February 2023

Sony is closing the PlayStation Plus Collection, the batch of PS4 essentials that PS Plus subscribers on PS5 could download and play for no extra charge. 

In an email sent to subscribers, the message states that on May 9, the 19-game collection will disappear, and subscribers have until that date to add its games to their game library. Sony didn't provide a reason for why it's closing the collection, but it also clarifies that other PS Plus perks, such as the monthly games, will not be affected. Here’s the full message below:

Reviewed on: PC
Platform: Xbox Series X/S, PC
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Developer: Tango Gameworks
Release: January 25, 2023
Rating: Teen

Hi-Fi Rush occupies an increasingly rare space in the big-budget video game industry: that of colorful, goofy, and light-hearted titles. For its 10 or 11-hour runtime, it has more in common with a Saturday morning cartoon than a thin attempt at gritty, prestige television, like most triple-A games these days, and that's easily its biggest strength. That its gameplay and combat are a unique melding of rhythm and stylish action games is merely the cherry on top. 

Main character Chai has big dreams of being a rockstar. To achieve this dream, he signs up for Project Armstrong, a program run by the megalithic tech organization Vandelay Technologies. Ideally, this would have replaced Chai's disabled arm, but he has to fight his way out of the facility when he's labeled a defect. While doing so, he meets Peppermint, who's working to take down Vandelay. The two team up, bringing various people disgruntled with the tech behemoth aboard to form a ragtag group of misfits hellbent on ending Vandelay's monopoly. 

Amnesia: The Bunker, the next installment in the psychological survival horror franchise, arrives on May 16 instead of its original March window. 

The Bunker offers a different spin on the Amnesia formula. Set during World War 1, players control a French soldier who gets separated from his comrades and trapped inside a military bunker. Within this labyrinthine, trap-laden sanctuary lurks a deadly creature that stalks the player, who must use their resourcefulness to survive. If you’re a fan of Alien: Isolation, The Bunker appears to aim for a similar style with a heaping dose of its signature mind-bending scares. Check out the original reveal trailer below.

You can check out Amnesia: The Bunker on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

Tomb Raider Reloaded is a new mobile roguelike starring Lara Croft and it's out this month. 

Developer Emerald City Games and publisher CDE Entertainment, a group within the Embracer Group umbrella, announced the game with a new trailer. It reveals you can pre-register for Tomb Raider Reloaded, starting today. The game launches later this month on February 14 on iOS and Android devices. Plus, Tomb Raider Reloaded will launch on Netflix the same day, and subscribers can play the game without ads or in-app purchases. 

Check out the Tomb Raider Reloaded reveal trailer below: 

"Tomb Raider Reloaded takes players on an action-filled adventure as they jump into the boots of groundbreaking hero Lara Croft on her swan-diving, cliff-climbing, back-flipping quest to obtain the ancient Scion artifact, clearing ever-changing rooms filled with new and familiar enemies as well as hazardous traps and puzzles," a press release reads. "Along the way, they'll acquire run-specific boosts alongside permanent rewards, like XP modifiers, runes that improve Lara's stats, and manuals used to unlock and upgrade her outfits, such as her fan-favorite bomber jacket.

"As players progress through each level, they can stack perks to enhance Lara's abilities, and even craft weapons to upgrade her arsenal."

PlayStation has revealed the February 2023 lineup of monthly games subscribers can download for free and it consists of Evil Dead: The Game, OlliOlli World, Destiny 2: Beyond Light, and Mafia: Definitive Edition. 

These are the four games all PlayStation Plus subscribers can add to their libraries starting next week on February 7, not to be confused with the PlayStation Plus games catalog that varies depending on the tier of subscription you have. 

Here's what PlayStation has to say about each of these games:

Hogwarts Legacy is finally out next week, after multiple delays that pushed it out of its original 2021 release date to 2023. And you can prepare the game's release with a new gameplay launch trailer released by developer Avalanche Software today. 

The trailer features roughly two and a half minutes of new Hogwarts Legacy footage, including a mix of both cinematics from the game and gameplay. We see Hogsmeade, professors, students, and plenty of Hogwarts, of course. 

Check it out for yourself in the Hogwarts Legacy launch trailer below: 

"Hogwarts Legacy invites players to embark on an epic journey as a fifth-year student at Hogwarts, gifted with a rare ability to tap into ancient, powerful magic," a press release reads. "Guided by the Wizard's Field Guide and unique instruction from professors and other characters, fans will uncover a compelling storyline filled with thrilling challenges and mysteries."

Valiant Hearts: Coming Home, the sequel to 2014's Valiant Hearts: The Great War, is now available to play for all Netflix members. 

