Nicktendo

Not seeing any of this spicy stuff posted anywhere else on the internet, great work keeping us up to date, @Dcubed. Thanks!!

NOOOOOOOOOO! I don't want to buy this. Stop.

Pleased to see this reviewing so well. Kudos to Housemarque and Sony for taking a risk.

1) Yes - it's great! I might go through it again on Xbox. 2) Agree, sadly. Didn't capture me, didn't like the combat, enemies are hit sinks, which ultimately became annoying. 3-5) No idea. Dark Souls 2 looks extremely bright and colourful. Why? Honestly looks nothing like the first game. From all the FS games I've played - DS1, a bit of 2 and Sekiro, the latter is by far my favourite.

It's the opposite for me, unfortunately. Having Mr. Faux enthusiasm himself as the host of anything is a surefire way to make me ignore it. VIDEO GAMES !!!

Price Ninty are asking is a bit steep, but definitely recommend giving the demo a go! Make sure you transfer a few decent Miis over from your Wii / Wii U. Much better playing with people you know or celebrities.

Yeah, this is right. It's without the Bee Shield. As for the Not So Impossible Lair, you can always choose to start from the beginning if you don't want to cheese it and start right near the end if you do. It works by saving your best bee score at the beginning of each of the (four?) boss fights. At my first attempt I lost 20 bees in the first section, then 17, then 11, then 8. So I could always start section 2 with 40 bees after that. Basically you still have to complete the Lair in under 49 hits, but you don't have to start from the very beginning each time. Definitely much easier. It allows you to learn section 2 / 3 / 4 without having to do it right from the start. I could probably do the whole thing in one run now, but never bothered When I died in the escape section I was trying to improve my bee totals in each part, didn't expect to almost make it to the end. Hence why I started from the last part when I actually finished it.

So I've gone and done those two games yesterday. Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair - 16:30 to 100%, which was actually much shorter than howlongtobeat.com suggested! Maybe I've still got it? I just need to buy a couple more potions for 1000G but I'd had my fill yesterday after hunting down the final 20 or so T.W.I.T coins. It honestly gives me a nice feeling to know that 35 years after Super Mario Bros., I can pick up a platformer like this (or Celeste from the other end of the spectrum) and still have a really great time. Although YL does nothing particularly new here in terms of straight gameplay, it gives a very good account of itself in the classic DK platformer mould. Things like the interactive overworld and the final boss stage are something a bit different and a bit innovative, but the levels themselves are still very much classic gameplay fashioned on mechanics established in the 1990s. The impossible lair took me 8 goes, which was less than I anticipated in all honesty. I don't know if this is an update, but it's possible to start from each 25% increment using your best bee score. I got to the final boss on a complete run though and then died in the escape section, so doing the final boss a second time and starting with 11 bees was actually pretty easy in the end. Maybe @Hero-of-Time or @drahkon can shed some light here. Did you have to do the entire thing when you played? A great platfromer overall. Highly recommended for anyone who loves the DK games or the genre in general. I must say, getting 100% is far easier in this game than in any DK game I've played. I've still never found everything in DKC2 or the Returns games, this was a walk in the park in comparison. The Medium - I played the back half of this on Saturday night and through yesterday. I've also sat down an watched a few reviews to help me solidify an opinion on it and fairly surprised that I'm hotter on this game than 80% of the reviewers. I had a great time, again, playing through this. The story is the obvious selling point here, and it's true that the game is pretty much a walking simulator with (very light) puzzle elements and (very annoying) quick time events. Undoubtedly, the setting and the audio are the real starts in this game. It is an absolute treat from a cinematic point of view. Some great performances from most, but not all, of the cast members and an extremely eerie vibe that never lets up. As I mentioned the other day, the game has very strong influence from the PS1 horror game days. I also see a little bit of Eternal Darkness in here too. No bad thing at all. It took me around 8 hours to beat and the best thing I could compare it too is a 10-episode interactive Netflix season, both in terms of length and enjoyment. As a game, it starts to wear a little thin towards the end as you're occasionally thrown into situations where you have to do something which is unclear or react quickly when you're not really expecting it. Instadeath is never fun in anything, and is annoying here too when it kicks you back 10-15 mins and you have to repeat stuff. The conclusion to the story may leave a sour taste in some people's mouth, but the build up to the climax is solid, with plenty of twists and turns and some awesome moments of revelation. For that alone, I think it's worth giving a shot. I'm glad I got to play through this on Game Pass and agree with most reviewers who said "wait for a sale" or "rent it". I couldn't recommend it at full price. I missed a couple of achievements but won't be playing through again any time soon to get them. Maybe after a couple of years. I read that the game's development was heavily impacted by COVID-19, which is a shame. The Polish VOs were something that was scrapped because of that and the went with the US ones for mass-market appeal. Fair enough, I guess. If they ever did add the Polish voiceovers, I would definitely run through it again.

