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Game Information Initial release date: February 2021 Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment Director: Colin Berry Software Developers: Lucid Games Limited, Wushu Studios Ltd, XDev Platform: PlayStation 5 With its bright energy, colorful characters, and wacky-powered cars, Destruction AllStars takes many of the aesthetic and mechanical trends from the last five years of multiplayer-focused live games and applies them to the long-dormant car combat genre. Speeding around beautifully detailed and cartoonishly articulated demolition derby courses, looking for your chance to rev your engine and hit another player so hard their ride explodes. When your own car inevitably gets busted up beyond recognition, you can hop out of your car and climb into another: A novel idea, but one that keeps you out of the action. Despite its striking visuals and solid driving fundamentals, Destruction AllStars' demolition derby-style car smashing is inconsistent and unpredictable. Every multiplayer game has highs and lows, but Destruction AllStars' best bits are few and fleeting. You have one job to do in Destruction AllStars: Get into a car and crash it into other players. At the start of each match, 16 players start out on foot and race to grab one of a handful of empty cars, which come in many recognizable shapes like slick sports cars, burly SUVs, and tough trucks. Unlike in most car games, though, you are not tied to your car forever. You can eject from a vehicle at any time to trade for a new model or because the car's health is low and you don't want to wipe out. Whether you crash or get crashed into, at least you're going to look good doing it. Destruction AllStars' large arenas are incredibly well-detailed and drenched in bright, colorful lights are a visual feast. The characters, from Fuego the masked-metal head to Ratu, a teal-haired boxer in an orange jumpsuit, are all drawn in a familiar Overwatch-esque style but have very specific looks that pop and draw you to them all the same. Even the little flourishes, like how a character jumps into an empty white car which instantaneously takes on their color scheme, look cool every time. There are four multiplayer modes, but they all boil down to doing one thing. In Mayhem, the 16-player free-for-all and de facto standard, you earn points depending on how much damage you can do to another player's car and/or character. In Carnado, an eight-on-eight team-based game, hitting them earns you gears, which only turn to points when you drive your car into a swirling purple vortex that tears it to shreds. There's also a King of the Hill-style "last car standing" game and a second team-based game called Stockpile, where you have to get out of your car to stash points at three bank locations. No matter how you keep score, though, you have to crash more cars than everyone else. Despite the attempts to add some variety, Mayhem is the simplest mode and the one that best complements the chaotic nature of the game. A fast and loose free-for-all with lots of ways to score, Mayhem is a casual, do-what-you-feel kind of mode that feels natural and reflects Destruction AllStars' zany, madcap vibe. Carnado, the best alternative, adds interesting tactical considerations to the game, but they're difficult to act on. Since players need to lock in their gears before they become points, you can target weakened cars to prevent your opponents from cashing in, but defending a fixed position feels like wasted effort; you have to be in the right place at the right time to stop a car from scoring, and the time you spend playing defense is time you could have spent wrecking enemies and earning gears of your own. In addition to the multiplayer, you have the ability to practice against AI bots or play the single-player "Challenge Series," a character-specific set of minigames with a small, inconsequential bit of character development attached. While it's interesting to see some cutscenes with the characters and some extra modes that wouldn't work in a multiplayer context, the mode feels tacked-on. It's a momentary detour at best. There's a single Challenge Series mission pack that's available for free at launch. The rest will be released over time as paid DLC, which seems like a death sentence for the already anemic single-player side of the game. Relegating the single-player content to a drip-feed of DLC undercuts the single-player mode's potential to grow into something more substantial. Destruction AllStars' arcade-style driving feels smooth and highly maneuverable. Turning is wide, but precise enough that you can take a pursuit angle and catch up to another player, assuming they don't see you and take evasive action. Using a brake and a very aggressive e-brake that basically works like a quick 180-degree turn, you have all the tools you'll need to chase opponents up the walls, around bottom pits, and through giant buzzsaws. These hazards and superhuman tricks make the chases more eventful, but they aren't exciting as you might hope. Often, a tight turn is a more effective trap than something that looks wild and deadly, even for skilled players. Chasing is fine, but you need to cause crashes to win. You can obviously just steer toward another player and put the pedal to the metal, but there's an art to winning crashes. You have the ability to boost forward or to the side at ramming speed by flicking the right analog stick, which both increases damage to their car and protects yours. Ramming ups your speed but decreases maneuverability, and it's on a small cooldown, so your timing is crucial. While it makes sense that you can't simply ram all the time, even the small limitations on your ability to blow things up can feel stifling, especially when you're first starting out. The rules of ramming and who "wins" a collision can also feel somewhat nebulous. The different cars you can drive, which range from sports cars to trucks to SUVs, have a different balance of weight, top speed, and maneuverability. When two cars crash head-on, the heavier, faster car pushes the lighter, slower one. Ramming can give you an edge, but it isn't a guarantee. In less clear-cut scenarios with more than two cars bouncing against each other at less-than-ideal angles, it's nearly impossible to predict how much damage a smash will do, or if you should even try. On the plus side, though, success really is its own reward. In the heat of the moment, ramming your car into another player's can be exhilarating. Everyone's swerving and jockeying for position, so it's often a game of bumps and fishtail-inducing partial hits, but eventually you will find an opportunity to fully smash your bumper and send them flying. Like when you get "good contact" swinging a baseball bat, you can feel the force and effect of landing a solid blow, and it is quite satisfying. Opportunities for those kinds of hits aren't as always abundant, though. Even with 16 players, you will spend a fair amount of time driving around an arena, jockeying for position. You'll find yourself chasing a car, swerving to avoid enemy takedowns, and getting into minor fender benders, but killer blows can't be forced. While I'm sure better players than I will tell you there are ways to increase your chances of putting yourself in good situations, it seems that there's a fair amount of luck involved for even the most lethal drivers. And unlike the heart-pumping thrill of a quickdraw in a first-person shooter or the adrenaline surge that builds as you fail plays on first and second down in Madden, there's little residual satisfaction in the Destruction AllStars' in-between moments. A chase that ends in a partial hit feels like a disappointment, rather than a minor success. The more time and energy you invest in a crash, the more you want the points and, more importantly, the satisfying sensation of crushing your opponent to bits. Even if you score and they don't, it doesn't feel like a win unless the car's been smashed to smithereens. You occasionally have the ability to make an opportunity for yourself using your characters' unique car and abilities, called "breakers." Charged by crashing or finding power-ups on foot, the hero cars and their skills add some much-needed depth and variety to your quest for car crashes. Each of the breakers, which include powerful speakers that hit nearby enemies, a giant blade on your hood that instantly slices through any car you ram, and good ol' invisibility, give you an advantage to build a strategy around and, in some cases, an extra way to hit cars. The downside to the hero cars is that they're fleeting; they crash just like any other and there's no guarantee that you'll get to use your car's ability once you jump in. Each character also has an on-foot breaker, but… well, they aren't as entertaining or effective as the ones you use in your hero car. Very few things are as interesting when you're on foot. Jumping in and out of cars is Destruction AllStars' most novel idea, but that only serves to impede the car combat gameplay. Aside from bailing to avoid death (and minimizing the number of points your opponent can get for wrecking your car), you can jump on an opponent's car and try to steal it by pressing a series of prompts before you get shaken off. Each level has a series of platforms only accessible on foot, which have power-ups that charge your special abilities. Here's the problem: Every second that you're on foot is a second you aren't crashing a car, which is the one thing you really want to do in this game. Stealing cars requires extremely precise timing and isn't as useful as the tutorial makes it out to be. The platforming relies on some very finicky parkour mechanics that make all but the most straightforward platforming trickier than it needs to be. In the first week since launch, some players seem to have figured out strategies for earning points by tricking players into crashing into traps, but for the most part, you do not want to spend any more time outside of a car than you need to. Moreover, forcing players out of their cars becomes a huge hurdle for new players (or slower-learning players, since everyone's new at launch), who spend less time in cars because they crash more often, which makes it harder for them to learn strategies and improve. The on-foot gameplay plays a large role in Destruction AllStars' true problem: It feels like there's a lot of downtime. Even though there's always a new car to find or an enemy to chase, there's only one thing that's really worth doing--crashing--which takes a lot of setup for a short-lived reward. Even with great looks and solid controls, you spend too much time spinning your wheels. Destruction All Stars PC Requirements Operating system: Windows Vista/7/ 8/10 64-bit (latest Service Pack) Processor: Intel Core i3 or AMD Phenom X3 865. Video: Nvidia GeForce GTX 460, ATI Radeon HD 4850, or Intel HD Graphics 4400. Memory: 768 MB VRAM, 4 GB System RAM. Storage: 7200 RPM with 5 GB available HD space.

