Gaming phones are cool but they’re also quite expensive. And Xiaomi is hoping to solve that issue by jumping on the gaming phone bandwagon with its Redmi brand. Xiaomi’s Redmi lineup has historically focused on selling budget and mid-range smartphones, offering best-in-class hardware and premium-looking design at a fraction of the cost. The company’s Redmi Note 10 series is a prime example of it. Now, the company is looking to repeat the same formula with its first-ever gaming phone.
Redmi has been teasing a launch of a new gaming-centric phone under the Redmi brand since last week. At the time, the company didn’t reveal exactly when it was going to unveil this new phone. But now we have an official confirmation. Redmi has confirmed its new gaming phone, the Redmi K40 Game Enhanced Edition, is launching on April 27 in China. The company has also shared a teaser of the phone that reveals some key elements of the design. The teaser shows the Redmi K40 Game Enhanced Edition sporting a triple camera setup on the back. There’s also a dedicated gaming slider that pops up the shoulder keys and lights up LED light rings around the camera module when toggled.
In terms of specification, a report from Chinese publication Sina has it the phone will sport a Samsung E4 AMOLED display with up to 144Hz refresh rate. The phone is expected to be powered by MediaTek’s flagship Dimensity 1200 chipset along with a large 5,000mAh battery that charges via a 67W fast charger. Being a gaming phone, it will also come equipped with dedicated shoulder keys that will aid multi-finger gaming operations in shooting games. As for the pricing, the report mentions the phone could be priced around 2000 yuan (~$305). If true, this would make it the cheapest gaming phone on the market.
It’s unclear at this point if the Redmi K40 Gaming Edition will be a China-exclusive or it will also arrive in other markets. What’s clear, though, is that it will definitely give the likes of ROG Phone 5 and Red Magic 6 a run for their money.
Google introduced the RenderScript API all the way back in Android 3.0 Honeycomb for applications that need to run high-performance workloads on the CPU or GPU without using NDK or GPU-specific APIs. With improvements to NDK tooling, GPU compute using OpenCL, the introduction of the Vulkan API, and the capability to share Bitmap hardware buffers between Android SDK and NDK code, Google has decided to deprecate the RenderScript APIs in Android 12.
As explained on the Android Developers Blog, Google no longer recommends RenderScript for performance-critical tasks. Instead, high-performance workloads that need to run on GPU hardware should migrate to the cross-platform Vulkan API. Google has provided a sample app that demonstrates two RenderScript scripts with their Vulkan equivalents. If your app needs to work on older devices, you may need to manage two code paths: one with RS for older devices and one with Vulkan for newer devices.
For apps that used RS for its set of high-performance image manipulation functions such as blur, Google has provided an Android library that replaces most of the deprecated Intrinsics functions. While the APIs will continue to function on Android 12, Google says compiling RS code when targeting the release will throw a warning.
Whether you’ve just picked up a precious Xbox Series X/S, or you’re an Xbox One gamer who wants to know what to play next, we’ve got you covered. We’ve listed out the 23 games you must play if you’re an Xbox console owner.
The Xbox Series X is one of the most powerful consoles ever created, and the Xbox Series S is no slouch either. They promise updated graphics and low loading times. That said, there are no next-generation exclusives on Xbox Series X. Not only can (almost) all Xbox One games be played on the Series consoles, thanks to backward compatibility, but every game on this list is also playable on the Xbox One. There may be next-generation exclusives in the future, but at the moment Xbox appears to be keeping game releases as inclusive as possible.
Also, for the sake of brevity, we’re not going to be including backward-compatible games or games available through Xbox Game Pass. We’re only including games you can purchase for your Xbox One or Series X/S now.
So, in no particular order, here are the 23 best Xbox games you can buy right now for your Xbox One or Xbox Series X/S console.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection
Accept no substitutes: When you want to play the best Microsoft has to offer, an experience you won’t get on a PlayStation or Nintendo console, you start with Halo. The Master Chief Collection includes Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 2: Anniversary, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, Halo Reach, and Halo 4. Each game has updated graphics and audio, meaning you’re getting the best version of each game. The collection gets regular updates, with Halo Reach having been added in 2019, a full five years after the MCC was originally released. As a bonus, Halo 5: Guardians, the only mainline Halo game that’s not currently included in the MCC, is currently available for Xbox One as well, so you can play the whole series before the next game, Halo Infinite is released.
