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Explore Sumeru these Genshin Impact 3.0 guides (Image credit: miHoYo)Genshin Impact 3.0: What you need to know Genshin Impact Sumeru: How to get there Genshin Impact Dendroculus: Where to find Genshin Impact Dori: Electro merchant Looking for more details on Genshin Impact's Cyno? He's a newly revealed five-star character that should arrive with the next update. Of course, with the recent release of version 3.0 you might be busy exploring the new Dendro region of Sumeru—providing you know how to get there. We don't know much about Cyno's background, other than he carries the title "General Mahamatra" of the Sumeru Akademiya. He wields a polearm in battle and draws from the Electro element, giving him synergy with Dendro characters such as Tighnari and Collei, so it's worth taking a peek to see if he will fit into any team compositions you have in mind. We have a good idea of his abilities, as well as his passives and constellations. So if you're looking for more info on this five-star Electro General, here's the lowdown on Genshin Impact Cyno. Possible release date When you can expect to wish for Cyno No release date has been confirmed for Cyno though he's expected to arrive with version 3.1 which should land around October 4. Both Nilou and Candace were also announced alongside Cyno, and, as they are five-star and four-star characters respectively, it's likely that Cyno will be part of the launch banner in the 3.1 update. The law is just, and there is no escape for the guilty.◆ Cyno◆ Judicator of Secrets◆ General Mahamatra◆ Electro◆ Lupus Aureus#GenshinImpact #Cyno pic.twitter.com/hEa7TwqpFdAugust 22, 2022 See more Abilities Cyno's abilities Here are Cyno's abilities, passives, and constellations (thanks to Honey Hunter). Just be aware that these may see slight changes before Cyno's launch. Normal Attack: Invoker's Spear NormalPerforms up to four consecutive spear strikes.ChargedConsumes a certain amount of Stamina to lunge forward, dealing damage to opponents along the way.PlungingPlunges from mid-air to strike the ground below, damaging opponents along the path and dealing AoE damage upon impact. Elemental Skill Secret Rite: Chasmic SoulfarerPerforms a swift thrust, dealing Electro damage to opponents along the path. When Cyno is under the Pactsworn Pathclearer state triggered by Sacred Rite: Wolf's Swiftness, he will instead unleash a Mortuary Rite that deals thunderous AoE Electro damage and extends the duration of Pactsworn Pathclearer. Elemental Burst Sacred Rite: Wolf's SwiftnessCalls upon a divine spirit to possess him, morphing into the Pactsworn Pathclearer.Pactsworn PathclearerCyno's Normal, Charged, and Plunging Attacks will be converted to Electro damage that cannot be overridden. Cyno's Elemental Mastery and resistance to interruption will increase, and he gains immunity to Electro-charged damage. This effect will be cancelled when Cyno leaves the field and lasts a maximum of 18 seconds. Passives The Gift of SilenceGains 25% more rewards when dispatched on a Sumeru Expedition for 20 hours.Featherfall JudgmentWhen Cyno is in the Pactsworn Pathclearer state activated by Sacred Rite: Wolf's Swiftness, Cyno will enter the Endseer stance at intervals. If he activates Secret Rite: Chasmic Soulfarer while affected by this stance, he will activate the Judication effect, increasing the damage of this Secret Rite: Chasmic Soulfarer by 35%, and firing off three Duststalker Bolts that deal 50% of Cyno's Attack as Electro damage. Duststalker Bolt damage is considered Elemental Skill damage.Authority of the Nine BowsCyno's damage values will be increased based on his Elemental Mastery as follows: Pactsworn Pathclearer's Normal attack damage is increased by 100% of his Elemental Mastery. Duststalker Bolt damage from his Ascension Talent Featherfall Judgment is increased by 250% of his Elemental Mastery. Constellations Ordinance: Unceasing VigilAfter using Sacred Rite: Wolf's Swiftness, Cyno's Normal Attack speed will be increased by 20% for 10 seconds. If the Judication effect of Featherfall Judgment is triggered during Secret Rite: Chasmic Soulfarer, the duration of this increase will be refreshed.Ceremony: Homecoming of SpiritsWhen Cyno's Normal Attacks hit opponents, his Normal Attack Crit Rate and Crit Damage will be increased by 3% and 6% respectively for four seconds. This effect can be triggered once every 0.1 seconds. Max five stacks. Each stack's duration is counted independently.Precept: Lawful EnforcerIncreases the level of Sacred Rite: Wolf's Swiftness by three. Maximum upgrade level is 15.Austerity: Forbidding GuardWhen Cyno is in the Pactsworn Pathclearer state after he triggers Electro-Charged, Overloaded, Quicken, Hyperbloom, an Electro Swirl, or an Electro Crystallization reaction, he will restore three Elemental Energy for all nearby party members (except himself). This effect can occur five times within one use of Sacred Rite: Wolf's Swiftness.Funerary Rite: The Passing of StarlightIncreases the level of Sacred Rite: Chasmic Soulfarer by three. Maximum upgrade level is 15.Raiment: Just ScalesAfter using Sacred Rite: Wolf's Swiftness or triggering Judication, Cyno will gain four stacks of the "Day of the Jackal" effect. When he hits opponents with Normal Attacks, he will consume one stack to trigger one Duststalker bolt. Day of the Jackal lasts for eight seconds. Max eight stacks. One stack can be consumed every 0.4 seconds. This effect will be cancelled once Pactsworn Pathclearer ends. Ascension materials (Image credit: miHoYo) Cyno's Ascension materials You need to collect specific materials in order to level up Cyno's stats and talents. Character Both Thunderclap Fruitcores and Vajrada Amethysts are dropped by Electro Regisvines, though the latter is also rewarded when defeating Electro Hypostases and Thunder Manifestations. You'll also need: ScarabDivining/Sealed/Forbidden Curse Scrolls Scarabs are a new resource only found in Sumeru's desert ruins, while the Scroll items can be looted when you defeat Samachurl enemies. Talents You'll need the following items to level up Cyno's talents: Divining/Sealed/Forbidden Curse ScrollsAdmonition scrollsMudra of the Malefic GeneralCrown of Insight As mentioned above the Divining, Sealed, and Forbidden Curse Scrolls are dropped by Samachurls while Admonition scrolls are rewarded for completing the Steeple of Ignorance domain on Mondays, Thursdays, and Sundays. Meanwhile, Mudra of the Malefic General is a possible reward from the Guardian of Eternity weekly boss and the Crown of Insight is a seasonal event reward. The latter comes from upgrading the Frostbearing Tree in Dragonspine, the Sacred Sakura in Inazuma, or the Lumenstone Adjuvant in The Chasm. View the full article

In order to be sure that a customer's data would be secured during a returns process for an SSD, Samsung is said to have recommended the customer take aggressive action and destroy the SSD before sending it back. As a customer of Samsung's reports to Igor's Lab (via Tom's Hardware): while they were filing an RMA with Samsung because their SSD was faulty and showing signs of nearing death, there was some back and forth regarding the data on the drive and how super-duper secure it needed to be even in transit back to Samsung. The entire interaction was not published for privacy, but we have the final conclusion the two parties are said to have come to. That was to tell the customer they needed to destroy the drive before it was returned to them. The customer was instructed by Samsung to take a hammer to their SSD or perhaps drill holes in it to ensure it's no longer in a fit state for any potential data thieves to take advantage of. You see, Samsung required the drive to be returned to send over a new one, but not in one piece. This was an exception to their customer support case, however, so don't do this before you've been given the green light to do so. You probably have to jump through a lot of hoops like this customer reportedly did to get any company to sign off on this sort of action. You'll need plenty of proof your SSD is broken, too. Though if you do plan on drilling holes through your SSD to stop the feds from getting their hands on your bootlegged One Piece anthology, you want to make sure you get the memory chips themselves. It's true that destroying the actual cells of your storage format is the most secure way to ensure no one is getting their hands on your data. While it's still technically possible to recover data from even a sliver of functioning storage, who's really going to go through the effort for your album of memes from 2012? Encryption is also great for data privacy, of course, so you could get away with that in some cases (when your SSD isn't already broken). Ultimately it's good that Samsung is happy to take a drive back that's been proven to be b0rked and thus allowing a sanctified smashing to take place. Otherwise there really wouldn't be any easy way to get that drive back and a replacement or refund out of the company for the customer. View the full article

