Rock, Paper, Shotgun

I watched Studio Ghibli's latest film The Boy And The Heron the other day, having gone in basically blind. I knew it would be the case, but I left the cinema and said to my mate, "I don't really know what just happened but what happened was great". It was a lot of things! A visual feast. Surprisingly goofy. Unsettling. But above all, a challenge. We walked back to our cars and tried - my mate was thrilled to have identified who Dave Bautista likely voiced in the dub (we watched sub) - to unpack what we saw.

Since then, we've listened to podcasts, read interviews, and engaged in some back and forth. It's all brought me back to my uni days, where Dark Souls made me get my shovel out for the first time and mine the internet for meaning. Much like Souls, Ghibli's latest only expands as you reflect on it.

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I watched Studio Ghibli's latest film The Boy And The Heron the other day, having gone in basically blind. I knew it would be the case, but I left the cinema and said to my mate, "I don't really know what just happened but what happened was great". It was a lot of things! A visual feast. Surprisingly goofy. Unsettling. But above all, a challenge. We walked back to our cars and tried - my mate was thrilled to have identified who Dave Bautista likely voiced in the dub (we watched sub) - to unpack what we saw.

Since then, we've listened to podcasts, read interviews, and engaged in some back and forth. It's all brought me back to my uni days, where Dark Souls made me get my shovel out for the first time and mine the internet for meaning. Much like Souls, Ghibli's latest only expands as you reflect on it.

Read more

Surgeon Simulator and I Am Bread creators Bossa Studios have laid off around a third of their staff, with 19 people departing the London, UK-based independent in December due to what co-founder Henrique Olifiers has called "a perfect storm of events" - heavy competition from blockbuster games at the backend of last year, increased operating costs, and delayed funding decisions across the industry.

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Surgeon Simulator and I Am Bread creators Bossa Studios have laid off around a third of their staff, with 19 people departing the London, UK-based independent in December due to what co-founder Henrique Olifiers has called "a perfect storm of events" - heavy competition from blockbuster games at the backend of last year, increased operating costs, and delayed funding decisions across the industry.

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Hideo Kojima's new Xbox Game Studios project OD is a horror game that is "also a movie, and at the same time a new form of media" and who knows, perhaps it also runs on solar power. That's the extremely direct and literal reading of Kojima's latest social media tease, in which he compares his latest endeavour to Boktai: The Sun Is In Your Hand, an isometric vampire-hunting game for Game Boy Advance, which Kojima worked on while at Konami in the early noughties. Boktai stands apart to this day for making use of solar energy. There's a sun sensor built into the cartridge, which allows you to re-energise your weapon by using the console in sunlight, though this isn't outright necessary to prevail.

I doubt OD employs a similar peripheral, though a Steam Deck verified horror game that can only be played outdoors in pleasant weather would be an... interestingly contrary experience. But it's an opportunity, at least, to jump aboard one of my personal hobby horses and give you a scrappy rundown of older and recent games that employ similar functionality.

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Hideo Kojima's new Xbox Game Studios project OD is a horror game that is "also a movie, and at the same time a new form of media" and who knows, perhaps it also runs on solar power. That's the extremely direct and literal reading of Kojima's latest social media tease, in which he compares his latest endeavour to Boktai: The Sun Is In Your Hand, an isometric vampire-hunting game for Game Boy Advance, which Kojima worked on while at Konami in the early noughties. Boktai stands apart to this day for making use of solar energy. There's a sun sensor built into the cartridge, which allows you to re-energise your weapon by using the console in sunlight, though this isn't outright necessary to prevail.

I doubt OD employs a similar peripheral, though a Steam Deck verified horror game that can only be played outdoors in pleasant weather would be an... interestingly contrary experience. But it's an opportunity, at least, to jump aboard one of my personal hobby horses and give you a scrappy rundown of older and recent games that employ similar functionality.

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Here are some specs for you: 1000W of power. 80+ Gold efficiency. Native 12VHPWR support for PCIe 5.0 graphics cards. £140. That's the spec sheet and deal price for MSI's excellent MPG A1000G power supply after a £40 discount at Amazon UK.

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Here are some specs for you: 1000W of power. 80+ Gold efficiency. Native 12VHPWR support for PCIe 5.0 graphics cards. £140. That's the spec sheet and deal price for MSI's excellent MPG A1000G power supply after a £40 discount at Amazon UK.

