Alan Velasco
Opinions and content posted by HotHardware contributors are their own.
Recent posts
Twitch has been making several moves to cut costs lately, as Amazon doesn’t seem to be getting the return on investment it thought it would, after acquiring the popular streaming service. The tech giant even attempted to leverage the platform to try and make a competitive game hosting service to usurp Steam. These...
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Among Us, which became a favorite for many gamers during the depths of the pandemic, is still getting new upgrades, despite being nearly seven years old. Developers Innersloth and Schell Games have unveiled Among Us 3D, which is a port of Among Us VR that can be experienced without a VR headset. It looks to deliver...
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Steam currently stands as king of the hill when it comes to PC game distribution, with Valve’s storefront operating as the default choice for almost everyone looking to play games on their computer. Many companies have tried to dethrone Steam, only to fall to the wayside. Ethan Evans, former VP of Prime Gaming at...
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Generative AI seems poised to become an integral part of the game development pipeline, with Microsoft unveiling Muse, a World and Human Action Model (WHAM). It’s the first model of its kind, and comes by way of a collaborative effort between the research team and Xbox Game Studios’ Ninja Theory, which provided...
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The Humane AI Pin had an impressive debut, promising to be an intuitive way to interact with AI. However, once the device actually rolled out, it became clear that it was far from actually delivering on that promise. Its poor performance led to scathing reviews, which in turn quickly sank the AI Pin in the eyes of...
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Apple’s phone designs have become safe and predictable, as the company is loath to rock the boat with its most consistent revenue generator, instead banking on AI for innovation. That's just not good enough for some passionate and talented hardware modders out there though, who often go the extra mile to do fun and...
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Ubisoft has been struggling mightily as of late, with the company having to shutter games and managing to draw the ire of industry peers. However, a lone bright spot for the company has been its live service first person shooter, Rainbow Six Siege. The game has managed to find longevity as it nears a decade since its...
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Palworld was one of the surprise hits of 2024, capturing gamer zeitgeist by delivering a familiar experience with a fun twist. However, this success also caught the attention of Nintendo and the Pokémon Company, leading to both of those companies filing a lawsuit against Palworld developers, Pocketpair. Now there’s a...
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Grand Theft Auto VI might be sucking up the majority of the oxygen in the video game world, but there are still plenty of games driving hype of their own, including Elden Ring Nightrein. The game made an appearance at Sony’s State of Play event yesterday, where players learned when they’ll be able to jump into the...
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Free-to-play hero shooter Marvel Rivals has quickly become one of the most popular competitive games available, bringing in big bucks to Chinese publisher NetEase. The company has kept the game fresh by continuing to add new characters at a steady clip since the title released late last year. However, the latest...
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The last decade of flagship phone releases has seen manufacturers go all in on thinner and thinner designs, causing the devices to become repair nightmares. Apple has slowly made policy and design changes to reverse this pernicious trend. Now, it seems as if Samsung is ready to join its rival with its latest...
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Artificial Intelligence is everywhere these days, and the level of investment in in the technology means it will only become more prevalent as time goes on. With many people already using tools such as ChatGPT as they go about their daily lives, is it the best path forward, though? A new study by Microsoft that...
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One of the biggest issues facing any social media platform is that a few toxic users can ruin the experience for many, quickly turning thel space into an environment no one wants to spend time in. In an effort to company situations like this, Discord is adding a new tool for users to better manage bad actors, and...
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PlayStation has long had a problem with poor quality games flooding its digital storefront. These games often used incredibly low pricing or acted as vehicles for players to get easy trophies to generate sales. It’s a problem that gamers, game developers, and gaming journalists were more frequently complaining about...
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Larian Studios has been hard at work on the massive Patch 8 for Baldur’s Gate 3, which is bringing big enough changes to warrant an update of its own. The update will bring fixes to gameplay, the newly implemented Photo Mode, and several other elements of the game.
One of the more consequential gameplay fixes takes...
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Even as EA is working on ways to revive Battlefield, it hasn’t forgotten it has a successful competitive multiplayer experience with Apex Legends. The development team released its first blog post of the year detailing some of the improvements players can expect. Specifically, when it comes to combatting cheaters...
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The rumor mill was spot on regarding Apple’s plans for its iCloud integrated service, which was codenamed “Confetti.” The company has now officially unveiled what it’s calling Apple Invites, which is both an app and web service users can access to create and manage custom invitations for various types of events. Although, there is more to
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The Battlefield franchise has been a cornerstone of the first-person shooter genre for much of its history. Although lately it’s finding it difficult to compete amongst a flood of free-to-play, competitive online games. Even as one of its contemporaries, Call of Duty, continues to thrive. EA is hoping to turn the...
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Apple is blaming the arrival of the first porn app to its platform on the recently implemented European regulatory regime, the Digital Markets Act (DMA), that opened up iOS to rival app stores in the EU. Apple has been vehemently opposed to the DMA since its introduction. So it’s now pouncing on the opportunity to...
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Apple appears to be readying a new service tied to iCloud that’s expected to rollout soon now that iOS 18.3 has is in the wild, according to Bloomberg’s Apple expert, Mark Gurman. The aim of this new service is to make it easier to create and manage invitations for events. Although, it will be different in...
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After beginning its efforts in 2017, the Video Game History Foundation is opening its virtual doors to the public, offering access to its digital archive. There is a treasure trove of materials available that will make retro gamers swoon, including memorabilia, game development documentation, behind-the-scenes...
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The Overwatch franchise has been a mainstay in the hero shooter genre, though it has slowly lost a significant portion of its player base and hasn't returned to prominence with Overwatch 2, in part because of some poor management. The landscape has only gotten more difficult with the highly successful release of...
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