Corsair's new Xeneon Flex represents something rather new in the gaming monitor world. It's a bendable OLED panel, fitted in an ultrawide, 21:9 configuration and with a massive 45-inch expanse of screen. And it already looks like my perfect gaming monitor. I've already spoken about the peak gaming monitor era that we're about to enter, with the likes of Asus and BenQ showing off their own large-scale OLED panels, and Alienware having already released an ultrawide OLED screen from Samsung's display stable. But Corsair is teaming up with LG to create a unique, ultra high performance screen that will still be incredibly sympathetic to the power of your gaming PC. While the other new big-screen OLEDs are seemingly pulled straight out of existing TV manufacturing lines, the Corsair Xeneon Flex's panel feels far more bespoke. For a start, that 45-inch, 21:9 scale is something you're not going to find in the home cinema. But you're also getting proper gaming monitor goodness in the shape of a 3440 x 1440 native resolution and a 240Hz refresh rate. That means you're not going to need an RTX 4090 to be able to get the most out of this panel; the 21:9 native res is nowhere near as punishing as a 4K display. Paired with that is an almost instantaneous 0.03 GtG response time for a silky image free that ought to be practically free of motion blur. It's also fully compatible with G-Sync and FreeSync Premium, too. You might even get something like a good HDR experience with OLED's fantastic contrast levels and the 1,000cd/m2 peak luminance of the screen itself. And yeah, it's flexible. Bendable. Pliable. And, as much as I'd be terrified to flex what is sure to be a $,2000+ panel, I love the idea of being able to switch from flat screen for work or strategy games, to a super-tight 800R curve for first person gaming. From the looks of the teaser trailer the change is fully manual, allowing you to adjust how tight a curve you actually want at any given time, with a supportive brace running along the backside of the panel itself. The inevitable concern is that it will add another point of failure into the picture—potentially literally—will repeated flexing of the panel create an issue in the future? We want our expensive gaming monitors to outlast our PCs, after all. But on this point I have faith in LG. It's the original OLED manufacturer, and has been creating rollable OLED panels for years now. Image 1 of 2 (Image credit: Corsair)Image 2 of 2 (Image credit: Corsair) And what of the classic peril of OLED: burn-in? Corsair claims to have that covered with "a sophisticated burn-in prevention system which operates when both powered on, and when switched off, to ensure a flawless image even after extended UI or OS use, all backed by a three-year Zero Burn in and Zero Dead Pixel Warranty." Screen queens (Image credit: Future)Best gaming monitor: Pixel-perfect panels for your PC Best high refresh rate monitor: Screaming quick screens Best 4K monitor for gaming: When only high-res will do Best 4K TV for gaming: Big-screen 4K PC gaming Given the rather prosaic nature of the first Corsair gaming monitors, the Xeneon 32QHD165 and Xeneon 32UHD144, it's great to see the company pulling out all the stops for this absolutely next-gen display. It's first screens were good, just didn't really deliver anything that new for their high price. The Xeneon Flex, however, is a new class of transforming gaming monitor, probably for a very high price. It's being demonstrated at Gamescom at the moment and we're going to get our hands on the widescreen beauty ourselves very soon. We'll try not to break it. View the full article

Good ol' Boston Dynamics has been keeping me in the loop with updates to its rarest pupper, Spot. Aside from dancing to rock and/or roll, he's bedcoming a little more autonomous to help him carry out his many, crucial roles at manufacturing plants and warehouses across the globe. Not only does the upgraded Spot 3.2 use new, improved thermal imaging, he's also able to stick to strict paths on autonomous missions; stop, look, and listen before walking out at factory crosswalks; and even shuffle around obstacles without anyone holding his paw. The footage of him teetering around a toppled bin is honestly one of the most adorable things I've seen in weeks (skip ahead to 1:28), but it's also incredibly impressive. There's the option to switch on obstacle avoidance, or have him refuse to deviate from the path to walk around obstacles. There's a danger in either case since that's around $75,000 worth of tech that'll need repairs if it stumbles. Still, the Boston Dynamics robots are pretty hardy. And while they haven't yet been fitted with explosion proofing like the refuelling robots of China, they can take a hit or two as exemplified in their parkour antics. 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 There's a Spot currently trotting around, supporting work at GlobalFoundries' manufacturing facility in Vermont. That's a chip manufacturer for Apple, Qualcomm, Asus, Google and many more, in case you didn't know. GlobalFoundries actually employed Spot in order to avoid another chip shortage; by running automated inspection missions with Spot, the fab can collect data more efficiently and "build models that better predict planned maintenance and downtime," the blog says. If Spot's latest update is any indicator, that logistical efficiency is about to skyrocket. But really, what a good boy he is: making sure it's safe before crossing the factory floor *swoon* View the full article

More top Genshin Impact builds (Image credit: miHoYo)Genshin Impact Collei: Trainee ranger Genshin Impact Tighnari: Forest watcher Genshin Impact Heizou build: Brawling detective Genshin Impact Klee build: Little red bomber Genshin Impact Kazuha build: Anemo ronin Nilou is one of the new Sumeru characters that appears in the Genshin Impact 3.0 update. This Hydro sword-user and dancer is a follower of Lesser Lord Kusanali, the Archon of Sumeru, and when you first meet her she'll be obsessed with trying to recreate the Dance of Sabzerus in honour of Kusanali's birthday. Not so surprising, then, that Nilou's abilities and talents seem to centre around dancing and switching between different stances to grant various effects. It's a little like how Childe can swap between his Hydro dual-blade melee stance and his bow, though it sounds a lot more complex. Considering her abilities also scale with max HP, she bears some similarities to Kokomi as well. In this Genshin Impact Nilou guide, I'll talk through this new character's likely release date, abilities, constellations, and what ascension materials you'll want to farm in advance of her arrival. Possible release date What is the likely Nilou release date? Nilou has already been previewed on the official Genshin Impact Twitter, and she also appears a lot during the 3.0 Archon quest, so it's extremely likely that she will arrive in version 3.1. Considering Cyno is also likely to arrive then, and is arguably a more popular incoming five-star, Nilou's banner should release in the second half, around October 25 if the duration remains the same. The dance of the lotus blooms, awakening from an ethereal dream.◆ Nilou◆ Dance of Lotuslight◆ Star of Zubayr Theater◆ Hydro◆ Lotos Somno#GenshinImpact #Nilou pic.twitter.com/eMwQkq0M1qAugust 22, 2022 See more Abilities (Image credit: miHoYo) Genshin Impact Nilou abilities As usual (thanks to Honey Hunter) we have a good idea of Nilou's abilities, constellations, and passive skills, though be aware that these will likely change and be tweaked before she launches: Normal Attack: Dance of the Bowstring Moon NormalPerform up to three sword strikesChargedConsume stamina to perform a whirling slashPlungingDrop from mid-air to the ground dealing AoE damage Elemental skill Dance of the Seven RealmsNilou enters the Pirouette state, dealing Hydro damage based on her max HP. When in Pirouette, normal and elemental attacks will make her enter the Sword Dance and Whirling Steps stances respectively, converting her damage into Hydro. In these stances, Nilou's third dance step will end Pirouette. Nilou is unable to use charged attacks when under the effect of Pirouette or Lunar Prayer.Sword DanceFires a watery moon that deals Hydro damage to opponents and grants Nilou the Lunar Prayer. This effect converts normal attacks into Sword Dance techniques, with the final hit unleashing a watery moon.Whirling StepsUnleashes a water wheel that deals AoE Anemo damage and creates a Tranquillity effect that follows your character, applying wet to nearby enemies. Elemental burst Dance of the Lotus: Distant Dreams, Listening SpringCauses a Lotus of Distant Waters to bloom, dealing AoE Hydro damage based on Nilou's max HP, while applying the Lingering Aeon effect to those it hits. Opponents with Lingering Aeon will take Hydro damage periodically. Passives White Jade LotusThere is a chance to gain double food when perfect cooking is achieved.Court of Dancing PetalsIf all party members are a mixture of Dendro and Hydro, Nilou's Dance of the Seven Realms grants the Golden Chalice's Bounty effect. This lasts for 30 seconds, and increases elemental mastery by 60 for ten seconds when hit by a Dendro attack. Triggering Bloom will also create Bountiful Cores instead of Dendro Cores. These have a larger AoE when bursting, but cannot trigger Hyperbloom or Burgeon.Dreamy Dance of AeonsFor every 1,000 points of HP above 30,000, damage dealt by Bountiful Cores will increase by 8%. The max increase possible via this is 300%. Constellations Dance of the Waning MoonDance of the Seven Realms gains 65% increased watery moon damage, and Tranquillity's duration is extended by six seconds.The Starry Skies Their Flower RainWhen characters with Golden Chalice's Bounty deal Hydro damage, that opponent's Hydro resistance is decreased by 35% for ten seconds. When a Bloom reaction deals damage, their Dendro resistance is decreased by 35% for ten seconds. This constellation only functions if Court of Dancing Petals is unlocked.Beguiling ShadowstepBoosts Dance of the Lotus: Distant Dreams, Listening Spring by three levels. Max upgrade is 15.Fricative PulseWhen the third dance step of Dance of the Seven Realms hits opponents, Nilou gains 15 elemental energy. Damage from her Dance of the Lotus: Distant Dreams, Listening Spring is also increased by 50% for eight seconds.Twirling LightBoosts Dance of the Seven Realms by three levels. Max upgrade is 15.Frostbreaker's MelodyFor every 1,000 points of HP, Nilou's crit rate and crit damage are increased 0.6% and 1.2% respectively. The max boost this way is 30% crit rate and 60% crit damage. Ascension materials (Image credit: miHoYo) Nilou ascension materials Character If you want to prepare for Nilou's arrival and farm up some materials, you're going to need Varunada Lazurite from Hydro bosses and a new boss material called Perpetual Caliber, which seems to come from the Blightdrake boss that's apparently being added in version 3.1. You'll also need some world materials from Sumeru: PadisarahsFungal Spores Padisarahs are flowers that can be found near Sumeru city and near Vanarana. You can see every location on the official Genshin Impact map. Fungal Spores, on the other hand, come from defeating the Floating Fungi you'll find all over Sumeru. Talent Here's what you'll need for Nilou's talents: Teachings of PraxisFungal SporesTears of the Calamitous GodCrown of Insight The Teachings of Praxis and their higher rarity variants come from the new Steeple of Ignorance Domain on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Fungal Spores are from Floating Fungi of different world levels. Tears of the Calamitous God are a drop from the Guardian of Eternity weekly boss, or can be crafted from her other drops with Dream Solvent (another drop from weekly bosses). Finally, a Crown of Insight can come from upgrading the Frostbearing Tree in Dragonspine with Crimson Agate, the Lumenstone Adjuvant gadget in the Chasm, the Sacred Sakura in Inazuma, or from certain seasonal events. View the full article