Business continues to boom for the Shopify e-commerce platform with further expansion announced today Top e-commerce platform Shopify has revealed it is joining forces with Facebook in a bid to boost its Shop Pay payment option. As a result, merchants who operate their own Shopify-powered businesses will now be able sell across Facebook and Instagram. Prior to the move Shop Pay was only available as a payment option from within the Shopify experience itself. The more flexible Shop Pay feature will initially be available to all Shopify merchants who are using checkout on Instagram in the US. Facebook will also implement the change over the following weeks with a rollout across its own social platform. Take a look at the best POS systems The best tax software around today Check out the best money transfer apps and services In its announcement, Shopify underlined just how useful Facebook’s huge presence has been as a sales and marketing outlet for merchants. While many conventional businesses suffered badly during the first lockdown, outlets marketing themselves on both Facebook and Instagram through Shopify’s channel integration got a boost, with 36% more monthly active users. Shop Pay Shopify’s Shop Pay is po[CENSORED]r with small businesses through to larger direct-to-consumer outlets, particularly newer brands such as Allbirds, Kylie Cosmetics and Blueland to name but three examples. With over 40 million buyers now using Shop Pay on a regular basis, merchants who employ the Shopify e-commerce platform could see an upturn in turnover based on the latest news. During the course of last year alone Shop Pay saw $137 million worth of orders processed. Shopify has also been highlighting the additional benefits that come from the rollout of Shop Pay, such as its carbon offsetting feature. The e-commerce tool is also notable for its speed and efficiency, with Shopify claiming that the platform is 70% faster and features a conversion rate 1.72 times higher than a conventional POS checkout. Business owners also benefit from order tracking and management, which comes as part of the package. Shopify revealed that, to date, the system has successfully tracked in excess of 430 million orders over a staggering 450 million miles. Following the rollout of the service to Instagram, online shoppers will be able to locate tagged items from Shopify outlets via the app, with an add-to-cart function built into the software itself. All they need to do at checkout is select Shop Pay alongside more commonly used options such as credit card, debit card and PayPal. The system offers consumers a simple checkout process with the ability to receive a confirmation code to their phone and complete an order all from within the Instagram app. Facebook will be providing the same option through its platform. “People are embracing social platforms not only for connection, but for commerce,” said Carl Rivera, General Manager of Shop. “Making Shop Pay available outside of Shopify for the first time means even more shoppers can use the fastest and best checkout on the Internet. And there’s more to come: we’ll continue to work with Facebook to bring a number of Shopify services and products to these platforms to make social selling so much better.”

