Intel's fourth quarter earnings are in and they reflect a 4.1% year-over-year loss to $13.7 billion (same as the previous quarter), bringing the full-year tally to a flat $52.9 billion. According to Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, the company "delivered a solid finish to the year" despite the loss, which along with downward guidance for the currentMicrosoft is making a push to bridge the gap between traditional x86 gaming and the emerging ARM-based Windows ecosystem. The recent release of a dedicated Arm-compatible Xbox App marks a turning point for the platform, with Microsoft stating that approximately 85% of the current Game Pass library is now playable on Arm-powered machines. This shift is largely due to significant refinements in the Prism translation layer, which serves as the intermediary between legacy code and modern silicon.
As detailed in a Windows Blog, a critical component of this progress is the integration of AVX and AVX2 instruction support within Prism. These extensions are essential for bringing Xbox games to ARM systems, allowing titles previously locked to Intel or AMD hardware to run on Qualcomm Snapdragon X-series chips. The hardware evolution continues as well, with the current Snapdragon lineup paving the way for the upcoming Snapdragon X2 and subsequent generations of ARM SoCs.
Compatibility isn't just about raw processing power; security protocols have historically been a major barrier for ARM adoption in gaming. The landscape is changing as developers implement third-party anti-cheat support for ARM, with Epic's solution now enabling titles such as Fortnite and Gears of War: Reloaded to run locally. To help users navigate the varying performance tiers of these devices, Microsoft has introduced the Windows Performance Fit tool. This utility leverages real-world benchmark data from similar hardware configurations to give users a realistic sense of how a title will run.
While the goal is native or translated local play, Microsoft continues to leverage its cloud infrastructure as a secondary option for titles that remain exclusive to x86 environments. This serves as a necessary buffer while the library of compatible games expands. The effectiveness of this approach remains tied to network stability and server proximity, but at least it's a functional alternative for those who meet the requirements.
KitGuru says: Do you own an ARM-based PC? Do you game on it? Will you do so more now that more Xbox games are supported?
The post Xbox App is now available on ARM-based PCs first appeared on KitGuru.Today's review is certainly unique. We are looking at the AOC Agon Pro CS24A, a monitor designed specifically for Counter-Strike gamers, with an eye-catching stand design and custom themed OSD. It's not just a skin, though, as the panel spec is clearly geared towards esports, packing in no less than a 600Hz refresh rate, using a 24in 1080p TN panel. AOC's MBR+ technology is also present, promising better-than-ever motion clarity, so let's see if this screen really is as good as it sounds.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
00:51 CS24A pricing + alternatives
01:57 Design and custom CS skin
02:53 I/O + OSD
04:35 Out of the box testing
06:51 sRGB mode and calibration results
07:26 Backlight bleed, viewing angles, coating grain
08:00 Response time results
09:30 Motion clarity examples
11:14 Real-world gaming experience
12:28 Closing thoughts
Just before we get into the review itself, it is worth clarifying that although we are looking at the AOC Agon Pro CS24A, with the product name identifying this as the Counter-Strike version, there is also the standard Agon Pro AG246FK6 available. It's essentially the exact same monitor but just without the CS2 livery, so if you're interested in an esports-grade screen but play anything other than Counter-Strike, that's something to keep in mind.
The other thing to keep in mind is the pricing. The CS24A is listed at just under £600 here in the UK, which is a little eye-watering considering it's a 24in 1080p screen. In theory the AG246FK6 has the same MSRP, though at the time of writing it's on offer for £500. Either way, it's a lot of money to pay for a FHD screen in this day and age, but considering it also packs in one of the fastest refresh rates we've ever seen, could it be worth buying?
Specification:
Firmware tested: V1.04
The post AOC CS24A Review (1080p/600Hz TN) first appeared on KitGuru.In the lead-up to Microsoft’s Xbox Developer Direct, an in-game pop-up appeared for some uses within Forza Horizon 5 claiming that the upcoming sequel would be launching this May. Sure enough, as part of the latest showcase, Forza Horizon 6 was properly shown off for the first time – alongside confirmation of its release date.
As part of the latest edition of the Xbox Developer Direct, Playground Games offered roughly 10 minutes of new footage for the upcoming Forza Horizon 6, showing off the game’s Japan setting; some of its vehicles, game mode and more.
