Framer Developer ConsultantFilament Games3 minutes agoApplyFilament Games is seeking a talented Framer Developer to lead the redesign and rebranding of our company website. Our goal is to give the site a fresh, modern aesthetic while also centralizing our video content in a compelling and user-friendly way.Needs:Redesign and rebuild our existing company website to align with new branding directionCreate a sleek, modern, responsive UI with an emphasis on smooth animations and interactionsCentralize and enhance presentation of our video contentCollaborate closely with internal stakeholders (marketing, design, leadership) to align visual direction and functionalityImplement SEO best practices and ensure site performance optimizationRequirements:Proven experience with Framer and/or Webflow (please provide portfolio)Strong understanding of modern design trends , responsive design, and user experience best practicesExperience with video content integration and layout optimizationStrong visual design skills in Figma or access to a partner with those skillsProficiency in React (as needed for customization within Framer)Experience setting up blogs with Framer CMS Create Your Profile — Game companies can contact you with their relevant job openings. Apply

Last week, Xbox and Bethesda shadow-dropped a fancy remaster of 2006 open-world RPG The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and it promptly took over the world. However, it also made some people worried that a long-in-development fan mod which also aims to recreate the aging RPG would face legal issues or be overshadowed when it arrives later this year. That doesn’t seem to be the case as Bethesda themselves seem very excited for the project. Suggested ReadingDragon’s Dogma 2’s New Class Is A Twirling Death Machine Share SubtitlesOffEnglishview videoSuggested ReadingDragon’s Dogma 2’s New Class Is A Twirling Death Machine Share SubtitlesOffEnglishOn May 1, Bethesda published a new developer spotlight video focused on art and development lead Dan Lee. He’s been at Bethesda for a long time now, having worked on Fallout 3, Fallout 4, Skyrim, and the original Oblivion as well as the newly released remaster. And in his dev spotlight video he called out Skyblivion, a mod that’s been in development since 2012 and aims to recreate the OG game in the Skyrim engine.“Even though I worked on Oblivion Remastered, I’m still excited for Skyblivion,” said Lee at the end of the spotlight. “I think what they’re doing is very special and I’m excited to see their interpretation of what we’ve done in the past. And I think it’s a great year for Oblivion fans.” The team behind the mod replied to the dev spotlight video on BlueSky. “Dan, we’re just as excited to get Skyblivion into your hands this year as you are to play it,” posted the Skyblivion devs on social media. “Thanks for the shoutout and kind words. You said it best: It is a great year for Oblivion fans.” BethesdaAnd this isn’t just one single dev showing their support for the upcoming mod. On April 22, the devs behind Skyblivion thanked Bethesda for the studio’s continued support of Skyblivion and revealed that the studio had sent everyone on the team a copy of Oblivion Remastered, too. It’s really nice to see a publisher as big as Bethesda, which is owned by Xbox, not sic the lawyers on a team of modders or fans for simply modding older games they love. Nintendo and Take-Two, you could learn a few things. .

