Posts By Mat Growcott

It seems like five minutes ago that Xbox didn’t have the studios to maintain its first party offerings. Now they have the benefit of closing them down. It’s easy to be emotional over news like this. Tango Gameworks, Arkane Austin, Roundhouse Games and Alpha Dog will no longer exist. And while I’m sure there are internal things that we don’t see here, there is little that can justify studio closures outside of the obvious. It’s ...

Like the Series S before it, the Nintendo Switch 2 is the worst kept secret going. It’s getting to the point where it’s so unofficially official that even third party manufacturers are casually dropping details. So frequent are the Switch 2 info drops that the biggest takeaway from Nintendo’s announcement will be discussion of the varying degrees of rightness that have come over the last couple of years. Which leakers were correct, which can ...

I watched the trailer for Tales of the Shire yesterday, and instantly decided it wasn’t going to be my thing. You know what it is? Exactly the kind of gaming adaptations we need. Life sims are huge right now. Will any of these games still be rated especially well in a decade? Enjoy before the wave comes crashing down, because man the weight of some of these titles is starting to feel heavy. And I start this article from pointing…

When Ghost of Tsushima comes to PC it’ll bring with it something that many of us guessed would never happen. You’ll be able to earn PlayStation trophies through your Steam purchase. This is massive. I get it. It doesn’t feel massive. In fact, on the face of it, Ghost of Tsushima coming to PC massively outweighs that little nugget of information by an order of magnitude. But that’s only if you’re not paying attention. There was a ...

The Fallout TV series is very popular, and people are hungry to enjoy the games that inspired it. Four Fallout games were in the top ten on Steam in Europe following the show’s debut. So it’s fantastic news that the next game is probably still a decade out. Yes, we have the Fallout 4 update next week, and that’ll scratch the itch. And obviously there’s Fallout London and other fan made stuff on the horizon. But the point of this…

Oh lord, keep with me on this one, people. Tipping is controversial at the best of times. A suggestion that we bring a tip option to video games is going to be met with all kinds of resistance. But you know, it makes sense. When we look back over the last decade or so, it’s obvious that something was going to give. Games have become more expensive to make at the same time as gamers coming to expect more for…

I’ve been doing this since 2009, so I’ve heard a “consoles are dead” story or two. Each time they’ve been proven wrong. They’re based on faulty assumptions, or a misunderstanding of the gaming audience. This time feels different. I still don’t think consoles are going away. There will always be room for a box next to your TV. But it’s hard to see where the narrative falls apart in 2024. The whole notion of buying ...

Lara Croft has been named the most iconic video game character of all time by the BAFTA Games Awards and my first thought was “what?” I mean, it makes sense. As someone who remembers the magazine covers, the cardboard cut-outs and the rave reviews from balding middle-aged non-gamer dads, I get it. She was the first character I remember truly transcending the medium. Mario and Sonic (mostly Sonic) might be more obvious. But they didn’t have a ...

There’s an interesting thread over at Resetera where a poster has dug out the remaining games not yet officially announced from the infamous Geforce Now leak. Nearly three years of confirmations have proven what a treasure trove this leak turned out to be, and that makes the titles still remaining conspicuous in their absence. And even more so for the potential some of them have. The post, which has been put together by Mocha Joe, hints at cancelled or ...

Two things have come out of an understandably muted Game Developers Conference. The first is that the keyword is growth, and executives everywhere are trying to find it. The second is that this year’s PS5 Pro hasn’t done enough to sell itself. Granted, it hasn’t been officially announced yet. But behind closed doors, developers are wondering exactly what it brings to the table. It’s a hard question to answer. From a consumer ...

Baldur’s Gate 3 has been a runaway hit, and rightly so. When a game comes out that raises the bar as much as that has, it’s nice to see the developer rewarded for it. That’s not always the case. But is it a good thing that the bar has been raised so sharply? Does this not just lead us exactly down a road that’s hurt the rest of the industry? The ever-desperate need to be on the absolute cutting edge…

Sony is pausing production of its PSVR 2 device for the foreseeable future, it has been revealed.  The report, which came from Bloomberg, says that sales of the headset had slowed and that stock had begun to build up. Sales have actually dropped every quarter since its release. Naturally, discussion has gone to two obvious points that have plagued PSVR2 since day one. That’s a lack of compelling content and a ridiculous price for a peripheral. Early ...

The Steam Deck is a very cool little handheld, and one that’s becoming increasingly popular. Only one thing is stopping me from buying it: I want to play everything on my TV. I figured that older games and indies would be a shoo-in for the portable. It’s basically what the Switch is, right? But the idea of playing something that’s supposed to be big and beautiful and epic on a tiny screen feels like watching Lord of the Rings on…

There was a time when bingo looked like it was on the way out. The halls were closing, the people who’d played it the most religiously were dying off. It was slowly just becoming a dirty night out for people without much imagination. And then the internet took it and ran with it, and now it’s more popular than ever. There are 100m people playing bingo across the world, and a massive 3.5m in the UK alone. That makes it…

You’ve found a casino you like. It has all the right games, playable in all the right ways. Is it really worth cheating on your favourite and looking at bonuses elsewhere? It might seem like something of a hassle, but it’s worth giving yourself a reality check. Like subscription services, casinos want you to feel comfortable because it means you’re less likely to leave. Looking at what is available elsewhere, even if it’s just a short ...