[Vampire Survivors was such a big hit it's getting a whole new engine]

One of this year's breakout indie hits is Vampire Survivors, which not only met with wide success but responded to it: Developer Poncle quickly made ambitious plans to expand the game. Ever since launch it's seen a string of major and minor updates, and is now ready to throw off the early access label for good with its biggest change yet.

The version 1.0 update will arrive on 20 October and, since Poncle's already completed everything it put on an earlier development roadmap, the 1.0 content update "is a surprise and should hopefully offer a little something for everyone."

This will include balance changes to items, mostly buffs in-line with the game's freewheelingly chaotic spirit, though the Santa Water is apparently too godly and needs a small nerf. There's also a bunch of official language support coming (full list here), and the news that a port to a new engine is ongoing. "We're aiming to release it by the end of the year," Poncle says. "We're at the last pass at optimization and polish (plus adding the final bits of content that still have to be seen on the current version too). Once it's out, save data will carry over."

The new engine will mean "the exact same game, with increased performance and compatibility for more machines, and like most new things in VS it will remain optional. So if you're happy with the current Electron version, nobody will force you to move to the new one."

I'm not sure why you wouldn't give the new engine a try, but funnily enough Poncle and I discussed this element of the game's appeal shortly after launch. Yes Vampire Survivors gets slowdown and there are framedrops—but sometimes, only sometimes, these technical hiccups can be a part of a game's charm.

"I might like [slowdown], depends a lot on the game," lead developer Luca Galante says. "Frame freeze, absolutely love frame freeze done at the right time. But you know, those are games almost designed to slow down, there are a few where I absolutely love to see this: Odin Sphere on PlayStation 2, the older version that used to slow down a lot, and I absolutely loved it for some reason. The version they released recently is such a smooth buttery 60 fps instead. And I love it as well. But yeah, it makes me miss the feeling a little bit!"

Anyway: you'll always be able to play Vampire Survivors like that, but can soon also choose a bells-and-whistles version that will fix the following:

• Work on machines that get the webGL not supported error, get a white screen of death, get a black screen with a sad face, or have the game installed on a non-standard path.
• Fix input issues or the game straight up crashing when multiple controllers are attached to the machine.
• Remapping input.
• Cloud Save conflicts due to non-useful files.
• Use more than 1 CPU core :) Let those FPS fly high
• Native support for Linux

The engine notes end with "What the new engine won't fix because it's a feature: Passing through walls."

After Vampire Survivors is 'complete' that is not, of course, the end of the road, with Poncle promising "a lot" more to come. The developer adds that it continues to work on niche gameplay additions like Golden Eggs and Limit Breaks "that are used so much that they need some QOL improvements."

Expect various teases in the fortnight leading up to Vampire Survivors 1.0. It's heartening to see what is such a fundamentally silly and fun game acquire this kind of traction, and even better is how the developer has leaned into that success and decided to over-deliver. Vampire Survivors probably won't win many game of the year awards, mainly because it actually released in late December 2021 and few noticed until the new year, but this really is the little game that could.

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[When will Valorant's roster be too big?]

Riot Games is first and foremost known for League of Legends. It's one of the biggest games of all times, and known jokingly on the internet as one of the worst. The MOBA has dominated TV with Arcane, music with artist collaborations with the recent one with Lil Nas X, and even fashion with luxury goods. But at the heart of these successes is the massive roster of characters the game has. 

Currently, League of Legends has 161 champions. 161 different personalities, backgrounds, shapes, sizes, styles, and fighting abilities. That's a lot of innovation and a lot of effects they can produce on one another. This roster has been built painstakingly over many years and though their popularity rises and falls, the majority of the roster at any point is seen as viable in a casual game. And as Riot's leading example of success and popularity, Valorant fans obviously can't help but look at League and wonder how many different characters Valorant will eventually produce, and how many would be too many, 

Earlier this year I reported on the State of Valorant, and the official word on this topic was that there would be an upper limit, just not yet. John Goscicki, a senior character producer, says: "I do think that there is an upper limit. And I do think that it is, you know, even smaller than League of Legends' current roster size. At the moment, we are not running out of ideas and ways to expand the roster in the design space. But we're kind of constantly asking ourselves that, you know, do we adjust the release cadence once we start getting towards that upper cap? 

"Do we start taking a look back at some older characters more intensively and like to revisit them and sharpen them and think about them in new ways? So you know, I'll say yes [there is an upper limit], but not anytime soon." 

(Image credit: Riot)

Valorant, in contrast to League of Legends, has only 20 agents. There has been a steady stream of new agents since release, which can feel a little overwhelming to players returning to the game after breaks. New abilities, new faces, new voice lines, all before being blasted by lights, smokes, flashes, and damage. But as these characters have trickled into the game, there's an amount of overlap between abilities that's getting more frequent, causing older agents to become less applicable, shifting who's relevant at any one time dramatically. 

Unlike League, Valorant doesn't always feel like there is room for everyone. Though there is room for more personality and new faces, it's going to get harder for every agent to feel like they have their application at this rate. Flashes, for example, is an ability that many agents possess but come in different forms. Yoru's flash bounces once quickly, while KAY/O's is more like an underhanded throw. Phoenix's turns corners for right-angle uses while Skye's are directed by a bird she throws out and controls manually.  

All, more or less, have the same end effect but the speed, execution, and finesse of each agent changes. At first Phoenix was useful for these flashes but with the addition of all the other agents mentioned here since release, his flashes were categorically seen as the worst as they required those right angle positions on his enemies. He's now been significantly improved by increasing the speed at which they flash enemies, as well as his armour staying intact after he uses an ultimate. But Riot had to shuffle agents about, making sure they still all had their place. 

(Image credit: Riot Games)

All abilities are a little like this. They all have to have their place. Smokes have different densities, lengths, deployment methods too, and abilities which give players information like Raze's boom bot, Skye's dog, or Fade's prowler act differently. But one has to question how many variations on the same themes work before they start treading on the toes of other abilities. 

But straying too far from the staples has been tricky too. Chamber's focus on guns has been controversial because it means his economy in-game is the most powerful, and people recognised his damage based abilities as significantly overpowered. So he's been nerfed. Same happened to Raze's ultimate and grenade, and eventually Jett's mobility too. Things that step too far out of what other agents have access to can be controversial because they can be seen as a massive advantage. So each agent has to have something new, but not too different, and a variation on the themes of molotovs, smokes, information collection, or mobility. 

And that's what will ultimately determine the size of Valorant's roster. How many variations on the themes can fit before all these agents start stepping on the toes of others. It's like ability Tetris, jumbling all these building blocks of characters into a stack until it will absolutely be full to the brim. 

(Image credit: Riot Games)

Is Valorant close to full yet? Probably not. But as Valorant's roster continues to grow it'll need to slow down its pace to stabilise its current roster and it's already doing that. The release schedule for the agents has for the first time slowed with Episode 5. Episode 5 has not yet had a new agent launch, although since Valorant's release there have been two per Episode up until the 20th agents' release, Fade. With this slower agent release schedule, it feels like we could keep going another few years before Riot would really start feeling the strain of the roster's abilities overlapping too much. 

It's proven before that it knows how to innovate on character design with League of Legends but the limitations of what agents can do is still stricter in Valorant. Making an educated guess, 40 agents seems like a lot right now while we're still at 20. Overwatch made it to 32 before going into Overwatch 2 with 35. Rainbow Six Siege has a whopping 65 operators currently while Apex Legends only has 19. Hero shooters deal with their roster sizes in very different ways as Overwatch's heroes have kits that change completely while Apex Legends and Valorant share guns between everyone.

Really it's very difficult to determine how long it will be before Valorant's roster will be too big. I can't currently see the game going down the sequel path as Overwatch did to reinvent itself. It'll keep trudging along and slowly but surely draw out the time released between agents if the team ever does feel a huge amount of strain on its current team. An upper limit of 60 seems far too many in my mind in 2022, but hey, with what Riot has achieved before I wouldn't be surprised if they managed to fit that many into Valorant over the next ten years.

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[GTA 5 cheats: PC, Xbox and PS4 cheat codes and phone numbers]

Rockstar's suite of GTA 5 cheats offer plenty of toys to add to your open-world crime sandbox. Maybe you just want to sand the edges off the campaign, and you're looking to give yourself everything from weapons to a full invincibility cheat. Or more likely, you're just looking to cause some carnage. In that case, some exploding bullets or a military helicopter are available at a moment's notice. And don't worry about the cops—freedom from law enforcement is just a few button presses away.

More GTA 5 and GTA Online

(Image credit: Rockstar Games)

Fastest GTA Online cars: Revved up
Make money in GTA Online: $$$
GTA 5 mods: All the best antics
GTA 6: All the rumors so far
GTA 5 cheats: Phone it in

If GTA 5 has a cheat for it, this is where you'll find it—along with multiple ways for you to enable it. The PC will be your fastest bet if you've got a keyboard handy, but don't fret: if you'd prefer to sling cheats with a gamepad or the in-game phone, we've got you covered, too.

Recent rumours might suggest we won't see GTA 6 until 2025, but time flies when you're having fun with cheats. If you'd prefer to venture even further back to the past while you wait for future mayhem, you can also check out our round-ups of GTA: Vice City cheats, GTA 3 cheats, GTA: San Andreas cheats, and GTA Trilogy cheats.

All GTA 5 cheats

Max health and armor

Refills your character's health and armor meters. Note: doesn't make you invulnerable—you'll need the invincibility cheat for that.

• PC - TURTLE
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - B, LB, Y, RT, A, X, B, Right, X, LB, LB, LB
• PS4 / PS5 - Circle, L1, Triangle, R2, X, Square, Circle, Right, Square, L1, L1, L1
• Phone - 1-999-887-853

Invincibility

Turns on God Mode/makes you invincible, blocking all damage.

• PC - PAINKILLER
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - Right, A, Right, Left, Right, RB, Right, Left, A, Y
• PS4 / PS5 - Right, X, Right, Left, Right, R1, Right, Left, X, Triangle
• Phone - 1-999-7246-545-537

Recharge special ability

Refills your special ability for your current GTA 5 character—Michael's Bullet Time ability, Franklin's Driving Focus, and Trevor's Red Mist.

• PC - POWERUP
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - A, A, X, RB, LB, A, Right, Left, A
• PS4 / PS5 - X, X, Square, R1, L1, X, Right, Left, X
• Phone - 1-999-769-3787

Lower Wanted level

Decreases your current Wanted level by one star. If you want to clear your wanted level fully, you'll have to keep entering it.

• PC - LAWYERUP
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - RB, RB, B, RT, Right, Left, Right, Left, Right, Left
• PS4 / PS5 - R1, R1, Circle, R2, Right, Left, Right, Left, Right, Left
• Phone - 1-999-5299-3787

Raise Wanted level

Increases your Wanted level by one star—useful if you just want to unleash immediate chaos in a firefight with law enforcement. To reach max Wanted level, you'll need to keep entering it.

• PC - FUGITIVE
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - RB, RB, B, RT, Left, Right, Left, Right, Left, Right
• PS4 / PS5 - R1, R1, Circle, R2, Left, Right, Left, Right, Left, Right
• Phone - 1-999-3844-8483

Give weapons and ammo

Gives you a Sawn-off Shotgun, Sniper Rifle, Assault Rifle, SMG, Pistol, Grenades, RPG and Knife, and refills your ammo supply.

• PC - TOOLUP
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - Y, RT, Left, LB, A, Right, Y, Down, X, LB, LB, LB
• PS4 / PS5 - Triangle, R2, Left, L1, X, Right, Triangle, Down, Square, L1, L1, L1
• Phone - 1-999-866-587

(Image credit: Rockstar)

Explosive bullets

Enables explosive ammo, causing an explosion wherever one of your bullets hits. Multiplies your already-ludicrous lethality.

• PC - HIGHEX
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - Right, X, A, Left, RB, RT, Left, Right, Right, LB, LB, LB
• PS4 / PS5 - Right, Square, X, Left, R1, R2, Left, Right, Right, L1, L1, L1
• Phone - 1-999-444-439

Explosive melee

Gives you explosive punches. Generally provides nonsense.

