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As part of Microsoft’s attempts to get people to upgrade to Windows 11, the company claimed that one of the benefits of the new operating would be faster Windows Updates – but many users are complaining that those promised speed increases have failed to materialize. As an article in WindowsReport explains, many users have found that Windows 11 updates are still taking too long despite Microsoft's claims, and are publicly complaining on sites such as Reddit. In our own experience of using Windows 11, we’ve not noticed updates downloading or installing any faster, and along with these user complaints, it seems like Microsoft may have overstated the improvements to Windows update speeds. Analysis: Come on, Microsoft There’s a lot to like about the new operating system – check out our Windows 11 review to see what we think – but Microsoft also has its work cut out to convince people to upgrade. The promise of faster updates was certainly alluring – no one likes to sit around waiting while their PC installs an update, but Microsoft also needs to be careful about over-hyping improvements. If it talks about faster update speeds, then Microsoft needs to deliver noticeable improvements. If many users feel like they aren’t getting what they were promised, they won’t be happy – and they’ll make their unhappiness known in public. The good news is that this is still early days for Windows 11 (even though we’ve already begun hearing rumors about Windows 12), so we expect Microsoft to continue updating and improving the operating system. That means we could see those promised update speeds coming later, or at least current speeds improving. It seems like having Windows 11 installed on modern technology, such as NVMe SSDs, helps speed up the update process as well. But, Microsoft needs to ensure that it doesn’t over promise and under deliver, no matter what hardware people are using. If it does, then Windows 11’s reputation could suffer serious damage. Here's how to download and install Windows 11.

According to a new report by Jon Peddie Research, Q4 2021 sales of CPUs with integrated graphics were down 15% year-over-year. By contrast, sales of discrete graphics boards for desktops increased during the fourth quarter. The industry shipped approximately 101 million discrete and integrated GPUs for PCs in Q4 2021*, which is an increase of around 0.8% sequentially (this essentially means flat), but a decrease of 15% year-over-year. By contrast, sales of standalone graphics cards for desktop PCs (such as those featured in the best graphics cards for gaming) reached around 13 million units in the fourth quarter of 2021, a 3% growth sequentially and an 18% surge from the same quarter in 2020.

Indie MMO project TitanReach has lurched from crisis to crisis since its initial Kickstarter launch back in 2020, and it now seems to have ended for good in confusion and failure, with a YouTuber close to the project alleging that the lead developer misappropriated investor funds to gamble on cryptocurrency and even purchase a Tesla for his personal use. TitanReach was a "Runescape-like" MMO that ultimately failed to meet its initial Kickstarter goal of $430,000. Undeterred, the developers, Square Root Studios, adopted a "month-to-month" crowdfunding model, and saw continued interest from its community over the course of several Early Access iterations. Ultimately, the $200,000 Square Root received in crowdfunding was not enough to sustain the project, and its lead developer, going by the username "Unravel," announced the end of development on the game's Discord in August of 2021. The next month, Unravel took back to Discord to announce that the game had been fully funded by an anonymous angel investor, and that development would resume. KiraTV, an independent critic on YouTube who had previously covered TitanReach extensively and corresponded with its developers, claimed to have spoken to this investor in a video posted around this time. Despite this surprising windfall, TitanReach ceased development again just last week, with Unravel announcing the depletion of their funds on Discord and diving into a long digression about the NFT integration he was hoping to include with the game. The surprise closure coupled with the unexpected reveal of blockchain plans, a controversial topic on its own, led to a backlash against the developers, including threats of doxxing. SquareRoot closed the TitanReach Discord, and the game's website and social media accounts have all gone dark. Previously mentioned YouTuber KiraTV has now released a video alleging that TitanReach's angel investor pulled out after Unravel misappropriated funds for a failed $150,000 cryptocurrency investment and purchased a Tesla for his own personal use, with screenshots of Discord conversations as primary evidence. KiraTV also claims that TitanReach's mystery investor is South African cryptocurrency entrepreneur Andre Cronje, and alleges that Unravel attempted to bribe him into not investigating the reason for Cronje pulling his funding. We have reached out to Mr Cronje and will update this article if we receive a statement. In the meantime, Unravel has gone to ground and other former members of Square Root have not spoken out. It's a bizarre story of internet fraud and lofty ambitions, weaving together several 2022 gaming throughlines: crowdfunding, cryptocurrency, and the increasingly close relationships between developers and their games' influencers. It certainly makes the case (once again) that we should be circumspect about crowdfunding a game from an unproven developer, especially a project as ambitious and expensive as an MMO.

