Summer Games Done Quick (SGDQ) released the full schedule for its return to in-person activities for 2023. The charity speed-running event takes place in Minneapolis from May 28th to June 4th. This year, the organizers added a slew of Zelda runs in honor of the upcoming Tears of the Kingdom, which gamers will spend countless hours exploring beginning next month. Of course, the event will stream live on Twitch for those who can’t make it to Minnesota.

The full schedule starts with a pre-show followed by a Sonic Frontiers run on May 28th and wraps up with a Super Metroid run and an unknown finale on June 3rd. The last day also includes Elden Ring and a blindfolded run of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Sightless speed runs have been a popular GDQ mainstay, with previous years including memorable blindfolded play-throughs of Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! and Super Mario 64.

Other Zelda games in the SGDQ 2023 lineup include The Minish Cap (Switch) on May 28th, A Link Between Worlds (3DS) on May 29th, Majora’s Mask (Nintendo 64) on May 31st, Twilight Princess (GameCube) on June 1st and Four Swords (Game Boy Advance) on June 2nd. The Zelda franchise should be frontmost on the minds of many gamers during this year’s event as the latest installment, Tears of the Kingdom, launches on May 12th.

Nintendo

If big-name series aren’t your thing, the 2023 event will include plenty of cult-classic and oddball runs. For example, you can tune into Hobo Cat Adventures on June 1st, Choo-Choo Charles on May 31st and the NES adventure Maniac Mansion on May 30th. (And you won’t want to miss Give Me Toilet Paper! on June 1st.) You can read the full schedule for many more runs, including Hitman 3, GTA: San Andreas and Super Mario Odyssey.

It should be lighthearted fun for a terrific cause, as 100 percent of all donations go to Doctors Without Borders. The event typically raises millions of dollars for the charity, which provides medical and humanitarian care to people in over 70 countries affected by crises like war, natural disasters and epidemics. In its return as an in-person event, attendees must provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination and wear a KN95 / N95 / KF94 mask. You can register to attend on the organization’s website.

Microsoft is rolling out a new Xbox system update with an emphasis on the search experience. The company has completely redesigned the console's search page, giving it a “sleek new look” complete with gallery-style results, easily identifiable filter categories and an updated navigation interface that relies on the left and right bumpers.

These improvements to search extend beyond simply perusing your game library or even looking for new titles to buy. There is now an option to search on YouTube within the Movies and TV tab, among other new ways to find stuff to watch. Once updated, you can access the refined search experience by tapping the search button on top of the dashboard or by pressing Y on your controller within the console UI.

The system update also brings a new power-saving mode to better integrate with the recently launched ‘carbon aware’ feature. You can now adjust power settings at any time within the settings menu and adjust the active hours, which means the hours you are most likely to be using the console. If you set your active hours to begin at 10AM, for instance, the console will be ready to wake up at that time. Otherwise, it will fully shut down to draw just 0.5 watts instead of 10 to 15 watts.

During active hours, the console will be ready to boot and will be accessible for remote game installs and the like. Once you update, the mode is set to “always active” so make changes to suit your preferences and schedule. The system update is rolling out now to all users. 

Soon, when you go to stream Succession or The Last of Us, you'll no longer be looking for an app called HBO Max. As has been rumored, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is changing the name of the streaming service to simply "Max." The company is folding content from Discovery+ into the platform to make it more of a one-stop shop, though Discovery+ will remain as a standalone service in the US.

The big switch will take place on May 23rd — almost exactly three years after HBO Max debuted. WBD previously said it would combine the streaming services sometime this spring. WBD CEO David Zaslav suggested during a press event that, in the coming months, Max will fold in sports and other live content. The company plans to add an average of more than 40 new titles and TV show seasons each month.

There will be three pricing tiers. An ad supported plan will cost $10 per month or $100 per year. It will allow users to stream HD video on two devices simultaneously.

The ad-free plan won't have an immediate price hike as it will remain $16 per month (or $150 per year) for the time being. WBD raised the price of that plan for the first time back in January. That also supports HD streaming on two devices simultaneously with up to 30 offline downloads.

There will also be an "ultimate ad-free" plan that costs $20 per month or $200 per year. That's the option you'll need to plump for it you want to stream shows and movies in 4K. It supports 4K UHD streams on up to four devices at once with up to 100 downloads for offline viewing.

WBD's presentation highlighted some of the content that's coming to Max, including a first look at The Penguin, an eight-episode miniseries that ties into The Batman. An It prequel called Welcome to Derry is on the way, as is a show based on The Conjuring and a Big Bang Theory follow-up series. 

Elsewhere, content that was in the works for Discovery+ will move over to Max, such as reality programming featuring Robert Downey Jr. and all-time great snowboarder and skateboarder Shaun White. A docuseries featuring Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes as they tour the US with a live version of their podcast, SmartLess, will drop on Max's launch day. Also coming to the platform on May 23rd is Shazam! Fury of the Gods.

There's some logical reasoning behind shortening the name to Max. It's now about more than HBO and nods toward a more expansive array of shows, movies and other content that's on offer. Executives were reportedly concerned that keeping HBO in the platform's name could weaken that brand if consumers associate it with all the content on the platform, such as the impending influx of reality shows from Discovery+.

However, the rebranding strips away the name value of HBO and the implied level of quality that has been associated with that brand for decades. Max is a bad, soulless name with zero identity of its own. 

Since WBD was formed as a result of a merger between WarnerMedia and Discovery last year, the company's leadership has overhauled its streaming strategy in a bid to cut costs and improve the bottom line. Executives swung the ax on an array of HBO Max exclusives, reportedly in favor of tax breaks. WBD also removed several shows and many episodes of popular series from HBO Max. The company has started licensing out some of its programming to other platforms to add some extra revenue streams.

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You can now watch The Office in VR, as NBC Universal’s Peacock app is now available for the Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro virtual reality headsets. In addition, the companies are partnering to give new Quest owners a free year of the streaming service.

The app brings content like Poker Face, Vanderpump Rules and (coming April 14th) Cocaine Bear to a giant screen in VR. Of course, live sports, including NFL and Major League Baseball games, are also included. Additionally, the app supports multitasking with multiple screens, and you can resize the content window — stretching all the way up to theater-sized.

The app launch and deal are part of a three-year partnership between Meta and NBC Universal, announced in October. Meta says it will also bring “experiences across a variety of NBCU IP, including Universal Monsters, Halloween Horror Nights and The Office to immersive environments like Horizon Worlds and Avatars Store.” For example, Meta’s Horizon Worlds (the company’s metaverse home base) will let you interact with virtual content from The Office later this year.

As for the deal, if you buy a new Meta Quest 2 or Meta Quest Pro headset between now and April 11, 2024, you can redeem a code for 12 months of Peacock Premium (usually $5 per month). Or, if you bought one of those headsets before April 11th, you’ll receive an offer for three free months. However, Peacock Premium still includes full ads; you’ll need Peacock Premium Plus, which costs an extra $5 monthly, for a plan with “fewer ads.” Quest owners with eligible accounts (at least 18 years old and living in the US or its territories) can watch for an email with a promo code and redemption link.

The Library of Congress has announced the latest batch of 25 recordings that are joining the National Recording Registry. There are many notable songs among the lineup, including “Like a Virgin,” "All I Want For Christmas Is You," "Stairway To Heaven," and “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)." Carl Sagan's reading of his book, Pale Blue Dot, is also being inducted. But there's one particular composition that's making its own slice of history, as Koji Kondo's Super Mario Bros. theme becomes the first piece of video game music to enter the registry.

The Mario overworld music, which is officially titled "Ground Theme," is "perhaps the most recognizable video game theme in history," according to the Library of Congress. It's hard to argue with that. Kondo (pictured above left) took inspiration from Japanese jazz fusion band T-Square and Latin music to create magic on the Nintendo Entertainment System's five-channel sound chip for the original 1985 game.

“The amount of data that we could use for music and sound effects was extremely small, so I really had to be very innovative and make full use of the musical and programming ingenuity that we had at the time,” Kondo told the Library of Congress. “I used all sorts of genres that matched what was happening on screen. We had jingles to encourage players to try again after getting a ‘game over,’ fanfares to congratulate them for reaching goals and pieces that sped up when the time remaining grew short."

Kondo, who said it was an honor to have his work placed in the National Recording Registry, is still working for Nintendo. Most recently, you may have heard his work in The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

The Library of Congress houses millions of books, recordings, photos, newspapers, maps and manuscripts. For several years, it also attempted to archive every single tweet. So, you may find it comforting to know that the legendary Mario theme is now immortalized alongside a slapdash post about what you had for breakfast in 2011.

You no longer have to be a developer to see the benefit of an Android 14 preview. Google has released the first Android 14 beta, and there are a few slight but meaningful improvements for early adopters. Apps can now add custom actions and shortcuts to Android's share sheets. In other words, cross-app functionality should be considerably more powerful once enough software takes advantage of the feature.

You'll also see a "more prominent" back arrow in the gesture-based navigation interface. The arrow also complements your device theme or wallpaper. It's a minor touch, but it theoretically helps users understand how gestures work.

Additional upgrades are behind the scenes. Apps can now limit accessibility services' ability to see sensitive data. This prevents malicious services from peeking at information, and reduces the chances of performing critical actions by mistake. Android 14 Beta 1 also supports new vector-based visual effects in apps, such as interpolation and morphing.

Earlier Android 14 previews improved accessibility, battery life and security. There's also stronger support for foldable phones and tablets as well as regional personalization on a per-app basis.

You'll still need either Android Studio's emulator or a recent-enough Pixel device (the Pixel 4a and newer) to try the Android 14 beta. It's easier to install, however, as you now just have to enroll your Pixel in the Android Beta Program to download this and future updates. We still wouldn't use the beta on a mission-critical phone, but it's now reliable enough that you might want to try it on a secondary handset where glitches are tolerable.