This Netflix-exclusive game can be played by any subscriber on iOS and Android devices. The sequel brings players back to World War I "for a dramatic narrative game following four interweaving stories of friendship, survival, and sacrifice amidst the turmoil and tragedy of war." Valiant Hearts: The Great War was a surprise hit back in 2014, garnering attention and storytelling praise from critics and players alike. 

Check out the Valiant Hearts: Coming Home release trailer below: 

"James joins the Harlem Hellfighters to search for his heroic older brother Freddie, while Anna tends to the wounded and broken," a press release about the game reads. "Ernst, a German driver, and George, a British aviator, each face their own challenges, and Walt, the canine companion from the first game, is back to aid players in their progress through exploration, puzzle-solving, and action sequences." 

Ubisoft says original core members that worked on Valiant Hearts: The Great War at Ubisoft Montepllier in 2014 have returned to develop Valiant Hearts: Coming Home in collaboration with Old Skull Games.

Ubisoft has revealed The Crew Motorfest and it hits PlayStation, Xbox, and PC sometime this year. 

Revealed in a short teaser trailer you can watch below, The Crew Motorfest takes players to O'ahu, an island that's part of the Hawaiian archipelago. It's clearly positioned as Ubisoft's take on the open-world racing formula popularized by Playground Games' Forza Horizon franchise. 

Check out The Crew Motorfest teaser trailer for yourself below: 

"Evergreen car culture festival at the heart of the game, Motorfest has settled in the beautiful island of O'ahu, part of the Hawaiian archipelago," the game's website reads. "On your own or with your crew, come explore this beautiful new playground behind the wheel of hundreds of the most legendary vehicles. The festival will allow you to fulfill your ultimate action driving bucket list through a series of tailor-made races, themed events, and other unique challenges."

Electronic Arts is ending development on both Apex Legends Mobile and Battlefield Mobile. It is shuttering Battlefield Mobile developer Industrial Toys as well. 

This news was part of EA's Fiscal Year 2023 Q3 financial results released yesterday, in which the company revealed that it is also delaying Star Wars Jedi: Survivor to April.

EA says it is ending Battlefield Mobile, which hadn't been fully released yet (although many had played through betas), as part of a "pivot from the current direction to best deliver on our vision for the franchise and to meet the expectations of our players." The company adds that it is hard at work evolving Battlefield 2042, which launched to disappointment from fans, and in "pre-production on our future Battlefield experiences at our studios across the globe." 

As for Apex Legends Mobile, EA says that despite the game's strong start, "the ongoing experience was not going to meet the expectations" of its players. 

You can hear someone tell you Tom Brady’s age (45!) and it doesn’t really hit you, because the guy still looks pretty fit and healthy. To fully grasp the length of Brady’s tenure on this Earth, then, you need to realise that the man has appeared in a video game for the PlayStation. Like, the original PlayStation.

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Nintendo has brought back its voucher program just in time for decent savings on some of the Switch’s biggest games. Missed out on Splatoon 3 or Bayonetta 3 last year? Now you can grab both for over $20 off.

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In a new Game Informer cover story, Capcom detailed some of the changes that the hotly anticipated remake of Resident Evil 4 is making to the original, hugely influential horror game.

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The anime community has been rife with controversy over AI-generated images. Today, Netflix joined the hot new trend of being ratioed online for terrible AI takes. The streaming platform not only produced a commercial project with AI, it tried to justify doing so by citing the “labor shortage” in the anime industry.…

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The recently released Dead Space remake is a triumph among video game remakes, many of which haven’t been very well received by fans over the last few years. And as a massive Dead Space fan, I’m so damn happy to see EA spending money on the franchise again—with great results. But, I can’t help but think about a Dead…

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Titanfall 2 fans have been desperate for something resembling a sequel for years now, and it sounds like Electronic Arts may have just cancelled the next best thing. Bloomberg reports that a project called Titanfall Legends was quietly cancelled yesterday amid a series of other cuts at the FIFA game publisher.

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There’s always something to watch on Twitch, whether that’s your fave musicians talking about video games or your fave streamers discussing politics. Now your choices include an absurd, often nonsensical Seinfeld-like show that runs 24/7/365 and is generated on the fly using artificial intelligence. Welcome to the…

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A Final Fantasy XIV raid team had their world-record achievement revoked after they got caught using tools developer Square Enix considers a form of cheating.

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Motive Studio’s Dead Space remake is a bloody slow-crawl to victory, one that might be made easier with an exploit spotted by a Reddit user earlier this week.

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It seems like polarizing sequels retreating back to features from their earlier games is en vogue. After Call of Duty Warzone 2.0 promised a few tweaks to make the game feel more like the first one, Overwatch 2 is now joining in on the fun of reversing changes that made fans deeply unhappy.

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The PlayStation Plus Collection is one of the best things the PS5 has going for it. Unfortunately, Sony’s killing it, and current subscribers only have a few months left to claim certified bangers like Bloodborne and Resident Evil 7 before the curated collection disappears for good.

