Windows Central Roundup: Cute Monsters Collection

Monsters are often at the center of video game and the titles in the Windows Phone Store is no exception. More times than not the monsters play the role of the villain (often misunderstand) in such Windows Phone games as Evolved: Hunter’s Quest or Halo: Spartan Assault.

However, there are occasions where the monster plays the central role in games – sometimes the hero or just the unexpected participant. The Windows Phone Store has put together a small collection of Windows Phone games that feature monsters in a non-adversarial role. The Cute Monsters Collection in the Store is a small gathering of games where the monster isn’t looking to destroy civilization.

We’ve pulled a few of the titles from this collection to highlight in this week’s roundup.

One of our favorite features of late 2014 has got to be Rapid Charging. Or Turbo Charging. Or Fast Charging. The oversimplified version is that Qualcomm has a new standard — officially called Quick Charge 2.0, but phone manufacturers like to give it their own names — by which it can feed more juice more quickly into your phone, for a quick burst of energy. It then slows down the charging to finish the job. That initial burst comes with the byproduct of heat — and that’s also something you want less of when it comes to smartphone performance and longevity of the battery itself.

But for us end users it really means getting our Android smartphones back into the game quicker than ever. And once you use it, you’ll never want to use anything else.

There is one other downside, however. Chargers that use this technology need a little something extra that plugs into the wall, and that little something extra has turned out to not be as little as we’re used to.

One of our favorite features of late 2014 has got to be Rapid Charging. Or Turbo Charging. Or Fast Charging. The oversimplified version is that Qualcomm has a new standard — officially called Quick Charge 2.0, but phone manufacturers like to give it their own names — by which it can feed more juice more quickly into your phone, for a quick burst of energy. It then slows down the charging to finish the job. That initial burst comes with the byproduct of heat — and that’s also something you want less of when it comes to smartphone performance and longevity of the battery itself.

But for us end users it really means getting our Android smartphones back into the game quicker than ever. And once you use it, you’ll never want to use anything else.

There is one other downside, however. Chargers that use this technology need a little something extra that plugs into the wall, and that little something extra has turned out to not be as little as we’re used to.

If you fire up your Xbox One right about now there should be a small system update waiting for you. Unlike the recent February update which brought transparent tiles and the new game hubs, this one doesn’t contain any new features. As described by Xbox’s Larry Hyrb (Major Nelson):

The series premieres for two of the most-talked-about shows right now are currently free on Google Play. Those shows would be Better Call Saul, which premiered just this month on AMC, and Game of Thrones, whose fifth season premiere is due out in April. The first episodes of each — Uno for Saul and Winter is Coming for Thrones — are free to watch for a limited time on Google Play.