Testing News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

Space Gladiators releases on Android later this May! The game kicks you into the center of Tartarus, a far-off extraterrestrial world, which you will need to escape. Here, you fight for supremacy in arenas that test your abilities.

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Google Photos, the popular photo management app, is currently experimenting with a redesign of its Library tab on Android, rebranding it as "Collections." While this move aims to enhance user experience, the initial feedback from users has been less than enthusiastic.

A reliable Marvel Rivals insider has shared evidence from the closed beta test's files that hints at 20 unannounced characters coming to the game, including all of the Fantastic Four members, Squirrel Girl, and Venom.

SEGA has just announced the CBT for their upcoming part game, Sonic Rumble! If you’re a resident of the US, then you can dive into the action-packed fun by registering for the upcoming Sonic Rumble closed beta test.

Blizzard has made one thing clear during their recent Developer Update Livestream — they're pulling out all the stops for Diablo 4, Season 4: Loot Reborn. Alongside a crisp, shiny new Itemization Update, players will be receiving a bunch of fresh, new toys to pay with in the form of brand new Unique Items.

Players who experienced Diablo 4's first PTR were able to test the new endgame crafting system, Masterworking, which is set to arrive with the release of Season 4 on May 14th. In line with Blizzard's desire for feedback from having a PTR, players had tons of thoughts on this new permanent system, citing primarily the frustration involved with:

AMD's Zen 5 CPUs are rumored to feature an IPC increase of around 10% with the latest core architecture.

ASUS has started rolling out the latest AMD AGESA 1.1.8.0 BIOS firmware for its high-end X670E series of motherboards.

Samsung 990 Pro 2TB The best PS5 SSD overall Jump to details <div data-cloudcity="" data-type=«compact-placement» data-pid=«nAvNRZgpJh» data-limit=«1» data-placement=«BOP16» data-cta_pattern="$%price %merchant"> WD Black SN850P 2TB The best 2TB SSD for PS5 Jump to details <div data-cloudcity="" data-type=«compact-placement» data-pid=«J7IQHTKIkb» data-limit=«1» data-placement=«BOP17» data-cta_pattern="$%price %merchant"> Seagate FireCuda 530 4TB The best 4TB SSD for PS5 Jump to details <div data-cloudcity="" data-type=«compact-placement» data-pid=«RECG1qtM1O» data-limit=«1» data-placement=«BOP18» data-cta_pattern="$%price %merchant"> Corsair MP600 PRO LPX 8TB The best 8TB SSD for PS5 Jump to details <div data-cloudcity="" data-type=«compact-placement» data-pid=«lSBroJtLQu» data-limit=«1» data-placement=«BOP19» data-cta_pattern="$%price %merchant"> Nextorage Japan 1TB The best budget SSD for PS5 Jump to details <div data-cloudcity="" data-type=«compact-placement» data-pid=«yl4nIbDyEs» data-limit=«1» data-placement=«BOP20» data-cta_pattern="$%price %merchant">

Sega has been playing a little fast and loose with Sonic the Hedgehog lately, using the blue blur for experimental projects like The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog. At the same time, the movies based on the franchise have been surprisingly good. Here’s another treat for the Sonic enjoyers out there: Sega just announced Sonic Rumble, a 32-player PvP mobile game created with Finnish studio Rovio.

A brutal year of gaming industry layoffs has led to the unceremonious closure of studios that many believed to be the definition of successful. There’s a lot of ink worth spilling on each studio, but one closure that stood out to me was Arkane Austin, which Microsoft said on Tuesday would close its doors. (The French side of the business, Arkane Lyon, will continue on.)

We all know how the Android 15 beta has been out and about for some time now, and a lot of people are enjoying it on their Pixel devices. In order to make sure that the Galaxy S24 users are not left behind, Samsung has also started the development of One UI 7.0 beta, which will be based on the latest version of Android. Do keep in mind that the beta program is still a couple of months away from going official but it is good to know that the development has started.

Nintendo has announced Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition, a new game coming out this July that tests players’ speedrunning skills in NES classics like Super Mario Bros. and Metroid.

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In the Fallout TV series, it's revealed that Vault-Tec is willing, and even planning, to drop the bombs themselves as they have invested everything in the apocalypse. It has to happen or they will collapse, so they invite some of the biggest corporations in America to a shadowy meeting where they discuss how to bring about the apocalypse from which they will all rise as unstoppable monopolies.