Nickname: D.CraZy Video author: Dwoz Name of the game: PUBG MOBILE Video link: Short description of the video: The most beautiful gameplay in new season in PUBG MOBILE.

WhatsApp for iOS is reportedly testing the camera media bar feature. The functionality, which allows users to access the photos and videos from the phone quickly was reportedly removed from the previous beta update for unknown reasons. Now, the Meta-owned instant messaging app is bringing back the original scrollable camera media bar. The latest update is reportedly spotted on WhatsApp beta for iOS 22.5.0.71. The rollout is specifically live for select beta testers on iOS, as per a report. However, the company hasn't officially announced when it intends to make the camera media bar live for users. As per a report by WhatsApp features tracker WABetaInfo, WhatsApp has added the media bar feature in the latest iOS beta version 22.5.0.71. In the previous WhatsApp beta for iOS 22.4.0.72 update, the company has altered the in-app camera and removed the scrollable camera media bar. But WhatsApp has now reportedly brought back the camera media bar following user complaints. The new experience is currently limited to iOS beta testers.

There is a huge amount of content on YouTube, and a growing proportion of it is accounted for by live streams. While it is often possible to catch up on a live stream after it has ended, this means missing out on the excitement and sense of community that stems from watching a live event at the same time as others. With this in mind, YouTube is making it easier to locate live streams. Borrowing an idea already used by both TikTok and Instagram, YouTube is making a tweak to avatars to make it clear when a channel is live streaming. The change means that when a channel is live streaming, a ring will be displayed around its avatar as a clear and obvious indicator. More than this, if you click on the avatar, you will be taken directly to the live stream rather than to the creator's profile. Analysis: what about desktop users? There is no mention of desktop users at the moment, and it's unclear if the feature will migrate from mobile or not. So, will this make it easier to find live streams? The answer really depends on how you use YouTube. People who are keen followers of a channel will likely be aware of upcoming live streams, and will have created a reminder to ensure they don't miss out. For the casual browser looking for YouTube videos based in comedy, it is unlikely to make a great deal of difference. Some responses to Mohan's tweet also question the value of the change, but no new feature is ever going to delight everyone in equal measure. For anyone who is keen to seek out live broadcasts rather than pre-recorded videos, it does provide another quick and easy way to differentiate one from the other. It may not be a change that generates a massive level of excitement from YouTube users, but it is a nice touch that brings the service in line with other video platforms.

A mysterious Nvidia graphics card featuring the PG136C model number has been added to the EEC customs database. The card is allegedly Nvidia's GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Founders Edition, but while the listing is there, we still have no idea when this product (which could well lead the list of the best graphics cards available today) comes to market. So take the news with a pinch of salt until we get official confirmation. Nvidia's GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition graphics card uses the company's PG136 printed circuit board (PCB), which is unique in terms of design, dimensions, and usage of Nvidia's 12-pin power connector. The upcoming GeForce RTX 3090 Ti FE board will reportedly use the same GA102 graphics processor (albeit featuring a different configuration) as well as 16Gb GDDR6X memory chips (vs. 8Gb ICs on the original RTX 3090) that will only be located on one side of the PCB, which will require some modifications to its design. That said, the PG136C could well be the PCB used by the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Founders Edition. The Nvidia model PG136C graphics card was added to the EEC customs database on Friday, February 4, 2022, and was discovered by @harukaze5719 on Friday 10. It is unclear whether the board was added to the database by Nvidia itself, one of its partners, or another legal entity from Russia (or other EEC country). In the case that the product was registered by Nvidia itself, we have all the reasons to expect the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti graphics board to hit the market in the foreseeable future. But if a third party added the product to the database, this does not necessarily mean a looming launch. Nvidia's GeForce RTX 3090 Ti is reportedly based on the GA102 GPU with 10,752 CUDA cores (up from 10,496 on the RTX 3090) that is connected to 24GB of Micron's GDDR6X memory using a 384-bit interface. The board was rumored to be launched in late January and when it was formally introduced at CES, Nvidia promised to disclose more details about the product by the end of January, something it never did. Instead, it told its partners to halt production of their GeForce RTX 3090 Ti graphics cards in early January due to unknown reasons. In the past few weeks we have seen several retailers listing some GeForce RTX 3090 Ti boards for rather prohibitive $4000 – $5500, which potentially suggests that the card is coming to the market, but so far nobody has ever mentioned any actual release dates for Nvidia's new flagship board.

