FPS Archives

AppWizard

September 30, 2026

Making our favorite FPS modes 1v1 to decide the greatest of them all

FOV 90 discusses the first-person shooter (FPS) genre, highlighting its history, community traditions like organized scrimmages, and various gameplay modes. The column features a voting round with matchups between different FPS modes, including Team Deathmatch vs. FFA/Deathmatch, Battle Royale vs. Extraction, Conquest vs. Domination, Bomb Defusal vs. Hostage, Gun Game vs. Payload, Infection vs. Prop Hunt, VIP vs. Capture The Flag, and Attack & Defend vs. King of the Hill. Voting closes on Saturday, October 3 at 11:59 PM PDT, with results to be revealed the following week.

BetaBeacon

September 30, 2026

Lime3DS Setup Guide: Play Pokémon on Android [2026]

- Nintendo’s 2024 legal action against Tropic Haze, the team behind the Yuzu Switch emulator, ended with a $**.4 million settlement** and the shutdown of Yuzu. - Lime3DS rose out of the shutdown of Yuzu and Citra as a community-maintained Citra fork, but development stopped in April 2025, leading to the creation of Azahar. - Azahar is the successor project to Lime3DS, but the Android package name was not updated, causing confusion. - Azahar is the default recommendation for 3DS emulation, consolidating the scattered forks that emerged after the shutdown of Yuzu and Citra. - Azahar requires specific system files from a real Nintendo 3DS console, and users must dump their own game files legally.

AppWizard

September 28, 2026

Denuvo cracking group DenuvOwO reportedly disbands — lawsuit from Irdeto has a chilling effect, but cracking continues as piracy hub purges links

Irdeto's Denuvo has reached a milestone with the disbandment of DenuvOwO, a group that created a hypervisor-based bypass for Denuvo. This decision may be linked to Irdeto's legal action against a cracker known as Voices38. The CS.Rin forum has removed links to games using the DenuvOwO bypass and banned associated members to avoid legal issues. A proof-of-concept crack for Assassin's Creed: Mirage has been developed, removing Denuvo Anti-Tamper and VMProtect, resulting in a 15% increase in average frames per second (FPS) and a 76% improvement in minimum frame rates on a high-end setup.

AppWizard

September 28, 2026

PS5 emulator successfully runs six titles at a playable 60 FPS — PS5 emulation continues to gather momentum as developers improve shader translation and Vulkan support

Developers of SharpEmu, an experimental open-source PS5 emulator, have achieved playable frame rates of 60 FPS for six out of 55 tested PS5 titles. The six titles that reached this milestone are Dreaming Sarah, Void Terrarium, New Joe & Mac: Caveman Ninja, Tetris Forever, Hoa, and Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered. This achievement coincides with the release of SharpEmu v0.0.4-release.2, which includes improvements such as enhanced SPIR-V shader translation and updated Vulkan API support. SharpEmu is compatible with Windows, Linux, and macOS, and utilizes Vulkan and MoltenVK for graphics API calls. The emulator leverages the PlayStation 5's AMD Zen 2 x86-64 CPU to execute console CPU instructions natively on PCs. Currently, only 12 of the 55 tested titles are in a game-ready state, with six playable at 60 FPS. SharpEmu is intended for research and educational purposes and does not include copyrighted system firmware or game data. Additionally, another emulator, KytyPS5, has run the PS5 version of GTA V at approximately 40 to 60 FPS, though it experienced crashes after the opening mission.

BetaBeacon

September 28, 2026

The Pixel 11 series has a gaming problem, and Google’s new graphics default is to blame

ANGLE is the default OpenGL ES implementation on the Pixel 11 series, introduced in the September 2026 update. It translates calls to Vulkan and is meant to improve compatibility and stability, but it is causing significant microstutter and lower frame rates in games like Genshin Impact, COD Mobile, and Asphalt Legends. The default ANGLE rendering on the Pixel 11 series is resulting in poor gaming performance.

AppWizard

September 28, 2026

A PlayStation 5 Game Was Natively Launched on PC for the First Time

Tech enthusiasts from OverkillLabs have successfully launched a PlayStation 5 game, Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania Edition, natively on a PC, marking the first instance of a PS5 title running natively on Windows. This launch is not based on emulation but operates as a fully native Windows program. The project builds on previous efforts by AnyPS5 and achieved performance metrics of approximately 55-60 FPS in enclosed environments and 30-35 FPS in open scenes on a PC with an NVIDIA RTX 5070 Ti graphics card. OverkillLabs has made the source code for "DeadCells-PS5-Native" available on GitHub, although it does not include copyrighted materials, requiring users to provide their own legally obtained copy of the game.

