Gaming

The ROG Zephyrus G14 (2025) is a gamer’s version of quiet luxury

It has a minimalist chassis but hides immense power underneath.

Published

September 24, 2025

Luigi Leonardo

Quiet luxury is my preferred form of wealth. I prefer the confidence of “if you know, you know,” rather than the desperation of “please fawn over my ridiculous wealth” that certain officials seem to go for these days. As an avid gamer myself, I think I found gaming’s own version of quiet luxury in 2025’s ROG Zephyrus G14.

MacBook who?

The MacBook has one of the most ubiquitous designs in notebooks today. It’s a minimalist metallic shell that you can recognize from a mile away. Not to say that it’s merely a copy, but the ROG Zephyrus G14 shares a lot of similarities with Apple’s behemoth. And that’s not a negative.

The notebook features a chassis built from a CNC-machined aluminum alloy. The design itself is smooth, sleek, and tactile. Outside of the flashy Slash Lighting array and a subtle ROG logo, there’s nothing to hint at the notebook’s massive power lurking underneath.

On the sides, the Zephyrus G14 has a power delivery port, an HDMI port, two USB-A slots, two USB-C slots, a headphone jack, and a microSD reader. It’s a standard set of side-mounted ports, but they do get the job done.

The main area is pretty spotless. And yet, despite how clean the interface looks, ROG increased the surface area of both the keycaps and the trackpad. The latter even extends almost all the way to the bottom edge. It’s then a marvel that the redesigned layout doesn’t just maintain the smoothness of the design, but that it also improves the user experience.

Rounding out the layout are two side woofers (more on that later), four programmable buttons, and a glass power key.

I love you, OLED

The Zephyrus G14 has a majestic 14-inch OLED panel. The screen supports a veritable rogues’ gallery: 3K resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, 500nits of brightness, NVIDIA G-Sync, Dolby Vision, VESA-certified DisplayHDR, and True Black 500.

This is one of the most impressive screens I’ve seen in a notebook. Even just from booting the notebook, you can see how capable it is. The range of colors is astounding. The blacks are just as impressive. Whether you’re watching a movie or playing a game, the Zephyrus G14’s screen is immersive.

I played a ton of Hollow Knight: Silksong. Since the game features a lot of underground segments, a lot of portions are in the dark. This helps the screen pop, especially because of the True Black 500 certification. Often, I find myself forgetting that I’m staring at a screen. The wide range of colors, complemented by the intensity of the blacks, kept me immersed for hours.

A short word on the speakers

Speaking of immersion, let me talk about the speakers for a bit. Normally, I don’t really comment on a notebook’s speakers, but the Zephyrus G14 deserves a special mention.

As I mentioned, the notebook has six speakers with two side-mounted woofers. It features a 252 percent volume increase compared to last year’s model. It also has an ultra-low bass frequency of 100Hz. Importantly, it supports Dolby Atmos.

This is the first notebook that effortlessly made me feel the power of Dolby Atmos. Just as how the screen made me forget that I was looking at one, the speakers made me forget that I wasn’t wearing headphones. There were times when I’d look left or right after hearing a sound, not realizing that it came from the speakers.

A modern notebook for modern games

Inside, the Zephyrus G14 sports the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 GPU. It also has 32GB of RAM and 1TB of internal storage. This duo is on the higher end of the spectrum for hardware you can get from a notebook these days.

Of course, the notebook can confidently handle anything I threw at it. I tested it extensively with long playthroughs of Stellar Blade and Helldivers 2. The notebook can play both these games at maximum settings.

To note, however, the surface gets intensely hot, particularly above the keyboard. Thankfully, the area where your palm should rest keeps relatively cool — or, at the very least, at a tolerable warmth. It does tout a cooling system designed to keep the heat away from your hands, including two heatsinks, a heat pipe, and three fans.

I also did a sizable playthrough of Assassin’s Creed Shadows. This is where the hardware buckles a bit. Though the game still played at a very high level, it did stutter when I enabled the more robust settings like raytracing.

Is Slash Lighting worth it?

What would a gaming notebook be without a design quirk to set it apart from others? Despite how minimalist the notebook looks, the rear panel still has a light strip running diagonally through it.

The feature looks like a pared-down version of the ROG Phone’s dot-matrix display. Instead of phrases, however, the so-called Slash Lighting feature allows only customizable light patterns with a bunch of presets.

