forza Horizon 6

The cover car for Forza Horizon 6 sure is a looker.

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The LEGO Metal Slug Diorama With Adjustable Cannons, POWs, and Mid-Air Grenades Is Here

By 1996, the arcade was dying. Virtua Fighter and Tekken had the crowds. Sega’s racing cabinets had the spectacle. The conventional wisdom was that 2D games were finished, and anyone still making pixel art sidescrollers was simply behind the curve. Then Nazca Corporation released Metal Slug on SNK’s Neo Geo hardware, and the conventional wisdom had to sit quietly in a corner for a while. The game’s hand-animated sprites moved with a fluidity that polygon games couldn’t touch, and the humor, panicking soldiers, grateful POWs tossing rocket launchers, a tank that waddled like a toy, made the whole thing feel alive in a way that pure technical showmanship never quite manages.

LEGO Ideas builder MagicBrick has captured a freeze-frame of that world in brick form, reconstructing the game’s iconic jungle mission with 2,701 pieces and 6 minifigures locked into a scene of swamp terrain, rebel soldiers, dense jungle vegetation, and the squat, waddling Super Vehicle-001 tank at the center of it all. It’s a dense, affectionate build made by someone who clearly lost many, many credits to this game, and it shows in every deliberately chosen detail, from the mid-jump Marco Rossi clutching a Heavy Machine Gun to the bearded POW standing by with a reward.

Designer: MagicBrick

The scene is structured like a freeze-frame from the game itself, which is exactly the right instinct. MagicBrick describes the goal as capturing “a dynamic instant where everything is in motion: jumps, actions, and interactions come together to recreate the fast-paced feeling typical of the game,” and the build delivers on that. Marco Rossi in his red jacket is airborne, Heavy Machine Gun in hand. Tarma Roving, yellow jacket, stands ready with a pistol and knife. Three Rebel Army soldiers in green uniforms and helmets fill out the opposition, armed with bazookas and rifles. The swamp base uses tiles in multiple shades to sell the terrain, jungle trees and palms crowd the background, and the brick-built backdrop reflects the arcade color palette of the original game rather than any attempt at realism. That last decision is a smart one. Metal Slug was never interested in realism, and neither is this.

The Super Vehicle-001 is the centerpiece, and MagicBrick has packed a surprising amount of function into a compact footprint. The rear cannons are adjustable, the tracks are functional, and antennas complete the silhouette. Scattered across the scene are the environmental details that will hit Metal Slug veterans like a reflex: ammo crates, yellow barrels, a hanging fish skeleton, a parachute, and both the Heavy Machine Gun and Rocket Launcher power-up pickups rendered in brick. My favorite touch, though, is the grenade sequence, a classic cartoon-logic arc of thrown grenades ending in a mid-air explosion, frozen in plastic at exactly the right moment of absurdity.

Topping the whole structure is the Metal Slug logo itself, rendered in a red-to-orange gradient that makes the build read as a display piece as much as a playset. It’s that combination of environmental storytelling, playable features, and genuine fan knowledge that separates builds like this from generic video game tributes.

LEGO Ideas is the platform where fan-designed MOCs (My Own Creations) gather community votes, with 10,000 supporters needed to trigger an official LEGO review and potential production as a retail set. MagicBrick’s Metal Slug submission hit 100 supporters almost immediately after going live and has been picking up Reddit traction since. If you grew up feeding tokens into a Neo Geo cabinet, head to the LEGO Ideas page and cast your vote here.

The post The LEGO Metal Slug Diorama With Adjustable Cannons, POWs, and Mid-Air Grenades Is Here first appeared on Yanko Design.

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"The absolute pinnacle of the Forza Horizon series": I finally played Forza Horizon 6 and it's a spectacle the likes of which we haven't seen before

I finally played Forza Horizon 6 ahead of its May 19 release and got my first taste of the Japanese streets. It was worth the wait.

A promo shot of Forza Horizon 6 showing racing on the streets of Tokyo.

A promo shot of Forza Horizon 6 showing racing on the streets of Tokyo.

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Four new features I found in the Forza Horizon 6 preview that will change how you play the game

The Forza Horizon 6 preview build is but a tiny snapshot of what we can expect, but even so, I found four new features that add a little change to the way you'll play the game.

A promotional image of the Horizon Festival in Forza Horizon 6.

The Horizon Festival this year is quite the spectacle.

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“I’m already sold”: Xbox’s new Forza Horizon 6 limited‑edition accessories are (almost) here — and they might be even cooler than I expected

Xbox is reportedly preparing new Forza Horizon 6 themed accessories, including a limited edition controller and headset, with pricing details already emerging ahead of launch.

Forza Horizon 6 screenshots

Forza Horizon 6 promotional image featuring Mt Fuji

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