• PC - HOTHANDS
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - Right, Left, A, Y, RB, B, B, B, LT
• PS4 / PS5 - Right, Left, X, Triangle, R1, Circle, Circle, Circle, L2
• Phone - 1-999-4684-2637

Flaming bullets / incendiary ammo

Enables flaming bullets, making any flammable object you shoot burst into flames. I'd warn you that "flammable objects" includes pedestrians, but you're looking at GTA cheats. I don't know that you're concerned with risk.

• PC - INCENDIARY
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - LB, RB, X, RB, Left, RT, RB, Left, X, Right, LB, LB
• PS4 / PS5 - L1, R1, Square, R1, Left, R2, R1, Left, Square, Right, L1, L1
• Phone - 1-999-462-363-4279

Faster running

Increases your sprinting speed.

• PC - CATCHME
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - Y, Left, Right, Right, LT, LB, X
• PS4 / PS5 - Triangle, Left, Right, Right, L2, L1, Square
• Phone - 1-999-2288-463

Faster swimming

Increases your swimming speed, because nobody likes swimming in video games.

• PC - GOTGILLS
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - Left, Left, LB, Right, Right, RT, Left, LT, Right
• PS4 / PS5 - Left, Left, L1, Right, Right, R2, Left, L2, Right
• Phone - 1-999-4684-4557

Give parachute

Gives you a parachute. Now you have a parachute. You can use it to parachute.

• PC - SKYDIVE
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - Left, Right, LB, LT, RB, RT, RT, Left, Left, Right, LB
• PS4 / PS5 - Left, Right, L1, L2, R1, R2, R2, Left, Left, Right, L1
• Phone - 1-999-759-3483

Bullet time (slow-motion aiming)

Slows time while aiming with a weapon. Cycles through three different levels of slow motion each time you enter it.

• PC - DEADEYE
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - X, LT, RB, Y, Left, X, LT, Right, A
• PS4 / PS5 - Square, L2, R1, Triangle, Left, Square, L2, Right, X
• Phone - 1-999-3323-393

Super jump

Increases your jump height. Hold the jump button to jump even higher. Best of luck landing.

• PC - HOPTOIT
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - Left, Left, Y, Y, Right, Right, Left, Right, X, RB, RT
• PS4 / PS5 - Left, Left, Triangle, Triangle, Right, Right, Left, Right, Square, R1, R2
• Phone - 1-999-467-8648

Low gravity

Activates the Moon Gravity cheat, lowering in game gravity and causing things to float away when bumped into.

• PC - FLOATER
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - Left, Left, LB, RB, LB, Right, Left, LB, Left
• PS4 / PS5 - Left, Left, L1, R1, L1, Right, Left, L1, Left
• Phone - 1-999-356-2837

Drunk mode

Instantly inebriates your character, setting them to max drunkenness, blurring your screen, and causing you to stumble.

• PC - LIQUOR
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - Y, Right, Right, Left, Right, X, B, Left
• PS4 / PS5 - Triangle, Right, Right, Left, Right, Square, Circle, Left
• Phone - 1-999-547-861

Slippery tires

Reduces vehicle tire friction, causing more sliding and drifting.

• PC - SNOWDAY
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - Y, RB, RB, Left, RB, LB, RT, LB
• PS4 / PS5 - Triangle, R1, R1, Left, R1, L1, R2, L1
• Phone - 1-999-7669-329

Slow motion

Slows down the entirety of the game, cycling through three levels of slow-mo each time you enter it.

• PC - SLOWMO
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - Y, Left, Right, Right, X, RT, RB
• PS4 / PS5 - Triangle, Left, Right, Right, Square, R2, R1
• Phone - 1-999-756-966

Change weather

Cycles to a different type of weather every time you enter it. Keep entering it until you find the one you're in the mood for.

• PC - MAKEITRAIN
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - RT, A, LB, LB, LT, LT, LT, X
• PS4 / PS5 - R2, X, L1, L1, L2, L2, L2, Square
• Phone - 1-999-625-348-7246

Skyfall

Teleports you into the sky. Then you fall.

• PC - SKYFALL
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - LB, LT, RB, RT, Left, Right, Left, Right, LB, LT, RB, RT, Left, Right, Left, Right
• PS4 / PS5 - L1, L2, R1, R2, Left, Right, Left, Right, L1, L2, R1, R2, Left, Right, Left, Right
• Phone - 1-999-759-3255

(Image credit: Rockstar)

Spawn a BMX bike

Spawns a BMX bike.

• PC - BANDIT
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - Left, Left, Right, Right, Left, Right, X, B, Y, RB, RT
• PS4 / PS5 - Left, Left, Right, Right, Left, Right, Square, Circle, Triangle, R1, R2
• Phone - 1-999-226-348

Spawn a Sanchez dirt bike

Spawns a dirt bike.

• PC - OFFROAD
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - B, A, LB, B, B, LB, B, RB, RT, LT, LB, LB
• PS4 / PS5 - Circle, X, L1, Circle, Circle, L1, Circle, R1, R2, L2, L1, L1
• Phone - 1-999-633-7623

Spawn a PCJ-600 motorbike

Spawns a motorbike.

• PC - ROCKET
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - RB, Right, Left, Right, RT, Left, Right, X, Right, LT, LB, LB
• PS4 / PS5 - R1, Right, Left, Right, R2, Left, Right, Square, Right, L2, L1, L1
• Phone - 1-999-762-538

Spawn a Caddy golf caddy

Spawns a golf caddy.

• PC - HOLEIN1
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - B, LB, Left, RB, LT, A, RB, LB, B, A
• PS4 / PS5 - Circle, L1, Left, R1, L2, X, R1, L1, Circle, X
• Phone - 1-999-4653-461

Spawn a Rapid GT sports car

Spawns a sports car.

• PC - RAPIDGT
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - RT, RT, LB, B, Right, LB, RB, Right, Left, B, RT
• PS4 / PS5 - R2, R2, L1, Circle, Right, L1, R1, Right, Left, Circle, R2
• Phone - 1-999-727-4348

Spawn a Comet sports car

Spawns a different sports car.

• PC - COMET
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - RB, B, RT, Right, LB, LT, A, A, X, RB
• PS4 / PS5 - R1, Circle, R2, Right, L1, L2, X, X, Square, R1
• Phone - 1-999-266-38

Spawn a Stretch limo

Spawns a limousine.

• PC - VINEWOOD
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - RT, Right, LT, Left, Left, RB, LB, B, Right
• PS4 / PS5 - R2, Right, L2, Left, Left, R1, L1, Circle, Right
• Phone - 1-999-8463-9663

Spawn a Trashmaster garbage truck

Spawns a garbage truck.

• PC - TRASHED
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - B, RB, B, RB, Left, Left, RB, LB, B, Right
• PS4 / PS5 - Circle, R1, Circle, R1, Left, Left, R1, L1, Circle, Right
• Phone - 1-999-8727-433

Spawn a Buzzard attack chopper

Spawns a light attack helicopter.

• PC - BUZZOFF
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - B, B, LB, B, B, B, LB, LT, RB, Y, B, Y
• PS4 / PS5 - Circle, Circle, L1, Circle, Circle, Circle, L1, L2, R1, Triangle, Circle, Triangle
• Phone - 1-999-2899-633

Spawn a Mallard stunt plane

Spawns a stunt plane. 

• PC - BARNSTORM
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - B, Right, LB, LT, Left, RB, LB, LB, Left, Left, A, Y
• PS4 / PS5 - Circle, Right, L1, L2, Left, R1, L1, L1, Left, Left, X, Triangle
• Phone - 1-999-227-678-676

Spawn a Duster biplane

Spawns a crop duster biplane.

• PC - FLYSPRAY
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - Right, Left, RB, RB, RB, Left, Y, Y, A, B, LB, LB
• PS4 / PS5 - Right, Left, R1, R1, R1, Left, Triangle, Triangle, X, Circle, L1, L1
• Phone - 1-999-3597-7729

Spawn a Duke O'Death armored muscle car

Spawns an armored muscle car. NOTE: you must have unlocked the Duke O'Death by completing the "Duel" random event.

• PC - DEATHCAR
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - Dial 1-999-3328-4227 on in-game phone
• PS4 / PS5 - Dial 1-999-3328-4227 on in-game phone
• Phone - 1-999-3328-4227

Spawn a Dodo seaplane

Spawns a seaplane. NOTE: you must have unlocked the Dodo by completing the "Sea Plane" random event.

• PC - EXTINCT
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - Dial 1-999-398-4628 on in-game phone
• PS4 / PS5 - Dial 1-999-398-4628 on in-game phone
• Phone - 1-999-398-4628

Spawn a Kraken submarine

Spawns a submarine. NOTE: you must have unlocked the Kraken by completing the "Wildlife Photography Challenge."

• PC - BUBBLES
• Xbox One / Xbox Series X - Dial 1-999-282-2537 on in-game phone
• PS4 / PS5 - Dial 1-999-282-2537 on in-game phone
• Phone - 1-999-282-2537

GTA 5 cheats for PC

Here's an easy reference table for PC players, listing all of GTA 5's cheats, and the console commands and phone numbers needed to use them.

Cheat	PC console command	Phone number
Max health and armor	TURTLE	1-999-887-853
Invincibility	PAINKILLER	1-999-7246-545-537
Recharge special ability	POWERUP	1-999-769-3787
Lower Wanted level	LAWYERUP	1-999-5299-3787
Raise Wanted level	FUGITIVE	1-999-3844-8483
Give weapons and ammo	TOOLUP	1-999-866-587
Explosive bullets	HIGHEX	1-999-444-439
Explosive melee	HOTHANDS	1-999-4684-2637
Flaming bullets	INCENDIARY	1-999-462-363-4279
Faster running	CATCHME	1-999-2288-463
Faster swimming	GOTGILLS	1-999-4684-4557
Give parachute	SKYDIVE	1-999-759-3483
Bullet time / slow-mo aiming	DEADEYE	1-999-3323-393
Super jump	HOPTOIT	1-999-467-8648
Low gravity / moon gravity	FLOATER	1-999-356-2837
Drunk mode	LIQUOR	1-999-547-861
Slippery tires	SNOWDAY	1-999-7669-329
Slow motion	SLOWMO	1-999-756-966
Change weather	MAKEITRAIN	1-999-625-348-7246
Skyfall	SKYFALL	1-999-759-3255
Spawn BMX	BANDIT	1-999-226-348
Spawn Sanchez	OFFROAD	1-999-633-7623
Spawn PCJ-600	ROCKET	1-999-762-538
Spawn Caddy	HOLEIN1	1-999-4653-461
Spawn Rapid GT	RAPIDGT	1-999-727-4348
Spawn Comet	COMET	1-999-266-38
Spawn Stretch	VINEWOOD	1-999-8463-9663
Spawn Trashmaster	TRASHED	1-999-8727-433
Spawn Buzzard Attack Chopper	BUZZOFF	1-999-2899-633
Spawn Mallard	BARNSTORM	1-999-227-678-676
Spawn Duster	FLYSPRAY	1-999-3597-7729
Spawn Duke O'Death	DEATHCAR	1-999-3328-4227
Spawn Dodo	EXTINCT	1-999-398-4628
Spawn Kraken	BUBBLES	1-999-282-2537

GTA 5 cheats for PS4 / PS5

Next we've got the GTA 5 cheats listed for PlayStation users, or any PC players who are using a PS4 controller.

