price – Gaming Master

Nintendo isn’t ruling out a Switch 2 price rise depending on those pesky tariffs, as it predicts the new hardware will outdo the uber-popular OG Switch’s launch sales

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 08:55:09 +0000

Nintendo has made its projection for the Switch 2 launch sales numbers public, and while analysts are suggesting the console maker’s erred on the “conservative” side, it’s still expecting its latest hardware to bag some impressive numbers. Though, its president has said that the price of the console could potentially still rise, depending on how the whole US tariff situation plays out.

The sales estimate comes as part of Ninty’s forecast for the coming fiscal year, which is set to conclude in March 2026. How well does it think the Switch 2 will do? Well, 15 million units sold during the launch window is the number it’s touting.

That – along with 45 million games sold – is the bar Ninty set itself for this first year. The 15 million units sold figure would mean the Switch 2 outdoing the original Switch, which sold 14.87m units during its debut year.

Though, while these numbers might look big to the untrained eye, plenty of analysts think Nintendo’s being a bit cautious with its estimates due to the US tariff uncertainty that’s in the mix. “Conservative forecast from Nintendo here,” tweeted Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad, “Likely factoring in unpredictability around tariffs, pricing and production despite the positive pre-order momentum.

“For reference, our forecast was 14.5 million units by the end of December 2025, and that was already considered conservative by most of the industry. For what it’s worth, I do think Nintendo will raise its forecast if (big if) the tariff situation is reversed. However, main issue right now is knock on effects that are already in motion and creating a difficult environment for a console launch.”

Conservative forecast from Nintendo here.

Likely factoring in unpredictability around tariffs, pricing and production despite the positive pre-order momentum. https://t.co/Umy6fQSIiM

— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) May 8, 2025

Speaking of those pesky tariffs, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa hasn’t ruled out the possibility of them potentially leading to a Switch 2 price rise, depending on how things play out, according to report from Yahoo News translated by Genki.

“At this time, the top priority is to quickly popularize the Switch 2 hardware,” the exec said, “If the assumptions regarding tariffs change significantly, we would like to consider what price adjustments we should make and implement them after considering various factors.”

Damn, given fans have already called on Ninty to “DROP THE PRICE”, one can only imagine how ballistic things will go if the tariffs are deemed to necessitate a price change. How are you feeling about getting hold of a Switch 2 right now? Let us know below.

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Your ChatGPT bills could soon get a drastic price cut

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 03:00:05 +0000

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If you have ever winced at your monthly AI bill, here’s some good news. According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, OpenAI is considering drastically lowering the prices it charges users as it fights to win customers from its rival, Anthropic.

The company is weighing significant cuts to its token pricing, the unit AI firms use to bill for their products. Interestingly, the move is in anticipation of similar cuts OpenAI expects from Anthropic. So whichever AI service you use, your bills should get smaller.

Why is OpenAI suddenly feeling generous?

The answer is simple: businesses are tired of paying sky-high prices for AI. Heck, there have even been reports of AI costing companies more than actual employees. Even OpenAI CEO Sam Altman admitted at a recent event that costs had become “a huge issue,” adding, “I think we’ll have a lot of ways we can help people get more value for less spend.”

But that’s not all. OpenAI is also facing stiff competition. Anthropic’s revenue surged after its coding tool, Claude Code, went viral among software engineers, and the five-year-old startup surpassed OpenAI’s valuation for the first time. OpenAI has since made its own coding tool, Codex, a company focus, but it’s still far behind the competition.

Some corporations poured so much money into AI coding tools that their leaders are now reining in spending. An Uber executive said the company had already maxed out its 2026 budget for agentic AI. These comments have sparked a Silicon Valley debate about tokenmaxxing, the practice of burning through as many tokens as possible to boost productivity, even when it doesn’t generate returns.

Then there’s Google. Its Gemini models, especially the budget Flash tiers, undercut both ChatGPT and Claude on price, and its business plans cost nearly half of what OpenAI charges, adding even more competitive pressure.

What does a price war mean for you?

For the companies, it’s risky. Both companies already lose billions on computing costs, and both have confidentially filed for IPOs. Slashing prices right before facing public investors will be the first real test of their business models.

For users, it’s good news. They will soon see a drastic reduction in their AI costs. Competition is always good for consumers, and a price cut is one of the big benefits. So sit back and let the AI giants fight it out, because for once, we are the ones who win.

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Asus Zenbook 14 gets a splash of new colors, and hopefully, a MacBook Neo-tier price, too

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 09:05:03 +0000

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Asus has a new Zenbook 14 announced at Computex 2026 with the kind of color range most AI laptops still avoid. Arctic Blue, Komodo Coral, and Zabriskie Beige give this 14-inch ultraportable a livelier hook than another argument about neural processors.

The refreshed Zenbook 14 wraps those finishes around a 1.1kg Ceraluminum and metal chassis. It also checks the premium laptop boxes, with Copilot+ PC support, OLED display options, and processor choices spanning Intel, AMD, and Snapdragon. For a MacBook Neo rival, though, one unanswered detail matters most, price.

Why do the colors stand out

Most AI PCs still look built to disappear in an office supply closet. The Zenbook 14 pushes the other way, using softer nature-inspired finishes to feel less anonymous.

Asus lists a ceramic-style Ceraluminum lid, a metal body, a 16:10 OLED display, full I/O, a larger touchpad, and an easy-lift hinge. The tone-on-tone color treatment extends across the lid, logo, chassis, and keyboard, not just the top cover.

The Apple comparison is hard to avoid, but Asus has a cleaner lane than chasing the MacBook Air. Apple has restraint, while Asus is offering range. That advantage only holds if the Zenbook 14 lands at a price that makes the design feel like a bonus instead of a luxury tax.

How useful is the AI hardware

The Snapdragon version uses a Snapdragon X processor with a 45 TOPS NPU, while the broader lineup can reach up to 50 TOPS depending on configuration. That puts the machine in Copilot+ PC territory and gives it enough hardware for on-device AI features.

Battery life is the more useful everyday claim. Asus lists more than 21 hours of use, fast charging, and an all-in-one adapter, which matter more in a backpack than broad promises about smarter workflows.

The OLED display helps, too. Asus lists a 16:10 panel with an 88% screen-to-body ratio on the Qualcomm model, aiming the machine at people who want a compact laptop without giving up a premium screen.

Will Asus get the price right

The Zenbook 14 doesn’t need to beat the MacBook Air at being a MacBook Air. It needs to feel different, stay light, last long, and come in low enough that the bolder design feels like a smart buy.

Asus hasn’t provided the most important buyer detail yet. There’s no confirmed price in the supplied information, and availability isn’t pinned down beyond the broader Computex announcement. That makes any MacBook Neo-tier comparison more hope than verdict for now.

A 1.1kg OLED laptop with real color options, Copilot+ PC hardware, and long battery claims has a clear lane if Asus avoids premium-for-premium’s-sake pricing. Watch for regional pricing, configuration splits, and whether every color comes to major markets.

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Apple’s brand new M2 Mac Mini is down to £585 – half the price of the cheapest M2 MacBook

admin — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 07:46:53 +0000

The eyes of the world may be on the MacBook when it comes to Apple computers, but the firm’s lineup of Mac Minis is well worth considering too – given they offer the same performance and the same software for far less money. In fact, these machines can even outgun Apple’s (still on sale) Mac Pro from just a few years back, making them an incredible value. Today, for instance, you can pick up the M2 Mac Mini for just £585, a historic low price and less than half what you’d pay for a similarly-equipped MacBook Air.

The headline feature here is that new Apple Silicon M2 processor, which features eight CPU cores and 10 GPU cores, making it a powerful chip for video editing, web browsing and other creative endeavours. The M2 may only be more of an incremental upgrade on the older M1, but that chip was such a relevalation in terms of its performance that you’ll be hard pressed to find a more powerful computer for the asking price.

For such a small computer, this connectivity, both in terms of physical ports and wireless, is exemplary. There’s everything from a pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports to HDMI out and a pair of full-size USB-A, with gigabit ethernet and Wi-Fi 6E for networking. This allows you to take full advantage of fibre broadband, and with those Thunderbolt ports you can even add in up to 10-gig ethernet via an adapter if you need truly rapid access to storage or other machines on your local network.

The inclusion of 8GB of RAM is certainly enough for typical workloads, and while we’d recommend 16GB for Windows computers, the efficiency of Apple’s M2 processor and the macOS operating system mean that only really 8K video editing is likely to be a step too far for this configuration – not something that the vast majority of people considering a cut-price Mac will really need to do. This spec M2 Mac Mini also comes with a 256GB SSD, which is sufficient for your programs but we’d recommend getting a fast portable SSD or other external or network-attached storage if you’ll be doing video editing or storing large media libraries.

For £585, it’s hard to ignore the excellent value for money on offer with this Amazon deal on an M2-powered Mac Mini. If you were thinking of investing in an iMac, you’d be better off grabbing this newer Mac Mini and spending the extra on a quality monitor, or if you want to get into the macOS ecosystem with a more affordable choice, then this deal is for you.

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