Today marks the last major update for World of Warcraft's latest expansion, Shadowlands. Patch 9.2 is called Eternity's End and adds a whole bunch of stuff that I don't quite understand as an outsider, and other stuff that I do. The biggest add is definitely 9.2's brand new zone, Zereth Mortis, which is home to a new faction called The Enlightened. Zereth Mortis looks like a pretty happening spot, though a few new mechanics catch my eye. Eternity's End also adds the Afterlives Forge, a "powerful instrument of creation" left behind by WoW's progenitor species that allows players to craft their own mounts and battle pets. Forgive me if this is actually a very small deal in the WoW community, but making my own robo horse just sounds like a blast. Another Zereth Mortis activity will apparently involve learning a new language. The automatons (called automa) in Zereth Mortis speak a "musical language that is incomprehensible to mortal races." Players can team up with an automa sidekick to slowly learn their language and unlock new daily quests, events, and zone activities. I would hope this means my character can literally belt soothing tunes while having a normal conversation, but I don't think that's how WoW works. And don't think you would get a shiny new WoW patch without a raid to go along with it. A raid called Sepulcher of the Great Ones is on the way, releasing first for Normal and Heroic difficulties on March 1 with Mythic and Raid Finder difficulties to follow on March 8. WoW's Darkmoon Faire makes its return in March with a new attraction that has gotten me closer to installing WoW than anything else in this update: the Darkmoon Dance Competition. "Put on your dancing shoes and head to the dance party to compete head-to-head against a rival dancer," the patch notes read. "Watch them carefully as they perform a series of stylish moves then try to match their routine without tripping over your feet." Here are some other Eternity's End highlights if you don't have time to read the massive patch notes: New Brawl mode: Solo Shuffle New Arena map: Maldraxxus Coliseum Shadowlands Season 3 seasonal rewards A boatload of class balancing changes By the sound of it, this is pretty much a wrap on Shadowlands updates until Blizzard is ready to talk about what's next for WoW. In pre-pandemic times, we'd usually already know about the next big expansion, but presuming there will be one, the wait is probably going to be longer this time around. Considering WoW and every other Blizzard game will soon fly under the banner of Microsoft, this time next year we could be talking about WoW and all of its expansions coming to Game Pass.

Intel had been preparing to present its first Bitcoin mining ASIC at ISSCC 2022 and as the event got underway on February 20, Intel has revealed more details of the Bonanza Mine ASIC, as well as its Bonanza Mine System — a self-contained computer, which features 300 Bonanza Mine ASICs to deliver 40 terahashes per second (THash/s) of performance while consuming 3,600W of power. The chipmaker's presentation was dedicated to the first-generation ASIC Bonanza Mine codenamed BMZ1, as well as a system based on them, however, the company is already set to ship a second-generation product to clients, details of which are yet to be revealed by Intel. While that sounds like a barrage of numbers for non-miners, it is worth noting that Intel's performance numbers for the BMZ1 don't quite match up to the competition from the likes of Bitmain, as noted by CryptoAge. But as mentioned, the company has already begun shipping a second-generation product codenamed BMZ2 to its clients. As per a CoinTelegraph report, Bonanza Mine System incorporates four hash boards, an Intel FPGA control unit, four fans, and a programmable power supply. An FPGA is a “field programmable” integrated circuit that provides customers with the ability to reconfigure the hardware to meet specific use case requirements — in this case, Bitcoin mining — after the manufacturing process. Intel's patent for “high-performance Bitcoin mining” was filed in November 2018, and it proposed a 15 percent reduction in overall power consumption. At the time, Intel executives expressed confidence in competing against established companies such as Bitmain, MicroBT, and Nvidia. Ads by Intel's new mining chips, the BMZ2, will be available later this year with US electric power company GRIID Infrastructure, crypto mining firm Argo Blockchain, and Jack Dorsey-led Block among the first clients in line to receive the first batch of mining chips. Now, going by information that's been revealed by Intel so far, the second-generation BTC miner will be able to deliver a balanced performance of 40.4THash/s by drawing 2,293W of power – registering a low power consumption of 56.97 joules per THash. When compared to Bitmain hardware, the Antminer S19j ASIC Bitcoin Miner consumes 3,100W to deliver up to 90THash/s at room temperature, resulting in an efficiency of 34.5 joules per THash. As highlighted by a Tom's Hardware report, Bitcoin mining company GRIID's supply agreement with Intel features a host of redactions to protect sensitive information, but still reveals references to Intel's Reference Design Materials which are essentially documents that are meant for customers to use as guidance when integrating the Bonanza Mine chips into their own custom systems. This implies that Intel will supply the silicon to some of its customers, who will then create their own systems. This also bodes well with Jack Dorsey's plans for Block, which he says will create a "Bitcoin mining system based on custom silicon and open source for individuals and businesses worldwide."