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One detail in Sanctuary Hills may point to a dark theory surrounding Vault-Tec while taking inspiration from a real-life location. Sanctuary Hills is the location players are first introduced to in a sequence set in the year that the bombs fell in 2077, being the home of the Sole Survivor and their families.

It’s always an exciting week when the sequel to one of the greatest games of all time surprise releases on a Monday. That’s what happened on May 6 when Hades 2 surprise launched into early access. Players are already diving into the surprisingly robust roguelike, testing their might in its new biomes. I’ve been enjoying it myself from the comfort of my couch — and not on my Nintendo Switch, where I played the first Hades. Instead, I’m curled up with my Steam Deck.

Intel's CPUs such as the flagship Core i9-14900KS are in for a huge clock speed degradation if the only solution is to stick with the default BIOS option.

Gotta go fast? Speed fiends might be interested to discover that there's a new bag in The War Within Alpha that increases movement speed in outdoor areas of Khaz Algar! While increasing outdoor movement speed in a specific area of the expansion isn't a particularly important bonus, Arathor Courier's Satchel stands out as the first of its kind — no other bag in WoW has had this kind of statistical effect, and it could be a test case for more varied bag bonuses going forward. Although it is unlikely that we'll see universal combat enhancements like increased strength, critical strike chance, or damage procs, there are a number of other minor supplementary effects or effects that only work in specific areas of the game, like an excavators satchel increasing capabilities in Delves.

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Hades 2 — the highly anticipated sequel to a roguelike that Digital Trends considers to be one of the best games of all time — is out now.

Hades II is now available in Early Access for PC players. After performing a technical test from April 16 to 29, Supergiant Games said Early Access for the “bewitching sequel” would follow “relatively soon after.” The developer lived up to its word, as a week after wrapping the preliminary test, PC players can now buy and play the highly anticipated roguelike title for $30.

Anticipated roguelike sequel Hades II was announced back in 2022, and we knew an early access launch was coming sometime in mid-2024, but a specific release date hadn’t been provided by developer Supergiant Games. Well, surprise! Following some technical tests, Hades II officially launches into early access… today! You can check out a new trailer for the early access version of the game, below.

Hades 2 has removed one of the first game's most powerful Gods, although there's a good story explanation for why she's not offering her infamously Boons in the sequel.

Supergiant Games has confirmed that Hades 2 will be in Early Access until "at least" the end of 2024, although there are some big content updates planned before its full release.

It’s time to slash through baddies and wield the power of some very sexy gods. Developer Supergiant Games released Hades 2 in early access on Monday. The game might be a pre-release version, but it’s certainly not a completely unpolished work-in-progress. A select number of players tried the game as part of a technical test in April, and its characters have already piqued the interest of fans. Now, Windows PC users can download the early version of the game on Steam and the Epic Games Store.

Huawei will reportedly unveil its first 5nm chipset for the Mate 70 flagship series in October later this year, but previous rumors did not divulge the official name of the silicon. Fortunately, just a short time passed, and new information came through, claiming that the SoC would be called Kirin 9100, and it obtained a score of 1.1 million in AnTuTu as part of its initial performance run.

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YouTube Premium members can now test out a new AI-powered feature called ‘Jump ahead'. Rolled out as a part of a wider experiment, this feature aims to enhance user experience by allowing subscribers to skip ahead to the most relevant part of a video with just a double-tap.

A user has acquired an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D CPU which allegedly features 3D V-Cache stacks on both Zen 4 core dies.

Taliesin and Evitel cover the latest news in The Weekly Reset. This week they cover what we'll be seeing in Patch 10.2.7: Dark Heart, as well as an in-depth look at the Hallowfall zone in the War Within Alpha.

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The Hallowfall questline is available for testing on the alpha this week. At this stage, cutscenes are described rather than shown — and the description of a scene at the end of the zone's storyline is particularly interesting… and concerning.

AMD's Instinct MI300A APUs deliver a substantial performance improvement in HPC workloads versus traditional discrete GPUs.

The second closed beta test for Kingdom Hearts: Missing Link has revealed a brand new character called Nept, and fans already have a few theories about who he could be.

