gaming

Alienware is marking 25 years of producing gaming PCs with a new flagship desktop, a redesigned Aurora. The new Aurora R13 with Legend 2.0 case design focuses on component organisation and cable management creating an “open-air” design, which lends itself to improved air flow and acoustics. The rigs ship with two 120mm fans as standard but support up to four, moving air from the front intake, over the motherboard and performance component, before venting it at the rear. The new case also supports liquid cooling options. Alienware states that increased internal case volume and more fans spinning slower also improves acoustics, with the brand reporting its new PC is 16% quieter at idle, 9% quieter under load and 15% during overclocking. The curved case, available in either Lunar Light or Dar...

Gaming and lifestyle group 100 Thieves has now acquired custom keyboard and keycap maker Higround, celebrating the company’s first-ever acquisition with a collaborative capsule for fans of the two brands. Former HyperX executive Baron Lee has also joined Higround recently to help lead innovation with the gaming group. “Everything 100 Thieves does aims to push gaming culture forward,” said 100 Thieves’ founder and CEO Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag of the new acquisition. “That’s why we love Higround – they have a similar mindset to take something functional and elevate it with quality and unique design. This is the first time we’ve found a brand that shared our philosophy so I’m excited to make our first acquisition and welcome Higround to the 100 Thieves family.” To celebrate the new collaborati...

Since the release of the Nintendo Switch OLED earlier this month, sales in Japan seem to be boding well. In just the first three days of the initial release, the updated Switch device sold 138,409 units. Kotaku reports that during the same time, 32,792 Switch units were sold alongside 8,650 Switch Lite units. By the end of the week, Nintendo Switch sales reached 179,851 units, heavily brought on by the release of the OLED Switch. In comparison to the other Switch models, the OLED Switch boasts a screen with much greater quality. Fans do not have to worry about shelling out a large price difference to get the one with better screen quality. Throughout Japan, Nintendo has seen great success. Just this June, Nintendo sold over 89 million Switches, surpassing other gaming units like the Ninten...

With the game due to release less than a month from now, Call of Duty: Vanguard has finally unveiled its highly anticipated Zombies mode in a brand new trailer. Picking up the Dark Aether storyline first introduced in Black Ops Cold War, the new Zombies mode for Vanguard will bring players back to World War II a year after the Battle of Stalingrad, where a defeated Nazi officer by the name of Oberführer Wolfram Von List discovers an otherwordly artifact that binds him to a Dark Aether entity named Kortifex. The new bond allows him to summon an army of undead foes, and your mission, of course, is to stop him and his zombies along with three of your friends. Perhaps most importantly for players, the experience you earn within Zombies mode will carry over to your Battle Pass fo...

In what seems like a drastic move to combat online toxicity, Riot Games has now disabled /all chat in the massively popular MOBA League of Legends for public matchmade games. According to an announcement from League‘s game director Andrei van Roon and lead game producer Jeremy Lee, “While /all chat can be the source of fun social interaction between teams, as well as some good-hearted banter, right now negative interactions outweigh the positives.” It also acknowledges that toxicity can also exist within team chats, but the role it plays in team coordination is too important and so disabling this aspect wouldn’t make sense at the moment. As expected, a large proportion of the response to the new measure has been negative, with many players expressing disappointment that they can ...

As gamers continue to struggle with getting their hands on next-gen consoles, Sony has now launched a direct chance to purchase a PlayStation 5. Ahead of a restock coming next month, Sony has opened up a website to sign up for a registry. The direct opportunity to purchase a PS5 console is limited to gamers with a PlayStation Network (PSN) account. Additionally, the $499 USD Standard Edition with a disc drive or $399 USD disc drive-less models being offered are limited to one per PSN account and can only be shipped to addresses in the United States. Sony will be choosing select gamers based on its supply and “previous interests and PlayStation activities.” Those lucky enough to be chosen will be contacted via email with a time and date, that will expire, early November. Head over to the So...

The gaming and fandom network G4 will be making its return after a seven-year hiatus. Originally launched in 2002, shows on TV network focused on video games and gaming culture. G4 underwent a series of mergers and acquisitions in the early aughts before ultimately shutting down in 2014. Last year, Comcast announced that it would be reviving the network and since then, G4 has started streaming beta content on Twitch, YouTube and Twitter in preparation for the relaunch. On November 16, G4 will be newly available on channels offered through Verizon Fios, Cox, Xfinity TV and Philo. The network will also “collaborate with Twitch on a multi-year promotional and commercial partnership,” according to the press release. G4 said that programming will be “produced and delivered through a first-...

Call of Duty has introduced a new anti-cheat system that intends to address the sophisticated and ever-evolving problem of cheating in its games. The Ricochet Anti-Cheat initiative serves to combat unfair play with several new features, including server-side tools that monitor analytics to identify cheating, robust investigation processes to remove cheaters and updates that strengthen account security. Additionally, the system will arrive with a PC kernel-level driver, which was developed internally for the Call of Duty franchise and will first launch for Call of Duty: Warzone later this year. The driver will improve the process of identifying cheaters and strengthen the server’s security by inspecting the software and applications that attempt to interact with and manipulate the game...