Posts By Mat Growcott

Have you heard that almost everything is an Xbox? Your tablet, your phone. That old lady over the street who you don’t see as much as you used to. Now she’s an Xbox. That’s the latest marketing slogan from the team at Microsoft Gaming. They’re putting a lot of time and money into telling you that you don’t need to buy their console to be part of the Xbox ecosystem. And so for this more than any other gaming device…

It’s (probably) almost here! The successor to the mighty Nintendo Switch will be in hands within the next six months – providing of course that Nintendo ever decide to announce it. Excuse the bitterness. I’ve spent the last three years recommending the Switch, but with the caveat that a new one is on the horizon. We’ve seen pictures of it (mostly from Chinese accessory makers, such as the one above), we’ve got details of the ...

In just a couple of weeks, Nvidia is going to announce it’s next wave of graphics cards for desktop PCs. That makes writing this article quite difficult. On the one hand, there’s never been a better time to get into PC gaming. There are options to suit almost every single budget, and there are very few games you’ll miss out on by leaning heavily into the platform. On the other hand, it all comes down to price. Clever consumers might…

There are some games that hit the zeitgeist so hard that it’s hard not to see them mentioned everywhere. 1000xResist is one of those games. I knew the name long before I knew anything else about it, and the message was clear: you have to play this game. Mostly a visual novel, it tells the story of scandal and betrayal within what is basically a religious cult, and the aftermath of exposing it. It asks difficult questions and often handles…

There was a time when games you could play in your browser were huge. Miniclip, Habbo Hotel, Neopets – they were the lifeblood one all tweens in the early 2000s. With the rise of mobile, those days disappeared. Now it seems they’re coming back. And for those of us old enough to remember IT classes spent playing crappy Flash games, we got the short straw. Gone of the days of slow loading and terrible graphics. Us fogies are now secure…

Outrage! Calls of unfairness and exploitation! Broken features without a day one patch! This is Indiana Jones weekend for the privileged few and conversation has once more tipped towards early access. On the face of it, it’s a pretty obvious ploy. If you want to enjoy the latest game over the weekend, you have to pay a premium for it. If you want to be part of the initial conversation instead of nursing your FOMO from a distance, you have…

You saw it when the Game Awards announced its top nominees for 2024. There, hidden amongst AAA games from big name publishers. You saw the comments. “Balatro? Haven’t heard of it. Why the hell are they including a card game?” And frankly, it’s lucky for all involved that the Elden Ring DLC became a lighting rod for the really negative conversation this year. People got to take out their frustration on something not directly related to ...

Remember the PlayStation Vita? That was an awesome little device. Nobody bought it. Sony didn’t support it. Now Sony and Microsoft are working on new handhelds. We’re supposed to be excited.  This time it’ll be different, we’re told. There won’t be any dedicated software. It’ll all be stuff you can play just fine from the comfort of your home. Hell, most of it will be on the Switch 2, if that isn’t just a myth at this ...

In a year that’s offering up Grand Theft Auto 6, Death Stranding 2, Avowed, Assassin’s Creed and a new Monster Hunter, Koei’s hack and slash series may not be an obvious GOTY contender. But the Dynasty Warriors: Origins demo paints a picture of a game hitting way above its budget roots. Listen, I know how it sounds. I’ve been playing the Dynasty Warriors games since I got the second one with my PS2. I love it, but it’s never ...

The nominations for this years Game Awards Game of the Year are out and they’re not entirely what we were expecting. For starters, Elden Ring is back. Yes, that’s right, Game of the Year winner for 2023 Elden Ring is nominated again. This time, in a move that has raised eyebrows across the web, it’s the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC that has been nominated. More on that later. Other nominations include Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, Black Myth: ...