In the 2024 Unity Gaming Report, 68% of studios said they’re developing multiplayer games – a number that’s risen steadily over the last few years in response to increasing player demand.Multiplayer games offer more competition and community, encouraging greater engagement and retention. In 2023, mobile-only games with multiplayer features had 40.2% more monthly active users (MAU) than single-player games, and overall multiplayer gaming revenue grew by 10%, a substantial bump compared to 0.6% YoY industrywide.Achieving that success requires investing a lot more into development, operations, and player retention, but this additional complexity is manageable with the right tools. Instead of solving all of these problems in-house, many game developers fill the gaps in their networking stack with solutions custom-built to help dev teams stay focused on gameplay. According to one study, 88% of studios are looking for new tools to meet their needs for demanding game projects.By offering Netcode for GameObjects and Netcode for Entities frameworks, as well as Unity Gaming Services (UGS) multiplayer solutions like Unity Multiplay Hosting and Vivox Voice Chat, Unity’s suite of live game tools covers the entire multiplayer game development journey, from concept and prototyping through to launch and live operations. This flexible system enables you to build within Unity’s ecosystem or mix and match whichever tools and services you need to fit your game and development team’s needs.Games with community are more engaging, have a lasting impact on gamers’ lives, and monetize better for their developers. My fondest childhood memories are playing multiplayer mode in games like Goldeneye, Red Alert, and Halo with my friends. Those memories wouldn’t be possible without their early versions of local, co-op, and online multiplayer.In today’s games industry, retaining customers and creating an engaging community are more important than ever. This is the most effective way to create a game that lasts forever and delivers long-term business success, which is why we’re continuing to invest heavily in multiplayer dev tools and services to help you build, deploy, and operate multiplayer games.Multiplayer Services power boldly innovative games. When Triangle Factory created Breachers, a 5v5 first-person shooter for VR, their strategic focus was on maximizing player reach through cross-platform access while keeping the lean studio team focused on gameplay. To do it, they needed the multiplayer backend on track with as little friction as possible.Using Multiplay Hosting, they were able to reduce server costs with a hybrid server solution, scaling quickly to 110k MAU in the first month, supported by UGS backend architecture and Multiplay Hosting. They also used a range of Multiplayer Services to simplify their stack and accelerate development time, including Authentication, Matchmaker, Vivox Voice Chat, and Leaderboard.“Unity Multiplayer Services has reduced development time on player features from a few weeks to a few days,” says Pieter Vantorre, Triangle Factory’s CTO. “Had we built everything ourselves, it would’ve required more resources and significantly more funds.”StickyLock also opted to use several Multiplayer Services together to streamline a complex development process. “It’s hard to quantify the exact amount of time that UGS has saved us, but I would put it in the ballpark of hundreds to thousands of dev hours,” says Jamel Ziaty, producer of StickyLock’s upcoming multiplayer game Histera.The StickyLock team was already tackling a big game concept – a fast-paced dystopian first-person shooter given a twist by a novel game mechanic called “the glitch,” which bounces players into different historical eras. The small team needed all hands on deck to execute on gameplay, so getting coverage in their multiplayer stack was crucial.“We chose multiplayer UGS because we wanted to have a third party take care of all complex logic for us so we could focus on the core gameplay of Histera,” Ziaty explains. “We use quite a few services from UGS, and it’s very useful to get them with one single provider. There’s less glue between various services for us to worry about.”In these games and many others, Multiplay Hosting has been tested at scale for performance, capacity, and customer savings:Unity Gaming Services hosts 77 million game sessions a month.Multiplay Hosting has supported more than 3 million concurrent users, demonstrating its ability to scale.Recently, Unity supported more than 175,000 game servers running concurrently.Multiplay Hosting reduces hosting cost per player by 30–40%.Multiplay Hosting has access to 292 data center locations.We want to support every customer that is building a multiplayer game. For that reason, we offer services ranging from Relay, Matchmaker, Distributed Authority, and Multiplay Hosting. To support the rapid growth in options for hosting multiplayer games, we’re making Multiplay Hosting agnostic to the hosting hardware by relying on our industry-leading, cloud and bare-metal hybrid approach that has scaled to millions of players whenever a game needs it. That means you will be able to rely on us to provide the infrastructure, or you can bring your own compute to Multiplay Hosting through your favorite cloud provider.We’re adjusting our multiplayer hosting and tools to offer greater flexibility to ensure that you can use the multiplayer hosting solution that has demonstrated reliability, performance, and