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The 27 best football games of all time

By admin April 7, 2024

The 27 best football games of all time, It’s a sad fact that most of us won’t ever be any good at football. But whether on console or PC, the best games can take you into a fantasy world in which you’re a world beater.

Amazingly, that applies whether you’re controlling a stick figure on an 8-bit computer or a fully realised 3D model with ultra-realistic stubble on a PS5. Seriously – we’ve shed real tears at a line of text on a screen describing how the opposition stick figure has just put us out of the cup.

But then that’s football: it has the power to reduce otherwise sensible people to mere shells of their former selves. And game makers soon realised they were on to something good when they created the first footie sims, because in no time they were flying off the shelf.

The 27 best football games of all time

As a result, there have been hundreds of football games over the years – so many, in fact, that narrowing down our selection to a mere 28 titles was near impossible. Arguments raged across the office – FIFA or Pro Evo? Sensi or Kick Off? – and that’s exactly as it should be. After nearly 30 years, EA and FIFA have now officially cut ties so will EA Sports FC be gracing this list in the future?

Whether you agree or disagree with our list, we hope it’ll spark plenty of memories. Let the arguments begin.

27) Footballer of the Year (1986, ZX Spectrum)

People weren’t sure what to make of this oddball at the time of release. Part management game, part board game, you aimed to take a kid from the old fourth division to the glory of cup finals and Division One.

Success was mostly down to scoring goals in arcade sequences; chances were bought with ‘goal cards’ purchased in-game, and ‘incident cards’ enabled you to delve further into your young player’s life. If this all sounds a bit familiar, FOTY was a big influence on New Star Soccer creator Simon Read…

26) Tracksuit Manager (1988, C64)

We’re not sure how you manage a tracksuit; stupid name aside, this Goliath Games effort was an impressive management game with depth. You arrived just as your team (England by default) had a disastrous World Cup (so, pretty accurate), and had to figure out a road to success.

Highlights were akin to the running commentary you’d today see on a news website, and while that lacked visual impact, it provided plenty of insight into who was providing the goods for your team, and who to send for an early bath.

25) International Soccer (1983, C64)

This C64 classic was the first truly great soccer game. Inspired by the earlier Intellivision Soccer, it utilised a side-on viewpoint, and had two seven-a-side teams battling it out for a chunky, pixelated cup.

Despite creator Andrew Spencer not being a fan of football, he captured the feel of the sport, and squeezed throw-ins, corners and goal-kicks into the cartridge’s tiny memory. It’s also the one football game where you can sometimes head a ball half the length of the field – a bug Spencer noticed but left in because he thought it was funny.

24) Match Day 2 (1987, ZX Spectrum)

Knowing a good thing when they saw it, Jon Ritman and Ocean teamed up for a sequel to Ritman’s original Spectrum smash hit. This time, the players looked a lot like bodybuilders, and the underlying mechanics had been suitably beefed up: along with a far superior deflection system, there was a league format, volleys, flicks and jumping.

Shot strength was determined by a slightly awkward oscillating ‘kickometer’ and the pace was again slow, but this merely made for more strategic play.

23) Behold the Kickmen (2017, Nintendo Switch/PC)

Look, we adore the beautiful game, but sometimes it feels like the sport takes itself a little bit too seriously. Watching a gaggle of shouty adults boot a ball around a field for 90 minutes is hugely entertaining, but it’s also not that important in the grand scheme of things. Behold the Kickmen is here to remind you of that.

This is football as seen through the eyes of someone with absolutely zero interest in the laws and rules of the sport (or physics, for that matter). Kicking, tackling, passing, shooting, and scoring – it’s all here but dialled up to 11 in the most nonsensical way imaginable. In striving to make a complete mockery of football, developer Size Five Games has created one of the most comical and outrageous takes on the sport we’ve ever encountered.

22) Actua Soccer (1995, PS1)

Its name and tagline may have been a shot across Sega’s bows (“There’s nothing virtual about Actua“), but Gremlin Interactive’s title was noteworthy for more than just a bit of snide trollery: it was the very first console football game to offer fully 3D players. These were motion-capped from Sheffield Wednesday stalwarts Chris Woods, Andy Sinton and Graham Hyde, providing a level of clogger realism never before witnessed on consoles. The original featured only national teams, but a Club Edition featuring all 20 teams from the 96/97 Premier League season was released a year later.

21) Ultimate Soccer Manager (1995, Amiga)

For all of Championship Manager‘s statistical goodness, nothing immersed you in a mid-’90s football world like the USM series. Transfers and team selection almost became minor distractions, as you reclined in your office next to a fax machine and Teletext.

There were advertising deals to negotiate, a stadium complex to build, and even bungs to offer the opposition. Yes, this was the George Graham era, when managers were unimpeachable emperors, and USM put you right on the throne with a hotline to football’s dark side.

20) Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 (2016, PS4/Xbox One)

Having spent years in FIFA’s shadow, Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 finally offered a genuine alternative to EA’s annual juggernaut. PES 2017 was a slower, more considered version of the beautiful game, with less emphasis on beating players for pace and more on patient build-up play, but when everything fell into place and you unlocked a defence the sense of satisfaction was glorious. Its lack of official licenses and a fundamentally flawed online mode still made it very hard to convince most FIFA fans to jump ship, and things seem to have gone backwards since then, but for one short year PES‘s glory days were back.

19) Kick Off (1989, Amiga)

Dino Dini’s 16-bit classic added an ingredient that hadn’t really been seen before in football games: speed. The little players darted about the pitch like they were dosed-up on something decidedly not allowed under FIFA’s code, and the ball was initially impossible to control, given that it didn’t remain glued to your feet.

But once mastered, Kick Off made every other football game suddenly seem dull and dated by comparison, even if it was at times the football game equivalent of juggling bars of soap while riding a unicycle down a hill.

18) World Cup 98 (1997, PS1)

EA’s FIFA series has ruled the football gaming world like some kind of digital Sepp Blatter (before all the dodgy payments stuff), but it wasn’t always thus. Back in 1998 it was merely one of several games vying for the hearts and minds of floppy fringed teens, and it was far from being the best.

The previous edition, 1997’s Road To World Cup 98, had marked a big improvement though – while FIFA had always had the official licences, it finally had the gameplay to go with them too. World Cup 98 built on that in some style, keeping the free-flowing football of the previous title and adding in-game tactical changes.

It was all wrapped up in a slick World Cup skin that no other game at the time came close to, complete with commentary and unlockable classic games. Shame we had to put up with Chumbawamba’s execrable Tubthumping every time it loaded though.

17) Football Manager (1982, ZX Spectrum)

Kevin Toms graced the front of Addictive’s Football Manager cover, enticing you to buy the game with his charm and beard. And what a game it was: on your little Spectrum, you could buy and sell players, pick a team, and watch highlights on pitches with comically large goals.

Today, it all looks a bit primitive (the C64 conversion was at least a bit prettier), and yet its simple gameplay remains surprisingly compelling in an era of over-complicated (micro) management sims. If you fancy a go on your smartphone, check out Toms’s remakes for Android and iOS.

16) Tehkan World Cup (1985, arcade)

Tehkan World Cup wasn’t the first overhead football game (that accolade probably goes to Exciting Soccer), but it was the first to make that viewpoint work. This was a fast game, in part down to the trackball controls, and decent goalies also ensured that matches were often frantic end-to-end battles.

The game very heavily influenced Sensible Software, and more or less came to the C64 in the form of Microprose Soccer, but its legacy was really being the grandfather to the outstanding Sensible Soccer series.

15) New Star Soccer (2012, iOS/Android)

In answering the question “How do you create an in-depth career-long football game for mobile devices?”, New Star Soccer said “You don’t!”, and instead served up a selection of mini-games draped over a basic framework that wasn’t a million miles from 1986’s Footballer Of The Year.

Although a touch IAP-hungry, it became a mobile classic, having you balance a kind of hyper-real version of a young footballer’s life (Buy a car! And now a TANK!) with pitch-based exploits and the demands of a boss, advertisers and a nagging partner.

Its successor, New Star Manager, is more in-depth, but lacks the addictive simplicity of the original.

14) FIFA 10 (2009, PS3/Xbox 360)

Like a footballing version of Rocky Balboa vs Apollo Creed, the FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer games slugged it out relentlessly throughout the ’00s without either landing a final knockout punch. Pro Evo was generally the better game, but FIFA retained a strong following by virtue of its proper team and player names and presentation nous. But with FIFA 10 that winning uppercut finally connected.

Both games introduced 360-degree player control for the first time in their 2010 editions, but FIFA 10 did it better, allowing you to expertly slide a pass through at just the right angle for your striker to run on to it. Or, more commonly, for you to expertly slide a pass straight to an opposition defender. Coupled with a wealth of game modes – from Be A Pro to Ultimate Team and Manager Mode – FIFA 10 was a more complete footballing experience than any previous title in the series and finally edged ahead of its rival too. And it hasn’t been toppled since.

13) Emlyn Hughes International Soccer (1988, C64)

A spiritual successor to Andrew Spencer’s International Soccer, Emlyn Hughes International Soccer was the last great side-on football game of the 1980s. Brimming with options, advanced players could utilise techniques such as ‘5-direction’ passing, sliding tackles and backheels, all from a joystick with only a single fire button.

The result was the first truly fluid football game, where you could string together some genuinely breathtaking moves. The goalies were still rubbish, though, natch.

12) Retro Goal (2021, Android/iOS)

Retro Goal is by the New Star Soccer folks, and has some similarities, in being a fusion of management and action. However, rather than veering towards management, much more of this game is played out on the pitch. Instead of full games, you play out highlights, using gestural controls (with the aid of Matrix-style slo-mo) to bury the ball in the back of the net.

We’ve seen grumbles that the game is pay-to-win, but we’ve won everything you can win in the game, without doing a Manchester City. You just need some patience, and to power up couple of strikers so they’ve got enough welly. If you’re not sure, you get ten games for free, whereaand even unlocking the entire game costs a pittance.

Retro Goal is a beautiful throwback to the SEGA days of football games and features such star names as Garrido, Hough and Frezza (not actual players, of course). The convenience of being handheld makes it all the better, too. The first 10 matches of Retro Goal can be played for free. Unlocking the rest costs a quid. Barg.

11) FIFA Street (2005, PS2)

There’s something beautifully nostalgic about FIFA Street. For those who played the 4-a-side street football game in 2005, the game conjures up memories of committing devastating flicks and tricks in favelas and English football pitches. It also came with a soundtrack that has seldom been beaten since, bringing the local sounds of soca, grime, jungle and more to global players.

FIFA Street’s newest form, VOLTA, hasn’t managed to live up to the heights of FIFA Street (that is a tough task to achieve, though). But even playing today, FIFA Street still impresses. Few things beat the feeling of nutmegging Ronaldinho before firing a screamer into the top bins, after all.

10) Virtua Striker (1994, Arcade)

Sega’s legendary AM2 team (also responsible for Daytona USA and Virtua Fighter) developed this groundbreaking title – the first football video game in history to use 3D player models. Being available only in arcades, Virtua Striker was designed for fast and furious action over serious simulation, but for those of us who crammed countless coins into the cabinet, it was the most realistic digital appropriation of the beautiful game we’d ever seen.

9) International Superstar Soccer (1994, SNES)

In hindsight, this SNES classic is a bridge between classic-era side-on fare and modern football titles. A predecessor to PES, the original ISS offered a stunning array of moves – everything from feints to shoulder charges – when various buttons were combined.

Visually, it was also leagues beyond the likes of Match Day and International Soccer. Yet for all its gloss and cleverness, what made ISS appeal most was its fun and frantic nature, retaining a very arcade sensibility, in that brief period before sports titles became totally obsessed with a kind of TV-style realism.

8) Football Manager 2011 (2010, PC)

In its divorce with Eidos, Sports Interactive lost the Championship Manager name but carried on creating the only management games still worth playing – and this edition is one of the greatest, adding a full 3D engine that, if you were so inclined, allowed you to watch every single pass, shot, tackle and horrendous goalkeeping error in a match.

Among the other innovations were press conferences – a small detail that served to add colour to an already frighteningly real football universe that featured no fewer than 117 playable leagues.

7) Kick Off 2 (1990, Amiga)

Kick Off 2 looked an awful lot like its predecessor, and it was really a combination of Kick Off and a couple of expansion disks, all carefully refined. But that attention to detail transformed an enjoyable but occasionally uncontrollable knockabout title into a product that demanded a lot more skill.

Along with tournaments, refs with varying moods and – crucially – fewer bugs, this Amiga sequel dropped the pace and boosted the controls, copious use of ‘aftertouch’ enabling you to fashion the kind of dazzlingly audacious shots of which even Matt Le Tissier would have been proud.

6) Sensible Soccer (1992, Amiga)

Sensible Software were fans of Kick Off 2 and football, but were irritated by the former’s shortcomings that didn’t – as they saw it – do justice to the latter. Sensible Soccer was their attempt to bring to gaming the feeling of how you imagined playing professional football would be, coupled with the kind of attention to detail only a true football geek possesses (including correct hair and skin colour for each of the players).

The game zoomed the viewpoint out, showing more of the pitch and enabling it to dispense with a Kick Off-style radar; passing and shooting was simplified and streamlined and everything was done on the frame, making the game extremely responsive. Until sequel SWOS arrived, this was the pinnacle of the genre.

5) ISS Pro Evolution (1999, PS1)

Ah, the Master League: just how many hours have we spent cocooned in your comforting embrace, steadily building up a team of honest pros and turning them into world beaters? Probably several thousand – and that’s no exaggeration. And it was here that it first appeared.

Although at this stage a relatively basic affair, the Pro Evo Master League still bolted a decent career sim on to an already superb football game. You could buy and sell players, but you used points earnt by winning games, rather than money, and there was none of the complicated day-to-day running of the club that you’d have to endure in Championship Manager. Instead, it gave you the chance to shape the team of your dreams, packing it with attacking midfielders if you chose, or instead making sure you had a Mourinho-solid defence.

While the Master League was a great addition to the series, it would have meant nothing if the gameplay hadn’t matched up to it. But in truth ISS Pro Evolution was already creeping ahead of FIFA by this time; it was more realistic yet also more playable – and that’s a winning combination in any game.

4) Championship Manager: Season 97/98 (1997, PC)

Sports Interactive’s series looms like a Colossus over all management games.

Despite being derided by small-minded dullards as a glorified Excel spreadsheet, Championship Manager‘s masterful tactical engine, reams of accurate data (this was the first instalment allowing you to run more than one league simultaneously) and giant player database wove together a rich, convincing football universe that sat parallel to our own – and it fired the imagination like no other game around.

And it was so, so addictive: the game’s official forums were full of tales of lives all but lost to Champ’s particular brand of “just one more game”-itis, or grown men so proud of taking a lower league team to the FA Cup final that they would don a suit for the occasion.

3) FIFA 21 (2020, PS4/Xbox One)

Recent FIFA games have been all about tweaking a winning formula rather than any major overhauls, but considering the series has been building from a leading position since FIFA 10, that’s no bad thing.

While FIFA 21 only makes very minor changes to its predecessor and certainly isn’t without its faults – defending is very much a secondary concern to scoring goals, there’s far too much showboating online, and goalkeepers punch so often they must all be wearing buttered gloves – it remains the best virtual approximation of the beautiful game.

2) Pro Evolution Soccer 5 (2005, PS2)

There are times in popular culture when a thing – band, TV series, game, whatever – reaches such a peak, you think it can’t possibly stay there. But then it does – for year after year after year. The Simpsons did that from about season 3 to season 9, for instance, but it’s pretty rare. Well, Pro Evolution Soccer managed the same feat.

That its standards did eventually drop was inevitable, but it doesn’t make the glory years from 2002-2005 any less special. We could have picked any of the four games from Pro Evo 2 to Pro Evo 5 and made a case for its inclusion. Frankly, we could have had all of them in this list. But that would be silly, so instead we’ve picked the probable highest point in a series of very high ones.

What made it so special? Just… everything. The Master League had by now developed into a proper four-division set-up, with promotion, relegation and a Champions League equivalent and there were even, finally, proper player names. On the gameplay side, it was as fluid and playable as football games get. Not quite as frantically insane as Sensible Soccer, not quite as gloriously detailed as FIFA 18, but instead a wonderful mid-way between the two extremes.

You could score screamers from 40 yards or tap-ins after a goalmouth scramble. You could waltz through five tackles, if you had a skillful enough player, but you couldn’t get away with just running the ball into the net. In short, it was beautifully balanced.

It couldn’t last, of course – but boy was it fun while it did.

1) Sensible World Of Soccer (1994, Amiga)

Almost 30 years young, SWOS is still top of the league. It took everything that was great about Sensible Soccer and just ran with it. You got the same fantastic arcade-oriented gameplay, but the title comprehensively acknowledged the rest of the world’s existence, with the kind of slavish devotion of a true footballing aficionado.

Management features and player trading were boosted by the inclusion of a whopping 1500 teams and 27,000 players. It should have been the start of something great, but SWOS was somehow allowed to be eclipsed by FIFA and PES. Still, dedicated fans keep the flame alive with leagues, events, and patched versions of the game that incorporate modern data – the wonderful, crazy nutters.

Can it compete with FIFA for realistic gameplay or Football Manager for exhaustive statdom? No, obviously not. And for many people, the classic mid-’00s era Pro Evo beats it as an all-round football game; it’s definitely split this office at any rate.

But for sheer “JUST LOOK AT THAT GOAL! THAT WAS LIQUID FOOTBALL!” joy, it will never be bettered. Go on, then, just one more game.