I've been playing two fantastic games this week but haven't finished either of them yet. First of all - Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair. I'm finally up to 48 bees and about to tackle the final stage. I'm sure it's going to take me quite a few goes so I need a bit of mental preparation before I do it. I've had so much FUN playing this game. I alluded to it in the OT, but this is Retro Studios DK but better. The level design is top-drawer and the overworld is such a pleasure to explore and find secrets in. I had to use a guide for a couple of the tonics as the clues were a little cryptic, but I don't feel bad about it. Still well on course for 1000G once I've done the final level and bought the remaining tonics. Stealth edit - I have 178 T.W.I.T coins, so a few levels to go back and 100% I've also been playing The Medium on Game Pass. I've put in 4 hours so far and have to admit I'm really, really enjoying this game. I don't know if anyone here listens to Defining Duke, which is Last Stand Media's newest podcast focusing on Xbox and PC, but Karik and Matty were not too hot on this game. I can honestly see why, but I've been enjoying it so far. I concede that there is very little "game" to it, and while it definitely has the old-school Silent Hill / Resident Evil (PS1 era) vibe in absolute spades, it definitely plays much more like What Remains of Edith Finch. By that I mean there is largely nothing in the way of puzzle solving, exploration, combat or anything else to be honest. It is a very linear experience which doesn't demand an awful lot from the player. Having said that, I find the story and the setting absolutely mesmerising! I've loved exploring this abandoned hotel and switching between the real / spirit world, which is the game's "hook" if you will. Technically, it's very impressive. Even on Series S, the visuals are supremely impressive, bordering on photo-realism at times thanks to cinematic camera angles and good lighting effects. I'm sure it's miles better on an X, but it still looks fantastic here. I do have a couple of complaints though. Firstly, when you have split screen gameplay between the real / spirit world, the visuals take a massive hit and the framerate absolutely tanks. I'm talking 15-20fps, it's awful. Luckily these sections are rare, but it's a massive pain and looks terrible. The game also seems to be quite buggy still, and a lot of the textures don't load properly. You'll zoom in on something to inspect it, for example, and it takes 2-3 seconds for the hi-res texture to load in. Really takes you out of the experience. My biggest complaint though is with the voice acting. The characters are super interesting in this game, but the voice acting is really bad. I don't mean this in a "they can't act" way, but the fact that everything is American. The game is set in Poland in 1999, made by Polish developers and is very strongly based on the recent history of a very specific region of Poland. I just do not understand for the life of me why they went with the most mainstream voice acting they could find and neglected to include Polish VOs in the game. It would fit the atmosphere so well if they'd done a native audio version of the game and at least pronounced all the place names and character names properly. Maybe a minor complaint, but I really despise it. The game is absolutely crying out for it - subs would be fine! I dunno, is that too nit-picky? I feel like we should be passed that era of gaming by now... Perfect GamePass game, again though. I would not pay £50 for this, but have LOVED playing through it so far.

Honestly, this game looks fucking great. Exactly how I would imaging a twin-stick shooter would work in 3D. Love the visuals and the contrast of the super-bright colours over the grey setting. Buttery smooth 60FPS action and a marked visual step-up from the previous gen in terms of textures and effects. As a XSS and Switch owner, I hope it does well on PS5 and sells well. Healthy competition is the best kind of competition. Also hope it comes to PC eventually tomcruiselaugh.jpg.