Legends of Aria Classic is preparing for its May 9th launch, but before then, everyone has a chance to see what the revamped ‘back to 2019’ MMORPG is like by participating in the open beta starting today.

Hades, the supremely successful Roguelike from the team at Supergiant Games, is discounted to its lowest price ever on Steam through May 13. Available for $24.99 at launch, you can currently pick up a copy for just $8.49, which coincidentally, is just about 66.6% off. Following a brief technical test, the Early Access launch for Hades 2 is likely right around the corner, which makes this an ideal opportunity to get acquainted with the underworld.

The first Cataclysm Classic Raid Beta Test begins today at 1pm PDT! These tests include Pit Lord Argaloth in Baradin Hold, The Bastion of Twilight, Throne of the Four Winds, and Blackwing Descent.

Video game emulator Delta’s decade-long struggle against the iOS app store began with a school-issued TI-84 calculator.

No Rest for the Wicked, the new action-rpg/roguelike from Ori developer Moon Studios is out now in early access and eliciting a mix of responses. Most have been struck by the game’s obvious potential, but some have also complained the game is a bit overly demanding when it comes to PC performance, particularly considering it’s an isometric Diablo-like (albeit a very nice-looking one).

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Ubisoft’s crossover Call-of-Duty-esque multiplayer shooter XDefiant has been in various forms of testing for over a year and delayed multiple times, but it seems the game is finally launching for real this month. XDefiant will be a free-to-play live-service game with regular updates, but it will launch with a variety of “preseason” content, including five factions, 14 maps, and multiple modes. Here’s a rundown of the launch content.

Blizzard has finally delivered patch notes for Diablo 4 version 1.4.0 ahead of Season 4: Loot Reborn’s launch later this month.

Blizzard has posted a substantial breakdown of the Demonology Warlock changes in today's War Within Alpha build going over Demonic Cores, Resources, and Cooldowns!

Last week, Blizzard tested a new Global PvP Damage Reduction Aura in Season of Discovery. Beginning tomorrow, May 3rd, Blizzard will implement another PvP Damage Reduction test, which will end after next week's scheduled maintenance.

Ubisoft’s XDefiant, a first-person shooter meant to take on the likes of Call of Duty, will finally get a wide release and enter its Preseason on May 21.

Do you know how long it takes to beat your favorite video games? You can now put your skills to the test withHow Long To Beat: The Game, a free browser game that’s worth checking out.

Editor's Note: Our first NordVPN review was published back in 2017, but after significant updates we've revisted the review.

The second closed beta test for Kingdom Hearts: Missing Link is finally live and it brings with it several new cutscenes that give us our best idea yet of what the game is actually about.

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Today marks a momentous occasion for Sea of Thieves: it expands to all-new platforms with a PS5 release, Season 12 content expands the game for all players (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC), and developer Rare makes its debut on a PlayStation console. Early access players have been testing the PS5 version for the past five days now, but in just a short amount of time, the standard edition releases and opens the floodgates for all.

The Helldivers 2 community isn't entirely impressed with developer Arrowhead's latest patch, 01.000.300, which, according to some, significantly nerfed players' fun. In the patch notes, a fix for the seemingly busted way shrapnel ricochets was alleged, but the community has since proved the problem still exists, although it's actually the Eruptor that's to blame.

A tester at Chiphell has gone his way to find the stability rate of Intel's Core i9-14900K & 13900K CPUs as the chip manufacturer has yet to identify the root cause of the stability issues affecting these chips.

Valiant warriors of justice… a deep freeze is coming to the galaxy. Super Earth leaders are deploying the next Helldivers 2 Premium Warbond on May 9 to all fearless frontline forces, codename Polar Patriots.*

Diablo 4 season 4's upcoming loot overhaul probably won't be the action-RPG's final major system rework.

Apart from gaming and AI, Hive Systems shows that complex passwords are no match for top GPUs such as the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090.

The internal testing branch for Diablo 4's expansion Vessel of Hatred seems to have moved out of the Alpha stage, indicating it is now in Beta. Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred Overview Vessel of Hatred's testing branch on Blizzard's CDN (content distribution network), used for internal testing, has been recently updated from 2.0.0alpha.49443 to 2.0.103.52888, which indicates that the expansion has moved out of Alpha into Beta. We do not have any further information and will need to wait to learn more about future developments.