Cheat	PS4 / PS5 cheat code	Phone number
Max health and armor	Circle, L1, Triangle, R2, X, Square, Circle, Right, Square, L1, L1, L1	1-999-887-853
Invincibility	Right, X, Right, Left, Right, R1, Right, Left, X, Triangle	1-999-7246-545-537
Recharge special ability	X, X, Square, R1, L1, X, Right, Left, X	1-999-769-3787
Lower Wanted level	R1, R1, Circle, R2, Right, Left, Right, Left, Right, Left	1-999-5299-3787
Raise Wanted level	R1, R1, Circle, R2, Left, Right, Left, Right, Left, Right	1-999-3844-8483
Give weapons and ammo	Triangle, R2, Left, L1, X, Right, Triangle, Down, Square, L1, L1, L1	1-999-866-587
Explosive bullets	Right, Square, X, Left, R1, R2, Left, Right, Right, L1, L1, L1	1-999-444-439
Explosive melee	Right, Left, X, Triangle, R1, Circle, Circle, Circle, L2	1-999-4684-2637
Flaming bullets	L1, R1, Square, R1, Left, R2, R1, Left, Square, Right, L1, L1	1-999-462-363-4279
Faster running	Triangle, Left, Right, Right, L2, L1, Square	1-999-2288-463
Faster swimming	Left, Left, L1, Right, Right, R2, Left, L2, Right	1-999-4684-4557
Give parachute	Left, Right, L1, L2, R1, R2, R2, Left, Left, Right, L1	1-999-759-3483
Bullet time / slow-mo aiming	Square, L2, R1, Triangle, Left, Square, L2, Right, X	1-999-3323-393
Super jump	Left, Left, Triangle, Triangle, Right, Right, Left, Right, Square, R1, R2	1-999-467-8648
Low gravity / moon gravity	Left, Left, L1, R1, L1, Right, Left, L1, Left	1-999-356-2837
Drunk mode	Triangle, Right, Right, Left, Right, Square, Circle, Left	1-999-547-861
Slippery tires	Triangle, R1, R1, Left, R1, L1, R2, L1	1-999-7669-329
Slow motion	Triangle, Left, Right, Right, Square, R2, R1	1-999-756-966
Change weather	R2, X, L1, L1, L2, L2, L2, Square	1-999-625-348-7246
Skyfall	L1, L2, R1, R2, Left, Right, Left, Right, L1, L2, R1, R2, Left, Right, Left, Right	1-999-759-3255
Spawn BMX	Left, Left, Right, Right, Left, Right, Square, Circle, Triangle, R1, R2	1-999-226-348
Spawn Sanchez	Circle, X, L1, Circle, Circle, L1, Circle, R1, R2, L2, L1, L1	1-999-633-7623
Spawn PCJ-600	R1, Right, Left, Right, R2, Left, Right, Square, Right, L2, L1, L1	1-999-762-538
Spawn Caddy	Circle, L1, Left, R1, L2, X, R1, L1, Circle, X	1-999-4653-461
Spawn Rapid GT	R2, R2, L1, Circle, Right, L1, R1, Right, Left, Circle, R2	1-999-727-4348
Spawn Comet	R1, Circle, R2, Right, L1, L2, X, X, Square, R1	1-999-266-38
Spawn Stretch	R2, Right, L2, Left, Left, R1, L1, Circle, Right	1-999-8463-9663
Spawn Trashmaster	Circle, R1, Circle, R1, Left, Left, R1, L1, Circle, Right	1-999-8727-433
Spawn Buzzard Attack Chopper	Circle, Circle, L1, Circle, Circle, Circle, L1, L2, R1, Triangle, Circle, Triangle	1-999-2899-633
Spawn Mallard	Circle, Right, L1, L2, Left, R1, L1, L1, Left, Left, X, Triangle	1-999-227-678-676
Spawn Duster	Right, Left, R1, R1, R1, Left, Triangle, Triangle, X, Circle, L1, L1	1-999-3597-7729
Spawn Duke O'Death	Dial 1-999-3328-4227 on in-game phone	1-999-3328-4227
Spawn Dodo	Dial 1-999-398-4628 on in-game phone	1-999-398-4628
Spawn Kraken	Dial 1-999-282-2537 on in-game phone	1-999-282-2537

GTA 5 cheats for Xbox One / Xbox Series X

And finally, here's all GTA 5 cheats formatted for Xbox owners, or PC players using an Xbox pad.

Cheat	Xbox One / Xbox Series X cheat code	Phone number
Max health and armor	B, LB, Y, RT, A, X, B, Right, X, LB, LB, LB	1-999-887-853
Invincibility	Right, A, Right, Left, Right, RB, Right, Left, A, Y	1-999-7246-545-537
Recharge special ability	A, A, X, RB, LB, A, Right, Left, A	1-999-769-3787
Lower Wanted level	RB, RB, B, RT, Right, Left, Right, Left, Right, Left	1-999-5299-3787
Raise Wanted level	RB, RB, B, RT, Left, Right, Left, Right, Left, Right	1-999-3844-8483
Give weapons and ammo	Y, RT, Left, LB, A, Right, Y, Down, X, LB, LB, LB	1-999-866-587
Explosive bullets	Right, X, A, Left, RB, RT, Left, Right, Right, LB, LB, LB	1-999-444-439
Explosive melee	Right, Left, A, Y, RB, B, B, B, LT	1-999-4684-2637
Flaming bullets	LB, RB, X, RB, Left, RT, RB, Left, X, Right, LB, LB	1-999-462-363-4279
Faster running	Y, Left, Right, Right, LT, LB, X	1-999-2288-463
Faster swimming	Left, Left, LB, Right, Right, RT, Left, LT, Right	1-999-4684-4557
Give parachute	Left, Right, LB, LT, RB, RT, RT, Left, Left, Right, LB	1-999-759-3483
Bullet time / slow-mo aiming	X, LT, RB, Y, Left, X, LT, Right, A	1-999-3323-393
Super jump	Left, Left, Y, Y, Right, Right, Left, Right, X, RB, RT	1-999-467-8648
Low gravity / moon gravity	Left, Left, LB, RB, LB, Right, Left, LB, Left	1-999-356-2837
Drunk mode	Y, Right, Right, Left, Right, X, B, Left	1-999-547-861
Slippery tires	Y, RB, RB, Left, RB, LB, RT, LB	1-999-7669-329
Slow motion	Y, Left, Right, Right, X, RT, RB	1-999-756-966
Change weather	RT, A, LB, LB, LT, LT, LT, X	1-999-625-348-7246
Skyfall	LB, LT, RB, RT, Left, Right, Left, Right, LB, LT, RB, RT, Left, Right, Left, Right	1-999-759-3255
Spawn BMX	Left, Left, Right, Right, Left, Right, X, B, Y, RB, RT	1-999-226-348
Spawn Sanchez	B, A, LB, B, B, LB, B, RB, RT, LT, LB, LB	1-999-633-7623
Spawn PCJ-600	RB, Right, Left, Right, RT, Left, Right, X, Right, LT, LB, LB	1-999-762-538
Spawn Caddy	B, LB, Left, RB, LT, A, RB, LB, B, A	1-999-4653-461
Spawn Rapid GT	RT, RT, LB, B, Right, LB, RB, Right, Left, B, RT	1-999-727-4348
Spawn Comet	B, B, RT, Right, LB, LT, A, A, X, RB	1-999-266-38
Spawn Stretch	RT, Right, LT, Left, Left, RB, LB, B, Right	1-999-8463-9663
Spawn Trashmaster	B, RB, B, RB, Left, Left, RB, LB, B, Right	1-999-8727-433
Spawn Buzzard Attack Chopper	B, B, LB, B, B, B, LB, LT, RB, Y, B, Y	1-999-2899-633
Spawn Mallard	B, Right, LB, LT, Left, RB, LB, LB, Left, Left, A, Y	1-999-227-678-676
Spawn Duster	Right, Left, RB, RB, RB, Left, Y, Y, A, B, LB, LB	1-999-3597-7729
Spawn Duke O'Death	Dial 1-999-3328-4227 on in-game phone	1-999-3328-4227
Spawn Dodo	Dial 1-999-398-4628 on in-game phone	1-999-398-4628
Spawn Kraken	Dial 1-999-282-2537 on in-game phone	1-999-282-2537

How to enable cheats

How do I enable GTA 5 cheats?

It's super easy to use GTA 5 cheats, particularly on PC. You'll just need to open the in-game command console and drop in a codeword. If you don't fancy keeping a notepad to hand, just bookmark this page and return whenever you need to remember how to swim faster.

To bring up GTA 5's console, hit the tilde key (~), or whatever key is directly to the left of the 1 at the top of your keyboard. Type in any of the cheat codes above in all caps just as written and hit enter. Congratulations! You're cheating. Spawn yourself a motorcycle and flaming ammo rounds if you like! We won't judge.

If you're using a gamepad, you can enable any desired cheat using the associated string of buttons inputs. There's also the option of entering the cheat's phone number through the in-game phone.

Can I earn achievements while using GTA 5 cheats?

No. Once you've enabled a GTA 5 cheat, the following conditions will apply:

• Achievements will be disabled
• You won't be able to earn higher than Bronze rating for missions

To be safe, you're advised to manually save before messing around with any GTA 5 cheats active, and to reload once you're done.

Is there a GTA 5 money cheat?

No, there is no money cheat for GTA 5—not even in the singleplayer mode. But if you are looking for some quick cash, we've collected up some of the best GTA 5 money making tips around.

Naturally GTA Online is also a cheat code free zone—even if it still struggles with hackers. None of the cheats listed here are available in GTA Online. Nevertheless if you want to make cash in GTA's multiplayer, we've got a detailed GTA Online moneymaking guide that will help. The short version: get yourself the submarine, and do some Cayo Perico heisting. And if you need something to spend that money on, here's our rundown of the fastest cars in GTA Online.

Is there a Lamborghini cheat in GTA 5?

While there are vehicles in GTA 5 inspired by Lamborghini's cars, there aren't any cheats for spawning them. You'll have to earn them the old fashion way. But as mentioned above, our GTA 5 money-making tips can help.

• GTA Online Music Stick collectibles: Find all the Tuner update Music Sticks.

• GTA 3 cheats
• GTA: Vice City cheats
• GTA: San Andreas cheats

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[Help I have fallen into keyboard TikTok and I can't get out]

As a writer I am very familiar with the sounds of typing. I mean most of us are in modern work right? We send emails, messages, tweets, more emails, documents, to each other constantly and the tool we use to do that is the humble keyboard. Though I've spent a pretty penny buying a nice keyboard, the Logitech G815 if you must know, it's nothing on the amount people are spending on high quality, luxury keyboards these days. And TikTok won't let me forget it. 

The For You Page or FYP on TikTok is, as the name suggests, catered to the tastes of the viewer. TikTok's algorithm decides what I do and don't like and 99.9% of the time it's scarily accurate. One topic it sensed I had an interest in is PC gaming (who would have guessed it), and by extension keyboards. Delicious, tactile, softly clicking, keyboards. I love them. 

Hearing the soft tip-tip tapping of the keyboards makes my mouth water. It fires off some of the most satisfying endorphins and I've not quite worked out why. I'm not someone who enjoys ASMR creators often but there is something so functionally beautiful and deliriously soothing about hearing keyboards that don't rattle, don't clatter, but pitter patter like the tech equivalent of rainfall. I've fallen deep into loving these keyboards, their switches, and the creators making them without even owning one myself. I'll get round to building my own mechanical keyboard when I have the right amount of money put aside to be a little silly with but for now I just like seeing the enjoyment others get from the product. 

@xinxinwong

♬ original sound - Patricia

Key points

I got in touch with one of TikTok's keyboard creators xinxinwong, also known as Patricia, to talk about the hobby and what the platform has done for keyboards. Patricia got into the keyboarding hobby back in 2020 and it quickly became a passion. Her journey is far from ordinary and quite amusing in itself:  

"Funny story, but I got an ad on Instagram for this company called Drop," writes Patricia. "I ended up browsing it and realised that custom keyboards were a thing. I wanted a very specific one, white with RGB so I ended up with a Womier. I bought keycaps on Drop, swapped it out, and was in love.

"One day, one of my cats had puked on my board. I was absolutely devastated. Crying, I called a friend who I knew was into keyboards and he walked me through the process of salvaging it. While I was grossed out, it was actually really enjoyable taking the keyboard apart, lubing new switches, and learning how to mod the stabilisers. From there, I knew I wanted to mod and build more boards."