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Best gaming TVs of 2024

By admin March 20, 2024

Best gaming TVs of 2024 for Xbox Series X, PS5, and more Playing video games is one of the world’s greatest forms of entertainment. They’re visually and narratively immersive, full of action, and not to mention just an excellent way to blow off steam. But no PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, or gaming PC is complete without a top-notch TV to take gameplay to the next level. But let’s be clear: Not just any TV is going to deliver the type of gaming experience you deserve.

You’ll want to make sure your TV is optimized for online and offline gaming. Ultra HD resolution and a 120Hz native refresh rate are good specs to start, but you’ll also want to look for TVs with gameplay optimizations, such as HDR, Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), and Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) support.

We know how tricky shopping for a new TV can be, so we’ve put together this roundup of the best gaming TVs for 2024 to guide you on your quest for gold.

TCL Q6 Series QLED

Best budget gaming TV

The TCL Q6 Series is the bottom rung on TCL’s flagship ladder (with the Q7 and QM8 representing the higher rungs). In terms of HDMI inputs, you’ll be working with three 2.0 ports. All three of these inputs also support VRR, but the real win with the Q6 is the set’s incredibly low input lag. This is particularly relevant for competitive gamers who can’t miss a beat during an online match.

The Q6 Series also does a great job at handling both HDR and SDR performance. The former delivers gameplay imagery that is nice and vibrant, while the latter amps up the peak brightness even more. If you’re going to be doing a majority of your gaming in a well-lit room, it’s important that your TV can get bright enough to beat the sunlight and whatever ambient fixtures are contributing luminance. Fortunately, the Q6 also happens to have good reflection handling, so even if the screen is a little on the dark side, you shouldn’t see much in the way of glare.

One thing that’s missing on the Q6 Series though is local dimming, and the set’s native refresh rate is only 60Hz. While TCL attempts to counter this with the Game Accelerator 120 (picture processing that makes 60Hz look more like 120Hz), the TV’s overall response time still takes a hit because of this.

But if you’re looking to save a few bucks on your TV purchase, and want a gaming set that satisfies several must-haves for offline and online gameplay, the TCL Q6 Series should definitely be a consideration.

Best gaming TVs of 2024

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Hisense U6K Mini-LED

Another great budget gaming TV

The Hisense U6K may not be as colorful or bright as the brand’s higher-priced U7K and flagship U8K models, but when it comes to cost-friendly TVs that can deliver a great gaming experience, the Hisense U6K checks all the boxes. But what are the best gaming features of this TV, you may be asking?

The biggest wins (at least in our book) are the U6K’s fantastic contrast, VRR support, and solid response time. When Game Mode is enabled, the preset prioritizes motion above all else, delivering a very smooth-looking picture and low input lag. And because the U6K is also good at dealing with bright rooms, you won’t have to worry about reflection handling during the sunnier parts of the day.

Unfortunately, when you’re using Game Mode, you can’t have VRR and local dimming running at the same time. This means you’ll have to make a choice between near-instantaneous motion performance or brightness and contrast accuracy. And considering the TV only supports HDMI 2.0, and has some trouble with response time during darker gameplay scenes, this could be a tough call to make.

None of the above is enough to disqualify the Hisense U6K though. Available in 55-, 65-, and 75-inch sizes, and with prices starting around $400, this Hisense QLED still punches well above its weight class.

Sony XR X93L Mini-LED

Best midrange gaming TV

We’re suckers for a solid mini-LED TV, so when we were putting this list together, one of the first entries we knew we’d include was the Sony XR X93L. Sold in 65-, 75-, and 85-inch sizes, one of the chief benefits of mini-LED lighting is that these types of TVs typically have more local dimming zones. And because these screens can get exceptionally bright, you want the kind of lightning-fast dimming that can keep up with big blasts of light.

Luckily, the X93L is a decorated champ when it comes to mini-LED lighting and local dimming, which also makes it an awesome TV for gaming. Now you’ll definitely be able to hook up your Xbox Series X/S or Nintendo Switch to the X93L, and both the picture quality and motion clarity should be extremely good. But because this is a Sony TV, the Sony-produced Playstation 5 receives some extra gaming perks you won’t get on other consoles.

One of these features is called Auto HDR Tone Mapping, which optimizes the PS5’s HDR capabilities when you’re first setting it up with the X93L. Then there’s Auto Genre Picture Mode, which automatically changes the picture preset to Game Mode when you’re playing video games, and switches back to the Standard setting when you power the console down.

The Sony XR X93L is also equipped with HDMI 2.1 ports, supports VRR, and has extremely low input lag and response time during gameplay.

LG C3 OLED

Another excellent midrange gaming TV

When it comes to OLED TVs, LG has made quite the name for itself over the last several years. This is to the point where companies like Samsung are buying its OLED TV screens directly from LG Display. If we made our own OLEDs, we’d probably do the same.

As far as gaming goes, we’re more than glad to call the LG C3 one of our go-to models in the upper midrange category. For a couple of years now, LG has been developing and implementing brighter OLED screens (called Evo panels) on many of its higher-end models, along with a feature called Brightness Booster that adds extra peak and color brightness all around. When you combine this enhanced illumination with the already-astonishing color gamut and inky blacks of an LG OLED, you’re left with a stunning picture that is perfect for console and PC gaming.

With HDMI 2.1 support across all four of the C3’s inputs, we expect big things when it comes to lag, response time, and overall motion handling. Thankfully, LG more than delivers on all these fronts, and the addition of an automated Game Mode optimizes the colors and contrast for whatever you’re playing even further.

Admittedly, your overall HDR brightness takes a bit of a hit when Game Mode is engaged. But the C3 is also no straggler when it comes to reflection handling, so even if you’re dealing with some extra sunlight, the rays shouldn’t affect your gameplay experience too drastically.

Samsung S95C OLED

Best premium-level gaming TV

Welcome to the world of flagship gaming TVs, where the prices may be high, but the picture and performance is literally impossible to beat. We have two contenders in this final category, and the first on our list is a premium powerhouse known as the Samsung S95C OLED.

Have you ever heard of QD-OLED TVs? This is a relatively new display tech that you can find from brands like Samsung and Sony, although both companies seem to be doing away with the “QD” portion of the moniker these days. Regardless, the acronym stands for “Quantum Dot-Organic Light Emitting Diode.”

The Samsung S95C just so happens to be a QD-OLED, and is equipped with not only a full layer of quantum dots for enhanced brightness and colors, but also uses an OLED panel with millions of self-emissive pixels that can be toggled on or off in an instant. That’s on top of Samsung’s Neural Quantum Processor 4K that automatically upscales and calibrates picture quality on a frame-by-frame basis. But what about pure gaming tech, you may be asking?

Well friends, each of the S95C’s four HDMI inputs are 2.1 certified, meaning you’ll be able to enjoy Playstation, Xbox, and PC gaming in full 4K HDR at up to 120Hz, and up to 144Hz for compatible PCs. And thanks to ultra-low input lag and response time, the S95C delivers blistering-fast motion without devolving into blurry images. And while we wish the TV supported Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HDR10+ gameplay looks terrific.

Sony XR A95L QD-OLED

Another great premium-level gaming TV

Our other top pick for gaming TVs in 2023 has to go to the godlike Sony XR A95L. Available in 55, 65, and 77-inch sizes, this is another QD-OLED set that employs quantum dots and self-emissive pixels, with a healthy dash of Sony’s Cognitive Processor XR thrown in for some of the best picture processing and upscaling in town.

As you can guess from our writeup on the Samsung S95C, the QD-OLED results are simply amazing. We’re talking incredible peak brightness levels, rich colors, unbelievable contrast, and lightning-fast motion handling for the A95L. But beyond the flagship features that we most certainly expect from a TV that starts pricing at $2,800, what impeccable gaming tech can we anticipate from this bad boy?

Well for starters, like the midrange Sony XR X93L, the A95L model is optimized for Playstation 5 gameplay. Two of the TV’s four HDMI inputs are 2.1 certified, with support for 4K at up to 120Hz. To further buttress the motion handling, the A95L also includes support for VRR and ALLM, ensuring you’ll experience as little lag as possible when playing online or offline.

But perhaps our favorite A95L gaming feature is the set’s Auto HDR Tone Mapping. This is a feature you’ll enable during the initial setup of your PS5 with the A95L. Once activated, all of your gameplay visuals will receive full HDR treatment (as long as the actual game is available in HDR), giving you the best brightness, colors, and contrast, regardless of the genre.

The Sony XR A95L also supports Multi-View, which lets you game on one part of the TV screen, while the second half of the screen can be used to stream a movie or show from apps like YouTube, Netflix, and Prime Video. And like many of the models in this roundup, the A95L comes with a gaming dashboard that lets you adjust things like motion clarity and picture presets without having to go into the TV’s main settings menu.

Frequently Asked Questions

How we choose the best gaming TVs

Before we sign off, we thought we’d go over how we’ve come up with these entries, and what’s important to us when selecting a gaming TV.

The first thing we look for is low input lag. Because if there’s too much delay between the action of your thumbs and the action on screen, well, that’s just a frustration nobody needs. Plus, it can be a huge disadvantage in competitive gameplay, where a few milliseconds literally can be the difference between a win or a loss.

Next, we look for solid picture quality in the TV’s “game mode” preset, which is what you’ll want to use for the lowest input lag. The picture quality doesn’t have to be videophile-grade awesome, but it can’t be trash, either. Today’s game graphics are gorgeous, and you deserve all that gorgeousness, so we seek to find the best balance between low input lag and awesome picture.

Then we need to see great motion resolution. We don’t have to have 120Hz native panels for good motion resolution. A 60Hz TV can look good, but, not all of them do, so we want to make sure we see as little blurring and stutter as possible for the best clarity during fast-moving gameplay.

But since we mentioned 120Hz, that definitely is nice to have, along with some other advanced gaming features like variable refresh rate (VRR), auto-game mode, Dolby Vision gaming, and maybe even up to a 144Hz refresh rate in some cases. We also want to make sure that these TVs do a nice job at displaying both HDR and SDR gaming content.

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Best Nintendo DS Emulators for Windows and Mac in 2024

By admin March 15, 2024

If you are looking for the best Nintendo DS emulator for Windows, Mac, and Android devices then keep reading as we have mentioned some of the best just for you.

A gaming console helps in enhancing the gaming experience which you won’t find while using the keyboard or mouse. Out of the many gaming consoles we have here listed some best emulators for Nintendo DS. The reason we are sharing this particular model is that there are more than 150 million people who bought it and it was discontinued in 2013.

So if you are one of the 150 million users who are still looking for the best emulator options then keep reading to know each and every detail about the software.

Best Nintendo DS Emulators to Use in 2024

Here are some of the emulators that can help you use your Nintendo DS Emulator Windows 11 easily for any game.

1. NO$GBA: Best Nintendo DS Emulator Under Active Development

The name can be tough to read but it is pronounced or read as No Cash GBA. This is one of the best Nintendo DS emulators. In the beginning, the emulator was named as Gameboy Advance emulator before it got support for Nintendo DS and DSi, later it got the name NO$GBA. The standard version for Windows has all the features that can help you run Mario, Pokemon, and other regular titles, however, the NO$GBA debug version for Windows has been designed for programmers.

The best part about these DS emulators for PC is that both versions are available for free to use. The latest version of NO$GBA is v3.02 which was released in May 2020. The new update supports multiplayer mode for most of the GBA and DS ROMs.

The reason why this Nintendo DS emulator for Mac is in the top position is that it has great compatibility with commercial DS ROMs. It also supports Nintendo DS homebrew. Using this emulator you can play various games like Pokemon Diamond on full screen without any interruption. It uses very few resources which is why it is a great pick.

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2. DeSmuME: Best Open Source Nintendo DS Emulator

DeSmuME is another great Nintendo DS emulator which is open-source and free to use. This emulator is available for all the major OS including Mac, Linux, and Windows. It supports both 32-bit and 64-bit, apart from this it even supports graphics modification depending on the system you are using and its capabilities.

This best DS emulator for Windows 11 PC offers a cheat code manager, save slot, and USB controllers support. The save slot feature lets you continue from where you left off. For Windows devices, the emulator depends on the Microsoft UCRT DLLs that are in your system. The users of this Nintendo DS emulator for Mac and Windows should even patch the latest version available for stable and better performance.

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3. MelonDS

The next software on the list of best Nintendo DS emulators is MelonDS. It is also an open-source emulator that works on every Windows PC. The emulator is fast and offers accurate emulation for the Nintendo DS. Using the emulator you can run your favorite Pokemon and Mario games.

The features list of this emulator might really interest you. The list includes JIT recompiler, 3D upscaling, Joystick support, and OpenGL renderers like many features that help in fast emulation and better user experience.

Though only single-player gameplay is available, unlike others that offer multiplayer. Things to note, the emulator requires firmware and BIOS dumps for Nintendo DS because the developers do not offer Nintendo DSi titles. The same is with the Nintendo DSi titles you need to have the BIOS, NAND, and firmware. It offers an ad-free experience too, looking at all the features offered the emulator is one of the best Nintendo DS emulators for Mac and Windows.

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4. RetroArch

RetroArch is a great emulator which lets you play games, media players, and other applications. This is a free-to-use and open-source emulator which everyone can use easily. Using this you can play classic games on every computer without any issue. The interface as seen in the images is very simple and easy to navigate options.

Apart from the common features, it also has some unique features which you might like. The list of features includes netplay, 4K upscaling, rewinding, shaders, next frame response time, machine translation, and many others.

This DS emulator for PC is also available for mobile devices. It is available for all the latest versions of Mac, Windows Linux, Android, Raspberry Pi, and iOS devices. Other than this if you have an older version you can still use this emulator easily as it supports older versions too. It can run on game consoles like 2DS, 3Ds, U, Switch, PSP, PS2, PS3, Wii, and others.

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5. OpenEmu: Best Nintendo Ds Emulator for Mac

Yet another free and open-source emulator that works on most of the systems. It can be used for various gaming consoles like Game Boy, Genesis, Nintendo GS, and many others. If you have used Apple Music then you might find it a little similar to that. Using the emulator it is very easy to browse, add, and organize.

The layout has multiple screens that support cheat codes, shows saved states and many other options. All the games that you will play will be organized in a library for easy access. You can even create a separate collection using various titles from different consoles. The software smartly maps the controls of various devices including DualShock (3 and 4), PlayStation, Wiimote, and many others.

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6. Ensata

Ensata is a Nintendo-developed emulator that works perfectly with the Nintendo DS. It was developed as a debug target for the development of DS apps. The software emulates the ARM7 and ARM9 dual screen processors, using the mouse cursor as a touch screen. The leaked source codes have made this available to add commercial games.

The feature which makes it one of the best DS emulators for Windows is accurate rendering. It aims to remove the gap between the two screens of the actual Nintendo DS console. The software doesn’t even require much from the PC to run. All you need to use Ensata is an Intel Pentium or above processor with a minimum of 256Mb of RAM and GPU with support of DirectX 9. You can use this Nintendo DS emulator for Windows 11 and older versions easily.

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7. iDeas

Next up is iDeas which is another great Nintendo DS emulator which is free to use. It can easily run several ROMs with support for major NDS functionalities. Inspired by the N64 emulator it uses the plugin system. Using this software you can run great games like ZooKeeper, Mario 64. Though you might witness some glitches while playing, there are a few that can be ignored.

Just like Ensata it also supports the dual-screen setup, using which you can easily take screenshots of both screens. Moreover, it also offers touchscreen supports that let you remap keys according to your preferences and ease.

The only negative point of this software is that the development of iDeas has been stopped, so the new games aren’t compatible with this Nintendo DS emulator for PC. But for the old games, it is one of the best options to go for.

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8. NeonDS

If you have a feeling that these Nintendo DS emulators cannot run the commercial games then you might be wrong because NeonDS is built for that purpose. The software offers fast rendering even with the old PCs which other emulators lack to offer. The rendering system is optimized to OpenGL 2.0 which offers freedom to record screens as well.

Though the emulator does not offer full compatibility it can still run on all major titles like Scribblenauts. Other than this there is another negative of this software, it hasn’t got new updates for a long time now which makes it incompatible with new games. Only if you are trying an emulator for better performance then you can try this DS emulator too.

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9. DuoS

Just like NeonDS, this is also another abandoned project which might not be ideal if you are looking for new games. This emulator has both features GPU acceleration and dynamic recompiler with software renderer. This is a mixture of two emulators that we have listed above. It is a great software that offers quick processing and some of the greatest features.

The development of this software caused the downfall otherwise it would have been the best Nintendo DS emulator to use. The developers even planned to release new iDuos for DSi and Ds emulators for mobile devices, but unfortunately, none of them came into the market. Above all, it is still a must-try software as it offers some of the features which might help you.

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10. Citra: Best Nintendo 3DS Emulator

Citra is among the best DS emulators for PC that you can try. It is a free and open-source emulator which can be used by anyone easily. The software can run most of the titles including commercial 3DS on Windows, Linux, Mac, and Android. Using the emulator you can play games like Pokemon X/Y that require HLE audio and LLE audio.

However, unlike other software, this emulator might not work well in the old system as well as it works in new ones. It requires a powerful and fast processor to have a smooth run. You might even face issues with some games or apps as it will not load and only show a black screen. While the other compatible games run smooth and there you won’t face any issues. It supports WiFi but it doesn’t support Nintendo’s servers so if you want an emulator for the Nintendo server then you can skip this one.

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11. Drastic Ds Emulator

Drastic Ds emulator offers some of the best features which help it save a position on the list of Best Nintendo DS emulators. The software offers to save states, button mapping, controller support, and many other features. It can also increase the screen resolution if you wish to do that. For high-end smartphones, this one can be a great performer.