Though not too much of a surprise given the earlier leak, the team officially confirmed that Forza Horizon 6 will launch on the 19th of May for Standard Edition owners and the 15th for those with the Premium Edition (which also includes the Season Pass, additional vehicles, VIP membership and more).
While the game is landing first on Xbox and PC, the team at Playground Games confirmed that a PS5 version is currently in the works and scheduled to release at some point “later this year.”
Given the fact that Forza Horizon 5 only arrived on PS5 last year, it is a pleasant surprise to see its sequel arriving within mere months of the Xbox/PC release. The full gameplay overview for Forza Horizon 6 can be found HERE.
KitGuru says: What did you think of the Xbox Developer Direct? Are you looking forward to Forza Horizon 6? Is the premium edition worth it? Let us know your thoughts down below.
The post Forza Horizon 6 officially launches in May first appeared on KitGuru.One of the most anticipated Xbox titles for quite a few years now has been Playground Games’ Fable, with the reboot of this classic RPG series first being announced all the way back in 2020 (though rumours of its existence had begun as early as 2018). Initially planned to arrive some time in 2025, the upcoming RPG now has a new release window – officially arriving some time in Autumn 2026.
Taking part in the recent Xbox Developer Direct, Playground Games officially gave us our first proper look at the upcoming Fable.
While we have gotten teasers before and even some slight gameplay snippets, the latest showcase offered a much deeper look at the game and its systems, confirming that many of the series’ staples (house building, marriage, a morality system and more) will be present in the reboot.
In the 5+ years since the project was first announced, the Xbox ecosystem has gone through a ton of changes, and so while Fable was originally planned to be an Xbox console exclusive, Microsoft have now officially confirmed that the game will be launching day-and-date on the PS5 alongside its Series X|S and PC counterparts.
What date that will be however is currently unknown, with us only being given a release window of Autumn 2026.
So far, what has been shown off regarding Fable is looking quite positive, with Playground Games seemingly successfully taking on the mantle from Lionhead Studios. That said, we will have to wait and see how it all comes together when the game finally arrives later this year.
KitGuru says: What did you think of the Xbox Developer Direct? Do you have more or less confidence in Fable now? When do you think the game will actually come out? Let us know down below.
The post Fable comes to Xbox, PlayStation and PC later this Autumn first appeared on KitGuru.AMD has officially confirmed that the Ryzen 7 9850X3D will hit retail shelves on January 29th, carrying a suggested price tag of $499. This move positions the new 8-core processor as the premium choice within Team Red's Zen 5 3D V-Cache lineup, sitting just above the current Ryzen 7 9800X3D.
The announcement comes directly from David McAfee, AMD's VP and GM of the client channel business, who claims this new SKU is the fastest gaming processor currently available. The specifications reveal that while the architecture remains the same, the 9850X3D benefits from improved binning, enabling it to reach a 5.6 GHz clock speed, a 400 MHz boost compared to the 9800X3D. Despite this higher frequency, the 120 W TDP remains unchanged, as does the 104 MB total cache pool, which includes the 96 MB L3 stack that defines the X3D series. AMD's internal benchmarks suggest this clock-speed advantage translates into a 3% to 8% performance uplift over the 9800X3D in CPU-bound scenarios.
The $499 MSRP will likely come as a relief to those following recent industry whispers. Early retail leaks in December had suggested pricing could be a bit higher, especially given the persistent demand for high-end AM5 components.
Availability remains the primary concern for prospective buyers. The previous launch of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D was marred by severe inventory shortages, leading to inflated prices at third-party retailers and a thriving scalper market. Although reports suggest distribution is well underway for the January 29th release, it remains to be seen whether AMD has secured enough volume to meet demand.
Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.
KitGuru says: If stock levels hold, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D is poised to become the new default recommendation for high-end gaming builds, effectively squeezing Intel's flagship offerings out of the frame.
The post AMD confirms Ryzen 7 9850X3D for late January release, $499 first appeared on KitGuru.
As the title of this post indicates, AMD has now announced pricing and availability for its better, faster X3D flagship. The Ryzen 7 9850X3D will be officially available for sale starting January…
A new wave of Android click-fraud trojans are in the wild, and they're surprisingly well-hidden. For those familiar with the Android operating system, it's common knowledge that users can enable downloads of third-party applications from outside of Google's Play Store ecosystem. When you do so, the OS warns users of the security implications,
AAA publisher and developer Ubisoft has released some unfortunate news. In the process of its development restructuring into six Creative Houses, Ubisoft also had to kill six games and delay seven more, with the most prominent loss being the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake announced in 2020. While the title being repeatedly delay doesSince the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, we have seen the console maker release enhanced ports for a number of its Switch 1 titles – some paid and others free. Joining the latter is Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, with a free Switch 2 update officially available now; adding a new playable character, game modes and more.
