Gamer Fridge

There was a long period of time where the phrase ‘ray tracing’ was almost inescapable and slapped onto all the prettiest-looking games. However, as the memory crisis continues to devastate hardware prices, and game performance gets even more unpredictable, optimised games have become a real sign of a quality launch. And now, ray tracing is…

PC gaming is an incredibly expensive hobby. Before we can even get into how much full-price games will set you back these days, there’s the not-so-little matter of having the hardware to play them on. Sure, if you’re an indie fiend, you’re probably not fussed about having the most up-to-date rig—but, as the memory crisis…

I’m old enough to remember when plug-and-play USB microphones were rubbish. Your alternative, however, was the murky, audio nerd-inhabited world of XLR, which required the use of a separate interface to connect a microphone to your PC. XLR is still the gold standard for professional recording gear, but the world of studio-style recording can be…

I adore the Yakuza games. You explore a small slice of Tokyo, get into constant OTT fistfights, and help weirdos with bizarre problems. Like, say, distracting a bunch of children so a living statue can sneak off to take a dump without traumatising them. 2009’s Yakuza 3 sees recurring protagonist Kazuma Kiryu quitting the yakuza…

Fallout, so the large box that PC games used to come in when life was good tells me, is a post-nuclear roleplaying game. It’s also, it turns out, a post-nuclear tabletop roleplaying game, a fact I think I’ve never really consciously registered until now. But it’s fixed in my mind now, because Humble is selling…