Motherboard lottery It's well documented that Intel's 11th Generation Rocket Lake processors are not compatible with H410 and B460 motherboards. A new report from a Chinese forum (via momomo_us) claims that the upcoming 14nm chips might not even work on all Z490 motherboards. The author has shared some compelling evidence why this is the case. In summary, the reasons boil down to the lack of support on a chipset and BIOS level, but more importantly, the design of the motherboard's power delivery subsystem. Chipset Segmentation Intel Chipset (Image credit: Chiphell) The first reason for the incompatibility resides in the chipset. Intel's desktop 400-series family consists of six chipsets: Z490, W480, Q470, H470, B460 and H410. In a pre-Comet Lake leak, we learned that Intel had segmented the 400-series chipsets into two classifications. The Z490, W480, Q470 and H470 formed the Comet Lake PCH-H group, while the B460 and H410 chipsets belonged to the Comet Lake PCH-V group. While we never really found out the meaning for the suffix, we had presumed that the "H" represented High-Performance and the "V" meant Value. Now that we look back at the categories, it starts to make sense why the B460 and H410 chipsets don't support Rocket Lake. As the author explained, each processor possesses a CPU_ID that the chipset utilizes to identify the chip. Logically, the processor will not work if the chipset doesn't recognize the CPU_ID. Apparently, the workaround is simple and consists of disabling the CPU_ID in the Intel Management Engine (ME) section of the BIOS. Motherboard vendors, such as Gigabyte, found a more elegant solution that consists of silently slipping a different chipset into its H410 motherboards. The BIOS also plays an important role in processor support. If the processor's microcode isn't in the database, the chip will obviously not work on the motherboard. Here's where a bit of speculation comes in. It's possible that Intel had already decided that Comet Lake PCH-V chipsets will not support Rocket Lake so the processors weren't taken into consideration during the development of the BIOS. Again, the answer is as easy as extracting the microcode from the Z590 BIOS and implanting it into the target motherboard. This isn't a new practice either as motherboard vendors have been doing it for ages. For example, Soyo created an H310 motherboard that supported the previous generation of Intel processors behind the chipmaker's back. The last and probably the most important reason why Rocket Lake processors are locked out from 400-series motherboards has to do with the power delivery subsystem. The power delivery subsystem's job is to convert the 12V and 5V voltages down to lower voltages that the processor can use. In this case, we have voltages, such as the Vcore (core), Vgt (core display), VCCSA (system agent), VCCIO (input and output), VCCM (memory), VCCST (maintenance voltage), VCCST_PLL (clock maintenance voltage), just to mention a few. According to the author's investigation, Comet Lake-S and Rocket Lake-S processors didn't experience any changes in the Vcore and Vgt. The VCCSA and VCCIO voltages, however, has reportedly undergone a shift. In an example, the forum user dissected the ASRock Z590 Pro4 motherboard to find a Reneas RAA229001 controller that controls the VCCSA voltage. The previous VCCSA controller, which operated in fixed mode, featured a single-phase PWM with a single-phase MOS and sometimes shared with the VCCIO. With Rocket Lake-S, Intel seemingly changed the power delivery mode of the VCCSA to SVID. The author explained that the power supply voltage is the same as Vcore, therefore, the processor directly controls it. As a result, it's not possible to share the power delivery or use another PWM. By force, you need a PWM IC that complies with Intel's IMVP8 specifications. Motherboards the lack a SVID PWM controller cannot accommodate Rocket Lake-S chips. Advertisement On the topic of VCCIO, the review provided two circuit diagrams that contrast the B460 and Z590 motherboards. Based on his observations, the VCCIO for Rocket Lake-S is split into three parts: VCCIO_0, VCCIO_1_2. As you can see from the B460 motherboard, there is no connection lines to the VCCIO_1_2. It seems that Intel sets aside the RSVD pins in the LGA1200 socket to connect to the VCCIO_1_2. For reasons, which probably have to do with cost reduction, the RSVD pins for B460 and H410 motherboards are epty so there's no power going to VCCIO_1_2, which feeds the PCIe and other interfaces. The reviewer provided a list of Z490 motherboard that he thinks won't support Rocket Lake chips. MSI's Z490 S01 and Z490M S01 motherboards as well as ASRock's Z490 Phantom Gaming 4, Z490 Pro4, Z490M Pro4, Z490M-ITX/ac and B460M Steel Legend are part of his list.

