Posts By Mat Growcott

If you, like me, want to avoid football as much as possible over the World Cup, here’s a list of weird sports games that might hold your attention instead. This list will also apply for those people, like my own countrymen, who want to pretent there isn’t a World Cup on too. These are games that explore sports that would be impossible, dangerous, or downright bizarre in real life. So please only place the video game versions. We won’t be…

In a world where football is banned, it’s up to one youngster to… play football. So that football can return to the world? That’s Soccer Story, and if that explanation grabs you, congratulations – the game is exactly what you think it’ll be. Soccer Story is part sports game, yes. But mostly it’s about exploration and MMO-style quests that have you mostly using your magic ball for busywork. It is a story where it seems the ...

Xbox games will increase from $60 to $70 starting next year, and that’s a massive disappointment. Any price rise is understandable, but still disappointing. They’re not the first to do it. They join the likes of Sony, Activision and others in raising their base prices. And, of course, it helps that all these games go into Game Pass day one anyway. The price rise will hit those unwilling to subscribe but still interested in playing the hardest. ...

It’s been the best part of a year since Microsoft’s purchase of Activision was announced, and things have been heating up in the last 48 hours. The American regulator – the FTC – is meeting to vote on the deal tomorrow. If it’s approved, it could mean other regulators follow suit sooner rather than later. And Microsoft have been working hard to make sure it is approved. In the last two days, there has been announcement after ...

It’s that time of year where we look at what each console has to offer going forward. What is the back catalogue like? How much do you have to look forward to? What is the tech like for today’s shrewd gamer? If you’re looking to buy a new console for Christmas or in the New Year – these are the articles for you. Is it worth buying a Switch in 2023? The Switch is an absolute mystery. Offering up bundles…

It’s that time of year where we look at what each console has to offer going forward. What is the back catalogue like? How much do you have to look forward to? What is the tech like for today’s shrewd gamer? If you’re looking to buy a new console for Christmas or in the New Year – these are the articles for you. Is it worth buying an Xbox Series X or Series S in 2023? The Xbox Series X…

It’s that time of year where we look at what each console has to offer going forward. What is the back catalogue like? How much do you have to look forward to? What is the tech like for today’s shrewd gamer? If you’re looking to buy a new console for Christmas or in the New Year – these are the articles for you. Is it worth buying a PlayStation 5 in 2023? The PlayStation 5 is the biggest-selling modern console…

With another Pokemon game releasing to mixed reviews because of technical issues, it’s time for Nintendo to ask whether enough is enough for the Switch. I mean, the issues are either coming from Pokemon Team themselves – in which case there needs to be a discussion there – or from the now dated Nintendo flagship device. And I suspect it’s a bit of both. It’s not a good excuse to say you’re not really competing with ...

There are regularly jokes about people buying Call of Duty and playing nothing but Call of Duty until the next game is out. Honestly, it’s easy to see why. Because you CAN. The amount of content these games offer up is unreal. Now, being able to alter and tinker with dozens of guns, in dozens of game modes both online and offline might not appeal to everybody. It doesn’t always appeal to me. But for those that it works for…

In all the debates around Microsoft’s purchase of Activision, one has been the most frequent. How is PlayStation going to cope without Call of Duty? Should they have to? Is it fair? It’s been a while since we last looked at the Activision purchase. That’s mostly because a fat lot of nothing has happened. Decisions have been delayed, as you’d expect from a purchase of this size. A decision will still be made by the end of this financial ...