It's hard to overstate just how important Firaxis's XCOM reboot was for PC gaming. In the years since its release, the turn-based strategy and tactics genres have experienced a renaissance, and most of the games that followed owe a debt to Firaxis's mix of classic tactical depth and more modern, streamlined conveniences. But what if you're trying to make the successor to a different turn-based classic? Then, it seems, XCOM's legacy can be a hindrance instead. (Image credit: THQ Nordic) "We found that, no matter what we did, everyone played just like they played all the other games like XCOM," says Brad Logston, senior producer for Jagged Alliance 3. "We weren't playing it like Jagged Alliance. We didn't even know how to fix it. We were doing things like tweaking AI, tweaking weapon damage ranges, all these different things. Nothing was really working." No matter what we did, everyone played just like they played all the other games like XCOM. Brad Logston, Haemimont Games The solution may seem small, but it's had an oversized effect on how the game plays. "One of our combat systems designers proposed: 'you know, this may be crazy—and people are gonna kill us—but what if we just remove chance-to-hit and see how that works.'" It's a standard part of every turn-based tactics: go for a shot, and the game will tell you how likely you are to hit your foe. It's such an ingrained part of the genre that it's almost a meme. Every XCOM player has a story about the 99% chance shot that missed. "Once we did, everything shifted. Before, if someone had a 75% chance shot, they wouldn't take it. They'd hold back, and the AI would have to react to that—it had to know that the player was only going to move up when they could get the kill shot. Once we removed chance-to-hit … they're experimenting. It also meant we could make the AI more fluid. They could try things, they could be a little sloppy during play." (Image credit: THQ Nordic) Some of my favourite turn-based games of this new era are ones that give the player an overabundance of information—games like Into the Breach or Invisible, Inc., that reveal not just chance-to-hit, but fully telegraph the enemy's response as well. But here, Haemimont Games have discovered something that gets to the essence of what made the early Jagged Alliance's mix of turn-based combat, 4X strategy and RPG-lite management so good. These are not games about responding perfectly to the situation. These are games about messy, chaotic combat simulation, where unexpected things happen that force you to react. "It's not just chance-to-hit," says Logston. "Even things like weapon jam chance, or grenade fumble chance. I've had situations where I've been on the second story of a building, fumbled a grenade, and blown up the floor beneath me. All the mercs fell down one floor, took fall damage and were stunned for a turn. But those are the things that happen in Jag sometimes—it just goes that way." (Image credit: THQ Nordic) The Jagged Alliance series has reemerged a few times in the last couple of decades, but never in a way that did justice to the spirit and depth of the first two games. But here, it feels like Haemimont wants to get it right. Its African setting features extreme weather effects that will change the combat simulation—in the jungle, during heavy rain, visibility is lowered, but so too is sound, giving your mercs an opportunity to be exploited. I've had situations where I've been on the second story of a building, fumbled a grenade, and blown up the floor beneath me. Brad Logston, Haemimont Games Its roster of 40 mercs are all fully voiced, with personalities that may clash against each other. And, in the spirit of the original games, they're hired diegetically—this time through an early 2000s version of the internet. The strategy layer is also classic Jagged Alliance: a dynamic map that tracks and simulates both the missions you deploy your mercs on, and the enemy force's attempts to retake what was once theirs; where intel you find in missions can provide hints at where and when to go to discover sidequests and opportunities. But the real sign of Haemimont's commitment is that one seemingly small decision to upend the conventions that XCOM laid down. It would have been easy to make another XCOM-alike. They're pretty popular, after all. But it wouldn't have been Jagged Alliance. (Image credit: THQ Nordic) "It's really hard to explain to people who haven't seen where we've gotten to, but where we had it before, it was just XCOM," says Logston. "There was nothing unique about it. And we were like, 'well, are we just cloning what someone else has already done?' That's not what we're trying to do. There are already games out there that have done that. That doesn't make us special. It made a lot more sense for us to find how to bring that Jagged Alliance experience back." Perhaps the bigger question then, is whether people want a departure from the systems that have come to define the genre. Is there a place for Jagged Alliance in this turn-based renaissance? As someone who loved the borderline chaos of those early games, I really hope there is. View the full article

We've become all too familiar with price hikes for PC parts these past few years, but sadly now it's our console cousins' turn. Sony has announced that the price of a PlayStation 5 will increase in most regions worldwide, either immediately or imminently, though the US isn't affected. Updated PS5 prices worldwide Europe PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – €549.99 PS5 Digital Edition – €449.99 UK PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – £479.99 PS5 Digital Edition – £389.99 Japan (effective Sept. 15, 2022) PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – ¥60,478 yen (including tax) PS5 Digital Edition – ¥49,478 yen (including tax) China PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – ¥4,299 yuan PS5 Digital Edition – ¥3,499 yuan Australia PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – AUD $799.95 PS5 Digital Edition – AUD $649.95 Mexico PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – MXN $14,999 PS5 Digital Edition – MXN $12,499 Canada PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – CAD $649.99 PS5 Digital Edition – CAD $519.99 For the UK market, that's an increase of £30; in Australia, around $50 AUD; in Canada, that's another $30 CAD to pay. What's missing is the United States, which has avoided any price increase for the time being, leaving the Digital Edition at $400 and the disc version at $500. That's interesting in that the US is suffering from high rates of inflation currently, though these are perhaps steadying, but which may also signify that other factors are contributing to the rise in prices elsewhere. "We’re seeing high global inflation rates," Sony says, "as well as adverse currency trends, impacting consumers and creating pressure on many industries. Based on these challenging economic conditions, SIE has made the difficult decision to increase the recommended retail price (RRP) of PlayStation 5 in select markets…" Sony's price increase comes at a time when inflation is soaring in many markets, with the knock-on effect of causing some companies to increase their prices. One important marker you can look at for this is the humble McDonald's cheeseburger. Yes, a burger is something of a portent of price increases to come. Having been priced at 99p, and staying that price for 14 years, McDonald's UK and Ireland have decided to increase its price to £1.19. It's worth noting that the UK has been hit especially hard by rising inflation and is forecast to continue on an upward trend. The above picture states the original RRP of the two PS5 models for launch, November 2020. (Image credit: Sony) Your next machine (Image credit: Future)Best gaming PC: The top pre-built machines from the pros Best gaming laptop: Perfect notebooks for mobile gaming So everything from burgers to consoles are feeling the brunt of today's unfavourable market conditions. Major tech firms we rely on heavily for our gaming components are also feeling the strain: Intel and Nvidia have posted some less than favourable financial reports for this past quarter. Unlike Sony, Nvidia has recently said it is working to drop prices for its graphics cards, though it is dealing with an entirely different issue. Nvidia and its partners have far too many graphics cards, while Sony can't make enough PS5 consoles. Sony at least has this glimpse of positivity on PS5 supply: "our top priority continues to be improving the PS5 supply situation so that as many players as possible can experience everything that PS5 offers." So there's that. Though it doesn't feel like recompense enough for the price hikes when people are struggling with money as much as they already are today. Sony reported an operating income of 307 billion yen in the first three months of 2022, a 5% increase over the same period in 2021. Gaming revenue was, however, down 11.7% year over year. View the full article