The Gears of War series has been another Microsoft staple — not as recognizable as Halo, but pretty close. While the original trilogy starring Marcus Fenix will always be the gold standard, Gears has fully transitioned to a new generation with Gears 5. In this game, you play as Kait Diaz and her squad (which includes Marcus’s son JD) attempting to discover the origins of the Locust. Gears is a series with a very particular style of combat that hasn’t changed very much over the years, and it’s done to perfection in this installment. Like any good Gears game, it has an enjoyable multiplayer component in addition to its story campaign, but you may find yourself spending more time on the latter than you think, considering the series has now gone open world.
If you want a game you can play with your buddies, or if you’ve ever dreamed of adventure on the high seas, Sea of Thieves is the Xbox game to get. Created by veteran studio Rare, Sea of Thieves lets you put together a crew of scallywag pirates to loot and pillage your way across a vast ocean full of treasure. The game has improved significantly since its launch when it was a little lean on booty. Now, after multiple content updates, there’s enough on the high seas to keep you and your crew sailing for quite some time.
Ori & the Blind Forest / Ori and the Will of the Wisps
I’m including both games in the Ori series for Xbox, because if you want to play a game that will make you gasp at the beauty of what you’re seeing, you can’t do better than these jewel-colored fantasy platformers. You play as Ori, a tiny forest sprite who must purge the forests around it of creeping darkness, protecting the friends it makes along the way. Blind Forest is a shorter game than Will of the Wisps, so I do recommend players try it first, but if you only have the time for one game you can definitely start with Will of the Wisps and not be completely in the dark. These are among the more visually appealing games you can play on the Xbox One, and they look stunning on Series X/S.
The Yakuza series was originally a PlayStation exclusive. However, thanks to Xbox Game Pass, practically the whole series has come to the Xbox. That said, if you’re a newcomer, it’s the latest game in the series where you’ll find the easiest point of entry. Like a Dragon casts the player as Ichiban Kasuga, a new hero taking the reins from the various protagonists of the previous titles, who starts the game having no connection to the previous story arcs. Ichiban’s offbeat and silly personality and the fact that he visualizes his street brawls as turn-based RPG combat is so weird that it has to be played to be believed. The game is tied to the previous seven games in the series, but not so much that you won’t know what’s going on. If you want a fun Xbox title, this is one you have to experience.
If you’re a fan of the Fallout games or space shooters in general, Obsidian’s RPG The Outer Worlds might be right up your alley. It’s a game set in the future, and you play a random interstellar traveler who has to settle a space colony and figure out where they fit in the vast landscape of corporate conspiracy. This game is ideal for those who want to both enjoy an RPG and play a first-person shooter. The art design and good humor put Outer Worlds above the rest of the pack, and it’s worth sinking your teeth into. It’s also received two story DLCs since launch, so it has enough content to keep you occupied for a while.
If you’re a fan of mysteries, Lucas Pope’s Return of the Obra Dinn is one of the best games of the generation. You play an insurance investigator trying to discover why the titular ship has arrived at port with none of its passengers or crew aboard. There’s no action to speak of — in fact, you investigate the boat’s history through the use of a mysterious pocket watch that lets you see still images of the past. This is a very slow-paced and methodical game, but if you’re interested in something that doesn’t involve shooting guns or swinging swords — or even if you just want a break from that — Obra Dinn is a good indie title to buy.
The Forza series has been an Xbox console exclusive since 2005, and Forza Horizon 4 is the most recent game in the mainstream series. It’s widely considered to be the best in the series, if not the best racing game on the Xbox One full-stop. It’s got a variety of fun game modes, cars, and challenges to keep you busy for days, especially if you get a racing wheel to use with it. Set in the United Kingdom, Horizon 4 lets you race around a dynamic, changing open world with changing weather and seasons. Even if racing games aren’t your thing, Horizon 4 is still worth trying out for the exploratory element alone. It’s also one of the most beautiful games you can play on an Xbox console.
