Posts By Mat Growcott

It’s been five minutes so, of course, it’s time to start talking about who Microsoft are going to be buying this week. Acquisition season never ends. Despite the fact there’s been a bevy of buzz since the Bethesda purchase last year, Microsoft have stayed tight-lipped about who they’re going to buy next. We know it’s a matter of when, not if. Execs at the company have said as much. But the when bit is just the question. Insiders ...

With Horizon pushed back and Dying Light quickly following it, we’re obviously still seeing covid rearing its ugly head. And with hints that more delays are on the way, it could be a difficult few months for gamers everywhere. The reality is that working practices have been torn apart over the last 18 months, and the result is that Christmas is going to be pretty barebones for most. If you’re not into Halo or Forza, you better get into them…

Grand Theft Auto V is about to turn eight. Rather strangely, it’s also about to be released for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. This is a game that recently courted tens of thousands of dislikes on a YouTube tutorial, but will sell a billion copies anyway. This is a game that’s massively loved, which everybody has played and which still manages to place in sales charts every single week. It doesn’t make any sense. But has Rockstar ...

Retroachievements is a great little community bringing fresh life to older games by adding achievements. Soon that’ll include PSP Games such as Final Fantasy IV, Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep and Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops. Fans of the classic handheld will soon be able to earn achievements while playing games through emulators. The console will join the likes of the original PlayStation, the N64 and dozens of other retro devices in supporting ...

It was a rough start, but gambling is now hugely popular in Canada. 65 per cent of Canadians old enough to gamble will place an online bet in the coming year – a percentage that explains the $15m in sports betting. It’s true that until relatively recently, gambling within Canada was no easy feat. Premises had to be run by or licensed by the provincial government. Naturally, you could play online on sites meant for other country. But that just…

Since slot machines have existed, there have been people who have tried to trick them. Hint: you can’t. Groups of wannabe cheaters were certain that if you just held the handle in the right way, pulled at the right speed, that you could play the system. With just a gentle touch, you could beat the machine. There have always been people willing to put fantasy ahead of reality. Slot machines can’t be cheated, and that’s even more true for ...

The wait has been enough to drive a person crazy, but Psychonauts 2 is finally available to play. The beloved indie darling has lost none of its charm being developed by a now fully-fledged Microsoft studio. Instead, it’s a must-play platformer that justifies itself over and over again. Because realistically, a sequel to Psychonauts could have been a disaster. Reviving any classic is tough, especially when there was only ever one entry. But Double Fine ...

In a world of difficult customer support processes, jargon-filled FAQs and oblique policies, Steam feels like a breath of fresh air. If you’ve played a game for less than two hours within 14 days of purchase, you get your refund. You literally can’t say fairer than that – unless you’re an indie developer. Because the system is absolutely ripe for abuse if your game is less than two hours long, and customers are frequently taking ...

2021 isn’t going to be a good holiday season for Sony now that Horizon 2 has been delayed. With blockbusters looking few and far between, a lot of the talk about “the power of exclusives” has aged like milk. This year the viability of the PlayStation 5 will hinge on third-party exclusives and older games, such as Spider-Man: Miles Morales. If you want to play Battlefield or Call of Duty, you can do it here. Albeit, probably at a slightly…

There’s a reason New Jersey is so often one of the first places online casinos open their doors in America. Their gambling laws are some of the least restrictive in the US, and that means they’re always a good choice for companies looking for a new base of operations. There’s a long history of gambling in New Jersey, going back hundreds of years. That’s a tradition that is still going on today, with online casinos starting their ...