I think they deserve a bit of crust for actually listening to what the fans want, as obscene as the whole thing is, they've at least made a bit of a stand. I was listening to TalkSport this morning and Jim and Simon were saying something about the Prem teams taking 91 or 92% of the domestic and global TV revenue from the PL money. I haven't fact checked it, but I'll go with what I heard. I've also heard that about the Championship but find it hard to believe considering most clubs can barely fill half a stadium on a good day. I know Leeds were getting 20-25 thousand when they were in the Championship until they were in sight of promotion. But at 40 quid a pop, that's not surprising. Not sure how the revenue form the EPL or Championship works. Would imagine viewer numbers are higher in the U.K. than anywhere else but still abysmally low. They're also allowed to sell their own streaming rights in the EPL so I can imagine that also eats into it. I had LUTV for a few seasons and was able to watch games live (from abroad). Definitely seen EPL on TV in Poland, Russia and Latvia but it's never on one of the main sports channels.

It's time for a long hard look at how football is run. This is what I would do, I'm sure many won't agree, but whatever. - Deduct 15 points from Liverpool, Man Utd, Arsenal and Tottenham for the next 3 seasons plus this one. - Deduct 10 points from Man City and Chelsea for the next 3 seasons (for at least pulling out before the rest) plus this one. - Spend the next 5 years funding and transitioning the Premier League to a German ownership model where the fans own 51% of each club. - Blanket ban on all non-UK citizens owning or investing in British football clubs. - Premier League clubs get 60%, not 90% of TV revenue. Other 40% doled out between the Football League clubs. - Wage cap across the entirety of Europe, if players want the money, go to Asia or South America. - Low maximum ticket price installed on Premier League football for 2 sectors of each stadium for home and away fans. Safe Standing installed in every ground at the goal-end stands of each stadium. - From 2024, the Champions League will be exclusive to the winners of each European League. One qualifying round for the smaller countries and then a 32 team play-off home and away. over 5 rounds to decide the Champions of Europe. - UEFA cup / Europe League takes on the current 32-team Champion's League model (as biased as it is towards Western Europe). England, Spain, Italy, Germany etc. get more berths. Qualifying rounds. Cup winners of each country also included by coefficient, via qually for smaller countries. Winner gets an automatic place in the following season's CL. Probably won't make as much money and would be nigh on impossible, but it would make English and European football a much purer competition on all fronts.

Honestly, I say let them go for it. As Julius alluded to, this is a money move to have games staged in Asia, the US and the rest of the world. Let the "big 6" have their cake and eat it. Let them try and make all the money they think they will. I know the home fans and 99% of the U.K. football fans would completely reject this and simply switch off. I'm already past that point with the Champions League and it's ever-bloated pure idiocy of not even really being a "Champion's" league. Most players would probably walk away if they weren't allowed to play for their country. They'll be left with U.K., Spanish and Italian teams in name only with teams filled with the the type of player who goes to China "for a new challenge" - i.e. ageing journeymen who only care about cash. The quality will dip massively, the fans who actually are interested will be thousands of miles away in India, China and America. The European leagues can carry on without these annoying billionaires thinking they're bigger than the game itself. Would probably give the Premier League and English football the chance to reorganise itself away from the same big teams dominating every year and, after a drop off in quality for a few years, it would thrust better-run clubs into the limelight who can compete on a sensible budget, something the English game has been crying out for for years. As one bloke almost said one time, "I will love it if they piss off, love it".

Hahah what a legend. He'll come out of this a hero if this is true. Single-handedly making everyone talk about this rather than his poor performance at Spurs. The Special One.