Doom is a gaming franchise as old as dirt, and yet it’s still surviving and thriving on current consoles. The latest in the series, Doom Eternal, is one of the best action shooters available on current consoles. You play as the Doom Slayer, who’s going to fix the demonic invasion of Earth even if it means ripping and tearing through every hellspawn personally. If the exciting gameplay isn’t enough for you, Eternal actually has a good story to go along with the action — though not a particularly serious one. It’s mostly a fun romp, following the Doom Slayer’s murderous journey, with a rare moment of pathos as a bonus.
This one is a bit of a cheat since it’s three games in one, but the story of the latest iteration of Lara Croft deserves to be experienced in its complete form. At the time of this writing, all three games are available to purchase in the Definitive Survivor Trilogy from the Xbox Store, so we’re treating this as a single game. You play as a younger, less-experienced, and more accident-prone Lara Croft, surviving her first treasure-hunting expeditions. Lara Croft’s adventures are always great fun, and the reboot trilogy takes several of its cues from Uncharted. Considering the latter is a PlayStation franchise, Tomb Raider can be the equivalent experience for Xbox gamers.
Devil May Cry is one of the best action game franchises of all time, and Devil May Cry V is arguably the best of the franchise. You play as three different demon hunters clearing a ruined city, each with their own agenda and secrets. It’s a good entry point into the series for newcomers, as the first character you play is Nero, who has no connection to the ongoing storyline. The combat is the real meat-and-potatoes of the game, and it’s great for both beginners and action game veterans. You can play it hacky-slashy-button-mashy if you’re new and don’t know any better, and that’s completely viable. But if you know what you’re doing, you’ll discover a wealth of strategies to get your scores as high as possible.
The Witcher 3 has accrued every accolade you can imagine and has been called one of the best fantasy RPGs ever made, and it deserves all of that praise. Playing as Geralt the Witcher in his journey to find his daughter Ciri is an experience no gamer should miss, and the game looks especially gorgeous on the Series X graphics. Now, with the next-generation update, you can play the complete game with all of its DLC, with each of the latter almost being small games onto themselves. If you’re looking for a good fantasy game to play on Xbox and for some reason you haven’t played Witcher 3 already, it’s a must-buy.
Cuphead was one of the most interesting indie games when it was originally announced. An indie platformer designed to look like an old-school cartoon, it was visually distinct from any other game that debuted at the same show. You play as Cuphead — or, if you’re a co-op partner, Mugman — beating a series of wacky bosses to settle your debt to the devil. If you want a challenge, Cuphead is a title that will work for you. It’s a tough game, both in the boss arenas and in the platforming levels. It’s also very satisfying to beat, especially if you’re playing with a co-op partner.
What can one say about Minecraft that hasn’t been said before? The game in which you create your own world and space is still a must-play ten years after it was originally released. It’s a staple that belongs on every console, and you should definitely play it if you’ve avoided it thus far. Minecraft remains one of the biggest and most influential games of the last decade, and it’s inspired multiple spin-off games. If vanilla Minecraft isn’t your thing, you can also try out the dungeon-crawler Minecraft Dungeons, also available on Xbox.
The original Titanfall was exclusive to Xbox, and while its sequel is not, it’s still a great game to play on Xbox. The movement system in Titanfall 2 is a combination of first-person shooter gameplay and parkour that’s a blast to play. The multiplayer scene is also still well-populated, even years after the game’s release. Titanfall 2 also has something the first game didn’t: A good story campaign. You play Jack Cooper, a soldier who becomes the de facto pilot of Titan BT-7274. Their adventure and friendship, while perhaps not the most original story, is very well-told and fun to play.
The Resident Evil series has produced some of the best horror games in gaming history, and the remake of Resident Evil 2 takes an already great horror game and upgrades it for a new generation. If you want a game on your Xbox that’ll spook you, you need to get this title. You play as Claire Redfield and Leon Kennedy, who have both turned up in Raccoon City at the worst possible time: The city is overrun with zombies. Seeking shelter in the police station — which isn’t much of a shelter, as it’s also crawling with nasties — the two must attempt to get to the bottom of the outbreak while not dying to the horrible monstrosities that dog their every step.