Game Information Initial release date: February 20, 2020 Series: Persona Mode: Single player game Software developers: Atlas, Omega Force, P Studio Basic Information: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows Publishers: Atlas, Sega It's always nice to see your friends again, even if your time together doesn't always live up to the highest highs you've experienced in the past. Persona 5 Strikers is a lot like that--it comes with some special moments that foster a deeper appreciation for what Persona 5 is and what it represents. From the wild action-RPG combat to the summer road-trip premise, characters we know and love get to show off how much they've grown and prove they can still kick ass in style. Strikers does trip over a few clumsy tropes along the way, and sometimes tries a little too hard to recapture Persona 5's magic, but when it's all said and done, I'm glad this reunion happened to begin with. It's the summer after the events of the original game, and the Phantom Thieves have a little free time. With Joker being back in town, why not enjoy the break? Before they can even make plans, they're caught in another round of beating down the metaphysical evils of the Metaverse and changing hearts. This time, the phenomenon is happening all across Japan. Although you follow similar patterns established in Persona 5--fighting through surreal dungeons and living life in the real world--the context is quite different both narratively and gameplay-wise. What's Worth Fighting For Your first few targets have been mani[CENSORED]ting people's desires in order to feed their ambitions for fame and fortune, but there's a bigger mystery as to how and why there's strange behavior en masse. You begin to unveil that tragic pasts have led them down a dark path of exploiting the Metaverse. The broader message isn't to excuse behavior or to say that trauma will surely corrupt its victims--rather, that our circumstances and the people around us (or lack thereof) have significant influence over how we internalize and process pain, and eventually who we become. Through each story beat, the main cast relates to these tragic situations because they were once in similar positions in the original game. It shows how much our fellow Phantom Thieves have matured since the events of Persona 5--they've been able to conquer their traumas, and Strikers gives them the opportunity to impart their wisdom onto others. However, the story doesn't always hit these topics with particular nuance, leaving some of its messaging feeling either a bit shallow or hamfisted. Dialogue sometimes relies on surface-level exposition and cliches, or talking in circles to belabor the point. Many of the villains also boil down to being an avatar for a certain type of character flaw in a very matter-of-fact way. I felt somewhat detached from the stakes at times. Although it's not deliberately explored in depth, Persona 5 Strikers does have a surprisingly poignant message about the role of technology in our lives--the perks, the pitfalls, the power it affords certain people, and how it can be abused. As per usual with Persona, the story also presents genuine human connection as a source of strength, and by the end of the journey, both those themes come into clearer focus. These narrative themes extend to the arcs of the new characters Sophia and Zenkichi, great additions who stand out and fit well alongside the Phantom Thieves. Sophia is the cutesy artificial intelligence, a Siri-like phone companion who takes a human form to fight in the Metaverse. Her bubbly attitude and gradual understanding of human mannerisms gives a warm vibe. Persona 5 Strikers does have a surprisingly poignant message about the role of technology in our lives--the perks, the pitfalls, the power it affords certain people, and how it can be abused. Zenkichi is a goofball adult, but as an inspector with Japan's public security, he's an authority figure that everyone rightfully distrusts, especially as he tries to play ball with the group. However, his growth is key to some of Strikers' more important themes--defying flawed institutions lets him break through mental barriers to overcome his past failures, which also helps him rebuild a relationship with his daughter. The integration of Sophia and Zenkichi only feels natural, and that's due in large part to how well Strikers builds the story around them. On The Road Across Japan Strikers changes the scenery at nearly each chapter of the story, and with an RV on hand and Makoto with a driver's license, this becomes your home away from home. While this game follows a familiar flow to Persona 5, it's much lighter on the social simulation elements. There is a calendar to contextualize the timeline of the story, but absent are the deadlines and pressures of time hanging over your head. You have what are called Requests, which are simple side quests let you access new gear or increase your Bond rating. And the Bonds system--which levels up after certain moments between characters--unlocks powerful perks to increase your effectiveness in battle. You can leave and enter Metaverse dungeons at any checkpoint during exploration to recuperate without penalty, too. It serves to tighten the narrative pace and create a less stressful vibe. From the sun-soaked beaches of Okinawa to the bustling city center of Dotonbori, it's exciting to share the experience of touring Japan with these characters. Even though there isn't much to do in these cities other than shop for items, or talk to NPCs and your companions, taking in the new scenery is pretty sweet. It makes for some of my favorite chill moments: watching fireworks over Yokohama, celebrating Tanabata in Sendai, riding the Ferris wheel in Sapporo, sharing meals at every stop, or just talking in the RV. Cooking up meals for HP and SP items in the RV will grab the crews attention, too. After all the battles and tragedies the Phantom Thieves overcame, it's nice to see them enjoy life, even as they continue fighting against a looming evil. It's not always smooth sailing, though. At times, Strikers falls into cringey tropes that undermine its ethos. For example, one villain's Metaverse form is an overweight caricature, using obesity as shorthand for evil--even in context, it doesn't make sense since this storyline has nothing to do with gluttony. There's also not one but two bathhouse scenes that try to put the female cast in uncomfortable situations as a meaningless gag. And with some of them having troubled pasts, I'd rather not see them treated unfairly amongst friends. Striking Back, Striking Fast With each stop across Japan, there is work to be done. And the way Strikers faithfully incorporates Persona 5's RPG mechanics and the Phantom Thieves' lavish style into its frenetic musou-style action made me eager to put in that work. You explore dungeons as you would in Persona 5, sneaking up on shadows for ambushes or confronting them to initiate battles, but now you jump straight into real-time action. Each character has their own elemental affinities, persona abilities, and unique properties for their attack combos. And you can swap to any one of the four in your party to take direct control and make the most of their capabilities. While you can stop time by pulling up spells, combat moves so quickly that you need to be consistently attacking or dodging as you devise ways to exploit enemy weaknesses. It's a lot to process in the first few hours of the game--tutorials are laid on thick and the battles got chaotic before I had a firm grasp of things. But the various mechanics started to make sense after some practice, and as I began to form general combat strategies, I got to a point where I was just itching to start fights. It's incredibly satisfying to tear through mobs of shadows while juggling the challenge of tougher enemies that hit harder and have a ton of HP. You can't necessarily get away with spamming spells they're weak against--it's best to learn how to use characters' SP-free elemental combos to complement the assault. Joker still wields a roster of personas created through the velvet room, which will help you earn much-needed all-out attack opportunities by hammering away at weaknesses. And throughout combat, you build up a meter to execute showtime attacks, which is another ridiculously bombastic move that lays heavy damage on every enemy insight. You'll feel unstoppable when it all comes together. I almost forgot I was playing a musou-style game developed by Koei Tecmo and Omega-Force, and I think that's a testament to how sharp Strikers is as a Persona game. Throughout the game, you're encouraged to make use of every member with the various affinities they can cover for combat. It's also great to see how all their personalities and charm come through with how they function in battle--Haru's heavy axe swings for area-of-effect damage, Yusuke's charged slashes, or Makoto's rapid punches and biker persona all offer distinct advantages, but are also reminders of their individuality. You can even directly control any of them during dungeon exploration, which is a sweet touch that lets your favorite character be the star of your show. As gratifying as it is to crunch through waves of enemies and chip away at the stronger bosses, this is a somewhat inelegant combat system. Things can get messy when there's an overwhelming amount to parse on screen, making it hard to telegraph enemy attacks--and this can pile on in a moment's notice for devastating results. There are times when the presentation of the game can get in its own way, especially when it's delivered through pivotal combat sequences. For example, some story-driven battles would become a mess of dialogue, audio cues, sound effects, and music all overlapping. Dungeons are designed well enough, and although they rely on basic formats and aren't as imaginative as they are in Persona 5, the late-game one in Osaka brings a scale and aesthetic that matches the bombast of that point in the story. What is an annoyance, however, is that exploration is often interrupted by superfluous dialogue that over-explains each step of the dungeon's process. So while your time in the Metaverse isn't without its blemishes, these are the moments when Strikers proves itself as a strong adaptation and representation of Persona 5's gameplay qualities. At its best, I couldn't help but feel that Persona 5 was always a perfect match for action-based combat. The Power Of Music Whether you're in combat or going about your tasks, the Strikers soundtrack is going to steal your heart. Music is integral to Persona's identity, and yet again, the Atlus Sound Team manages to impress and build on the tremendous work from Persona 5. Old favorites like "Last Surprise" and "Rivers In The Desert" get metal/punk-style rearrangements with uptempto percussion that carry a new attitude to perfectly match the chaotic action. The new battle theme "What You Wish For" is an instant classic with its upbeat acid jazz rock style. The Osaka dungeon rearranges a song you hear throughout the game and establishes a heightened tension in what's already an intimidating symphonic-metal track. That same dungeon switches things up to a layered and heavy synthwave track that's as catchy as it is dark. Each town you visit comes with new, comforting background songs, too. One standout is Okinawa, which features Islander instrumentals and borrows a melody from the Persona 5 anime credits song "Infinity" to create a heartwarming tune I could leave on loop. But no song will sell you this soundtrack quite like "Daredevil." It carries the same vibe as "Life Will Change" but with a more aggressive attitude backed by groovy disco-metal instrumentation. And Lyn's soulful and assertive vocals instill an unwavering confidence. My only wish is that the game gave it more time to breathe in the moments it was used. The Strikers soundtrack showcases the range of Atlus Sound Team, and also their ability to make music that stirs up the spectrum of emotions, and it becomes inseparable from the entire experience. The Ties That Bind Once I reached the final hours of Strikers, I was reminded of Persona's ability to create an unmistakable sense of finality. Many parts of this game are quite goofy or hammy, but when the pieces fall in place for the last dungeon, and all the music kicks in at the right time, my heart was fully in it. Strikers has a deep cast of characters and the way it brings the entire crew together for these final moments makes the Phantom Thieves feel whole. Everyone puts in the work and everyone shines in their own right to save the world (again), ending the journey on a high note. For all its shortcomings, Persona 5 Strikers reminds me why I loved the Phantom Thieves to begin with and shows how they've matured since we last saw them. Once you get your head around it, the action-RPG combat is a challenging thrill, and no one can pull off flourishes in the same fashion as these characters. I almost forgot I was playing a musou-style game developed by Koei Tecmo and Omega-Force, and I think that's a testament to how sharp Strikers is as a Persona game. If you have any love for Persona 5, what say you save the world one more time with some old friends? Here are the Persona 5 Strikers System Requirements (Minimum) CPU: Intel Core i3-530 | AMD Phenom II X2 550. RAM: 2 GB. OS: Windows 8.1. VIDEO CARD: Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 | AMD Radeon HD 6870. PIXEL SHADER: 5.0. VERTEX SHADER: 5.0. DEDICATED VIDEO RAM: 1024 MB.