success for years.We’re continuing to invest heavily in multiplayer game development and have a lot of exciting new features planned:Greater cloud flexibility: Bring Your Own Compute (BYOC) lets you run your game directly on the infrastructure you choose from our partner network.Flexible cloud provider marketplace spending: Our products and services will be available on the cloud providers marketplaces, enabling you to use your existing commits/spends with them.Additional CI/CD and observability options: Build the CI/CD pipeline you need with new external bucket upload and build tagging options, while new self-serve logs and metrics exports improve your game observability.Distributed authority:This brand-new network topology enables you to build large-scale multiplayer games with deep simulation in a cost-effective way, without the complexity of dedicated servers.New multiplayer game sample: We recently released Megacity Metro, a sample game that offers a blueprint for end-to-end multiplayer development in Unity, including services like Multiplay Hosting, Matchmaker, and Vivox Voice Chat.Multiplayer VR template, coming soon: Setting up multiplayer for VR games is difficult, so we’re making that easier with our new Multiplayer VR template, built on top of OpenXR and announced in the Unity Roadmap session at GDC 2024.We’re also simplifying your multiplayer game development with deeper integration between the Unity Engine and Unity Multiplayer Services in Unity 6, including:Multiplayer Play Mode delivers a first-class Editor experience so you can quickly test game functionality.Multiplayer Center streamlines your project setup.Unity Multiplayer Services, including Matchmaking, Lobby, and Vivox Voice Chat, allow for quick experimentation and richer gameplay, and these are integrated into the Unity Editor.Leverage Relay and Multiplay Hosting for smoother development, playtesting, and deployment.Check out the GDC 2024 Roadmap session to learn more about what’s in store and how these tools work together.I’m excited that we’re extending the flexibility of our Multiplay Hosting to support customers however they want to run their infrastructure. At the same time, we’re democratizing multiplayer game development to support any type of game for any device with a simple integration into the Unity Engine. With these investments, Multiplayer Services will continue to be the go-to solution for the most demanding, high-performance games and support the growing adoption of multiplayer gameplay across the industry.Stay ahead of the latest multiplayer development tools and share your feedback in the Multiplayer Forum. Check out the recent “Multiplayer resource roundup” blog post for the latest templates, samples, and demos for hands-on learning for all things multiplayer, including our new Megacity Metro sample game.

Amazon’s upgraded digital assistant powered by generative AI, Alexa+, has rolled out to over 100,000 users, CEO Andy Jassy said on the company’s earnings call Thursday. While that’s a far cry from the 600 million Alexa devices out there, the company is making some progress on the rollout of Alexa+, which was first unveiled in February. At the time, Amazon said that Alexa+ would roll out in waves over the coming months. Amazon’s new digital assistant aims to let users talk with it in a more natural style, and eventually have agentic abilities that allow it to use third-party apps on a user’s behalf. Alexa+ should be able to generate original responses on the fly, much like the voice modes in OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, rather than the predetermined responses of the old Alexa and Siri systems. However, as The Washington Post reported at launch, the Alexa+ that’s rolling out today lacks some of the key features the company demoed in February. The report notes that, at launch, Alexa+ did not have the ability to use third party apps like GrubHub, generate a bedtime story for children, or brainstorm a gift idea. It’s unclear when those features will make it into Alexa+. “We have a lot more functionality that we plan to add in coming months,” Jassy said on the call. During his opening comments, Jassy claimed that Alexa+ is one of the first action-oriented AI agents for consumers. But he noted that this technology is still rather “primitive” and “inaccurate.” Currently, most multi-step AI agents have a low accuracy rate, between 30% and 60%, the Amazon CEO said. Jassy set a goal for the company’s web-browsing agent that powers Alexa+, Nova Act, to achieve 90% accuracy in this domain. Amazon’s rollout of Alexa+ seems to be progressing faster than Apple’s rollout of its new, LLM-powered Siri. When asked about the new Siri delays on Apple’s Thursday earnings call, which occurred simultaneously wiith Amazon’s, CEO Tim Cook said the company needed “more time to complete the work.” Techcrunch event Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you’ve built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you’ve built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | June 5 BOOK NOW Along the road to supercharge legacy digital assistants with generative AI, both Apple and Amazon have reportedly run into snags and delays. Some of the biggest hiccups are around getting LLMs to use tools and integrate with other systems. Doing so allows Alexa and Siri to complete practical tasks such as setting timers and reading texts, but implementing it has proven harder than expected.