Windows 11 could be replaced by Windows 12, and Microsoft might start work on the new operating system as soon as next month, according to the rumor mill. So, first off, don’t just put your skeptical hat on for this one – maybe also don a cardigan of caution, and, er, waistcoat of wariness – because this is seriously sketchy speculation. It comes from German tech site Deskmodder.de, as spotted by Tom’s Hardware (which notes that what appeared to be a corroborating tweet from Swift on Security turned out to be a joke – a pretty obvious one too – though the original rumor still stands). According to the site’s inside source, Microsoft will begin work on the successor to Windows 11 in March. Deskmodder observes that Microsoft has already been recruiting staff to work on this theoretical Windows 12, but that the OS could still be a long way off, because it’s being built from ‘scratch’ or close to it. Yes, the other main claim here is that while Windows 11 is still very much Windows 10 under the hood in many ways, Windows 12 will be a very different beast from the ground-up. Apply more caution at this point, naturally… Analysis: How likely is Windows 12, really? If this is the case as outlined above, and we’re looking at an all-new version of Windows, possibly called Windows 12, then it will indeed be a long way down the road. It’s obviously a major undertaking to build the OS effectively from ‘scratch’, or at least to revamp it with a completely different core to that shared by Windows 10 and 11. This isn’t a rumor we’re convinced by, in all honesty, and we’ll need to hear it from more sources than Deskmodder before we begin to be sold on the idea that there is a next-gen Windows that work is literally about to begin on. Though if that is the case, obviously we will hear further rumors soon enough, so we can expect to know more of the truth behind this speculation without much of a wait. What could, of course, be happening here is that someone has the wrong end of the stick somewhere, and while a big project may be about to kick off in March at Microsoft, that may simply be the next major incarnation of Windows 11. Ultimately, this is all guesswork, but we wouldn’t really expect a Windows 12 to be in the pipeline for anything like the near future. But then again, we didn’t expect Windows 11 either (mainly because Microsoft had said Windows 10 was the final version, ever).

Nvidia is not exactly eager to disclose the hardware specifications of its cryptocurrency mining processor (CMP) cards aimed at Ethereum miners. Instead, it gives the chipmaker flexibility in GPUs (and GPU configurations) it can use for a given hash rate. But as the lineup of Nvidia’s CMP cards is expanding and they leak to the open market, details about them start to emerge. As it turns out, Nvidia’s former flagship datacenter GPU — the GV100 — now powers Nvidia’s CMP 100HX board. Nvidia has never publicly announced its CMP 100HX card, and the board is absent from the list of its cryptocurrency mining options on its website. However, the card has been available for a while. Someone has published a picture of the CMP 100HX at PC_Shopping forums and for Komachi_Ensaka to discover it. According to the post, the most exciting part about the card is that the accelerator produces around 80 MH/s, so it is not exactly clear why it is called the CMP 100HX (perhaps to differentiate from the CMP 80HX?). Based on the images of the board posted, the CMP 100HX is based on Nvidia’s Tesla V100 compute GPU for data centers. It’s similar to the chipmaker’s rather extravagant Quadra GV100 and Titan V boards for Proviz professionals, enthusiast gamers, and ML/DL software developers. However, these are the only Nvidia Volta-based product aimed at client PCs and the only Volta-powered boards with display outputs.

Of Flesh and Faith is coming to Battle Brothers next month, a free DLC that'll add two new origins and a suite of events and equipment to suit both. "These two origins – the Oathtakers and the Anatomists – will be the most detailed origins in the game to date," say Overhype Studios. "They both come with unique mechanics, new equipment, new character backgrounds, their very own story events, and even a custom-tailored banner each." It's something to play for Battle Brothers fans while Overhype works on their new game. One origin, the Oathtakers, will have your mercenaries "follow the teachings on Young Anselm," fighting for righteousness and swearing oaths that give bonuses and balancing disadvantages until you fulfill them. The other, Anatomists, has your characters as disaffected medical researchers who can dissect enemies and "devise new ways to empower your men" which is not very specific but sounds incredibly sinister nonetheless.

What just happened? Tesla owners around the world found themselves unable to connect to their vehicles from the mobile app on Friday. Initially reported in the U.S. and Canada, reports of the mobile app outage quickly spread across the globe to other owners in the company's European and Asian markets. The outage followed closely behind an upgrade to the company's mobile application, though no link between the two has been found at this time. The Tesla app provides owners with the ability to start their vehicle, access various vehicle controls, schedule maintenance or assistance, and manage vehicle charging. Any inability to access the app can result in a major inconvenience, potentially leaving the unprepared owner stranded until connectivity is restored. Tesla owners may also carry the vehicle's key card or key fob to ensure they can access the vehicle at any time, regardless of app status. Besides carrying the vehicle's key card/key fob, Tesla owners can plan ahead for this type of app unavailability by taking steps to ensure their phone can still be used as a key via the car's Bluetooth connection. The outage event is not the first time Tesla owners have experienced an issue affecting access to their app and vehicles. In September 2020, the company's internal and external servers were brought down for several hours, preventing everything from order fulfillment to vehicle access.