Rockstar open-world games are a good inclusion to any game library. While Grand Theft Auto V has been consistently good across three console generations, it’s Red Dead Redemption 2 that we recommend for its involving story about the fall of a band of scoundrels in the Old West. The tale of Arthur Morgan and his doomed posse is good enough on its own — sad, but good. If you reach the end of the campaign and still can’t get enough of the gameplay, then you can jump into Red Dead Online, the Old West version of the chaotic craziness that is GTA Online.
The Monster Hunter series has always been a Nintendo franchise, so World coming to Xbox is a coup that Xbox gamers should take advantage of. In case you haven’t heard, Monster Hunter is a game in which you hunt monsters — massive monsters that can easily devour you. To combat them, you basically run with the biggest weapons imaginable strapped to your back. If you have any fondness for RPG tropes, open worlds, or giant monsters, this is a game you have to play.
Indie titles, especially the so-called “walking simulators” may not be the most exciting games to come to the console, but Firewatch is still a must-play for its beauty and its involving, if quiet story. You play as Henry, who’s searching for something even he’s not sure of, and has taken a job at a firewatch tower in a forest. There are slight elements of horror to the game, but it’s not particularly scary. If anything, it’s kind of sad — a story about lonely people and isolation. It’s also not a particularly long game, which means it’s a great title if you’re pressed for time and just want something you can finish.
There are a number of games that are challenging on the Xbox consoles, but one that’s both fun to play and has great art design is Hollow Knight. You play as the titular Knight, exploring Hallownest, confronting massive bosses, and accruing new abilities that open up new areas in which to platform. The limited color palette and atmosphere of the game are what set it apart from its fellows. It’s also received a lot of updates since launch, meaning you’ll be able to keep playing it for a long time.
If you’re looking for a game to play with friends, and you don’t mind a title that’ll give you as much frustration as it does amusement, Overcooked is a good game to get. You (and up to three partners) must attempt to cook meals in the most chaotic kitchen imaginable. Overcooked is a couch co-op title, meaning you can play it with a partner next to you. While there aren’t as many couch co-op titles as there are online multiplayer games, they do exist, and Overcooked is one of the more entertaining ones on Xbox.
If first-person shooters or third-person adventures aren’t your things, try a good, old-fashioned top-down RPG. Divinity: Original Sin 2 is one of the best games to come from Larian Studios. You pick your origin story, which will affect how you’re treated for the rest of the adventure. If the above-mentioned RPG games like Monster Hunter or Outer Worlds aren’t your thing, this is a little more of a pure experience. It’s also a co-op game that can be played with two players on split-screen or with up to four players online.
This list wouldn’t be complete without the inclusion of an Assassin’s Creed title, and the most recent game, a Viking adventure that takes the best mechanics from its two predecessors, is the title Xbox gamers should play. Valhalla is the usual Ubisoft sandbox title: You, as the Viking Eivor, explore the world, find treasure, kill targets, and sail the seas on your ship. It’s the same gameplay formula the series has had since Black Flag, but in Valhalla, it’s at its most beautiful and enjoyable. If you’re a newcomer to the series, it’s also a good place to start as it’s fairly separate from the ongoing AC story.
Keep in mind that this is just scratching the surface. There are thousands of games available to Xbox gamers, and that’s not even getting into the games that come with an Xbox Game Pass subscription, which can give even a cheap gaming laptop a library comparable to the Xbox consoles at a single monthly price. But we think this list will be enough to get you started and hopefully help you get the most out of your Xbox console.
Update 2 (04/19/2021 @ 02:34 PM ET): Google has provided more details on the rollout of page experience ranking in Search. Click here for more information. The article, as published on May 28, 2020, is preserved below.
Previous Updates
Update 1 (11/11/2020 @ 06:31 ET): Google has announced when they’ll roll out the new ranking algorithm that takes into account “page experience signals”. Click here for more information.