Cat vomit maybe isn't the most ideal way to discover how keyboards work but it quickly became a passion for Patricia. She already worked in web development so was firmly on the tech side of things before finding her love of keyboards. She's now a Twitch partner, streaming both games and keyboard builds. When she has the time and the inspiration she'll also make TikTok content.

"I know a lot of fellow keebtokers due to the nature of working in a niche space but I don't feel like TikTok is my main community. If I have time, I'll make a TikTok featuring a board and I usually try to make TikToks featuring upcoming group buys or in-stock products. In my opinion, it's almost a form of teasing when you showcase a board that you can no longer easily buy." 

But TikTok, though it might not be the home to all keyboard enthusiasts, has encouraged many new faces to enjoy the hobby. It's not a cheap hobby, I admit I've not yet invested in building my own board because of that factor, but lots of people have admired it from afar and TikTok is adapting. Patricia says the: "majority of the keyboard community on TikTok has a bigger focus on keyboards that are more affordable and accessible in terms of buying.  

"I'd say TikTok has been somewhat positive. To give you some perspective, there are multiple sectors within the keyboard community. There are those that focus on prebuilts/modding them, those who are into mid tier/higher end keyboards, and those who focus on other things related to keyboards like switches/artisans/keycaps. 

Switching it up

Explaining your purchases and hobbies just isn't worth the comment battle sometimes

"TikTok tends to gravitate towards the younger crowd who might not have disposable income, so boards that are more affordable tend to be more popular. I will say that my content focuses more on high end boards, but I have a lot of respect for people that can take prebuilts and spruce them up. TikTok has given a lot of exposure to the world of custom keyboards, drawing more people into the hobby which can be good or bad depending on how you look at it."

And although TikTok is probably a positive force for showing many many people the hobby, it's got its own popularity contest in place. Unless a keyboard is considered a spectacle, or has a deeply satisfying aesthetic or sound, it can be pretty hard for it to find its place on the app.

"TikTok creates trends that people will hyperfocus on so, in a way, it becomes stagnant. Boards that are unique and different in their own way could be rejected on TikTok if it doesn't follow what's popular. Innovation might not always be accepted on TikTok, especially if it's not affordable. That's why you don't normally see designers trying to promote their products on TikTok, it's usually big companies or keyboard vendors. 

"Another downside is your content might end up on the wrong side of TikTok. For many people, there's no justifying a $300 keyboard when a $20 [one] does the same thing. You could apply this concept to so many other hobbies but explaining your purchases and hobbies just isn't worth the comment battle sometimes. High end customs are definitely expensive and TikTok can be quick to judge, especially if they don't agree with the price tag. It's one of those things though, you won't know the difference until you've typed on one yourself."

@xinxinwong

♬ LoFi(860862) - skollbeats

"It's definitely a hobby that I feel like has a higher barrier of entry from a financial standpoint. When starting out, you're usually funding your own content and keyboards can get really expensive. Sometimes it's rough because TikTok seems to have heavy preferences for certain things like sound, so what I end up building might not appeal to the community. I tend to focus on other details of the board (looks, mounting style, internals, group buy details, etc), rather than what the board sounds or feels like since it varies based on the configuration you choose."

Keyboards are expensive and time-consuming. And no doubt the high barrier for entry only encourages people to watch nice keyboard videos more, dreaming of the day that they might be able to own one. Patricia's current favourite keyboard has it all. It's unusual with an alice style layout, it's aesthetically pleasing and it sounds delightful. Alice style keyboards are split down the middle of the keys making typing that little more ergonomic on your wrists as they turn outwards to your hands. You can see and listen to the keyboard on her YouTube and if you're interested in the details of the board, you can check out Patricia's website. 

I can't help but want to invest in an expensive keyboard. As one of the most customisable parts of a PC gaming setup, custom keyboards ooze so much personality. And while I can't justify another PC build any time soon, maybe a keyboard build is the sensible second option right? That's what I'm telling myself at least. Till then you'll find me sitting in bed at 2am, listening to the tip-tip-tapping, click-click-clacking of keyboard TikTok. 

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[Intel has fixed 'the majority of the software stack issues' for its gaming GPUs says CEO Gelsinger]

Intel is only weeks away from the launch of its Arc A770 graphics card, which promises to be its first graphics card with an eye to deliver decent performance in games. Specifically, the Arc A770 is said to compete with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 in both frames per second and on price. However, it's not been an easy road to release for Intel's first generation Alchemist GPUs: the company has faced delays, difficulty with drivers, and even questions of its continued interest in graphics.

That step up from integrated to discrete was more difficult than we expected.

Pat Gelsinger, Intel CEO

But nobody said it would be easy. Intel has largely batted away any concerns over a waning interest in graphics, and from those I've spoken to at the company, it sounds like Intel is in it for the long haul.

That includes the opinion of Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, who I recently had a moment to ask about Intel's discrete graphics venture.

"Obviously we came out of the chute weaker than we would've hoped for early in the year, and fundamentally let me explain the issue a bit," Gelsinger tells me.

"We thought we could scale the integrated software stack more directly into the discrete graphics market. And unfortunately, performance levels, gamer certifications, different game features, you know, the integrated software stack simply wasn't capable of scaling up to 5X performance of a discrete graphics requirement.

"When you're in the market it's easier to refine and add features to it, but that step up from integrated to discrete was more difficult than we expected. So our launch into discrete graphics was a bit slower than I would've liked as we've gone through this year."

Intel's Xe architecture first appeared in its mobile chips, Ice Lake and Tiger Lake, though also appeared in the low-power discrete GPUs that were more or less test vehicles for what was to come. Since then, we've had the Arc A380 and, quietly, the Arc A310. The former of which didn't receive particularly strong praise from reviewers. In a few weeks time, we'll have the Arc A770, likely followed closely by the A750.

"All that said, we think the A770 that I just announced this week and will be shipping October 12th, will be a very compelling product," Gelsinger continues. "We believe now we've fought through the majority of the software stack issues, game certification is now very high, we're getting very good response from the unique features as a part of the product. So we're now feeling comfortable that we now have a solid footing."

I do think you'll see nice improvements as we go through next year.

Gelsinger doesn't fail to note that he expects market share in the GPU market to take time: "Now I do suspect for a new category of product that it takes a few years for us to get really good." But he says that ultimately Intel's "objective is high market share."

To do that, it will need to push performance far further up the road. It's only reportedly competing with Nvidia's near entry-level RTX 3060 today, and the green team is on the verge of releasing a graphics card that pushes the bar for performance far in excess of that, the RTX 4090. AMD, too, is highly competitive at the highest level.

(Image credit: Intel)

Perhaps it'll be the second generation of Arc graphics card, codename Battlemage, that carries the torch further for Intel in this regard when it arrives sometime next year. Though Gelsinger hints at the third generation Celestial cards being the ones to watch.

Your next upgrade

(Image credit: Future)

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"Over my 40+ year career I've done a lot of V1 products. Every V1 product I've done has always ushered in how to make it better in V2, and by V3 you're pretty darn good. If you're dedicated and have good people working on it.

"So I do think you'll see nice improvements as we go through next year and the competitiveness of those."

Gelsinger concludes his answer by telling me that its GPU business is ultimately entwined together. Integrated, discrete, datacentre, and HPC—all of these are important steps to nailing graphics for the company. That plays into what Tom Petersen told me a month ago regarding Intel's intention for its gaming graphics cards going forward, "our discrete business is the basic technology development that goes both into the data centre and integrated GPUs."

The buzz out of Intel sure would indicate that it's not backing down from this fight.

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[Stadia is closing down in January, hardware and software purchases to be refunded]

Two months after denying a rumor that Stadia is shutting down, Google has announced that Stadia is shutting down.

"While Stadia's approach to streaming games for consumers was built on a strong technology foundation, it hasn't gained the traction with users that we expected so we’ve made the difficult decision to begin winding down our Stadia streaming service," Stadia general manager Phil Harrison wrote.

Stadia owners will continue to have access to their libraries until January 18, 2023, and all Stadia hardware purchases made through the Google Store, and game and add-on content purchases made through the Stadia store, will be refunded. Most refunds are expected to be completed by mid-January.

Despite Stadia's failure to catch on with gamers, Harrison said the technology behind it "has been proven at scale and transcends gaming."

"We see clear opportunities to apply this technology across other parts of Google like YouTube, Google Play, and our Augmented Reality (AR) efforts—as well as make it available to our industry partners, which aligns with where we see the future of gaming headed," he wrote. "We remain deeply committed to gaming, and we will continue to invest in new tools, technologies and platforms that power the success of developers, industry partners, cloud customers and creators."

Harrison first indicated that Google was looking at licensing Stadia technology to other organizations in February 2021, saying that Google was looking toward an "increased focus on using our technology platform for industry partners." A job listing that appeared in August 2021 seemed to solidify that changed approach to the system. 

Stadia joins a long list of cancelled Google projects, some—like Hangouts, Picasa, Google Play Music, and YouTube Gaming—well known and widely used, and others more niche or behind-the-scenes. If you're curious, you find the full list of what lives in the Google graveyard at killedbygoogle.com.

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[Razer's cloud gaming handheld is coming with 5G]

At Mobile World Congress, Verizon announced a partnership with Qualcomm and Razer. Now Razer plans on releasing a new handheld console specifically designed for cloud gaming and streaming. 

The Razer Edge 5G is being built on the Snapdragon G3 Gen 1, which is meant to take advantage of Verizon's 5G Ultrawideband. Though no specific hardware details were revealed at the show, we did get a brief first look at the handheld courtesy of Twitter user GLKCreative.

The press release from Verizon says it's an Android device that will "give you access to games you love, whether they are downloaded to play locally, streamed from your console or accessed directly from the cloud." If that's true, that's something even the versatile Steam Deck can't do.

Last week, Logitech launched its G Cloud gaming console specially targeted for cloud gaming through streaming apps such as GeForce Now, Steam Remote Play, and Xbox Cloud gaming over WiFi. The Edge 5G looks like it'll do a little more than that, by letting you stream games over both WiFi and 5G.

BREAKING: @Verizon, @Razer and @Qualcomm are teaming up on the world's first 5G mobile gaming handheld—Razer Edge 5G! It will allow you to play your favorite games regardless of whether you are gaming in the cloud, on an app or streaming from your console. https://t.co/TYPw5xFyeF pic.twitter.com/F9Vg3CfABlSeptember 28, 2022

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More ways to play your games on the go is never a bad thing. But there's still a lot we don't know about the Edge 5G, such as price, storage capacity, and cost. More importantly, I'm curious if you'll be able to have access to different gaming storefronts and libraries like Epic Games Store, Steam, or Xbox Game Pass.

The Logitech G Cloud, for example, only lets you download games from the Google Play store and doesn't let you download your PC game libraries locally. If the Edge 5G lets you do that, that would make it a serious rival for not just the G Cloud but also the Steam Deck. 

Razer will reveal more details about the Edge 5G at RazerCon on October 15. 

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[People's Bank of China brags about crackdown on the 'pseudo-gold exchanges' of crypto]

China is in the early years of a battle to regulate tech it doesn't like, and one area of especial focus has become crypto. This is because China was at one point ground zero for crypto-mining operations in particular and the industry boomed there before the regulators began to get a grasp on it: but once the CCP began taking notice of crypto, it didn't like what it saw one bit.

One year ago China made cryptocurrency transactions illegal and now the People's Bank of China has issued an update via the country's popular WeChat platform (thanks, The Register). It's naturally full of praise for our good friend Xi Jinping's leadership, and covers several areas of finance as well as crypto, with what seems to be pretty disparaging language: at one point referring to crypto markets as "pseudo-gold exchanges" which is pretty funny.

All quotations attributed to the bank here have been through a machine translation and lightly edited for sense.

The People's Bank of China says it has been "comprehensively cleaning up and rectifying the financial order" with regards to bitcoin in particular, referring to the successful completion of "special rectification of Internet financial risks." If you're wondering what a special rectification is, the bank is talking about the shutdown of "nearly 5,000 P2P online lending institutions".