Google may not have revealed everything there is to know about Android 14. It typically waits until its I/O conference in the spring to share the major feature sets for upcoming Android launches, and you won't see the first release candidates until June. The completed OS is likely to arrive late in the summer. Think of this as Google slowly drawing a curtain open — it's not quite ready for the full reveal.

This may be a good time to be a fan of Bethesda's game lineup. Sony has detailed the PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium game catalog additions for April, and more than a few of them come from Bethesda studios like id Software and Arkane. Most notably, you'll find Doom Eternal and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. These are no longer fresh games, but they're still some of the better-known first-person shooters in recent memory.

Other Bethesda titles bundled with the subscriptions include Wolfenstein: The Old Blood and the horror game The Evil Within. Not that you're stuck playing one publisher's games. The Pixar-like Kena: Bridge of Spirits is now available, as is the card battler/roguelike hybrid Slay the Spire and Ubisoft's extreme sports title Riders Republic. Sackboy: A Big Adventure is part of the package as well, although it's also available to Essential members.

PS Plus Premium members mostly get access to Bethesda classics. The first three Doom games and Doom 64 are included, as is Dishonored: Definitive Edition.

It's not all good news, unfortunately. Sony warns that Spider-Man, Resident Evil and NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 are some of the games departing the catalog by May 15th. As much as PS Plus' library of games has expanded since Extra and Premium became available, the additions aren't always permanent.

Intel and ARM, arguably two of the most important players in modern chipmaking, are joining forces. On Wednesday, the companies announced a “multigeneration” agreement to optimize Intel’s upcoming 18A fabrication process for use with ARM designs and intellectual property. The deal won’t see Intel’s Foundry Services division produce chipsets for ARM. Instead, it will make it easier for ARM licensees, including the likes of Qualcomm and MediaTek, to hire Intel to make chips in the future.

To start, the firms plan to focus on optimizing Intel 18A for mobile system-on-a-chip designs. In the future, Intel and ARM say their partnership could extend to silicon designed for use in cars, Internet of Things devices and data centers. Additionally, the support Intel will offer ARM licensees will extend beyond wafer production to include “packaging, software and chiplets,” suggesting Intel envisions itself acting as a one-stop shop for companies that want it to produce their ARM designs.

Naturally, Intel is also quick to allude to the geopolitical ramifications of the agreement. “This collaboration will enable a more balanced global supply chain for foundry customers working in mobile SoC design on Arm-based CPU cores,” the company said. According to an estimate Counterpoint Research published last July, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) produces nearly 70 percent of all the chipsets that are critical to modern smartphones. On Monday, China concluded a three-day military exercise that involved the encirclement of Taiwan. The drills heightened fears of an impending war on the island. 

Sony has officially set its latest State of Play showcase for Thursday, April 13th. The stream will be available at 5PM ET on PlayStation’s various social media channels, including Twitch and YouTube. You can also check out the stream via the embedded video below, so keep this tab open.

The company announced that Final Fantasy XVI will be the guest of honor, with 20 minutes of new footage of the forthcoming Square Enix RPG. The game was announced back in 2020 and has suffered from a COVID-19 delay but it finally drops on June 22nd for PlayStation 5. So far, we’ve only seen trailers with minimal gameplay, so 20 minutes of footage is a real treat for anyone looking to get their Chocobo fix.

This is great news for action RPG fans, but it looks like Final Fantasy XVI will be the only game streamed during the event. Sony has given no mention of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Death Stranding 2 or even new titles for that just-released PlayStation VR 2. 

Though the actual gameplay of Final Fantasy XVI remains somewhat mysterious, trailers have highlighted the plot, which involves humans waking up massive monsters called Eikons and all of the fun that follows. The last mainline entry in the series was 2016’s Final Fantasy XV.

Don't expect a blistering frame rate on your Xbox when Redfall arrives on May 2nd. Arkane Studios has revealed that the vampire-slaying shooter will be limited to the 30 frames per second "Quality" mode on Xbox Series X and S at launch. You'll have to wait for an update at an unspecified point in time to use a 60 fps "Performance" option.

The developers haven't explained why the 60 fps mode will have to wait. We've asked Arkane and Bethesda for comment. The 30 fps mode runs at 4K on Xbox Series X, and 1440p on Series S. PC players' frame rates are dictated by their hardware.

Typically, 60 fps modes in games require compromises in visual detail. You may have to run a title at a lower resolution, accept lower-quality effects or settle for fewer on-screen characters. It's not necessarily a simple matter of changing a few parameters — developers may have to verify that they aren't breaking the experience.

Whatever the reasons, this isn't thrilling news for Xbox gamers. Redfall is a fast-paced game that can benefit from the added responsiveness of a 60 fps mode. Its temporary absence won't necessarily detract from the core gameplay, but might prove disappointing if you're the sort who happily sacrifices lush graphics in the name of a smoother experience.