The big picture: Firefox is a fantastic web browser. It's fast, efficient, and privacy-focused with support for a wide range of third and first-party plugins that enhance various features or add new ones altogether. However, as Google's Chrome browser continues to dominate the browser world, and chip away at Firefox's already-limited market share, the Mozilla Foundation has found itself at a crossroads. According to a new report from Wired, Firefox only services a mere four percent of the Internet's browser users, a far cry from the twenty percent it boasted over a decade ago. Though Firefox is still speedy and an excellent option for anyone who cares about minimizing their digital footprint, it's evident that it simply cannot outperform Chrome (and Chromium-based browsers) in terms of user numbers. As Firefox's market share declines, so too does its revenue and staff numbers. And the possibility of recovery is looking less and less likely: former Mozilla employees that spoke to Wired feel the organization has already lost the browser war and stands little to no chance of regaining its former market share. Whether that's truly the case or not is difficult to say. I enjoy using Firefox and find it superior to Edge, Chrome, and Opera for my purposes. But clearly, most internet users feel differently, or perhaps just haven't considered a switch lately. Either way, it's tough to blame them. Chrome is (generally) stable and receives frequent feature updates that improve (or try to improve) the end-user experience. Imagine you're a casual Internet user: all you need is a user-friendly browser that can access your favorite websites without grinding your PC to a halt, Chrome is a valid option. Most of your friends are using it, too, and can help with troubleshooting or locating specific features. How can Firefox overcome that sort of dominance and word-of-mouth? It's not impossible, but it's clear that Mozilla is putting less emphasis on trying to topple the Chrome empire lately. Indeed, the harsh realities of its situation have forced Mozilla to consider new revenue streams to stay afloat and continue pursuing its mission. One of its key revenue streams at the moment is the ongoing marketing deal Mozilla honors with Google. Though the companies are opposites in many ways, they reached a compromise of sorts that nets the former hefty royalties for making Google the default search engine in Firefox. According to Wired, that deal is worth around $400 million annually and makes up the vast majority of Mozilla's total revenue. Obviously, that's a precarious position for the Foundation to be in. Relying on the grace of your competitor to survive is not a sustainable business model, especially as your own user numbers continue to tumble (thus making your product less deal-worthy to begin with). As such, Mozilla has tried to create new paid products and services to reduce its reliance on Google. he Mozilla VPN is the Foundation's first real crack at a revenue-generating service, coming in at $10 per month. The VPN offers device-level data encryption, a 30-day money-back guarantee, and a strict "no logs" policy, all of which line up well with Mozilla's mission. But will it be enough to allow the Foundation to sever ties with Google? Probably not yet or anytime soon, but it's certainly helping: Wired says new products could make up 14 percent of Mozilla's 2021 revenue. I haven't used the VPN and don't intend to anytime soon, but for the sake of all Internet users, we hope Mozilla manages to stabilize and thrive; whether it's through services like its VPN or even a miraculous market share surge. Competition is critical to a healthy marketplace, and nobody benefits -- least of all consumers -- if one of the biggest digital privacy advocates out there crumbles to dust.

Cutting corners: In November, Sapphire began rebranding AMD mobile GPUs as dedicated mining hardware. It was a successful endeavor and the two GPUs they released have been priced above others with similar capabilities. But this month, the prices of both have toppled down to about MSRP. On paper, the Sapphire GPro X080 and X060, are only marginally different from AMD’s Radeon RX 6700M and 6600M, respectively. All four are in the mid-range performance category. Sapphire launched the X080 with an inflated MSRP of €750 ($850) but it quickly jumped over the €1,000 hurdle. A month ago, it was around €1,200, but it plummeted down to €765 ($865) in early February and has stayed there since. Also read: GPU Availability and Pricing Update: February 2022 Meanwhile, the X060 launched at €550 ($620) but was brushing up against €900 until recently, when it slipped down to €700 for a week, and then fell again to €500 ($565), where it’s held steady.

