Our friends at Tom’s Hardware built a desktop PC that boots to Windows 10 in just 4.9 seconds. That time was recorded from a cold boot, not a system restart. To Microsoft’s credit, Windows 10 boots pretty fast as it is, especially on a brand new PC. Cold booting to Windows 10 in under 5 seconds is still atypical, however, and requires the right combination of hardware and BIOS tweaks. The Tom’s Hardware article details them all, while throwing out a challenge to beat its time.

At Oculus Connect today, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the company’s next headset: The Oculus Quest. “With Oculus Quest, we will finish our first generation of Oculus products,” said Zuckerberg. He also noted that backward compatibility is a major priority for Oculus products. Games and software designed for Quest, and future Oculus headsets, will still work on the original Rift. The Oculus Quest will release in the spring for $399.

World of Warcraft: Classic is apparently making more progress than Blizzard has let on, because the company announced today that the recreation of the MMO as it first existed in 2004 will be playable at BlizzCon 2018. Don’t worry though, those who purchase a Virtual Ticket can also download it and play at home. It’s not clear exactly what limitations the demo will have, but it’s safe to say you’ll probably be restricted to a certain level range and zone. Starting on November 2, after the BlizzCo

If you’re looking for a mechanical keyboard that (A) doesn’t suck and (B) is reasonably priced, check out Logitech’s K840. We like this keyboard even when it’s not on sale, but it just so happens that Amazon has it marked down to $44.99 today. One of the things we like about the K840 is that it actually looks good for a budget keyboard. These switches were originally reserved for Logitech’s high-end boards, but have since been added to the more price-friendly K840. Short and sweet, this is a goo

If you’ve been on the hunt for a good gaming laptop, this is the deal for you. MSI’s GP63 laptop, with a latest-gen Core i7 processor and a GTX 1070, is just $1,449 on Newegg after rebate (or $1,500 without rebate). For connectivity, you get one Mini DisplayPort, one HDMI, one USB 3.1 Type-C port, one USB 3.1 Type-A port, and one USB 3.0 Type-A port. MSI is bundling a ton of free stuff with the MSI GP63. Also included is an ‘MSI loot box,’ containing an unspecified gaming mouse, a mousepad, and

The stealthy murder game Mark of the Ninja is really good, but it’s also getting up there in years. To address that, Klei announced back in March that a remastered version was in the works and would be out later this year. Now we’ve got a more properly detailed look at what the updated version will deliver, and a release date of October 9. Mark of the Ninja: Remastered will go for $20 on Steam, although you can pick it up at a 15 percent discount if you pre-purchase on Steam. Owners of the base

A former Telltale Games employee has filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging that the recent layoff of more than 250 employees without warning or severance is a violation of the WARN [Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifcation] Act. That class, if approved by the court, will include approximately 275 employees, including those who were let go and the skeleton crew that remains employed at Telltale. Interest, attorney’s fees, and “such other and further relief as this Court may deem just

But RP has generally existed in parallel with online PvP games. He liked Arma for its modding capability, and having played an Arma 2 RP mod, he figured he could make a better one for Arma 3. Altis Life uses Arma 3’s huge Altis map as the stage for a cops and robbers game. As CEO of Asylum Entertainment, VanderZeet is currently working on Identity, a large-scale reimagining of Altis Life (see above). And it’s that concept of loss within an open environment that he believes has lots to offer PvP

Rocky startI like EDM and love Minecraft, so I had to see what the hell Coalchella was going to be. It was immediately clear that the Coalchella server wasn’t set up to support 2,000 people trying to join it all at once. The Coalchella server was a community project built over the last month, and the results were breathtaking. By the end of the night, Coalchella had seen over 2,600 attendees in the server and over 27,000 people listen in on Mixlr. The entire festival was never devoid of some sor

Earlier this summer, Fortnite players discovered that if they played the game on a PS4, they couldn’t use the same Epic account on a Switch. And then they got very mad, and we learned that once again Sony was blocking cross-play with its console competitors, which as Steven said a couple weeks ago, hurts PC players, too. All the peer pressure seems to have worked, though, as Sony has finally changed its mind. An open beta starting today will allow PS4 players to play with users on Android, iOS,