Google Search is responsible for a huge amount of web traffic. Anyone that runs a website knows how important it is to rank highly on Google. So it’s always a very big deal when the company changes the way it ranks websites. Today, Google announced a new ranking algorithm that will start taking “page experience” into consideration (via Search Engine Land).
“Page experience” is all about how users perceive the experience of interacting with a webpage. Simply put, if Google thinks people don’t enjoy using a website, it will not rank it as highly in Search results. There are a number of metrics and considerations used to understand how a user perceives the experience.
Some of these considerations include page loading speed, interactivity, and the stability of content as it loads. Google calls these things “Core Web Vitals.” In addition, Google is using some existing signals, including mobile-friendliness, safe-browsing, HTTPS, and intrusive ads. All of these things together make up the “page experience” secret sauce.
If you’ve ever accidentally tapped the wrong thing because content on the page was jumping around, that’s something Google Search would consider a bad experience. It’s important to note, however, that page experience isn’t the only thing that matters when it comes to ranking. The company says it will still rank pages “with the best information overall, even if some aspects of page experience are subpar.” In other words, delivering the information that the user is looking for is still ultimately the goal. But if there are pages with similar content, page experience becomes a differentiating factor.
Google says these changes will not be going live this year. The company will give 6-months notice before they go live sometime in 2021. If you have a website, it’s time to get ready for the changes.
Update: Google Search rankings to use page experience from May 2021
In a post on the Google Webmaster Central Blog yesterday, Google announced that the page experience signals they’ll be using to determine Google Search rankings will roll out in May 2021. In addition, the changes for non-AMP web content to become eligible to appear in the Top Stories feature in Search for mobile devices will also roll out in May 2021. Google says that any page that meets the Google News content policies will be eligible, but Search will prioritize showing pages with “great page experience”, regardless of whether or not they’re implemented with AMP or not. Finally, Google says they’re planning to test a visual indicator that identifies pages that “have met all of the page experience criteria.” If this test is successful, Google will show this visual indicator for search results in May 2021.
Google recommends publishers get ready for these changes now by conducting a site-wide audit of pages using the Google Search Console’s report for Core Web Vitals followed by using Page Speed Insights and Lighthouse to fix any issues that are uncovered.
Update 2: Gradual rollout begins June, New Page Experience report available
In a new blog post, Google has announced a few new key details about its plan to use page experience signals to rank web pages in Google Search. First of all, the company will begin using page experience for rankings starting in mid-June 2021 but won’t fully use these new signals until the end of August. What this means is that page experience will start factoring into Google Search results in the middle of June and its weight in the overall algorithm will slowly increase until the end of August. Google says this will hopefully give webmasters enough time to make refinements.
To provide page owners with more actionable insights, Google is unveiling a new Page Experience report in the Google Search Console. This report “combines the existing Core Web Vitals report with other components of the page experience signals, such as HTTPS security, absence of intrusive interstitials, safe browsing status, and mobile friendliness.” It also offers “valuable metrics, such as the percentage of URLs with good page experience and search impressions over time.”
Microsoft Edge was a big step forward for Microsoft compared to where they were with Internet Explorer. While Internet Explorer was considered slow and unpractical, Microsoft Edge was in a similar place to where browsers like Google Chrome were in terms of functionality back then. More recently, Edge switched over from their proprietary engine to the tried-and-tested Chromium engine that powers Chrome and a handful of other browsers, and usage numbers have skyrocketed since then, now being the second most used desktop browser, just behind Chrome. But modern browsers can be resource hogs, and you probably know this if you ever fired up Task Manager and took a peek at how much CPU and RAM your browser is eating up right now. Now, Microsoft Edge is adding a new “performance mode” to help mitigate this, as reported in Microsoft’s forums.
The feature is rolling out right now on the Canary update channel, and it’s meant to help you optimize “speed, responsiveness, memory, CPU and battery usage,” according to the Settings page. The “battery usage” bit is important: while CPU and RAM usage may not be a really big deal on a desktop computer, it’s a bigger deal on laptops, as putting a bigger load on your CPU and RAM can make your battery deplete more quickly, and can even wear out your battery in the long run. And in the case of some laptops, particularly some cheaper thin and light ones, the CPU and RAM can quickly be overwhelmed by intense browser usage. This Performance Mode would help mitigate this.
