Posts By Mat Growcott

A new year, and another look at the state of PlayStation. And it’s an interesting one. PlayStation stand on the edge of massive changes, and whether you should buy depends entirely on your use case. The PS5 is a perfectly decent console. It does everything you want it to do. The graphics are fantastic, the games are always enjoyable. If you’re looking for a way into next-gen, if you’ve owned PlayStation devices in the past and want to see ...

It’s the end of the year. People are starting to think about Christmas gifts. And high on the list of many a family will be a Nintendo Switch. But is it actually worth it? This time last year I wrote an article answering this question, and that answer was ‘probably not’. Why? Because Nintendo’s current console is long in the tooth, graphically poor and their next console could be announced at any time. The Switch just doesn’t cut ...

We’re on the cusp of a new year, and many people will be trying out new things in January, including the latest and greatest portable devices. Is it a good time to get started in online gambling? While online gambling isn’t exactly seasonal, there are a few things that happen around this time of year that might get people thinking about trying out some digital casinos. The first is the host of new devices that people will be opening on…

It’s that time of the year where I start thinking about Christmas guides. And man, 2023 has been something special. We look back at 1998 and 2004 and we remember them as years where gaming evolved. Title after title that defined a generation – and an entire industry. And, you know, I think 2023 may just end up being one of them. Granted, it’s hard to tell. One of the important things about those two years is longevity. Metal Gear…

The Last of Us Part II is getting a ‘remaster’ for PlayStation 5. At the ridiculously old age of three, it really is overdue. I mean, it’s basically unplayable at this point. Nobody is surprised that this is something Sony is putting out with a straight face, nor that there are a sizeable amount of people who are really into it. And all the more power to everybody involved. You don’t have to be mad to be a gamer, but…

There are a number of big reasons why Microsoft’s purchase of Activision made sense. But the eSports angle rarely got explored. For the vast majority, the Call of Duty of it all was just more important. And that’s without mentioning the huge boon the purchase gave Xbox in the mobile space. In fact, there’s a lot of reasons this deal was made, and eSports is probably the least of it. At least, it might seem that way on the surface.…

I can’t be the only person getting tired of hearing about all these live service games. Call me selfish, but I really wish it’d just stop. Trends come and go. In the past every game seemed to have a stealth section. Or a tower defence mini-game. These were annoying, but had very little impact on the industry itself. Nobody was imploding because their content pipeline wasn’t filled to the rafters. And yet live service has fundamentally changed ...

Over the last couple of weeks, Microsoft Rewards have been slowly being nerfed. Users are getting less points, which is making it harder to maintain the level of bonuses they were used to. The scheme, which allowed those interested to utilise Bing and Game Pass to earn Xbox money or subscription time, as well as other rewards, has been made harder to use. That has included reducing points for things like earning a daily achievement and the removal of ...

Casinos love a tie-in. That’s how you end up with the Big Bang Theory slot machine. But sometimes they go deeper than just slapping a face on a wheel. And often that is most obvious with video game gambling adaptations. Today we’re going to take a quick glimpse through some of the most famous video game adaptions for gambling. It’s not surprising that popular franchises try to cross into other forms of media. Nobody would be surprised if a ...

There are few things in gaming that are absolutely sacred, but one of those things is modding. It is an inalienable right, as Bethesda found when they started considering paid modding. Capcom, apparently, didn’t hear this message. Taro Yahagi, a programmer for Capcom, said mods “aren’t that different from cheating” in terms of what they do to the game internally. Which shouldn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, but of course ...