Info : Blizzard has launched a new Overwatch music collection with its "Cities and Countries" update. Composers, Adam Burgess and Derek Duke give us the lowdown on what goes behind composing the music for the hero shooter If you're familiar with Overwatch, one of the things that make the po[CENSORED]r shooter stand out is the music. It may be the case that you may not hear a lot of it given how short it is and the focus is shifted on gameplay. With that said, Blizzard has released the Overwatch: "cities and countries" album that showcases the individual intro tracks that play in the game based on different maps it is set in. The album is on every streaming platform and available to purchase. There's even an in game event tied to it featuring one of of its musically inclined and reluctant antagonists, Sigma. I got to speak to veteran composers, Adam Burgess and Derek Duke who worked on the game's score and also gave us details behind the process of what went into the music and setting. What were the various influences that you chose when making the music for maps ? Adam: I think the biggest influence overall is the location it's actually set in. You know Overwatch is grounded in the real world and a lot of the maps are based in countries with rich musical heritages and we try to be respectful of that and put a lot of thought and effort in a way that we think fits the overwatch universe. Even the game modes can inspire the sounds, there's a whole lot of different approaches we've taken but we try to stay true to lore and character. Derek: Also during the development of the music stretched out over the course of several months and it can start in one place and end up somewhere else. We collaborated with different members of the team so things are constantly in flux. Are there any tracks in particular that were difficult to compose and was there any music that didn't make the final cut in the game ? Derek: It seems the track that took the longest that challenged us the most was Junkertown. Adam: It was unique because it stemmed from a cinematic that came out at the same time and being Australian, it was kind of exciting to see an Australian map being made. The music was challenging because we used to cinematic score as the building blocks for the map music and the cinematic takes a fair bit of time to make. Junkertown is all about fun, it's based on a song that Junkrat sings on, which you can hear on the album and I think that was the most difficult part of the music just because we had to translate from cinematic to make people excited to hear Junkrat sing. Will we see an extended music album, the kind that Derek made with Lucio's Music Synaesthesia Auditiva ? Derek: I think what we have here is already an extended album. So I'm sure as we can, we will try to give fan the best music experience, if opportunity permits, we'd love to do this but we're not committing to anything right now but it would be great to do that at some point. Are there any musical easter eggs that we might have missed ? What sort of influences went into putting crossover references from other Blizzard games? Adam: We try to put little snippets of things everywhere, most music we've hidden in the maps has been found. For example in Rialto, in the hotel lobby, the music that plays the retribution theme on traditional italian instruments. There's the approach is where we put music in the maps across the game. Everything we do is very collaborative, Blizzard world is a good result of that and we really want to show that this is a Blizzard theme park. Part of the track starts up triumphant and the more interesting part is that it allowed us to look to other franchies like WoW, HoTS, Diablo and Starcraft. We tried to meld them together and we found that the WoW themes layered well together interestingly and there's a lot of callbacks to Illidan. It was just an opportunity to create an easter egg that way that players who play different games can identify. And finally, your favourite game ? Adam: One of my first gaming loves was the Diablo franchise, so I spend a lot of time playing Diablo III. Now that it is available on the Nintendo Switch, I can take it anywhere, even though our current world situation means that area is confined to my apartment. Spending so much time at home has allowed me the time to catch up on a lot of amazing games that I missed along the way. Right now, I have been very taken with Red Dead Redemption 2 in particular, and of course, Animal Crossing.

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Nickname : D.CraZy Age: 14 Profile Link: dcrazy How much time you can be active in Forum & TS3: 6 or 5 hours! Link of Reviews you have posted recently: How much you rate VGame Reviewers Team 1-15: 15 Why do you want be part of the Reviewer's team: Helping the family! Any suggest you want to make for your Request: no idea now^^

In brief: It seems that the BlackBerry smartphone brand is well and truly dead. A startup that announced plans in 2020 to release an Android-powered 5G device with a physical keyboard has reportedly given up on those ambitions. It was August 2020 when Texas-based OnwardMobility announced its intention to launch a new BlackBerry after it licensed the brand name. The 5G handset, which reportedly took a lot of design inspiration from the 2015 BlackBerry Priv, was due to arrive last year, but we’re still waiting. Early last month, OnwardMobility published a post titled “Contrary to po[CENSORED]r belief, we are not dead.” It admitted that the company encountered various delays preventing it from shipping in 2021, but it would still be bringing an ultra-secure enterprise phone to market. Notably, the post doesn’t mention the BlackBerry name. According to CrackBerry, “OnwardMobility and their BlackBerry 5G keyboard phone dream are dead.” Android Police have reportedly confirmed this, adding that the company’s license to use the BlackBerry name has been canceled. BlackBerry CEO John Chen is apparently looking to distance the firm from its smartphone past after selling the remainder of its mobile patent portfolio for $600 million earlier this month. Whether OnwardMobility plans to release a non-BlackBerry-branded smartphone or shut down completely is unclear. OnwardMobility isn't the first company to license the BlackBerry name in a failed attempt to capture the po[CENSORED]rity that the brand enjoyed in the 2000s—in 2010, BlackBerry and Nokia were responsible for 70 percent of smartphone operating systems. TCL backed away in 2020 after delivering several devices to mixed reviews, as did Optiemus Infracom, a licensee for the Indian market.