You have more than 3 projects

You have more than 3 projects

Make Activity in our sections then back again

DH1 : DH2 :

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DH1 Better Than DH2 , Amazing song

Both are good but i like DH2 more than DH1 , Nice music

DH2 , Legend of Rap i love this song

It looks like Microsoft is still struggling with releasing Windows 10 updates that appear to break more than they fix. Recently, the company released the cumulative KB4598291 update, which was meant to fix several bugs that have been hanging around since the October 2020 Update. While it appears that most of these issues are now fixed, it seems like the update has a few problems of its own. How to use Windows 10 We show you how to speed up Windows 10 How to fix common Windows 10 problems As Windows Latest reports, some users are reporting on Microsoft’s Feedback Hub that the update – which at the moment remains optional – is failing to install. It seems like the install almost completes, then throws up an unhelpful error message saying the install failed (without explaining why). Another user has reported that some games, including World of Warcraft, that use DirectPlay (a piece of software included with DirectX) don’t run after installing the KB4598291 update. Uninstalling the update allows the games to run fine. As we mentioned earlier, the KB4598291 update is currently optional, though it will be rolled out automatically to everyone with February’s Patch Tuesday update, which will go live on February 9. Let’s hope Microsoft has fixed those additional issues before then. Other update problems Unfortunately, it seems like KB4598291 isn’t the only recent Windows 10 update to come with its own issues. As Betanews reports, both KB4598299 and KB4598301 updates, which were supposed to fix issues with recent versions of Windows 10, in fact cause their own problems, with apps not working correctly, and even the dreaded Blue Screen of Death making an appearance as well. It seems Visual Studio has been impacted by these issues, and Microsoft has posted on the app’s forums to say that “A fix for this issue has been internally implemented and is being prepared for release.”