AppWizard

September 27, 2026

AnyPS5 Reaches PS5 Game Menu on PC, No Emulator [2026]

A developer named boykopovar has created an open-source tool called AnyPS5 on GitHub, which aims to convert PlayStation 5 games to run natively on Windows and Linux systems. AnyPS5 can load a PS5 game's logo and reach its main menu on PC hardware but crashes before the menu becomes interactive. The tool uses a method called relinking, which reformats PS5 executables into native Windows or Linux files and provides replacement libraries to mimic PS5 system libraries. There is currently no public build available, and the developer has stated that a public release will only occur after a successful game launch. Sony has not made any public statements or taken legal action regarding AnyPS5. The project operates under the GPL-2.0 license, but the legal implications of using it with actual PS5 games remain unclear. Historical trends suggest that console emulation projects typically take years to mature, but AnyPS5's shared architecture with PCs may offer a potential shortcut.

AppWizard

September 26, 2026

27-year-old GTA 2 gets full path tracing and 60 FPS frame generation via RTX Remix — custom Direct3D 9 wrapper modernizes classic with custom Direct3D 9 bridge, unlocks dynamic lighting

Modder gebdag has released GTA2 RTX Remix, a mod for Grand Theft Auto 2 that utilizes Nvidia’s RTX Remix technology to enhance the game, originally launched 27 years ago. The mod introduces full path tracing, dynamic time-of-day cycles, and modernizes the aspect ratio from 4:3 to 16:9. It improves gameplay fluidity with frame rates up to 60 FPS and addresses issues like the sudden appearance of cars and pedestrians. Players need a copy of Grand Theft Auto 2 version 9.6, available for free since 2004, and a 64-bit version of Windows 10 or 11, along with the RTX Remix runtime files, to use the mod. The RTX Remix platform has also enabled similar enhancements for other classic games.

Tech Optimizer

September 26, 2026

Norton 360 for Gamers vs Bitdefender vs Malwarebytes [2026]

Norton 360 and Bitdefender Total Security achieved perfect scores from AV-TEST in June 2026, while Malwarebytes had a 100% real-world protection rate in AV-Comparatives’ testing but with a higher false-positive rate. Bitdefender Total Security is recommended for PC gamers as it minimizes frame-rate impact to 0-2% during gameplay. Norton 360 for Gamers includes features for streamers and competitive players but has a higher renewal price. Malwarebytes Premium is noted for its minimal resource usage but lacks a dedicated game mode. The pricing for Norton 360 starts at .99 for the first year and increases to .99 upon renewal, Bitdefender starts at .99 for a single device, and Malwarebytes Premium aligns closely with Norton’s entry price but does not include a VPN. In FPS testing with Cyberpunk 2077, Norton showed a 2-3% drop, Bitdefender a 0-2% decrease, and Malwarebytes under 1%. Norton uses a hybrid detection model, Bitdefender employs cloud-based scanning, and Malwarebytes focuses on behavior-based detection. Norton offers gamer-tag dark web monitoring and a bundled VPN, while Bitdefender has limited VPN features on standard tiers and Malwarebytes lacks these protections.

Tech Optimizer

September 25, 2026

Norton 360 for Gamers vs Bitdefender vs Malwarebytes [2026]

Norton, Bitdefender, and Malwarebytes have adjusted their antivirus products to mitigate the negative effects on gaming performance. In June 2026, Norton 360 and Bitdefender Total Security both received a perfect AV-TEST score of 18 out of 18, while Malwarebytes achieved a 100% real-world protection rate in AV-Comparatives testing, though it had more false positives. Bitdefender Total Security is recommended for gamers due to its low frame-rate impact of 0-2%, while Norton 360 offers features for streamers and competitive players, and Malwarebytes serves as a lightweight secondary scanner. The value of gaming accounts has increased, making them targets for cybercriminals, with malware campaigns like Vidar 2.0 accounting for 41% of gaming-related malware detections. New malware families such as Katz and Bee specifically target Discord and gaming platforms. In terms of performance, Norton showed a 2-3% FPS decrease in Cyberpunk 2077, while Bitdefender's impact was only 0-2%, and Malwarebytes had less than 1% impact. Norton and Bitdefender are tied in detection capabilities, both scoring 18/18 in AV-TEST, while Malwarebytes had a 92.4% offline detection rate and 98.3% online. Norton includes a no-log VPN and gamer-tag monitoring, while Bitdefender offers identity protection without specific gamer-tag monitoring. Malwarebytes lacks a VPN and password manager. Pricing varies, with Norton starting at .99 for three devices, Bitdefender at .99 for one device, and Malwarebytes at .99 for one device. To switch antivirus solutions, users should back up their license keys, use removal tools, and ensure game-aware modes are active. Each product has unique strengths: Norton excels in gamer-tag monitoring, Bitdefender minimizes CPU usage, and Malwarebytes is lightweight but lacks additional features.