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This past October, NASCAR driver Ross Chastain caught the world’s attention when he deployed a “wall-riding” trick he had previously only pulled off in a video game as a kid to jump from 10th to 5th in an actual race. This move was very cool, really dangerous, and got him to the next stage of the Championship. And now…

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With its somewhat more grounded depictions of military life and interpersonal tragedy, 2019’s fantastic tactical RPG Three Houses was a break from the optimism of most Fire Emblem games. Despite the unprecedented popularity of that game, the series’ latest, Fire Emblem Engage, is a return to its fairytale roots. And…

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Reader, I have a question for you: do you like art of gay old men living their best post-apocalyptic lives? Well, The Last of Us fans have you covered this week, as artists are coming out of the woodwork to draw some amazing art of Bill and Frank from this week’s episode of the HBO adaptation.

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Super Nintendo World, the latest addition to Universal Hollywood’s theme park, is set to open in just a few weeks, giving Mario fans the opportunity to step into a vivid recreation of the Mushroom Kingdom, packed with sights and sounds they know and love. Not all of them, however, will be able to experience the…

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Today there are famous people tweeting about Call of Duty and streaming on Twitch, something you might have at one point considered to be a more niche hobby reserved for the most hardcore gamers. But the industry is booming. HBO’s biggest TV show debut in the last ten years is about a zombie game. While Silk Road…

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The news of the moment for Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak has to do with the upcoming Title Update 4, but Capcom has more planned. A brief shot of the MH Rise Sunbreak roadmap for 2023 teases further additions, including new monsters and features. Seen during the February 2nd livestream event, the roadmap promised that Title Update 5 is coming in April 2023, roughly 3 months after Title Update 4 drops on February 7th.

Here's a look at the MH Rise Sunbreak roadmap for 2023.

The roadmap trumpets the first three Sunbreak title updates launched through 2022, which added new areas, layered weapons, monsters, and an expanded follower system. As detailed during the livestream, Title Update 4 (version .14) adds Velkhana from Monster Hunter World Iceborne, as well as Risen Crimson Glow Valstrax. Meanwhile, Title Update 5 didn't specify which monsters would be added to the roster, but they will be a "Returning Elder Dragon" and a "Powered-up monster".

It’s not Obon season just yet, but restless spirits will get an early Sending. A kabuki stage play of Final Fantasy X will take place in Spring 2023. You will be able to watch it from March 4, 2023 to April 12, 2023 at IHI Stage Around Tokyo. It will have 35 shows during that period. There is a teaser video for it, in which the actor for Yuna performs a Sending. [Thanks, Famitsu!]

Renowned kabuki actor Nakamura Yonekichi V will play Yuna in the kabuki show. Holographic Pyreflies appear on stage in the video as well. Unlike the soundtrack in Final Fantasy X, there is a distinctly Japanese feel to this arrangement due to the usage of traditional Japanese instruments. The music director who arranged it, as well as Nakamura Yonekichi V, previously worked on the Nausicaa kabuki stage play.

You can watch the Final Fantasy X kabuki Sending here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quH6v75QsX8&

During the February 2023 Monster Hunter Digital Event, two monsters ended up in the spotlight. Both Velkhana and Risen Crimson Glow Valstrax will join Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak in the free Title Update 4. They'll both appear in the game on February 7, 2023.

People will be able to fight Velkhana when they hit MR 10. People might recognize this icy Elder Dragon from Monster Hunter World: Iceborne. This marks the monster’s second appearance in the series.

Risen Crimson Glow Valstrax will be available at MR 160. This is yet another Elder Dragon. It’s a bit older, however. It first showed up in Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate, with the Crimson Glow variant appearing in Monster Hunter Rise.

We also know how the Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak armor for both of these new monsters will look.
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The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D has hit a new low price in the US, falling to $323 on Amazon. That's lower than the best price we saw during Black Friday last year, and a great value for the fastest gaming CPU available on the venerable AM4 platform.

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The Razer Basilisk Ultimate is a high-end wireless mouse with a ton of buttons, making it a great alternative to the RPS Readers' mouse of choice, the Logitech G502 Hero. It debuted at an eye-watering $169.99 when bought with its optional charging dock, but now it's $100 off at Best Buy and therefore a much better value.

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Ingenious though the maneuver might be, it’ll incur a penalty in future races

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With Monster Hunter Rise now available to players across all major platforms following last month's PlayStation and Xbox release, Capcom is turning its attention back to post-launch content support for paid expansion Sunbreak, promising a bunch of new stuff - including a returning elder dragon - in its latest free Title Update.

