With Microsoft still in the process of finalising its massive acquisition of Activision Blizzard, it recently came to light that Sony has officially expressed its concerns over the deal. Specifically citing the Call of Duty franchise as something that would be impossible to compete with if it were to become exclusive to Xbox platforms. Today, it's Microsoft's turn as it claims Sony has been actively blocking titles from Xbox Game Pass.
Another massive hit from an Aussie studio in Massive Monster, Cult of the Lamb is a cult management sim with roguelike combat and dungeon-crawling elements. Except it's much, much more than that and to simply explain it as such is almost doing the depth of what on offer here a massive disservice.
From ultrawide support through to improved real-time ray-tracing and more world detail, we paired Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered with a high-end GeForce RTX 30 series GPU. And the results were suitably amazing. We take a deep dive into the tech, and showcase some of the game's amazing visuals.
Insomniac’s brilliant Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered swings onto PC with Sony studio Nixxes handling port duties. In terms of features, this one is stacked, from ultrawide multi-monitor support through to uncapped frame rates and the ability to tweak things like FOV. Plus with image tech like NVIDIA DLSS the real-time ray-tracing and high-end detail is pushed a lot further than what we saw on the PlayStation 5.
Thanks to Square Enix we've got an amazing custom Final Fantasy XIV Online merch pack to giveaway in Australia. It's Choco-bo full of goodies from plushies to figurines and more, all put together to help celebrate the recent launch of the Oceania Data Centre called Materia.
With the release of Saints Row out later this month (check out our hands-on here), to help celebrate Melbourne-based craft beer specialists Moon Dog is collaborating to create a special “Keep It Strange, Santo” Pale Ale. Named are the game's fictional locale of Santo Ileso, it's set to become available on August 18.
In case you're not across it fully yet, Rollerdrome from OlliOlli World developer, Roll7, is a third-person shooter set in a dystopian future inspired by cinema and storytelling from the 1970s. It also features a deadly game where the player competes in life or death skirmishes on roller skates (quads) and is heavily inspired by the James Caan classic, Rollerball.
The collaboration, which sees First Nations Woman, Rubii Red, and New Zealand pair, Haimona Maruera and Dillon King, stylising the "Xbox Sphere" in representative styles of art from their respective indigenous cultures, is part of a global initiative that draws on the works and cultures of indigenous communities from around the world.
And I'm not sure it can possibly live up to this dramatic death of General Pac-Man, or the emotional scenes that followed featuring Ms. Pac-Man, in the riveting slice of Pac-Life from Futurama that was Anthology of Interest II. But either way, and no matter what's going on in the world right now, rest easy because actual money is being spent on making this an actual thing -- a live-action Pac-Man movie.
Turns out Stray can go RTX On. The highly anticipated game was released last month on PlayStation and PC, where its cyberpunk cat adventure impressed and mesmerised real felines the world over. Its futuristic world presented some stunning locales to explore too, with bright neon lighting with great art direction. And you can make it look even better and enable ray-tracing on the PC version with a simple command line.
And the return of fan-favourite Juri. As part of the latest EVO event, Capcom took centre stage to showcase two new fighters joining the Street Fighter 6 roster, brand-new to the series Kimberly and the return of Juri. The gameplay trailer offers a good look at the next Street Fighter too, with some impressive visuals and animation.
If you need a refresher on just what ARC Raiders is be sure to hit the jump and re-watch the announcement trailer from 2021. It's the first game from Embark Studios, a team made up of ex-DICE talent that worked on the Battlefield series. A co-op free-to-play action shooter set in a stunning sci-fi universe.
The shoot-em up (or shmup) has always been a staple of the arcade scene, and when it comes to shmups Tecmo's Raiden series has been at the forefront of bullet-hell action since its debut back in 1990. So it's pretty awesome to see the series making a return to PC and consoles with Raiden IV x MIKADO remix in early 2023.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns, the cinematic tactical RPG from XCOM studio Firaxis has been delayed once again, with a 2023 fiscal year release window set for the PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC versions. Originally set for a March 2022 release it was pushed back to October, where now it'll arrive sometime before March 31, 2023.
The success of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto franchise is undeniable, and as part of a new Take-Two financial report we learn that collectively over 380 million GTA games have been sold over the years. With Grand Theft Auto V leading the charge with close to 170 million copies sold.
And it's coming to PC, PS4, PS5 and Nintendo Switch, which brings the classic setup and universe to all-new throngs of players from different alliances, while equally reviving a seemingly long-lost series to Old Hats like us here, who happen to adore the franchise, and then some.
Far Cry 6 is currently free to play, with non-paid access to the game winding up on August 8 at 4:00am AEST, across all platforms. This free option also coincides with a Photo Mode contest all players can enter that closes on August 13 at precisely 1:59am AEST.
QuakeCon 2022 is another all-digital event for the long-running community and LAN staple, and after an introduction from id Software’s Marty Stratton the livestream schedule will kick off with a Redfall deep dive with Arkane Austin. A look at Fallout 76's The Pitt update will also be there, with Bethesda ANZ set to host some local The Elder Scrolls Online and Ghostwire Tokyo action too.
Apex Legends: Hunted introduces Vantage, the next Legend that also happens to be a sniper. Ahead of her reveal and the arrival of Apex Legends: Hunted we sat down with Respawn to talk about all things Vantage. Speaking to Chris Winder, Lead Legend Designer on Vantage, and Kevin Lee, Narrative Designer on Vantage, we began by talking about how a sniper might fit into the game.
Outside of being a 60% form-factor TKL keyboard, the mini size that has become super popular of late, the SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless also pushes the boundaries in terms of what's possible when it comes to mechanical keyboards. The OmniPoint Adjustable Mechanical Switches deployed here offer up next-level customisation.