The P2P element is crucial in why the CCP dislikes crypto: peer-to-peer trading is inherently hard to control. This financial note's overall theme is about banking stability and how secure China's financial system is: all of which is what you'd expect the CCP's bank to say about the CCP's economic policies, of course. P2P trading is not stable in this macro sense, it's hard to regulate, and this is a country that wants top-down control over the systems its citizens use, particularly financial ones.

The bank says it's continuing to "crack down" on what it terms "domestic virtual currency trading speculation", and goes on to say that "China’s domestic bitcoin trading volume has dropped significantly in the world." This notably doesn't address how bitcoin mining has been affected. The CCP's policies have definitely had an impact on this but, per the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption map, the country is still responsible for just over 20% of bitcoin electricity consumption.

Still, the bank reckons that "the disorderly expansion and savage growth momentum have been effectively curbed." It vows to continue the war against crypto's "pseudo-gold exchanges" and to "eliminate the regulatory vacuum".

The truth is that the situation remains much messier than the bank would ever let on, but it is always the done thing to write about how wonderfully well Xi Jinping and the CCP's policies are working. The crypto 'ban' itself remains a hot topic, with plenty of crypto assets still located in China and legal cases ongoing (good luck with that, Chinese crypto fans). And it's only one part, albeit a big one, of the CCP's wider efforts to control elements of the technology that it fears could become too large to effectively control (such as Tencent, which in recent years has been methodically brought to heel a few times).

With apologies to Pravda: bitcoin production in China is not, in fact, at record levels. But it continues, whatever the Central Bank of China may say, and the battle to control it is far from over.

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[XeSS performs worse than native rendering on AMD's Ryzen 7 5700G]

Yesterday I looked at the performance of Intel XeSS upscaling tech running on an Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti. While not quite up to the performance of DLSS, it wasn't far off, and the image quality was impressive. A promising start for Intel. Especially given that it runs on not just Intel's graphics cards, but AMD's and Nvidia's too.

In order for other cards to support the feature, they need to support DP4A. The GeForce RTX 2080 Ti does, which is used for the upscaling algorithm and is the fallback for non-Arc GPUs. Arc GPUs, such as the upcoming Arc A770, bring bespoke XMX acceleration to do this work even faster. 

There is another fallback for cards that don't support DP4A though, and that is INT24. You'll find INT24 support in pretty much every modern GPU, and that includes integrated GPUs, you know, the kind you'll find in AMD's APUs.

However, while this third tier of support ensures that XeSS works on plenty of systems, there are questions about how fast it is. In fact, after testing the various quality settings of a Ryzen 7 5700G system, the results are less than impressive. You're looking at performance that is actually worse than running at native. In other words, you'll actually see better performance turning XeSS off. 

Using Shadow of the Tomb Raider as an example, which is one of two games that current support XeSS, and using the highest graphics settings at 1080p, I witnessed just 20fps with no upscaling. The fastest setting for XeSS is the Performance quality setting, which actually saw the performance drop down to 18fps. The Quality preset dropped this even further, down to 15fps. 

(Image credit: Future)

Running Shadow of the Tomb Raider with the Highest settings is good for comparison with other graphics cards, but it is harsh for this hardware. I also tried running at the Low and Medium presets but saw similar results. Native is simply the faster option, and it looks better too.

Steam in your hands

(Image credit: Future, FromSoftware)

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Essentially you're better off ignoring XeSS on this APU, as turning it on will result in slower performance and worse frame rates. There is a chance that optimisations to XeSS could turn this around, although it's doubtful. Ideally, you'd go for FSR for AMD's GPUs, although Shadow of the Tomb Raider doesn't support that, so your options are XeSS or nothing. 

To be fair to Intel, it's asking a lot of the graphics silicon in this chip. It only has eight graphics cores, maxes out 2,000MHz, and has to make do with sharing system memory. You're also looking at the ageing Vega architecture. Still, a budget gamer can't help but dream.

While it would have been great if Intel XeSS did work on such a low-power GPU, I can't really criticise Intel for that. After all, its main reason for existing is to boost the performance of the company's own GPUs using MXM, which should be much quicker than even DP4A. The Arc A770 is set for release on October 12, and I'm sure we'll be revisiting XeSS when it does launch.

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[Here's when FIFA 23 releases in your timezone]

The FIFA 23 release date is fast approaching, and though Ultimate Edition owners got to head in that little bit earlier, there are still plenty of players waiting for kick-off. Whether it's the ability to silence nasty commentators, or Ted Lasso coming to the game, there's plenty to be excited for if you're a football fan.

FIFA 23 is also the final game in the long-running sports sim series, closing out a run of almost 30 years and possibly too many games. If you have any nostalgia or love for them, or were always curious what the fuss was about, this is your best and last chance to check them out. That said, here's what the FIFA 23 release times are on PC so you can get playing. 

When does FIFA 23 come out? 

Those that purchased the Ultimate Edition of FIFA 23 got to start playing early on September 27, but for those with the standard edition on Origin, Steam, or the Epic Games Store, the release date is September 29 or 30 depending on your timezone. Players in the UK can get FIFA at 11 pm BST on September 29 with Origin or Steam.

For everywhere else, the release date is midnight local time, September 30, meaning some places will get to play earlier depending on timezone. If you're a member of Xbox PC game pass ultimate or EA Play, you can also try a free ten hour trial of FIFA 23 before release as part of its early access, though the full game sadly isn't included with either. 

You can also find the official requirements on the Steam page. FIFA 23 will need 100 GB of free space to install, but it should actually come in at around 38 GB size wise. 

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[Everquest 2 goes spelunking in its 19th expansion in 18 years]

EverQuest 2 was first released in November 2004, and that was a little unlucky. A more polished and streamlined version of one of the pioneering Western MMOs, Everquest 2 had it all: gorgeous visuals, lavish audio production, a metric tonne of quests (it is now estimated to contain over 6000), and all the quality-of-life tools a fantasy player could ask for. The problem? It launched at almost exactly the same time as a competitor called World of Warcraft.

WoW swept all before it and, although Everquest 2 was one of the few able to survive such a high quality entrant in the fantasy MMO genre, inevitably overshadowed its contemporaries. Nevertheless, Everquest 2 attracted and retained a considerable playerbase, first under original developer Sony Online Entertainment, before later being sold to the Daybreak Game Company in 2015, which continues to maintain and expand the game. It has received an astonishing 18 expansions in this time, and this Christmas brings another.

Head of studio Jenn Chan has written a producer's letter for the game's fans, setting out a timeline for the rest of the year and revealing the new expansion's name: Renewal of Ro

"We’ve braved Myths and Monoliths," writes Chan, "wrapped up our first ever Summer Jubilee with Oceansfull Festival, maxed our Golden F'Aestival Bracers, raked in some great bonuses, and adventured in The Fractured Cache in the hopes of bringing the aerakyn home." I don't know what an aerakyn is either but I'm kinda hyped.

Everquest 2022 roadmap

• September: Desert of Flames Unlocked on Varsoon, 'Secrets of the Sands' expansion prelude, Panda, Panda, Panda!
• October: 2022's Expansion Beta + Preorders go live
• November: Heroes' Festival for 18th Anniversary, Extra Life fundraising event
• December: Expansion launch, Heroic Opportunity System Update

Yes, 'Panda, Panda, Panda!' is a bunch of quests where you help out friendly pandas.
There's also a note on the Swag Store, much-anticipated by its playerbase, which was due in September "but due to production delays we couldn't get the stars aligned to launch this. We're still making progress, so be on the lookout for updates for when this will open."

The new expansion, Renewal of Ro, launches in December with new zones and quests, and an overhaul of the Heroic Opportunity system. Then there's this line to end the producer's letter (emphasis theirs): "Get ready to Tack on your best gear and establish yourself as one of the greatest of spelunkers in hiztory."

Renewal of Ro is going to take place in the desert biomes and, thanks to the official Everquest 2 forum, I can tell you that Takish Hiz was once the Elddar Empire's capital, and that what is now desert was once a lush forest. Whether this means players will be uncovering the ruins (which spelunking would suggest) or Everquest 2's going to do another timey-wimey multiverse thing (which it has done in the past) remains to be seen.

Everquest 2 has also for many years now partnered with Extra Life to raise money for various childrens' hospitals, with this year's beneficiary being the Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego. Gaming at large appears to have woken up to the good it can sometimes do out in the real world, but Everquest 2's been ploughing this furrow for many years and raised a tonne of money for good causes, through things like communal in-game drives and rewarding players who make a donation with in-game titles.

"Children's hospitals perform such an important role in our communities," writes Chan. "They literally are the difference between life and death for some children. On a very personal note, my family would look very different today if not for the lifesaving services that Rady Children's Hospital provided. The official Extra Life Game Day is November 5, 2022 and we have some plans to make this year bigger than before."

Everquest 2 is free-to-play, with paid-for expansions, and you can try it out here. The series has a rich old history: here you can read about how a cheater and designer waged a secret war from a San Diego gaming store or, alternatively, how a bunch of players broke a scared MMO code by waking up a 20 year-old dragon.

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[The Loupedeck Live all-in-one streaming tool is $40 cheaper for one more day]

Loupedeck Live console | $269 $229 at Amazon (save $40)
The Loupedeck Live is the Swiss army knife of desktop thingumajigs. It brings tons of functionality to your fingertips, and you can really make it your own with high levels of customisation through the app. It natively works with tons of apps, such as OBS Studio, Streamlabs, Google Chrome, and Adobe Photoshop.View Deal

If you're the type of person that wants more gadgets on your desktop, you might be interested in the Loupedeck Live. It's a sort of shortcut whizz, a way for you to set up lots of specialised buttons and knobs for use across a wide range of apps. For PC gamers, it'll find good use as a streaming console like an Elgato Stream Deck, though it's also handy for content creation.

I've had plenty of hands-on time with the Loupedeck, not the least bit for my review back in 2021. In which, I called it "what I had been hoping for: an all-encompassing device that requires minimal day-to-day upkeep." It's also got better since that time, with a simpler software.

For one more day, the Loupedeck Live is cheaper than usual. It's on sale for $229 on Amazon, saving you $40. It's also on offer over at Amazon UK for £199, £30 off its original price.

There are also offers for other more professional-focused Loupedeck models: the Loupedeck+ is $229 and the Loupedeck Creative Tool is $499.

The bad news is the sale expires today, September 29, so you'll have to be pretty quick to secure one at this cheaper price. Though I do feel that Loupedeck will receive a similar $40 discount during Black Friday, as it did last year. So if you're reading this late, there's still a good chance you can secure that price if you're willing to wait around until late November.

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[The Witcher 4's protagonist should be Dandelion the bard]

After losing a bit of clout thanks to Cyberpunk 2077's shaky launch and diminished post-release plans, CD Projekt Red is returning to the Continent and its much-beloved Witcher series. Multiple games are on the cards, in fact, and the first one, which we're calling Witcher 4 but has yet to be officially named, is already in pre-production. It's still a bit of a mystery at the moment, and while we can probably expect more monster-slaying antics, I'm holding out hope for something a bit different. I want a bard RPG. 

D&D gave us the framework for bardic heroes and their adventures, but outside of the tabletop game and its videogame adaptations there have been tragically few games that let you become a fantasy pop idol, and even fewer that attempt to capture what it might be like to be a travelling minstrel, following adventurers around while they beat up dragons and save miserable villages. 

(Image credit: CD Projekt)

For me, the biggest appeal is the opportunity to play an RPG where I'm not some super-powered heroic archetype, but rather the person following them around and just trying to survive while stringing my lute. I want to use stealth, cunning and a brilliant repertoire of popular tunes rather than raw strength. Really, I want to play the kind of character who you'd expect to be an NPC—which is always my main impetus for agreeing to DM a campaign. 

This is why I had such a great time with Kingdom Come: Deliverance. You start off as the son of a blacksmith, completely out of your depth, and while you eventually become a knight and get involved with wars and politics, you're always a subordinate—an ordinary person who's trying not to piss off the nobles. In a genre that's all about empowerment, the chance to play one of the least important people in the room is strangely compelling. 

