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‘This year seems shakier than ever,’ BioWare veteran Mark Darrah says, and live service games are a big part of the reason—but Grand Theft Auto 6 might force the industry to change

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Former BioWare stalwart Mark Darrah began his career at BioWare as a programmer on the original Baldur’s Gate, and finished more than 20 years later as executive producer on Dragon Age and Anthem. He’s been around, in other words, he’s seen some things, and he has some thoughts on the current state of the videogame … Read more

Steam payment headaches grow as PayPal is no longer usable for much of the world: Valve hopes to bring it back in the future, ‘but the timeline is uncertain’

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Hassles with credit card processors over adult content isn’t the only payment headache Steam is facing these days. Valve is also getting grief from PayPal, which is no longer being accepted as a form of payment in much of the world. Going by posts about the problem in the Steam subreddit, the issue was first … Read more

The Framework Desktop’s small footprint is deceptively cute, as it’s actually sequestering serious compute power that makes it the best mini AI PC

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As you may already be aware, I have a penchant for all things cute in the hardware sphere—and that means mini PCs absolutely command my attention. All that power in such a small footprint? Delightful! But even more head turning is Framework’s latest entrant into the space. The Framework Desktop has got it all: an … Read more

Controversial AI outfit Perplexity puts in speculative $34.5 billion bid for the Chrome browser, but Google never said it was selling

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It feels inevitable that Google will eventually be forced spin off its Chrome web-browser and sell it to the highest bidder. There are just too many concerns over the influence Chrome has regarding Google’s stranglehold on web search. But the company’s hand has not yet been forced to do so, and you might not have … Read more

Between pained cries, the YouTuber who made this ‘neuromuscular aim assist’ that shocks his muscles for fast Counter-Strike 2 reactions insists it’s ‘not cheats’

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“It’s not cheats”, says YouTuber Basically Homeless to his Counter-Strike 2 compatriots. “… It’s my muscles doing it.” This, as the app he has set up with enemy detection code ported from bona fide cheats stimulates the electrodes attached to his body. The shocks contract his muscles to move his crosshair in the direction of … Read more

‘Eager to move on from failure’: Ex-producer Mark Darrah thinks BioWare suffered spinning plates for EA, starving itself for talent as it ate itself alive: ‘We weren’t getting the people’

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Mark Darrah has been on a tell-all, recently, speaking with YouTuber MrMattyPlays about the failures and foibles of BioWare in the wake of Dragon Age being likely being dead and gone. Darrah, who was an executive producer, left the studio back in 2020; though has been speaking up on his own YouTube channel recently. BioWare … Read more