I started this on Switch and got about 30% of the way through. Playing it now on Series S and just got my 24th member of the Beetalion. I'm both shocked and not shocked at how good this games is as you get deeper into it. Shocked because the first was pretty average, and they've really knocked it out of the park this time. And I'm not shocked because we always knew these fellas were talented, of course they haven't lost it! Every level throws something new and interesting at you, especially in the second version. Such a great mechanic. The underwater levels are excellent, something I can rarely say about platformers. It tops the Retro DK games for me. The world design is far more interesting, the overworld is a joy, the visuals have so much style and variation, especially when the extra FX are applied. I've done the first 10 levels both times sans a few T.W.I.T. coins here and there, I'm coming up on 100 now. 200 will probably be quite tricky, but I'm determined to 1000G this game.

I beat The Touryst over the past couple of days on the Series S. Took me about 5-6 hours to 100% it and it's another decent game from Shin'en which obviously looks gorgeous! It's nothing to really write home about - a solid 7/10, but I enjoyed it for what it was. After a bit of general confusion at the beginning and not really being sure what to do or where to go, I eventually found my way into the first "dungeon". As a whole, The Touryst is essentially a fetch-quest-em-up where you have to travel over the game's 8 islands doing tasks and looking for secrets. That part of the game is fun and there are some cool little set pieces along the way, such as setting up a disco for the tourists on Ybiza, which involves switching on a bunch of lights on, plugging in the sound system and activating the smoke machine. Once all the lighting and smoke effects are in play against the orange sunset, the game really does looks special. Shin'en are truly wizards, this is by far the best art style they've had in any of their games. A mix between low-quality textures (think Minecraft), blocky characters and landscapes (3D Dot Heroes) and exquisite lighting effects (Octopath Traveller). It all comes together beautifully. Unfortunately, the "dungeons" are pretty atrocious. The puzzles are very obtuse and not helped by the awful controls and jumping mechanics. The camera makes gaps impossible to judge and you end up fighting with it way more than you should. Luckily, you won't spend more than half-an-hour in these parts of the game, so it's not too bad. As much as I enjoyed the experience, this is where I'm beginning to really appreciate Game Pass now. I backed out of buying this day one on Switch due to price to content concerns, and I'm glad I did. The game offers little replay value and is fairly straightforward to 100%. 5 hours of gameplay is just right, in my opinion. Any longer and it would begin to outstay its welcome. Glad that I got the chance to play through it here, and I am a little curious about how it looks and runs on Switch (flawless 4K60 on Series S!!). I've enjoyed Shin'en's work in the past, and this is no exception. A fun romp, but not much more. Would recommend giving it a go on Game Pass or picking it up in a fairly deep sale.

I loved the first game too. Will get this eventually! Glad to read they haven't just cashed in on the success of the first and made a solid game.

Genuinely cannot wait for this. DotEmu have garnered enough good will from me to go in blind on day 1 with this game.