Scopely announced today that Monopoly Go! has surpassed $5B in gross bookings, the fastest title in mobile game history to do so.Read More

Wikipedia isn't replacing their human editors with artificial intelligence yet - but they're giving them a bit of an AI boost. On Wednesday, the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that runs Wikipedia, announced that it was integrating generative AI into its editing process as a means to help its volunteer and largely unpaid staff of moderators, editors, and patrollers reduce their workload and focus more on quality control. In a statement, Chris Albon, the Director of Machine Learning at the foundation, emphasized that he did not want AI to replace their human editors or end up generating Wikipedia's content. Rather, AI would be used to "remove technical barriers" and "tedious tasks" that impeded editors' workflow, such as background research, translation, and onboarding new volunteers. The hope, he said, was to give editors the bandwidth to spend more time on deliberation and less on technical support. "We will take a human-centered approach and will prioritize human agency; we will prioritize using open-source or open-weight AI; we will prioritize transparency; and we will take a nuanced approach to multilinguality," he wrote. The site already uses AI to detect vandalism, tra … Read the full story at The Verge.

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The author was recreated with the help of an actress and artificial intelligence. (AI-generated image) Credit: BBC Maestro On Wednesday, BBC Maestro — a similar service to Masterclass — launched a new writing course taught by the best-selling novelist of all time. There’s a catch: the author, genre-defining mystery writer Agatha Christie, died 50 years ago, and was thus unavailable to participate.Instead, BBC Maestro used an actress and artificial intelligence to recreate Christie, drawing from the author’s own novels, interviews, and letters for the course material. The creators describe the effort as a “world-first,” and the “Agatha Christie On Writing” masterclass is available now.Almost as soon as the course launched, critics accused the BBC of making an Agatha Christie “deepfake.” Meanwhile, BBC Maestro wants to emphasize the participation of the Christie estate and their high esteem for the late author.“This groundbreaking course was carefully created over two years by a team of almost 100 people, including academics, researchers, creative professionals, and a team of leading global Agatha Christie scholars, who have each studied Agatha’s written and spoken words and who curated the course to reflect all her teachings,” an announcement reads.  The Agatha Christie writing course is available now. Credit: Screenshot courtesy of BBC Maestro Is the Agatha Christie writing course inspired or unsettling?The BBC Maestro says viewers and aspiring writers can learn "the art of suspense, plot twists, and unforgettable characters" from Christie herself, yet many creatives are extremely wary of applying artificial intelligence to the arts — no matter what.Whether the course qualifies as a deepfake depends on how you define deepfake. A 2024 article from BBC Newsround defines deepfakes as “videos, picture or audio clips made with artificial intelligence to look real. They can be used for fun, or even for scientific research, but sometimes they're used to impersonate people like politicians or world leaders, in order to deliberately mislead people.” The term is most often used with negative connotations to refer to AI-generated content created without consent. Just this week in the United States, congress passed the “Take It Down” Act to prevent deepfakes and revenge porn from spreading online. Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up! Obviously, Christie can’t personally consent to her likeness and voice being used to sell writing courses, but the Christie estate was involved in this project from its inception. The BBC worked closely with Christie’s great-grandson James Prichard, who manages the author’s estate.Certainly, the BBC knew this project would be controversial, and both Prichard and BBC Maestro reject the use of the term “deepfake” in this context.In a statement provided to Mashable, Prichard, the Chairman and CEO of Agatha Christie Ltd., said, “What we have created is a course that distills my great-grandmother’s ingenious craft into an easy to follow and accessible course. This isn’t a fake. The words are Christie’s own, carefully