In The Witcher 4, it's much more likely that we'll be playing Ciri, or at least another witcher.  The teaser has already confirmed the existence of a new witcher school with fetish for lynxes, which one can assume the new protagonist belongs to, so my dreams are probably going to be shattered. The series does, however, have a character who'd make for a fun, if extremely unconventional, musical hero: Dandelion the bard.

(Image credit: Netflix)

Dandelion is a frequent companion of Geralt's, following him on his monster-hunting trips and looking for inspiration for his next ditty. In the game trilogy, he mostly just hangs out in bars, but in the books and Netflix adaptation, the latter of which uses his Polish name, Jaskier, we see him get a lot more involved. He's more inclined to hide from danger than run towards it, of course, but after barrelling into so many fights with my sword flailing around, this actually sounds like a compelling way to play an RPG. 

When he absolutely needs to, Dandelion can probably still put up a fight. He's in good shape and has seen his fair share of bar brawls and angry spouses. But as a bard it makes more sense for him to hang back. D&D already shows us how this could work, with his rousing songs inspiring his allies. Just like Geralt's fighting style necessitated tactical thinking, using research and alchemy to take down monsters, Dandelion's repertoire could have different effects best deployed in specific situations: songs to give friends courage, terrible limericks to confuse enemies and lullabies to send monsters to sleep.

Not being in the fray would also give Dandelion a clearer picture of the fight, which could translate to a kind of commander role where he directs his companions' aggression towards the biggest threats, or a more roguish role where he sneaks around the periphery of the battlefield setting up traps. He could even serve as a healer. There are lots of ways for a bard to be useful. 

(Image credit: CD Projekt)

There are plenty of existing RPG mechanics that would absolutely work here, but also just as many excuses to experiment with new systems. A song creation tool is right at the top of my list. The Witcher's alchemy system already gives us a foundation, where you mix ingredients together to create potent potions, but here these ingredients could be things like lyrics and tempo. And these tunes could be handy outside of battle, too. Witchers get paid for killing monsters, but bards have to sing for their supper. A recurring minigame where you have to entertain a rowdy crowd in a pub could be a hoot. Work some musical magic and you'll get a hefty pouch of gold, but belt out a Nilfgaardian drinking song in a Redanian tavern and you'll probably inspire a brawl.    

Letting us play Dandelion, or any bard, would also sidestep some of the comparisons between the sequel and The Witcher 3, which is probably going to be its main hurdle. Geralt's last adventure is one of the best RPGs ever made, and blessed with a protagonist that seems to be universally loved, and I'm just not convinced a new witcher, or even Ciri, will live up to the old guy's legacy. Better to take it in a completely different direction and try something new. 

I won't get my hopes up, but with more than one new Witcher game being planned, maybe I'll see my dream turn into reality one of these days.

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[The LotR: The Rings of Power intro has some undiscovered easter eggs]

If you've been keeping up with Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series, you might have thought nothing of the title sequence. It may look mundane, perhaps even completely irrelevant to the uninitiated, but there's a lot more to this sandy mashup than meets the eye.

The studio responsible for the intro, Plains of Yonder, spoke to me about the hidden meanings behind the concept, and even hinted at some easter eggs the eagle eyed among us should be looking out for.

The Plains of Yonder team said that, when the show first aired, many of the initial comments were in the vein of "Really? They were given how much money and all we got was sand?" Of course, die-hard fans will be aware that the concept is a nod to J.R.R. Tolkien's world building efforts—a reference to the Middle Earth creation story in which angelic beings called the Ainur called the universe of Eä into existence through the power of song.

"Tolkien talks about the cosmos, and how music is the organising principle around all of creation," explains Anthony Vitagliano, Plains of Yonder's Creative Director for the project.

"There's this amazing cast of angelic beings that he wrote about, that sung the universe into existence. And so we were like, 'Well, that is kind of an interesting place to start,' because this is the introduction to Middle Earth, and what the world is.

"That became the insight, and then from that we were thinking 'How do you represent that visually?' Because that's a fantasy idea. People try to draw it, people try to write about it, you can imagine it in your head, and everyone has their own view of what that could be. So how do you capture that in a bottle, and put it on screen?"

That's when the team stumbled across a scientific concept known as Cymatics—a marvel of sound discovered by Hans Jenny, and popularised by Ernst Chladni, that sees sand forming into organic, geometric patterns when resonated at certain frequencies. 

Their reasoning for settling on this as a concept? "Because it literally is the only real world phenomenon that connects sound and vibration to Earth," Anthony says.

It's a fascinating phenomenon, and using it as a basis for the intro helps to blur the lines between Tolkien's world and our own, merging the revelations of real-world science with the nostalgic magic of Middle Earth, something the team was bent on achieving.

(Image credit: Plains of Yonder)

It was great to hear my suspicions weren't unfounded, but I had to ask if there were any other hidden meanings people might have missed in the title sequence. 

"I don't think we should give anything away," Anthony said after some coy chortling, "There's some hidden meanings within the trees that nobody has seen yet."

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Later, Director Katrina Crawford followed up on Anthony's comments. "We won't completely divulge, but if you watch the part where you're going from the trees, and going forward, you'll get a little bit of it."

Some easter eggs in the sequence have already been found by fans, such as the floating island of Númenor, but as Katrina notes, "Everything has different layers of meaning. It could be a simple colour thing that we've used at a certain point, that gives you a certain feeling. But there's larger themes, and then there's specific meanings to icons. So there are a lot of different levels. And then there's kind of very general things like sacred geometry."

As for the easter egg no one has spotted yet, she says "You won't get that until the last episode, necessarily."

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[Where to find Ringtail slimes in Slime Rancher 2]

There are all manner of cute little slimes to find in Slime Rancher 2, but you'll need to work hard to find the Ringtail slime. This mischievous-looking raccoon-like slime hides itself during the day by literally becoming a statue—not much you can do with that. Its appetite also works differently from most other slimes, making it a little more challenging to get Plorts from. In this guide, I'll show you where to get Ringtail slimes and how to get those all-important Plorts. 

Slime Rancher 2: Where to find Ringtail slimes 

You'll be able to find Ringtail slimes at Starlight Strand during the day and at night. There's also a Ringtail Gordo slime and the majority of the regular slimes can be found to the east of it. To reach Starlight Strand you'll need the jetpack, which you'll have created when hunting for Moondew nectar.

There's a catch: when exposed to sunlight, i.e. during daylight hours, Ringtail slimes will turn to stone to avoid being captured. There is a way around this: take them to a cave and they will reanimate, allowing you to suck them up. Otherwise, wait until nighttime and you'll be able to hunt them.

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(Image credit: Monomi Park)

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(Image credit: Monomi Park)

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(Image credit: Monomi Park)

Slime Rancher 2: Ringtail slime Plorts 

Ringtail slimes are omnivores and their diet is quite literally everything. They have no favourite foods, so throw anything you've got in there—it does mean that you can't double their Plort drop by using a favourite food, though. Unfortunately, they will overeat and, unlike most slimes, this does not mean lots of Plorts will appear. They do get a little telltale smirk on their face that indicates they are full, which is your cue to remove any food from their pen.

With Ringtail slimes, they'll only produce Plorts when they are hungry, so make sure you don't leave food in there too long or, better yet, let them turn to stone during the day so they don't stuff their faces.

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[Overwatch 2 review-in-progress]

Overwatch 2 is a sequel that, intentionally or not, is trying to bury its predecessor alive. The original Overwatch is still in there, bruised and broken, but the weight of Blizzard's commercial and competitive expectations keeps piling up. It's a sequel that attempts to renew its predecessor with layers of unnecessary complexity and refuses to reach inward to find and nourish the ambitious and joyful FPS beneath it all.

The original Overwatch changed the shape of the FPS genre in the years following its explosive release in 2016, before Fortnite and battle royales took over. Instead of synthesizing what made the original game enviable and revitalizing it, the sequel takes what was left and wraps it up in a monetization scheme that could finally kill it for good.

(Image credit: Tyler C. / Activision Blizzard)

Overwatch 2 is the conclusion to Overwatch's six-year-long mutation into a free-to-play game. It now has daily and weekly challenges, a battle pass, and an aggressive release schedule for new heroes and cosmetics—all of it made to squeeze more time and money out of its players now that there isn't an entry fee to play it. The $40 Watchpoint Pack available on Blizzard's store grants you a bundle of skins, the first season's premium battle pass and 2,000 of its new Overwatch Coins currency to buy premium battle passes (1,000 coins per season), cosmetics and heroes. Overwatch Coins can also be slowly earned by playing the game and completing weekly challenges. Blizzard has said it's designed so that if you play enough to complete your weekly challenges routinely, you will earn enough of the currency to buy a premium battle pass every other season.

Most of Overwatch 2's new heroes and cosmetics, not its game modes or maps, will cost you, and if you never bought the original game, you'll have to play around 100 games to unlock most of Overwatch's original 32 heroes. I expect some new player onboarding and barriers to heroes and modes to prevent experienced and disruptive players from making new accounts and ruining matches for fun in a free game. Plenty of games do this. The problem is how those barriers threaten to encroach on Overwatch's strategic metagame with hero swaps and counter-picking.

Blizzard has a history of launching heroes with absurdly strong abilities that can often make old heroes irrelevant. Echo dropped in 2020 as a flying, burst-damage hero that made almost every other DPS pick look pathetic in comparison, and even Overwatch 2's Junker Queen recently had to be tamed so that professional players would finally pick another tank in the Overwatch League.

(Image credit: Tyler C. / Activision Blizzard)

I'm skeptical of Blizzard's ability to keep its roadmap of roughly three heroes each year in equilibrium with the rest of the cast, especially when it's only going to get harder as the number grows. To lock heroes behind the battle pass, even if they're free, opens the opportunity for the monetization and progression systems to dangle what is essentially player power in front of you. And for Blizzard, a company that's estimated to have made over $100 million in a month from Diablo: Immortal earlier this year, it's hard not to see how this could go wrong fast. I've played all three of the new heroes that will arrive with Overwatch 2 next week and none of them are egregiously strong, but it's going to be something to watch as the game moves forward.

The limited, early access version of Overwatch 2 that I've played along with other members of the press in the past week hasn't had the joy sucked out of it yet, but I'm worried about its future. The game's shift to an 5v5 format that emphasizes aggressive play and the sweeping balance changes to most of its heroes target Overwatch's most experienced players and not the ones that might return to the game or try it for the first time next week.

Rough start

Overwatch, in its original form, was a rare FPS that welcomed non-FPS players, building room in its roster for supportive roles and characters who could win a match with a clutch heal or defensive bubble. Now, almost every hero, including its three new ones, has been imbued with high-skill mechanics that feel tailored to esports pros rather than the average players with no desire to play at that level. Who exactly is this game supposed to be for?

(Image credit: Tyler C. / Activision Blizzard)

With one tank on each team and the new addition of role passives (all damage characters get a boost in movement and reload speed after a kill or assist, for example), you don't have to rely on the micro-decisions of your allies. When my Reinhardt finally had the courage to swing into the enemy team, pulling their attention away from my flank attack as Genji, I could easily assassinate weak support heroes, but with a strong enough positional advantage and good aim, I could do it all on my own. 

With fewer abilities to slow down the pace of a match, battles don't last long, increasing the demand on split-second decision making.

Overwatch 2 loosens the grip that team composition and behavior had on individual play in the first game. To do that, it removes most of the stuns and knockbacks from damage heroes and turns tanks into Dark Souls bosses with big health bars and a variety of movement abilities. Mei can't freeze enemies in place anymore; Bastion is no longer stationary in turret form; Doomfist has been reworked from a damage dealer into a hyper-mobile tank. With fewer abilities to slow down the pace of a match, battles don't last long, increasing the demand on split-second decision making.

The three new heroes launching with the game thrive in Overwatch 2's messier battles. Sojourn is a blend of Soldier: 76 and Widowmaker with the ability to crouch-slide around the battlefield, Kiriko, the new kunai-wielding healer, can not only climb walls, but instantly teleport to allies through walls, and while Junker Queen lacks movement abilities, she can rally her allies with a temporary speed and health boost.