Love crossword puzzles but don’t have all day to sit and solve a full-sized puzzle in your daily newspaper? That’s what The Mini is for!

Speaker Brinthe is a new character in the War Within, and she has a unique model with an interesting mechanical backpack! You may remember Brinthe from our recent post on Earthen lore, where she explains the problems with memory archives to Dagran. She also plays a role in the new zone open for testing, The Ringing Depths. Speaker Brinthe has an elaborate tinker robe and animated spinning bracers, but the highlight of her outfit is her mechanical backpack! We haven't seen anything quite like this before on an NPC.

Qualcomm is expected to officially unveil the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 in October this year, so it is no surprise that the flagship’s engineering sample is being thoroughly tested and benchmarked to iron out the problems before commercial units are sent to the company’s phone partners. However, early results show that the chipset’s performance is beyond disappointing, with the performance cores said to be running at a significantly lower resolution than what previous reports suggested.

Do you feel shy while speaking or replying in English because you're worried about how the sentences will come out? Worry no more because learning spoken English will now become easier with Google's new AI bot for Search. Yes, Google is reportedly testing a feature called “Speaking practice” in Search where users can speak to an AI-powered bot and improve their English speaking skills. This will allow users to boost their confidence as well as conversational skills. Know more about the Google speaking practice feature.

Twitch is officially rolling out its new TikTok-like discovery feed to all users this week, the company announced on Tuesday. The new feed, which is launching as a tab within the Twitch iOS and Android apps, allows viewers to scroll through bite-sized bits of content to discover new streamers. The official launch follows Twitch’s earlier tests of the feed that started in August 2023.

Blizzard has announced the next season for Diablo IV called "Loot Reborn," but instead of introducing new mechanics and focusing on a seasonal story, season 4 will be all about reconfiguring itemization, buildcrafting, and addressing a myriad of tweaks and improvements requested by players.

The latest update for Tower Of Fantasy April update has arrived! After a brief maintenance period, servers are back online, and you can access a wealth of new content.

On April 28, Darkrise released a new update! And we all know it’s been a while. Let’s have a little looksie into what the new content looks like.

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Helldivers 2 players are getting bodied by their own shots ricocheting back at them, but there's more going on here than meets the eye.

Popular MOBA game SMITE is getting a sequel, and you’ll soon be able to play it yourself. While the release date for Smite 2 is still a ways off, developer Hi-Rez Studios is letting fans get an early look at the title with a closed alpha test.

Walmart's Discovered experience started out last year as a way for kids to buy virtual items for Roblox inside the game. But today, that partnership is testing out an expanded pilot program that will allow teens to buy real-life goods stocked on digital shelves before they're shipped to your door.

Blizzard has announced three Beta Test Weekends that will occur ahead of Cataclysm Classic's release on May 20th! These tests will include two weekends' worth of Raid testing and one weekend of Tol Barad PvP Battleground testing.

During the big MOBA boom, Smite stood out primarily for its unique perspective. Instead of the traditional isometric view that games like League of Legends and DOTA 2 used, Smite was played from a more traditional third-person point of view. This made it far more approachable than its competitors, and it has enjoyed a loyal fan base for the last decade. Despite constant updates and new additions, fans have been ready for a more substantial upgrade to the game, and we will soon have it when Smite 2 arrives sometime soon. However, alpha tests are already underway and you can join in if you want to be one of the first to jump into the fray.

Eddy Gordo was already pretty infamous among Tekken fans. He's always been the lightning-fast fighter who is incredibly difficult to counter, but Tekken 8 takes things up a couple of notches. So, mere days after being added to the game, he became one of the least popular characters to fight against.

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Escape from Tarkov, arguably the game that popularized the extraction shooter genre, recently got itself embroiled in a huge controversy once again.

Escape From Tarkov developer Battlestate Games has been called "shameless" and "tone deaf" over its response to controversy caused by a $250 expansion, with fans and even its esports associate calling out the studio.

Hades 2 developer Supergiant Games has signaled the end of the game’s technical test and early access launch soon afterwards.

All eyes are on Bloober Team as we inch closer to the developer's PS5 remake of Silent Hill 2, a pressure the studio is well aware of. Expected sometime in 2024, and despite a public spat with publisher Konami in February, Bloober Team remains «very confident about the final result.»