The Apple Vision Pro is reportedly on “life support”
The Apple Vision Pro’s death, it seems, was greatly exaggerated. In April, all signs pointed to Apple being done with the Vision Pro after the R100,000+ wearable didn’t get the traction it hoped for. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the Fruit Company is now working on a ‘completely revamped’ model known internally as N224.
This isn’t the triumphant return you might expect, like the third act of a superhero movie. While Apple seems to have assembled a team of engineers to put it together — currently exploring four concepts that aim to make the device cheaper and lighter — the project is reportedly still on “life support” at HQ.
If the device ever sees the light of day, likely after Apple’s take on a pair of smart glasses, it could be made up of plastic or titanium. That would certainly help reduce the weight, one of the biggest problems the original headset had. Some designs reportedly “offload internal components”, just like Meta’s new VR glasses that use a puck. Higher-ups at Apple are not as keen on the idea. They’d rather the headset resemble an all-in-one device.
If Apple does throw something worthy together, the earliest we could see the device land is 2028 or 2029. Apple is funnelling much of its time, energy, and considerable resources into its displayless smart glasses. “All the while, Meta has demonstrated that the Vision Pro’s fundamental idea wasn’t the problem. Apple’s execution was,” concludes Gurman.
Physical PlayStation discs may not be as far gone as we initially thought
Much has been said in the wake of Sony PlayStation’s decision to stop printing new physical game discs come 2028. So much so that it’s left a gap in consumers’ hearts that Microsoft Xbox may be attempting to fill with its next console. If the rumours are true, however, Sony is maybe, just maybe, reconsidering its physical stance.
It’s Kenzo Saruhashi, CEO of Nippon Ichi Software and now president of NIS America, who got our hopes up. The company is known for its physical-leaning collector editions. So when Kotaku asked him whether his company would transition to a code-in-the-box model, he acknowledged that it may be one direction it’s forced to take.
It may not be the only direction, though. “In our discussions with Sony so far, I think that they’re hearing a lot of the feedback from customers and so while that may be one destination that we arrive at, it’s possible that the discussion may change in the future, so we’ll have to see what happens, what comes of it,” he said.
It may mean nothing. His comment suggests Sony is at least hearing out developers against the idea, while also assimilating fan feedback. Perhaps Sony could be convinced to keep physical discs alive for collector editions, or something similar. Until we hear confirmation from Sony’s mouth, though, assume physical discs are dead.
A DualSense NFC paypoint is not the dystopian future we were promised
Picking up digital games from the PlayStation Store is as easy as punching in your credit card info and hitting X. Sony, though, is reportedly looking at making it even easier to give money to the company. A patent filed in 2025 hints at turning the PlayStation controller into a pay-point using NFC.
In theory, it would let owners simply tap their bank card or smartphone to their game controller and pay that way. Just as you do at the shops already. Many modern smartphones and banking cards include the chip. The system describes how gamers could purchase games, add-ons, and microtransactions.
The patent also describes how the setup could accept physical gift cards. The system as a whole does present a few security risks that you’d imagine Sony has already accounted for. Like disallowing stolen bank cards — from a kid or otherwise — from making purchases. These aren’t detailed in the patent just yet.
Of course, a patent isn’t confirmation of the feature. Sony is exploring the idea, but it may never see the light of day. It’s unclear whether the feature would come standard on PlayStation controllers, or if buyers would pay a special fee for an NFC-enabled controller. Only time will tell, it seems.
This browser remake of Lego Racers is asking you to Step On It
1999’s Lego Racers is back. Kinda. The game has been revived in the form of a free-to-play browser game, decidedly not called Lego Racers. This one’s called Step On It, and it actually improves on the original game in a few key ways. One of those is six-player online multiplayer, which should keep you busy at work ’til 16h00 strikes.
It’s also a whole lot sharper than the original Lego Racers, despite its browser limitations. The project keeps all the tracks you’d remember from 27 years ago, as well as the racers. Everything is unlocked right from the get-go here. The project has rebalanced the game via the power-ups and has made the AI tougher.
What’s left is a faithful recreation of the 1999 racer’s vibes that can be played from just about anywhere. We’ve only dived into a single race thus far, using our keyboard’s WASD controls to cross the finish line. Shift came in handy when firing power-ups. To see just how far Step On It has come, here’s some original Lego Racers gameplay.