(Image credit: Activision Blizzard)

The first game left most of its original roster in a state that translates well to the new format, but some heroes stick out. Wrecking Ball and Sombra—both heroes who were largely kept in check by the existence of stuns and their low damage output—are a nightmare to play against. Wrecking Ball's massive health pool and Sombra's temporary 40% damage buff against hacked targets make both of them ridiculously punishing to uncoordinated teams. And Mercy has needlessly had her signature Guardian Angel glide ability complicated with a meter and two keybinds to determine which direction to fly. None of these break the game, but they reveal how much work is left to make sure the entire cast fits into the new ruleset. Overwatch 2's freshly cut shape is visible, but when you put your hands on it there are a lot of bumps and splinters that will need to be sanded out with updates in the future.

Grind on

Overwatch 2 is lined with bars to fill and XP to gain in its new challenge system and seasonal battle pass. Daily challenges seem to be randomized like most other games and weekly, seasonal, and lifetime challenges are universal goals that reward trinkets like profile titles and icons. I played Quick Play in roughly two hour chunks each day and could fill out three to four levels of the 80-tier battle pass as long as I picked the appropriate heroes to satisfy my challenges. That was with the 20% boost from owning the premium battle pass too.

While not as much of a chore as Blizzard implied it might be by locking new heroes behind tier 55 on the free track, the battle pass and challenge system fragments the original game's attempt to simply make a game worth trying in. Wins are still important, and always the goal of at least one challenge every day, but objectives that ask you to mitigate a certain amount of damage with a barrier or get 100 kills redefine how you should approach each match. In order to make the most out of my limited time playing, I picked Reinhardt even when he wouldn't be particularly effective because I wanted to get my mitigation challenge done—and I wouldn't blame others for doing it too.

(Image credit: Blizzard)

This transformation—turning a game that was once about finding the best way to collaborate with your teammates into a solo-minded hunt to efficiently complete your dailies—guts individual victories of their weight. Every match is a step toward a meta-level goal, task lists that supercede the organic fun of teamwork and ask you to chase multi-kills, keep a shield up for longer than you should; spend the entire match over-healing your allies instead of using your other supportive abilities. Overwatch 2 dilutes the spirit of its interlocking hero battles and locks its most impressive skins and cosmetics behind playing the way the battle pass suggests, for hours a day.

Even if it's the norm for live service free-to-play games and a slight improvement over the original's loot boxes, it's disappointing to see a game that once celebrated the joy of experimenting and learning the depth of its team-based battles to now demand people to wrap their lives around it, pay money, or leave empty handed. Getting a skin for the new support in tier 20 of the first season's battle pass would take you almost a week of focused play—and you wouldn't get it at all if you didn't pay for the $10 premium battle pass.

Stuck in the past

Overwatch 2's live service relaunch has also left its once-fresh world of diverse characters on hold for future updates. The story hasn't developed several of its existing characters, nor has it progressed past Winston's call to action in the cinematic short that debuted with the game. Blizzard promises the PvE missions will build on the story in the future, but none of them will be in the game at launch.

(Image credit: Activision Blizzard)

The original Overwatch prided itself on its "hopeful vision of the future," and it was a bold attempt to be an FPS for the people who the genre so often left out. The reality of the present even back in 2016 wasn't so hopeful, for a variety of reasons. The three new characters in the sequel do little to carry that vision forward. While each mechanically creative, their backstories look like they were written six years ago.

Overwatch has had many opportunities to push further with each new hero, and the sequel can't even reach the bar that other games have only nudged in the last few years.

Kiriko, a third Japanese character coming to the game in Overwatch 2, worships a real magical fox spirit, is in a gang called the Yokai, and is also a ninja—all of which is represented in her set of abilities. Her close ties to Hanzo and Genji (her mother trained the brothers) shows disappointingly little imagination. Most of the other heroes don't literally wield their cultures as magical weapons and abilities. This approach to writing characters and worldbuilding shrinks the global, near-future world that it wants to depict.

And with how long fans have been asking for a black woman hero—while Blizzard released both a robot and a talking hamster in the interim—it's frustrating to see Overwatch 2 fail to be as bold as the original game was in 2016.

(Image credit: Blizzard)

Modern FPS games with global character rosters have only barely started to acknowledge other racial and gender identities. Overwatch has had many opportunities to push further with each new hero, and the sequel can't even reach the bar that other games have only nudged in the last few years.

Rain check

Overwatch 2 doesn't feel ready yet. For everyone who still actively plays Overwatch, the sequel has enough new toys to play with and unlock, but the beating heart of the game I devoted thousands of hours of my life to is a series of misguided balance changes and monetization systems away from flatlining. It's in a fragile state that might not solidify into a shooter worth regularly playing for a year or two, if it ever does.

Overwatch 2 is a chance to learn from the last six years and aim as high as the original game did, to widen its bright, team-based battles to welcome even more players looking for the sort of characters other games ignore.  But right now, it's hard to see that game underneath all the scaffolding it took to adapt it into a free-to-play shooter that mimics its successful contemporaries and ties it all into a shameless monetization scheme.

(Image credit: Blizzard)

It might still become the game many of its fans, like me, dreamed it could be. It could be a game that appeals to people who love the cerebral joy of a frantic firefight, but one that maintains a metagame of counter-picking and positional play for those who like to play chess with its unique heroes, too. It could take all of its charming and compelling characters and interrogate the original game's question of what a disparate group of heroes could do for a world that rejected them. It could be the game that makes every ability, every remark, and every location evocative of the refreshing world it promised to be.

But that's not Overwatch coming out next week. It's still in there, waiting to be dug out and refreshed for all the players, like me, who are unsatisfied with every other hero shooter out there. Overwatch 2 wouldn't be what it is without the game that came before it and now it's trying to reinvent itself. I just worry about what will be lost when it finally does.

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[World of Warcraft could be getting official controller support]

A new build has arrived for the Dragonflight beta and it seems that World of Warcraft may get official controller support in the new expansion. Both Xbox and PlayStation controller assets which are "tied to controller bindings" have been datamined in the latest build, according to Icy Veins.

This news certainly adds weight to any speculation that WoW might show up on Xbox after the Microsoft acquisition, assuming it goes ahead of course. Equally though, it may just be part of the push towards better accessibility options for the nearly 18-year-old MMO—something that many of the UI updates in Dragonflight appear to be focusing on.

An "action combat" option was previously added to the Dragonflight beta. If enabled, this means you won't need to tab between enemies to target them—instead, you will automatically lock on to the closest enemy in the direction your character is facing. You can also assign an Interact key in the beta, which again would make using a controller much easier.

While it is possible to use a controller via an in-game console command in Shadowlands, it's not at all intuitive and pretty fiddly to set up. So if Blizzard is pushing toward more user-friendly controller support that can only be a good thing, regardless of what happens with Microsoft.

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[Sackboy: A Big Adventure is finally coming to PC in late October]

After months of leaks, Sony has confirmed a late October release date for the PC port of Sackboy: A Big Adventure. The cooperative 3D platformer—a PS5 launch title—will boast a few nice quality-of-life improvements when it hits Steam and the Epic Games Store.

Confirmation of the port comes via the Latin American PlayStation YouTube account, but the English language version of the trailer will no doubt hit imminently. 4K resolution with support for 120fps is in, it'll play nice with 21:9 ultrawide monitors, and DLSS and VRR are both supported.

GamesRadar gave Sackboy: A Big Adventure a perfect score on release, and I myself can confirm that it's really fun: you can pick up your coop buddies and send them hurtling off cliffs. According to the announcement trailer, the port will release on October 27. 

Now that Sackboy is out of the bag, it's likely that Returnal—which is pretty much definitely coming to PC—will follow in November. Details on that port leaked via a rogue YouTube video yesterday, confirming DLSS and FSR. Sony has removed the video, but you can read the details here.

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[Today's Wordle 467 answer and hint: Thursday, September 29]

If you need some help with the September 29 (467) Wordle then you've found the right place. You'll find the answer to today's puzzle just a short distance away, and if you'd like to read more general help designed to improve your daily puzzling then you'll find all the tips and tricks you need here too.

I uncovered a good selection of early yellows today—which actually made pinning down the answer to this one quite difficult. Seeing four greens flip over with one grey at the end, twice, was a nerve-wracking experience. 

Wordle hint

Today's Wordle: A hint for Thursday, September 29

You definitely don't want today's word to happen to you. This term's used to describe an injury, one caused by contact with extremely hot liquids or steam. There's just one vowel to find today. 

Wordle help: 3 tips for beating Wordle every day 

If there's one thing better than playing Wordle, it's playing Wordle well, which is why I'm going to share a few quick tips to help set you on the path to success:

• A good opener contains a balanced mix of unique vowels and consonants. 
• A tactical second guess helps to narrow down the pool of letters quickly.
• The solution may contain repeat letters.

There's no time pressure beyond making sure it's done by midnight. So there's no reason to not treat the game like a casual newspaper crossword and come back to it later if you're coming up blank.

Wordle answer

(Image credit: Josh Wardle)

What is the Wordle 467 answer?

Not sure? Then let me help. The answer to the September 29 (467) Wordle is SCALD. 

Previous answers

Wordle archive: Which words have been used

The more past Wordle answers you can cram into your memory banks, the better your chances of guessing today's Wordle answer without accidentally picking a solution that's already been used. Past Wordle answers can also give you some excellent ideas for fun starting words that keep your daily puzzle solving fresh.

Here are some recent Wordle solutions:

• September 28: USURP
• September 27: SOGGY
• September 26: BRISK
• September 25: ADMIT
• September 24: GRATE
• September 23: GLORY
• September 22: SAINT
• September 21: RECAP
• September 20: ALIKE
• September 19: TRICE

Learn more about Wordle 

Every day Wordle presents you with six rows of five boxes, and it's up to you to work out which secret five-letter word is hiding inside them.

You'll want to start with a strong word like ALERT—something containing multiple vowels, common consonants, and no repeat letters. Hit Enter and the boxes will show you which letters you've got right or wrong. If a box turns ️, it means that letter isn't in the secret word at all. means the letter is in the word, but not in that position. means you've got the right letter in the right spot.

You'll want your second go to compliment the first, using another "good" word to cover any common letters you missed last time while also trying to avoid any letter you now know for a fact isn't present in today's answer.

After that it's just a case of using what you've learned to narrow your guesses down to the right word. You have six tries in total and can only use real words (so no filling the boxes with EEEEE to see if there's an E). Don't forget letters can repeat too (ex: BOOKS).

If you need any further advice feel free to check out our Wordle tips, and if you'd like to find out which words have already been used you'll find those below.

Originally, Wordle was dreamed up by software engineer Josh Wardle, as a surprise for his partner who loves word games. From there it spread to his family, and finally got released to the public. The word puzzle game has since inspired tons of games like Wordle, refocusing the daily gimmick around music or math or geography. It wasn't long before Wordle became so popular it was sold to the New York Times for seven figures. Surely it's only a matter of time before we all solely communicate in tricolor boxes. 

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[Intel quietly announces the Arc A310 graphics card]

After months of rumors, teasers, speculation, and the half-launch of the Arc A380, Intel has officially announced the Arc A310 graphics card. It’s not the RTX 40 killer we might have hoped for, but it’s something. Given the amount of coverage of Arc in the tech press over the last couple of years, this announcement comes as a surprise. Whether it’s due to its modest nature or a it's deliberate low-key release from Intel is up for debate. Nevertheless, such cards, while not appealing to gamers, have a place in the market.

The A310 is not a card you’d buy to play Cyberpunk 2077 at 4K with ray tracing. In fact, it’s not a card you’d use at 720p on minimum settings. Its specs show it’s designed to output video signals for machines that don’t have integrated graphics.

Key features include six Xe cores, 4GB of GDDR6 memory over a 64-bit bus, a graphics clock of 2000MHz and a 75W TDP. This means it's competing with AMD’s RX 6400 and the more powerful integrated graphics equipped CPUs. There’s sure to be low profile options. Full height dual slot coolers would seem like overkill, though assuming partners launch their own versions, dual slot cards are sure to come.