Sometimes, you look at the Steam store by newest, and see a game called I commissioned some bees 5. And you have to ask: "What happened to I commissioned some bees 1-4?" There's an answer to that question, and it's called I bundled some bees. I commissioned some bees (and its sequels) is a hidden object game to find over 1,000 bees, but really what I find so compelling is the store descriptions. I know what a hidden object game is. It's not a novel concept to me. Why is this so charming? "The brief was simple. I commissioned artists to create a fantasy world, and hide as many bees as they can inside it." Really, what else is there to say? If your inclinations are a little more resource management oriented, but equally bee, you might also be interested in Apico. Apico came out on World Bee Day this year, and hopes you'll take an interest in conservation while enjoying its minigames. You can pick up the entire bundle of bees on Steam for £5.95/£7.01, or any individually commissioned set of bees for around £1.69/$1.99. You can also find Apico at apico.buzz. View the full article

This makes me feel all funny inside. I guess because I always like to think of my PC as a complete unit. I mean, my PC is a total unit as it's jammed right into my chonky desk and therefore built like a tank on legs, but to me it's a single device with a bunch of discrete parts inside it to make up the whole. To Nvidia, however, "GeForce is essentially a game console inside your PC." At least that's how CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang sees it. That's fine on the one hand, where it sees its own product as the most important piece of the gaming PC puzzle, and the component which has the most bearing on just how slick a gaming experience you're going to get. But where I feel uncomfortable is when Huang is talking about the fact that Nvidia's targets are for the average price of a GeForce graphics card to be the same as a current gen games console. "We’ve always believed that the ASP of GeForce should drift towards the average selling price of a game console," says Huang in the recent Q2 2023 earnings call. "And so it should be something along the lines of $500 or so roughly at this time." If people are willing to spend that much on an Xbox then surely they'll pay that for a single graphics card to stick into their PC? I guess that's the theory, and honestly, he's probably right—if the past couple of years have taught us anything it's that people are prepared to pay a ridiculous amount of money for a GPU if they really want it. But if we're looking at the mainstream, biggest selling graphics cards, I don't want them to be priced at a level where they can't compete with Microsoft or Sony's game boxes. But pricing is going that way, though fingers crossed when Nvidia unveils the RTX 40-series GPUs there will eventually be some worthwhile ~$300 cards that offer more than the previous generation. Screen queens (Image credit: Future)Best gaming monitor: Pixel-perfect panels for your PC Best high refresh rate monitor: Screaming quick screens Best 4K monitor for gaming: When only high-res will do Best 4K TV for gaming: Big-screen 4K PC gaming To be completely fair to Jen-Hsun, the above quote is in reference to a question on whether the average selling price (ASP) across the Nvidia GeForce GPU stack would remain the same as it has over the last couple of years, or whether it would go down "because of the absence of that crypto tightening dynamic?" "I would say that without crypto dynamic," responds Huang, "the mix would go down. However, the overall trend long term, the ASP is drifting up." That's when he goes on to say Nvidia's always felt it should stick its ASP at the same level as a whole games console. With console prices rising on the whole, and Sony just now announcing a spike in the cost of its PlayStation 5, Jen-Hsun's only going to be focusing on an ever rising target price. View the full article

Friends, 2022 is the year of Zelda on the PC. Not because Nintendo has had a Scrooge-like change of heart, but because dedicated teams of engineers have seen fit to give us both a fan-made PC port of Ocarina of Time and, now, a "reverse-engineered clone" of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. The clone comes courtesy of Github user snesrev, and comprises a cool 70-80,000 lines of code covering every inch of the original game. If you have a (legal!) copy of the original's ROM lying around, you can play the whole thing on your PC from start to finish right now. You'll have to extract the levels and images and compile them with the clone's code yourself, though. The authors can't include them by default because that would be tremendously illegal. Playing A Link to the Past right there on your PC is pretty neat, but we've been able to emulate these old Zeldas for years and years at this point. The really interesting part of this project is the space it opens up for weird modding efforts. The fan-port of Ocarina of Time has been equipped with all manner of upgrades since it debuted earlier this year: there's high-res textures and widescreen support, of course, but also gyro aiming, adjustable climbing speed, and a mod that turns every interactable item into a volatile high explosive. Naturally. The potential of a native PC port of A Link to the Past is plain to see. The game already has a very popular randomiser that's become a staple of events like Awesome Games Done Quick, but using it means futzing around with your ROM every time you want to change the randomisation. A PC port could have a randomiser built-in, making the process as simple as clicking "Start New Game" and getting a newly-generated random world every time. That's not to mention all the other mods that could be crammed in there alongside it. It didn't take long for the community to come out with a neat and easy-to-use PC version of Ocarina after that game got decompiled. I expect the same will be true here, and it won't be long before everyone clusters around a fan-made PC port of A Link to the Past that becomes the de facto basis for future updates, upgrades, and mods. In the meantime, though, you'll have to compile the whole lot yourself. Or just watch YouTube videos of it forlornly, if you're as lazy as me. View the full article

It's all too easy to compare the continued existence of Dead Island 2 to the zombies it features. Lurching on for years, long after it seemed dead, passed from one studio to another. In spite of the name, though, Dead Island 2 is practically a new game. According to game director David Stenton, when development was taken over by Dambuster in 2018 it was "built from scratch". The only thing it kept was zombies and its LA setting. "That serves the "paradise gone to hell" pillar," he says. Though the genre in which it sits feels like it never dies, with zombie games still releasing on the regular. What does something like Dead Island 2 bring to the table? What even is the identity of this series? Speaking to Stenton and creative director James Worrall, and playing a 20-minute demo, it's clear the focus is squarely on its gnarly close quarters combat. "It was the passion for the gore, the passion for up close melee combat," Stenton explains. "And just doing that really, really well." The section of the game I played sent me to the Santa Monica Pier as Amy, one of six playable characters. It's a tight, linear portion in which the bright lights and amusements rides are slowly brought back on as I delve deeper, which makes for a poor showcase of how the game's ambitions as an open world will fare, but a good showing for the game's moment to moment fighting. (Image credit: Deep Silver) It's a spooky section, more atmospheric and subdued than the bombastic trailer might have you believe. A faint mist hangs over the city's too-damn-quiet beach, letting the red Ferris wheel blaze away in the night with real foreboding. It's a very handsome looking game. "It's easy for us to build a place that people can feel is familiar," Worrall says of the game's setting. "That then gives us that contrast with the zombpocalypse. It also means, they know wherever they go. Even if they've never been to Bel-air before, they know what Bel-air looks like." The tone in Dead Island 2 lands somewhere close to Sam Raimi's Evil Dead series. Scary things are scary or at least grotesque, while our heroes are a little larger than life, confronting horror with bravado and one-liners. Amy kept shouting and swearing at zombies, goading them the way I often find myself doing. Personality contest While Worrall explains there is no branching narrative, the character you choose will bring their own perspective. "Each player character has their own voice and their own dialogue. So you might get one character who's particularly driven or energised or upbeat. You might get another character who's a little bit more of a cynical individual. Some characters are quite low key, subtle. We've written those characters to reflect broad playstyles." These heroes all come with their own starting stats and abilities, but you'll be able to mould any of them more or less to your preferred style of zombie killing, so the choice largely comes down to personality. . Your player character is far from an invulnerable hero, and all the quips in the world do little once the undead shuffle onto the scene. There's a real sense of claustrophobia as zombies gather around you, since they can't be taken care of swiftly. Each individual walking corpse is a threat in its own right. In these moments the game conjures up memories of Resident Evil 4, making split second decisions about how to handle a group of foes. Take out a leg here, try for a headshot there. Except instead of guns, you're mostly wielding over-the-top melee weapons, wrestling them back as they get stuck or embedded in rotting flesh. (Image credit: Deep Silver) All that is thanks to a system for rendering zombie bodies called F.L.E.S.H., or Fully Locational Evisceration System for Humanoids. It took a decade to create the perfect acronym but by god, they've done it. What it means is that much like the recent Resident Evil Remakes, zombies have an absolutely disgusting level of detail as you hack or shoot at them. It's gross and grimy, the kind of excess that makes you feel like you need a shower after playing. Perversely, I couldn't get enough. I'm a sucker for these intimate fights and Dead Island 2 has more in common with games like Chivalry than it does other zombie slayers. Dying Light might be a close cousin, but even it focuses more on acrobatics than the precision Dead Island 2 goes for. You have more than just a heavy and light attack to use, and your defensive and special attacks can be swapped out if, say, you'd rather have a block than a dash. There's lots of swapping out items (mostly cards that augment your character) for stats, but that feels considerably less exciting. It's not earth shattering—it's just done really well and the focus on precision, actually having to aim your pokes and swings to hit specific body parts, sets it apart. Hazard warning Dead Island 2 heightens the chaos of these skirmishes with loads of interactive scenery. Sure, there's your typical explosive tanks, but the game also has a fluid simulation for water and fuel. The interplay of elements is simple enough. Water conducts electricity, fuel spreads fire—you get the idea. It feels more dynamic than simply remembering to bring the right resources to every fight. Having an electrified zombie wander into a crowded fight created a moment of panic until inspiration struck and throwing some water at their feet turned them into a weapon against all their surrounding buddies. "Ultimately, when you're the full on zombie slayer later in the game, what you're really relying on, to some degree, it's sort of a combat symphony,” says Stenton. (Image credit: Deep Silver) The demo ended with a boss encounter—a confrontation with a zombie clown who'd been taunting me as I explored the pier. In a fight like this, one-on-one, it transforms from a zombie game into a more well-worn action RPG. There are phases and windows of opportunity as the clown's arms can block ranged attacks. It highlights the combat's complexity, as well as its surprising difficulty. You have a lot of moves and abilities at your disposal, from a ground slam (an ultimate ability that can be traded for others, though I didn’t get to see any alternatives in the demo) to kicks and dodges, all strung together into combos. It just comes at the expense of the situational complexity of fending off a crowd of brain eaters, making it feel a lot less—and I appreciate the irony here—alive. The presence of friends will probably help, and you'll be able to bring two along with you. Dambuster isn't giving much away about the 3-player co-op yet, but it's not hard to imagine how it could come together, with players specialising in different roles and abilities, emphasising the RPG aspect and allowing for tuning diverse builds. With some pals in the mix, I think Dead Island 2 could be a perfect game for those late night sessions. (Image credit: Deep Silver) Dead Island 2 is far from novel and any hope of twists or a compelling narrative lay beyond the scope of the demo, but still, there's certainly something intriguing in it. It presents the zombie apocalypse as something its characters are forced to live with. Its heroes are immune but infected, carrying the disease without turning into zombies themselves. Meaning leaving quarantined LA isn't an option. Unable to escape, our heroes are chasing momentary joys in a bleak, broken world as they fight for their lives. That might be a bit relatable to a bunch of people right now. I had little to no expectations or even much interest in Dead Island 2. A sequel to a mediocre RPG? Yet another zombie game? While it absolutely lacks originality, it excels in some of its execution. There's no knowing if it has an enthralling campaign to tie it all together, but in its fights the game kills. For the great combat, it's worth keeping an eye on this unexpected comeback. View the full article