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Lexar's NM790 is one of the best NVMe SSDs we've tested, offering excellent performance whilst keeping prices down lower than rivals like the Samsung 990 Pro or WD SN850x. Data hoarders are particularly fond of the 4TB model, which is now discounted at Scan in the UK - it's down to £204 and comes with a free NVMe heatsink, making it an awesome fit for a range of gaming PCs as well as Sony's PlayStation 5.

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Lexar's NM790 is one of the best NVMe SSDs we've tested, offering excellent performance whilst keeping prices down lower than rivals like the Samsung 990 Pro or WD SN850x. Data hoarders are particularly fond of the 4TB model, which is now discounted at Scan in the UK - it's down to £204 and comes with a free NVMe heatsink, making it an awesome fit for a range of gaming PCs as well as Sony's PlayStation 5.

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Super-powered MMO City Of Heroes closed down in November 2012, but in recent years it has been revived by industrious fans via privately-hosted servers. While those servers allowed caped crusaders to continue roleplaying, the caveat was that they could be shut down at any moment by the most dastardly supervillains of all: lawyers.

That should be less of an issue in future. One of those community-hosted servers, Homecoming, has been granted an official license to operate by City Of Heroes' IP owners NCSoft.

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Super-powered MMO City Of Heroes closed down in November 2012, but in recent years it has been revived by industrious fans via privately-hosted servers. While those servers allowed caped crusaders to continue roleplaying, the caveat was that they could be shut down at any moment by the most dastardly supervillains of all: lawyers.

That should be less of an issue in future. One of those community-hosted servers, Homecoming, has been granted an official license to operate by City Of Heroes' IP owners NCSoft.

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Every game is Who Framed Roger Rabbit now - or, less charitably, a metaversal hellscape where canonical integrity matters far less than providing a platform through which to sell cosmetics.

Apex Legends is the latest live service game to take the plunge with its first crossover event. It's with Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and it'll bring the Buster Sword, Aerith, and other elements from the JRPG to the battle royale on January 9th.

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Every game is Who Framed Roger Rabbit now - or, less charitably, a metaversal hellscape where canonical integrity matters far less than providing a platform through which to sell cosmetics.

Apex Legends is the latest live service game to take the plunge with its first crossover event. It's with Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and it'll bring the Buster Sword, Aerith, and other elements from the JRPG to the battle royale on January 9th.

Read more

Over 14,000 games were released on Steam in 2023, according to according to data tracked by SteamDB. The number is nearly 2000 games more than in 2022, and continues a steady trend of growth on the digital storefront.

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Over 14,000 games were released on Steam in 2023, according to according to data tracked by SteamDB. The number is nearly 2000 games more than in 2022, and continues a steady trend of growth on the digital storefront.

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Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy was one of 2021's biggest surprises, succeeding where Square Enix's Avengers game failed by finding an identity beyond its movie counterpart thanks to strong writing. Alas, it didn't meet Square Enix's sales expectations.

Now it's free via the Epic Games Store.

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Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy was one of 2021's biggest surprises, succeeding where Square Enix's Avengers game failed by finding an identity beyond its movie counterpart thanks to strong writing. Alas, it didn't meet Square Enix's sales expectations.

Now it's free via the Epic Games Store.

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I have been bouncing off Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, partly because the new protagonist design leaves me cold, and partly because it being a 2D affair has me yearning for something closer to the 1989 Apple II original, with its finicky platforming and sword-fighting. Katharine says it's decent, however, and the latest trailers are intriguing. One is an overview of the new metroidvania's locations, of which you can read much more in Katharine's last preview. The other is a quick dive into the game's approach to accessibility, which appears to be a lot more holistic than you'll find in many games.

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I have been bouncing off Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, partly because the new protagonist design leaves me cold, and partly because it being a 2D affair has me yearning for something closer to the 1989 Apple II original, with its finicky platforming and sword-fighting. Katharine says it's decent, however, and the latest trailers are intriguing. One is an overview of the new metroidvania's locations, of which you can read much more in Katharine's last preview. The other is a quick dive into the game's approach to accessibility, which appears to be a lot more holistic than you'll find in many games.

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Korean publisher Nexon have been fined 11.6 billion won - around $8.9 million - for secretly altering the drop rates of coveted items in free-to-play MMO gacha game MapleStory. The fine, issued by the Korea Fair Trade Commission, is the largest penalty ever doled out for violation of South Korea's Act on Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce.

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Korean publisher Nexon have been fined 11.6 billion won - around $8.9 million - for secretly altering the drop rates of coveted items in free-to-play MMO gacha game MapleStory. The fine, issued by the Korea Fair Trade Commission, is the largest penalty ever doled out for violation of South Korea's Act on Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce.