Personally, I didn’t really mind the feature, but that’s mostly because the lighting doesn’t face me. Although, it does get irritating when I’m facing a reflective surface. I can imagine that it’s also distracting for those around me if I brought it out in public. Thankfully, you can also turn the lighting off.

Keep this one plugged in

Typical of gaming notebooks, the Zephyrus G14 doesn’t feature the strongest battery life. An average gaming session can last less than two hours on a full charge. Without gaming, the notebook can last around five hours. It’s not the most impressive for on-the-go professionals, but that’s what you get for a gaming notebook.

This is the type of notebook that you want to keep plugged in. Interestingly, the box comes with two options for that. The standard charging option is the average rectangular brick capable of 200W charging. On the other hand, the package also has a smaller squarish brick that puts out only 100W.

Both the laptop and the regular charging brick are light enough to not be too much of a burden. Then again, if you need less weight and are fine with slower charging, the square brick is more than enough.

Is the ROG Zephyrus G14 (2025) your GadgetMatch?

Over the years, gaming notebooks have shied away from overly bombastic designs. Notebooks these days look more minimalist than their counterparts years ago. The new Zephyrus G14 perfects this new zeitgeist by offering the sleekest design available today.

Underneath, however, the Zephyrus G14 sports an incredibly powerful machine. It’s perfect for your gaming habits, marred only by a battery life that doesn’t set it apart from the rest of the pack.

As expected, the notebook comes with a pretty price tag. You’ll need to shell out PhP 179,995 for this beast. It’s quite a price to pay, but then again, this is the definition of quiet luxury.

For a gaming notebook, this is still one of the best you can get today. For that, it gets a Swipe Right from me.

Gaming

Marvel’s Wolverine details combat, abilities, and features

Wolverine gets new combat details

Published

August 30, 2026

Rodneil Quiteles

Insomniac Games has shared more details about Marvel’s Wolverine, highlighting Logan’s combat abilities, progression systems, exploration features, customization options, and accessibility settings.

The developer shared the details alongside a new Features Trailer ahead of the game’s September 15 release on PlayStation 5.

Wolverine fights with momentum

Marvel’s Wolverine puts aggressive combat at the center of its gameplay.

Logan can attack enemies with his claws, kicks, barrages, and critical strikes. Players can also unlock Techniques to enhance his combat moves.

Special Techniques add more options during fights. Players can equip up to four at a time, including moves such as Tornado Spin, Knee Breaker, and Spiral Strike.

Logan can further customize his combat style through Adaptations. These can improve his ability to absorb bullets, increase the effectiveness of Rage, expand parry windows, and provide other combat advantages.

His Rage system has three tiers. It focuses on survivability, resilience, and fury. Players can use it to survive dangerous encounters or unleash more brutal attacks.

Logan travels around the world

The game features an original story that takes Logan across different locations.

He and Jean Grey will work alongside members of Team X to stop Bolivar Trask and his plans against mutantkind. Logan will also face enemies such as Omega Red and Deathstrike.

Exploration will offer activities outside the main story. Players can discover Nightmare Doors with combat and traversal challenges. They can also find whisky bottles that reveal more about Logan’s forgotten memories.

Material crates can unlock suits inspired by Wolverine’s appearances across comics, movies, and animation.

Suits and claws add customization

Players can unlock a variety of Wolverine suits, including versions inspired by Weapon X, Old Man Logan, Ultimate Wolverine, and Patch.

The game also features more casual looks, including a tank top and leather jacket. Players can toggle some cowls and hats on or off.

Different claw designs are also available. These include bone, notched, curved, reflective, and angled claws.

The game will also feature Logan’s Nightmare Cabin. It includes New Game Plus with exclusive Techniques and level caps, Mission Replay, Nightmare Challenges, and Photo Mode. Photo Mode will be available through a day-one update.

More accessibility options included

Insomniac says Marvel’s Wolverine will include more than 100 new, returning, and improved accessibility features.

These include High Contrast visuals, English audio description, Global Game Speed, and Strong Haptic Signals.

The game also gives players more control over its violence and adult language. Separate options can alter dynamic blood and dismemberment, while language filters can limit adult language in English.

Marvel’s Wolverine launches on PlayStation 5 on September 15, 2026.

Gaming

Dune: Awakening gets new PS5 gameplay, movie DLC

PS5 gameplay and cross-play confirmed

Published

August 28, 2026

GadgetMatch

Dune: Awakening is getting ready for its September 22 launch on PlayStation 5 and Xbox. At Gamescom, Funcom showed seven minutes of new PS5 gameplay and announced new DLC inspired by the Dune films.

