Beyond Locks: Scalable Key-Value Stores with Fine-Grained Concurrency
New latch-free techniques dramatically reduce thread contention and improve performance in key-value stores by enabling highly concurrent access to B-tree indexes.
New latch-free techniques dramatically reduce thread contention and improve performance in key-value stores by enabling highly concurrent access to B-tree indexes.

Even though it launched between the highly anticipated releases of Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, ARC Raiders has become surprisingly popular. Many predicted the game would be overlooked when it debuted on October 30th, sandwiched between two major first-person shooters. However, that prediction was quickly proven wrong, as ARC Raiders attracted over 481,000 players on Steam at the same time. According to recent data from Alinea Analytics, ARC Raiders has now sold over 12 million copies across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, and had over 3.2 million daily players on January 4th. Interestingly, while Battlefield 6—EA’s best-selling shooter of 2025—lost 85% of its Steam players, ARC Raiders managed to retain 91%.

Wattrel, also called the Storm Petrel Pokemon, was introduced in the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet games. Both Wattrel and its evolved form, Kilowattrel, are Electric/Flying types known for their powerful special attacks and speed. These Pokemon are commonly found near the coasts and sandy areas of the Paldea region. Although they can learn strong moves like Volt Switch, Hurricane, and Air Slash, Wattrel and Kilowattrel are considered to be offensively powerful but defensively weak – meaning they aren’t among the most durable Electric-type Pokemon. While many Pokemon from Paldea have already been added to Pokemon GO, Wattrel and Kilowattrel will make their first appearance in the mobile game with an upcoming event.

When I first played Task Force Admiral, I immediately felt it was going to be exceptional. I didn’t realize just how impressive it would be, though. Even from that early showcase, the quality of the gameplay, visuals, and realistic depiction of World War II naval battles convinced me it was a truly next-generation wargame.

The latest arc of Boruto: Two Blue Vortex is packed with action and moving quickly, delivering exciting new battles with each chapter. Fans have been enjoying the combat sequences over the past two years, and the current storyline focusing on Boruto Uzumaki and the Shinju is particularly thrilling. As Mamushi’s attack on Konoha intensifies, the battles are living up to expectations, with the fight between Mamushi and Boruto already being a major highlight.

After weeks of sideways drama, SOL suddenly decided to flex its muscles and reclaim those old resistance levels. It’s like watching a reality TV star finally get their act together-suspicious, but kinda thrilling. 🎬📈

Here’s the lowdown, in a nutshell (or should I say, a blockchain?):

Just so you know, the countdown for the bomb in Final Fantasy 7 Remake doesn’t actually start until after you defeat the Scorpion Sentinel boss you encounter when you choose the time limit. Because of this, even the 20-minute timer gives most players plenty of time to escape the reactor before the bomb goes off, so you don’t need to stress about the shorter time limits. We finished the escape section with a lot of time to spare.

In addition to the expected release of the next main series game, potentially called Pokemon Wind and Waves, a new spin-off game called Pokemon Pokopia is also planned. For those who want even more Pokemon in 2026, Pokemon Champions, a battle simulator for Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, and mobile devices, will also be released. While we’ll learn more about these plans in the coming months, a special version of Hisuian Electrode is currently generating buzz as the first of its kind in the series.

Thankfully, Western RPGs don’t always have to be massive, sprawling adventures. Some of the best ones understand that respecting a player’s time means creating shorter games that are still full of engaging experiences.