Entertainment
The Xbox Series X Has Arrived
But faced with the reality of the original Xbox hardware, Molyneux’s boast was far beyond what he could deliver, and the apple core concept went down as an ambitious ideal for what Gameworld design could someday hope to achieve. Now, nearly two decades, and three generations of Xbox consoles later, such realism and responsiveness is no longer out of reach, says Jason Ronald, the development chief of the Xbox Series X.
Ronald is explaining what’s under the hood of the new generation consoles and why it matters. “I think it really comes down to larger, open, dynamic, more living worlds, where what you’ve done a couple hours ago is persistent in the world,” he says. “It’s really about creating that universe.”
Some reviewers have been struggling to find the feature or the game that makes a Series X worthy of purchasing over a PlayStation 5. This is the beginning of Microsoft’s answer. “Historically, when you think about console generations, it’s primarily driven by graphics innovation or graphics fidelity,” says Ronald, speaking days before the global launch of the Series X, along with its lower-spec sibling Series S. “The reality is developers can already deliver a really high quality, amazing, visual, 4K, HDR-enabled experience. So much of this generation is going to be how games feel and how they play.”
Reviewers have been impressed by the console’s mighty specs and evident power, but the delay of Halo Infinite into 2021 has left them without a standout game to show how this translates into the “emotion” and “immersion” that its manufacturer has promised.
Vanishing away loading times (which the big, boxy Series X certainly achieves) is welcome news for sure, but it’s a fairly lukewarm promise. However, developers from major studios who have spent months working with Xbox’s new architecture say the consoles’ Quick Resume feature is best seen as a teaser of the true achievements Microsoft has made under the hood.
Hands-on, the power is genuinely impressive, earning praise from PC gamers used to spending four or five times the Series X list price on a top-end rig. Microsoft has doubled down on calling this the developer’s console, and played up its co-development with input from its own game studios, major players and smart indies. In practice, this means developers no longer have to constrain the play space or programme in arbitrary work-arounds – “funneling the player through a hallway or a corridor or an elevator” which takes them out of the experience or slows down the play experience, Ronald says.
Yet for all the talk of teraflops, the fan response to July’s video of Halo Infinite’s gameplay was just what Microsoft didn’t want: its flagship release being met with a chorus of shrugs. A bad game would have been one thing, but an underwhelming game that failed to show what, if anything, the console could do differently, sounded alarms about whether Microsoft could match competitors’ marriage of hardware and experience (with Nintendo’s Switch still charmingly setting the benchmark, here).
On launch day, Halo will be missed, with neither the enhanced Gears 5 nor the three-year-old Destiny 2 filling that hole. There’s always a launch-day racer that shows off the latest graphics and physics, and Dirt 5 fills that slot, with satisfyingly wet mud and slippery performance, but even that isn’t a next-gen exclusive.
For gamers still expecting a new generation to mean a big step forward – think taking Mario’s first 3D leaps on N64 or Master Chief crash-landing onto Halo‘s ringworld on Microsoft’s first console – today’s launch can’t help but feel like a disappointment.
This strange moment is partly due to Microsoft’s decision to look beyond console gaming’s generation-by-generation leaps. Ronald says Microsoft is now committing to give the best possible experience “wherever a player chooses to play”. Its Amazon Prime-like subscription service, Xbox Game Pass, already has 15 million subscribers and allows them to play the same game while swapping between last-gen Xbox One hardware, Windows PC, and Android devices. Since September, subscribers have had access to its xCloud feature, which allows them to cloud stream games, ala Google Stadia.
No doubt Game Pass means a novel kid-in-a-sweet-shop experience the morning when the Xbox Series X arrives. Subscribers will have hundreds of titles at their fingertips, visually tuned up from older generations by the systems “AutoHDR” feature, with faster load times and higher resolutions. But the games themselves will largely be the same ones that were available on older consoles.
Ronald says he doesn’t believe this is the “last generation” of truly new Xboxes we’ll see before cloud computing takes over. However, with the Series X, Microsoft – which has in the past spoken of its desire for a more PC-like evolution of hardware – appears to be putting to bed the generational lurches of the past. But in Microsoft’s embrace of truly cross-platform play, it has robbed gamers of the thrill of past generations’ launch day excitement.
Microsoft seems to be playing the long game. It has recruited talent to pair with this hardware, including the $7.5 billion purchase of ZeniMax, parent of Elder Scrolls and Fallout publisher Bethesda. The company’s massive outlay (the acquisition cost more than Disney paid for Marvel, Pixar or Lucasfilm) is an indicator of how important first-party exclusive experiences are, in a generation when consumers are not just buying hardware but very likely joining a subscription ecosystem. Potential buyers want to see a formidable line-up of games coming up, at least to match Placentation’s upcoming exclusives including Spider-Man: Miles Morales and a new God of War sequel.
In Microsoft’s camp, there are notable absences (some blamed on Covid-19 related delays) the standout games from their key franchises have failed to materialize – with Halo delayed and a Fable sequel teased but not released. Other titles have been pushed back too, including The Medium – a psychological horror in which the player flips between the real and spirit realms – which has slipped to January.
In the short term, perhaps the best indication we’ll have of whether Series X can set itself apart from previous gens or competitors will come soon from Ubisoft’s two highly anticipated launch titles Watchdogs: Legion and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla – which are also released on PS5, and both previous gen consoles, as well as PC.
Claude Langlais, technical director at Ubisoft, says the Series X has allowed developers to finally convey the joy of real-world exploration. Rather than giving players a kind of coach-tour view of a Gameworld – creating impressive scenes but being forced to push players back into confined environments as they shuttle them in between – the graphical detail and CPU combine to create a sense of awe in open play.
“It’s a big world, and at any moment, you can stop and get breathtaking views,” says Langlais of Assassin’s Creed. “I really feel like you get the same kind of thing in this game where you’re traversing the real world, exploring, and then you stop and just soak it in. This really comes out clearly because you see that very high resolution and very high quality of detail.”
In the longer term, Bungie, which built the launch-defining Halo: Combat Evolved for the original Xbox back in 2001 (but is not in charge of Infinite), says increased CPU time, in addition to meaning better resolutions, opens up developers choices for future releases. “We could, in the future, plan on having more players, if that was something that design wanted to do,” says Andy Firth, lead platform engineering architect. “We could have a significant amount more simulation in the world, more trees,” says Firth. And more of the ray-tracing light simulation – which Ronald calls the “the holy grail of computer graphics” – rendering in real time, say, the headlights of a moving car reflecting off damp tarmac. “With the previous generation, we had hit kind of the peak of what could be done. With this new generation, we’re doing that same fidelity, but we’re barely touching the surface,” adds Firth.
Coalition, the makers of Gears 5 and Gears Tactics go one further in hype (although they are part of Xbox Game Studios). “We can load up and display a whole section of the world, as fast as you spin the camera around and you won’t even notice the [loss of] detail,” says Mike Rayner, Studio Technical Director at The Coalition. “And so we can actually render and draw more than we can possibly fit in memory.
“You know the metaverse? This holy grail of being able to create a lifelike replication of the world? This is the box that’s really designed to do that.” But without the games to back it up, the Series X remains a black box of hype and possibilities. It may well live up to Molyneux’s boasts about Fable, but until truly next-gen games finally arrive, it’s just unfulfilled potential – a seed planted in the ground.
Entertainment
I Used To Insult Single Mothers Until I Remembered That My Mum Is A Single Mother -Akeem
I Used To Insult Single Mothers Until I Remembered That My Mum Is A Single Mother
-Akeem Akintola a.k.a. ‘Oko Awon Single Mothers’
A young man doing well in life is often defined by a disciplined, and purpose-driven approach to his personal and professional growth. 34-year-old Lagos State born social media influencer, Olalekan Akeem Akintola, disclosed in this interview that he has cultivated the habits and mindsets of a young man determined for long-term success before he attained age 21. He said he continually updated his knowledge and skills to keep up with changing demands and trends even before he left Nigeria for Europe in search of greener pastures at age 29. Other than his talent alone, Akeem noted that his becoming successful abroad was not all by luck, but mostly by being kind and respectful. He also revealed the secret behind his popular social media nickname, ‘oko awon single mothers’. And more…
What do you love about yourself?
What I love about myself is that I am a very determined person. When I am determined to do something I don’t look back. I just go into it not minding what the result would be and I don’t care about what anybody would say.
Tell us about your marital life.
I was married. But I’m a single father now (general laughter).
What year did you travel abroad and how did you manage to succeed abroad?
I traveled out of Nigeria in 2021. I’m currently in Europe, Germany, South Cyprus to be precise. I worked in the kitchen. To be honest, my experience abroad wasn’t an easy one. Thank God, today I have my citizenship documents and I’m living fine. It wasn’t easy getting to this level. I give God the glory.
Who are the most special people in your life?
The most special person in my life is my mum. Then my kids and my mum’s families, especially Sister Iyabo and Sister Nofisat. My mum’s families are so special in my life because they have been very supportive of my life.
Tell us about your experience helping a sick lady, Keji, whose matter has gone viral on social media.
This lady, Keji, came into my Instagram inbox and told me that she was sick and needed help. Ordinarily, I do use my platform to help people, especially those who are sick. There was a time I ignored her and didn’t attend to her complaints. But when she showed me the evidence and pleaded that I should help her, I had to support her. I am the person that sent her to see Agbala Gabriel pastor. But I didn’t know that he was going to mess up.
What type of people do you love to be around you?
I love to be around people who are friendly, ready to help and very supportive. I do not like people with negative vibes.
You’re a young guy, why do people call you ‘oko awon single mothers’?
There was a time I used to abuse single mothers; what they were doing, why did they leave their marriages and so on. I saw it as an abnormality. But I came to realize that my mum is also a single mother and I said why should I be insulting single mothers when I was also raised by a single mother. So, I had to start making videos about single mothers, praising them and talking about their challenges and qualities. Since that time, single mothers started calling me ‘oko awa single mothers’ (husband of us single mothers).
Do you make so much money through social media posts or you have a job that gives you the biggest?
Yes, I make money on social media. I also work in the kitchen as a chef. I’m into kitchen stuff here abroad and it pays me well. Also, I run adverts for people on my platform and I make a lot of money from it.
You are very popular among society women; how did you make it happen?
All I can say is thank God. I don’t know how it happened. I just found myself with millions of fans and followers. People really love me, especially older society women who fondly call me ‘oko wa’ (our husband).
What is your success tip for young people like you?
My advice for young people like me is that whatever they’re doing they should keep doing it. They should be consistent. Keep doing it, don’t relent and don’t look back. When I started out on social media, I was bullied, cursed. I never envisaged where I am today. I never expected that people would be talking about me sometime in the future. But here I am. I never saw this coming. I really thank God for everything. So, let us just keep doing whatever we are doing. There’s light at the end of the tunnel.
Are you fully in the entertainment industry or on part time?
I work and I’m fully back in the entertainment industry.
You look so young despite your age, what’s the secret?
The secret is that I maintain physical fitness, I do regular workouts. I know that a strong body supports a strong mind.
Entertainment
Nollywood Actress and Philanthropist Amb. Princess Chelsea R.C. Nwodo Appointed as Chief of Staff to AGN National President*
*Nollywood Actress and Philanthropist Amb. Princess Chelsea R.C. Nwodo Appointed as Chief of Staff to AGN National President*
Abuja, Nigeria – The Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) announces the appointment of Amb. Princess Chelsea R.C. Nwodo as the new Chief of Staff to National President, ALHAJI SANUSI ABUBAKAR YAKUBU. This strategic move underscores the Guild’s commitment to excellence and its dedication to fostering a more efficient and effective leadership structure.
Amb. Nwodo brings a wealth of experience and expertise to her new role, having served as a National Deputy Secretary (Emeritus) and demonstrating exceptional leadership skills and a deep understanding of the Guild’s vision and mission. A respected member of the Nigerian entertainment industry, she is also known for her dedication to promoting actor welfare and advancing the Guild’s interests.
*A Proven Track Record*
Amb. Nwodo’s appointment is a testament to her outstanding contributions to AGN and her commitment to serving the Nigerian film industry. Her philanthropic efforts and advocacy for social causes have made a positive impact on Nigerian communities, She’s also the CEO of CHELSEA NWODO’S FOUNDATION a foundation known for its unique cultural expression and alliance with many state government including Delta state government and so on.
*About the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN)*
The AGN is the governing body for professional actors in Nigeria’s Nollywood film industry, established in 1998 with over one million members across the six geopolitical zones of the federation. The Guild promotes actor’s welfare, protects their rights, and advances the Nigerian film industry.
From Drill to Deen: Central Cee’s Conversion and the Power of Faith in Modern Hip-Hop
By George Omagbemi Sylvester
“The British rap star’s public declaration of Islam sparks global reactions and renews debate about spirituality, identity, and influence in contemporary music.”
British rap superstar Central Cee has publicly announced that he has converted to Islam, a revelation that has rapidly spread across global media and social platforms, drawing reactions from fans, cultural commentators and religious observers alike. The development marks a deeply personal shift for one of the most influential voices in modern UK drill, and it highlights the growing intersection between faith, identity and popular culture.
Central Cee, whose real name is Oakley Neil Caesar-Su, disclosed the decision during a recent livestream, where he stated that he had taken the Shahada, the Islamic declaration of faith that formally marks a person’s conversion to Islam.
According to multiple reports published on February 6, 2026, the rapper confirmed the conversion publicly, saying he had changed his name and embraced Islam, with friends present during the broadcast congratulating him.
The announcement quickly became a trending global topic, with thousands of fans flooding social media with messages of support and congratulation.
What happened, when, where and how
The confirmed facts are straightforward.
What happened: Central Cee announced his conversion to Islam.
Who: The British rapper, born Oakley Neil Caesar-Su.
When: The announcement surfaced publicly on or around February 6, 2026.
Where: The declaration was made during a livestream, widely circulated online.
How: He confirmed he had taken the Shahada and embraced Islam, with friends present during the session.
Before this announcement, Central Cee had never publicly declared adherence to any specific religion, though fans had long speculated about his spiritual leanings.
Background: the rise of a global rap force
Born on June 4, 1998, in London, Central Cee rose from the streets of Shepherd’s Bush to become one of the most commercially successful British rappers of his generation.
He achieved mainstream recognition with his 2020 single Day in the Life and later dominated charts with hits such as Doja and Sprinter, accumulating billions of streams worldwide.
By the mid-2020s, he had become a defining figure in UK drill, blending street narratives with a polished, globally accessible sound.
Reactions and significance
The news of his conversion triggered widespread reaction across continents. Many fans congratulated him, using phrases such as “Welcome to Islam, brother,” reflecting the celebratory tone among supporters.
Others expressed curiosity about whether the decision would influence his music, public image, or future lyrical direction.
Cultural analysts note that religion has long played a quiet but significant role in hip-hop. From Malcolm X’s influence on American rap consciousness to the presence of Muslim artists in both US and UK scenes, faith has often shaped artistic identity.
British sociologist Dr. Reza Pankhurst, writing on religion and youth culture, has argued that for many urban artists, faith offers “a language of discipline, moral structure and belonging in environments often defined by instability.”
Similarly, American scholar Dr. Sherman Jackson has noted that Islam’s appeal among musicians and athletes lies partly in its “emphasis on personal responsibility, spiritual dignity, and community.”
While these are broader observations about religious influence in culture, they help explain why high-profile conversions often resonate far beyond the personal sphere.
Why the announcement matters
Central Cee is not merely another celebrity; he is one of the most commercially powerful voices in British rap, with global reach across Europe, Africa, Asia and North America. His decisions, therefore, carry symbolic weight.
When artists of such stature publicly embrace a faith, it often triggers three parallel conversations:
First, identity: Fans begin to examine how the artist’s beliefs align with their lyrics and public persona.
Second, influence: Younger audiences may view the decision as aspirational or spiritually significant.
Third, authenticity: Critics and supporters alike debate whether faith will reshape the artist’s artistic content.
British cultural commentator Kehinde Andrews has previously observed that hip-hop is “not just music but a social language through which young people negotiate power, race, faith and identity.”
In that sense, Central Cee’s announcement becomes part of a larger cultural dialogue not merely a personal declaration.
The question of a new name
Some reports indicate that the rapper mentioned changing his name after taking the Shahada, though details remain inconsistent across sources.
While certain online reports suggested possible new names, there is no universally confirmed official new name from the artist at the time of reporting.
This remains an evolving aspect of the story, and responsible reporting requires caution until a formal statement is released through verified channels.
The broader context: faith and hip-hop
Central Cee joins a growing list of artists who have publicly embraced Islam. Over the decades, figures such as Yasiin Bey (Mos Def), Lupe Fiasco, Ice Cube, and Q-Tip have either converted to Islam or drawn heavily from Islamic teachings in their music.
In the UK, Muslim identity has long been intertwined with the grime and drill scenes, reflecting the multicultural realities of cities like London, Birmingham and Manchester.
Cultural historian Tricia Rose, one of the foremost scholars of hip-hop, once wrote that the genre “has always been a site of spiritual searching, moral struggle and social commentary.”
In that context, a public conversion is not an anomaly but part of a longstanding tradition of artists seeking meaning beyond fame and commercial success.
What remains unclear
Despite the viral spread of the story, certain details are still evolving:
The exact location of the livestream has not been formally confirmed.
The identity of the individuals present during the Shahada has not been publicly verified.
Any official legal name change has not been documented in confirmed public records.
Responsible journalism requires distinguishing between verified facts and social-media speculation.
Final assessment
Central Cee’s conversion to Islam is a deeply personal decision that has nonetheless sparked global conversation. Announced during a livestream in early February 2026, the declaration places one of Britain’s most influential rappers at the centre of a broader discussion about faith, culture and celebrity influence.
In an era where artists are often defined solely by streaming numbers and chart positions, his announcement underscores a different narrative: the search for meaning, identity, and spiritual grounding in the midst of global fame.
As the late scholar James Cone once wrote, “Spiritual transformation is the most radical form of social change, because it begins inside the human soul.”
Whether Central Cee’s journey will reshape his music or remain a private source of guidance is a question only time can answer. What is certain, however, is that his decision has already stirred conversations that extend far beyond the world of rap.
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