Nintendo Switch fitness game Ring Fit Adventure is sold out in the UK, as one fan shows what a difference it can make in a month.
We know that title sounds like some kind of infomercial but it’s exactly what Filipino gamer Migui Minaj is claiming happened, after he started playing Ring Fit Adventure on Nintendo Switch.
Ring Fit Adventure is a fitness game that teaches you how to do proper exercises with what is essentially a Pilates resistance ring and the Switch’s Joy-Con controllers.
Unlike Wii Fit it’s a proper game, with role-playing style battles, and we already recommended it in our review last year. Although Manaj’s experience is perhaps a more straightforward illustration of its usefulness.
30 days of RingFit Adventure! From overweight to normal weight 😍 2020 na kaya kailangan ibalik ang asim! Very effective…
His Facebook posts aren’t all in English, but according to auto translate he’s been using Ring Fit Adventure for 25 minutes a day for the last 30 days.
During that time his BMI decreased from a rating of overweight to normal, with the photos above showing the marked physical transformation.
‘30 days of Ring Fit Adventure! From overweight to normal weight 😍 it’s already 2020 that’s why they need to bring back sour! This Nintendo Ring Fit is very effective, especially if there is a right diet. I only play for 25 minutes and so happy. This is more victories in 2020’.
As Manaj emphasises, a good diet is also essential for keeping off the pounds but for those struggling to recover from the excesses of Christmas eating it certainly beats jogging around in the freezing rain.
Ring Fit Adventure has been especially popular in Japan and has been in and out of stock for the last several weeks.
It’s currently number three in their charts, but the game’s still out of stock on the Nintendo UK website and at Amazon. GAME do have it on their website but for the highly inflated price of £109.99 – when it should only be £69.99.
Although if people get the idea that it could help them loose weight super-fast, they may be more than happy to pay that…
The annual Awesome Games Done Quick charity event has begun, with the world’s best speedrunners raising money for cancer research.
The only thing better than watching a good speedrun is having it make money for charity at the same time, and that’s exactly what Awesome Games Done Quick is all about.
The 2020 event stared on Sunday, 5 January and will continue for a week until Sunday 12, January.
To watch the various runs just visit the official Awesome Games Done Quick website or the Twitch channel below and you’ll be able to find something running almost every hour of the day.
The complete schedule is here though, if you want to plan ahead, with a list of what everyone is intending to play.
The name is pretty self-explanatory but speedruns are attempts to complete a game as quickly as possible, often in just a few hours if there’s glitches or shortcuts that can be taken advantage of.
Since Awesome Games Done Quick is more about fund-raising there might not be many records being broken but there’s bound to be a few at least.
The games featured include everything from The Outer Worlds to GTA: San Andreas, Hotline Miami, Untitled Goose Game, and Devil May Cry 5.
Events for Zelda: A Link To The Past and Super Mario 64 will use randomisers to increase the challenge, while there are TASBot events for Super Mario Bros. 2 and 3 where a bot will zip through the games at speeds impossible for even the fastest human.
But arguably the highlight of the event is on Sunday, with the Super Mario Maker 2 4v4 Blind Relay Race featuring a host of top speedrunners working together.
Will a third Switch model be released this year? (pic: Nintendo)
The mythical Switch Pro could be out mid-2020, according to new rumours… or maybe it’s just another minor new revision.
We’re only a few days into it and already 2020 has its first rumours of a new model of Nintendo Switch, but while it’s from a reliable source the details remain vague.
According to DigiTimes, Nintendo is planning to release a new model of Switch by the middle of this year, which will enter production sometime around March.
Their source is companies working on the upstream supply chain (i.e. the ones providing chips, screens, etc.) so while they know something is coming, they don’t necessarily know what it is.
Most fans will immediately think of the long-rumoured Switch Pro, which is imagined to be a more powerful version of the existing models.
Nintendo has never given any indication that a Switch Pro is something they’re interested in though, and it could easily be that the new model is just a minor update, such as the new version with a longer battery life that was released last year.
It’s impossible to predict Nintendo at the best of times, but with the next generation consoles from Microsoft and Sony coming out this year it’s especially hard to guess how they’ll respond to the new competition.
I reported in Aug 2019: "Nintendo has ideas for further updates to the Switch lineup after those two models to make the platform’s lifecycle long"
DigiTimes on Jan 6: "Nintendo is reportedly planning to release in mid-2020 a new model of Switch"https://t.co/giypufcW4A
The Wall Street Journal reporter Takashi Mochizuki tweeted about the DigiTimes article, pointing out that he predicted ‘further updates’ for the Switch after the release of the Switch Lite.
Another respected analyst, Niko Partners’ Daniel Ahmad, stated only a few days ago that he did not expect a Switch Pro or Switch 2 until at least 2021.
Instead, he suggested that this year would only see another revision, which it seems this could be the first evidence of.
Right now i'm of the opinion that we won't see a new Switch Pro/4K/2 or whatever you want to call it in 2020.
