As I write this it is very, very hot, and I am not dealing with this fact very well. I’m not entirely sure that it is the weekend, actually, because apparently it is now August? I’m sorry, there must be some mistake. It has been March for about ten years now.

Luckily, because time is standing still, we have a lot of time to play all the video games our tiny hearts desire! We have a goodly spread of titles this week, with more than a few being drawn to diddy survival game Grounded. Ants. So hot right now. Like me.

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As promised, BioWare are starting to publish updates as they rethink their not-so-well-received online sci-fi shooter Anthem. Today’s update specifically talks about their goals for the loot system, which they want to be more reliable and respect a player’s time. It doesn’t sound like anything is set in stone yet, so this will definitely be a lengthy journey for Anthem as they previously estimated.

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Are we ready to fully accept Pokemon-like as a genre now? If so, this one probably takes the crown. Because it’s actually called—yeah you get it. For real though, Monster Crown does definitely have the most classic Pokemon vibes of the bunch compared with other recent critter catchers like Temtem or Ooblets. Just like those other two, Monster Crown is starting out in early access as of today.

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Red Dead Redemption 2

Online just got a new update earlier this week adding the Naturalist role, but that certainly won’t stop folks from digging up secrets planned for future updates. My instinct is to holler “stop peeking at your presents and enjoy the update you just got!” but I’ll admit I’m very partial to in-game Halloween events so even I’m distracted by these rumoured leaks. (more…)

Finding a good gaming laptop for under £1000 / $1000 can be difficult when there are so many different specs out there, so we’ve put together this list of all the best budget gaming laptop deals you can buy right now to help you find the right one for you and your budget.

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In any situation where you can choose to have animals on your team you should definitely pick bears, which is part of what looks lovely about turn-based deck-building game Banners Of Ruin. You assemble a team of six grim-faced animal warriors, presumably meaning that I could pick six bears if I were so inclined—and oh am I ever inclined. Banners Of Ruin is now out in early access, so you can pick your own squad of furry fighters. Obviously I recommend the bears.

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A lot of people, quite reasonably, didn’t pay much attention to April Fool’s Day this year. I certainly didn’t, so I only vaguely noticed Mojang announcing a Minecraft update that would give the game infinite, Enter-The-Spiderverse-Style dimensions to explore. It was cute, I figured, but not really the most convincing fake announcement. Alas, though, it turns out I was the April Fool all along: not only was the promised update completely real, but you can still play it, and it’s utterly astonishing.

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Well look at that, your favorite 90s action amphibians finally have a release date for their return to headliner status, after that 2018 teaser and a couple cameos (in games including Obsidian’s recent effort Grounded). Your resident Battletoads Zitz, Rash and Pimple are back at last, whackin’ up baddies to their own tune on August 20th.

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The Sims 4

seems to be pivoting toward content that is, firstly, tailored specifically to my interests, and, secondly, designed to allow the creation of strange and reclusive weirdos. Whilst EA’s attempt at a new reality show about playing The Sims rumbles on in the background, and after the Eco Lifestyle expansion pushed me towards creating a stinky, trash-gobbling Oscar the Grouch, here comes new Stuff Pack Nifty Knitting.

Stuff Packs are sort of mini-expansions, and Nifty Knitting is all about, well, knitting. Somehow – whether by bugs that are not yet smoothed out, or by design – the Nifty Knitting Stuff Pack has perfectly recreated the slide from “oh, knitting is kind of cool”, into the creation of wool mailbox covers and jumpers that have scarves built in. I played for a few hours, and in that space of time my Sim evolved naturally into a hunched yarn hermit, rocking incessantly on her new chair and eschewing everything in favour of more knitting>. Including food, sleep and conversation. It is the closest The Sims has yet come to allowing me to create myself. And it is too real.

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There’s a sneaky-sounding new faction joining the fray in Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone next week, and they’re bringing some new weapons and operators with them. They’re called Shadow Company, which is a name you may recognise if you’re familiar with Modern Warfare 2. I’m not really sure what the lore implications of that are, but hey, even if there aren’t any, they’re at least bringing along three new characters for you to play when Season 5 launches on August 5th next week.

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