Platform News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

Everyone loves a good Mario level. After all, since Nintendo first launched a Mario Bros. game in 1983, fans have worked tirelessly to complete them in all sorts of ways.

With past console generations falling to the wayside as the industry progresses, there's sad news for longtime Xbox supporters coming on July 29, albeit with a silver lining. With the current console generation heading into its fourth year (or, in the case of the Switch, its seventh), support for past consoles, devices, and services is beginning to dwindle as companies shift their focus towards newer releases. Unfortunately, this means that some functions of older consoles are inevitably facing discontinued service, rendering players no longer able to use online services on those consoles.

Unlike most games, you don't start with a map to help you navigate around in. Thankfully, you can find it in the very early stages of a playthrough as you start working your way around. is a unique Metroidvania,offering players plenty of puzzles to complete and many secrets to uncover.

The Intel Core i9-11900K, a three-year-old CPU, running on DDR4 memory has set a new world record, dethroning the 14900KS with DDR5.

For many fans of looter-shooters, it’s hard to find a series quite as compelling as The Division. With two successful games in the franchise already under its belt, Ubisoft is clearly aware that it’s a meaningful part of its ever-expanding catalog, so it’s unsurprising that it’s hard at work on a third entry. With the advent of newer hardware and a heap of lessons learned from the first two games, The Division 3 is all but certain to land with a bang and further cement the franchise as one of Ubisoft’s most beloved.

While exploring the Adamantine Forge in 's Grymforge region, you may come across the Sentient Amulet. This amulet, which provides useful enhancements if equipped, might not initially seem conspicuous, but a rather sinister secret behind it causes you lots of trouble. However, the Sentient Amulet also involves the player in a secret quest that leads to helping the spirit of a cursed monk.

With Persona 3 Reload officially in the rearview mirror, our next major slice of Persona-branded high school student simulation and turn-based dungeon battles will come via a presumed Persona 6. But when exactly will we see this next Persona game? And what will it be?

Games have steadily become larger and larger as the generations go on. Thanks to the most advanced console and PC technology, developers are able to craft massive worlds and stories that would have been impossible in the past. While many of us enjoy sinking our teeth into a meaty 100-hour-long game from time to time, eventually fatigue will set in. That’s where games on the other end of the spectrum come in. These games aren’t afraid to tell a tight, compact story, or to explore a single gameplay concept, and then call it a day without stretching things out. They are no less impactful or memorable than their massive counterparts, and may even be superior in some player’s eyes. Here are a few of the best games you can beat in a single day to cleanse your palate with some more experimental titles.

Finally, all those little dumpy Crewmates from Among Us can start shaking their asses on Twitch again. CEO Dan Clancy announced changes to the platform’s Community Guidelines on Wednesday, allowing cute animated emotes where characters shake their butts and twerk will be allowed on the platform.

A former OpenAI leader who resigned from the company earlier this week said Friday that safety has “taken a backseat to shiny products” at the influential artificial intelligence company.

Ubisoft's is set to be a major entry in the first-person arena shooter genre, leveraging the publisher's recognizable properties into a fast-paced, competitive crossover. Originally revealed as, the famed branding was later dropped following backlash, with the game hosting factions from and in addition to those pulled from,, and. The free-to-play FPS releases May 21, 2024, at different times in major regions, though every platform seems to be getting the game concurrently.

It’s time to do a bit of casual Friday colonizing (virtually). Amplitude Studios, the Parisian game studio known for strategy games, is giving away its acclaimed game Endless Legend for free on Steam. Starting on Thursday and running until May 23, interested players can download the entire game for free on Steam.

The EU on Friday told Microsoft to hand over internal documents or face fines as it examines generative AI risks on the company's search engine Bing ahead of elections.

Microsoft has reportedly decided that, yes, Call of Duty 2024 will launch day and date into Xbox Game Pass.

Recent reports suggested that Microsoft executives had been debating for some time whether to put new Call of Duty games onto Game Pass on day one (i.e. on their release day). That seems like something it should have figured out before spending $68.7 billion on CoD publisher Activision Blizzard, but it seems that Microsoft has finally reached a decision. According to the Wall Street Journal, the company will indeed bring the next Call of Duty title directly to Game Pass when it arrives later this year.