The trailer for Forspoken that arrived earlier this month did not land well, to put it lightly. Frey Holland's self-aware quipping—however true it may be to the character—came across as tired in a media context where it's immediately recognised and referred to as Whedon-esque. Even if the style predates him, the immediate association says "No, we want something else now". In this new 10-minute trailer from Square Enix, the focus is much more on Forspoken's setting, and how it plays: something that Lincoln Carpenter found promising in an early preview session. He described the spellcasting as a change from the static vision that previously had a grip on gaming, into something fluid, reactive and stylish, and you get to see more of that here. The trailer shows off more of its traversal and open world system too, with a slightly more local-looking "towers fill in the map" mechanic. Frey can scan belfries to highlight nearby points of interest, which all look pretty close to the tower. If everything sticks to line-of-sight, it might be a sign for more engaging exploration than tracking to waypoints—particularly when your movement set includes flying, and speedy little zips and leaps. That said, the new trailer doesn't entirely avoid trying to pull jokes out of Frey seeming out of place, with Cuff playing a genteel straight man to Frey's blunter stylings. I have several worldbuilding questions about why a sentient wrist cuff would have an upper class English accent, but here we are. With Forspoken (like several other games) being delayed until the first half of 2023, you can keep an eye on its Steam page until its expected release date of 24th of January. View the full article

The Logitech G735 gaming headset is just outside of what I'm going to call the 'goldilocks zone' for peripherals: It's not the absolute best thing you can get for $230, but it offers enough to make it a pretty tempting purchase. In fact, the G735 seems to be the more impressive addition to the "ethereal" Aurora collection. Aurora is a peripheral series made for anyone with a smaller head and a penchant for white peripherals. It's a welcome sentiment, and it's true that the blanched look is totally in right now; gamers are leaning away from stark black accessories and Logitech has listened. The company has even made each item in the collection fairly modular, with the option to swap out the ear pads and detachable mic with pastel shades in "green flash" and "pink dawn." I'm actually okay with not customising the Logitech G735 headset. It's generally expected that you can swap out the ear pads on a headset, though, since they're often the first thing to deteriorate, so it's hardly the mega feature it's made out to be. And while I'm a little miffed that these cute, muted flairs don't come free for the price—as I noted in my Logitech G715 gaming keyboard review—I'm actually okay with not customising the Logitech G735 headset. That's because I'm less concerned with it being a fashion accessory and more with its comfort factor. What I've found is that the base "white mist" colourway (it's literally just white) is pretty darn appropriate for something so cloudlike in substance. With a lightweight frame, ear pads to rival actual clouds, and a padded headband that's fantastic at stopping the pressure focusing in one spot, this thing is exceptionally comfortable. I went through several full shifts working away with the G735 strapped to my head and almost forgot I was wearing it. Logitech G735 specs (Image credit: Future)Type: Closed back Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz Drivers: 40mm Connections: USB Type-C, 3.5mm audio jack Wireless: Lightspeed 2.4, Bluetooth Battery: 15.5hrs with RGB lighting, 300hrs without Impedance: 38Ω (passive) Microphone: Cardioid, detachable Weight: 260g (9.2oz) Price: £200, $230, €230 Of course, the fact it's stylish helps, but the main draw for me is its portability. It's also where that detachable mic shines, as you can get rid of it—preferable in any situation where you're not using it honestly. I'm not saying it's a bad mic, it's just a little thicc and people keep mistaking it for a pen when it's sitting on my desk. It also doesn't hold shape in the slightest. It would have been nice to see the mic flip up out of the way, but that would likely detract from the portability. The recordings we've put on our Soundcloud using the G735 are actually relatively clear, if a bit on the quiet side. Thanks to Logitech's Blue Voice control in the G Hub, there are a bunch of options to enhance such as a compressor for volume consistency, as well as noise reduction and sound gate to help eliminate background noise interference. The de-esser and de-popper options are a godsend, too, though it does come out a little scratchy when you whack up the gain. Something to keep in mind, particularly if you plan on taking it to work or school, is the wireless connectivity range and strength. Unless you're going to stay within 10m of your device and avoid interfering with wireless connections, there's bound to be some drop out. And, if you're not able to download your preferred music app on your work computer for example, it's nice to have the option to connect via Bluetooth, Lightspeed 2.4 wireless USB dongle, or even both at the same time. The battery life manages about 15.5 hours if you want the funky (and actually pastel) RGB lighting on. If you're willing to forgo lighting on your head, that's meant to extend to around 300 hours, but the battery is reading 21 hours remaining at 50% right now, sans lighting. There's the option to use a 3.5mm audio jack instead and save the battery, but you don't get one with the headset, sadly. (Image credit: Future) Overall the sound quality is great, and although there are cheaper wireless headsets out there with a better frequency range (take the $200 HyperX Cloud Alpha for example) it handles sound at both ends very well. There's only some minor distortion at the low end of the spectrum. My main issue I found with the G735, considering its focus on portability, is just how bad the sound isolation can be. I can still hear people chatting away on the bus even with the sound turned up. Something to consider if you're looking to get out but still have the option to ignore people. So while Logitech refuses to pander to your anti-social tendencies, the company has nailed comfort, style, sound quality and portability with the G735. And although it would have been sweet to see some active noise cancelling or a better range for $230, even a spare pair of ear pads in funky colours, I'm still very tempted by the full price. Not least because it's nice to have something designed specifically for the tiny-headed among us, but also as it's easy to overlook the wireless range issues in my tiny apartment. View the full article