sourced by researchers. As a family, we approached the project with the utmost care and respect with the overarching goal of honouring my great-grandmother and to share her immense talent and process with the world.”Both Prichard and BBC Maestro are keen to emphasize that Christie’s likeness was lovingly rendered, despite the controversial nature of AI resurrection projects like this.In answer to our questions, BBC Maestro CEO Michael Levine told us that the term “deepfake” most commonly refers to material made “without permission” and “often for malicious purpose.” Related Stories “That is absolutely not what we’re doing,” Levine said in an email statement to Mashable. “Every step was guided by ethics, transparency, and a deep respect for her legacy.”Levine also emphasized the involvement of Christie’s own estate and leading scholars of her work.“From the outset, our focus was on being 100% ethical and respectful in honouring Agatha Christie's remarkable legacy. We worked hand-in-hand with the Christie Estate to ensure her image is used only with their express approval and in a way that reflects her values. We collaborated with four world-leading Agatha Christie scholars who developed the script using her own words and writings. An actor then performed the role with full awareness of how the material would be used — exclusively in the context of this programme."The team took great care over two years to represent Christie as realistically as possible, yet AI skeptics condemned the entire project immediately.Whether you think this is an exciting opportunity to “learn directly from the most successful novelist of all time” or a grotesque application of AI technology, BBC Maestro is absolutely correct to call the course “groundbreaking.”  Timothy Beck Werth Tech Editor Timothy Beck Werth is the Tech Editor at Mashable, where he leads coverage and assignments for the Tech and Shopping verticals. Tim has over 15 years of experience as a journalist and editor, and he has particular experience covering and testing consumer technology, smart home gadgets, and men’s grooming and style products. Previously, he was the Managing Editor and then Site Director of SPY.com, a men's product review and lifestyle website. As a writer for GQ, he covered everything from bull-riding competitions to the best Legos for adults, and he’s also contributed to publications such as The Daily Beast, Gear Patrol, and The Awl.Tim studied print journalism at the University of Southern California. He currently splits his time between Brooklyn, NY and Charleston, SC. He's currently working on his second novel, a science-fiction book.

Apple CEO Tim Cook warned investors that, assuming no new duties are added, the company expects Trump's tariffs to increase its costs by $900 million during Q2, ending in June. Apple has long relied on Chinese manufacturers to build the iPhone. Although Trump exempted smartphones from his extra 125% tariff on Chinese imports, the devices still face another 20% duty. But in some good news for consumers, Cook told CNBC that Apple is already sourcing over half of US iPhones from factories in India, a country that’s been spared from most of Trump’s reciprocal tariffs. Instead, iPhones shipped from India only face a 10% import fee. "For the June quarter, we do expect the majority of iPhones sold in the US will have India as their country of origin," Cook said in a Thursday earnings call. Most iPads, Macs, and Apple Watch devices sold in the US will come from Vietnam. “China would continue to be the country of origin for the vast majority of total product sales outside the US,” Cook adds. Recommended by Our EditorsNevertheless, Apple estimates it’ll pay $900 million in import fees in the June quarter since it still sources some inventory from Chinese manufacturers. Cook noted that Trump’s cumulative 145% tariff for other Chinese imports can hit some Apple accessories and repair components made in the country. Although the $900 million estimate is a lot of money, Apple raked in $95.4 billion in revenue during Q1. Still, Cook noted that the Trump administration is weighing imposing additional duties on Chinese-assembled phones and computers as part of its tariffs focused on semiconductors. For now, Cook said he had nothing to share about potential price increases. He added that Apple faced “limited impact” from the tariffs at the end of Q1 in March since the company was able to “optimize” its supply chain, a sign that the company rerouted more orders from India. 

