Joining the many Xbox Live games that have been updated lately is Plants vs. Zombies, the enchanting tower defense game from PopCap. The version 1.2 update fixes a longstanding issue with Zen Garden plants.
As our review explains, the Zen Garden is a meta game mode that ties Plants vs. Zombies’ Adventure Mode and many minigames together. Players randomly find seed packets during normal game play, which can then be planted in the Zen Garden, tended, and eventually harvested for money. Previously, fertilizing certain sprouts caused the game to crash. A couple of months and a little patch action later, those sprouts can finally be fertilized like any other. Just what kind of plants do the problem sprouts grow into? Why, Kernel-pults, the game’s combat corn on the cobs.
Now that Zen Garden is fixed up, the Windows Phone version of Plants. Vs. Zombies really is just about perfect. It's the only game I've reviewed to receive a 10 so far. Nice as it runs now, we can still expect a Mango update to come along and enable fast-app switching sometime in the near future. Already beaten the game inside and out? Check out our interview with PopCap Games that looks into the history of PvZ's development.
Plants vs. Zombies costs $4.99 and there is a free trial. Hurry up and grab it here (Zune link) on the Marketplace.

The Dell XPS 15 is our choice for best 15-inch laptop
For a lot of people, a 15-inch laptop is a perfect size that offers enough screen for multitasking, and in a lot of cases, some extra performance from powerful hardware. We've rounded up the best of the best at this size.

Halo: MCC's live service elements make it better, not worse
Halo: The Master Chief Collection is more popular than ever, but some fans don't agree with the live service approach 343 Industries has taken with it. Here's why those elements are, at the end of the day, great for the game and for Halo overall.

Microsoft's Surface Duo is not 'failing up'
Microsoft announced this week that it was expanding Surface Duo availability to nine new commercial markets. While Surface Duo is undoubtedly a work in progress, this is not a sign of a disaster. It's also doesn't mean that Surface Duo is selling a ton either. Instead, the reason for the expansion is a lot more straightforward.

The best pre-built desktop gaming PCs for playing Valheim
We've rounded up some of the best pre-built gaming desktop PCs you can buy for playing Valheim. Because it's not a demanding PC game, you don't need to go all-out with crazy specifications and can bag a solid deal if you're on a tighter budget.