Though the screen of Nintendo DS is different from the mobile screen, to compensate for that the software offers as many as six different layouts. The layouts are single view, stacked view, keeping one screen shorter than the other, default view. This is the best NDS emulator but a paid software that charges $4.99, but looking at the features list the price is worth paying.

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12. Lemuroid

The next emulator on our list of best Nintendo DS emulators is Lemuroid. This is a great pick for Android users as it is completely free and ad-free too. Just like other emulators, it supports most of the systems like Atari 7800, Atari 2600, Atari Lynx, Super Nintendo, Nintendo, Game Boy, and others. It offers some of the important features like gamepad support, quick save, and others. It can connect easily to one gamepad.

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13. NDS4droid

The next name on this list of the top best ds emulator alternatives is NDS4droid. This emulator is available for Android devices. The tool is completely free and does not require any kind of payment to use. The interface of this emulator is quite simple and straightforward. Additionally, you get other features with the best NDS emulator.

The emulator is quite popular for its effective and ever-lasting save states. Hence, you can easily use the tool to save the game at any point. Apart from the Nintendo devices, the emulator can also run the OUYA games easily. Moreover, the tool does not pose any kind of security threat to your device and its files in any way.

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14. Project64

The next name on this list of the top best ds emulator alternatives is Project64. With the help of this lightweight emulator, you can easily play the realtor Nintendo games on your Windows PC. The interface of the emulator is quite simple and basic. Additionally, the tool is also built on a retro theme, hence all the users of Nintendo can easily get the best out of the emulator as required. The gameplay support offered by Project64 is just outstanding and amazing with a simple and steeper learning curve. Additionally, users can also play OUYA games using this emulator.

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15. EmuBox

The next on our list of Best Nintendo DS Emulator for Windows and Android is EmuBox. The website enables users to have a top notch gaming experience for retro games with the help of online emulators. It offers easy search options, storage over the cloud, stats display, friendlist, WebRTC multiplayer gaming, and more.

You can go through the list of authorized users and their recommendations. In the review section find out the user experiences and learnings to improve your gaming. All you need to do is scan the desired game and play it on your Android device.

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16. Fast DS Emulator

Yet another best Nintendo DS emulator on our list is Fast DS Emulator. It was formerly known as NDS Emulator and is one of the more recent additions to the market. It supports all of the fundamental components, such as external controller compatibility, save states, load states, and programmable on-screen gamepads, among other things. In terms of compatibility, the emulator worked perfectly with the titles that we put it through its paces, although we only put around a half dozen games through it.

The lower rating on Google Play is primarily the result of some bugs and other concerns. On the other hand, this is one of the few DS emulators that is currently undergoing active development, so we hope that the creator can iron out those kinks.

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17. NDS Boy! NDS Emulator

Next, we would like to introduce you to NDS Boy! It is among the best Nintendo DS emulators to play Nintendo DS games on a Windows computer because of its sleek and simple interface, the ability to save and load game states, and customizable graphics settings and audio/input game controls.

Moreover, support for cheat codes and an option to play your favorite games in full-screen mode contributes to justifying this emulator’s position on our list. The only prerequisite is your computer should have at least 2GB of RAM and a 2GHz processor.

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18. DSemu

Here’s another one of the best Nintendo DS emulators for you. This is a great emulator that is built on an open-sourced platform and hence highly customizable. The interface of the tool is very easy to use and alluring. Moreover, the tool even allows you to play a number of games on your Windows device with ease.

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Frequently Asked Questions: Nintendo DS Emulator Windows 11 Edition

You may have some queries related to the best DS emulator for PC, Mac, and Android. To quench your curiosity, we are answering some of the most commonly asked questions related to the same. We hope that these questions and answers will help you.

Q.1 Are emulators illegal?

No, emulators are not illegal to use. Emulators of any kind, whether it is the best ds emulator for pc otherwise, can be used and shared with others freely as required. You will not be under any copyright laws unless you share the ROMs illegally online.

Q.2 What is the best free DS emulator?

If you are looking for the best free DS emulator, then DeSmuMe and NO$GBA are the top ones available for you. You can use and modify these emulators as required and proceed to enjoy the gameplay.

Q.3 How can I play DS games on a PC without an emulator?

No, you can not play DS games on a PC without an emulator. It is compulsory to use an emulator to play the games as the operating system of the PC and the Nintendo DS are different from each other. Hence, it is wise to use the best DS emulator for Mac or PC listed above for an optimal gaming experience.

Final Words on the List of Best Nintendo DS Emulators

Now that you have gone through the list of the best Nintendo DS emulators we hope that you have found the best emulator for you. The software we have mentioned can be used for various PCs and most of them are compatible with the older ones too. If you have any suggestions regarding the list then you can drop your suggestions in the comment section below.

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Software

Best IPTV Players for Windows PC in 2024

By admin February 24, 2024

In this blog, we will discuss some of the best IPTV players for Windows 10, 11 which can bring any television channel of the world to your doorsteps.

Till now, the primary source of watching television shows was broadcast channels supported by antennas, satellite dishes, and fiber optic cables.

However, with the rapid growth of the Internet and the smart devices market, watching TV channels directly from a desktop PC has become a new trend.

All thanks to the Internet Protocol television services, a.k.a IPTV. You can use an IPTV player to watch entertaining TV shows, video on demand, live TV channels, and lots more. Through the IPTV Players, you can boost up the ways of your entertainment. No matter where you are and from where you belong to, with the help of IPTV Player you can stream any sort of TV shows and movies quite effortlessly. What you need to do is just sign-up and login at once. Thereafter, watch your preferred movie or TV shows without any sort of hindrance.

Before we move on to the list, let’s first understand what an IPTV player is, how it works, and why it’s important to get the best one for your desktop. Later on, you’ll get to know about the best Windows IPTV Player!

What is IPTV Player?

Internet Protocol television (IPTV) is a service that provides support for multimedia streaming through Internet Protocol (IP) networks. Users can buy an IPTV subscription and watch all TV channels, live media and video on demand (VOD) services anytime over their desktop PCs, laptops as well as Android and iOS devices using an IPTV player.

How Does IPTV Work?

IPTV provides access to television channels and other digital content via IP based networks. It relies on a packet-switched network that covers both unicast (video on demand) and multicast (live TV) streams.

Why Do You Need An IPTV Player For Windows?

In today’s world of digital binge-watching, the traditional television formats, including broadcast/cable networks are on the verge of extinction.

Nowadays, watching movies online and streaming live TV and sports directly from PCs, laptops and tablets has become a new normal. In light of this, a dedicated IPTV player comes extremely handy in playing various streaming protocols on Windows devices.

22 Best IPTV Players For Windows 10, 8, 7 In 2024

Turn your Windows PC into a live TV with best IPTV players. Choose the best-suited one from the complete list discussed below!

1. VLC Media Player

This widely acclaimed IPTV player does not need an introduction. It is an open-source multimedia player that can effortlessly manage all your local media and stream IPTV content, without compromising your security and privacy. It uses m3u files to stream IPTV and other multimedia content.

How to Use VLC Media Player?

All you need is the latest version of VLC and follow a few simple steps to stream IPTV into your VLC player.

• Launch VLC Player.

• Open Network Streams from the Media section.

• Enter the URL of the IPTV network and press Enter.

• All your IPTV channels should now be visible in the left panel of VLC.

Key Features of VLC Media Player:

• It offers support for a number of streaming protocols, multimedia files and DVDs and CDs.

• Built-in codecs – MKV, MP3, MPEG-2, WebM, etc.

• Completely free from computer viruses, spyware and harmful ads

• Highly compatible with Windows, Mac, Linux and mobile platforms.

VLC Media Player comes with a simple interface and is undoubtedly one of the most user-friendly IPTV players.

Read Also : Best Free Phone Spying Apps 2024

2. My lPTV Player

My IPTV is another powerful media player that comes with an electronic program guide (EPG) to help you watch the best IPTV channels on your Windows PC or laptop.

If you have an active IPTV subscription, you can use My IPTV app for listening to online radio channels and watching digital TV and video on demand (VOD).

How to Use My lPTV Player?

Follow the simple steps below to setup My IPTV app on your Windows:

• Lunch My IPTV on your Windows computer or laptop.

• Navigate to the ‘Settings’ menu.

• Load your m3u playlist, select your preferred IPTV channel, and then click ‘OK’.

Key Features of MY IPTV:

• The software supports multiple channels easily

• By default, all channels are grouped based on their genre

• You can easily protect your data with a PIN

• The player has a simple process to follow for adding new channels

It comes with an easy to use interface and can seamlessly stream your m3u playlist from either local storage or any other remote location. If you want to give it a try, you can download the My IPTV app from Microsoft Store for free.

3. Kodi

Kodi is another stunning application that not only lets you watch your local media content but also serves as a great alternative to IPTV player for Windows PC. You can use its media player to play your favorite digital channels directly from your desktop PC.

You can also install various third-party add-ons to stream live TV and watch videos on demand (VOD).

How to Use Kodi?

If you wish to use Kodi as an IPTV player for Windows 10, 11 follow the simple steps below:

• Launch the Kodi application and select the ‘Settings’ option.

• Install the PVR IPTV Simple Client add-on on your Kodi application.

• Add the M3U playlist to the add-on for streaming IPTV.

• Wait for the PVR IPTV Simple Client add-on to finish the process of importing channels.

• Once done, select the channel you wish to watch and click the ‘Play’ or ‘OK’ button.

Key Features of Kodi:

• The player has a simple and user-friendly interface

• To watch any programs you can simply paste the URL in the software and it will show you all the results

• It offers the best cross-compatibility features

• The player is fully customized, you can change any part of the player easily

For a free software, Kodi media player definitely offers more than it should, taking into account its simple interface and excellent streaming capabilities.

4. Free TV Player

Free TV player offers easy access to all of your favorite TV shows, movies, channels, and Internet Radio, making it one of the best IPTV players for Windows.

To enjoy live TV shows on your desktop or laptop, simply upload your M3U playlist and you are good to go.

How to Use Free TV Player?

Below are a few simple steps to set up Free TV Player and stream IPTV on desktop PC:

• Launch the Free TV player app on your device

• Enter the URL of M3U playlist provided by the IPTV service provider

• Select your favorite channel and click on the play button

Key Features of Free TV Player:

• It offers both free as well as paid plan

• You get more than 40 channels on the free plan

• Other than the default channels you can easily paste links and stream in no time

• The player has a built-in list of shows to stream

This lightweight free IPTV player definitely deserves a try, if you want to watch a lot of exiting digital content and live TV programs in a hassle-free manner.

5. Simple TV

Simple TV is one of the best and most used IPTV players for PC. It offers a convenient and free mechanism for viewing TV shows and other multimedia content right from your laptop or computer.

You can use this portable application to watch IPTV and listen to radio channels. It comes with an organized interface that supports easy browsing of IPTV channels.

How to Use Simple TV?

You can use Simple TV as a free IPTV player for PC by following some easy instructions provided below.

• Launch SimpleTV player on your Windows device.

• Right-click ‘Playlist’ on the navigation bar and select the ‘load playlist’ option.

• Next, choose the ‘load from m3u file’ option.

• Once the M3U playlist is ready, you can play the IPTV channels of your choice by simply clicking on them.

Key Features of Simple TV:

• Snapshot capabilities and crop features

• Contrast, brightness, and volume adjustment functionality

• It can download playlists created by other users

• It can support LUA script and many more

6. ProgTV/ ProgDVB

ProgTV is another well-known IPTV app for Windows used for streaming live TV channels and listening to radio on PCs.

It works on two independent interfaces and is known for its easy access to digital content and comfortable user experience.

It can remotely control your Home Theatre PC and can also function well with a mouse. ProgTV supports IPTV channels, Internet TV and radio, Rodina TV, Sovok TV, DVB-S, DVB-S2, DVB-T2, and many other data sources.

How to Use ProgTV/ProgDVB?

Follow the steps given below to set up ProgDVB and ProgTV app as a IPTV player for Windows:

• Choose the ‘TV Sources’ option from the main menu of the ProgTV application.

• Select the ‘IPTV Client’ option and then input your M3U URL in the playlist box.

• Next, choose the channel you wish to watch from the ‘Channel list’ in the main menu.

Key Features of ProgTV/ProgDVB:

• Radio and TV channel recording

• Network Broadcasting and Teletext

• HD TV support

• 10 Bands equalizer and a fast preview of Mosaic channels

7. IPTV

This is currently ranks among the best IPTV players for Windows PCs and laptops as it allows you to watch your favorite TV shows and digital channels via numerous live media sources for free.

However, the IPTV app doesn’t broadcast any of these media sources for streaming digital multimedia, it just offers you a platform where you can watch IPTV content.

How to Use IPTV?

Follow the simple steps below to stream IPTV on PC:

• Launch the IPTV app on your Windows computer or laptop

• Go to the Settings option

• Enter the URL (Provided by the IPTV service provider) to load your M3U playlist

• Click on OK to stream your preferred channel

Key Features of IPTV:

• It offers an easy user interface which is ideal for every user

• To stream, you can easily add a playlist or EPG source

• It has a feature to simply paste URL for searching

• Huge list of channels to satisfy any user

Moreover, it comes with an elegant interface that aims to provide modern TV experience. Users can download this IPTV player for free from Microsoft Store.

8. GSE SMART IPTV

This is one of the most popular IPTV solutions to watch digital channels and TV shows on your device. GSE SMART IPTV is primarily designed for mobile platforms such as iOS and Android devices, but if you wish to use it on your Windows 7/8/8.1/10 PC, you can do it by using an emulator.

For this IPTV application to work on your Windows device, you should install BlueStacks first. BlueStacks is a popular emulator that helps Android OS based applications to run on Windows and macOS devices.

How to Use GSE SMART IPTV?

Below are step-by-step instructions on how to use Smart IPTV player on Windows PC:

• Launch BlueStacks and then sign in with your Google credentials.

• Download GSE SMART IPTV app from either Google Play Store or using the below link.

• Install the application and open it.

• Enter the URL and upload your M3U playlist.

• Click on ‘OK’ and then watch any live IPTV channel as per your liking.

Key Features of GSE SMART IPTV:

• GSE SMART IPTV player for Windows comes in multiple beautiful themes.

• It provides effective parental control options for managing kids’ activity and screen time.

• It lets you add external subtitles for streaming IPTV content.

9. OttPlayer

Don’t have enough money to pay the monthly subscription of your television channels? We got you secured, here we present OttPlayer which is one of the best IPTV players for Windows 10, 11 PC. IPTV stands for Internet Protocol Television. By using OttPlayer you can watch your favorite TV channels and shows for free by using your pc and internet. OttPlayer allows its users to watch IPTV from your internet service provider or any other source on your phones, tablets, and set-top box or TV, and all this facility in a centralized control via the website. Enjoy IPTV Enjoy life.

How to Use OttPlayer?

Follow the steps below to setup OttPlayer and stream your favorite IPTV channels:

1.First of all, you have to arrange a list of channels, which you can take from any of your convenient sources.

2.You need to get an account from https://ottplayer.es

3.Put registration info i.e. login and password

4.Download the playlist to the website i.e. you downloaded previously, https://ottplayer.es

5.Put the playlist on any compatible device

6.Enjoy IPTV watching.

Key Features of OttPlayer:

• OttPlayer supports various protocols like HLS, RTSP, TS by UDP RTMP

• It also provides playlist support M3U8.

• Provides easy management of channels through icons of respective channels.

• Service to the users is absolutely free and with no ads.

Among all the best IPTV apps, this application is quite interesting and worthwhile. OttPlayer’s easy-to-use interface makes it is an ideal choice for millions of users across the world.

10. Plex

Plex is the most stunning IPTV Players that you should definitely try to enjoy smart video streaming. Plex is highly capable of transcoding almost any sort of media file. Moreover, the user interface is quite easy and simple to use. Plex lets you stream your personal content as well including videos, music, movies, and so on.

How to Use Plex?

Here is how to access Plex as an IPTV player for PC.

• Firstly, signup for a Plex account and then, install the Plex media server by running the setup file.

• After this, launch Cigaras IPTV channel and then select Channels under the online content head category.

• Thereafter, navigate to the IPTV addon and click on it, then click on Settings.

• Now, paste the URL of your IPTV .m3u file, then click on the Save button.

• Next, search for the channels available and add them to your Playlist and enjoy.

Key Feature of Plex:

• The player is compatible with multiple platforms

• It offers great quality video output for every screen

• You get more than 200 free movies and shows

• Free version also has 100+ channels

11. MYIPTV

Looking for the best IPTV players for Windows? Then, MyIPTV is the one that fits perfectly. You can use all of its supreme-quality features for absolutely free. With this, you can play live TV programs, and videos through m3u playlists quite effortlessly. Its user interface is extremely easy to understand.

How to Use MYIPTV?

Here are the steps that you need to follow to access it!

• Head to the Settings.

• Now, you need to add an all-new playlist and EPG source.

• Now, add any URL or local list of channels.

• Switch back to Settings.

• After this, choose the channel playlist and click on the refresh option.

Key Features of MYIPTV:

• The player lets you easily stream live TV programs and videos

• It offers a very easy to operate interface which can be adopted by anyone

• You can easily add a new playlist and EPG source from the settings tab

• The player lets you easily record program for later access

12. Perfect Player Windows

Perfect Player Windows is a free IPTV player that you can try. This player offers amazing digital content right to your PC without charging any money, which is why it is one of the best IPTV players for Windows 10, 11 and previous versions. This is an advanced program that comes with a semi-transparent OSD and a full-screen display option.

How to Use Perfect Player Windows?

Here are the instructions you need to perform to use Perfect Player as IPTV/Media player.