Whether you’re looking for a productivity desktop, a gaming PC powerhouse, or a stylish all-in-one Windows machine, we’ve got you covered. The team at PCWorld sort through all of the daily computer sales and put together a curated list of the best deals available. But not all deals are really deals, so we only choose those offered by reputable companies and that include great hardware to ensure you get the best value for your money. We’ve also included some helpful answers to common questions about buying a computer at the bottom of this article. If you’re considering a laptop instead, be sure to check out our best laptop deals, updated daily. Note: Tech deals come and go quickly, so it’s possible some of these computer discounts will have expired before this article’s next update. Best gaming desktop computer deals Skytech Gaming Shiva II, Ryzen 7 5700X/RTX 4070/16GB RAM/1TB SSD, $1,399.99 (18% off on Amazon) Corsair Vengeance a7500, Ryzen 7 7800X3D/RTX 5070/32GB RAM/1TB SSD, $2,599.99 (10% off on Amazon) Acer Nitro 50, Core i5-14400F/RTX 4060/16GB RAM/1TB SSD, $999.99 (9% off on Amazon) HP Omen 35L, Ryzen 7 8700G/RTX 4060 Ti/16GB RAM/1TB SSD, $1,289.99 (19% off on BestBuy) Alienware Area-51, Core Ultra 9 285K/RTX 5090/32GB RAM/2TB SSD, $4,999.99 (9% off on Dell) Legion Tower 7i, Core i9-14900KF/RTX 4070 Ti Super/21GB RAM/1TB SSD, $2,199.99 (24% off on Lenovo) AOACE Gaming Desktop, Core i5-12400F/RTX 4060/32GB RAM/1TB SSD, $849.99 (46% off on Newegg) My top picks: The Skytech Gaming Shiva II for $300 off on Amazon is a solid midrange value deal this week. With an RTX 4070 GPU and 1TB of onboard storage you’ll be able to game at 1440p and not have to worry about running out of space for awhile. With the release of the latest GPUs and many retailers discontinuing the sale of older versions, there aren’t many chances to find value options like this on midrange gaming rigs right now—so take advantage while you can. For something a little more beefy, check out the Corsair Vengeance a7500 for $300 off on Amazon. This Corsair build is absolutely stacked with powerful components including the hard to find Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU and the brand new RTX 5070 GPU. Best mainstream desktop computer deals Minisforum AI X1, Ryzen 7 260/32GB RAM/1TB SSD, $599.00 (20% off on Minisforum) GMKtec Gaming PC, Ryzen 9 8945HS/32GB RAM/1TB SSD, $599.99 (25% off on Amazon with coupon) ROG NUC 760, Core Ultra 7 155H/RTX 4060/16GB RAM/1TB SSD, $1,189.99 (15% off on Amazon) Apple Mac Mini 2024, M4/16GB RAM/512GB SSD, $743.00 (7% off on Amazon) My top picks: Minisforum is known for offering great mini-PCs at cheap prices and the AI X1 for $150 off on its websites is no exception. Rocking a powerful Ryzen 7 260 processor and generous 32GB of RAM, this mini-PC is absolutely loaded with value from top to bottom. If you’re more of a Mac fan, then this rare deal on the latest M4 Mac Mini for $56 off on Amazon is for you. The brand new 2024 Mac Mini is a seriously good option for those looking to get great mini-PC performance for the price. The M4 chip has outstanding processing power and this Apple model also comes with a good amount of RAM and onboard storage. Best all-in-one computer deals All-in-one desktop computers combine a PC’s hardware with a modern display to make a desktop computer that has both form and function. Since everything is built together, you can save precious desktop space with an all-in-one. They make capable work computers and they can also be excellent home computers with the wide range of features appealing to the whole family. Inspiron 27 AiO, Core 7-150U/16GB RAM/1TB SSD/27-inch 1080p display, $899.99 (18% off on Dell) HP OmniStudio X AiO, Core Ultra 7 155H/16GB RAM/1TB SSD/27-inch 1080p touch display, $1,289.99 (10% off on HP) HP 24 AiO, Core Ultra 5 125U/8GB RAM/512GB SSD/23.8-inch 1080p touch display, $753.99 (27% off on BestBuy) iMac M4 2024, M4/16GB RAM/512GB SSD/24-inch 5K display, $1,549.99 (9% off on Amazon) My top picks: Dell’s workhorse Inspiron 27 AiO is on sale for $200 off on its website. The always reliable all-in-one comes loaded with the latest-gen Core 7-150U and an ample 1TB of onboard storage. If you want to treat yourself to something a little more high-end then the new HP OmniStudio X AiO model for $150 off on HP’s website is the ticket. The latest all-in-one from HP packs a 27-inch 1080p touch display and is powered by the powerful new Core Ultra 7 155H CPU. Computer deals FAQ 1. What are good websites to find computer deals? There are a ton of sites that sell computers, and scouring through all of them would take you a lot of time—that’s why we do it for you here and highlight the best deals we find. However, to save you some time and frustration, you need to be smart about where you look at any given time of the year. If you’re looking for a new computer during the holidays or around popular sale periods such as Black Friday or back-to-school, then you are likely to find great deals directly through first party vendor websites. These include the retail storefronts of popular computer manufacturers such as HP, Dell, and Lenovo. However, if you are looking in between sales periods, it’s generally a good idea to search through large third-party retailers such as Amazon, Adorama, Walmart, BestBuy, and Newegg. Oftentimes these websites will offer limited Deals of the Day type sales in hopes of getting rid of excess stock. On the upside, you can score still-decent PCs at a steep discount. 2. When’s the best time to shop for a PC computer? Typically you’ll want to time your PC computer shopping around a prominent sales period. The biggest sales periods are Black Friday/Cyber Monday in late November and Amazon Prime Day in early-to-mid July. The best sales often occur leading up to and during these two events and they are great times to snag a new PC computer for cheap. Other holiday shopping periods such as the New Year sales in January, President’s Day sales in April, and the back-to-school sales event in August are also good times to find discounts on computers. 3. What type of desktop should I get? You’ll see a ton of options when searching for a desktop computer, but they all mainly fit into four main categories: productivity tower PCs, gaming PCs, mini PCS, and all-in-ones (AiO). Which you should end up buying is entirely dependent upon what your needs are and what you want to do with your computer. If you are looking for something that will work in a home office or family room, then a productivity PC or AiO with a solid CPU and lots of RAM and storage is probably the way to go. If gaming is your main concern, a gaming PC can offer a lot more bang for your buck than a laptop and you should focus on getting the best GPU possible. Or if you just want something that can fit anywhere and provide basic computing then a mini PC is a good bet. 4. What CPU and GPU should I get? When looking at your new computer’s CPU, get at least an Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5, both of which will provide plenty of processing power for everyday computing tasks. If you don’t intend to do any PC gaming, then feel free to save some money by going with integrated graphics. However, if you are looking to get your game on, we recommend at least an Nvidia GeForce 3060 or AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT, as these are the least expensive discrete graphics cards that can handle ray tracing well. If you aren’t interested in those cutting-edge lighting effects, however, the RTX 3050 and Radeon RX 6600 also provide good 1080p gaming performance at even lower prices. 5. How much memory and storage does my PC need? As for RAM, we think its best to shoot for 16GB at the minimum for productivity and gaming, but for family computers and internet browsing, 8GB should suffice. Storage size is dependent upon your personal needs, but it is generally a good idea to opt for an SSD over an standard HDD as they are much faster and don’t significantly affect the price of a desktop. Before deciding, it’s best to consider what your intended use of the computer will be. Are you just doing work or web browsing? Then something like 512GB will be plenty. If you want to load up a lot of large files such as games or content creation projects, then you’ll need at least 1 or 2TB or storage. However, just remember that even if your computer doesn’t have enough storage built-in you can always upgrade your SSD or go with an external drive to increase your available storage options. 6. Is it a good idea to buy a refurbished computer? Refurbished computers are used machines that have been repaired, upgraded, and cleaned for the purpose of reselling. They’re usually open-box returns, overstock, or models with minor cosmetic damage (scratches, scuffs, etc). Refurbished computers can be a bargain hunter’s dream as they’re likely still in good (or great) condition and you can save a lot of money. That being said, refurbished computers can have their downsides as well. In addition to cosmetic blemishes, some of the internal components might be a little older or outdated and they might not be in peak condition due to previous usage. If you do consider buying a refurbished computer I recommend looking at eBay as they offer a one-year warranty. You can also check out manufacturer’s retail storefronts like Dell’s Outlet Store and Apple’s Refurbished Store—just be sure to look at the terms of warranty offered before purchasing.