Apple's M1 systems use multiple proprietary technologies. Corellium, a software company specializing in virtualization solutions, has managed to port Linux to an Apple M1-based PC and even succeeded in making almost all the system peripherals work. In the process, Corellium discovered several interesting details about Apple’s M1 processor and the system architecture. A couple of weeks ago, we reported that a startup called Corellium had managed to run Linux on an Apple M1-based computer. Back then, the operating system ran, but it did not support many things, essentially making the PC unusable to a large degree. Recently the company finally managed to make most of the things (including Wi-Fi) work, which means that Linux can now be used on the latest Macs. But the whole project of running a non-Apple OS on such computers has an interesting side effect as it reveals how different Apple’s SoCs are compared to other Arm-based architectures. Loads of Proprietary Technologies It's no secret that Apple has focused on building its own Arm-based microarchitectures to offer unbeatable performance with its iPhones and iPads for quite a while now. Unlike its rivals, the company did not throw in more cores, instead improving its cores' single-core/single-thread performance. In addition to custom cores, Apple apparently uses a highly custom system architecture too, according to Corellium. When virtually all 64-bit Arm-based systems bootup, they call firmware through an interface called PSCI, but in the case of the M1, the CPU cores start at an address specified by an MMIO register and then start to run the kernel. Furthermore, Apple systems also use a proprietary Apple Interrupt Controller (AIC) that is not compatible with Arm’s standards. Meanwhile, the timer interrupts are connected to the FIQ, an obscure architectural feature primarily used on 32-bit Arm systems that is not compatible with Linux. To make various processors in an M1-powered PC interact with each other, the OS has to provide a set of inter-processor interrupts (IPIs). Previously IPIs were handled just like traditional IRQs using MMIO accesses to the AIC, but in the case of the M1, Apple uses processor core registers to dispatch and acknowledge IPIsas they rely on FIQs. Apple’s oddities do not end there. For example, Apple’s Wi-Fi/Bluetooth controller connects to the SoC using a non-standard PCIe-based protocol (which fortunately was supported by Corellium virtualization software). To make matters more complicated, Apple’s PCIe and the integrated Synopsys DWC3 USB controller use the company’s proprietary input–output memory management unit (IOMMU) called device address resolution table (DART). Furthermore, Apple’s I2C has a custom firmware that uses an exclusive protocol, which thwarted using the USB Type-A ports. Complications Using a proprietary system architecture is not something new for Apple, but it will make it much harder to port other operating systems to its platforms as well as running those OSes in virtualization mode. Recently a developer managed to make Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 10X run on an Apple M1-based system using QEMU virtualization, but this OS is not yet final, and it is unclear how stable it is. Furthermore, Windows 10X does not run Win32 apps, making it less valuable for some users. Running Windows 10 or Linux on an Apple Mac may not be crucially important for most Mac owners. But a complicated system architecture featuring multiple proprietary technologies will likely make it harder to develop certain kinds of software and hardware for Arm-based Macs.

Game Information Initial release date: October 6, 2020 Platform: Microsoft Windows Software Developers: Seacorp Technologies Limited, SCT Publishers: SCT, Seacorp Technologies Limited Type: video game, racing video game, puzzle video game, action game, Physics-based racing games have been around for years. I’m not talking about Forza Horizon or Asseto Corsa, but rather racing platformers like Super Monkey Ball and Marble It Up! These games have you roll around while attempting to avoid obstacles and navigate your way to the end of each stage as fast as possible. The genre isn’t overly represented on PC, but the topic of today’s review, Kinetic Edge, could help solve that. Kinetic Edge is developed by SCT, an indie studio that began found its footing after developing the Half-Life mod Prospekt. In 2018, it released the well-received Gunsmith, an early access arms manufacturing tycoon game. From FPS mod to tycoon simulation, SCT hasn’t been afraid to try out new ideas. And Kinetic Edge continues that approach with the studio’s first deep dive into platforming. Considering that this is its first attempt, Kinetic Edge shows a lot of promise. Shapeshifting One of the defining mechanics of Kinetic Edge is shapeshifting. Throughout stages, you will occasionally pass through markers that change what shape you become. Every stage will start you off as a sphere but you can switch to a pyramid, cube, cylinder, icosahedron, prism, and a molecule lookalike. These all interact with obstacles differently and affect how you approach each course. I think this mechanic works well enough, but is somewhat negated by how overpowered jumping is. It doesn’t matter if you’re a sphere or a pyramid. You can usually just spam the jump button to bypass obstacles. Obviously, this doesn’t apply to anything timing-based, but for general parkour, obstacles are easy to avoid regardless of shape. Putting a limit on how often you can jump would help offset this issue. Otherwise, players also have the choice to dash and blast. The dash feature is an ability that lets you speed over or around various obstacles. This is useful when you’re at risk of falling short on a difficult jump. Meanwhile, the blast ability is only useful in multiplayer. It can be used to knock back nearby opponents. This is honestly peak trolling material, as you can ruin someone’s day as they navigate a tight, tricky obstacle. When timed properly, you can even double-boost on top of an enemy and nuke blast them off the course. A real friendship breaker for sure, but well worth it for a good laugh. Of these two abilities, I think blast is better implemented. The dash does work fine and is integrated into most levels well, but it can take away from the challenge. I remember when SEGA made the controversial choice to add a jump function into Super Monkey Ball. It wasn’t received well, as it took away from the franchises’ iconic physics-based level design. Similarly, I think that Kinetic Edge would be a more fulfilling game if dash didn’t exist. The physics do feel just right though in most cases. It’s also easy to pick the game up and quickly figure out what you can and can’t get away with. But once you realize that you can often just dash over and ignore half of each level, it feels like a waste given that you can tell a lot of effort and time was put into the level design. And when I took my time to complete levels without using the dash feature, I often enjoyed them more. But doing so goes against the whole idea of settings the best time possible. Plenty of options Kinectic Edge has four different game modes to explore: Race, Golf, Maze, and The Gauntlet. First and foremost, Race is the core mode that Kinetic Edge is built upon. You are tasked with simply finishing a level in as short a time as possible. Each level has several checkpoints and usually takes a couple of minutes to finish. If you play online, this mode acts similarly to something akin to Trackmania. It’s simple, but fun to see how you fare against others. If you’ve played Golf With Your Friends, you’ve played golf in Kinetic Edge. Mechanically speaking, it’s almost identical and is effectively just another decent mini golf simulator. There are some slight annoyances though that can interfere with gameplay. Perhaps most notable is the camera clipping through walls and occasionally impeding your view of the course. Otherwise, this is a perfectly serviceable game mode that is best enjoyed with friends. Maze is perhaps the worst overall mode. As the name suggests, it requires you to navigate a maze. The quicker you find the exit, the better. This game mode tends to only produce one of two outcomes. One, you don’t know the route, and just follow the left wall until you complete it. Or two, you do know the optimal route, and it’s over in well under a minute. It’s functional, but I don’t overly recommend playing this. Finally, there’s the Gauntlet. This is similar to the race mode, but adds a slight competitive feel that helps differentiate it. In the Gauntlet, there are no checkpoints and the timer counts down instead of up. If you fall off the map, you start all the way from the beginning. If the timer runs out, you fail. I enjoy playing this a lot as it reminds me of the fantastic Hill Climb mode in Trials Rising. Although be aware that it can get awfully frustrating and will require many attempts to perfect. I hope you like neon At a glance, Kinetic Edge‘s most defining trait is very apparent. Its visual design is something special. Everything you look at is neon-lit and highly reflective which creates a futuristic, almost ray tracing like appearance. It’s what I would imagine Geometry Wars would have looked like if it was 3D. And I have to say it results in a genuinely beautiful game with some of the most striking visuals I’ve seen in a while. However, this art style isn’t without its problems. The sheer quantity of reflective surfaces creates areas that can be confusing to navigate. I’d consider it something akin to those mirror mazes you probably explored as a kid. At times this can make it difficult to figure out where you’re going or even what direction you’re facing. This isn’t an issue that arises at every stage, but it’s common enough to be a problem. As for performance, I have nothing to complain about. There’s a wide range of resolutions supported. Players also have the choice to tweak shadows, anti-aliasing, textures, and effects separately. Most modern gaming PCs should be able to run Kinetic Edge on max settings easily as, during this review, I never dropped below a locked 120 fps. This is great as Kinetic Edge‘s precision platforming benefits greatly from its silky-smooth performance. As a player who spent most of his time reviewing Kinetic Edge on a controller, I did notice one big problem. By default, the controller analog stick sensitivity is way too high. This is particularly annoying during the Golf mode where minor adjustments are necessary to line up shots. There is currently no option in-game to tweak sensitivity, so the only solution is to use third-party software. Given that Kinetic Edge gives you the option to toggle Xbox or PlayStation control overlays, which is surprisingly absent in most games, I’d put this down to being an oversight rather than laziness. This isn’t as bad If you play on mouse and keyboard, as you can use a DPI switch to work around the issue. Final verdict Kinetic Edge is not a medium changing game by any means. It sets out on achieving the simple goal of being a fun and easily accessible physics-based platformer. If that’s what you’re looking for, there’s plenty enough to enjoy. Its gorgeous visuals, natural feeling physics, and variety of game modes should keep you entertained for a while. However, there are a fair few limitations to its gameplay, and not all of the available content is equally fun to play. Regardless, this is an overall good effort and is certainly worth checking out. System Requirements Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system. OS: Windows 10. Processor: Intel i5. Memory: 8 GB RAM. Graphics: Any with 4GB video memory or higher. Network: Broadband Internet connection. Storage: 5 GB available space. Sound Card: N/A.

