I didn't think it was possible for Palworld's animal sweatshop-style base building to get even more bleak and depressing than it already was, but it turns out I was wrong. Last night, I reached a part of the game's Technology tree that sent an actual shiver down my spine, it was that awful and morbid. No, it wasn't the option to arm my leaf monkey with an assault rifle, or my green squirrels with machine guns - though they were on the same tech branch. Nope, this one was even more sinister, and I absolutely refuse to unlock it.

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Virtual reality-focused developers Wimo Games have joined the ever-expanding list of studios to be hit by layoffs and closure in recent months, as the Battle Bows and Micro Machines: Mini Challenge Mayhem studio confirmed their closure last week.

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Listen up: this is one of the simplest and most effective upgrades you can give your mechanical keyboard, and right now it's 50% off, just $12.

I'm talking about a full set of 104 double-shot PBT pudding keycaps from HyperX, which combine the excellent legibility of a black backlit keycap tops with frosted semi-transparent sides. This is the perfect pairing for RGB wave fanatics, but it looks just as nice with a tastefully chosen single-colour or other effects. I am a huge fan of these keycaps, and at $12 they're an almost essential purchase for mechanical keyboard owners.

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Double-wide 32:9 gaming monitors are becoming increasingly affordable, which is brilliant for anyone that prefers an ultra-wide aspect ratio but doesn't want to deal with the relatively limited desktop real estate of your standard 21:9 ultrawide.

Right now you can pick up LG's 45-inch 45GR65DC, which essentially combines two 24-inch 1440p 200Hz screens into a single titanic panel, for just $550 - rather than the usual $700. That $150 discount turns this into a great alternative to a traditional two monitor setup, letting you have tons of space for getting work done as well as a super-immersive ultrawide gaming experience - just lovely.

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If the accusations of Palworld peeking at Pokémon’s homework for its catchable monster designs weren’t already rife enough, a modder has decided to take the Garth Marenghi approach and remove any possible question by turning Palworld’s Pokémon-a-likes into just straight-up Pokémon.

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The Nvidia tools used to create that raytraced Portal mod and other fanciness are now in open beta, inviting all and sundry to jazz up everything from Deus Ex to Garry's Mod. Nvidia's RTX Remix tech lets people fancify old games by injecting fancy modern lighting, new models, textures 'remastered' by AI, new environmental decoration, and other such fanciness, even if the game doesn't have mod support. I'll be curious to see what people make with this, though I am wary of artlessly pumping new tech into old games.

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Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Rocksteady’s multiplayer Destiny-like with DC villains, will fill the conspicuously Joker-shaped hole in its rogues’ gallery of Batman baddies in March with the launch of the live service game’s first season of free post-launch content.

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Pocketpair's monster-collecting survival game Palworld has rekindled the eternal debate over what exactly constitutes a breach of copyright. While the game's mechanics are more reminiscent of Ark: Survival Evolved and other tree-punching, template-arranging wilderness sims, its monsters owe obvious debts to Nintendo and Game Freaks' Pokémon games.

The developers have something of a track record on this front, with their older early access release Craftopia freely stirring in nods to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. But what separates copyright infringement from a flagrant, but perfectly legal rip-off? Given that a lot of people are making the case for Palworld being copyright theft online, I thought it might be useful to seek insight from (ominous roll of thunder) an actual lawyer.

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The developers of House Flipper have promised that support and new content for the hit renovation sim will continue to land throughout 2024 alongside plans for its newly-released sequel. On the list are two ‘major’ bits of content, along with bug fixes and what looks to be the tease of a restaurant-themed DLC.

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After a successful first outing, RPS Game Club is returning for another year of gaming show-and-tells, and this time, we're publishing the schedule in advance so you know exactly what's coming up and when. Handy, say, if you want to keep an eye on certain sale prices for games you've got your eye on, or you want to clear your calendar so you can join us for our end-of-month liveblog session where we all get together book club-style to talk about the month's pick. Each member of the RPS Treehouse is getting involved this year as well, so read on below to find out what's on the Club docket.

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