The Monitor is a weekly column devoted to everything happening in the WIRED world of culture, from movies to memes, TV to Twitter. Future generations will acknowledge the vibe shift. It happened last weekend, when all of a sudden social media feeds filled with images of Pope Francis, typically a... Read more

This is a VB Lab Insight article presented by Xsolla. As the gaming industry grows, developers need to embrace new ways for players to interact with their favorite titles. Microtransactions, subscriptions, the emerging market for digital assets and more call for more advanced seamless payment experiences on both sides... Read more

Microsoft and developer Blizzard Entertainment are teaming up for a special Xbox bundle ahead of the highly anticipated release of Diablo 4.  The Diablo 4 Xbox Series Bundle is available for preorder starting Thursday from the Microsoft Store, Best Buy Amazon and Target, with a release date of June 6.... Read more

Archaeologists have probed the cultures of people all over the Earth—so why not study a unique community that’s out of this world? One team is creating a first-of-its-kind archaeological record of life aboard the International Space Station. The new project, called the Sampling Quadrangle Assemblages Research Experiment, or SQuARE, involves hundreds of... Read more

Connect with top gaming leaders in Los Angeles at GamesBeat Summit 2023 this May 22-23. Register here. Diablo IV’s open beta has set a new bar for the franchise — gamers played 61.5 million hours over two weekends. This is equivalent to over 7,000 years of playtime for the... Read more

Enlarge / Stills from an AI-generated video of Will Smith eating spaghetti that has been heating up the Internet. Amid this past week’s controversies in AI over regulation, fears of world-ending doom, and job disruption, the clouds have briefly parted. For a brief and shining moment, we can enjoy... Read more

When it comes to soundbars, there are plenty of features you’ll want to look for, but by far the most popular and oft-requested by CNET’s readers is Dolby Atmos audio. Like DTS:X, Dolby Atmos differs from standard surround sound by adding height to your music and movies for a more dynamic and immersive sound... Read more

In the mood for some new hardware? There are quite a few great deals right now on smartphones, headphones, and gaming accessories, and if that wasn’t enough, Sony’s got an excellent sale for PlayStation games, offering up to 75 percent off a wide array of titles. Happy deals hunting!... Read more

Connect with top gaming leaders in Los Angeles at GamesBeat Summit 2023 this May 22-23. Register here. The Electronic Software Association and ReedPop announced today that their planned summer gaming event, E3 2023, is officially canceled. This follows a series of announcements from games publishers that they would not... Read more

The support team for 3CX, the VoIP/PBX software provider with more than 600,000 customers and 12 million daily users, was aware its desktop app was being flagged as malware, but decided to take no action for a week when it learned it was on the receiving end of a... Read more