After a quiet seven months for Dark Souls 3 PvPers, the PC servers have finally whirred back to life today, reviving the game's online features which have lain dormant since the discovery of a serious security vulnerability in the game's code back in January. That means Dark Souls 3 players can once again enjoy all the thrills of player invasions, summoning, and contorting the game's soapstone messaging system to write some of the filthiest things imaginable. In the tweet announcing DS3's online resurrection, FromSoft indicated that the same features for Dark Souls 1 and 2 would follow in short order. With any luck, it won't take over half a year this time. Online features for the PC version of Dark Souls III have been reactivated.We are working to restore these features for all other #DarkSouls titles and will inform you when they are back in service.Thank you once more for your patience and support. pic.twitter.com/XHiCZDEANCAugust 25, 2022 See more The vulnerability that caused all this furore was quite a nasty one. Publicised by a Souls enthusiast called SkeleMann, the exploit allowed attackers to gain low-level access to players' PCs and do stuff like steal login info, run programs, or just brick people's machines entirely. Luckily, the servers were shut down before there were any documented cases of it being used maliciously, but it's still pretty terrifying when you consider how many people still play the original Dark Souls games every day. It's been a long time, but it's good to see Dark Souls slowly regain consciousness. For a while there, players were beginning to worry that the studio might just leave the servers offline forever, especially when the series' multiplayer tags disappeared from its Steam pages. FromSoft has been distracted by Elden Ring's launch for most of 2022, which goes some way to explaining why it's taken so long to get the Souls games back in working order, but it's still kind of wild that a set of games as famous and storied as these seemed to get left in limbo for a whole half-year. But the age of dark is behind us, now begins the age of light (and perpetual, agonising griefing). We can put down the mods that attempted ersatz recreations of Dark Souls' online features and once again enjoy being crushed into jam by strangers from across the globe. On second thought, maybe I'll just leave it offline. View the full article

Jen-Hsun Huang has confirmed that Nvidia is going to be finally giving us some concrete details about its new RTX 40-series graphics cards at the GTC event in September. Jen-Hsun needed to finish his recent Q2 2023 financial call on a high note—after posting gaming revenue 44% down on the previous financial quarter—and so throwing out the promise of Lovelace details at GTC was his best bet. Having already spoken at length about that big decline in gaming revenue, repeatedly reminding Nvidia's investors that gaming's fine, gaming's good, people are still buying graphics cards, it's okay, he notes that "we'll get through this over the next few months and go into next year with our new architecture." "I look forward to telling you more about it at GTC next month," Huang then says. Ah, new architecture! We've been stuck reading ever-changing rumoured details, specs, speeds, and feeds for the past year, but finally Jen-Hsun's keynote on September 20 might actually give us something solid to look at regarding the new Ada Lovelace GPU tech. The GPU Technology Conference (GTC) is traditionally a more data centre/AI focused event, with little focus on gaming products, but given that we're expecting Nvidia to only release the very high end of the RTX 40-series this year that might fit perfectly with the GTC ethos. The RTX 4090 will sit in the same professional user spot the RTX 3090/TI occupies right now, meaning it's more for creators than gamers, after all. It's possible Jen-Hsun could have simply been referring to the advances in its upcoming Hopper architecture for data centres, something that has been spoken about in detail at this month's Hot Chips event. But he specifically mentions the RTX side of the business. 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 "I look forward to next month’s GTC conference," says Huang, signing off on a financial analyst call he wouldn't have wanted to be on, "where we will share new advances of RTX reinventing 3D graphics and gaming." It's rare we get mentions of gaming at GTC, so it looks like it's definitely going to be worth tuning in to the keynote on September 20. And if Lovelace is getting unveiled towards the tail end of September then that makes a potential October release for the RTX 4090 even more likely. View the full article

Whether you're after a quick clue for today's Wordle, a thorough explanation of the best techniques for the popular online word game, or you'd just like the answer to the August 25 (432) puzzle displayed in plain text you'll find it all right here on PC Gamer. Somehow I managed to nail the tough part of today's challenge very early on, a happy fact that then left me with what felt like a billion possibilities (quantity possibly not accurate) to try and attach to this tricky core and definitely not enough guesses to try them all out. I did get there in the end, but it was close. Wordle hint Today's Wordle: A hint for Thursday, August 25 These distinctive entertainers are easily recognised by their painted faces and oversized shoes, although whether they're seen as fun circus jokers or the terrifying nightmare material varies from person to person. Having a fear of these people is called coulrophobia. 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 432 answer? Let's save your win streak. The answer to the August 25 (432) Wordle is CLOWN. 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: August 24: NEEDYAugust 23: WOVENAugust 22: MERITAugust 21: WASTEAugust 20: TREATAugust 19: SHRUGAugust 18: TWANGAugust 17: TWICEAugust 16: GRUELAugust 15: POKER 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. View the full article

In an excellent example of "just because you can, doesn't mean you should," you can currently buy what looks like an ex-engineering sample of the upcoming Ryzen 5 7600X. Given the better-specced finished chip is set to release in a little over a month's time for what is likely a much lower price, there's absolutely no good reason to. But you can. VideoCardz has spotted a few different card samples on Alibaba's Goofish and the latest discovery is this alleged Ryzen 5 7600X sample. The listing even notes the clock speed of this chip being 4.4 GHz, which falls 300 MHz shy of the expected retail clock. Lower performance, and probably a tonne of bugs, are to be expected with this kind of sample device. The chip could be a cool grab for collectors, or people looking to do very specific overlocking experiments, but other than that it's hard to find a good use case for something like this. That could be why the seller has put a placeholder price, and requests to be contacted by anyone looking to buy. While that could be a red flag for some, it's probably a good move when selling something like this. It's easy to imagine an unwitting buyer thinking they're getting the retail version of the chip, as opposed to a weird sample. Though absolutely keep those red flags in view, because this sample is likely being sold illegally, without AMD's knowledge. Your next upgrade (Image credit: Future)Best CPU for gaming: the top chips from Intel and AMD Best graphics card: your perfect pixel-pusher awaits Best SSD for gaming: get into the game ahead of the rest Alongside being a potentially bug-ridden card with a dodgy past, this CPU is basically unusable right now. The motherboards available to support this socket size aren't actually available yet, though we did get to see them shown off recently. Even if you managed to get in with one of these early sample releases, you're still likely going to be waiting until the retail models are available before you have any hardware that will work with it. What I'm trying to say is there is absolutely no reason to buy this chip. None. Please, let me know if you do and how it all goes. Still, seeing these kinds of listings on the online marketplace is generally a pretty good sign before a product launches. Hopefully we'll get a solid look at the pricing soon, before the launch of Zen 4 next month. View the full article

Cyber attacks generally speaking are never good, and can potentially ruin lives with stolen data, or locked access to much-needed computers. However, it's a special kind of evil when used against hospitals, disrupting important medical systems. Unfortunately, attacks like these are not unheard of, and earlier this year the Costa Rican healthcare system was held hostage by crypto-hackers. Now, according to BleepingComputer, an attack is disrupting the Center Hospitalier Sud Francilien in France. The CHSF, which is about 28km (or 17 miles) south of Paris, is currently having to turn patients away and postpone surgeries due to the ransomware. The 1,000-bed hospital was attacked on Sunday and still hasn't regained control of its systems. This not only affects things like the hospital's business software but also patient admissions and storage, including that of medical imaging. Patients are still being assessed at the CHSF, but many require transfers to other medical centres to get the treatment they require. "This attack on the computer network makes the hospital's business software, the storage systems (in particular medical imaging), and the information system relating to patient admissions inaccessible for the time being," a translation from the CHSF announcement explains. Tips and advice (Image credit: Future)How to buy a graphics card: tips on buying a graphics card in the barren silicon landscape that is 2021 According to French publication Le Monde, the attackers are demanding a $10 million ransom to release a decryption key to free up the hospital's systems. Targeting a hospital for what looks like just the demand of money is just the lowest move, even for ransomware attackers. Authorities aren't sure who the culprits of the attack are as of yet, but suspect the LockBit 3.5 ransomware is being used. LockBit as an organisation states that attacks on hospitals are not allowed with its ransomware, so if that is the case the attackers might find themselves in trouble from both ends of the law. View the full article

