Gabe Newell is the Kilroy of videogames, constantly popping up in strange corners where you least expect to find him. He owns Valve, he’s doing weird brain science, he’s at the bottom of the ocean, he’s chatting with a YouTuber with a double-digit number of subscribers. Where will he pop up next? Right behind you?…
I’ll be honest with you, I’ve never been the kind of person to get organised—that’s partially because I have a pesky disorder that gets in the way of such things, but it’s also just a personality flaw. I don’t do home decoration, and all my important paperwork sits in a loose jumble in a draw…
Zvitor comes up with the goods yet again. Zvitor has produced a vast array of free-to-download fan games in recent years, with superhero titles being a particular focus. He’s just updated Data East’s 1991 brawler Captain America and The Avengers, and you can sample the results right now. “Tell me the truth, if you played…
If you’re anyone other than President Donald Trump, there’s a good chance you’re sick of the word tariff. I know I am. Well, sorry to be the bearer of bad news (and words) because, on July 31, an executive order was signed to impose ‘reciprocal tariffs’ on a whole host of countries. Though Malaysian pharmaceuticals…
Crying speedrun (Any%). A common complaint levied against visual novels is that they’re some of the most text-heavy games one can find on the market. Who wants to spend hours upon hours reading dialogue during precious gaming time? Answer: me, and plenty of other people, but it’s a valid perspective to consider. Visual novels are…
For what seems like a very long time now, the combination of the words ‘Intel’, ‘news’, and ‘good’ has been rarer than finding a four-leaf clover in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica. Well, cover me in honey and call me Susan, because Intel has released XeSS 2.1, and it’s tremendous news, as AMD and…
While most bugs in Grounded 2 are out for your blood, and are easy enough to beat (at least in theory: whack ’em hard enough), the humble snail is different. When you get up close to a snail, or if you’ve already gone in for a killing blow, they will hide in their shells and…
One of your main forms of progression in Grounded 2 is crafting new Omni-Tool upgrades, since these dictate what materials you can break down. You’ll need Omni-Shovel 2 to dig up certain treasures, for example, or Omni-Hammer 2 to smash various sweets. These new materials, in turn, allow you to make more powerful gear and…
If you know any of my writing on this site, you know I’ve been just a wee bit critical of Dungeons & Dragons—while I did like the 2024 ruleset overall, I have larger structural issues that have more to do with Hasbro’s bungling of just about everything—and the idea of D&D as a whole stagnating….
If I were writing the big book of maintaining morale, my number one rule for keeping the talent happy would be: don’t threaten to take them to court. But those mavericks at Ubisoft have always done things their own way. According to Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag voice actor Matt Ryan (who played protagonist Edward…