The studio also confirmed that PC and console cross-play is coming after launch. It has not announced a release date for the feature yet.

PS5 gameplay revealed

Funcom premiered seven minutes of Dune: Awakening gameplay captured on a PlayStation 5 Pro.

The footage gives players a look at how the open-world survival game runs on Sony’s consoles. Gamescom attendees can also get hands-on with the PS5 version at the show.

On the base PS5, Performance Mode targets 60fps with dynamic resolution. The PS5 Pro also runs Performance Mode at 60fps.

Quality Mode runs at 30fps on both consoles. Both PS5 models use upscaled 4K resolution in Performance and Quality Mode.

The PS5 and Xbox versions will launch on September 22. The console release will also bring several major additions to the game.

These include a full single-player mode, the conclusion to its story, more customization options, and adjustable difficulty levels.

Funcom says console players will also get a year’s worth of PC additions and enhancements on day one.

Watch the trailer.

Dune movie-inspired DLC arrives

Funcom also announced Filmic Archive, a new DLC featuring outfits and building pieces inspired by Denis Villeneuve’s Dune films.

The DLC launches September 22 on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation. It will cost ₱615.92 ($9.99).

Among its additions are the Aegis of the Unwalked Path armor. It is inspired by Paul Atreides’ visions of Fremen holy warriors in Dune: Part One.

The DLC also includes the Caladan Stormcoat worn by Paul and Duke Leto in the film.

Other movie-inspired outfits are included as well. Players can also build with a 73-piece set styled after the Sardaukar.

Funcom will reveal more of Filmic Archive during the Xbox Broadcast on August 28.

Cross-play is coming after launch

PC and console cross-play was one of the community’s most requested features after Funcom announced the console versions.

The studio has now confirmed that the feature is in development.

However, Funcom has not committed to a release date. It will share more details once they are available.

Dune: Awakening originally launched on PC in June 2025. The PS5 and Xbox versions arrive on September 22, bringing the game’s latest additions and improvements to consoles.

The game will also launch on Xbox Game Pass on the same day.

Players who purchase the Deluxe or Ultimate Edition can start playing five days early. Early access begins September 17.

Funcom will also release a physical PS5 edition through its distribution partners. Pre-orders are already available at select retailers.

Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe will distribute the physical edition across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. Solutions 2 GO will handle North and South America.

In Japan, Spike Chunsoft will publish the game digitally and at retail. Its Japanese release is scheduled for October 29.

Gaming

CAPTAIN TSUBASA 2: WORLD FIGHTERS is out now

Super Action Soccer returns

Published

August 28, 2026

GadgetMatch

CAPTAIN TSUBASA 2: WORLD FIGHTERS is out now on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series X|S. The game is also available on PC via Steam.

Bandai Namco Entertainment Asia brings back the popular series with its signature Super Action Soccer gameplay. Players can take control of more than 110 characters and compete across 22 national teams.

Tsubasa Ozora once again represents Japan as they take on national teams from around the world. The goal is to overcome their rivals and win the highly contested World Youth Championship.

The game is available in Standard, Deluxe, and Ultimate Editions on consoles and PC.

Super Action Soccer returns

CAPTAIN TSUBASA 2: WORLD FIGHTERS brings back the series’ over-the-top soccer action with enhanced visuals and new supercharged moves.

Players can pass, dribble, tackle, and unleash powerful strikes. Each character also brings signature techniques inspired by their abilities from the anime and manga.

The sequel adds a new system that pits goalkeepers directly against shooters. Players can attack and counter signature shots and blocks in dramatic sequences.

The game also features more than 150 new cutscenes that highlight some of these special skills and moves.

Composer Tadayoshi Makino also returns for the sequel. He created more than 80 new tracks for the game.

A bigger World Youth Championship

CAPTAIN TSUBASA 2: WORLD FIGHTERS features more content than any previous game in the series.

Its Story Mode features a new original story written by series creator Yoichi Takahashi. The story draws from the World Youth Championships arc of the original manga.

Beyond the main story, players can compete in a variety of game modes. These include battles against rivals both online and offline.

With its mix of traditional soccer tactics and exaggerated special moves, the game aims to deliver the unpredictable “neo-soccer” action that defines Captain Tsubasa.

CAPTAIN TSUBASA 2: WORLD FIGHTERS is out now on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam.