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Final Fantasy 16 is reportedly overheating and crashing some players' PS5 consoles.

Players have taken to Twitter and Reddit to report the issues which, at the time of writing, have yet to be acknowledged by developer and publisher Square Enix. 

"I just wanted to share my experience that I just witnessed when playing FFXVI," explained one player on Reddit (thanks, Push Square). "With the screenshot attached, this is where my PS5 went from quiet to berserk mode with the fan speed and suddenly blacking out in a matter of seconds. The PS5 played three beeps and shut off.

PS5 force shutting down without an overheating warning from r/FinalFantasy

"I know that this game is very demanding with all the boss battles and such and overheating messages being reported is known at this point, but never have I experienced this. My room is fairly cooled with fans and AC running due to the summer heat, and the PS5 is on the tabletop with lots of open space. Very little dust build-up. I have never gotten any overheating warnings."

The player adds that they were playing in Graphics mode with HDR enabled, and when that particular scene played, "the fans went crazy and shut down instantly". 

"It just happened so fast," they added. "Was this an actual overheating issue or a potential bug I just encountered?"

Dozens of other players have commented that they too have experienced the problem "in the exact same spot", although others say they've played through the same section without issue. Whilst it's possible the PS5s affected are overheating because they're in a poorly ventilated space, those affected dispute this. 

Experienced first ever overheat shutdown for my launch day PS5 while playing #finalfantasyxvi - happened during this cutscene. Few others experienced the same issue https://ift.tt/WE6Tn1M only Graphics mode affected @SquareEnix pic.twitter.com/kRlokl5gHFJune 28, 2023

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Right now, the problem seems only to affect those running the action RPG in Graphics mode. 

"Final Fantasy 16 is a shining example of narrative-focused games at their best, boasting immersive storytelling and cinematic action that invites you into its richly detailed world," we wrote in our Final Fantasy 16 review, awarding the game a full five out of five stars.

"The expansive, deeply immersive setting and cast of lovable, fully realized characters set a gold standard for Final Fantasy titles, offering something that is more than the sum of its parts.

"Overall, Final Fantasy 16 is an absolute triumph. It is a modernized Final Fantasy that breaks new ground for the series, boldly defying convention to produce something that stands apart from the rest of the series. Final Fantasy 16 itself, much like its protagonist, seeks to stand on its own terms, succeeding at this difficult task with skill and flair."

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It's time for your daily dose of Quordle hints, plus the answers for both the main game and the Daily Sequence spin off. 

Quordle is the only one of the many Wordle clones that I'm still playing now, around 18 months after the daily-word-game craze hit the internet, and with good reason: it's good fun, but also difficult.

What's more, its makers (now the online dictionary Merriam-Webster) are also keeping it fresh in the form of a new variant called the Daily Sequence, which sees you complete four puzzles consecutively, rather than concurrently. 

But Quordle is tough, so if you already find yourself searching for Wordle hints, you'll probably need some for this game too. 

I'm a Quordle and Wordle fanatic who's been playing since December 2021, so I can definitely help you solve Quordle today and improve your game for tomorrow. Read on for my Quordle hints to game #524 and the answers to the main game and Daily Sequence. 

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #524) - hint #1 - Vowels

How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 4*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too). 

Quordle today (game #524) - hint #2 - total vowels

What is the total number of vowels in Quordle today?

• The total number of vowels across today's Quordle answers is 6.

Quordle today (game #524) - hint #3 - repeated letters

Do any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 1.

Quordle today (game #524) - hint #4 - total letters

How many different letters are used in Quordle today?

• The total number of different letters used in Quordle today is 12.

Quordle today (game #524) - hint #5 - uncommon letters

Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #524) - hint #6 - starting letters (1)

Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 2.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #524) - hint #7 - starting letters (2)

What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• A

• S

• L

• S

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #524) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #524, are…

• AMISS
• SHOWY
• LURCH
• SAUCY

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.

---

Daily Sequence today (game #524) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #524, are…

• WEIRD
• DONUT
• LOATH
• EPOXY

---

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #523, Saturday 1 July: KNEAD, DALLY, AMAZE, IDEAL
• Quordle #522, Friday 30 June: WOMAN, BAGEL, SUPER, ARISE
• Quordle #521, Thursday 29 June: ISSUE, MOUNT, OVOID, SANER
• Quordle #520, Wednesday 28 June: CEDAR, RUMBA, WIDOW, TITHE
• Quordle #519, Tuesday 27 June: STRAW, APPLY, MAGMA, CLUED
• Quordle #518, Monday 26 June: SCARE, RIGHT, IRATE, ORBIT
• Quordle #517, Sunday 25 June: GAUNT, SLANG, ROUSE, UNITE
• Quordle #516, Saturday 24 June: BILGE, LEAPT, GLOAT, PLEAT
• Quordle #515, Friday 23 June: FIELD, BRINE, BEGUN, PITCH
• Quordle #514, Thursday 22 June: AMAZE, BINGO, MUMMY, WEIRD
• Quordle #513, Wednesday 21 June: BRIDE, TILDE, LOWER, REVEL
• Quordle #512, Tuesday 20 June: DUVET, BLAST, FILMY, CEASE
• Quordle #511, Monday 19 June: HORDE, LOSER, GUSTO, PRONE
• Quordle #510, Sunday 18 June: SHORN, FRIAR, THREE, UNTIE
• Quordle #509, Saturday 17 June: JUROR, BUSED, SAPPY, VYING
• Quordle #508, Friday 16 June: PASTA, RABID, UNFIT, CURLY
• Quordle #507, Thursday 15 June: COBRA, CORNY, MINCE, CHILI
• Quordle #506, Wednesday 14 June: LIBEL, SAVVY, VAULT, TROLL
• Quordle #505, Tuesday 13 June: LOWLY, CORAL, PLANK, AMISS
• Quordle #504, Monday 12 June: STAMP, BONEY, TRACE, CLOVE

Quordle FAQs: Everything you need to know

What is Quordle?

Where Wordle challenges you to guess a new five-letter word each day, Quordle presents you with four puzzles to solve. And rather than complete them in turn, you do so simultaneously. You get nine guesses, rather than the six for Wordle, but the rules are otherwise very similar. 

It's played online via the Quordle website and you can also get to it via the Merriam-Webster site, after the dictionary purchased Quordle last year. 

As with Wordle, the answers are the same for every player each day, meaning that you're competing against the rest of the world. And also as with Wordle, the puzzle resets at midnight so you have a fresh challenge each day.

The website also includes a practice mode - which I definitely recommend using before attempting the game proper! - and there are daily stats including a streak count. You also get Quordle Achievements - specific badges for winning a game in a certain number of turns, playing lots of times, or guessing particularly hard words.

Oh, and it's difficult. Really difficult.

What are the Quordle rules?

The rules of Quordle are almost identical to those of Wordle.

1. Letters that are in the answer and in the right place turn green.

2. Letters that are in the answer but in the wrong place turn yellow. 

3. Letters that are not in the answer turn gray…

4. …BUT the word you guess appears in all quadrants of the puzzle at the same time, so an A could turn green in one square, yellow in another and gray in the final two. 

5. Answers are never plural.

6. Letters can appear more than once. So if your guess includes two of one letter, they may both turn yellow, both turn green, or one could be yellow and the other green.

7. Each guess must be a valid word in Quordle's dictionary. You can't guess ABCDE, for instance.

8. You do not have to include correct letters in subsequent guesses and there is no equivalent of Wordle's Hard mode.

9. You have nine guesses to find the Quordle answers.

10. You must complete the daily Quordle before midnight in your timezone.

What is a good Quordle strategy?

Quordle needs to be approached in a different way to Wordle. With four puzzles to solve in nine guesses, you can't blindly throw letters at it and expect to win - you'll stand a far better chance if you think strategically.

That's the case in Wordle too, of course, but it's even more important in Quordle.

There are two key things to remember. 

1. Use several starting words

Firstly, you won't want just a single starting word, but almost certainly two or three starting words. 

The first of these should probably be one of the best Wordle starting words, because the same things that make them work well will apply here too. But after that, you should select another word or possibly two that use up lots more of the most common consonants and that include any remaining vowels.

For instance, I currently use STARE > DOILY > PUNCH. Between them, these three words use 15 of the 26 letters in the alphabet including all five vowels, Y, and nine of the most common consonants (S, T, R, D, L, P, N, C and H). There are plenty of other options - you might want to get an M, B, F or G in there instead of the H, maybe - but something like that should do the trick.

If all goes well, that will give you a good lead on what one or sometimes two of the answers might be. If not, well good luck!

2. Narrow things down

Secondly, if you're faced with a word where the answer might easily be one of several options - for instance -ATCH, where it could be MATCH, BATCH, LATCH, CATCH, WATCH, HATCH or PATCH - you'll definitely want to guess a word that would narrow down those options. 

In Wordle, you can instead try several of those in succession and hope one is right, assuming you have enough guesses left. It's risky, but will sometimes work. Plus, it's the only option in Hard mode. But in Quordle, this will almost certainly result in a failure - you simply don't have enough guesses.

In the scenario above, CLAMP would be a great guess, as it could point the way to four of the seven words in one go.

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Rumor has it, Ubisoft is rebooting Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag.

According to two sources who have opened up to Kotaku, Ubisoft's remake of the 2013 sea-shanty smasher is "still in its earliest stages" but reportedly involves the team based at Ubisoft Singapore.   

In news unlikely to surprise you, not much else is known about the remake, or how much it will innovate on the mechanics and systems of its original iteration, and Ubisoft has declined to comment formally on the speculation. 

If true, it's an interesting decision, not least because Ubisoft is also set to debut another all-new swashbuckling franchise, Skull and Bones. Yes, the pirate adventure was recently delayed once again, but it's nonetheless set to release sometime in 2023-2024 – which may give Ubisoft the litmus test it needs to assess the appetite for the Black Flag reboot. Watch this space, eh? 

As for the Assassin's Creed games that have been confirmed? Assassin's Creed Mirage is finally sending the series back to its roots with classic traversal and poses that look like something straight out of the first Assassin's Creed title. 

At the recent Ubisoft Forward, we sat down with the animation director for Assassin's Creed Mirage, Benjamin Fox, to discuss how Ubisoft Bordeaux returned to the iconic visuals and mobility of the original games while polishing up the rough edges. And "there were a lot of challenges" in animating Assassin's Creed Mirage, according to Fox. 

The best Assassin’s Creed games often offer it all: A hero you can’t help but root for, oodles of intrigue, a beautiful part of the world to explore, and some of the best stealth and RPG combat up for grabs. Here are our picks of the best Assassin’s Creed games: every series entry ranked where – spoilers! – Black Flag does indeed make an appearance...

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WhatsApp is making it easier to transfer chat logs from your old phone to a new one just by scanning a QR code.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg made the initial announcement on his Instagram channel where he states this method lets you move your data privately without ever having to leave your devices.” Looking at the video he posted, you first open up the QR code on the older device, then scan said code on the newer phone. Give it about 10 seconds to finish up and you’re done. Other reports state the Chat Transfer tool can be found under the Chats section in the Settings menu.

📱📲 Now you can transfer your full chat history seamlessly, quickly and securely across the same operating systems without ever having to leave the app. Out today 👀 pic.twitter.com/UqNpyw8bCCJune 30, 2023

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Compared to the old method of having to back up your history on either Google Drive or iCloud, this is a lot more straightforward. You’re effectively cutting out the middleman plus you don’t have to worry about hitting storage limits if your WhatsApp account has several gigabytes worth of media saved on it.

As great as this new feature may be, it appears there is a catch. TheVerge claims the QR code chat log transfer “only works between devices running the same operating system, so Android to Android or iOS to iOS.” If you want to move your data from, say, a Samsung Galaxy phone to an iPhone or vice versa, you’ll have to head over to WhatsApp’s Help Center for instructions on how to do so.

We asked Meta to confirm if this is true. We’ll update this story at a later time.

Availability

Meta is currently rolling out the Chat Transfer tool in waves to all its users. Be sure to keep an eye out for the patch once it arrives. No word if there are plans to add a similar feature to the desktop version of WhatsApp.

If any of this sounds familiar to you, that’s because WABetaInfo first revealed the update back in early May when it was only available to beta testers. The publication has since shown off other interesting changes coming to WhatsApp. For instance, a WhatsBeta beta on Android from late May introduces screen-sharing for video calls, which you can activate right after installation and try out with others. There are also plans to introduce multi-account support to the platform giving people a way to swap between profiles on the same smartphone.

While we have you, be sure to check out TechRadar's list of the best secure smartphones for June 2023.

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The Asus ROG Ally has only been out since earlier this June 2023, and already the modding community has figured out how to install 4TB of M.2 2280 SSD storage.

Normally the Asus ROG Ally comes with 512GB of storage, with a 256 GB version coming soon. And as impressive as fitting that much in a small package is, it’s not nearly enough for many modern PC games, with some requiring 100 GB or more. Some Redditors have taken matters into their own hands and decided to figure out how to fit in even more storage.

Image 1 of 2

(Image credit: Reddit)

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(Image credit: Reddit)

According to these intrepid modders, and reported by VideoGameZ, the ROG Ally can in fact fit a standard M.2 2280 storage but you need to remove part of the chassis to do so. As you may have guessed, this is an irreversible change that will definitely void your warranty, something important to consider since currently every single one of these portables is covered by it. But if you don’t mind, then know you’ll need to remove antennas and insulate said SSD in a non-conductive foil. 

It seems that, so far, these mods have been successful, particularly with WD 4TB SN850X storage and Crucial P3 Plus 4TB (CT4000P3PSSD8) storage. None of the modders reported overheating or any performance issues in the two weeks since they started altering their ROG Ally systems.

The Asus ROG Ally has so much potential 

One of the most interesting aspects of the Asus ROG Ally is how receptive it seems to be to modding, not only in terms of gaming software modding but also for boosting its all-around performance. If it’s possible to upgrade the handheld to this degree so early in its launch, imagine its modding potential later on down the line when owners truly get a grasp on what they can do with the ROG Ally.

Not to mention that we’ve also seen how much a simple update can improve gaming performance across the board. Ahead of its launch, Asus released a set of firmware and driver updates that increased framerate in many of the best PC games, including Red Dead Redemption 2 and Forza Horizon 5, by up to 20%.

We could end up seeing a ROG Ally, whether officially boosted or warranty-voiding modified, that has specs far superior to what it initially had, which is saying a lot considering what it's packed with already. I’m excited to see what’s possible, considering that it feels like the PC portable has so much untapped potential, as outlined in this Tom’s Guide review.

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For years Pocket users have been able to get away with not having a Mozilla Firefox account despite the service being on its browser, but they'll soon have to make the switch.

Starting on July 11, 2023, all Pocket users will be prompted to create a Mozilla Firefox account, and it will become mandatory by August 15, 2023. But according to the official blog post, other than changing how you log in, this will not have any effect on your saved items. Also, if you’re a Pocket Premium subscriber, your subscription will not be affected by this move.

(Image credit: Mozilla)

Mozilla stated that this move is to ensure that all users will have Mozilla’s security benefits like two-factor authentication and Mozilla’s privacy policy. And if you log in using your Apple ID or Google login, then not only will you receive these benefits but your account will also be auto-migrated on July 11.

Mozilla’s apps will also be unaffected by the switch, not to mention Pocket will continue to be accessible on other web browsers, including the Pocket browser extension. So, in other words, you’ll have a much more secure browsing experience while maintaining your full breadth of services free of charge.

The full instructions on how to convert your Pocket account to a Mozilla Firefox account are below:

• Beginning July 11, 2023, if you’re already logged in to Pocket, simply log out to be redirected to the Pocket Log In page.
• Enter your email and click Next. If you haven’t already set up your Firefox account, you’ll be prompted with instructions. For Pocket users who log in via Apple ID or Google, please see *below.
• Select Upgrade my account to proceed. (Note: If you select I’m not ready, you will be prompted to transition your account the next time you log in.)
• Log into your Firefox account or create a new one.
• You’ll then be redirected to your Pocket content.

Mozilla previously had been asking users to make the transition, Android Police stated, even setting the mandatory conversion date to June 30, 2022. But now it seems that the company has decided to take things more seriously.

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