• Launch the Perfect Player application on your Windows system.

• Click on the ‘Add Playlist’ button, paste M3U URL, and then choose ‘OK’.

• As soon as your playlist gets loaded, you can click on the channel name followed by ‘Play’ to begin streaming IPTV content.

Key Features of Perfect Player Windows:

• You can easily set up the player and use it as per needs, it is a flexible player.

• You can even enjoy a full-screen display for your favorite content without paying any charges.

• The player supports multiple languages, which means every human from all around the globe can use this amazing player and stream their favorite content. The supported languages include English, Spanish, Russian, Greek, Portuguese, and many others.

• The formats which are supported in the player are m3u, and XSPF for playlist and EPG along with the other two.

13. IPTV Smarters for PC

Earlier this player was not available for Windows users but now even Windows users can enjoy their favorite content with IPTV Smarter for PC players. This is one of the best IPTV apps for Windows 10, 11 and older versions. You can easily stream and enjoy live TV, movies, series, and videos on demand.

How to Use IPTV Smarters for PC?

Below are detailed instructions on how to set up IPTV Smarters for PC.

• Launch the IPTV Smarters Player application.

• Select the ‘Load Your Playlist or File/URL’ option, fill out the details (e.g., playlist name, playlist type, and file/URL), and then click on the ‘Add User’ button.

• Once the M3U content loading is complete, you can click on the ‘Live TV’ button to see the IPTV channel categories.

Key Features of IPTV Smarters for PC:

• This program works on Xtream codes but still, it can be used in Windows versions including 32 and 64 bit.

• Other than that you can easily use this program on mobile devices, and Smart TVs.

• You can record the live programs and enjoy them whenever you want.

• The best part about this IPTV player is that it supports all major video formats, so you won’t miss any of your favorite content.

14. TiviMate IPTV Player

Next up in the list of Windows IPTV players is TiviMate. The software is basically designed for Android devices. If you wish to use this software then you have to get an Android Emulator. You can use this software on Windows 7, 8, and 10 easily. This was just a short brief about the software.

How to Use TiviMate IPTV Player?

Check below to know more about the process to use the software.

• Open the Playstore and download the software.

• Click on the icon when the installation completes.

• Now click on the icon and search for the name which you wish to watch

Key Features of TiviMate

• The software offers a clean and simple interface that can be easily adapted

• The user can add multiple playlists in the software to view

• It can also schedule a TV guide

• The user can add favorite channels to the home screen and access them

15. IP-TV Player

IP-TV Player is another great pick as it offers high-quality video output at very little data consumption. It is very rare to witness this among the other IPTV players in Windows. It truly is a versatile player which can easily support all types of media files.

How to Use IP-TV Player?

IP-TV Player is a very smooth and easy-to-use software, to demonstrate that we have listed the steps below.

• Install the software from the official website

• Open the software and tune to the list of M3U format list

• You can view the channels list in the side panel

• Tap on the channel to view

Key Features of IP-TV Player

• The software has a simple and easy interface

• All major file formats are compatible with this software

• The user can easily record and take screenshots while viewing

• The software even offers a feature using which user can control from a smartphone

16. PowerDVD

Next, 2024’s best IPTV players for Windows with PowerDVD. It is a great IPTV if you wish to access a huge content library. You can use PowerDVD to access local media files, play music, and perform many other tasks. Moreover, its compatibility with Dolby professional audio and rapid play technology sets it apart from similar software.

How to Use PowerDVD?

You can follow the three-step process shared below to use this software.

• Firstly, install the PowerDVD Windows application.

• After installing the app, select Media Library from the top left corner.

• Now you can select the IPTV channels, movies, and shows to watch.

Key Features of PowerDVD

• 4K and 8K resolution support

• Supports HDR 10

• Lets you watch 360-degree videos

• Supports conversion of video files to MP4

• In-built support for video casting on media streaming devices

• Digitalization of media files

• In-built video editing tools

• Availability of 100GB of cloud storage

17. Flix IPTV

Next, 2024’s best IPTV players for Windows with Flix IPTV. You can use Flix IPTV on iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Android TV, and FireStick. Parental controls, M3U link support, a user-friendly interface, and the ability to change themes make this IPTV player a perfect choice for streaming IPTV content. It offers a 1-week free trial, thereafter you can buy the pro version at a one-time fee of about $7.99.

How to Use Flix IPTV?

Listed below are the following methods to download and use Flix IPTV on Windows PC:

• Download the Flix IPTV APK on your PC.

• Install the software and open it.

• Enter the URL and upload your playlist.

• Now, you can stream IPTV content.

Key Features of Flix IPTV:

• Easy to use and versatile IPTV player.

• Supports all screen resolutions of smartphones, sticks, PCs, and tablets.

• Allows you to add channels and series/movies to Favorites.

• Get to access features like a sleep timer, subtitles, video details, backward/forward video, and a lot more.

18. MaxPlayer

Next on this list of best IPTV players for Windows PC is MaxPlayer. It gives each member of the household the ability to customize their own preferences for their favorite programs, channels, movies, language settings, and viewing time for video on demand (VOD), with support for up to 5 sub-users and 5 devices.

In addition, if your TV service provider records show for you, you will have the ability to instantly rewind those shows. If your Internet service provider provides video-on-demand (VOD) material, MaxPlayer can customize it to work with your device. They provide versions that are compatible with LG and Samsung TV, in addition to MacOS and Windows. You get a whole week to test out MaxPlayer without spending a dime.

How to Use MaxPlayer?

• Visit the official website of MaxPlayer.

• Create your account on MaxPlayer.

• Once registered, you get a 7-day free trial.

• After that, you can continue using the service with one of the provided plans.

Key Features of MaxPlayers:

• All your information and data are secured and protected.

• Supports multiple languages.

• One account can be accessed on multiple devices and platforms.

• Several customization options are available.

19. PotPlayer

Lacking the funds necessary to pay the monthly fee for your membership to the various television channels? We’ve got you covered, and now we’re going to show you PotPlayer, which is one of the top IPTV players for Windows 10, 11, and other PC operating systems.

PotPlayer gives its customers the ability to watch Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) on their mobile devices, tablets, set-top boxes, and televisions, with all of this functionality being controlled centrally via the website. IPTV may come through your internet service provider or any other source. Enjoy some IPTV. Have fun with life.

The abbreviation “IPTV” refers to “Internet Protocol Television.” If you have PotPlayer installed on your computer, you can use it to watch all of your favorite TV stations and programs for free by simply connecting it to the internet.

How to Use PotPlayer?

• Visit the official website of PotPlayer.

• Download the PotPlayer.

• Use the tool as you want with ease.

Key Features of PotPlayers:

• The playback of the video is fluid and unbroken

• When you have two sound cards available, choose which one to use.

• You are able to mark your favorite scene or chapter for later viewing.

• Take a look at the scene in advance with these photographs.

20. MyIPTV Player

The next name on this list of the best IPTV players for Windows 11/10 devices is MyIPTV Player. MyIPTV Player is a free to use tool that has been downloaded and used by over thousands of users. The tool offers a variety of genres and content to watch. From movies, TV shows to so much beyond, you will find everything at MyIPTV Player.

How to Use MyIPTV Player?

• Visit the product page of MyIPTV Player on Microsoft Store.

• Download the MyIPTV Player.

• Use the tool as you want with ease.

Key Features of PotPlayers:

• There are a variety of channels to select from.

• You can PIN protect the tool for additional security.

• The tool comes with an integrated support for EPG.

• You can even download and save content for later.

21. IPTV Extreme

You are welcome to test out IPTV Extreme, one of the best free IPTV player tools for Windows. This player’s earlier versions since it delivers incredible digital material directly to your own computer without costing you any money. This is a sophisticated software that comes with an option to show the whole screen as well as opaque operating system display.

How to Use IPTV Extreme?

When you want to utilize IPTV Extreme as an IPTV/Media player, the procedures that you need to follow are as follows.

• Make sure that the IPTV Extreme program is running on your Windows computer.

• First, choose the “Add Playlist” button, then paste the M3U URL, and last, select the “OK” button.

• After your playlist has finished loading, you can start streaming IPTV material by clicking on the channel name and then pressing the ‘Play’ button after that.

Key Features of IPTV Extreme Windows:

• Russian, Greek, English, Spanish, Portuguese, & a great number of languages are among those that come with support.

• The player is able to support the m3u & XSPF formats for playlists & EPGs respectively.

• Additionally, you are not required to pay any fees in order to take use of a full-screen display for your preferred material.

• Due to the fact that the player supports different languages, it is possible for every single human being from every single part of the world to utilize this incredible player and stream their preferred material.

• You may simply configure the player and utilize it in accordance with your requirements; it is a versatile player.

22. MegaCubo IPTV Player

Here’s another one of the best IPTV players for Windows 10 and other operating systems. This is a free alternative that you can try and watch on IPTV. Using this tool, you can easily use your smartphone on the TV.

How to Use MegaCubo?

• You should first download the tool from the official website.

• Install it and launch it on the system.

• Connect the app to your device and use it as required.

Key Features of MegaCubo:

• Supports a plethora of operating systems

• You can PIN protect the tool for additional security.

• Allows you to save any title and record.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about IPTV Players

Q1. Are IPTV Players Legal?

Yes, ITPV Players are 100% legal. They don’t offer any streaming services or host content of their own. ITPV Players just provides a platform to play multimedia files and streaming protocols.

Q2. Type of IPTV Services

• Video on demand (VoD)

• Live TV

• Start Over TV

• Catch-Up TV

• Live Media Streaming

Q3. How to Access IPTV from PC?

To access IPTV from a PC, you need to download and install one of the above-listed IPTV Players on your PC. You can download the above-listed IPTV Players from their official support website. Once you installed your most liked IPTV Players, thereafter, allow all the permissions they asked, to proceed further. Then, follow the wizard instructions and don’t change anything except the installation destination. Now run the installer, then start up the program and add the list of channels in your playlist. That’s how you can easily access IPTV from your PC and stream your most liked TV shows and movies.

Q4. What are the Main Services Offered by IPTV?

IPTV or Internet Protocol Television is the platform using which users can enjoy television broadcasting on various devices including mobile and computers. It delivers using the traditional terrestrial, satellite, and cable television format.

Q5. Is There Any Alternative to IPTV?

Yes, there are many IPTV alternatives present in the market, some of them are:

• 1332 Kodi

• Splash

• Super Internet TV

• CoolStreaming

• FreeTuxTV

Q6. Is an IPTV player available for free?

Yes, there are multiple Internet Protocol Television services that are available for free. We have mentioned some of the best ones in the article. Undoubtedly the best option for an IPTV player is VLC Media Player.

Q7. How to use IPTV Player?

Although the working of each IPTV player varies the general steps to be applied are as follows

• Download and install any one of the above-mentioned IPTV player alternatives.

• Launch it on your device and select the network streams option available under media.

• Paste the URL of the network of your IPTV and press the enter key to run.

• Now all the channels of IPTV will be visible on the screen of your IPTV player.

Q8. Is IPTV better with VPN?

IPTV can work without a VPN. But if you want to protect your data online from snoopers or ISP, or get access to restricted content in your geographical location, VPN will help you. Moreover, if you use a VPN with your IPTV it offers a reliable experience. As VPN improves the speed of your internet connection, it is followed by a better experience of IPTV.

Which is the Best IPTV Player for Windows PC & Laptops?

So, this concludes our rundown of some of the best IPTV players for Windows 10, 8, 7 in 2024. There are several other options available as well, but the ones mentioned above are the best in terms of features and usability.

And if you are looking for our opinion, then we would like to recommend OttPlayer. It is one of the best IPTV players that you can access to stream your preferred TV shows and movies. You can use OttPlayer for live shows and on-demand shows as well. That’s what we think about the best IPTV player, however, the final decision is completely yours.

So, what are you waiting for? Download any of these free IPTV players now and turn your PC into an amazing entertainment gadget. Lastly, if there is something you think that we might have missed out to mention, then don’t feel hesitate in sharing your suggestions with us. We’ll feel amazed by hearing your suggestions and improve our list of best IPTV Players for Windows PC & Laptops.

That’s all for the present moment, we’ll back again with yet another crispy tech story, till then, stay connected with us! Primarily, don’t forget to subscribe to our Newsletter to rule the tech world.

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Gaming

The Best Beat Em Up Games for 2024

By admin February 24, 2024

The Best Beat Em Up Games for 2024, Sometimes the best way to make a difference is to wrap your knuckles, step out onto a mob-filled street, and punch the enemy squarely in the snot box. With beat ’em ups, the gameplay goal is simple: Destroy the enemy waves before they destroy you. Although that description applies to many video game genres—including action, strategy, and shmup—beat ’em ups have their own flavor.

Thanks to pioneering titles like The Warriors-inspired Renegade and the post-apocalyptic Double Dragon, beat ’em ups typically feature street-level heroes who must rescue a girlfriend, save a president, exact cold revenge, or engage in some other B-movie trope. The games usually feature simple side-scrolling movement, which is why beat ’em ups are known as “belt scrollers” in Japan and some Western gaming circles. “Brawlers” is another term for the genre.

Though beat ’em ups aren’t as buzzworthy as, say, battle royale games, they have a dedicated, hard-core following that loves the urban chaos. Fortunately, the PC is a platform with a growing library of high-quality belt scrollers. These are the best we’ve reviewed.

Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle

Developer Capcom was a key player in the beat ’em up genre’s popularity, thanks to several memorable arcade releases that gave players the opportunity to team up with a friend to pound enemy forces into pulp.

Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle collects seven of those games, including Final Fight and Knights of the Round, in a package that also includes online play for each game. If you fancy thumb-numbing, button-mashing action in either solo or multiplayer sessions, Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle is a recommended package. That said, it understandably lacks Capcom’s licensed gems, such as Cadillacs and Dinosaurs or The Punisher.

Relive the glory days of cooperative arcade games with the Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle!

This comprehensive collection includes seven classic games, each with various multiplayer options, online capabilities and detailed galleries!

Say goodbye to game overs! Adjust your difficulty settings or give yourself more lives to battle through each game in its entirety. You can also play the English or Japanese versions of each title!

Games included: Final Fight, Captain Commando, The King of Dragons, Knights of the Round and Warriors of Fate, as well as two games that were previously unavailable on consoles: Armored Warriors and Battle Circuit!

Grab some friends, stare down the bad guys and BEAT ‘EM UP!

The Best Beat Em Up Games for 2024

Fight’N Rage

Despite it retro aesthetic, Fight’N Rage is a thoroughly modern spin on the classic beat ’em up. Not only does the game incorporate clever fighting game elements, such as parries and super moves, it includes branching missions and sub-paths that offer fresh scenery and action should you decide to run off the beaten path.

That said, Fight’N Rage’s difficulty is a doozy, and its lack of built-in, online multiplayer is disappointing. Still, the post-apocalyptic beat ’em up is one that belong in your Steam library.

Set in a far future where humans are enslaved by mutants, Fight’N Rage is a side-scroller beat’em up inspired by the classics from the 90’s arcade gems.

In a world where “the law of the jungle” prevails… two humans and a mutant rebel are willing to fight in order to stop this madness.
Get ready to face ruthless mutants… Get ready to Fight’N Rage!

Features:
* Several endings: Your in-game actions will decide the story!
* Explosive combo system: Blow up your enemies with special combos!
* Lots of unlockables: Costumes, Game Modes, Options and even Playable Enemies!
* Different weapons and Parry System.
* Easy to play, hard to master.
* Local co-op mode: Up to 3 players with optional friendly fire.
* VS Mode: 1vs1 battles against another player or the CPU. Or simply watch CPU vs CPU battles.
* Additional near impossible extra challenges for pro-gamers!

River City Girls

You can’t mention beat ’em ups without the Kunio-kun series, a Japanese franchise featuring hot-blooded school kids rumbling in the streets. With River City Girls, developer WayForward took the Kunio reins and created the best series entry in some time.

WayForward’s love for the series drips from every roundhouse punch and baseball bat swing, as two high school students—Kyoko and Misako—crack skulls as they try to rescue their kidnapped boyfriends. River City Girls has terrific beat ’em up action, swinging synthpop music, and the ability to purchase new moves, accessories, and power ups, but a few glaring negatives keep the brawler from being a genre great.

There’s trouble once again on the mean streets of River City, but this time the boys are in over their heads! In this all-new entry in the legendary beat-’em-up series, hot-blooded heroes Kunio and Riki have been captured, leaving it to their hard-hitting girlfriends, Kyoko and Misako, to serve up some payback.

As you punch and kick your way across town – either solo or with a friend in local co-op – you’ll gain new skills, chow down on power-ups, wield an assortment of weapons, and unleash an arsenal of combos, throws, and special attacks that will leave the bad guys crying for mama – all in outrageous 16-bit style! The awesome action is punctuated by manga story panels, anime cutscenes, and an epic synth-pop soundtrack. It’s an old-school rumble for a new generation!

Key Features:
• Wild beat-’em-up action for one or two players!
• Glorious pixel-art graphics plus anime and manga cutscenes!
• Fantastic soundtrack featuring Megan McDuffee, Chipzel, Cristina Vee, Dale North, and NateWantsToBattle!
• Six large city regions to fight through, complete with shops and side quests!
• Loads of weapons, items, and abilities to power-up your heroines!
• Guest appearances by classic River City characters!

River City Girls 2

Kyoko and Misako once again put down their books and lift their fists for more teenage brawls through River City’s wild streets. In this sequel, developer WayForward and publisher Arc System Works enhance the high school-themed beat ’em up formula in nearly every aspect by introducing new moves, a larger map, and more playable characters. The absolutely amazing soundtrack, once again fronted by the incredible Megan McDuffee, gives the music an infectious quality that will keep you humming for days.