Microsoft has reportedly decided that 2024's Call of Duty (which is widely believed to be a new Black Ops game) will launch on Xbox Game Pass.

The dynamic world of online gaming has seen significant transformation with the introduction of rust gambling platforms like Rustly which blend traditional gaming elements with gambling dynamics, offering an exciting challenge that mixes skill with the element of chance.

AMD's Strix Halo, the higher-end Ryzen APU, which will power enthusiast laptops with up to 16 Zen 5 cores & 40 RDNA 3+ GPU cores has been revealed in a render diagram published by @Olrak_29.

Twitter, now officially rebranded as X, underwent a significant shift today, changing its web address from Twitter.com to X.com. This move finalises a transformation process that began almost a year ago. Back in July 2023, Elon Musk, the owner of the social network, decided to rename it as X, a symbolic letter with strong ties to the tech mogul's history since 1999. Musk acquired Twitter in a monumental $44-billion deal in October 2022.

Intel's next-generation Lunar Lake "Core Ultra 200V" CPUs are coming to gaming handhelds as a new device is revealed by a Chinese maker.

OPPO is gearing up to unveil its latest offering, the Oppo Reno 12 series, in China on May 23rd. Among the anticipated lineup are the Oppo Reno 12 and Oppo Reno 12 Pro, teased by the company across its social media platforms. As anticipation builds, leaked renders of the phones have emerged online, courtesy of tipster Evan Blass, showcasing their complete designs and available colour options.

PlayStation has revealed that it has managed to shift just over 59 million PS5s over the course of the system's first four years, but the platform's active user base of 118 million people implies that there are quite a lot of people still playing on PS4.

Snowflake Inc. is in talks to acquire startup Reka AI for more than $1 billion, expanding the software maker's effort to offer generative AI capabilities, according to people familiar with the matter.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows (previously Codename Red) has now been officially revealed. After a new cinematic trailer, the next entry into the long-running action series is quickly becoming one of the most anticipated upcoming games. Taking place in one of the most-demanded settings by fans, if you’re a fan of the Assassin’s Creed franchise, this is a game worth keeping an eye on. 

The board game adaptation of goliath manga and anime series Demon Slayer is coming to PS5 and PS4, after debuting meekly on Nintendo Switch last month. The title couldn’t top 20,000 sales in Japan during Golden Week, and so Sony subsidiary Aniplex will be hoping the CyberConnect2 title sells a little better on PlayStation platforms.

Businesses nowadays consider engagement and interest in their product line to essentially be just as important as hard sales numbers, and Sony is no different. During yesterday's conference call with investors to mark the end of Fiscal Year 2023, the general manager of finance at Sony, Sadahiko Hayakawa, explained how the PlayStation business adjusted its focus during the PS4 era as a result of network services like PSN and games designed to be played in perpetuity.

The official Alan Wake 2 soundtrack, composed by Petri Alanko, will be made available across a variety of platforms for streaming and purchase from tomorrow. 35 music tracks designed to capture «the emotion, tension, and mystery of the game’s story» will be streamable on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and more while it can be purchased on iTunes and Amazon.

Fallout 4 was the UK's best-selling game last month, as the popularity of the TV adaptation from Amazon Prime keeps on fuelling sales. Combined with deep discounts across the entire series, Christopher Dring of GamesIndustry.biz said the Bethesda RPG earned top spot «comfortably», with the second-placed EA Sports FC 24 presumably not even close to matching its sales.

As the ol’ Spice Girls song goes: two become one. PlayStation has decided to replace Jim Ryan with two executives: Hermen Hulst, the former Guerrilla managing director and current PS Studios chief, will lead a newly named Studio Business Group unit, which will oversee all of the Japanese giant’s first-party studios, as well as its other projects, like PS Productions’ movies and TV shows. He’ll be flanked by Hideaki Nishino, who will lead the organisation’s Platform Business Group, responsible for hardware, accessories, PSN, and third-party relations.

Stumble Guys, a free-to-play, Fall Guys-like knockout platformer, is now available to download and play on both PS5 and PS4. Check out the trailer above to get an idea of what to expect.

Square Enix has confirmed in a new medium-term business plan that it intends to «aggressively» pursue a multiplatform strategy across PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, and PC platforms. Instead of allowing select AAA games from its biggest series to be locked onto one system, the company will look to «build an environment where more customers can enjoy our titles».

A new report suggests that Microsoft's big boss, Satya Nadella, wants to bring more Xbox games to PlayStation as soon as possible. With the instant success Sea of Thieves found on Sony's platform, considered a «key test,» it seems like the writing is on the wall at this point; Microsoft leadership reportedly wants there to be no «red line,» nothing at all stopping the company's most valuable IP, like Halo and Gears of Wars, from coming to competing platforms.

Sony Music Group, one of the world's biggest record labels, warned artificial intelligence companies and music streaming platforms not to use the company's content without explicit permission.

Minecraft is turning 15 years old. Somehow, it feels like it’s been around for much, much longer, which speaks to the ubiquity of the game. Despite its age, Minecraft is still wildly popular due its its sandbox-style gameplay — you can do or make almost anything. You can already play it on your computer, console, or mobile phone, but Microsoft’s added one more platform: Google search.

The Nintendo Switch is now the most successful platform in history in terms of Pokemon games sold, overtaking the Game Boy and Game Boy Advance.

Devolver has been going strong for 15 years now and has established a reputation for publishing high-quality indie games from around the world across a wide range of genres. From the early days of Serious Sam and Hotline Miami, to more recent hits like Cult of the Lamb and Inscryption, the publisher has a track record of allowing small, creative teams to flourish.

It’s hard to overstate the massive appeal of Roblox. Millions of players from around the world are hooked on this creation tool that lets players experience thousands of games made by others, or start making games for themselves to share with the world. It has evolved beyond being just a game and into a platform rivaling Fortnite. There are plenty of games out there that say they’re free only to push players to spend real money on in-game items or currencies. If you want to know if there’s a cost of entry to Roblox, or if you will need to spend any money once you’re playing, we can break it all down for you.

IGN can exclusively report that Horror, Inc. is expanding the Friday the 13th franchise into a new era with the launch of Jason Universe.

The RetroArch video game emulation frontend was released on the iOS App Store yesterday, alongside popular PSP emulator PPSSPP (itself a core available in RetroArch).

Rumour has it that the Vision Pro is finally getting ready to get shipped outside of the US. Three months after its American launch, Bloomberg reported that Apple's VR headset could be shipping in several territories worldwide as early as next month, off the back of the firm's Worldwide Developers Conference.

By Foo Yun Chee

Minecraft is one of the most successful games of all time, but over a decade after launching, it still isn't available on the biggest PC gaming platform. In the years since, spin-offs like Dungeons and Legends have been released on Valve's storefront, but the original is still nowhere to be seen. That might finally be changing.

A brand new benchmark of the upcoming AMD Ryzen "Strix Point" APU with 12 Zen 5 cores has leaked out & is on par with the 7700X.

Warframe ’s next Prime premiere, Protea Prime Access , has officially launched and is available on all platforms.  Players can now gear up with new weapons, skins, and assets for their next Warframe campaign. The game officially launched on mobile Android and iOS platforms late last year . 

The Kirin 9000S enabled Huawei to regain its lost market in China, staging a comeback that is making rivals like Apple nervous and probably frustrating the Biden administration as their continued efforts to stifle the competition overseas have been fruitless. However, as Huawei shifts towards mass production of advanced chipsets for smartphones and PCs, it will have to take away production resources from all Kirin 9000 variants, as mentioned by one tipster.

Ubisoft’s biggest upcoming game is arguably Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which is set to release on November 15 across all the usual platforms, including PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. That also seems to include some unusual ones, too, including Mac.

It's been explained by Sony general manager Sadahiko Hayakawa that PlayStation has become much more concerned about "platform playtime" over the past couple of console generations, rather than software sales.

A new game in the series might be on the horizon, but there's one potential aspect of its release that could end up being a problem for some fans. Few game franchises have a legacy comparable to, which rocked the market as a violent leap ahead in FPS design when the first game was released in 1993. The games have managed to evolve and grow without ever losing the tight design and fast-paced action that made them stand out, and the rebooted version of the franchise that kicked off with the 2016 version of has proven especially effective.

Netflix Inc. said monthly active users of its advertising-supported subscription plan reached 40 million, and that it will launch an in-house ad technology platform to support this growing part of its business.

Sony has confirmed that PlayStation Plus subscribers will be getting one of the greatest games of all time this month. Those who have upgraded their PS Plus membership to the Extra or Premium level are able to unlock a massive library of downloadable games from across many PlayStation generations, with a variety of genres to enjoy.

In, cheat codes allow players to dramatically alter their world's weather and climate, instantly triggering blizzards, heatwaves, and lightning. Cheats are integral to The Sims franchise and essential for the complete Sims 4 experience.

More of Intel's next-gen Arrow Lake-S "Desktop" & Arrow Lake-HX "Laptop" CPUs have been exposed in recent shipping manifestos.

Sony Interactive Entertainment has appointed Hermen Hulst and Hideaki Nishino as its new CEOs.

Tango Gameworks will update Hi-Fi Rush one last time before Microsoft shuts the door on the studio. Microsoft announced earlier in May that it was closing three studios, including Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks. Shortly after the news of the closures, Tango Gameworks confirmed the game will “remain available and playable everywhere” it's already accessible.

There are tons of ways to earn all the different forms of currency and items in Genshin Impact, but you can only get so much in a day before you run out. While the game isn’t going to grind to a halt if you don’t have enough items like Primogems, you will be significantly slowed down in terms of progress. While you could turn to spending real money to get over these humps, there are alternative ways to get a huge influx of items completely free, with no grinding required. Each month, there is a new set of Genshin Impact codes you can take advantage of to add tons of Primogems, experience, Mora, and more to your inventory. Here are all the current ones you can claim and how to access them.

A new report claims that more major Xbox exclusives, such as or could be coming to PlayStation. Recently, Microsoft has experimented with bringing some of its exclusive titles to other consoles, with being so popular on PlayStation that it was one of the most pre-ordered titles on its store, and crashed its servers at launch due to such high demand.

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa said on Wednesday he has sued US tech giant Meta and its Japan unit over the use of his name and image in fraudulent investment ads on their platforms.

Sony expects PS5 sales to gradually decline as the console has entered the second half of its console cycle.

NVIDIA's Blackwell GPUs are going to be the fastest AI chips the world has ever seen when they become available and also the most expensive yet.

The launch date for the Realme GT 6T is nearing and with each passing day, the company is teasing the smartphone's specifications, design, and more. A few days earlier, Realme announced the launch date for the upcoming GT 6T which is scheduled for May 22 in India. The company also revealed the processor details, and now it is teasing its battery capacity with fast charging speed. If you have been waiting for the Realme GT 6T, then check out the glimpse of what is expected to be announced.

The go-to voice and text-chat platform for gamers the world over, it was rather surprising how long it took Sony to add Discord integration for the PS5. As it stands, there still isn’t a native Discord app you can use on the console. That being said, you can still use the Discord app on your phone or tablet to access voice chat on the PS5. We’ve put together this guide to teach you how it’s done.

The new SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5 headset is the latest addition to the brand’s Nova line of gaming headsets — but this launch comes with a twist.

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has announced that Hermen Hulst and Hideaki Nishino will succeed Jim Ryan as joint PlayStation CEOs.

Square Enix has announced a brand-new business plan that will see the Japanese publisher shift to a multiplatform strategy.

Intel has ended the deployment of its Ponte Vecchio GPU, marking the end of the road for a chip that is considered to be a technical marvel.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons‘ laid-back gameplay has taken the world by storm and shows no sign of slowing down. There’s never been a better time to stay inside and enjoy the leisurely island lifestyle — and people are loving what the title has to offer. But once you’ve burned through your first 40 hours, New Horizons is best played in short bursts. Most people will log in for a few minutes each day, see what’s happening on the island, finish their daily tasks, and quickly log out. While mods can add more variety, sometimes you need a fresh take to really scratch that itch. None of the following suggestions are identical to New Horizons, but they all offer a unique combination of crafting, exploring, and chatting with your NPC neighbors that New Horizons fans are bound to enjoy.

Meta Platforms Inc. is shutting down Workplace, the enterprise version of Facebook that it once hoped might rival Slack and other office productivity tools. 

If you have a Netflix subscription, but have yet to try any of the games included with it, you’re missing out. The streaming service has quietly put together a strong library of titles over the past few years, from certified classics like Hades to strong original games like Laya’s Horizon. Next week, Netflix subscribers can get another charming indie with their subscription: Paper Trail.

Shin Megami Tensei 5 will be removed from the Nintendo eShop on June 13, 2024 ahead of the release of expanded edition Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance.

In its latest financial report, Sony has revealed that Helldivers 2 — the scrappy co-op shooter turned online gaming sensation from Sweden’s Arrowhead Game Studios — is the fastest-selling game PlayStation has ever released.

Today, alongside its financial report, Sony announced a new leadership structure for its PlayStation division (Sony Interactive Entertainment). Following the departure of Jim Ryan, they had been looking for a new Chief Executive Officer; as it turns out, they found two.

Sony Group is set to reveal its "long-term vision" – including Sony Interactive Entertainment's role in that – later this month, as two PlayStation veterans are brought on board as new SIE CEOs to replace Jim Ryan. 

Braid, the popular puzzle platformer, has finally made the much-awaited comeback with its Anniversary Edition. Originally slated for April 30th, Braid Anniversary Edition has launched on Android, iOS, PC and consoles today. It’s developed by Thekla and published by Netflix, and if you’re a Netflix subscriber, you can dive into it for free!

One of the new ’s stand-out features should undoubtedly be replicated by other Metroidvanias. Playing through the strange, puzzle-filled world of can often be tense, but the intriguing triple-layer structure of the game is perfectly designed to draw people ever deeper into its world. has arguably quickly become one of the best Metroidvanias currently available to play, and its unique take on the genre will hopefully inspire future titles in turn.

Prison Architect 2 developer Double Eleven and publisher Paradox Interactive are parting ways after failing to come to a new commercial agreement for a continued partnership. Prison Architect 2 is still set to release later this year in September, with new developer Kokku taking over.

The PlayStation 5 now stands at 59 million consoles sold, with 20.8 million in the last year, as Sony has announced that former PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan’s job will be divided between two new roles.

The sensational success of Helldivers 2 has led to 12 million copies sold in 12 weeks, making it the new fastest-selling game launched by PlayStation, and surpassing God of War Ragnarok’s 11 million sales over the same period.

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SEI) has announced a new leadership structure that puts two people in charge of different parts of its business. Hideaki Nishino, who is currently serving as the SVP for the Platform Experience Group, will become the CEO of SIE's Platform Business Group starting on June 1. On the same day, Hermen Hulst will take on the role of CEO for SIE's Studio Business Group after serving as SVP and Head of PlayStation Studios.

During the OpenAI Spring Update, Mira Murati announced the new GPT-4o model with some exceptional capabilities. Just like OpenAI's Sora tool created a buzz around the internet, the GPT-4o is also trending on the microblogging platform X (Formerly known as Twitter). Tech experts and app users have been raving about how the new AI model capabilities could impact our daily lives and several sectors such as education. OpenAI has also shared a thread of videos showcasing the capabilities of the GPT-4o in ChatGPT which is gaining much recognition. Check how the internet is reacting to the OpenAI GPT-4o model.

NVIDIA has shared more performance statistics of its next-gen Blackwell GPU architecture which has taken the industry by storm. The company shared several metrics including its science, AI, & simulation results versus the outgoing Hopper chips and competing x86 CPUs when using Grace-powered Superchip modules.