Microsoft confirms that legacy Edge is being killed off in April Windows 10 still carries two versions of Edge as well as Internet Explorer, but the headcount of Microsoft’s browsers is about to be trimmed from three to two, as the software giant has officially confirmed that it’s about to kill off the old Edge. The two spins of Edge are the new Chromium-based one, and the legacy Edge that came with Windows 10 when the OS was first launched. Even if you’ve already moved to the shiny new Chromium-powered Edge, the old Edge is still hanging around in the background of your system – essentially it’s present, but hidden. How to use Windows 10 These are the best antivirus apps We’ve also picked out the best web browsers However, with an incoming cumulative update, Microsoft has said that this legacy Edge browser will finally be completely removed from Windows 10, and those who are still using it will be compelled to switch to the new version of Edge. Clues to this happening have already been spotted earlier this week, thanks to a language pack discovered in Windows 10 21H2 preview builds, which led us to speculate that perhaps the legacy Edge was going to be ditched when that second update of 2021 arrived, later in the year. However, old Edge will get its comeuppance much sooner than that, with April 13 being the official date Microsoft has given. Cessation of support In a blog post flagged up by C-Net, Microsoft confirmed that official support for Edge is ending on March 9, and that: “To replace this out of support application, we are announcing that the new Microsoft Edge will be available as part of the Windows 10 cumulative monthly security update – otherwise referred to as the Update Tuesday (or “B”) release – on April 13, 2021. “When you apply this update to your devices, the out of support Microsoft Edge Legacy desktop application will be removed and the new Microsoft Edge will be installed.” The same thing will also happen for those who install the preview cumulative update (or “C” release) for March, which is an optional update. Don’t worry if you’ve already installed the new Edge – the patch won’t mess with your current browser installation, or reinstall Chromium-based Edge; it will only remove the legacy Edge from Windows 10, freeing up a bit of drive space and getting rid of some system clutter.