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Russian Roulette is just an edgy version of Snakes & Ladders. It's pure luck gussied up with high stakes and the cool aesthetic of spinning a six-shooter. A grizzled mafioso whose cheeks glitter with fragments of other people's teeth has as much chance of winning Russian Roulette as a sleepy five-year-old in SpongeBob pyjamas. But take Russian Roulette, swap the revolver for a pump-action shotgun, mix up live and dud rounds, and add Inscryption-esque items which let you change the rules, and now you have a more skillful game. That's Buckshot Roulette, the latest from Mike Klubnika, the dev behind those excellent horror games about operating machinery. Great weird machines here too.

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Russian Roulette is just an edgy version of Snakes & Ladders. It's pure luck gussied up with high stakes and the cool aesthetic of spinning a six-shooter. A grizzled mafioso whose cheeks glitter with fragments of other people's teeth has as much chance of winning Russian Roulette as a sleepy five-year-old in SpongeBob pyjamas. But take Russian Roulette, swap the revolver for a pump-action shotgun, mix up live and dud rounds, and add Inscryption-esque items which let you change the rules, and now you have a more skillful game. That's Buckshot Roulette, the latest from Mike Klubnika, the dev behind those excellent horror games about operating machinery. Great weird machines here too.

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Happy New Year, folks! Have you recovered from the all the 100+ hour RPGs that came out last year? Well, I have good news and bad news for you. The good news is that everyone seems to be taking a bit of a breather in 2024, because (at time of writing at least) the official "big'uns" calendar is looking remarkably slim at the moment. There are still some heavy-hitters coming our way this year, such as , Star Wars Outlaws and Path Of Exile 2, but 2024 looks like another year where it will be the smaller, independent games that shine the brightest. They certainly make up the bulk of our most anticipated games list for 2024, which the RPS Treehouse has been feverishly putting together over the last few days. The bad news is that there are still loads of great games coming out. So come, join us, and see what's on our personal wishlists for 2024.

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Happy New Year, folks! Have you recovered from the all the 100+ hour RPGs that came out last year? Well, I have good news and bad news for you. The good news is that everyone seems to be taking a bit of a breather in 2024, because (at time of writing at least) the official "big'uns" calendar is looking remarkably slim at the moment. There are still some heavy-hitters coming our way this year, such as , Star Wars Outlaws and Path Of Exile 2, but 2024 looks like another year where it will be the smaller, independent games that shine the brightest. They certainly make up the bulk of our most anticipated games list for 2024, which the RPS Treehouse has been feverishly putting together over the last few days. The bad news is that there are still loads of great games coming out. So come, join us, and see what's on our personal wishlists for 2024.

Read more

Rockfish have announced that they're updating arcade dogfighter Everspace 2 to run on Unreal Engine 5. The engine rollover will arrive as part of or alongside the game's Incursions update in spring 2024, which includes tweaks and bugfixes as well as extra legendary items and a new game feature of some description. The idea is less to take advantage of UE5's various whizbangs and bellwhistles, like the new Nanite geometry system, than to grease the launch chutes for future Everspace 2 updates and expansions.

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Rockfish have announced that they're updating arcade dogfighter Everspace 2 to run on Unreal Engine 5. The engine rollover will arrive as part of or alongside the game's Incursions update in spring 2024, which includes tweaks and bugfixes as well as extra legendary items and a new game feature of some description. The idea is less to take advantage of UE5's various whizbangs and bellwhistles, like the new Nanite geometry system, than to grease the launch chutes for future Everspace 2 updates and expansions.

Read more

We got our first look at Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth's Dondoko Island at last year's Xbox Partner showcase. Right as it dropped, I was in New York giving the Animal Crossing-esque minigame a go myself, albeit for a quickfire half hour of bashing rubbish bags with a baseball bat and plonking a urinal on the dirt to satisfy a tutorial. Still, in that brief time I've come away thinking I could lose much of my life to the promise of converting a polluted island into an idyll with the power of abs and friendship. There is the strong possibility of a grind. But hey, it's optional!

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Having spent some time in Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth's Hawaii, I've come to realise that it's a wonderful place, home to trams that'll let you see the sights and soak in the warm breeze. But moreso than that, it's home to the previous game's Pokémon parody, Sujimon, which has now kicked into overdrive. From what I can tell, Infinite Wealth is as much a Pokémon trainers paradise as it is a game about the Japanese criminal underworld. I'm sold.