River City Melee Mach!!

The second Kunio-kun game in this roundup isn’t the traditional beat ’em up on which the River City franchise built its fame. Instead, River City Melee Mach!! takes the series’ combat fundamentals—punches, kicks, throws, and weapons—and adds power ups, special moves, stage gimmicks, and team-based, last-man-standing contests.

Featuring charming, retro-style graphics, fast-paced action, and nearly 200 characters, Arc System Works’ River City Melee Mach!! gives the series high school rivalries a fresh shot of life. Like River City Girls, it suffers a few issues that keep it from being a beat ’em up A-lister.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game – Complete Edition

Way back in 2010, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game debuted on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 to much acclaim. Conceived as a tie-in game for the then-recently released live-action film, the Ubisoft Chengdu-developed title served as a fun take on the Brian Lee O’Malley comic book and a homage to genre classics.

For reasons that are still unclear, Ubisoft pulled the game from the PlayStation and Xbox digital storefronts in 2014. Seven years later, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game returns from its digital graveyard none the worse for wear with the same outstanding animation, rockin’ Anamanaguchi score, and big action. The Complete Edition includes modes that were previously available as DLC, such as Dodgeball and Zombie Hordes.

Sifu

The Sloclap-developed Sifu wears its inspirations on its sleeves, taking elements from Old Boy, John Wick, and Jackie Chan flicks to create a cinematic beat ’em up that’s just as fun to watch as it is to play. The deep combat system lets you parry, unleash super moves, and utilize weapons and environments as you seek revenge on villains who did your family wrong. The unique death system causes your character to grow older, exchanging youth and vitality for age and raw strength.

Streets of Rage 4

It’s been nearly three decades since SEGA released Streets of Rage 3, the previous entry in the beloved beat ’em up series, so the reveal of Streets of Rage 4 was shocking. The fact that it turned out to be quite good was even more surprising.

This brawler by developers LizardCube, Guard Crush Games, and Dotemu is Streets of Rage through and through. Featuring a diverse cast of new and returning martial artists looking to clean up a fictional city’s mean streets from a criminal syndicate, Streets of Rage 4 offers the hard-hitting combat, dreary urban environments, and sheer fun that’s defined the series since 1991. Streets of Rage 4’s wall splats, supers, and combo system give it fighting game elements that create extra gameplay depth.

Streets of Rage is a beat ‘em up series known for its timeless gameplay and electronic dance influenced music. Streets of Rage 4 builds upon the classic trilogy’s gameplay with new mechanics, beautiful hand-drawn visuals and a God tier soundtrack.

Team up with iconic and brand-new characters

Axel, Blaze, and Adam teaming up with new brother and sister in arms Floyd Iraia and Cherry Hunter to clean up the streets.

Outstanding Hand-Drawn Visuals and Soundtracks

With lush hand-drawn animations, new combat abilities, and fresh tracks from an amazing team of composers, Streets of Rage 4 will be a masterful tribute to and revitalization of the classic action fans adore.

Features

● Clean up the city by yourself or with another friend online!
● Team up to 4 people offline to take the city back!
● Classic gameplay enhanced with brand-new mechanics.
● 12 former Streets of Rage characters unlockable and playable in pixel versions.
● Play with the music of the previous Streets of Rage games!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles brands is one tailor-made for beat-’em-up action, with its colorful cast of characters that feature humanoid reptiles, villainous martial artists, aliens, robots, and a rat that dispenses wisdom as often as he dispenses karate chops. With Shredder’s Revenge, TMNT receives one of its best video game adaptations to date.

Developed by Tribute Games, a team that features crew members who worked on the excellent Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game, Shredder’s Revenge heavily draws from the 1980s show, and has the colorful, toon-like visuals to match. In addition, it pulls elements from past Turtles games and toys to create 16 stages of wild street fighting. Six-player co-op play in online and offline modes ensures that you’ll fight like a family, just like playable characters April, Casey, Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Splinter.

Treachery In Beatdown City

On the surface, Treachery In Beatdown City appears to be a strict homage to classic beat ‘em up games from the 1980s and 1990s. However, the brawler’s menu-driven, tactical combo system, and biting urban satire reveals a game that’s radically different than what’s come before it.

Developed by Nuchallenger, Treachery In Beatdown City is a fun game that requires you to use your brain to battle the way through the gentrification elements that plagues a fictional city’s streets, but its pace may prove too slow for traditional beat ’em up fans. Tactics fans, on the other hand, may really dig it.

Yakuza 0

Sega’s Yakuza is the rare polygonal series that adheres to the beat ’em up ethos. In Yakuza 0—the prequel story that shows how series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu rose through the ranks to become the big boss of a Japanese crime syndicate— you brawl through small, semi-open world regions with knuckles, guns, swords, and other weapons.

At the heart of the gangsterism is empathy and honor, be it between bro and bro, an orphan and his surrogate father, or well-dressed hoodlums and the desperate strangers they meet. It’s also a tale involving a pelvis-thrusting man, referred to as both Walking Erection and Mr. Libido, wearing nothing but shoes and tighty-whities. Yakuza 0’s ability to dance between the dramatic and the absurd, all of it punctuated with thrilling combat, makes this brawler one of the best on the PC.

Yakuza 6: The Song of Life

Yakuza 6: The Song of Life serves as a delightful, action-packed conclusion to Kazuma Kiryu’s gangster-filled story. The beat ’em up game features streamlined controls, fun boss bottles, and the oddball happenings you’d expect to find in the ridiculous, fictional Tokyo district of Kamurocho. It’s a bit on the easy side, though.

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The best phones to buy in 2024

By admin February 3, 2024

The best phones to buy in 2024, Fivu has tested just about every major smartphone released over the past year, including foldable Androids and the latest iPhone and Samsung Galaxy models. These are our picks for the best phones.

We’re in the early days of 2024, which means we’re at the start of another year of new phones expected from most of the big manufacturers. Samsung kicked off the year by unveiling its new Galaxy S24 line, the company’s first to build in generative AI features like real-time call translation.

Below, I’ve compiled the definitive list of top phones you can buy right now, based on over a year’s worth of hands-on testing. My pick for the best phone overall goes to Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra for its immersive and vibrant display, reliable battery life, and wealth of special features, including generative AI.

The best phones of 2024

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Best phone overall

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra specs: Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 | Display size: 6.8 inches | Storage options: Up to 1TB | Rear cameras: 200MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 50MP telephoto (5x), 10MP telephoto (3x) | Front camera: 12MP | Battery: 5,000mAh

Samsung’s newly-released Galaxy S24 line is the first to go all-in on AI, and the S24 Ultra is the most premium phone you can buy. The new Galaxy AI model embedded in the device brings a number of generative capabilities, including real-time phone call translations, the ability to circle an object on screen to perform an image-based Google search, AI-assisted photo editing and transcriptions, and a Chat Assist feature for figuring out how to phrase a message in different tones.

Like its predecessor the S23 Ultra, the S24 Ultra is built with a large 6.8-inch AMOLED display and a reliable 5,000mAh battery. Though the price has gone up to $1,299 ($100 more than the S23 Ultra), the phone’s upgrades make it well worth it: The S24 Ultra is made of a lightweight yet durable titanium frame, compared to last year’s aluminum, and features Corning’s new Gorilla Armor. It feels lighter in the hand, noticeably grippier, and more durable.

Under the hood, it includes an upgraded Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset for improved graphics and AI features, 12GB RAM (an increase from last year’s 8GB), and 2,600 nits of brightness — a big improvement over last year’s 1,750. The four-camera system also got an upgrade, with a 50MP telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom for higher-quality shots of distant objects, sharper images, and clearer shots in dimly-lit environments.

iPhone 15 Pro Max

Best iPhone overall

iPhone 15 Pro Max specs: Processor: A17 Pro | Display size: 6.7 inches | Storage options: Up to 1TB | Rear cameras: 48MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 12MP telephoto (2x), 12MP telephoto (5x) | Front camera: 12MP

The new iPhone 15 Pro Max offers everything a premium flagship smartphone should, including a brilliant 6.7-inch AMOLED display for all the media consumption — and mobile productivity, of course.

This year’s model also looks and feels different than any prior Pro Max devices, as it’s made of titanium instead of stainless steel and, therefore, significantly lighter in the hand. This makes the iPhone 15 Pro Max noticeably more comfortable to use.

Another major feature of the iPhone 15 Pro Max is the USB-C connector; particularly, one that supports faster charging and data transfers, the ability to charge other devices including the Apple Watch from your iPhone, and the ability to connect to an external 4K monitor. These benefits are game-changing for professional content creators.

The iPhone 15 Pro Max also features a new 5x zoom camera lens — the equivalent of a 120mm focal length on a mirrorless or DSLR camera. A new Action button lets you better customize shortcuts and easily open the apps you need, including firing up the camera with a press-and-hold. And the A17 Pro chip rounds out the year’s upgrades, offering improved graphical performance.

Apple is charging you more for this year’s iPhone 15 Pro Max, with a starting price that’s now been bumped up to $1,199. In turn, the device comes with a base storage of 256GB.

The best phones to buy in 2024

Google Pixel 8 Pro

Best camera phone

Google Pixel 8 Pro features: Processor: Google Tensor G3 | Display size: 6.7 inches | Storage options: 128GB/256GB/512GB/1TB | Rear cameras: 50MP main, 48MP ultrawide, 48MP telephoto | Front camera: 10.8MP

When it comes to camera performance, you really can’t go wrong with any of the flagship devices from the big three (Apple, Samsung, and Google). Depending on your preference for color temperature and feature set, you may lean towards one manufacturer over the other. But more often than not, it’s Google’s Pixel camera system that satisfies the most users, and the latest Pixel 8 Pro remains a champion both for instant capturing and post-processing.

This year’s model features a reliable triple lens setup, with a 50MP primary lens, a 48MP ultrawide that’s notably more capable at capturing macro and close-up photos, and a 48MP telephoto lens for far-distance shots. Should you want more granular control over the Pixel 8 Pro’s camera quality, there’s now a series of Pro controls that allow you to tweak settings like the exposure and shutter speed.

But real-time capturing is only half the battle with mobile photography; there’s also post-processing and how flexible devices are with editing and tweaking subjects around. To that regard, the Pixel 8 Pro may just have the most flexible and creative photo toolbox on the market, with AI features like Magic Eraser, Photo Unblur, and Best Take that can turn any bad photo into a good one.

OnePlus Open

Best tablet-style foldable phone

OnePlus Open features: Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 | Display size: 6.3 inches and 7.8 inches | Storage options: 512GB | Rear cameras: 48MP main, 48MP ultrawide, 64MP telephoto| Front camera: 32MP (outer) and 20MP (inner)

The number of foldable phones on the market this year basically quintupled compared the 2022, thanks to the collective effort of just about every manufacturer, including Google with its Pixel Fold, Motorola with its Razr lineup, and OnePlus with the OnePlus Open. While Samsung has held the reins of the best foldable honor for years, I’m giving the top spot this year to the OnePlus Open.

Unlike its competitors, the OnePlus Open strikes the best balance of weight-to-size ratio. When folded, the phone is as light as an iPhone Pro Max, and when unfolded, it expands into a thin slate of visual goodness. OnePlus leverages the 7.8-inch display by offering some of the most intuitive multitasking features I’ve tested, headlined by “Open Canvas”. With it, you can open up to three apps at once, and as you tap into each one, the other one or two will tuck itself to the side, ready to reappear when needed.

The triple camera setup, while presented in a casing that sticks out more than I’d prefer, captures spectacular photos and videos, with an emphasis on blue and orangish hues that cinematographers and photography buffs know and love. By nature of the foldable form factor, the Open is also capable of taking hands-free selfies and group photos.

OnePlus got the fundamentals down pat with the Open, too, including 65W fast charging capabilities (with a charger in the box) that blow past Samsung and Google’s foldable standards, a base configuration of 16GB RAM and 512GB storage, and a crease-less inner display. The cherry on top for me is its $1,699 price tag, with OnePlus offering $200 off when you trade in any phone in any condition.

Motorola Razr Plus

Best flip-style foldable phone

Motorola Razr Plus features: Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 | Display size: 3.6 inches and 6.9 inches | Storage options: 256GB | Rear cameras: 12MP main, 13MP ultrawide | Front camera: 32MP

Flip phones have made a (somewhat) triumphant return, even if teenagers and young adults are opting for the dumber option of the two types. The Motorola Razr Plus marks the return of the old-school handset, or as I put it in my full review, “a return to form, modernizing a classic flip phone into one of today’s best foldables.”

With the new Razr Plus, Motorola has equipped the outer cover of the phone with a 3.6-inch display. Besides doubling as a rear-camera viewfinder, the external display basically serves as a secondary, smaller phone. You’re able to run the same apps and services that you would on the inner 6.9-inch panel, including making phone calls, text messaging, watching TikToks, and playing games. The same can be achieved with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, though you’d have to jump through a loophole or two.

The foldable form factor of the Razr Plus ultimately lends itself to an improved camera experience. Since you’re able to flex the display at an upright angle, it’s easier to get everyone in the frame for group photos, take selfies, and capture long-exposure shots that would typically require a tripod or mounting accessory.

Samsung Galaxy A54 5G

Best budget phone

Samsung Galaxy A54 5G features: Processor: Exynos 1380 | Display size: 6.3 inches | Storage options: 128GB | Rear cameras: 50MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 5MP macro| Front camera: 32MP

Believe it or not, Samsung’s best-selling smartphone last year was not one of its S-series or foldable devices, rather it was the humble Galaxy A53 5G, which delivered an uncompromising phone experience with a smooth-scrolling screen, reliable battery, and up to five years of software support. The device was priced at just $449, undercutting its more premium competitors and heavy-handedly beating Apple’s own mid-range handset, the iPhone SE.

This year’s A54 5G ticks just as many boxes as its predecessor but with a series of subtle yet useful upgrades. For example, the display is still a large 6.4-inch panel that ramps up to 120Hz refresh rate, but now shines at 1,000 nits of brightness (from 800 nits), the battery size is still a healthy 5,000mAh capacity, and the unit is now powered by an Exynos 1380 chipset. That’s a minor bump from last year’s Exynos chip, but a bump nonetheless.

The Galaxy A54 also features an exterior design that’s more in line with Samsung’s S-series phones and a new camera system that’s headlined by a 50-megapixel main lens. From our testing, the photo results — both in daytime and nighttime — were evenly lit and sharpened just enough for you to share with others with confidence. Video capturing is capped at 4K, though the 128GB internal storage that can be expanded via MicroSD card should be ample enough for use.

OnePlus 11

Best fast-charging phone

OnePlus 11 features: Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 | Display size: 6.7 inches | Storage options: Up to 256GB | Rear cameras: 50MP main, 48MP ultrawide, 32MP telephoto| Front camera: 16MP

A slow-charging phone can be a real pain point, especially if you’re always on the go. That’s why the OnePlus 11 carves out its own best category, beating Apple, Google, and even Samsung when it comes to charging speed. The latest model comes with 100W SuperVooc fast charging or 80W in the US, which is still great.

For reference, the highest-end iPhone 15 Pro Max has a charging speed limit of 30W and Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Ultra caps out at 45W. From ZDNET’s testing and comparisons, both of those devices take a least an hour to go from 0% to 75% battery, falling noticeably short of the OnePlus 11’s numbers.

In less than 27 minutes, the OnePlus can go from empty to full. That charging speed, and the fact that OnePlus includes its proprietary charger in the box, put it a step above the rest.

The best part is that the rest of the phone is no slouch either; you’re getting a 6.7-inch AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, a 5,000mAh dual-cell battery, and a competitive triple-camera array that gets the job done. In total, OnePlus is charging you a starting rate of $699, which is just as good of a value pickup as the best budget smartphone on this list.

Asus Zenfone 10

Best compact phone

Asus Zenfone 10 features: Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 | Display size: 5.9 inches | Storage options: Up to 512GB | Rear cameras: 50MP main, 13MP ultrawide | Front camera: 32MP

There’s no denying that, over the past five years, smartphones have become more and more unwieldy. Apple now offers Plus and Max-sized iPhones, Samsung has an “Ultra” beast, and even Google has a foldable that opens up to 7.6 inches. On the other end of the spectrum sits the Asus Zenfone 10, a device that deviates from the norm in favor of ergonomics and in-hand comfort, and the decision pays off.

Like last year’s Asus Zenfone 9, which I called “the iPhone Mini alternative for Android enthusiasts,” the newest model features a compact 5.9-inch AMOLED display, all the power you’d need in a modern-day phone thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, and two capable cameras on the rear.

The battery life on the Asus holds up surprisingly well, too, with my review unit recording nearly two days of usage before hitting 0%. Some smaller yet significant details to note include the 3.5mm headphone jack on top, a physical side-mounted fingerprint sensor, and a texturized back cover that looks and feels great in the hand.

What is the best phone?

Our pick for the best phone overall is the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. It features everything you could want from a smartphone including a large display, four cameras that can shoot 200MP photos and 8K video, up to 1TB of storage, a built-in S Pen for writing and drawing, and a 5,000mAh battery powering the system. Here’s how the S23 Ultra fares with the rest of our top picks.

Which phone is right for you?

Choosing a phone can be a daunting task. But having a list of your must-have features can go a long way toward narrowing down your options. If you’re a mobile professional or travel a lot for work, you’ll want to choose a phone that can provide you with at least a full day of use on a full battery as well as both LTE and Wi-Fi connectivity.