Arriving next Tuesday, 7th February, Title Update 4 gives Sunbreak hunters at Master Rank 10 or above the opportunity to take on Monster Hunter World: Iceborne's memorable - and extremely formidable - elder dragon Velkhana, which has the ability to freeze water particles in the air to create devastatingly powerful ice attacks.

Velkhana is joined by Risen Crimson Glow Valstrax - which, like the Risen Teostra, Risen Kushala Daora, and Risen Chameleos before it - has overcome the affliction to become a supremely powerful variant, available to battle from MR 160 onward. Both additions come with associated gear and skills, and can be glimpsed in Capcom's Title Update 4 trailer below.

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AMD's Ryzen 7000X3D gaming-focused processors finally have a release date - or rather, two release dates. The Ryzen 9 7900X3D and 7950X3D will debut on February 28th, with the 7800X3D arriving on April 6th.

AMD announced prices for its new CPUs too, with the eight-core 7800X3D at $449, the 12-core 7900X3D at $599 and the 16-core 7950X3D at $699. For context, the original eight, 12 and 16-core Ryzen 7000 models have MSRPs of $399, $549 and $699, respectively, so this is at most a $50 premium in terms of MSRP - although of course retail prices have dropped significantly since the original Ryzen 7000 models debuted in September last year.

All three X3D CPUs have been hotly anticipated since they were announced just after the new year, as they combine the new features of AMD's Ryzen 7000 series - an efficient 5nm process, more powerful socket and generally excellent performance - with the 3D V-Cache design that made the rather ordinary 5800X into the ridiculously powerful Ryzen 5800X3D. By tripling the chip's L3 cache, the 5800X3D was able to compete with Ryzen 7000 and Intel's 12th and 13th-gen designs in many games - despite being bound to older DDR4 memory and the venerable AM4 socket. That makes an X3D version of Ryzen 7000 quite a tantalising prospect for extreme gaming performance.

Following EA's announcement that it's ending development on Apex Legends Mobile and Battlefield Mobile, it's been reported the publisher has also cancelled an unannounced single-player game set in the Titanfall/Apex Legends universe.

That's according to Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, who, citing three people familiar with the matter, says the Respawn-developed game - internally known by the code-named TFL or Titanfall Legends - was being helmed by creative director Mohammad Alavi until he left the studio in 2021 to pursue what he called his "next adventure".

Prior to his departure, Alavi had confirmed he was working on a "brand-new Respawn single-player adventure", which - combined with later word from VentureBeat's Jeff Grubb that the project was a first-person shooter with a focus on mobility and style - suggests this is the very same game now reportedly canned.

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Amensia: The Bunker, the "unscripted" WW1 horror from SOMA developer Frictional Games, has been delayed from its original March release window to 16th May.

The Bunker - the fourth game in the Amnesia series, following on from The Dark Descent, A Machine for Pigs, and 2021's Rebirth - is a bit of a departure from Frictional's traditionally linear tales of horror, promising "unscripted" scares in a nightmarish semi-open-world.

Unfolding in the claustrophobic confines of a dimly lit underground bunker, Frictional's latest casts players as Henri Clément - a French soldier hunted by an "adaptive" otherworldly creature. In order to escape its clutches, players - armed with a revolver and noisy dynamo flashlight - must explore and experiment, using quick thinking to deal with objects, threats, and resources that change each play through.

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Following its trundle into Texas at the end of last year, American Truck Simulator has set its sights on a new destination; the next stop on its tour of the US - following the release of its upcoming Oklahoma expansion - will be Kansas.

SCS Software confirmed Oklahoma would be American Truck Simulator's first post-Texas expansion back in November, but the developer has now added a new stop to the driving sim's itinerary, announcing work has begun on Kansas in a post on its website.

Kansas will be American Truck Simulator's 13th explorable state, joining California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Texas, and, of course, the upcoming Oklahoma expansion.

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Netflix has detailed a series of new measures to crack down on account sharing, in a desperate move to end the practice used by millions of subscribers who let friends and family log into their accounts.

The streaming service will soon designate a "primary location" for your account - your home - and require you watch something while connected to Wi-Fi there "at least once every 31 days".

Any devices not regularly located at your primary location - something Netflix will snoop on via IP addresses and device IDs - risk being blocked from access. The suggestion here is you can play Netflix's games on your phone while elsewhere, for example, but that some level of interaction with your home Wi-Fi will still be necessary.

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Lara Croft and her dual pistols will be backflipping their way onto iOS, Android and Netflix on 14th February with the release of Tomb Raider Reloaded (and, why yes, that is Lara's birthday).

In addition to this news, it has also been revealed that actress Keeley Hawes, known for her TV roles in Line of Duty, Ashes to Ashes and many more, will reprise her role as Lara Croft for this release.

Hawes previously voiced Lara in Tomb Raider Legend, Anniversary and Underworld, along with spin-offs Lara Croft: Guardian of the Light and Temple of Osiris.

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