Read more

We got our first look at Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth's Dondoko Island at last year's Xbox Partner showcase. Right as it dropped, I was in New York giving the Animal Crossing-esque minigame a go myself, albeit for a quickfire half hour of bashing rubbish bags with a baseball bat and plonking a urinal on the dirt to satisfy a tutorial. Still, in that brief time I've come away thinking I could lose much of my life to the promise of converting a polluted island into an idyll with the power of abs and friendship. There is the strong possibility of a grind. But hey, it's optional!

Read more

Having spent some time in Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth's Hawaii, I've come to realise that it's a wonderful place, home to trams that'll let you see the sights and soak in the warm breeze. But moreso than that, it's home to the previous game's Pokémon parody, Sujimon, which has now kicked into overdrive. From what I can tell, Infinite Wealth is as much a Pokémon trainers paradise as it is a game about the Japanese criminal underworld. I'm sold.

Read more

Well, well, well. Of all the detectives in all the world, she came to me. She was a dame with hair red as communion wine spilled by a bishop looking at a nun's cleava- oh what, wait, she's how old? Christ, Philip, get your head out of the gutter for once, this is a family website. I was previously a snob about the Nancy Drew point and click puzzle games, and then came to regret it when a fan of them (very nicely) emailed me explaining they're actually really good. We're going to find out for ourselves by playing them. There are north of 30 in total, and I will update the rankings at the end of each article.

The first is 1998's Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill, in which Nancy solves the murder of a Floridian highschooler named Jake Roberts, and there's a lot to love about it right away. There's a restrained cast, three locations in total, and the school sports team is called the Fighting Manatees. Thus the icon for the game is a lil' cartoon manatee - and to be absolutely accurate, this is the remastered version of the game from 2010, not the original 90s version. I'm as disappointed as you.

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Well, well, well. Of all the detectives in all the world, she came to me. She was a dame with hair red as communion wine spilled by a bishop looking at a nun's cleava- oh what, wait, she's how old? Christ, Philip, get your head out of the gutter for once, this is a family website. I was previously a snob about the Nancy Drew point and click puzzle games, and then came to regret it when a fan of them (very nicely) emailed me explaining they're actually really good. We're going to find out for ourselves by playing them. There are north of 30 in total, and I will update the rankings at the end of each article.

The first is 1998's Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill, in which Nancy solves the murder of a Floridian highschooler named Jake Roberts, and there's a lot to love about it right away. There's a restrained cast, three locations in total, and the school sports team is called the Fighting Manatees. Thus the icon for the game is a lil' cartoon manatee - and to be absolutely accurate, this is the remastered version of the game from 2010, not the original 90s version. I'm as disappointed as you.

Read more

I realise we're all struggling through the dank depths of January but it's never too early in the year to talk about sex, baby. Twitch have updated their attire policies to stop an outbreak of "implied nudity" among thirstier streamers, who have taken to filming themselves nude with black censor bars, or positioning the camera to suggest that they're fully or partially naked outside the frame.

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I realise we're all struggling through the dank depths of January but it's never too early in the year to talk about sex, baby. Twitch have updated their attire policies to stop an outbreak of "implied nudity" among thirstier streamers, who have taken to filming themselves nude with black censor bars, or positioning the camera to suggest that they're fully or partially naked outside the frame.

Read more

NZXT's AiOs are some of the best liquid coolers in the business, whether considered in terms of performance or aesthetics, and their new Kraken Elite RGB release is now on sale at Newegg in the US. The 280mm size AiO in white is now down to $200 after a $70 discount, and highly recommended by this writer at that price.

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NZXT's AiOs are some of the best liquid coolers in the business, whether considered in terms of performance or aesthetics, and their new Kraken Elite RGB release is now on sale at Newegg in the US. The 280mm size AiO in white is now down to $200 after a $70 discount, and highly recommended by this writer at that price.

Read more

German peripherals manufacturer Roccat has made some great keyboards and mice over the years, although they're not as well known in the US as they are in their native Europe. Today that could change in a small way, as Roccat's excellent Pyro mechanical keyboard is down to $40 at Amazon US. That's 50% off its original price and a solid $10 off its usual going price, making it well worth picking up.

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German peripherals manufacturer Roccat has made some great keyboards and mice over the years, although they're not as well known in the US as they are in their native Europe. Today that could change in a small way, as Roccat's excellent Pyro mechanical keyboard is down to $40 at Amazon US. That's 50% off its original price and a solid $10 off its usual going price, making it well worth picking up.

Read more