Among the changes, one notable one is that the Sleeping Tabs feature will be locked to five minutes when Performance Mode is toggled on. Sleeping Tabs, in case you don’t know what that is, pretty much freeze tabs that are left open in the background, saving resources when they’re not being used. This feature is rolling out now in the Canary channel, specifically version 91.0.856.0, so expect to wait a while if you’re not comfortable using non-final software.
Google Photos is adding a new Documents hub in the search tab that will make it much easier to find uploaded documents. The new feature is apparently part of a server-side update, so it should reach everyone relatively soon.
Currently, there are three sections when you click on the search tab in Google Photos: People & Pets, Places, and Things. Documents will be the fourth section, and provide users will quick access to things like screenshots, posters, paper documents, signs, and more. According to Android Police, which got its hands on the feature, the Documents section will even display documents that contain handwriting, text messaging, bulletin boards, display boards, and business cards.
Images: Android Police
“For what it’s worth, there are still a lot of false positives among these,” Android Police said. “While you can already search by entering keywords, this new section neatly organizes your images and saves the effort of typing.”
The addition of a Documents section should be convenient for anyone who finds themselves regularly taking photos of important documents. If you’re too lazy to organize the images you take of your documents, the powerful search found in Google Photos will make finding the right one super easy. I can’t say I’ve thought to use Google Photos to store images of documents, but it’s nice to know I won’t have any trouble finding them if I did.
The search functionality in Google Photos is what elevates the cloud storage service above competitors. And in addition to being able to search for documents, it could get even better with a new update that will allow users to combine multiple search filters. With improved search capabilities, users will be able to find the exact photo of their dog wearing blue sunglasses at Lake Tahoe.
Meanwhile, Google Photos also recently rolled out a new video editor UI, and it has also added Lens features on desktop with OCR for images.
Update 1 (04/19/2021 @ 2:02 PM ET): Players will be able to continue to purchase digital games on the PS3 and PS Vita. Click here for more information. The article, as published on March 29, 2021, is preserved below.
Sony just released the PlayStation 5 a few months ago, but many people are still playing games on earlier consoles. However, Sony revealed today that it is shutting down part of the PlayStation Store on its pre-PS4 consoles, marking the end of full support for Sony’s long-discontinued platforms and the death of many digital games.
Earlier this month, reports started to circulate that Sony would close the digital stores for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, and PlayStation Potable later this year. It seems they were correct, as Sony confirmed today that the stores for all three platforms will be shut down over the next few months. The digital stores on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable will be retired on July 2, 2021, while the PlayStation Vita’s storefront will be closed shortly afterward on August 27.
Sony noted that even after the shutdown, you’ll still be able to re-download digital games you’ve already purchased, and vouchers for downloadable content will continue to work. Re-downloading games claimed through PlayStation Plus will also work, as long as you remain subscribed. However, you won’t be able to purchase new games or DLC, even with PSN gift cards. If you have a store balance in your PlayStation account, you won’t get a refund unless you request it (though the amount can also be put towards PS4/PS5 games).
The move means countless digital-only games will become completely unavailable, a disappointing end for anyone interested in preserving video game history. The PlayStation Vita will also effectively lose its backward compatibility with PSP games since it only works with PSP titles purchased through the online store — the Vita lacks a UMD disc drive.
Update 1: PlayStation Store will continue operating on PS3 and PS Vita
Jim Ryan, Sony Interactive Entertainment’s President & CEO, apologized to consumers in a blog post earlier today, stating that the company “made the wrong decision” when it had announced that the PlayStation Store for PS3 and PS Vita will be shut down this summer. The reversal means that PS3 and PS Vita owners will be able to purchase digital games “for the foreseeable future”, though the shutdown of PSP commerce functionality will happen on July 2, 2021, as previously planned. This is welcome news for digital archivists, players who have a backlog of older games that they need to get through, and new players, and we hope Sony continues to make more pro-consumer moves in the future.
