Rock, Paper, Shotgun
Get the Logitech G203 gaming mouse for £17.98 after a discount at Amazon UK - a good deal for an RGB mouse from one of the most popular mouse companies.
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Get the Logitech G203 gaming mouse for £17.98 after a discount at Amazon UK - a good deal for an RGB mouse from one of the most popular mouse companies.
You can't go wrong with this fast, affordable SSD. That was the strapline for James' review of the WD Blue SN570, a glowing writeup that culminated in the drive's instatement in the RPS 'best gaming SSD' hall of fame. Now, the capacious 2TB SN570 is 10% off for Father's Day in the US, where you can pick up the drive for $162 at the WD Store when you use code DADSDAY10. That's an awesome deal for an NVMe drive of this size and speed.
Chance has always been an integral part of Firaxis’ turn-based tactics games. Just ask the many thousands of players who missed a shot with a 90% success chance in one of their XCOM reboots. Marvel’s Midnight Suns, however, could be the Civilization studio’s biggest gamble yet. Not only is it their first game to mix substantial RPG elements into its tactical combat, but there’s nary a hit percentage in sight. In the four hours I spent playing the opening of Midnight Suns last week, I saw precisely one scenario that had any kind of per cent number attached to it – and that was booting a goon (100%) or Venom, one of the newly confirmed villains of the game (0%), off a rooftop. All your other attacks, represented here as a deck of cards, are guaranteed hits.
It’s a strategic evolution I’ll talk about in a second, but this switch-up in approach isn’t the only part of Midnight Suns story that’s been subject to the whims of (mis)fortune. No sooner had Firaxis announced the game it was delayed in the snap of Thanos' fingers (from March to the second half of 2022, now confirmed as October 7th at tonight’s Summer Game Fest). But speaking to creative director Jake Solomon, the extra polishing time they set aside gave them an unexpected benefit. And it’s all down to a fish witch called Wanda.
The final heroes and villains of Marvel's Midnight Suns have been revealed at tonight's Summer Game Fest bonanza. Spider-Man and Scarlet Witch will be joining previously announced goodies such as Iron Man, Blade and Captain Marvel, while err... Scarlet Witch, Hulk and Venom will repping the game's big bad demon mother Lilith. Man, if there's one Avenger I wouldn't want going all evil on me, it's Hulk. And Scarlet Witch, to be fair. Why have these heroes joined the dark side in Firaxis' new tactics RPG? Well, we'll be able to find out when the game launches on October 7th. Here's a new trailer to celebrate.
Detailed-yet-relaxing village builder Ostriv isn't far off one of my favourite games. Entirely unrelatedly, I had Tile Cities installed for about a month before finding time to play it.
Except, it's not unrelated at all. It's the game that Ostriv developer Yevheniy made while suffering through the invasion of Ukraine, "to switch my mind from death and destruction towards peace and creativity". I'd be recommending it for sure even if I hadn't found that out, because it's a terrific little game that's far more engaging than it looks.
Despite Matthew almost wilfully misunderstanding the topic for this week's Electronic Wireless Show podcast, we manage to settle down and talk about the games we'd most like to have toy sets of. What game d'you think would be the best Lego set? Action figures? Obscure 80s and 90s toy? Oh, we have fun on this show.
Diversions this week are predictably about toys we had as kid, including a very long sidebar about Mighty Max, and Matthew's reverse-engineered Boglin hatred derived from his sad childhood. We also have some obligatory Platty Joobs round-up chat, and there's an unintentionally difficult Cavern Of Lies this week, themed around Funko Pop, because any made up Funko Pop is indistinguishable from a real Funko Pop.
Inside ActivisionBlizzard there are two wolves. Possibly dire wolves, or some other species of fantastical monster with surplus vowels in the name. Dreade Froste Beaste Wolfe. Anyway, one of them is made of decent people, developers who are fighting for better working conditions and making the best games they can under the circumstances. The other is Blizzard the organisation, a management structure seemingly incapable of making anything other than the worst decision possible in any given situation. So really, it's actually more like one wolf, and one flapping headless chicken (the chicken having also received a lot of allegations of harrassment and discrimination, and a lawsuit from the state of California).
Diablo Immortal, which is currently on open beta for PC and out properly for mobile (both for free), was largely made by the wolf, and it's all right to play! However, I don't know why the chicken wanted to put it on PC in its current monetised form, apart from the fact it's a bad decision and we've already established those are the only kind of decisions the chicken can make.
One of my favourite gaming keyboards is discounted at Amazon UK today. The Logitech G915 Lightspeed TKL is an ultra-slim, low profile mechanical keyboard that feels like the best laptop keyboard you've ever used. Lightspeed means Logitech's reliable 2.4GHz wireless, while 'TKL' stands for tenkeyless, a compact design that ditches the numpad for superior ergonomics and longer battery life.
Altogether, it's a beautifully-designed mechanical keyboard, with a high price point being the only strike against it - and despite that, the full-size G915 has been our 'best wireless keyboard' recommendation for three years running. Today though, the G915 Lightspeed TKL is down to £109 after a £90 discount, making it an excellent time to upgrade your setup with a swanky new keyboard.
Logitech make some of the best gaming kit in the business, and right now their G Pro X wired gaming headset is going cheap on Amazon. It debuted at £110 but now costs £57, nearly half-off its UK RRP. This headset distinguishes itself with a comfortable design, good neutral sound and a choice of leatherette or velour ear pads - with the latter being a godsend for spectacle-wearers like myself.
Last time, you decided that controlled critical hits are better than random critical hits. It was a mistake to compare similar things, but we tried, and I did get to make some very expensive graphics. Then a load of things happened and disrupted this process for several weeks, and... I return partially inspired by all that plan-breaking mess. Tell me, what's better: friendships, or interrupting conversations?