Time to get moving! I've just spent the past few days burning through Blast Corps on Rare Replay. What an absolute gem this game is. Even to this day it is still a super unique experience. Like B-K, it's been a number of year since I've played this, must be at least 15. The game holds up incredibly well considering its age and the fact it's a very early 3D game. The amount of variety on offer in terms of challenges and different vehicles is solid, and I think it took me about 8-9 hours to gold every stage on Earth (just got a couple of the extra planets to gold now, but they are much harder). I think the challenge the game offers is what really struck me this time round. It is expertly balanced, ramping up steadily as the game progresses but never into the realms of impossibility. Some of the carrier missions are very tough but there's always the belief in the back of your mind you can do a little better, go a little faster or get rid of that building a few seconds quicker. Golding some of the racing stages or building destroying stages, where there is no carrier, encourages you to really master the controls and find the perfect run in each level. There were instances in the races where I was shaving 0.1 seconds off my lap, every lap. I love that kind of stuff! And the handling (for the most part) is very good. The game is absolutely chock full of secrets to find in order to unlock the post game content, and while I remembered where most of the satellites or scientists were, there were a couple of occasions where I really had to search high and low to get them. I'd also completely forgotten about the Pac-Man inspired levels, which were a great surprise towards the end of the game. The variety in the missions is definitely a big plus for this game. Don't feel like stressing out over the harder carrier missions? Do a couple of races or wander around a finished level looking for secrets and demolishing the remaining buildings. The amount of freedom the game offers is something that is rarely seen in modern games. It took me a good few goes on some of the final carrier missions and some of them are long, like 10-15 mins long and if you mess up right at the end, there are no checkpoints or save states, so it's right back to the start you go. That really adds to the rewarding feeling when you finally do it. Oyster Harbour is a fine example of that. You have shoot a hole into a bunch of buildings to give yourself access to a crane from the start. Once you get there on foot, you have to lower TNT from a crane onto a bridge, then hop into a bulldozer and put some blocks into the ground, but two of them are hidden so if you don't get them, you're done. Following that you have to line up three boats, two of which are quite far away. Do them in the wrong order, you're screwed. You also have to take your bulldozer with you or you don't have time to run back. Then finally, once the carrier is safely across the water, it's a mad-dash back in the final boat for some TNT stranded on an island so you can demolish the final building, which your bulldozer is too small to tackle. It's here where the game really shines, learning the levels and then finally being able to do everything as quickly as possible. There are countless other examples where you're hopping in and out of different vehicles to clear the path quickly and effectively. A couple of levels see you starting in a train with a great view down a valley with the whole level mapped out before your eyes, a great way to build up the tension as your mission begins. The J-Bomb is undoubtedly the best vehicle of destruction - a huge mech suit which slams down on buildings from above. A couple of other smaller mech suits allow you to summersault and jump into buildings from the ground with satisfying 1-up like noises as they crumble. All your traditional construction vehicles are there as well. The Backlash, while a novel idea, is the only one that is genuinely frustrating to use. It's weak at the front and powerful at the rear meaning you have to powerslide your way into buildings to down them quickly, and I can just never get this right. This was the only real moment of frustration as I just couldn't see the link between what I input on the controller and what happened on the screen. I often ended up missing, do too short a slide or too long a slide. Horrible when the clock is against you. The little voice overs have been engrained in my memory from childhood and the OST is still just as good as it ever was, especially Simian Acres. A Banjo before Banjo. Fits perfectly with the "Mid-Western" vibe the game has. Also reminds me of Cotton Eye Joe, which I'm almost certain was the inspiration. Overall, Blast Corps is a classic. A game that stands up extremely well to the test of time and is just a hell of a lot of fun to play while providing a solid level of challenge. It speaks volumes about the sheer talent that was situated in Twycross in the 1990s that this, essentially a B-tier project, managed to accomplish so much. It's an easy 10/10 from me and I'd recommend everyone who hasn't played it to at least give it a go if you can, there is truly nothing else like it. You're just trying to impress me.

I forgot to mention this. The controller is really a stunning little piece of kit. Like you say, it's a perfect size and super comfortable. I have a blue One controller for my PC and there are very subtle improvements to the Series controller which are great. The texture on the sticks, triggers and grips is super rough and much improved over the previous edition. Doesn't feel like cheap smooth plastic. The triggers have subtle rumble and force feedback in them. Maybe not to a PS5 level, but definitely an improvement over the One pad. The D-pad is WAY better. It's not a Nintendo style one this time, but it still feels very responsive. My blue one has broken and double taps right when I press it once, a common problem, apparently. Horrible in menus. The way this one is built means that shouldn't be a problem this time round. The share butting is great for instant screenshots and videos. Works just as well as Nintendo's. Better to hold for long periods than Nintendo's pro controller, slightly more comfortable overall, and the added benefit of superb triggers.

Best I've managed is a top-20 finish. The game is really great. I've been enjoying it a lot. Like you said, power ups are a little confusing but that will come with time. Not quite as good for me as Tetris 99 but much, much better than Mario 35. Can see myself putting a lot of time into this!

