Hello! Welcome to our ongoing series looking at accessibility in games. Today Edward Hawkes takes a look at games and colour blindness.

Some time in the distant past, our ancestors moved to the treetops and decided that fruit was quite delicious. Before that, we weren't fussy. Afterwards, fruit was top of the menu. And so we evolved three-colour vision to distinguish unripe fruit from the very ripest. Or, that's one theory. In truth, we don't know for sure what caused our colour vision to change in the deep past. But for whatever reason, although most mammals see the world in two colours, most humans see the world in three. It's called trichromacy.

Now, I know what you're thinking. There are more than three colours. Richard of York gained battle in vain for this. Well, hold your horses, because poor Richard did not gain battle in vain in vain. There are many, many colours, but, for most humans, these are all mixes of red, green, and blue. Trichromats have three colour receptors, called 'cones', at the back of their eyes, and all the colours of the rainbow are constructed from these three basic building blocks. Different ratios of red, green, and blue can create most any colour. And those of you with three-colour vision can try it out for yourself using the colour twiddler in Microsoft Paint.

Read more

The Outer Worlds is getting a sequel for PC and Xbox Series X/S. It's called The Outer Worlds 2.

In a humorous CGI trailer, developer Obsidian cheekily acknowledged there was not much else to show of the game as yet, and no word on a release window. Still, it's nice to know its coming.

"New solar system, new crew, same Outer Worlds," the trailer's description reads. "The Outer Worlds 2 is coming... and when that day is closer we will show you more... but until then enjoy this."

Read more

Obsidian has confirmed that Murder on Eridanos, sci-fi adventure The Outer Worlds' second expansion, will be making its way to PC, Xbox, and PlayStation next Wednesday, 17th March.

Murder on Eridanos, which follows on from last year's Peril on Gorgon expansion, sets players the task of uncovering renowned actress Halcyon Helen's killer, an investigation that takes them all across a luxury resort of drifting islands caught in a perpetual storm.

There are clues to find using the new Discrepancy Amplifier tool, alibis to scrutinise, and witnesses to interrogate - including some of the planet's biggest stars - and Obsidian maintains The Outer Worlds' choice-driven action by giving players a broad range of options when it comes to identifying the culprit.

Read more

The second expansion for Obsidian's sci-fi RPG The Outer Worlds is due to arrive by the end of March.

As detailed in a Take-Two earnings report last night, the Murder on Eridanos expansion will be released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC by the end of the current fiscal year, which ends on 31st March (via SeekingAlpha). Murder on Eridanos is the second of two DLCs for The Outer Worlds' £19.99 expansion pass, the first being Peril on Gorgon - which launched back in September last year.

Very little is known about the second expansion, other than it being "Halycon Helen's final and finest adventure," so perhaps it's something of a murder mystery. Peril on Gorgon raised the level cap to 33, along with adding new perks, flaws, armour sets and science weapons, so it's possible we could see similar additions and another level cap raise in Murder on Eridanos.

Read more

"Fuck yeah we put a battle royale in Fallout 76," Bethesda co-studio director Tom Mustaine proudly proclaimed at the company's E3 conference earlier this month.

"Nuclear Winter is a battle royale born from the Fallout universe, from power armour to perk cards, from CAMP building to wasteland creatures, and of course my personal favourite, nukes," he continued, before finishing the sentence with a flourish of his hands to outline the shape of an explosion.

If you'd heard those words from the mouth of a Fallout developer back in 1997, chances are you'd be pretty darn confused. For one thing, battle royale - one of the most commercially successful game genres we've seen in years - didn't yet exist, not even in book or film form. Meanwhile, presenting nukes as an amusing and trivial thing in a Fallout game? Surely not.

Read more

First to kick off the Xbox E3 pre-brief is Obsidian's upcoming RPG, The Outer Worlds, which has now been given a release date.

The Outer Worlds will launch on October 25th this year, for PS4, Xbox One and PC. It will also be available on Xbox Game Pass from launch.

You can also take a look at the shiny new trailer shown at the conference just below.

Read more

Obsidian Entertainment demoed sci-fi role-playing game The Outer Worlds live at PAX East over the weekend.

A 20-minute demo, narrated by an Obsidian panel (co-game directors Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky; narrative designer Megan Starks; and lead designer Charles Staples), showed us the kind of city-based escapades we'll find ourselves in.

In this case, the player and two companions - Nyoka and Felix - auditioned for a part in an Odeon propaganda film. But these auditions used live ammo, and these auditions went a bit skewiff. From there: out onto the streets to bash locals and show abilities off.

Read more

If you liked Fallout: New Vegas, chances are you'll be excited for Obsidian's new game The Outer Worlds, because it looks like New Vegas meets BioShock in space.

The Outer Worlds was unveiled in a short video at The Game Awards in December (not to be confused with Anapurna's space exploration game Outer Wilds) and we still haven't seen a great deal of it. But Game Informer has been down to Obsidian's office in Irvine, California, and done a number on it. A video published yesterday focuses on combat, with input from co-game director Tim Cain and lead designer Charles Staples.

The action looks very familiar - there's a VATS-ish slow-mo targeting ability for lining up devastating shots; there are different gun types, like lasers; and there are melee weapons such as big hammers (and scythes which drip glowing ooze of some kind). You'll get a variety of weapons early on, apparently, and you'll have to repair and maintain them.

Read more