If you’re looking for your teen’s first smartphone, a budget-friendly and less feature-heavy option may be better to prevent overspending as well as misuse. And if you’re a content creator or other creative professional, you’ll want a phone with an excellent front and rear camera to capture photos and videos for your social media feed.

Choose this best phone…	If you want…
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra	A no-compromise smartphone that virtually any type of user can take advantage of. It’s the only 2024 smartphone with a built-in stylus.
iPhone 15 Pro Max	The best iPhone money can buy. It has a large screen, the longest-lasting battery out of all the models, and a toolbox of a camera system.
Google Pixel 8 Pro	A flagship camera experience at your fingertips. The Pixel 8 Pro differentiates itself with a slew of AI-powered camera tricks like Magic Editor and Best Take.
OnePlus Open	The best phone-to-tablet foldable that money can buy. And if you’re a power user, the multitasking and charging features especially will serve you well.
Motorola Razr Plus	A flip-style foldable that’s both compact and performant. With a large 3.6-inch external display and the market’s first dust-resistant build, this is the foldable to buy for most people.
Samsung Galaxy A54 5G	A more budget-friendly smartphone that doesn’t compromise on performance and battery life. The A54 5G is also eligible for up to five years of software and security updates, besting that of any phone of a similar price.
OnePlus 11	A phone that lasts long and charges from 0% to 100% in just 30 minutes. The OnePlus 11 is quietly good value, too, starting at $699.
Asus Zenfone 10	A compact phone that’s easy to pocket but doesn’t compromise on performance and specs. The Zenfone 10 is also competitively priced, starting at $699.

How did we choose these phones?

The process to make our phone selections includes real-world testing and researching about the phones for weeks, consulting with colleagues, industry experts, and analysts who also have hands-on experience with the smartphones, and then selecting the best from all of the available choices.

Ultimately, we weigh in the following aspects when curating this list:

Design: There’s only so much you can do with a slab design, but size differences, material choices, color options, and even the ability to bend a screen in half give shoppers enough diversity to have a preference. That’s why we have a recommendation for every form factor.
Performance: For many, smartphones are the center of our lives, which means the best ones are performant and can handle most, if not all, tasks you throw at them.
Camera: Arguably the most valuable feature of a smartphone; the consistency and reliability of a camera system can make or break the overall mobile experience. We test every device in broad daylight and in the darkest of nights when finalizing this list.
Battery: Every option in this guide should last you at least a day of moderate use. We also take into consideration what devices support fast charging and/or wireless charging.
Value: Price points are noted, but the most important thing with buying a phone is getting your money’s worth. With these picks, you can rest assured that you’re getting the best bang for your buck.

Which phone has the best camera?

It’s debatable between the iPhone 15 Pro Max, Google Pixel 8 Pro, and Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. For long-distance shots, Samsung’s 200MP rear camera with 100x Space Zoom can capture subjects as far out as the moon. For point-and-shoot pictures and a rather simplified (but effective) camera experience, Google’s Pixel phones have always been at the top. If you’re a videographer at heart, then the iPhone 15 Pro, with Cinematic mode and Action mode, makes for an excellent tool to get the shots you need.

How long should a phone battery last?

The average phone battery gives you about 22 hours of use on a full charge, which is great for staying connected on your commutes, work flights, and at home in the evenings. But that’s just the average, actual use time varies by phone model and by what you’re using your phone for.

For example, the latest iPhone 15 Pro Max boasts a 29-hour battery life. But you’ll most certainly get less than that if you habitually scroll through social media or stream video and music. And the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 has just a nine-hour battery life, which is further reduced by streaming, social media, and making calls.

How much storage should my phone have?

Most smartphones have a base storage capacity of 128GB, which is plenty of space for average users to download apps and music, take photos, and shoot videos. However, if you’re a mobile or creative professional, you’ll need more space. Many smartphones have expanded storage options up to 512GB or even 1TB, and you can always sync your phone to your preferred cloud storage service to free up local storage space.

Which phones are also worth considering?

If you’re in the market for a new smartphone, there are tons of options out there. Whether you’re looking to upgrade or get your first smartphone, Apple, Samsung, and OnePlus have great choices:

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Best Strategy Games for PC in 2024

By admin January 15, 2024

Best Strategy Games for PC in 2024, Strategy games come in a few different shapes and sizes, but what makes the following special is their unrivaled base-building features.Strategy games often involve micromanagement of various things that the player must master, ranging from logistics planning to providing optimal resources, to building a strong base that can serve as a foundation of the player’s winning move in the game. Most strategy games, be they real-time, simulation, or turn-based, have the element of base-building in their core gameplay loop.

The base building aspect of the game will usually involve the player having to gather resources and construct buildings as a starting point. This base will evolve to adapt to the game’s situation, although it has a heavier resource usage. The evolution of the base can also unlock a new gameplay loop for the player, keeping the game consistently fresh.

Factorio

The Factory Must Expand

Factorio is one of the best examples of how a strategy game can be centered around base building, as it becomes necessary for the player to have a well-built and well-defended fortress in order to ‘win’ the game. The real-time strategy game is also focused on resource gathering, making it necessary for the player to micromanage their resources optimally while defending the base from hostile invasion from the planet’s fauna.

From the importance of the Alt key to the value of construction bots, here are some valuable pointers for players who are new to Factorio.

With the game’s blueprint system, the base-building aspect of the game becomes more intense as the player will be able to build numerous unique building structures and customize their base, making each playthrough unique.

Best Strategy Games for PC in 2024

Cult Of The Lamb

Build A Base For An Upstart Cult

Creating a cult has never been more intense than while playing Cult of the Lamb, as the player will be controlling the role of a lamb that owes its life to a demon, and as a payment, tasked with creating a cult in the demon’s name. As part of the cult creation, the player is also tasked with building a proper base for the cult to thrive, and also act as a place of worship for its followers.

Farm layout is important in Cult of the Lamb, and these tips can help players keep things running smoothly.

Followers can be tasked with gathering resources to build up the base, and a plethora of other activities, including getting sacrificed to appease the demon. The survival aspect of the game makes it necessary for the player to build a well-balanced base without sacrificing an aspect, as it can lead to an early game over.

Base Of Operation Is Necessary Against Alien Invasion

XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Fighting against an alien invasion that is overwhelmingly more advanced technologically can be insurmountable, but also fun to challenge in XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Aside from undertaking missions to repel alien invasions, the player is tasked with creating a proper base for the organization to build up their soldiers in many aspects, including technological advancement and logistics.

The base-building aspect of the game can become intense once the player is faced with the problem of facing multiple problems that require priority above the others. For example, having a country with a huge amount of funds pull out of the organization’s funding can negatively impact the base’s performance as upgrades become scarce.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2

Balance Resources To Achieve The Perfect Foundation For An Assault

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2

Although the game’s age is over two decades, the gameplay loop of both micromanagement and base building still holds fresh against most modern strategy games due to its simple design, but hard-to-master concept. At the start of every game, the player will be tasked to gather enough resources to build up a base that is capable of training units to assault the enemy’s base.

Moreover, these bases can also hold unique, powerful buildings that acts as a high-risk, high-reward structure that enables the player to unleash superweapons, such as a nuclear silo.

Evil Genius 2: World Domination

Build A Proper Staging Base To Dominate Earth

World domination is not an easy feat to do, and it usually requires a genius leader at the head of an evil organization that is willing to do anything, including building a super-secret base as the foundation of their evil plan. Players of the game will need to have a well-optimized base layout to have a chance of winning the game.

Evil Genius 2 can seem daunting for players new to the strategy genre. Here’s how to start the journey towards world domination.

Moreover, having the proper base layout is crucial, as the different rooms inside the base enable the player to take more missions to grow their organization. A less-optimized layout of the base will have repercussions, especially towards the later stages of the game, as the Forces of Justice’s interference grows more intense.

Age Of Empires 2

The Best Base Is A Foundation For Good Offense

The classic real-time-strategy game Age of Empires 2 is still widely played to this day due to its timeless gameplay loop, which includes intense micromanagement of units, resource management, and proper base-building to enable the smooth development of an army. The base-building phase of the game is crucial enough to have a set of patterns on which building to build first, and technologies to research first, to keep up with the enemy’s development.

Moreover, building a well-connected network of walls with gates is also important, as a well-defended base will mean the player has a chance to mount a comeback after a failed assault on the enemy’s base.

Starcraft

The Staple For Both Base Building And Micromanagement

Veterans of Starcraft will know how crucial it is to have the right sequence of buildings made in their base, as less optimal buildings will hinder their development and rapidly lower their chances of victory. Combined with three unique factions, each with its unique buildings, Starcraft can be categorized as one of the best games that have base building as one of the core gameplay loops.

The base-building aspect of the game ranges from creating an optimal supply chain to build an army, to identifying a satellite base that is dedicated to resource gathering.

Total War: Warhammer 3

Total War: Warhammer 3, the conclusion to Creative Assembly’s Warhammer trilogy, is also its strangest and most experimental, letting players leave the traditional Total War sandbox every 30 or so turns to journey through the Realm of Chaos, where the domains of the Chaos gods exist, culminating in huge survival battles that draw from tower defence games, with fortifications, in-battle recruitment and waves of enemies.

The campaign proved to be divisive, but for those more interested in a proper sandbox, there’s always Immortal Empires. Available as free DLC for anyone who owns all three games, this mega-campaign pits every faction and legendary lord in the entire trilogy against each other in a gargantuan map. So that’s 278 factions and 86 playable legendary lords. It’s incredible. Total War at its most, well, total war.

Crusader Kings 3

Crusader Kings 3, the best strategy game of 2020, has usurped its predecessor’s spot on the list, unsurprisingly. It’s a huge grand strategy RPG, more polished and cohesive than the venerable CK2, and quite a bit easier on the eyes, too. At first glance it might seem a bit too familiar, but an even greater focus on roleplaying and simulating the lifestyles of medieval nobles, along with a big bag of new and reconsidered features, makes it well worth jumping ship to the latest iteration.

CK3 is a ceaseless storyteller supported by countless complex systems that demand to be mucked around with and tweaked. Getting to grips with it is thankfully considerably easier this time around, thanks to a helpful nested tooltip system and plenty of guidance. And all this soapy dynastic drama just has a brilliant flow to it, carrying you along with it. You can meander through life without any great plan and still find yourself embroiled in countless intrigues, wars and trysts.

Total War: Three Kingdoms

Total War: Three Kingdoms, the latest historical entry in the series, takes a few nods from Warhammer, which you’ll find elsewhere in this list, giving us a sprawling Chinese civil war that’s fuelled by its distinct characters, both off and on the battlefield. Each is part of a complicated web of relationships that affects everything from diplomacy to performance in battle, and like their Warhammer counterparts they’re all superhuman warriors.

It feels like a leap for the series in the same way the first Rome did, bringing with it some fundemental changes to how diplomacy, trade and combat works. The fight over China also makes for a compelling campaign, blessed with a kind of dynamism that we’ve not seen in a Total War before. Since launch, it’s also benefited from some great DLC, including a new format that introduces historical bookmarks that expand on different events from the era.

Europa Universalis 4

Paradox’s long-running, flagship strategy romp is the ultimate grand strategy game, putting you in charge of a nation from the end of the Middle Ages all the way up to the 1800s. As head honcho, you determine its political strategy, meddle with its economy, command its armies and craft an empire.

Right from the get-go, Europa Universalis 4 lets you start changing history. Maybe England crushes France in the 100 Years War and builds a massive continental empire. Maybe the Iroquois defeat European colonists, build ships and invade the Old World. It’s huge, complex, and through years of expansions has just kept growing. The simulation can sometimes be tough to wrap one’s head around, but it’s worth diving in and just seeing where alt-history takes you.

4X Old World

Few 4X games try to challenge Civ, but Old World already had a leg up thanks designer Soren Johnson’s previous relationship with the series. He was the lead designer on Civ 4, and that legacy is very apparent. But Old World is more than another take on Civ. For one, it’s set exclusively in antiquity rather than charting the course of human history, but that change in scope also allows it to focus on people as well as empires.

Instead of playing an immortal ruler, you play one who really lives, getting married, having kids and eventually dying. Then you play their heir. You have courtiers, spouses, children and rivals to worry about, and with this exploration of the human side of empire-building also comes a bounty of events, plots and surprises. You might even find yourself assassinated by a family member. There’s more than a hint of Crusader Kings here.

Civilization 6

You can’t have a best strategy games list without a bit of Civ. Civilization 6 is our game of choice in the series right now, especially now that it’s seen a couple of expansions. The biggest change this time around is the district system, which unstacks cities in the way that its predecessor unstacked armies. Cities are now these sprawling things full of specialised areas that force you to really think about the future when you developing tiles.

The expansions added some more novel wrinkles that are very welcome but do stop short of revolutionising the venerable series. They introduce the concept of Golden Ages and Dark Ages, giving you bonuses and debuffs depending on your civilisation’s development across the years, as well as climate change and environmental disasters. It’s a forward-thinking, modern Civ.

Sins of a Solar Empire

Sins of a Solar Empire captures some of the scope of a 4X strategy game but makes it work within an RTS framework. This is a game about star-spanning empires that rise, stabilise and fall in the space of an afternoon: and, particularly, about the moment when the vast capital ships of those empires emerge from hyperspace above half-burning worlds. Diplomacy is an option too, of course, but also: giant spaceships. Play the Rebellion expansion to enlarge said spaceships to ridiculous proportions.

After years of waiting, a sequel is finally on the horizon, thankfully. Sins of a Solar Empire 2 can already be played in early access for those who preorder it.

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The Best Web Hosting Services for 2024

By admin January 11, 2024

The Best Web Hosting Services for 2024, These top-rated, thoroughly tested web hosting services offer the robust features you need to build attractive, reliable websites for business or personal use.

A business without an online presence seriously jeopardizes its reach and potential profits, because people automatically turn to the internet when searching for products or services. As a result, it’s important that your company has an easy-to-navigate website with strong uptime. It doesn’t need to be fancy; even a simple webpage listing your business hours and contact information gives your venture the air of legitimacy it needs in a cyber-connected world. To do this, you need web hosting to serve as the foundation for your website.

Deeper Dive: Our Top Tested Picks

HostGator Web Hosting

Why We Picked It

HostGator is a fantastic web hosting service with a varied selection, including feature-rich WordPress, VPS, dedicated, and cloud server packages. It also includes useful tools, such as the terrific Web.com website builder. In a nice touch, HostGator lets you select a Windows-based server, something not offered by every web hosting service.

Who It’s For

HostGator is best for small and midsize businesses that want to quickly build a Linux- or Windows-based website, and have room to grow. Its shared hosting packages have unlimited disk space, monthly data transfers, databases, and email addresses across the board.

Bluehost Web Hosting

Best for Building WordPress Sites

Why We Picked It

Bluehost strikes a balance between pricing and features, offering services that appeal to hobbyists and business professionals. Great uptime, WordPress-enhancing tools, e-commerce add-ons, and overall flexibility make Bluehost a web host you can count on for a rock-solid website. Its website builder delivers drag-and-drop simplicity as well, making it all the more appealing.

Who It’s For

A massive portion of the internet is powered by WordPress (more than 40 percent!), so there’s a good chance that you may go that route, too. Fortunately, Bluehost excels at WordPress hosting, offering plans that let you build nearly any website you wish. Plus, Bluehost has custom tools that make building a WordPress site an even easier affair.

The Best Web Hosting Services for 2024

InMotion Web Hosting

Best for a Lengthy Money-Back Guarantee

Why We Picked It

InMotion is a top-tier web hosting provider that delivers reasonably priced shared, dedicated, VPS, and cloud hosting plans. Whether you need WordPress-specific plans or reselling options, InMotion has a well-rounded feature set that appeals to nearly every web hosting need.

Who It’s For

This is the web host that you should check out when comparing features, as the company casts a wide hosting net. The big exception here is Windows servers, as InMotion uses Linux-based servers to host websites. InMotion also offers an excellent, 90-day money-back guarantee for shared hosting plans, which gives you plenty of time to kick the tires.

DreamHost Web Hosting

Best for Cloud Hosting

Why We Picked It

When it comes to delivering dependable, Linux-powered servers, DreamHost ranks as one of the best services that we’ve tested. The company offers valuable website-building tools, as well as excellently priced hosting plans for all of your needs, including shared, VPS, and WordPress-specific servers. DreamHost’s cloud-based servers are also extremely affordable and flexible, earning the host an Editors’ Choice nod for the subcategory.

Who It’s For

With its easy-to-use tools, DreamHost is a great host if you’re new to building websites. It also has fantastic cloud-based hosting with highly competitive rates, and a feature-packed toolset that includes site-building software and unlimited data transfers across the board.

A2 Web Hosting

Best for Stellar Customer Service

Why We Picked It

When shopping for web hosting, a strong foundation makes a good first impression. A2 Hosting offers just that with robust hosting packages, excellent uptime, and superb WordPress plans (for which it is a PCMag co-Editors’ Choice winner). In addition, the company has an incredibly helpful customer service team that quickly addresses your problems or questions.

Who It’s For

If you have WordPress in mind, and don’t mind utilizing Linux-based servers, A2 is a host you should scope out first. Its plans include highly optimized environments specifically designed for WordPress, plus managed options that deliver 24-hour support and supervision.

AccuWeb Hosting

Best for Dedicated Hosting

Why We Picked It

Fantastic web hosting plans and helpful customer service aptly describe AccuWeb’s services. However, the company’s excellent dedicated hosting plans make it stand out in a crowded field. In fact, its dedicated packages are so robust that they earned our Editors’ Choice award. What’s more, AccuWeb has Windows Server options alongside the common Linux OS, so you have an another potential foundation for your website.

