A quarter of a century ago MadOnion released 3DMark2001 alongside Nvidia's GeForce 3, and those early DirectX shaders felt like a revelation. That period led me to work for the company after it rebranded as Futuremark, and to spend years immersed in gaming and graphics. The first graphics

Crimson Desert launches next week on March 19. Despite the rising hype, console gameplay had not been seen until Digital Foundry released a video of the PS5 Pro port. Fans grew nervous after it emerged that reviews would not go live until 24 hours before launch and that reviewers would

Microsoft has pulled its "This is an Xbox" marketing campaign and is quietly removing references to it after unveiling a new console–PC hybrid. The Xbox YouTube channel still hosts a flashy 30-second ad that has 2.4 million views; one comment reads, "From 360 era to

In a YouTube video marking the card's 25th anniversary, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang looked back on the launch of the GeForce 3 and its place in the company's history. He said Nvidia had "introduced really the first successful mainstream graphics accelerator, Riva 128 and subsequently

Before Overwatch there was the cancelled MMO Titan. Jeff Kaplan, who had been working on Titan, led the effort to redirect the team and was given just six weeks to come up with and pitch a new game. He says the period was demoralising; he feared he might be fired

The Pokopia Stamp Rally runs weekly and rewards players for logging in up to five days out of every seven. Each day you log in you receive a random stamp for your card, and at the end of the week stamps are exchanged for Life Coins you can spend at

It is the year 2026. You are in 25 Discord servers: six are for friends and family, one exists so you can create custom emojis, one is simply called "the chungle zone" and you do not remember how you joined it. The rest are all videogames you haven&

JBL has introduced the Live 780NC headphones with a refreshed design, upgraded Bluetooth connectivity, longer battery life and new audio tuning. Their standout addition is built-in access to Auracast broadcasts from the JBL Headphones app, which creates a workaround for iPhone users that otherwise lack Auracast support. Other Auracast-enabled headphones

Tinder used its first product keynote to roll out a wide set of updates aimed at reinvigorating the app, improving safety and leaning harder into AI. The announcements follow Match Group’s $50 million boost for product development as the parent company tries to re-engage users and appeal to younger

Perhaps setting the groundwork for the future launch of Microsoft's Project Helix, Windows users will be getting access to a dedicated Xbox mode this April. This will work on laptops, desktops, and tablets. As announced via the Windows Blog, "Xbox mode delivers a controller-optimized experience to your

Microsoft has published further details on a new GPU decompression algorithm in DirectStorage 1.4, unveiled at GDC 2026 during the DirectX State of the Union. The update aims to speed asset streaming and give developers another tool to tackle load times and texture pop‑in. Benchmarks in Microsoft'

The Blackview MP20 is a palm-sized Windows 11 Pro mini PC that aims to occupy the same niche as the Mac Mini. It weighs 265 grams, measures just under 4 inches square and 1.4 inches thick, and is made of plastic rather than machined aluminum. The front offers two

Matchmaking in Overwatch, the boulder to my Sisyphus. Ex-Overwatch boss Jeff Kaplan calls the systems "some of the most complex design engineering tasks you're ever going to tackle, and they're thankless," and adds, "There's gotta be winners and there's

A Bloomberg report last week said Sony has decided to pull back from releasing its console exclusives on PC, bringing to an end a six-year stint of getting pretty much every game on PC (excluding Nintendo). Observers offered several explanations: PC ports might no longer be profitable, they could weaken

Secure Boot, enabled by default on Windows 10 and 11 PCs built since 2011, blocks untrusted software from running at startup. The Microsoft-issued Secure Boot certificates from 2011 are slated to expire in June 2026. Secure Boot uses a chain of cryptographic certificates — including the Key Exchange Key (KEK), the

Disney+ is launching a vertical video feature called "Verts" this week, offering a mobile-first, swipeable short-form experience similar to TikTok or Instagram Reels. Disney+ teases this will be "just the start of what will be an ongoing evolution," and says it could expand to include content

SSD deals have gone quiet and RAM prices have worsened, with the memory supply shortage unlikely to end before the second half of 2027. Market research firm Counterpoint Research found sharp price jumps after China’s Lunar New Year: 64GB DDR5 DRAM modules for servers rose 150% quarter-over-quarter, 12GB mobile

European game rating agency PEGI will expand its system later this year with new "interactive risk categories" aimed at games that include loot boxes, in‑app purchases or unmoderated in‑game communications. The new rules assign specific age ratings: games with time‑limited or quantity‑limited in‑game

A buyer who purchased a DDR5 memory kit in 2024 had the kit confirmed faulty but was only offered a refund for the original purchase price after the retailer said it had no replacement stock. That refund would leave the buyer needing an extra $400–$550 to match the kit’

The MacBook Neo's arrival highlights that Microsoft once pursued a very similar concept with the Surface RT but failed in execution. Microsoft launched the Surface RT in 2012 as a $599 ultraportable hybrid with a premium build, strong battery life and hardware aimed at everyday tasks. Steven Sinofsky,

Lucid Motors revealed a two-seater robotaxi concept called Lunar, a purpose-built vehicle without pedals or a steering wheel that features a large console screen. The company said Lunar shares a platform with its new midsize EVs to allow a quick production ramp and expects operating costs to be about 40%

The Integrated Aviation Systems Program (IASP) conducts research and integrated, systems-level demonstrations in a flight environment to prove, mature and transition them into future aircraft and systems. The program aims to determine feasibility and accelerate development of less mature technologies. For more mature technologies, it executes highly complex flight demonstrations

After a few years of lapsed subscription, Midnight's launch lured me back into World of Warcraft. Working from home, what I want most at the end of the day is an escape from my desk, keyboard, and mouse, and thanks to Blizzard's gradual controller support, volunteer

Unknown Worlds' latest Subnautica 2 developer vlog focuses on base building, and the team appears to be putting a lot of effort into it. Fans have responded enthusiastically. The base-building system is "brand new," base design lead Kiel McDonald says, and aims to "keep the spirit&

Many people set up a router once and never revisit its settings. Firewalla sells compact firewall hardware designed to give both experienced admins and beginners a simpler way to take control of a network without a steep learning curve. The Orange is a palm-sized, all-in-one smart router/firewall with two