The BC support from Xbox was a big factor in my decision making. I've harped on about Rare Replay for many, many years and finally accepted that it's never coming to a Nintendo console. Out of the gate, there's a good 10 or so titles over N64, Xbox and 360 which I've really enjoyed (yes, including Grabbed by the Ghoulies ). The fact the Fable games are all on Game Pass, Dead Space, Mass Effect (which I've never played!) and countless other classics from the 360 generation which I missed out on is a real deal sweetener. Many of them aren't on Game Pass, true, but they're priced competitively, or even in some cases free to own forever, like Crackdown, another game I adored on 360. Having the entire One library supported out of the gate, with some of them even getting a FPS or resolution boost is superb. I've got 5+ years of content that I've ignored either at my fingertips or at worst fairly cheap in the MS store. I get the BC is not a big deal for a lot of people, especially those who took part in the last gen, but it has maybe been the deciding factor for me jumping in. The X / S support and native titles is only going to grow, and there's plenty of good stuff on there already. I think Nintendo have done an average to good job with BC on the Switch. I've put way more time into the SNES app than I ever imagined and have certainly had a good time messing about with the NES app on occasion. I don't feel like I need to own any of these games (again!) and I'm happy to see them being part of a service. Respect to Capcom and Konami too for keeping their classic games alive with truly fantastic collections. I loved Mario 3D All Stars and would be happy to see more of this from Nintendo, even if it's in the form of another VC service. I get what you're saying about ownership. It is also a question for me too, and I'm still largely sceptical of going digital-only despite having only bought digital Switch games in the past year. That is mostly down to the extortionate physical prices here though, and the voucher system or CDKeys usually works out at 20-25% cheaper. I tried to rationalise subbing to Game Pass the way I rationalised subbing to Netflix back in the day. I sold 400+ DVDs back in 2010 for around £300 and haven't really missed them, bar the odd box set I suppose. I subbed to Netflix and Amazon Prime for a few years before getting bored with most of the content. Now, I generally don't watch films or TV series and if I'm really desperate, I can rent it on Apple for a couple of quid. I think subbing to a gaming service for roughly the same price provides infinitely more value. Especially when it's stuff you would likely have bought anyway. Yes, there's no resale value, but outside of Nintendo physical games, is that ever going to be an issue again? When everything is available digitally, you can find any physical version (non-special edition) for as little as a quid a few years after release. The option to buy digital is always there, especially in a good sale, and you end up saving a lot of space at home I'm going to embrace this new direction and am willing to place a little bit of trust in MS to pull it off. They have me for a year and then I guess I'll sit down and review whether it's really worth it. At £8 a month averaged out, it's certainly better value than Netflix. A lot is going to depend on how pricing evolves and how much they play God over the stuff that is available on Game Pass and for how long. Being able to stream from the Xbox to the phone is good and works surprisingly well. Certainly not on a par with the Switch, but the potential is there. Really interesting to see whether their studio gamble pays off and whether they can quickly bring Game Pass for PC and mobile up to parity with their hardware, including streaming to the mass market. Places like Japan and India would be potentially massive consumer bases if they can pull off good XCloud streaming to mobile. Japan has no interest at all in their hardware (Series X sold 31 units last week), but I do think they could tap into the market with top-of-the-line mobile support for their 1st party and indie titles. I think Sony has a real uphill battle now that they've put all their chips in the Western market and basically surrendered Japan to Nintendo. If MS start to capture the West, Sony are going to have to get their act together. I don't doubt that they will though, and I think this gen is going to be one of the most exciting in decades.

A far cry from Donny Boy's - "You can play on Xbox 360" and... TV SPORTS TV SPORTS TV SPORTS TV SPORTS TV SPORTS TV SPORTS TV SPORTS TV SPORTS TV SPORTS TV SPORTS TV SPORTS TV SPORTS TV SPORTS TV SPORTS TV SPORTS TV SPORTS TV SPORTS TV SPORTS