Who It’s For

Companies seeking high-powered dedicated hosting. Dedicated plans costs more money than shared, VPS, WordPress, or cloud options, but the steeper price tag comes with storage and data transfer privileges that are second to none. If you’re on the prowl for enterprise-level business hosting, AccuWeb will serve your company well.

Liquid Web Hosting

Best for Managed Hosting

Why We Picked It

There’s serious muscle behind LiquidWeb’s wide range of cloud, dedicated, VPS, WordPress, and reseller server packages. It lacks a low-cost, shared hosting tier, making this web host more appealing to larger businesses rather than smaller ones. Despite that limitation, you can expect white-glove treatment with LiquidWeb’s packages, so your web hosting needs will be handled with exceptional care and attention.

Who It’s For

LiquidWeb offers premium hosting, at a premium price point. The host provides excellent, managed, enterprise-class service, with the muscle to power the website of your dreams. If you want powerful hosting options and impeccable, around-the-clock support, LiquidWeb is a good place to start.

Hostwinds Web Hosting

Best for Reseller and VPS Hosting

Why We Picked It

Shared hosting is a great starting point, but as your traffic and demands grow, so will your hosting needs. VPS is the next step up, and Hostwinds handles VPS hosting extremely well. The versatile web host also has strong reseller hosting plans for people who want to open their own hosting businesses.

Who It’s For

Hostwinds is an appealing hosting choice for a wide range of clients, from mom-and-pop shops to big business, as its services are attractively priced and fairly robust. Give Hostwinds a try if you want to migrate your website to a beefier VPS server, or wish to sell hosting of your own.

WP Engine Web Hosting

Best for WordPress Hosting: WP Engine

Why We Picked it

Many web hosting services offer unique packages to compliment the highly popular CMS, and WP Engine is no different. It delivers valuable and powerful WordPress hosting options, alongside other great plans, cloud-based platform flexibility, and reliable service. For managed WordPress hosting, WP Engine is a strong contender that offers plenty of power.

Who It’s For

If you’re thinking of building a WordPress-powered site, keep WP Engine on your radar. The web host covers most of your WordPress-related bases, provided you don’t mind turning to third-parties for domain registration and emails.

Hostinger Web Hosting

Best for Customized Server Packages

Why We Picked It

Hostinger is a versatile web host that combines excellent uptime, great customer service, and a mix of traditional and cloud-based hosting. The company’s services are fairly customizable, too, letting you create private video game servers for CS: GO or Minecraft.

Who It’s For

Gamers who want to create their own private servers. Of course, Hostinger serves non-gamers, too. The web host constantly adds features to its excellent hosting options, or improves accessibility to make those options easier to use. Check out Hostinger’s customizable packages if you need a web server that requires a specific build.

Ionos Web Hosting

Best for Large-Scale Cloud Hosting

Why We Picked It

When it comes to scale, Ionos by 1&1 is a powerhouse. The web host has many well-rounded packages, including shared, VPS, WordPress, and dedicated servers. However, its cloud hosting plans are particularly feature-rich offerings, making Ionos an Editors’ Choice pick for the subcategory.

Who It’s For

Enterprises looking to open up shop online. Ionos’ cloud-based services are reliable and powerful, and let you easily scale server specs as your company grows.

Buying Guide: The Best Web Hosting Services for 2024

What Is Included With a Web Hosting Service?

Web hosting services offer varying amounts of monthly data transfers, storage, email, and other features. Even how you pay (month-to-month payments vs. annual payments) can be radically different, too, so taking the time to plot exactly what your company needs for online success is essential. Many of these companies also offer reseller hosting services, which let you go into business for yourself, offering hosting to your own customers without requiring you to spin up your own servers.

You should also familiarize yourself with the many web hosting tiers that are available. In your research, you’ll find shared, virtual private server (VPS), dedicated hosting, and WordPress hosting plans. Each tier offers different specs and features that you should take the time to analyze. We’ll break them down below.

What Is Shared Web Hosting?

Shared hosting is web hosting in which the provider houses multiple sites on a single server. For example, Site A shares the same server with Site B, Site C, Site D, and Site E. The upside is that the multiple sites share the server cost, so shared web hosting is generally very inexpensive. It’s cheap web hosting. In fact, you can find an option for less than $10 per month.

You could think of the sites that share your server as your roommates; there’s really not that much separating you from them. Sure, you can close the bedroom door, but they can still cause nightmares for you in the kitchen and the bathroom. In web hosting terms, all the sites share a single server’s resources, so huge traffic spikes on Site A may impact the neighboring sites’ performances. It’s even possible that another site could take down the shared server altogether if it crashed hard enough.

What Is VPS Web Hosting?

VPS hosting is similar to shared hosting in that multiple sites share the same server, but the similarities end there. In housing terms, VPS hosting is like renting your own apartment in a larger building. You’re much more isolated than in the roommate situation mentioned above; it’s still possible that a neighboring apartment could cause annoyance for you, but far less likely. In web hosting terms, Site A’s traffic surge won’t have nearly as much impact on Site B or Site C. As you’d expect, VPS hosting costs more than shared hosting. Expect to pay roughly $20 to $60 per month, depending on the service.

What Is Dedicated Web Hosting?

Dedicated hosting, on the other hand, is both powerful and pricey. It’s reserved for sites that require an incredible amount of server resources.

Unlike shared or VPS hosting, dedicated hosting makes your website the lone tenant on a server. To extend the housing metaphor, having a dedicated server is like owning your own home. This means that your website taps the server’s full power, and pays for the privilege. If you’re looking for a high-powered site—an online mansion for your business—dedicated hosting is the way to go. That said, many dedicated web hosting services task you with handling backend, technical issues, much as homeowners have to manage maintenance that renters generally leave to their landlords.

On the topic of dedicated hosting, many web hosting services also offer managed hosting. This type of hosting sees the web host act as your IT department, handling a server’s maintenance and upkeep. This hosting option is something that you’d typically find with dedicated servers, so it’s a business-centric addition. Naturally, it adds a few bucks to the hosting cost, but nothing that should break the bank if you have the resources for a dedicated server.

What Is WordPress Web Hosting?

WordPress hosting is for people who want to build their sites on the back of the popular WordPress content management system (CMS) from WordPress.org. There are multiple ways to set up shop using this free, open-source blogging and site-building platform.

You gain the most web-building functionality if you create a self-hosted site. This typically involves transferring the free WordPress CMS to the server or signing up for a web host’s optimized WordPress plan. With an optimized plan, the host automatically handles backend stuff, so you don’t have to worry about updating the plug-ins and CMS, and enabling automatic backups. In these instances, the WordPress environment typically comes pre-installed on the server.

You can also host your website on WordPress.com, but that’s different from the kind of hosting mentioned above. WordPress.com uses the same code from WordPress.org, but it hides the server code and handles the hosting for you. In that sense, it resembles entries in our online site builder roundup. It’s a simpler but less flexible and customizable way to approach WordPress hosting. It’s definitely easier, but if you want to tinker and adjust and optimize every aspect of your site, it might not be for you.

Small Business-Friendly Features

When it’s time to set up shop, look for a web host that offers the aforementioned dedicated servers, as well as advanced cloud server platforms (such as Amazon Web Services or Google Cloud), custom server builds should you need them, and 24/7 customer support. Depending on your focus, you may need a web host that can handle pageviews or visitors that rank in the high thousands or millions. Many busy hosting plans offer an onboarding specialist who can help you get started, too.

If you’re planning on selling a product, look for a web host that offers a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate, because it encrypts the data between the customer’s browser and web host to safeguard purchasing information. You’re probably familiar with SSL; it’s the green padlock that appears in your web browser’s address bar as you visit an online financial institution or retail outlet. A few companies toss in an SSL certificate free of charge; others may charge you roughly $100 per year for that extra security layer.

Extra Web Hosting Info

If you’re not sure of the type of hosting your business needs, you might want to start small, with shared web hosting. You can always graduate to a more robust, feature-rich package of, say, VPS hosting or even dedicated hosting in the future. Unfortunately, some hosts don’t offer all hosting types. Consider how much you expect to grow your website, and how soon, before you commit to anything longer than a one-year plan. It’s worth spending the time upfront to make sure that the host you select is able to provide the growth you envision for your site, as switching web hosting providers midstream is not a trivial undertaking.

Once you decide your price range, you need to consider how long you’ll need web hosting. If it’s a short-term project—say, less than a month or two—you can typically receive a refund should you cancel your hosting within 60 days. Some companies offer 30-day money-back guarantees, others offer 90-day money-back guarantees. Once again, it’s beneficial to do your homework.

What Web Hosting Features Do You Need?

Many web hosts offer limited features in their starter packages and then expand the offerings (sometimes tremendously) for higher-tier plans. Read the small print to make sure the plan you are selecting offers what you need. If you need a site builder application to design your website, make sure that the low-cost web host you are picking actually comes with a site builder.

Many of them require you to pay for the builder as a separate add-on. Website builders usually don’t cost a lot of money, but if you can find a web host that includes one for free, that’s money in your pocket. And, if it’s integrated with your hosting service, you’re more likely to have a smooth, supported experience.

You also want a web host with 24/7 customer support—if not by phone, then at least by chat. Forums, knowledge bases, and help tickets are all well and good, but sometimes you just need to communicate with another human to get things ironed out as quickly as possible. That said, not all 24/7 customer support teams are equal. Companies like GoDaddy and Liquid Web boast incredibly knowledgeable and helpful customer support squads—a fact that we confirmed in our in-depth reviews of those web hosting services.

When it comes to server operating systems, Linux is typically the default option. Still, some services offer a choice of Linux or Windows Server hosting. If you have specific server-side applications that require Windows, such as SQL Server or a custom application written in .NET, then you need to make sure your web host has Windows hosting.

But don’t let the idea of a Linux host intimidate you. Nowadays, most web hosts offer a graphical interface or a control panel to simplify server administration and website management. Instead of typing at the command line, you’ll click easily identifiable icons.

Windows hosting is often more expensive than Linux hosting, especially in the dedicated server area. That’s not always the case, but it’s something you should be aware of as you shop around.

What Is Email Hosting?

If you aim to have a web presence, you must have email. It’s a convenient way for potential customers and clients to send you a message, Word document, or other files. Thankfully, most web hosts include email in their hosting plans. Some web hosts offer unlimited email account creation (which is great for future growth), while others offer a finite amount. You, naturally, should want unlimited email.

That said, not all web hosts offer email. WP Engine, for example, does not. In such instances, you must sign up for email accounts from a company other than your web host. GoDaddy, for instance, sells email packages starting at $5.99 per user, per month. That might sound like a hassle, and just one more thing to keep track of, but there are actually some webmasters who feel that separating your email hosting and web hosting services is smart. That way, one provider going offline won’t completely bork your business.

What Is Web Hosting Uptime?

The aforementioned features are valuable to the web hosting experience, but none match the importance of site uptime. If your site is down, clients or customers will be unable to find you or access your products or services.

We’ve added uptime monitoring to our review process, and the results show that most web hosts do an excellent job of keeping sites up and running. Web hosts with uptime issues are heavily penalized during the review process and are unable to qualify for top ratings.

E-Commerce and Marketing

One thing we learned in reviewing the services listed here (and many more) is that even though the packages are similar, they are not identical. Some are more security-focused than others, offering anti-spam and anti-malware tools at every price tier. Others offer a variety of email marketing tools.

While most of the hosts we’ve reviewed have built-in e-commerce, you may want to consider using a more robust, third-party e-commerce platform, such as our Editors’ Choice winners Shopify and Wix Stores.

Finally, if you’re just getting started in the web hosting game, make sure to check out our primers, how to build a website, how to register a domain name, how to get a free domain name, and the best courses for learning how to build a website.

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Best VPN services for 2024

By admin January 10, 2024

Best VPN services for 2024, Looking for the best VPN to ensure your online privacy at an affordable price? In today’s internet-driven world, protecting your personal and financial data from cybercriminals is more important than ever. Identity thieves, hackers, and other digital miscreants cause substantial financial losses to businesses and individuals around the world every year.

The good news is that a reliable VPN is one of the easiest, cheapest, and most effective ways to safeguard your online activities from unwanted network intruders. However, selecting the most suitable VPN for your specific needs and budget can be challenging. Don’t worry — we’ve got you covered. Our comprehensive guide to the best VPN services covers pricing, features, and all the information you need to make an informed decision.

Best VPN 2024

1. NordVPN

NordVPN

NordVPN isn’t free, but with three different encryption protocols (IKEv2/IPsec, OpenVPN, and NordLynx), it’s easy to see that this provider values your privacy. The company has also worked hard to build up its server network to include more than 5,200 servers in 60 countries around the world.

One stand-out feature that makes NordVPN a strong contender for the best VPN service out there is split tunneling. If you’re not familiar, split tunneling is the ability to whitelist some activities (such as gaming or streaming) to bypass the VPN and use the regular “clearnet” for better performance.

Best VPN services for 2024

2. ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN’s “#1 Trusted Leader in VPN” claim may be a bit difficult to prove, but the service offers a compelling list of features nonetheless. It also constantly tries to make regular improvements in speed and simultaneous streaming capabilities, and with support for all major platforms (Windows, MacOS, Android, etc.), you won’t need to worry about compatibility. ExpressVPN shows up on a number of best VPN lists, including our list of the best VPN for Linux and the best VPN for Windows, so its relatively high prices seem justified.

The more than 3,000 servers are all well-placed throughout common travel destinations and urban centers. Any package will land you high-speed unlimited bandwidth and 24-hour customer service. With so many features, including bypassing ISP throttling, built-in threat protection, and split tunneling, it’s no wonder this vendor is considered the best VPN by many users — although you should note that ExpressVPN only supports up to five simultaneous connections with a single subscription, which is the lowest number of the services on our list.

3. Surfshark

It may not quite rank as the best VPN, but when it comes to price, Surfshark is hard to beat and is a great option for those looking to protect their privacy while minimizing costs. Surfshark is available for as cheaply as $60 for the two-year plan, and to sweeten the deal even more, that includes an unlimited number of simultaneous connections.

Feature-wise, Surfshark is fairly basic. This isn’t necessarily a problem if you don’t need any bells and whistles and just want a solid VPN on the cheap. In fact, the simple, no-nonsense interface, intuitive setup, and simple operation could easily be selling points if you explicitly don’t want to fuss with unnecessary complications. It supports a host of different devices, and it’s one of our top picks for the best Apple TV VPN, too.

4. IPVanish

IPVanish offers all the key features you could need from a VPN at a great price. With regular sales being part of the IPVanish experience, you can commit for a year at a very low cost, enjoying the protection that comes from a choice of more than 2,000 VPN servers across more than 75 different locations.

Besides offering extensive protection whether you’re browsing from home or using a public Wi-Fi hotspot, IPVanish also makes it simpler to avoid Deep Packet Inspection — a method used by ISPs to limit your internet speed at times. The VPN offers unmetered data transfer caps and there’s no limit on how many devices you can use it with so it’s incredibly flexible for high-volume users and larger local networks.

No logs are kept, plus there’s a choice of multiple connection protocols which is useful if you want to get more involved in your VPN settings. 24/7 customer support means the VPN is always on hand to help you out, too. Not that you should need it too often thanks to simple-to-use apps for all major platforms. It’s a great service and it’ll even help you avoid geo-restrictions on many of your favorite streaming apps.

5. AtlasVPN

AtlasVPN is a newcomer to the VPN industry, but it comes packed with secure and steadfast features that challenge even the big players. What’s amazing about this VPN is that it has a comprehensive free data plan that is one of the best on the market, and if you decide to upgrade to the faster, premium servers, then it only costs $49 per year or $72 for three years. While the server network may be considerably smaller than its competitors, it is a newer service with much more room to expand.

In terms of security, although the service is young, it didn’t cut any corners when constructing the server security. You can feel comfortable knowing you’re protected behind 256-bit encryption, WireGuard protocols, IPv6 leak protection, and a whole host of other features. Whether you’re browsing the internet casually, conducting important transactions, gaming, or streaming, you’ll find that AtlasVPN’s servers are ideal for you.

6. Hotspot Shield

Speed can be a limiting factor with even the best VPN, and Hotspot Shield — a relatively new player in the virtual private network space — sought to make that problem its main focus. With up to gigabit speeds, we can safely say that Hotspot Shield seems to have succeeded in that endeavor.

The virtual private network was named the fasted VPN in 2019 and 2020 by Speedtest.net, too, so that doesn’t appear to be mere marketing. But Hotspot Shield isn’t a one-trick pony and has more to offer than just fast speeds. Its list of features also includes military-grade encryption and unlimited bandwidth (at gigabit speeds, mind you).

Hotspot Shield is also very simple to set up and use, but we’d like to see a few more customization options, such as control over encryption protocols. This is part of the deal you get with this VPN, though, as Hotspot Shield utilizes its own proprietary “Hydra” encryption protocol which the company claims is what makes it so fast. That’s just the nature of this beast, it seems.

7. PrivadoVPN

With VPNs, it’s all about location, location, location. PrivadoVPN is a Swiss company and is thus free from the laws of the U.S. and the European Union. Switzerland has pretty robust privacy laws, as well. It’s also not a member of the “fourteen eyes surveillance network,” so user traffic isn’t logged and passes through privacy-friendly countries. That means you needn’t worry about your true IP address being revealed.

Interestingly, PrivadoVPN operates one of the smaller server networks of all the providers on our list, measuring in at more than 320 servers spread between 58 physical locations in 47 countries, but that doesn’t preclude it from being a contender for the best VPN of 2023. That’s because it only offers physical server locations not virtual ones because it is not willing to compromise the quality of its service so it can promote a higher number.

