Current State Archives

AppWizard

June 3, 2025

The worst part of Elden Ring Nightreign, like all multiplayer games, is that you need to rely on the kindness and intelligence of strangers

A player in Elden Ring reflected on their gaming experience while lying in the sand, feeling defeated after their teammates focused on attacking Gnoster, leaving them behind. They expressed a desire for a voice chat feature to communicate with their last standing teammate and noted the challenges of multiplayer dynamics. The player acknowledged both the frustrations and joys of teamwork, emphasizing the benefits of strategizing with friends during boss encounters. They mentioned FromSoftware's efforts to address single-player mode difficulties and remained hopeful for improved communication options in the game. The player continues their quest, seeking friends to share the gaming experience.

Winsage

June 2, 2025

Microsoft promises to sort out USB shambles

Microsoft is updating its Windows Hardware Compatibility Program (WHCP) for Windows 11 to standardize USB-C port functionality across devices. The new guidelines will ensure that all USB-C ports on certified Windows 11 devices support data transfer, charging, and display output. This initiative aims to eliminate confusion for users regarding port capabilities. Additionally, USB 40Gbps ports will be compatible with USB4 and Thunderbolt 3 peripherals, while USB 3.X ports may not match the performance of USB4. Microsoft will also require USB-IF certified silicon in PCs and will validate USB controllers with its own drivers to ensure seamless updates through Windows Update.

AppWizard

May 27, 2025

F1 25 review

Sebastian Vettel's reminder about cherishing current moments resonates within the context of the F1 gaming franchise, particularly with the release of F1 25 on May 30, 2025, developed by Codemasters and published by Electronic Arts. The game is priced at £50 and is the 17th annual edition of the official F1 game. F1 25 features a nine-hour story in Braking Point 3, concluding the saga with character development for Aiden Jackson and introducing California Mayer as a rival. The game includes an email system for team management, allowing players to connect with staff achievements. However, it has faced criticism for its handling model, particularly for pad control, and contains bugs like incorrect radio messages. The game showcases modern advancements such as path-traced lighting but may struggle with performance on lower-end graphics cards. Overall, while F1 25 offers a high-quality racing experience, it lacks significant innovation compared to its predecessors.

AppWizard

May 12, 2025

Ouch—Warner Bros throws Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League under the bus in the most corporate way possible, side-eyes it for closed studios and cancelled games

WB Games experienced a 48% decline in gaming revenue for the first quarter of 2025, primarily due to the lack of new game releases compared to the previous year. The disappointing performance of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which resulted in a [openai_gpt model="gpt-4o-mini" prompt="Summarize the content and extract only the fact described in the text bellow. The summary shall NOT include a title, introduction and conclusion. Text: WB Games finds itself navigating turbulent waters, as a recent financial report reveals a staggering 48% decline in gaming revenue for the first quarter of 2025. Although the report does not dedicate a section solely to gaming, it highlights the significant impact of recent game releases on the company's bottom line. Revenue Decline and Impairment The report attributes this sharp revenue drop primarily to the absence of new game releases in the current quarter, especially when compared to the previous year’s launch of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. This title, which has been a topic of discussion since its release, has not only failed to meet expectations but also contributed to a staggering loss of 0 million for Warner Bros back in June 2024. The game’s final update was rolled out in January of this year, suggesting that the financial repercussions may have continued to ripple through the company. Despite the challenges, the previous year saw over 22 million copies of Hogwarts Legacy and Mortal Kombat 1 sold, which injected substantial revenue into Warner Bros. However, even with such successes, the current decline in revenue is stark. The report notes that the company’s expenses related to gaming content have plummeted by 66%, a reduction attributed to the impairment linked to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and lower revenue in the current quarter. Corporate Decisions and Studio Closures This drop in expenses raises eyebrows, particularly as it coincides with the closure of several studios, including Monolith, Player First Games, and WB San Diego, along with the cancellation of a much-anticipated Wonder Woman game. While the report presents this information in a clinical manner, the implications are clear: the company is tightening its belt in response to a poorly performing title. The language used to describe these events is notably sanitized, yet it hints at a dismal sentiment surrounding the failure of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. It’s reminiscent of a dramatic court scene where a noble drops their goblet in shock at the audacity of a courtier's remarks. The fallout from this situation has not only affected the financial landscape but has also led to layoffs and the resignation of the head of WB Games, underscoring the tumultuous environment within the gaming industry. As the dust settles, the focus shifts to the leadership decisions that led to the creation of this ill-fated game, rather than placing blame on the developers who were tasked with bringing it to life. The current state of affairs serves as a stark reminder of the complexities and challenges facing companies in the gaming sector." max_tokens="3500" temperature="0.3" top_p="1.0" best_of="1" presence_penalty="0.1" frequency_penalty="frequency_penalty"] million loss for Warner Bros in June 2024, contributed significantly to this decline. The company's gaming content expenses dropped by 66%, linked to the impairment from the failed title and lower revenue. Several studios, including Monolith, Player First Games, and WB San Diego, were closed, and a Wonder Woman game was canceled. The situation has led to layoffs and the resignation of the head of WB Games.