Blizzard’s colourful MOBA Heroes of the Storm has just received a substantial new update, introducing a new quest line and several other changes and additions. At the head of the pack is “The Fall of King’s Crest”, a new quest line in the game. “Aid the Lady of Thorns against the Raven Lord’s invasion of King’s Crest by his malevolent generals,” Blizzard state in their announcement. These changes are pretty extensive, and so Blizzard has created two character Spotlight videos explaining the alte

An ambitious project to recreate the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek: The Next Generation has been forced to halt development following a cease-and-desist letter from broadcasting network CBS. Throughout the project, Scragnog and his team of volunteers were keen to emphasise that Stage-9 was purely fan art. “We made it as clear as we possibly could that this was not an officially licensed project,” he says. Far from it.”Scragnog was always aware that the project existed at the mercy of the li

Our current top pick for the best webcam is the Logitech C920, which has been a popular model for years now. An upgraded version (C922x) with background replacement technology has also been available for years, but it usually stays above $80. This discount brings the Logitech C922x down to the same price as the C920. Both cameras can record at 1080p @ 30FPS and 720p @ 60FPS, but only the C922x can replace a video background (using the included software). You can buy the Logitech C922x from Amazo

Bethesda executive producer Todd Howard said earlier in the summer that the studio would love to have cross-platform play in Fallout 76, but “Sony isn’t being as helpful as we want them to be” in making it happen. Today, Sony dropped a surprise announcement that it will allow Fortnite cross-play between the PS4 and other consoles. Could Fallout 76 also be a beneficiary of Sony’s new spirit of openness and cooperation? Fallout 76 does not support crossplay, for a number of reasons. Fallout 76 com

Now just a little over three years later, Windows 10 is on 700 million devices, 300 million short of that original goal. Myerson had previously said that Windows 10 was approaching the 700 million devices mark, making the statement back in March when announcing his departure from Microsoft. That could potentially give Windows 10’s footprint a boost. It also remains to be seen what impact gaming will have on Windows 10’s footprint. It’s just too early—developers have to embrace ray tracing, and w

When a graphics card or RAM stick dies, you can usually keep using your computer until replacement parts arrive, but a failing power supply will bring your entire PC down with it. It doesn’t hurt to have a backup PSU, and now you can get one for just $16 after rebate. The Corsair VS550 is an 80 PLUS power supply, with a total output of 550W. The PSU is listed for $39.99, and when you enter coupon code EMCPYRU73 at checkout, you get $4 off. You can buy the Corsair VS550 from Newegg.

‘Non-collectible card game’ Prismata is coming along according to plan, and that plan involves it launching its free-to-play component today. Prismata is a hybrid of card game, board game, and RTS all about managing the order in which you play cards versus how your opponent plays their cards. Prismata bills itself as a non-collectible card game, but I’m not sure it’s a card game, not that I particularly care about genre in this precise moment. While Prismata is still in Early Access as a whole,

Fortnite, obviously, as far as the eye can see, and PUBG, and lots (and lots) of other battle royale games. As with Team Fortress, CS was acquired by Valve (who also hired both Le and Cliffe) and made into a standalone game. MOBAsthe influence of mods Mods gave us everything from Killing Floor to Alien Swarm to Sanctum. Survival gamesBefore the battle royale craze we’re swimming in today, there was the survival game glut. Battle royaleDayZ wasn’t the only mod for Arma 2 to make major waves: ther

It makes the idea of a new Mega Man game feel a bit out of place in 2018. Mega Man 11, releasing October 2, is the first in the series since 2010. It’s where I discover the Double Gear system, Mega Man’s inexplicably-named take on bullet time. With a better understanding of the Double Gear system, I return to the Blast Man stage after besting Fuze Man. But to my surprise, it’s 2018 and here I am, a potential Mega Man convert.

When I think of Human Revolution, I think of black and gold. As a Deus Ex fan, I was sceptical when I heard a new game was in development. You see one screenshot and you know it’s Human Revolution. Stealth is the most satisfying way to play Human Revolution, with multiple paths through the sprawling levels and plenty of vents to squeeze through. If you can deal with that, the Director’s Cut is almost certainly the best way to play Human Revolution today.