I think we could see Nintendo wait till early 2021 and beyond before launching new high powered hardware in the Switch family.
Best guess
I know you already said that Nintendo are impossible to predict, especially in this situation, but I really have no idea what they could or should do in the face of the PlayStation 5 and new Xbox. I would say that releasing a Switch 2 the same year seems like a bad idea but beyond that I don’t know what to suggest.
If I had to guess though I would say that they’re going to release Zelda: Breath Of The Wild 2 this year and will be looking to make headlines by having the highest rated game at Christmas even with the new consoles being out. That seems like an obvious marketing plan of attack and given how bad launch games tend to be probably a good tactic. Although given how long Microsoft must’ve been working on their games you’d hope the Xbox would have something to shout about at least.
As for what this new console is this year I think a Switch Pro makes sense. I like the idea of there just being a new dock that existing owners can buy separately but that doesn’t sound very Nintendo-y to me, so I’d imagine just a slightly more powerful machine and a bit of a redesign.
That plus Breath Of The Wild 2, plus whatever else they have planned, seems a good line-up to me. Then just release the Switch 2 when they’re ready in 2022 or thereabouts. Zebra
Change in mind
I don’t know if that PlayStation 5 controller is different or not but what I can say is that anyone that posts leaked photos online with the phrase ‘don’t share’ needs their head seeing too. It really is amazing how people constantly manage to forget that the Internet is public and everyone can see what they’re doing!
But on topic, I’m okay in theory with the PlayStation 5 pad getting more buttons on the back, but isn’t that going to be even more confusing for more casual gamers? That’s going to up the number buttons to 14, including L3 and R3, which is a hell of a lot for anyone.
I’m sure I’ll find it a benefit but you can certainly see why people like Nintendo think controllers need a rethink and are getting too out of control (no pun intended). I’m not sure what the solution is though, not until we get sensors that can accurately tell how your hands are moving, so you can operate objects for real. But even then how do you move and control the camera?
Maybe mind control is the only real answer? Sounds silly but we are living in the year 2020 now. Although I can’t help but notice there’s still a lack of flying cars around… Baker
Sent packing
I’m sure that Call Of Duty guy was being flippant about describing his experience with fans as creating PTSD, but I bet it wasn’t something far off that. Imagine how it would be if the whole Internet hated you and was desperate to tell you they did every second of the day (with a few death threats thrown in too, no doubt).
To be honest, I’m surprised some of these guys have stayed in the job as long as they have. They must’ve made their money by now, and there’s a limit to how much abuse I’d want to take for whatever amount of money.
For what it’s worth though I’m for adding jetpacks and enjoyed that era of Call Of Duty the most. The problem they had was having too many near future games at the same time. Why they never alternated with current day, future, and historical I don’t know, but now is the perfect chance to do that with WW2, Modern Warfare, and now Black Ops 5. Henry Cavill’s chin
Personal preference
I’m a lifelong Game Boy owner who somehow managed to never play the original Zelda: Link’s Awakening. For some reason, it took me a long time to get into the 2D Zeldas, but I’ve certainly enjoyed catching up.
The thing is, which version of Link’s Awakening would you recommend for a first time player? I don’t mind the new game’s art style (though I don’t love it either), nor do I have any problem playing Game Boy games today.
Ideally I’d play both and compare, but in case I only have time for one, which would you plump for? CJ Scott
GC: Link’s Awakening is arguably the best game on the Game Boy, but which version you play depends solely on your preferences and the costs involved. They’re both essentially the same game, with very few gameplay differences.
Offline only
Let’s pretend for a minute that it IS a Switch Pro that Nintendo are potentially releasing this year. My main question is; how do they intend for saves to be transferred from old to new if we don’t use their online service?
Some would probably say that it’s only £20 a year, why not just subscribe if you’re willing to pay for a new console. Well, personally I do not play online games and still have all my old NES and SNES titles, so as cheap as the service may be, the only attraction it has for me is that you can back-up saves to the cloud and it’s a real cheap shot for Nintendo to be hiding this feature behind a pay wall.
I live in hope for both a Switch Pro and offline save back-ups. Fingers crossed. Phil Spearpoint
GC: It’s only £3.49 for a month, if all you want to do is transfer saves.
Three in one
Just wondering if everyone thinks that we will ever see Rockstar allow us to travel to all three cities in GTA 6. An example of being able to travel to another city in a previous GTA game was GTA: San Andreas, which was of course based in the GTA 3 universe. However, Liberty City is mentioned consistently in GTA 5, along with various references, so I am wondering if Rockstar would use GTA 6 as the perfect opportunity to allow us to fly to all three cities and visit them, as well as various properties we could buy.
The next generation is right around the corner, so perhaps what Rockstar could do is add this ability along with additional missions and radios stations to expand GTA Online and make it much better on next generation hardware. It would be a great way to give people a reason to go next generation and make Grand Theft Auto an experience we could have only dreamed of previously. The story mode could also be used to allow missions where you can actually visit each of the cities and could bring a lot more to the game.