AppWizard

April 27, 2025

Driveclub can now run on PC via the PS4 emulator, shadPS4

In October 2024, shadPS4 successfully booted the PS4 racing game Driveclub, which can now enter the game environment due to advancements with shadPS4Plus. Currently, Driveclub operates at approximately 38 frames per second (FPS) on a system with an Intel Core i5 3600KF and an NVIDIA RTX 3080Ti, but significant visual glitches remain, making it not fully playable. There is optimism that continued development could eventually achieve a smooth 60FPS experience on high-end PCs. Other PS4-exclusive titles like inFamous: Second Son and The Last Guardian are also not yet playable, while Godzilla 2014 shows more promise in rendering graphics. If development continues at the current pace, players might enjoy Driveclub by the end of 2025.

AppWizard

April 11, 2025

Enshrouded’s next update promises a ‘rebirth of the shroud,’ with new monsters, resources, and a whole new weapon customization system

The upcoming update for the open-world survival RPG, Enshrouded, is titled "Rebirth of the Shroud" and is scheduled for next month. It will introduce new monsters, locations, and a system for crafting customizable weapons. The creative director, Antony Christoulakis, mentioned that the update aims to enhance combat and the terrain, as well as increase points of interest in the shrouded areas. Players will discover special gems that can be embedded into weapons, which will have gem slots that can be unlocked at special forges. The rarity of a weapon affects its likelihood of having a gem slot. The shrouded areas will be improved for greater engagement, and nighttime gameplay will see new elements introduced. Water features will not be included in this update, but the development team is working on them for future updates. Enshrouded has surpassed four million players since its early access launch in January 2024, and the "Thralls of Twilight" update will be the sixth significant enhancement to the game.

AppWizard

April 9, 2025

They can’t keep getting away with this: Star Citizen has now raised over $800 million after 13 years, and it’s still in alpha

Chris Roberts, CEO of Cloud Imperium Games (CIG), expressed optimism about the release of Star Citizen, stating the company is closer than ever to achieving version 1.0 of the game, though no timeline was provided. Since its crowdfunding campaign began in 2012, CIG has raised over million, with the game generating over 0 million annually since 2022. Version 4.0 of the alpha was released in December 2024, introducing a server meshing feature. Despite advancements, the alpha version remains incomplete, with promised features still in development. Roberts indicated that overcoming server meshing was the last major technological barrier, and he assured fans that the envisioned gameplay would not take decades to materialize. However, as of now, Star Citizen remains in its alpha phase.

AppWizard

April 6, 2025

Minecraft movie spawns ‘annoying’ cinema trend that viewers claim ‘ruins’ the film

The film A Minecraft Movie, featuring Jack Black and Jason Momoa, is projected to earn around million domestically and million internationally during its opening weekend. It has sparked enthusiastic audience reactions, particularly during a scene involving a "chicken jockey," leading to collective chanting and applause in theaters. Some viewers have shared positive experiences on social media, while others criticize the disruptive nature of audience participation, expressing a desire for a return to traditional movie etiquette.

Winsage

April 5, 2025

Introducing Windows on arm. And by arm, we mean wrist

Gustave Monce, a PhD student from Bordeaux, is working on a project to run Windows on the Google Pixel Watch 3, referred to as "Windows on ARM." Initially announced on April Fools' Day, Monce clarified that the project is serious and involves UEFI on the Pixel Watch 3 with the capability to boot Windows and Linux. He has previously developed DuoWOA, enabling Windows 11 to run on Microsoft's Surface Duo, and is also working on LumiaWOA for the Nokia Lumia 950 and 950XL. The smartwatch project utilizes an Arm64 build of Windows PE, allowing the Pixel Watch 3 to boot a WinPE image via UEFI, though the final installation steps remain undocumented. Monce describes the project as real and goofy, acknowledging its current limitations while inviting others to explore the code.

Tech Optimizer

April 2, 2025

Improve PostgreSQL performance using the pgstattuple extension

PostgreSQL is an open-source relational database management system known for its extensibility, which allows developers to enhance its capabilities through various extensions and plugins. The pgstattuple extension provides detailed statistics at the tuple level from PostgreSQL tables and indexes, revealing key metrics such as the number of live tuples, dead tuples, average length of live tuples, total free space, and percentages of free space and dead tuples. These metrics help database administrators identify potential health and performance issues, such as excessive table bloat or index fragmentation. Both Amazon Aurora and Amazon RDS support the pgstattuple extension, which can be activated using the command CREATE EXTENSION pgstattuple;. Functions like pgstattuple(relation) and pgstatindex(index) can be used to analyze physical storage and index statistics. Bloat occurs when unused space is left behind after UPDATE and DELETE operations, and the autovacuum process in PostgreSQL automates the cleanup of dead tuples. However, if autovacuum fails, manual intervention may be necessary. Regular monitoring of bloat is essential for maintaining performance, and metrics from pgstattuple can help optimize autovacuum settings. The pg_cron extension can automate VACUUM operations to manage bloat proactively. Index bloat can also be detected using pgstatindex, and significantly bloated indexes can be rebuilt using REINDEX or pg_repack. Best practices for using pgstattuple include estimating bloat with check_postgres, analyzing physical storage, monitoring dead_tuple_percent, and avoiding interference on highly active tables.