I should not be bullying this little card. It has a couple of key features that are impressive, even if they are of limited usefulness. According to the official specifications, the A310 supports DisplayPort 2.0, a feature even the mighty RTX 4090 lacks. It also comes with AV1 encode and decode support. The competing AMD RX 6400 doesn’t even support AV1 decoding. Add to that and H.264 and H.265 encode and decode support and HDMI 2.1, and the little A310 looks like an impressive little home theatre PC graphics card.

Your next upgrade

(Image credit: Future)

Best CPU for gaming: The top chips from Intel and AMD
Best gaming motherboard: The right boards
Best graphics card: Your perfect pixel-pusher awaits
Best SSD for gaming: Get into the game ahead of the rest

At the time of writing, pricing and availability was unknown. In fact, its conceivable that the card may not make it to retail at all, instead finding its way into basic OEM office machines from the likes of Dell or HP.

The market for entry level graphics cards is shrinking, especially as AMD’s new Ryzen 7000 series CPUs all feature basic integrated graphics, and Intel’s non-F CPUs have for many generations. Perhaps the launch of a card such as this is something of a test case. Get the basics of the drivers working first and worry about gaming optimization later. With no hope of competing on merit with Nvidia’s RTX 40 series and AMD’s next Gen RDNA 3 cards, Intel’s low-key approach makes sense.

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[These custom Steam Deck boot screens are dope]

Just when you think you can't get any more jealous of the Steam Deck owners out there, the portable handheld PC just got even cooler. In the PC gaming scene we tend to like to customise things, like crazy modular keyboards, mice, and completely epic computer cases. You name it we like to put a stamp on it. Even little things like desktop backgrounds, or bios load images are nice to make your PC your own. 

The Steam Deck is a bit harder to customise generally speaking, but that hasn't stopped people following their customisable hearts. I mean, you can buy Steam Deck joint holders after all. All over the internet, Steam Deck owners are making amazing boot custom boot animations, and here are the best ones we've found so far.

To start with, you might want to know how to customise your Steam Deck's boot animation, so we've put a handy guide made by Gaming On Linux on YouTube explaining the ropes at the top of this article. 

It warns against using prebuilt scripts as they can be edited to be malicious, and as always it's worth being careful with anything you install on your machine. From there, you only need a video file to get started and while the process is a bit fiddly, it's also fairly straightforward if you're so inclined.

But for now, back to the cool animations. 

Steam in your hands

(Image credit: Future, FromSoftware)

Steam Deck review: Our verdict on Valve's handheld PC.
Steam Deck availability: How to get one.
Steam Deck battery life: What's the real battery life of the new device?
How loud is the Steam Deck? And will it pass the Significant Other test?
Steam Deck - The emulation dream machine: Using Valve's handheld hardware as the ultimate emulator.

MatPaget on Twitter is a gun with these mods which we first spotted with their Frasier themed animation. It plays the theme song while drawing the familiar skyline from the opening of the popular sitcom, but replaces the Frasier text with Steam Deck. It's cute, simple, and great if you love Seattle or radio hosts. 

3, 2, 1, let’s jam! I made another Steam Deck boot up video… this time starring a particularly special Space Cowboy pic.twitter.com/VNdjmZledGSeptember 27, 2022

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They also have a very cool Cowboy Bebop animation screen. In it you can see Spike's silhouette smoking like in the intro with Valve and Steam Deck text appearing while the banging theme song Tank! plays in the background. The only downside is it abruptly ends after the 3, 2, 1, count in which loads in the Steam Decks interface instead of a wicked brass section. They have offered the files up on their google drive, for anyone keen to also add some tossed salad and scrambled eggs or space cowboy vibes to their portable PC hybrid.

3, 2, 1, let’s jam! I made another Steam Deck boot up video… this time starring a particularly special Space Cowboy pic.twitter.com/VNdjmZledGSeptember 27, 2022

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Cryoctic on Reddit made a PornHub themed intro, so you can really get into the mood before you start gaming. For those after some simplicity there's always this Curb your Enthusiasm boot video. Or you can celebrate the new Monkey Island game with a very cute custom screen featuring Guybrush Threepwood saying he wants a Steam Deck. 

my_custom_monkey_island_boot_video_greetings_from from r/SteamDeckBootVids

For those after a further dose of nostalgia one user has gone ham on adding start up animations for older consoles. They've compiled them in a GitHub including a script to randomise them on boot. While having the Dreamcast screen would be fun, running the Switch boot animation on a Steam Deck is exactly what I need to confuse my friends.

Another way to honour the past is this lovely animation screen made by TareXmd on Reddit. This one shows lovely graphics of handheld consoles that have come before with their start up sounds. It's just so incredibly pleasant to look at and listen to, a great way to start a Steam Deck session. 

handheld_history_my_final_deck_boot_animation from r/SteamDeck

Although one of my personal favourites has to be this Futurama startup screen by DerpinHerps. The typical Futurama text spells out Steam Deck and is then immediately careened into by the Planet Express ship. That broken screen moment makes for a nice transition into the Steam Deck's menu, which is a nice touch on. 

futurama_boot from r/SteamDeckBootVids

One forum on Reddit is dedicated to the Steam Deck boot screens so you can find tonnes of other great ones there. People are also making requests so you can bet there are going to be heaps more added in future. Thankfully the Steam Deck should be a bit easier to get your hands on by then too.

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[Welcome RedSavarin]

Hello RedSavarin,

Welcome to UnityHQ Nolfseries Community. Please feel free to browse around and get to know the others. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

RedSavarin joined on the 09/28/2022.

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[Check out these trombone controller mods to make you the real Trombone Champ]

Trombone Champ is an indie rhythm game that just keeps blowing us all away. When Chris Livingston first started posting videos of his attempts at the game, the PC Gamer chat was full of laughter. Those hilarious bad notes coupled with his over enthusiastic avatar and a screen that flashes up 'NASTY' to mock your attempts is simple comedy brass.

But of course it gets better. We're by far not the first people to fall bell over slide for Trombone Champ as fans have been getting in on the action. Recently, one skillful fan showed off their VR implementation which really looks like it takes the game to the next level. Naturally, a trombone peripheral would be the next step here, and once again the ingenuity of people delivers.

You may have heard of Rudeism, the hardware madlad who loves to play games in unconventional ways. We've seen him stream his way through Sifu with punching controls, played Untitled Goose Game as a goose, beat Hades with a pomegranate, and just heaps more. He's the king of controller shenanigans, and he's working on the next step in Trombone Champ's natural evolution.

Rudeism posted video of his trombone controller working on Twitter, explaining that an ultrasonic sensor controls the slide part of the trombone, while the microphone controls the toots. Normally this would be moving the mouse for the slide, and clicking or pushing a keyboard button for the toots, so you can see how this translated across.

Virtual reality

(Image credit: Valve)

Best VR headset: which kit should you choose?
Best graphics card: you need serious GPU power for VR
Best gaming laptop: don't get tied to your desktop in VR

He also explains that the slide doesn't move as far as it should, and that's super true. In the video you can see he can't extend it beyond the bell. Tromboners will know that this isn't near enough, and only gets you to about third position on the slide, if that from the video. That's only three out of seven. Of course cool tromboners like me, also won't care.

But it turns out Rudeism isn't the only one putting their hands to the grindbone. Trombone Champ's developer Twitter account has been sharing shots of all sorts of fan made peripherals. 

BEHOLD, THE TROMBONE CONTROLLERUltrasonic sensor controls the slide, and a microphone controls the dooting. If only I knew how to play it IRL The ultimate way to play Trombone Champ @HolyWowStudios pic.twitter.com/Lvm5m2CT44September 27, 2022

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There's a tiny controller made by ThereminHero on Twitter, which is super cute. It uses arduino controls and a mic trigger to power a trombone that looks about as big as a laptop from the video. Scaling the build down probably helped with the distant issues Rudeism was having on the slide. Plus with that username, I'm just happy to see more theremin love out there.

I made a custom #trumbonechamp controller from a kazoo with an Arduino and a ToF sensor + mic trigger. Full video soon! @HolyWowStudios pic.twitter.com/ATZoB5sOiQSeptember 25, 2022

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Another great effort is by TheNoochGoodler. This is another arduino build, but looks a lot more DIY friendly in what it's made out of. Another example of a great working slide that also seems to be having difficulty with the distance options. TheNoochGoodler also did us the goodler service of posting their project to github, so feel free to check it out if you're wanting to improve your own Trombone Champ setup. 

I made a custom #trumbonechamp controller from a kazoo with an Arduino and a ToF sensor + mic trigger. Full video soon! @HolyWowStudios pic.twitter.com/ATZoB5sOiQSeptember 25, 2022

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There's something wonderful about a charming indie darling skyrocketing into virality. Especially when it's a game as weird and hilarious as Trombone Champ. With all these people already on it, we're sure the V2 round of trombone controllers will be even better. Nothing quite sparks creativity in the community like the challenge to make something amazing, just that little bit sillier. 

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[Welcome hwowk]

Hello hwowk,

Welcome to UnityHQ Nolfseries Community. Please feel free to browse around and get to know the others. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

hwowk joined on the 09/28/2022.

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['Hey everyone,' says Walmart executive to the single person in its new Roblox metaverse nightmare]

Walmart is teaming up with Roblox to create not just one but two "immersive experiences in the metaverse." Walmart Land and Walmart's Universe of Play each promise "unique interactive content and entertainment," in Walmart's words—pure innovation from start to finish, no doubt—and each paints a picture of a starkly bleak consumerist future where everything has gone wrong.

"We’re showing up in a big way—creating community, content, entertainment and games through the launch of Walmart Land and Walmart’s Universe of Play," Walmart chief marketing officer William White said. "Roblox is one of the fastest growing and largest platforms in the metaverse, and we know our customers are spending loads of time there. So, we’re focusing on creating new and innovative experiences that excite them, something we’re already doing in the communities where they live, and now, the virtual worlds where they play."

Walmart's two metaversal presences come off a bit like Disneyland and Disney World: Related, connected, yet very different. Walmart Land promises "a variety of immersive experiences," naturally including a virtual store of merchandise, which Walmart has decided to describe as "verch" because no matter how bad things get, they can always get worse. Walmart's Universe of Play, on the other hand, sounds more directly game-focused: It will launch with five games (based on licensed properties like Jurassic World and Paw Patrol, of course) and will enable players to collect virtual toys that can be exchange for coins redeemable for (ugh, sigh) "avatar verch."

The move into a virtual realm is not unprecedented. Back in the day, dozens of businesses set up shop in the groundbreaking metaverse-game Second Life, including Adidas, American Apparel, Dell, Intel, Nissan, and Sundance. But those communities were very niche: Second Life was for awhile considered a potential virtual world of the future, but it ultimately slipped sideways into an adult-oriented MMO; Walmart Land, by comparison, looks like Zuckerberg's godawful selfie brought to horrible life by an executive committee that reads the reports but doesn't really understand what they say.

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(Image credit: Walmart)

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(Image credit: Walmart)

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(Image credit: Walmart)

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(Image credit: Walmart)

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(Image credit: Walmart)

To be fair to Walmart, the Walmart Land video embedded at the top looks like a fairly conventional ad. But the video below, shared by Kotaku's Zack Zwiezen, is just flat-out grim: After 15 seconds of awkward-as-hell silence (no, there is nothing wrong with your speakers, that's just how it is), White says "Hey everyone" to an audience of one and then introduces Walmart Land as a concept for "the next generation of customers." 

He says "verch" out loud, too.

This video of Walmart's chief marketing officer on a stage in Roblox talking about its new "Walmart Land" experience is one of the saddest videos ever created. pic.twitter.com/HtIIToShKsSeptember 26, 2022

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(You watch the full video

It's the kind of speech I've heard dozens of times previously in quarterly financial calls, filled with expressions of excitement and anticipations delivered in the flattest monotone imaginable, which is fine for an assemblage of analysts looking for EBITDA projections over the next two fiscals. But as a way to convince people to come on down and give your new virtual playground a spin, all it does is make me want to log off, set my PC on fire, and move into a forest somewhere far, far away.

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