Building a PC has become more complicated over the years. Gamers used to pick the best hardware, stuff them into a roomy case, and call it a day. While some people still do that, many gamers find themselves puzzled with other variables that can turn building a gaming rig into a 3D chess match. One of the most common factors that push builders to hesitation is portability. Though it may not be a criterion for anyone that travels once or twice a year, the gaming world has become more hectic with LAN tournaments and parties.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Xbox, Halo Infinite’s multiplayer was released ahead of schedule. While console players don’t have much to worry about when it comes to in-game settings, PC players may find themselves in need of perfecting their graphical settings to increase their frame rate. When you first load into Halo Infinite, the game will try its best to develop a set of default settings that fit your hardware. These algorithms assign players with settings that balance visual quality and performance, which may not work for everyone.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is a sniper’s dream. Whether you enjoy quickscoping and racking up wild kill feeds and killcams or striking from afar and lining up scorestreaks to empty the lobby, there are lots of options for snipers in Black Ops Cold War. Using the Gunsmith feature to kit out your sniper is key, adding to stats like aim down sight speed, taking away scope sway, or adding damage range.

Brawl Stars fans are in for a treat. The latest Brawl Talk revealed the two next brawlers earlier today. The next season will also include a series of new skins, a rework of the gear feature, the Bolt Drop game mode, new daily rewards, and more. The next brawler to be released will be included in the premium version of Brawl Pass and is called Janet. She is an “acrobatic performer” and singer who shoots projectiles in a cone.

The Pokémon Trading Card Game has released thousands of different cards over the past two decades and its multiple iterations. And, while most of the cards are readily available to those looking to add them to their collection, only the wealthiest of collectors can acquire some of the rarest cards out there. For those avid collectors looking to find these rare Pokémon cards, you can expect to pay thousands of dollars to get your hands on just one of them if you’re lucky enough to find one—and some of them are reaching heights where they can be sold for millions of dollars in private deals.

League of Legends revealed their newest champion, Zeri, as their first release in 2022, and the first new champion since Vex last summer. This Zaunite champion has navigated the streets of the undercity for her entire life, though will not be appearing on Summoner’s Rift for a few more weeks. Zeri will be joining the growing cast of champions in League in Patch 12.2. She will soon be available for testing on the PBE, where players will be able to also test her release skin, Withered Rose.

There are always a few Pokémon in every game with special encounter mechanics. These can leave fans scratching their heads after looking around the map and missing a chance to catch them. In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, these mechanics become even more prominent since you need to complete pages of the Pokédex to progress through the game. In the To Bloom or not to Bloom request, players will need to investigate the Cherry and Blossom Pokémon, Cherubi and Cherrim, in an effort to explain Cherrim’s weather-changing appearance to Kichi in the Agriculture Corps.

Many players will make a beeline to add the Hisuian Pokémon and regional variants to their team in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, but there are some trainers who just want to coast through the game with some old favorites that can help round out a roster.  Gible and its evolutionary line are staples from the Sinnoh region, so why wouldn’t that carry over to Hisui, the ancient region that becomes Sinnoh? 

Hisuian Voltorb was the form that fans didn’t know they wanted. Prior to the launch of Pokemon Legends: Arceus, The Pokémon Company released a series of adorable stop-motion videos featuring Hisuian Voltorb and its friends, endearing many to the otherwise strange-looking Pokémon. Voltorb has always been styled after Poké Balls, so it makes sense that Hisuian Voltorb would look like more old-fashioned methods of catching Pokémon. See Pokémon on Amazon Alongside its new visuals, Hisuian Voltorb has also gained a new type: Grass, making it a dual Electric and Grass-type Pokémon.

On June 6, 2011, the video game streaming website Twitch launched as a spin-off of live streaming site Justin.tv. In nearly nine years, Twitch has become the go-to place for streaming, even surpassing its former corporate owner. Part of the reason for Twitch’s popularity is Twitch chat, and especially its emotes. With Twitch chat, passive viewing becomes interactive, and Twitch’s emotes become a kind of internal language of inside-jokes. The emotes have changed how people talk to each other both on and off the site.