The Steam mobile app isn't bad by any stretch, but it's not particularly good, either. It's just sort of there: You can browse the store with it, purchase and remotely install games, chat with your Steam pals, and do most of the other major functions of the desktop Steam client. But there's nothing about it that really makes me want to. If it wasn't for the fact that I need it for Steam Guard, I probably wouldn't bother having it installed at all. I can't honestly say how Valve might best go about making its mobile app more appealing, but I'm eager to find out what it's got in mind. And with any luck I'll find out fairly soon, because a new Steam mobile app has now launched in beta for both Android and iOS devices. "We’ve rebuilt the app on a new framework and modernized the design. (2015 called and wanted their app back.)," Valve wrote. "You’ll still be able to browse the store, get Steam Guard codes, and confirm trades, but now the app comes with QR code sign in, smarter notifications, an improved Library, and multi account support." "[The beta test] helps us test our assumptions, learn what you like and don’t like, and find things that need to be fixed. This is especially important when the app can be used on so many different phones and devices." Valve invited "invested Steam users" who already have the mobile app installed and are willing to provide feedback to give the updated app a try. Full details on doing so are available in the Steam Mobile App group: It's fairly straightforward for Android users (hit the provided link and wait for the update to install) but iOS users will have to install Apple's TestFlight app and then join through that. Apple also apparently restricts the number of initial beta participants to 10,000, so you may have to wait for more slots to open before you get in. The early reactions on Reddit seems cautiously optimistic. Redditor awnful24x7 said the store and notifications are improved while Steam Guard "is now more focused and much easier to find," and do-You-Like-Pasta concurred, saying it looks good and the new QR code login option works well. Some others complained about slower performance and lag, but restarting the app apparently helped clear those issues up. I've installed it on my phone (a cheap, years-old Motorola, for the record) and to me it seems, well, fine: The layout is a little cleaner, the notifications are more immediately accessible, the wishlist is very prominent (which is nice for regular sale-hunters) and while it does feel a bit sluggish in spots, it's not at all bad or unmanageable. The big win is the QR code login option, which is very nice: Instead of using a name, password, and Steam Guard as I usually do, I just clicked the "show me a code" link at the Steam login screen on my desktop, scanned it with my phone, and blammo, I was in, fast and easy. (Image credit: Valve) The one knock against the beta app is that it doesn't currently support widgets, so the little Steam Guard screen I used to retrieve login codes without having to fire up the app is no longer functional. The QR code option may have rendered it redundant anyway, but on the off-chance that I will occasionally need a standard Steam Guard code, I hope Valve brings that widget option back soon. There's no time frame at this point on when the new mobile app will go into full release, but Valve implied that there's still quite a bit of work to be done. It also invited all interested Steam users to take part in the conversation about the mobile app, even if they're not currently using it. "We're still adding features, fixing bugs, and polishing the app," Valve wrote. "It's helpful to hear what you're excited about, what could be improved, and what needs fixing. "Everyone is welcome to join the group and the conversation, even if you're not able to participate in the beta. We want to hear from you." View the full article

A man is being pushed off a cliff to his death. It's happening right now, while you stand there watching. A murder, taking place right in front of you. But who is the man being pushed? Who is the man doing the pushing? And where, exactly, is this cliff? These are the questions The Case of the Golden Idol demo asks you as you investigate your very first murder. Solving this initial murder isn't too complex. By clicking clues on the screen showing a lightly animated tableau of the murder, you examine them closely, like the contents of a backpack or the items in someone's pocket. A letter might contain someone's name, or an item, when clicked, will tell you what it is. The names and descriptors you find are all collected at the bottom of your screen, and to use them you switch from the investigation panel to the 'thinking' panel. There you'll find a scroll with a number of blanks in it: Blank Blank pushed Blank Blank off a cliff in the Blank of Blank on Monkey Paw Island. There are also portraits of each character involved, and those characters need to be correctly named. Drag and drop the names and words you collected into the scroll to present your solution to the murder. If you're wrong, the game will tell you and you can adjust your guesses or investigate further. It's a sort of Mad Libs-style murder investigation, and there's a real satisfying feel when you've dropped in the last word and solved the murder. The trailer at the top of the page, revealed at the Future Games Show today, will give you a good idea of how it all works. But even in the demo, The Case of the Golden Idol gets tricky very quickly, with plenty of red herrings and unrelated clues, and I came to a few false conclusions. The second murder, wherin a man is dead with a nasty head wound, seemed pretty obvious to me at first just by looking at the other items in the room. When I'd plugged in all my words, however, I was wrong, and had to do a bit more careful investigating and thinking. The third murder is even more difficult, with multiple locations, tons of clues, and a healthy handful of suspects. (Image credit: Color Gray Games) And it's not enough to just find the guilty party, you need to identify every single person on the premises by their full names, which has a satisfying Return of the Obra Dinn feel to it. You can make things harder on yourself, too: Clues have a little glow by default, but you can turn that off if you really want to pixel hunt. I'm here to tell you that even with the glow on, I missed a few clues even after scouring these scenes multiple times. What's also great is that the clues aren't all contained in the things you click on. There are plenty of hints in the environment that you'll need to absorb just through observation. Figuring out a motive for a murder is important and will help all those clues make sense. Finally, the art is offbeat and a bit crude, but in a sort of pleasing way. I like pretty much everything about this game. If you love piecing together murder mysteries, I absolutely recommend playing the free demo of The Case of the Golden Idol. There'll be another demo, with a new mystery, added at Steam Next fest in October, and here's one final bit of tantalizing intrigue for when the full game is released: All of these murders are connected. I can't wait to click around in the full game, though when it's being released is still a mystery. View the full article

Disney has released a free, standalone version of the character creator for its take on a casual life sim. Dreamlight Valley isn't out for a couple weeks, but if you make a character in the tool now, Disney says you can import them into the game when it releases on September 6. In the meantime, you can take selfies of your avatar. I jumped in to see if it's worth fussing over and, yup, you can easily waste a couple hours on this thing. No harm doing it ahead of time then. Dreamlight Valley doesn't have the most permissive character creator tool I've seen when it comes to your actual body. You're kept to predetermined face shapes, features, and colors for skin, hair, and eyes. There's a nice selection of hairstyles for any gender, though, including a number of textured styles. Over in the clothing section, there's everything from skinny jeans to princess dresses to head scarves and combat boots. The bit I can see myself getting carried away with is the Touch of Magic tool, Dreamlight Valley's custom patterns creator. It's also confined to a set (albeit a reasonably big one) of specific shapes and symbols—leaves, embroidered swirls, character silhouettes, and other details. It doesn't just let you freehand draw whatever you want like the Animal Crossing: New Horizons custom designs everyone went bananas over in 2020. You can do a good bit of layering, mirroring, coloring, and resizing all those elements to get some pretty intricate designs though. (Image credit: Gameloft) You can't customize any piece of clothing. Only a certain selection can be used as templates—a few different dresses, a backpack, some tops, and Mickey Mouse ears, so far. And a PSA: As far as I can tell, naming your avatar locks in the design, and once you do that, you can't change it. I stuck myself with one of the preset character faces by accident after playing around for a while. Not to worry, you can download it from Steam and the Epic Games Store, so you've got two chances if you need them like I did. Here are a few different avatars I managed to cook up, including a bit of playing around with customizing dresses and accessories. Don't worry, I kept to the PC Gamer bylaws. Geralt is down there. (Image credit: Gameloft) (Image credit: Gameloft) (Image credit: Gameloft) View the full article

In case you missed it amidst all the Dragon Ball Z business going down in Fortnite right now, Epic and Bungie just kicked off a smaller Destiny 2/Fortnite crossover event that actually extends to both games. In Destiny 2, new armors inspired by Fortnite characters are available now. Over in Fortnite, Destiny skins for Zavala, Ikora, and the Exo Stranger are in the store for 1,500 V-bucks each. Fortnite also has a new custom game mode that recreates Destiny 2's Zone Control Crucible mode on one of its most iconic maps, Javelin-4, though you'd be forgiven for not realizing the mode exists. I had a tough time finding it on Fortnite's extensive grid of game modes, but keep scrolling and you'll eventually see it under the "Epic's Picks" section. Turns out it was hard to find because the mode wasn't actually made by Epic. The studio commissioned YouTube creator team PWR to develop the map in Creative mode with Fortnite's existing tools and assets. Considering the limitations, the recreation is impressive. I haven't played Destiny's PvP mode in years, and even I quickly recognized Javelin-4's art direction and unique layout. Players choose between three loadouts inspired by Destiny's classes—Titans get assault rifles and shotguns, Warlocks get a long-range rifle, and Hunters get revolvers and sticky bombs. Unfortunately, you won't actually look the Destiny part unless you buy one of the skins. I appreciate the lengths that PWR went to mimicking the Crucible format. All three classes have ultimate abilities inspired by real Destiny moves. True to my actual Destiny skill, I landed exactly zero Golden Gun shots during my stint as a Hunter. Fortnite's take on Crucible is so faithful that it even feels true to the parts of it I remember not liking. The TTK is long enough that there's almost no chance of turning around a 1v2 situation, so it's crucial to stick together and fight as a team. My random teammates were more interested in lone-wolfing it, so we lost a lot. Fortnite Crucible also emulates Destiny's lack of skill-based matchmaking, which is completely acceptable for a side mode in Fortnite, but recently made waves in the Destiny community when Bungie admitted that over half of Control matches are over "before a single shot is fired." Thankfully that wasn't the case in my Fortnite matches. The few games I played were a mix of close calls and sweeps, but they were all too long. Maybe PWR tuned it this way to better match the Destiny counterpart, but 10 minutes is a bit sluggish for a simple mode with one map. My only other complaint is that there's no reward path for unlocking all the cool Destiny cosmetics by playing Zone Control. You do get XP at least, but the mode's designation as a Creative map instead of an official Epic production seems to be a limiting factor. This whole Fortnite/Destiny thing is just a side promotion after all—back on the actual Fortnite map, players are still busy blasting each other with Kamehamehas, shooting Darth Vader in the face, and looting Indiana Jones' treasure. Had Epic put its full weight behind a Destiny crossover, it would've been cool to actually use some of Destiny 2's coolest legendary weapons or even ride a Sparrow across the map. I'll have to settle for my $8 Sparrow glider that my $15 Zavala rides like a surfboard. (Image credit: Epic) View the full article