Nothing is safe from cryptominers Over this past week, Ethereum has skyrocketed to nearly $1700 in value (at the time of writing), making Ethereum very profitable to mine once again. But due to the shortage in graphics card supplies right now, desperate Chinese miners are apparently turning to RTX 30 series laptops as a new way to mine the cryptocurrency, as shown in a series of images that depict a laptop mining farm. It's unclear from the images and description if the miner purchased the laptops specifically for mining ethereum or is just repurposing laptops from a company or school, like an internet cafe, while they would otherwise be idle. In another demonstration of how valuable Ethereum has become, a vlogger posted on Bilibili that she went to a local Starbucks in China with an RTX 3060 laptop (TDP unknown), and showcased showed her payout from mining Ethereum for just two hours. She claims that her RTX 3060 mobile with a hefty memory overclock of +1000MHz managed an average hashing rate of 46MH/s. After two hours, she claims she made $0.9 USD. That might not sound like much, but it was enough for her to buy a coffee at Starbucks. Unfortunately, if prices for cryptocurrencies like Ethereum continue to climb, miners will be back in full swing and ordering as much compute power as they can. Now that getting graphics cards is nearly impossible for your average gamer or miner, it leaves miners no choice but to look for alternative methods to mine coins.

Game information Initial release date: January 20, 2021 Publisher: Binary Haze Interactive Software Developers: Adglobe, Live Wire Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and more Type: RPG, Fighting Game, Adventure Video Game, Action Game, RPG, Indie Game, Platform Game, Early Access I’ve got a certain affinity for dark, cold, and horribly unforgiving games. I was going to type out a joke here about it stemming from my childhood, but have decided against it. Instead, I’m just going to go ahead and blame FromSoftware for this weird gaming kink I’ve developed that requires games to kick the crap out of me for me to fully enjoy them. Because of this, if you give me a game that looks like it’s probably going to have a morally grey story, hard gameplay, and the chance to die a lot, well then I’m all the way in. Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights is very much that kind of game, and to be honest, what I’ve played of it so far has very much quenched my thirst for this kind of game, while also piquing my interest for what’s going to happen with it in the future. The mix of dark setting, horribly hard gameplay, and the lore within the game, make for the kind of thing that I’m very much here for. It’s not just going to be me that likes Ender Lilies though, I think it’s pretty special, and I’m certain other people will too. Ender Lilies is, at its core, a Metroidvania game. That means you’ll be getting new abilities as you go and backtracking a fair bit as you get them. It’s a well-done one too, with a map that shows you everything you need to know to make backtracking fairly painless. You can easily see which areas you’ve not fully completed, which ones have routes you’ve yet to take, and which ones you never need to go to again. Plus, the fast travel system has points you can move to all over the place, so it takes a lot of the frustration out of this genre. Of course, exploration isn’t all there is in Ender Lilies, and a huge amount of the gameplay is going to be you fighting. The combat has you equipping three different spirits and using them to fight on your behalf. You can have two sets of these equipped, and you can switch between them with ease. Each spirit will do something different. To start with, you’ll only have sword attack, but as you progress you’ll get ranged attacks, summons, and a variety of other things to play around with. You get new spirits by beating them up in dramatic boss fights, or by saving the poor souls of those fighting off the curse of the land as you find them. You see, a horrible Deathly Rain has befallen the kingdom where you live, and you’re one of the few people capable of fighting back against it. The rain’s corrupted everything, and that means people are either dying or turning into horrible monsters who’ll attack everything on sight. I’m confident that the ending of this story won’t be a pleasant one, but I am keen to know how it develops as it gets closer to the full release. The Early Access plays well though, and aside from one issue with the text, I didn’t encounter any problems. Ender Lilies shows a lot of promise, and I’m definitely going to jump back into it when it’s finished to see what other challenges it can offer me. It’s the kind of game I really like, but I also just think it’s a good game for anybody who’s been looking for their next Metroidvania fix. Here are the ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights System Requirements (Minimum) CPU SPEED: Dual Core @ 2.00Ghz RAM: 2 GB OS: Windows 7 SP1 64 bit VIDEO CARD: 1GB of video RAM FREE DISK SPACE: 2 GB DEDICATED VIDEO RAM: 1 GB

Well, almost everyone – there may still be a scattering of minor compatibility blocks Windows 10 May 2020 Update has been cleared for broad deployment, meaning it will now be offered to all users widely. In other words, the upgrade floodgates have been fully opened, whereas before with the May 2020 Update, the various bugs and glitches present prevented Microsoft from making it available to allcomers (it was only pushed to certain PCs). We solve 100 common Windows 10 problems How to speed up Windows 10 How to uninstall a Windows 10 update In an upgrade to the status of the May 2020 Update, as spotted by MS Power User, Microsoft said: “Windows 10, version 2004 [May 2020 Update] is designated for broad deployment. The recommended servicing status is Semi-Annual Channel.” As we’ve seen in recent times, Microsoft has been working away to resolve the various issues around the May 2020 Update, but giving it full clearance has taken some time. Remember that the upgrade came out in May 2020 (unsurprisingly), late in the month; so it has taken some nine months to give the big thumbs-up to the update. Upgrade stats That said, a good chunk of folks are already using the May 2020 Update, and as we’ve seen from the most recent figures from AdDuplex, it’s the version of Windows 10 that most people are on. 39.8% of users, in fact, are using it, comfortably ahead of the November 2019 Update on 31.2%, and the most recent October 2020 Update on 16.8%. There are still 6.6% of users on the May 2019 Update, as of the end of January 2021 (although remember this is just going by one set of statistics). While Microsoft is happy that the May 2020 Update is now fully ready for all users, then are still a couple of known issues that remain around audio drivers, as you’ll see in the status update provided. So there may still be a few machines with a compatibility block due to that, although Microsoft has provided a workaround for those Conexant audio driver problems, and said that it is “adjusting this safeguard to allow certain devices with the affected driver to update to Windows 10, version 2004 [May 2020 Update] or Windows 10, version 20H2 [October 2020 Update].” The October 2020 Update is only an enablement package, meaning it’s a minor upgrade from the May 2020 Update, so once you’re on the latter, it’s effectively just a short step onwards. And for that matter, the incoming first update of 2021 is expected to be a similar matter of flicking an enablement switch, as well. In that respect, the May 2020 Update will remain essentially as good as the latest version of Windows 10, but for some minor changes.