I'm abso-bloody-lutely loving it!! It is such a sleek machine. Quick resume is a game changer, load times are basically a thing of the past, it is a real beauty! I would say, given your situation (which I think is having a One X, right?), the S might not be the best option. The S is basically a One X in terms of power with more modern architecture which makes it perform slightly better and use less power. Right now, bar a few One games that run in 1440p or 4K, or even 120zh, if that's your bag, there is no real difference. Halo MCC, for example, has been optimised for 120hz at 1080p, but not 4K, which I'm pretty sure it could manage on the One X - so it runs at a lower res than on PC for me. Bit of a kick in the balls... but great to have quick resume and no load times. Then there's the issue of storage. 365gb is criminally small. I filled it up pretty fast and now have the majority of my games stored on a brand new 2TB HDD. All non-optimised games run off that, without the benefits of lightning-fast loading. Honestly, for someone who's pretty deep into the ecosystem, I do think you'd be better off biding your time waiting for a Series X. I have been out of the Sony / MS loop for over 10 years now, so this feels super fresh and exciting to me despite the machine not being a beast relative to its brethren. I don't think you'll see much improvement over the One X for the money you'll pay (while losing your disc drive!!), and I'd say it's likely you'd just want an X when the big games start dropping, I know I do... I couldn't justify an X right now, but this seemed tempting as an impulse buy and a "sampling", if you will, of what's going on outside Nintendo and Steam. I'm genuinely impressed with what MS are bringing to the table. I'll share a few thoughts with you having spent a week with my Series S now. - Game Pass is the real deal. I got signed up to Ultimate for the first month for £1 and then bought a 12-month sub off CDKeys for £102. There is almost too much content on there for anyone to get through given there are only 24 hours in a day. It's the variety that I have been impressed with most. There are the first party games from MS over the past few years - your Forza 7, Horizon, Master Chief Collection, Sea of Thieves, Gears 5 etc. Then you've got the big hitters from EA and Bethesda, with Square Enix and the Sega (Yakuza Series) also heavily represented. There are enough AAA games to shake a stick at, if that's what you want. The vast majority of these I've never played, outside of a few hours on PC. I'm hopeful that Death Stranding will come soon so I can play it at a framerate and resolution it deserves. GTAV is coming back on today. If you've had a PS4, there is PLENTY of exclusive and third-party content from the past 5 years there. - Indies are extremely well represented. Granted I've played many of these on Switch, I'm already working my way through three of my favourite indie games again. Celeste, Enter the Gungeon and Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair. They have the added bonus of achievements, obviously, if you're into that. Yooka looks absolutely mouth-wateringly sexy and looks like it runs in 4K60, but I'll have to check that! There are also a bunch of indie games I haven't bought on Switch or that have not come to the platform. With Game Pass, I have the option of trying them out at least. There's a solid 50 or so well-regarded indie games on the list. Again, too much choice. - Classic games are also fantastically represented. Rare Replay was one of the BIG reasons why I was always tempted by a One back in the day. It's on there of course and I've been having a blast with some classic N64 games - all of them running without any framerate issues whatsoever. I get that some people are purists, but for me, I don't have the space or the time to mess about with original hardware and just want something that works on a modern TV. There's a superb list of 360 games, many of which I'm diving back into or trying for the first time. Skate 3 was an instant download as I'd only played the first and absolutely loved it. It really is wonderful. I still don't know how I'll feel when some of these games get removed and I'm sat there with them unfinished and unpurchased, but MS do give you fair warning that something is on its way out. Subbing to gold / game pass / ultimate also gives you extra discounts to buy games in the store as well. I was surprised when I went into the store for the Spring Sale that's currently on to see that many of the AAA games in Game Pass are on sale for £5-20 each, often the deluxe or ultimate version too. So if you really don't want to lose something, I'm pleased to see that deep, Steam like sales seem to be a thing here. Might pick up the Witcher 3 for a fiver, just to have the option of playing it on the TV rather than the PC. They really have done a stellar job with this machine, bar the obvious space limitations. Once the year is up and some proper next-gen games have been announced, I'd seriously consider upgrading to an X and just dropping PC as a main platform altogether with the exception odd RTS and indie game where a mouse and keyboard are crucial. Gaming on a console on the living room TV without needing to piss about with wires and settings and the like is always so much more satisfying.

New paid DLC and free content update Publisher and developer Dotemu, and developers Lizardcube and Guard Crush Games have announced Streets of Rage 4 paid downloadable content “Mr. X Nightmare,” which will add three new playable characters and a special “Survival” game mode when it launches later in 2021. A separate free update will launch alongside the downloadable content with additional content. The game has also surpassed 2.5 million downloads across all platforms.