Making the surprise announcement, Nintendo officially unveiled their latest Switch 2 update, this time for Donkey Kong Country Returns HD. Available to download right now, this free upgrade brings with it quite a bit of new content.
Visually, the game has been updated on Switch 2 with “enhanced resolution, higher-definition graphics, and quicker load times” alongside support for the console’s GameShare functionality. That said, we did not get any specifics regarding the exact details of this visual boost.
In terms of gameplay additions, this latest update brings in Dixie Kong as a support character allowing for additional movement abilities (though can also be directly controlled when playing in co-op). Alongside this, update 1.1.0 also introduces a new game mode in the form of Turbo Attack – in which players will have to speed through the levels before time runs out.
Dixie Kong and the new Turbo Attack mode is available for all owners of DK Country Returns HD, not just Switch 2 owners.
Considering the relative lack of content which some paid Switch 2 Editions have had, Nintendo releasing this update for free is both unexpected yet welcome. That said, Donkey Kong Country Returns was originally a Wii title; which was then ported to the 3DS; remastered for the Switch 1 and now updated for Switch 2 – and so it's possible that Nintendo felt as though they have made enough of a profit from the game at this point.
Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.
KitGuru says: What do you think of this update? How does it compare to some of the other paid upgrades? Let us know your thoughts down below.
The post Donkey Kong Country Returns HD gets surprise free Switch 2 update first appeared on KitGuru.Dread Meridian is an H.P. Lovecraft-inspired survival horror with a moody atmosphere held back by janky combat at launch.
Scary scenes such as the ones vividly described in H.P. Lovecraft’s “At the Mountains of Madness” can leave readers in a disconcerting mood. Dread Meridian features all the elements of this winning formula, but technical drawbacks ultimately prove its undoing.
It all starts with the story as straightforward as can be. As Daniela, you begin your journey on a boat, narrating your missing sister’s letter indicating she went on a research expedition because of mysterious artifacts they found. A poster of a Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde movie can be seen on the walls of Dani’s room, as well as several books to interact with.
Her one-track mind allows for the game to explore narrative set pieces without much explanation as to why you are there other than to search for your sister. Eventually crashing into a frozen wasteland, a gorgeous aurora borealis lights up the night sky over what is otherwise hell on Earth.
Each of the game’s five chapters is short enough to be finished in about an hour or less. Showing varied environments like a seemingly abandoned research base, a cabin in the woods with a horrifying secret, and the infested cave where mutated monsters abound, the frantic search stays unpredictable throughout. Turns out messing with eldritch horrors beyond human comprehension can mess with researchers’ minds.
The levels are easy to understand for survival horror enthusiasts, with simple puzzles where the solutions can be logically solved or found close by. In that regard, Dread Meridian seems to do everything well, but the crux of the matter is how it plays, and that is where it squanders any goodwill thus far.
Dread Meridian has two main preset comfort settings: Immersive and Comfortable. Immersive has smooth turning, faster rotation speed, and movement direction set to the controller. Comfortable features are snap turning, slower movements in general, and movement direction set to Head.
The motion overlay, or tunnel vision, is also a part of the mode. Everything can be customized in the settings. That said, even if you turn off the overlay, when climbing, it always seems to briefly activate. No dedicated seated or standing options are available, though there is a way to readjust height.
A well-known term within VR communities that comes to mind when describing this game’s combat is a “wiggle fest.” While it is possible to use a gun, an SMG, and more firearms, these weapons are flimsy, not to mention the lack of ammo. That leads to only being able to use a knife, which, although extremely effective, has you hacking away at the air with no thought, praying you will defeat every monster without being damaged.
To have the enemy freeze in place at times is more hilarious than alarming. There are no difficulty settings, and the checkpoints are few and far between; this can easily lead to frustration. Being killed by an enemy cheap shot that is unpredictable to register after spending 15 minutes running around a research base is a tough pill to swallow.
Dread Meridian looks crisp from Steam. While the environments are small and claustrophobic, every puzzle, rock texture, and poster is clear, and the enemies are even freakier to look at. On Quest, the game settled on an expected cartoony look, with textures overall looking muddier in all respects. No performance issues were noticed on either version.