If routing around region-based content restrictions and other geographical hassles is your priority, you might be better served with a VPN that has a wider global server spread, such as ExpressVPN. Although, having said that, PrivadoVPN is a fraction of the cost and covers a large chunk of countries, so if the one you’re wanting to virtually jump to is on its list, then we’d recommend taking it for a spin.

PrivadoVPN has it where it counts, though, with several encryption protocols to choose from: OpenVPN, IKEv2, and SOCKS5. The addition of SOCKS5 proxy support is noteworthy, as it allows for fast and seamless peer-to-peer transferring of large files, which is something many VPNs shy away from. This makes PrivadoVPN perhaps the best VPN service for peer-to-peer file transfers if that’s your primary use case for one of these services.

It’s not the cheapest VPN on our list, although that’s offset by the fact that you can use the VPN on up to ten devices simultaneously. There’s also a free app-based package that gives you 10GB of bandwidth per month.

8. CyberGhost

With more than ten million active users and over 7,000 servers spread across the globe, CyberGhost is a giant in the VPN space. It’s also one of the most versatile virtual private networks out there, both in terms of supported devices/platforms as well as what activities it’s useful for.

CyberGhost VPN is compatible with computers, mobile devices, smart TVs, and even gaming consoles, and one great feature of the VPN is that it will automatically connect you to the best server for whatever you’re doing at the moment. That’s a vital consideration for bandwidth-heavy activities like gaming and streaming.

Another feather in the CyberGhost cap is that it supports peer-to-peer file transfers (read: It’s good to go for torrenting, and as we mentioned, it’ll select the best server for it so you get the fastest upload/download times). The interface is great, too, particularly on the computer. It gives you complete control and lots of configuration options including preferred server setups for your most-used programs and apps.

For encryption protocols, CyberGhost supports OpenVPN, IKEv2, and WireGuard, wrapping your connection in AES 256-bit encryption to keep your data and IP address hidden. CyberGhost is based in Romania and has a no-logs policy, and while this should keep you safe from certain prying eyes, this hasn’t been independently audited.

If that’s not a deal-breaker, CyberGhost is a strong contender for the best VPN of 2023 (take a look at our NordVPN vs CyberGhost comparison for more information on how it stacks up to the best) if you’re looking for the sweet spot between versatility and price. A limited-time introductory offer lets new subscribers grab their first two years of service for $57, which averages to just over $2 per month.

9. PureVPN

With a name like PureVPN, this virtual private network had better offer some viable protection — and it does. The software’s hallmarks lie in its ability to connect to a mélange of services for different activities, with wide compatibility with various devices and software interfaces.

The service starts at $55 for two years, making PureVPN another one of the best cheap VPNs on our roundup. That subscription includes port forwarding, multiple encryption protocols (PPTP, SSTP, L2TP/IPSec, IKEv2, and OpenVPN UDP/TCP), malware blocking, P2P support, and an audited no-log policy. You can also get some premium add-ons like encrypted file transfers and a password manager at extra cost.

As with any good virtual private network service, PureVPN will prevent websites from viewing your personal IP address, thus preventing others from identifying you or your geographic location. And with more than 6,500 servers on six continents, you won’t be at a loss for worldwide connection points to choose from.

Like NordVPN, PureVPN features split tunneling that allows you to whitelist certain activities you don’t need or want to go through the VPN, allowing you to use online services and browse the web through the VPN and on the clearnet simultaneously. PureVPN also offers you a personal IP address for you to use with certain sites and services — a good idea for those that require logins.

10. TunnelBear

Our second-to-last pick isn’t as feature-rich as the others listed on our best VPN of 2023 roundup, but it’s nonetheless worth a mention if you’re looking for another no-frills (read: cheap) virtual private network that doesn’t bog you down with features you don’t need. TunnelBear puts ease of use and newbie-friendliness front and center. If you’re new to VPNs and find all this a bit intimidating, this big bear might be the one for you.

The main appeal of TunnelBear is simplicity and ease of use. You don’t have to fuss around with choosing encryption protocols or any other complicated setup. That’s bad news for advanced users who want more control and customization options, but it’s great for average folks who don’t want or need all that stuff getting in the way. TunnelBear does what it needs to do with good encryption, a kill switch, and a no-logging policy, with the added benefit of full yearly independent audits that the company releases to the public.

That simplicity does, however, bring a couple of bear-sized caveats. Firstly, there’s no free VPN trial or money-back guarantee, which could be a non-starter for many who are new to the VPN game and don’t want to fully commit to a service right away. If this describes you, you’re probably better served with a VPN that has a 30- to 45-day refund period.

12. Kaspersky VPN

For those looking for an affordable VPN option that hides your IP address well and protects you online, then Kaspersky VPN Secure Connection might be for you. You can get a full-year subscription to Kaspersky for only $34 right now, or $7 for a monthly subscription.

What’s perhaps even more enticing is the free data service that Kaspersky VPN provides its customers. If you’re unsure about how VPNs work and want to test one out before you commit to a subscription, then you can utilize the free data service first. While there may be other providers that gift users more megabytes per month, the benefit of using Kaspersky’s VPN is the combination of its free service as well as its cheap monthly price. There’s even a 30-day money-back guarantee for the premium product if it’s not a fit.

Secure Connection has outperformed nearly all others in independent speed testing, making it a great companion for gaming, streaming, torrenting and downloading. It has recently added support for popular streaming platforms, and you can also now connect your router and other devices directly to the VPN to protect your entire network.

13. AdGuard VPN

Stop for a moment and think about the main reason why you typically use a VPN. Ultimately, it’s for privacy and protection and that’s precisely what AdGuard VPN offers, at an incredibly accessible price. If you want to give the service a try, you’ll get 3GB of fast, protected bandwidth all for the low price of free. From there, it’s $2 per month with the current deal – we’ll explain that in more detail below. AdGuard has 1,000+ servers spread across 53 countries worldwide, including just about anywhere you’d want access to, within U.S. borders and beyond.

Following the “Ninja Code,” AdGuard does not record, collect, or share data with third parties, and they have a no-log policy for users. The service utilizes a proprietary fast and secure protocol, developed in-house, that blends both speed and security so there’s no compromise on your part when you’re browsing. It blocks ads and trackers with the help of a DNS server, and you can set up website exclusions, a sort of whitelist for websites where you don’t want the VPN to be active while browsing.

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The best TVs of 2023

By admin December 14, 2023

The best TVs of 2023, from Sony, Samsung, LG, TCL, and more 2023 has been an excellent year for TVs, and we’ve had the great privilege of testing several top-notch QLEDs, OLEDs, and QD-OLEDs ourselves. That being said, if you’re thinking about upgrading your living room set, plan on purchasing one as a gift, or simply want to add multiple screens to your home, we’ve put together this list of all the best TVs you can buy right now.

These are available in stores and online from popular retailers like Best Buy, Walmart, and Amazon. And considering the time of year, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to score an awesome deal or two on some of our favorite 2023 sets as we eagerly await CES 2024 to see what the TV world will have in store for us next year.

OK, so what’s the best TV you can buy? Well according to our own editor-at-large Caleb Denison, the flagship king of 2023 has got to be the Sony A95L. This QD-OLED has got it all, folks; from amazing brightness levels and ultra-rich colors, to pulse-pounding sound and terrific 4K upscaling. By and large, Sony TVs are usually pretty amazing, but the A95L truly changes the game. Let’s just say it’s going to be tough to beat this model come 2024.

We’re also big fans of all things LG and Samsung, which is why we’ve also featured the LG G3 OLED and Samsung S95C QD-OLED as top picks, too. Do keep in mind that our roundup considers the best TVs for all types of viewers and budgets, but the vast majority of our selections are going to cost upwards of $1,000. After all, these are the very best TVs you’ll be able to find.

Sony A95L QD-OLED

The best TV you can buy right now

For those of you familiar with our video content, you’ll know that our own Caleb Denison is quite the discerning TV expert. So when Mr. Denison says that the Sony A95L QD-OLED is the best TV he’s ever reviewed, you know you’re in for some seriously good picture, sound, and other features. And yeah, Sony’s 2023 flagship is a totally killer TV, that just so happens to be equipped with cutting-edge QD-OLED display tech.

For those unaware, “QD-OLED” stands for Quantum Dot-Organic Light Emitting Diode. What we’ve got here is an OLED backbone, complete with a screen that contains self-emissive pixels. But on top of that, there’s also a layer of quantum dots built into the A95L, which does wonders for overall color and peak brightness levels; not to mention the supremely wide color gamut you’ll get to experience. Those are just the fundamentals though, with Sony giving us plenty more to love about this phenomenal TV.

It’s not too often we get to rave about a TV’s audio system, but we couldn’t believe the type of sound quality the A95L is capable of. With powerful representation in the treble, midrange, and bass sectors, you’d think you were using a great soundbar or surround sound-lite, but nope: it’s all in the TV speakers, friends.

Picture-wise, the list of terrific things to say is nearly endless, but highlights include some of the best color purity and saturation levels we’ve ever seen on a TV, or at least one with these max nit figures. The A95L also delivers some tremendous 4K upscaling, which not only brings lower-res content closer to Ultra HD quality, but also reduces picture noise and other onscreen artifacts to give you final frames that look clean and sharp. The A95L is also a fantastic TV for modern gaming, especially for those of us who own a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X/S.

Price-wise, this is going to be one of the most expensive picks on our list, but we really can’t praise the Sony A95L enough. And if you’re on the lookout for a super-great deal on one of last year’s flagship sets, now is the time to track down a Sony A95K.

The best TVs of 2023

LG G3 OLED Evo

Almost the best

With Samsung and Sony’s QD-OLED TVs from last year stealing some of OLED’s thunder for their ability to hit on both the perfect blacks that OLED is known for and the high brightness and pure colors of QLED, it left many TV aficionados wondering how OLED would respond. The 2023 LG G3 OLED is that response, and as Denison says in his review: “Wow. Just … wow.” Denison was also thoroughly blown away by the equally impressive Samsung S95C QD-OLED that we’ll get into more below, but here we’ll also point out some of the differences between our two top picks.

The first of LG’s TVs in the U.S. to brandish LG’s new micro-lens display (MLA) and “Brightness Booster Max” technology, LGs new OLED panels deliver better brightness, better viewing angles, and better energy efficiency than their previous TVs, with the LG G3 pumping out between 1,450 and 1,520 peak nits in our testing. In short: you no longer need to look to QLED or QD-OLED (like the Samsung S95C) if maximum brightness is a key buying point for a new TV.

That, and you also get those perfect, deep black levels that LG’s OLED panels are famous for — now it doesn’t matter whether you put this TV in a dark basement living room or a sun-soaked main floor family room.

Like its predecessor, the LG G3 comes in 55-, 65-, 75-, and 83-inch models and, as part of LGs Gallery Series, is meant to be wall mounted — it even comes with a no-gap wall mount, something the Samsung S95C does not. Connection options include four HDMI 2.1 ports, an eARC port, Wi-Fi 6E, an Ethernet connection, and Bluetooth 5, and the LG G3 has support for HDR10, HLG, Dolby Atmos sound, and, most importantly, Dolby Vision, which I’ve left to the end to point out that it could be the one sticking point over the S95C as Samsung still does not support Dolby Vision.

Denison’s review also predicts that gamers in particular are going to be into the LG G3’s extra brightness, but also its 120Hz refresh rate, NVIDIA G-Sync compatibility, AMD FreeSync Premium, and VRR specs, which will translate into some super-smooth gaming experiences.

We’ll leave off with Denison’s final thoughts on the G3: “Top to bottom, the LG G3 is an absolute star of a TV. It’s a delight. It’s exciting. It’s luxurious. It is everything a super-premium TV should be.”

Samsung S95C OLED

Ties with the LG G3

For 2023, Samsung has pushed forward with its stellar flagship quantum dot OLED TV, moving the S95B up the alphabet to its next-generation, the off-the-charts S95C. As we mentioned in our intro, after reviews of the LG G3 and Samsung S95C, both TVs are so good that flipping a coin would be the best way to choose. But let’s get into the Samsung S95C.

First off, the S95C is every bit as good as the S95B (which is still on our list below), but improves on it with better brightness, sleeker design, and better features. In fact, Denison calls the S95C “the best TV Samsung has ever made.” Although it doesn’t come with a wall mount like the LG G3, the all-metal stand mount is sturdy, stable, and leaves enough space for a soundbar underneath, but more importantly, it cradles the S95C’s

One Connect box that was once only found with Samsung’s 8K QLED TVs. One of the main differentiators from the LG G3, the One Connect box is a rather ingenious solution for messy and awkward cables at the back of your TV as it puts all those connections in a separate sleek box that connects to the TV with one cable.

As you might expect, picture quality is off the charts. Starting with brightness, the S95C is 60% brighter than its predecessor, peaking at 1,600 nits in our own tests. And that’s bananas. True to QLED and QD-OLED panels, this TV will be more than fine in any bright room you want to put it in. Color brightness is also very good and accurate on this TV, with 100% of P3 color space, and 75% of BT.2020, and Denison praised it for having a “super vivid vibe that, when combined with OLED’s perfect blacks,

is simply unmatched by any other TV technology.” However, there is that matter of Samsung still not supporting Dolby Vision, the dynamic HDR format that’s supported by several streaming services. If that’s a deal breaker for you, and it shouldn’t be, then scroll back up to the LG G3.

Gamers will be delighted by the S95s Game Mode that supports fast gaming at up to 120Hz, and because it’s a Samsung, gamers can also tap into Samsung Gaming Hub for cloud gaming without the console.

One of the other differentiators between the S95C and the LG G3 is the Samsung’s array of eight bass transducers on the back of the TV, which, Denison reports, don’t really add much to the native sound of the set and you’d still be better off getting a soundbar. Speaking of sound, the S95C does support Dolby Atmos sound, as well as pass through via eARC, but not DTS passthrough, sadly.

Available in 55, 65, and 75-inch models ranging from $2,500 to $4,500, this TV and the LG G3, are going to be hard TVs to beat.

LG 77-inch M3 Wireless OLED

Premium picture meets cutting-edge tech

The LG M3 Wireless OLED has arrived to solve a problem that a lot of home theaters struggle with: having too many wires to run. When it comes to power cables, we’ll always be reliant on a lead and power brick (at least for the foreseeable future), but as far as AV connections go (HDMI and digital optical), this is where TVs like the LG M3 are starting to change the game. In terms of picture quality, the M3 is pretty much toe-to-toe with the amazing LG G3, our favorite OLED this year. But the true calling card feature is the M3’s ability to wirelessly receive picture and sound from a broadcasting unit called the Zero Connect Box.

The Zero Connect includes three HDMI ports that can push 4K at up to 120Hz (and the second port is eARC/ARC compatible), digital optical, ethernet, two USB-A, and an output for an IR blaster. And as long as the transmitting device is in range of the M3 TV’s receiver, you’ll be able to enjoy wireless audio and video. Do keep in mind that if you’re planning on using a soundbar, you’ll want to have the Zero Connect located fairly close to the TV, otherwise, you probably won’t have enough cord length to place the soundbar under the M3.

As mentioned, the picture quality on this model is right on par with the LG G3, and when we tested the M3 ourselves, we experienced zero troubles with latency or any kind of compression or pixelation. This is definitely the kind of next-gen TV that leans on one awesome feature more than any other, and at $5,000 we do wish the Zero Connect box was a little smaller and completely reliable in the signal-range department.

But if you told us a year ago that we’d have the ability to go wireless with our HDMI gear, and the picture and sound would be just as good as running physical cables, we’d scoff and laugh. But the LG M3 Wireless OLED has proved us wrong.

TCL QM8 mini-LED

The TV most people should buy

Sure, the LG G2 and Samsung S95C are the cream of the crop this year so far, but around $3,000 for either of those 65-inch panels can be a jagged pill to swallow. And even if you consider that the latest step-down 65-inch LG C3 OLED is still north of $2,000, may we present to you a TCL TV that has closed the performance-versus-price gap so thoroughly, that it surprised us: the 2023 TCL QM8.

With appeal to an extremely broad audience, the TCL QM8 sits at the top of TCL’s new Q class flagship lineup with this 4K mini-LED QLED TV that runs Google TV. As we mentioned in the intro, 2023 has so far been all about brightness, something that TCL promises with the QM8 with its “High Brightness ULTRA LED Backlight” technology. So … it’s bright then?

You betcha. In fact, in our review of the QM8, Caleb Denison’s calibration tool is only rated to accurately read up to 2,000 nits of brightness, which is already insanely powerful. The QM8 blew past that, giving readings of up to 3,500 nits in HDR mode before some tweaking settled things to a more consistent 2,500 (TCL’s website lists the peak nits at 2,000 though). The TL;DR here is: schnikies, it’s bright.

But how about the black levels? While deep inky blacks is the calling card of OLED technology, this mini-LED gets really close, with excellent contrast and support for Dolby Vision IQ, HDR10+, HDR10, and HLG. Denison was impressed, stating: “The contrast on this TV is just out-of-this-world impressive, partially because it can get so bright, yes, but also because its blacks are remarkably good.” The brightness and black level capabilities make this a great choice for both dark home theater dens and bright rooms.

Color-wise, the TCL QM8 is great, too, covering 97% of DCI-P3 and about 76% of BT.2020 color gamuts, and the TV looks excellent out of the box even without calibration. And while Denison did see some motion judder when viewing some higher-quality shows, there’s a de-judder option in the settings that can nip that in the bud. But gamers will be pleased with the QM8’s support for VRR, and there’s an auto game mode with AMD FreeSync Premium Pro.

The TCL QM8 is available in 65-, 75-, 85-, and 98-inch variants ranging in price from $1,200 to $10,000.

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