The overworld is morphing again, this time into Minecraft Legends, a new action strategy spinoff for Mojang's main crafting game. Legends is planning to take you on an adventure across the biomes of the overworld, hunting and gathering resources to build your defenses against the invading piglin forces. You'll unite old enemies like skeletons and creepers into allies against the Nether's corruption. Oh, and your own friends can join you in online co-op too. Since its June 2022 reveal, Mojang has given just choice tidbits about what's planned for strategically commanding your mob armies in Legends. One thing the reveal trailer makes super clear: You'll be doing quite a lot of riding around on horseback like a knight in iron armor. Here's everything else we know so far about Minecraft Legends: (Image credit: Blackbird Interactive, Mojang) Does Minecraft Legends have a release date? Not an exact one yet. Minecraft Legends is launching sometime in 2023, Mojang has said. We don't know much more than that yet. What we do know is that Minecraft Legends was revealed during the Xbox Showcase in June 2022, which Microsoft emphasized was focused on games launching within the next 12 months. If all goes according to plan, it sounds like Minecraft Legends is planned for the first half of 2023, then. When it does arrive, we know that Minecraft Legends will launch on PC, consoles, and be included in Xbox Game Pass. Here's the latest Minecraft Legends trailer from Gamescom 2022 We're still very much in teaser territory for Minecraft Legends footage, but this cinematic at least shows off a few more units we'll be battling alongside and against when Minecraft Legends hits in 2023. The hero's forces include small golems that come in both melee and ranged varieties, while the enemy piglin forces field so-called "pigmadillos"—large piglins that can roll up into a cuboid wrecking ball to demolish your troops. Here's the first Minecraft Legends trailer This may be just a first teaser, but there's a lot going on in the Minecraft Legends trailer—including a little look at gameplay. The first bits here are of course an animated cinematic like Mojang sometimes produces for other Minecraft reveals and projects. Minecraft Legends "tells the story of the Overworld uniting against an invasion by the ravenous piglins," it says. "According to the legend, only you can bring together the mobs of the Overworld and help them defend their home." Based on that, it makes a lot of sense that we see the player riding their horse at the head of an army full of creepers, zombies, and skeletons. It looks like longtime enemies are all going to come together to kick the piglins back into the Nether. So what is the Minecraft Legends gameplay like? Here's what Mojang has said about Legends so far in its announcement post: "You will defend peaceful settlements and fight hordes of piglins to stop the spread of their Nether corruption. You are the center of every battle you lead, fighting alongside your allies while giving them directions." You can spot a few peeks at that in the reveal trailer if you're paying attention. The player rides a horse—in fact, Mojang has confirmed you will literally always be riding your faithful steed—and is followed by mob units, waving a blue flag in a way that looks like they're calling their army to their position. You can also see the player and their mob pals fighting a horde of piglins and assaulting a grim-looking Nether fort with a portal at its center. Like Minecraft Dungeons, this definitely isn't going to be the same kind of crafting and building as regular Minecraft. In Legends, it looks like you'll do a lot of riding around on horseback, leading your mob army, and swinging a sword at piglin enemies. In gameplay footage shown during Gamescom 2022, the player hero swaps back and forth between a pulled-back strategic camera view to issue orders, and a tighter third-person view for taking combat into their own hands. During an interview at Gamescom 2022, creative director Magnus Nedfors said that the game's core emphasis is on forging alliances with denizens of the Minecraft Overworld, so that you can battle the piglin forces together. "It's not about your character getting stronger," Nedfors said. "You're not getting a new armor. It's about making new friends and fighting the piglins together." In another livestream, Mojang Studios executive producer Dennis Ries says "as you explore the lush biomes you collect resources and then you use those resources to build defenses." You can see just a quick look at those player fortifications in the trailer too: a player stands nearby while a large oak log fortress rises into place. (Image credit: Blackbird Interactive, Mojang) Is there multiplayer in Minecraft Legends? Crossplay? Yes! Minecraft Legends will have co-op and competitive multiplayer, Xbox has announced. We don't know anything else about how multiplayer works just yet. As for crossplay, we can pretty safely bet that there will at least be cross-platform multiplayer between PC and Xbox players. Since Mojang eventually added cross-platform multiplayer to Minecraft Dungeons for PC and all consoles, it seems fair to hope that it will push for that at launch with Legends. Who's developing Minecraft Legends? It turns out that Mojang isn't developing Minecraft Legends itself. It's actually being developed by Blackbird Interactive, the studio that created spaceship deconstruction sim Hardspace: Shipbreaker (which we gave an excellent 91% review) and is also working on the RTS Crossfire: Legion. Mojang says that BBI has a team specifically dedicated to work on Minecraft Legends and even though it isn't being handled by the in-house team, it sure sounds like it's in experienced hands. View the full article

It's hard to believe, but Age of Empires was released on October 15, 1997, which means that it is rapidly approaching its 25th birthday. 25 years old! That's a big one—the silver anniversary—and to celebrate, Relic Entertainment is making Age of Empires 4 free to play for a week. To get in on the action, just pop around to the Steam page and click the "play game" button. It'll download and install, and then you're off to the chariot races. The free week runs until August 28, and both the standard and deluxe editions are also on sale for half-price, in case you want to stick with it for longer. This isn't the only birthday fun Relic has planned. October will also see the launch of an anniversary update, free for all players, which will include two new civilizations, the Malians and the Ottomans. The Malians are an economic powerhouse and one of the richest trading nations in the game, while the Ottoman Empire boasts an elite military and the Great Bombard, the largest gunpowder siege weapon available. The update will also include new maps, achievements, and masteries, alongside the new seasonal events, ranked team play, taunts and cheats, and other new features slated for the season 3 update. If you don't feel like waiting until October, you can get a head start on the new civs and content in the Public Update Preview coming in September—sign up for the Age Insider Program if you'd like to take part. View the full article

HyperX has officially launched its first-ever gaming monitors, the Armada 25 and Armada 27. This pair of mid-range monitors from the HP-owned company is looking to compete in a time when it seems like gaming monitors are having a moment. The HyperX Armada 25 is a 24.5-inch 1080p gaming monitor on an IPS panel that retails for $449. Its 240Hz refresh rate and 1ms GtG response time target the competitive gamer that needs to be locked in at all times in shooters like Valorant or Call of Duty: Warzone. The Armada 27 is a $500 27-inch 1440p display with a 165Hz refresh rate offering PC folks a more wide-screened gaming experience. The Armada 27 shares many of the same desk ergonomics and display features as its smaller 24-inch cousin. In addition, the Armada 27 does offer HDR400 support which isn't on the 25. These G-Sync compatible Armadas are bundled with desk mounts, which we don't see often, and will help clear up some precious desk real estate. HyperX sells additional arm mounts if you want to set up a neat dual monitor layout or just want a little more flexibility. HyperX's pricing puts both of these monitors smack-dab in the middle of a crowded field full of Asus, Acers, and Dells. Though you should note that the Armada monitors don't seem to have built-in speakers, so you might need to invest in a decent set if you want to avoid wearing a headset. It's interesting that HyperX didn't announce a 4K version of the Armada and opted for the more common PC gaming resolutions. If you're dead set on a 4K gaming monitor, though, don't worry; we made a list of some of our favorites. The HyperX Armada 25 and Armada 27, along with the additional mounts, will launch next month and retail for $449 and $499, respectively. View the full article