Why it matters: Valve has released a significant update for the Steam Deck's compatibility layer for Windows games. Proton 7.0 adds compatibility for more titles, support for Easy Anti-Cheat (used by Fortnite, Apex Legends, Rocket Arena, and many others), and fixes issues found in some games. The latest update to the Windows-Linux compatibility layer Proton brings it to version 7.0. The new features and compatibility improvements it brings to Valve’s SteamOS arrive less than two weeks before the Steam Deck's official launch. Wine 7.0 and DXVK 1.9.4 are part of the patch as well. Games newly playable through Proton include Anno 1404, Forza Horizon 5, Monster Hunter Rise, Disgaea 4 Complete+, Persona 4 Golden, Oceanhorn, Resident Evil 0, Wargroove, Yakuza 4 Remastered, and more. The update also fixes voice chat in Sea of Thieves; improves audio in Skyrim, Fallout 4, and Mass Effect; and adds controller support for games running through EA’s Origin client. Other improvements include support for locally decoding H.264 videos and Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC) for games with Linux modules. Concerns about EAC support on the vast array of Linux kernels are the main reason Epic Games boss Tim Sweeney says Fortnite won’t support the Steam Deck. Wine 7.0, which was rolled out last month, includes improvements to how it handles DirectX, Vulkan, 64-bit Windows-on-Windows, and a lot more.

Why it matters: A few weeks after a security crisis, QNAP is extending its security updates for some older devices past the date they would generally stop. The situation seems to be an extenuating circumstance rather than a permanent policy change. Taipei-based tech company Quality Network Appliance Provider (QNAP) announced this week that it would be changing how it handles security for its aging products for most of the remainder of 2022. While the company doesn’t state it outright, this is probably a response to ransomware attacks that targeted its products last month. It explained that it usually keeps issuing security updates for devices for four years after their end-of-life (EOL) dates. However, with this announcement, some products more than four years past EOL will keep getting security patches until this October. The list of affected devices includes any Arm or x86 64-bit products that received QTS OS version 4.2.6, 4.3.3, 4.3.6, or 4.4.1. They will only get security updates considered critical or high priority, an example probably being the one QNAP forced on many NAS users at the end of last month to stop ransomware. In January, the company changed its designated “recommended” OS version, which pushed automatic software updates that, while successful in stopping the ransomware, broke other functionality for some users. The faux pas happened partially because of QNAP’s multi-layered auto-update system, which some users didn’t understand.