My gaming laptop uses an AMD Ryzen 7 250 w/ Radeon 780M Graphics Processor, 24 GB DDR5-5600MT/s SODIMM, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 8 GB GDDR7. The comparison was conducted using a Meta Quest 3 via the Steam Link app.
There are hints of brilliance in Dani’s journey. When not struggling with the unwieldy combat, exploring the infested areas is quite unsettling. If Dread Meridian excels in something, it is that it is dripping with Lovecraftian atmosphere. Whispers are heard in Dani’s head telling her to complete a forbidden ritual; hallucinations of otherworldly landscapes assault her, and fleshy, grotesquely mutated corpses adorn the halls of every place you visit.
The abundant documents and voice recordings of the researchers’ descent into madness are as intriguing as they are eerie. It is honestly difficult to dismiss what is witnessed on-screen because there was clearly effort put into it, but the issues that creep up in the moment-to-moment gameplay cannot be ignored.
An example of the flimsy combat when getting up close.
As a seasoned VR player, I seek lasting experiences that go beyond rolling credits. Great horror games have the potential to do that, especially late at night. Media based on H.P. Lovecraft’s work is among the most interesting due to its source material. Dread Meridian comes close to achieving this with its unnerving setting, but imprecise enemy hitboxes, punishing checkpoints, and buggy non-player character behavior ensure it becomes memorable, negatively. Down the line, with patches and the help of player feedback, perhaps it could arrive at the goal the developers had.
Editor's Note: UploadVR is publishing this hands-on writeup based on advance access to Dread Meridian. We are making no immediate plan for a formal review or update to this article, though we'll link to future coverage here if we are able.
Golden Gloves VR is available now in full release on Meta Quest after a lengthy early access period.
I jumped into Golden Gloves VR and, while it's still pretty spare graphically, there are some good ideas here about virtual fitness and boxing. I saw three gym maps to train alone or in multiplayer sessions. When you start, you teleport into a gym map where you can find access to Career Mode challenges, training bags and minigames.
Various moments in Golden Gloves VR's Career Mode.
The gym's training bags are realistically responsive to punching. Training stations range from speed bags to various hanging bags and other targets. There is also an arcade machine that gives access to a Space Invaders-style game where you practice boxing form, shooting glove-shaped bullets at enemies.
I spent my time in the game's Career Mode where I fought AI boxers increasing in difficulty every time I won a match. I initially found the fighting to be too easy, but was quickly surprised when the difficulty began to ramp up as the enemy got smarter. Smarter boxers timed their moves better to counter my swings. Their increased skill highlighted areas of my body I failed to defend in a fight, often dealing damage to my blind spots and revealing areas of improvement in reflexes and strategy.
Golden Gloves VR has an impressive set of training equipment in its gyms. Training bags can be used either within VR or with passthrough mode. In passthrough mode, equipment can be placed around your room to train while being able to see your physical surroundings.
Despite the good fighting experience, the graphics are extremely plain. Lighting overall isn't set up well and there's a lot that could be done to add more mood and immersion. Still, there's good equipment and plenty here to get good cardio.
Various training equipment in Golden Gloves VR
Golden Gloves VR is available now on Quest headsets with developers boasting that it is the "official esports platform for USA Boxing" built from "real input from boxers and coaches." The full official launch of Golden Gloves VR includes an optional Esports USA Boxing membership.
UploadVR will keep an eye on this project as it continues to develop past full release for further updates.
There were a number of new products that we expected to hear about at CES, including the much-rumored Ryzen 9 9950X3D2, NVIDIA's N1X SoCs, and the next Intel Arc GPU release. None of those came, but perhaps the most surprising omission was Intel's Arrow Lake Refresh series—a fresh set of CPUs for the LGA 1851 platform, and likely to be the
Microsoft is doubling down in a big way with Windows on Arm devices. Now, all Windows 11 machines running running Arm-based silicon, like Qualcomm's forthcoming Snapdragon X2 Elite platform, have support for Xbox Game Pass, with "more than 85%" of the Game Pass catalog claimed to run well. Anti-cheat support x86/x64 emulation is also well
A multi-institution research team has discovered a metallic material that conducts heat nearly three times more efficiently than copper or silver, which are presently the primary metals used for industrial thermal management. The researchers believe that this discovery will have massive implications for extreme heat-dissipation applications,
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