Gaming

PS5 now supports storage expansion in first major update

Also comes with new social features

Published

April 13, 2021

Rodneil Quiteles

It’s the update PlayStation 5 (PS5) users have all been waiting for. Coming in the first major update for the PS5 which will rollout April 14, 2021 is storage expansion and management along with new social features.

Storage expansion

Players can now store PS5 games on compatible USB drives. This lets you transfer installed games from your PS5 to an external storage device. Do note that you can’t boot the game up from the external drive as PS5 games are designed to take advantage of the speed and features of the Internal SSD.

The main advantage is that it’s easier and faster to re-install games to your PS5 from an external drive versus having to redownload these games. You can check PS5 storage device requirements and tips here.

Disappointed? PlayStation is still working on storage expansion via M.2 drives and this will come in a future update.

New social features

If you’re the type who likes playing with friends online, you can now play with friends even if they have yet to secure a PS5 for themselves thanks to the new update. These are:

Cross-Gen Share Play

Cross-generation Share Play gives PS5 users the option to let their friends on PS4 consoles view their screen or try out the PS5 game through Share Play. The feature works both ways.

Options include the ability to share your screen with a friend, pass your controller virtually to a friend, or pass a second controller virtually to play co-op games together.

Request to join game session

A selection of your friends’ joinable game sessions will now appear on both PS5 and PS4 consoles for more gameplay opportunities together.

The “Request to Join” option also serves as a shortcut to sending a game invite, reducing the time it takes for you to get into games with friends. Through the Privacy Settings menu, you can modify who can interact with you through parties, games and messages.

Better Personalization controls

Improved Game Base

The Game Base menu now has quicker access to important content and features. You can now easily switch between Parties and Friends to start chatting with your existing parties or see what each of your online friends is up to. You can also turn notifications on or off for each of the parties you’re in.

Disable game chat or adjust players’ volume

Is someone being unnecessarily annoying? You can now quickly disable in-game chat, which turns off your mic audio and the voice audio of other players. You can also easily adjust the individual voice chat volume of other players in the same chat so you don’t have to ask your friends to lower or increase their mic volume each time.

Game update pre-download

Once it’s enabled by developers, title updates for games will pre-download to your console if the “automatic updates” setting is enabled and your console is on or in rest mode.

Customize game library

It’s now easier to find content and personalize your view of your game library with the new search and hide functions.

Screen Zoom

Players can now adjust the magnification of the screen to suit their preference.

New Trophy settings and stats screen.

The level of trophies that results in automatic capture of a screenshot or video clip can now be customized. Players can now choose to only capture and save images/videos of moments when they earn higher-grade trophies, like Gold or Platinum. There’s also a new player Trophy Stats screen where players can check out the summary of their trophy level and status at a glance.

PlayStation App updates

Coming to the PlayStation app in the next few weeks are the following:

- Ability to join a multiplayer session on PS5 from the app
- Manage PS5 console storage
- Compare trophy collections with friends
- Sort and filter products shown in the PlayStation Store

Watch our PlayStation 5 Review

Gaming

Blizzard will host four major game showcases starting this week

They will feature World of Warcraft, Overwatch 2, Diablo, and Hearthstone.

Published

January 27, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

It’s been a while since the last BlizzCon. For a couple of years now, Blizzard decided to skip the formerly annual event for smaller announcements throughout the year. This year, however, the company is celebrating its 35^th anniversary, and it has a lot of plans to celebrate.

For one, BlizzCon will return this year. The event’s return should be a good one, especially since the last one even featured LE SSERAFIM performing live for fans. For its 35^th anniversary, the company is likely pulling all the stops.

But right now, to whet our appetite for what’s to come, Blizzard will host four spotlight streams for almost all its franchises: World of Warcraft (January 29), Overwatch (February 4), Hearthstone (February 9), and Diablo (February 11). Sorry, StarCraft fans!

Each stream, watchable on YouTube and Twitch, will feature major announcements for each franchise. This shouldn’t be a surprise because three of the four franchises are set to launch major content soon.

World of Warcraft, for example, will launch the new Midnight expansion on March 2. Overwatch 2 is teasing a Talon takeover. Diablo IV, finally, will launch the new Lord of Hatred expansion on April 28.

If you’re sad about the lack of StarCraft content, there is a rumor that the RTS franchise will get the spotlight for the upcoming BlizzCon happening later this year.

Gaming

New DRAGON BALL game project “AGE 1000” for 2027 announced

A new era begins

Published

January 27, 2026

GadgetMatch

Bandai Namco Entertainment Asia has announced a new DRAGON BALL game project titled “AGE 1000,” set to launch in 2027. The reveal took place during the Dragon Ball Genkidamatsuri event held on January 25, 2026.

The project introduces an entirely new DRAGON BALL world featuring original characters designed by Akira Toriyama himself. Bandai Namco describes AGE 1000 as a fresh expansion of the DRAGON BALL universe. It has more characters and story elements set to be revealed as development continues.

As part of the announcement, the company also unveiled a brand-new character making its debut in the AGE 1000 world. The character designed by Toriyama appears in the newly released teaser trailer. It’s the first glimpse of the project’s tone and visual direction.

More details on DRAGON BALL Game Project “AGE 1000” will be shared during Dragon Ball Games Battle Hour 2026, scheduled to take place in the United States on April 19–20, 2026 (SGT).

Dragon Ball Games Battle Hour 2026 returns

Now in its sixth year, Dragon Ball Games Battle Hour continues to serve as a global showcase for the franchise, spanning manga, anime, films, games, figures, and collectibles.

This year’s event will feature a special stage dedicated to the latest DRAGON BALL announcements, along with competitive tournaments for DRAGON BALL FighterZ, DRAGON BALL SUPER CARD GAME MASTERS, DRAGON BALL SUPER CARD GAME FUSION WORLD, and DRAGON BALL SUPER CARD GAME Fusion World Digital.

Fans can also expect booth exhibits for multiple DRAGON BALL games, including DRAGON BALL GEKISHIN SQUADRA and DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO, as well as merchandise sales and other on-site activities.

More information about the event will be shared through the official Dragon Ball Games Battle Hour website.

Gaming

Nintendo’s latest toy is Super Mario Wonder’s Talking Flower

It tells the time and jokes around randomly throughout the day.

Published

January 23, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Late in 2024, Nintendo announced the Alarmo, the quirkiest alarm clock we would’ve grabbed immediately if alarm clocks were still a big thing. Today, the company has announced its next clock-like toy: the Talking Flower from Super Mario Wonder.

To me, the Talking Flower was a welcome addition to the franchise’s burgeoning cast of characters. The occasionally appearing character delivered timely quips that broke the monotony of the level’s music or provided meaningful tips.

However, there is a good number of players who find the flower irritating and mute the character altogether. If you’re part of this group, then Nintendo’s latest clock isn’t for you.

The new Talking Flower doesn’t have its own clock display. It only has a speaker, but it can announce the hour “mostly accurately,” according to Nintendo.

It’s an odd product. The brand wants the flower to be glitchy. Besides being “mostly accurate” with the time, it can also randomly blurt out alerts in one of its handful of available languages, outside of what the user set.

Further, it can comment on the weather and play music. It can also say “words of encouragement and silly quips” randomly throughout the day. The Talking Flower certainly has the spirit of the character it’s modeled after.

As for input buttons, it only has a single button. One press makes it say something outside of its scheduled prompts. Holding the button for two seconds silences the thing.

The Talking Flower will ship out on March 12. It will sell for US$ 34.99.