Intel bets on efficiency with the power-sipping Core Ultra 200S series

Watt’s all this then Intel have announced their latest batch of desktop CPUs, the Core Ultra 200S series, and it’s got the component giants singing quite a different tune. Instead of trying to stuff in ever more threads, and ever more PC-incinerating clock speeds, the Core Ultra 200S family – spearheaded by the Core Ultra 9 285K when it launches later this year – will dial back certain specs compared the14th Genrange....

October 10, 2024 · 4 min · 758 words · Joseph English

Kind Words 2 review: as good-hearted as a city built on the internet can get

Worriers Anonymous A paper aeroplane falls at my feet, with a note written inside: “Even through everything that has happened… I never stopped loving you.“Kind Words 2is full of touching and drifting remarks like this, written by other players and tossed into the winds for you to find. If you’re allergic to vulnerability, or find cuteness or the “wholesome” games trend hard to digest, you’ve probably already turned your face away....

October 10, 2024 · 7 min · 1399 words · Tammy Turner

Players are now less "accepting" that games will be fixed, say Paradox, after "underestimating" the reaction to Cities: Skylines 2's performance woes

Hence, delaying Prison Architect 2 to ensure it doesn’t meet the same fate Paradox Interactivedelayedjail management simulatorPrison Architect 2indefinitely this August, commenting at the time that the game had notable performance issues, and that its system-led design was proving tricky to tinker with. This came a couple of months after theCrusader Kingspublisher washed their hands of the sequel’s original developers, Double Eleven. “We’re pretty confident that the gameplay is good,” Lilja said of Prison Architect 2....

October 10, 2024 · 5 min · 1031 words · Jennifer Mejia

Shout out to Red Dead Redemption’s PC requirements for allowing me to finally meet the recommended specs for something

That was my grandpappy’s RTX 2070 It’s always vaguely reassuring to see your own card mentioned by name in the recommended specs for a new release - even if that new release is just a slightly pomaded-up version of 14-year-oldopen worldconsole gameRed Dead Redemption. I could write a laborious metaphor about someone coming looking for me in a saloon using whatever that literary technique that Irvine Welsh does is called where you spell out the accents, but I won’t bother....

October 10, 2024 · 2 min · 282 words · Holly White

Silent Hill 2 almost spoiled the game’s biggest twist for Italians before the day one patch came to the rescue

Che palle! An Italian-language only quirk with Bloober Team’sSilent Hill 2 Remakealmost spoiled the entire plot for fans playing in that language, but was fortunately caught in time for the day one patch to make changes. As spotted byPC Gamer, some garbled lines the player hears upon first picking up the game’s radio weren’t quite garbled enough in the Italian subtitles, accidentally dropping a massive plot spoiler in the first half hour....

October 10, 2024 · 2 min · 230 words · Michael Patterson

Star Wars: Jedi Power Battles gets PC port, proving that the farce remains strong with this one

Big heads, new playable characters, old and modernised controls That great disturbance in the Force you just felt wasn’t a million voices crying out in terror. It was, in fact, me crying out in terror a million times. You see, Aspyr have just announced that they’re porting Star Wars: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles to PC andSteam. I have a complicated relationship with Jedi Power Battles, in the sense that I think I still have scars on my thumbs from when I played it all night on a busted PS1 controller....

October 10, 2024 · 3 min · 443 words · John Rivera

Sunderfolk is a gripping co-op strategy game from former Blizzard talent that wants to "bring back game night" - using your phone

Jackbox meets Gloomhaven meets Xbox SmartGlass I will not lie to you, gentle reader. When I first laid eyes on Secret Door’sSunderfolk, while lurking to the rear of a gaggle of journomancers at a preview event last week, I let out an ostentatious sigh. Fortunately, I still mask up to preview events, and am thus free to adopt all kinds of snotty facial expressions without being set upon by burly PRs and shoved into the minifridge for later disposal....

October 10, 2024 · 8 min · 1593 words · Kathryn Pierce

Wordle hints and answer (#1209): How to solve the Thursday October 10 Wordle

Stuck on today’s Wordle word for October 10? Read our hint or find the answer below! This guide is for a previous day! Looking for today’s solution? Check out theWordle hint and answer for Thursday 12th December! Need a hint for today’s Wordle answer?Wordleis a tough test of word acumen, but luckily we’re here to provide you with the tips you need. Every day, Wordle presents its legions of players with a deviously simple quandary: can you guess the right five-letter word within just six guesses?...

October 10, 2024 · 6 min · 1229 words · Christopher Brown

A 46% Prime Big Deal Days saving on the Crucial P310 SSD makes it a great DIY alternative to all those Steam Deck microSDs I’ve been posting

There’s a lot of handheld storage deals, okay For the record, I still think it’s easier and safer to go with amicroSD for your Steam Deckstorage needs, and with goodPrime Big Deal Dayssavings on two of the best – theSamsung Pro Plusand theSanDisk Ultra– that opinion remains unbudged. Still, you know what they say: when you’re holding a tiny screwdriver, everything starts to look like a tiny screw. So I understand if the call to replace the Deck’s internal SSD, or indeed that of yourAsus ROG Ally, proves too strong....

October 9, 2024 · 2 min · 266 words · Samantha Jones

Beautiful Light's mix of STALKER and Hunt Showdown is masterfully eerie, but I do wish it wasn't an extraction shooter

Why did it have to be tacti-cool? The obvious way of bundling upBeautiful Lightis probably “Hunt ShowdownmeetsS.T.A.L.K.E.R.”, and whoops, I’ve already committed to that in the headline. But the first game that came to mind when I chanced on some playtest footage last night wasThe Town Of Light, LKA’s deeply disquieting game about exploring a carefully recreated abandoned asylum. There’s the title overlap, of course - it’s always a bit of a provocation when horror games make a point of being well-lit....

October 9, 2024 · 3 min · 478 words · Thomas Williams

Bloodlines 2 is more "spiritual successor" than sequel to "a competently good game by 2004 standards", say Paradox

The Chinese Room’s version isn’t an “open sim”, cautions Paradox deputy CEO “With Hardsuit Labs, we agreed on a vision of what they were gonna make, [and] they had a problem delivering on that,” Lilja told me. “We were in agreement, we moved [development] to The Chinese Room and we said, this is the vision and this is what Hardsuit Labs have made. And of course, we gave them quite a lot of freedom to interpret the vision, based on what Hardsuit Labs had made, or change or remove whatever they didn’t like....

October 9, 2024 · 3 min · 563 words · Cathy Phillips

Connections hints and answers for Wed, October 9th

Need some Connections hints today? Read our guide for help with Connections #485. This guide is for a previous day! Looking for today’s solution? Check out theConnections hint and answers for Thursday 12th December! Looking for a hint to help with today’s Connections puzzle on 9th October?If today’s Connections puzzle has you scratching your head, don’t worry! We have a list of hints, plus the answers themselves to help you out....

October 9, 2024 · 4 min · 746 words · Jennifer Fowler

Embiggen your Steam Deck storage with this 1.5TB microSD, now up to 40% off for Prime Big Deal Days

It’s bigger than that, Gabe, it’s large Amazon’s latestPrime Big Deal Dayshas entered its final day – of deals – so capacity-deprived gaming handheld owners still have a few hours to grab themselves a cheapmicroSD cardupgrade. And if space is the sole concern, it’s hard to get more substantial than the 1.5TB SanDisk Ultra. Never mind how the header pic shows a 64GB card, the much more desirable 1.5TB version is down from£149 to £100on Amazon UK and from$150 to $89on Amazon US....

October 9, 2024 · 2 min · 239 words · Jordan King