Horizon Zero Dawn really stuck with me when it launched back in 2017. I still think about the story it told, the revelation of what "Zero Dawn" actually means, and how it revealed this information. I couldn't fathom how Guerrilla planned to follow it up, even when Horizon Forbidden West was announced during the first PlayStation 5 Showcase in 2020. Sometimes the sequel to a new IP is a harder landing to stick than the first game in the franchise, but my goodness does Forbidden West get the job done. The game picks up right after the events of Zero Dawn, as Aloy continues to learn more about the world she lives in…and the one that came before. Her journey sends her to the titular Forbidden West, where she meets new tribes and battles new machines while she tries to learn even more secrets about the past. Playing through this adventure will feel very familiar--this is certainly a "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" situation--but there are definite improvements that make the game even more fun. First and foremost is the story, and I promise I won't be spoiling anything here. Of course, not getting into spoilers makes discussing the story of the game the hardest part of this review, because I so want to talk about all of the things that happen here, but I can say that I was as gripped by this game as I was Zero Dawn in certain moments. This is a story where, just when you think you have things figured out, you get tossed a curveball. There are a few actual jaw droppers too, some of which come fairly early into the adventure. As you progress, Forbidden West wants to keep you guessing, drives your desire to learn everything there is to learn about it, and it's a beautiful experience. Think of it this way: in Zero Dawn the game was forced to keep its secrets close to its chest, particularly in the science fiction sense. We didn't know what was really going on when we first switched the game on; all we knew was this world was filled with machines and the cavemen-esque people who hunted them. By the end of the game we had answers, but the sci-fi aspect of the story ran out of time to really spread its wings to the fullest. Forbidden West has no such limits, plunging headfirst into the best of this universe's sci-fi aspects. I will say that at one point I thought Horizon might go off the rails a bit, focusing too much on sci-fi and forgetting about the tribes that brought us here in the first place. However, this story does such a good job of balancing the two sides of this narrative that everything seems fleshed out. I spent a good amount of time with the Tenakth and its sub-tribes, learning their ways and fighting with and against them, but I also explored the sci-fi underbelly of the story established in the first game. The transition from one to the other is jarring at times--going from "fighting with bows and arrows" to "futuristic ruins underground" is always weird and has been since the last game--but somehow Forbidden West makes it all work. The engine that makes it work, the heart and soul of this game, is to no one's surprise Aloy. This character continues to be one of the most well-written, well-developed characters in all of video games, and she's so damn fun to watch. Whether she's asking questions to gather information, shutting down someone with a quick zinger, or explaining her next moves, watching Aloy on-screen is amazing. It's hard to dig into why her performance in this game is so impactful, partly because the driving force of said performance is again delving into spoiler territory, but suffice to say that Aloy continues to be a supreme badass throughout Forbidden West. I will say that sometimes her dialogue comes off a bit unnatural at times, especially when going through missions. She would at times say out loud the next objective of the mission, talking to herself as she proceeded through the quest. Most of the time it sounded normal, like anyone would while thinking out loud. Other times it sounded like the line was there specifically to remind the player of what had to be done next. They didn't sound like something Aloy would say, even though the words were coming out of her mouth, and it briefly messed with the immersion. Getting re-immersed in Forbidden West wasn't difficult though, because this game is absolutely gorgeous. Every area of the game brims with color and beauty, from the tops of mountains to the sandy deserts. The views are unreal, really showcasing what the PlayStation 5 is capable of. The character models are just as impressive, speaking and moving with incredible detail. The facial expressions in particular were a focus point for me, with some of the most lifelike faces I've ever seen. It wasn't all perfect--a few times Aloy would seem like she was looking around or through the person she was talking to rather than at them--but for the most part these looked incredible. Small details like blinks, mouth movement, and head tilts really sell these effects, which in my eyes are a marked improvement from Zero Dawn. Some of the most fluid animations in the game, however, occur during combat. Combat feels the most like Zero Dawn, with Aloy switching between melee and ranged combat on the fly. The DualSense’s speaker and haptics make it even better, with incredible sounds and real-time feedback on the triggers that sound and feel really cool. Signature weapons from the last game returns, from the Tripcaster's wire traps to the Ropecaster and its ability to tie down enemies, but new weapons also appear to add some variety to the battle mechanics. My personal favorite is the Boltblaster, a chargeable weapon that shoots multiple elemental bolts at a time for massive damage. It's Horizon's take on a machine gun, and it's awesome to pull out on a big bad machine. I personally prefer ranged combat to up-close melee fighting, but don't think that using the spear is a bad thing. Aloy is quite capable with the spear, especially as you learn combos and increase her prowess. There's even a neat little mechanic that rewards me for mixing things up, charging energy with my spear then using it to mark an extra weak spot on my opponent. I really have no complaints about the combat in Forbidden West, as it's just as fun as the previous game whether I'm fighting a man or a machine. Speaking of the machines, there are a lot of new mechanical menaces to take on in Forbidden West. The one you've seen in trailers already is the Tremortusk, a massive elephant that's a real pain in the backside to take on. I wouldn't put it on the level of the Thunderjaw in terms of difficulty, but it's certainly close…thanks in no small part to the human enemies that fight alongside it. Another cool one is the Clawstrider, which bears a striking resemblance to the Dilophosaurus, aka that dinosaur that spit in Nedry's face in the first Jurassic Park. Actually, dinosaurs make up a decent amount of the new machines in Forbidden West, and that makes a lot of sense in the context of this universe (but no spoilers from me, I'm not a jerk). Horizon: Forbidden West is everything I wanted from a follow-up to the excellent Zero Dawn, from the twisting story and fierce combat to the cast of memorable characters. Playing this for the first time felt like getting back on a bicycle, and before long I was traveling the wilds with Aloy just as we did before. There are a few technical missteps, and some of Aloy's dialogue sounds forced, but the majority of the game is simply amazing. I couldn't wait to get back into the world of Horizon after Zero Dawn, and now I can't wait to return again after playing Forbidden West. requirements: CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo or better. CPU SPEED: Info. RAM: 2 GB. OS: WindowsR 7/8/8.1/10 (32bit/64bit) VIDEO CARD: DirectX 9/OpenGL 4.1 capable GPU. PIXEL SHADER: 3.0. VERTEX SHADER: 3.0. FREE DISK SPACE: 1 GB.