GTA 5 has been remastered for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 and I’m hoping that GTA 6 will at least be able to offer 4K visuals, as well as introduce to us some new features that have never been previously thought possible in GTA. gaz be rotten (gamertag)
Ring out
I’m not surprised Ring Fit Adventure has sold out. I bought it when it first came out as I hate going to the gym and all the reviews seemed positive. What I can tell anyone that’s unsure is that it is a serious workout. Even for very fit people I think it can provide a challenge if you whack the difficulty, and certainly for me it has beaten me many times.
I haven’t lost that much weight but I have definitely seen more muscle definition and I’ve felt my stamina increase when doing the exercises. It is also a half decent role-playing game too. A bit silly in terms of story but the battles are handled well and it doesn’t feel like work getting through it all.
Quality over quantity
Like Spooky Dreamer, I don’t buy many games at launch. In fact, I don’t buy that many games at all and that’s because the ones I do buy get played to death because they’re the kind of games that, in my view, are worth investing my time in. I’m talking about the likes of the Souls series, Bloodborne, Fallout, etc.
Anyway, after finishing The Outer Worlds and not wanting to return to Borderlands 3 straight away, which were the only two games I bought on release in 2018, I was casting around for another game to play and I noticed that God Of War was on sale in Argos for a measly £11.99. And as my husband was also looking for another game to play, I bought two copies, so we could play the game concurrently.
Now I’m not a fan of Kratos, which was the main reason I didn’t buy the game on release, even though it got ecstatic reviews but I freely admit I have never been so wrong about a game. God Of War is blisteringly good and worth every penny of its launch price and if I’d known how good it was I wouldn’t have hesitated to buy it, so sometimes it pays to take your time. Gill C.
Inbox also-rans
The free games from the Epic Games Store are Darksiders 1 and 2, and Steep and they are free from January 1st to January 9th, 2020. They have had some good free games over Christmas, including Yookla-Laylee And The Impossible Lair, Ape Out, and FTL. Andrew J.
I’ve only gone and completed me first ever pokédex… 20 years in the making! big boy bent (jab)
An achievement to be proud of (pic: big boy bent)
This week’s Hot Topic
As the first week back after the Christmas break, the question for this weekend’s Inbox is an obvious one: what are you looking forward to from gaming in 2020?
You can find a list of all the most prominent upcoming games in our preview of the year but feel free to mention anything that has a good chance of coming out in the next 12 months (although try to avoid random guesses). What new games are you most looking forward to and which do you expect to be the most successful?
Of course, a huge part of 2020 is going to be the new consoles, so what do you hope and expect to hear about in regards to them, and how likely do you think it is that you’ll buy one of them this year?
The small print New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length.
You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word 4Player viewer features at any time, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.
You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.
Brain Training For Switch (NS) – very 2000s (pic: Nintendo)
One of the most successful games of the Nintendo DS era returns, but is playing Sudoku on your Switch really good for your brain?
Brain Training on Nintendo Switch is not the most obvious way to usher in a new decade of video games, but for whatever reason it is the first major new release of 2020. And if nothing else a sobering opportunity to think about how much has changed since the original came out in 2005. Brain Training was the first of the derogatorily named ‘non-games’, titles that included the likes of Big Brain Academy and Nintendogs and which went on to become amongst the most successful video games of their generation. Even though they weren’t really video games at all.
Although the home console scene of 2005 featured recognisable hits such as Resident Evil 4 and Call Of Duty 2 there was one thing that would nowadays seem inconceivable to younger gamers: smartphones did not yet exist. Moreover, it was a difficult transition period for Nintendo, as not only had the GameCube not been a success but the Game Boy Advance had reached the end of its natural life and the DS was only being tentatively promoted as a direct replacement.
As has happened more than once in Nintendo’s storied history, they realised that major change was necessary and so many of the DS’s biggest releases were aimed at non-gamers, a successful tactic that later inspired the Wii and in particular titles like Wii Fit and Wii Music. To this day Brain Training remains one of the most successful single format games ever in the UK, so you can understand the temptation in wanting to bring it back. You can also predict just how out of place it feels in the modern era…
The original Brain Training may have sold over 19 million copies but the idea of spending £20+ on a self-help tool, whose most entertaining element is a game of Sudoku, is an incredibly hard sell in today’s market. Not only is the audience for Brain Training now used to using smartphones for such things but they’re also used to paying little or nothing for them. There’s little Nintendo can do about that, but the surprising thing about the new Brain Training is what a poor showcase it is for the Switch, and especially the Switch Lite.
If this was a traditional game it’d probably be classed as a remaster or director’s cut, as its core is the same as the original DS game, but with other mini-games and elements added in from its sequels – as well as others that have been created just for this edition. Although, since the Switch doesn’t have a built-in microphone, none of the old voice recognition ones are included and the list of separate games is actually rather short.
Based on a series of self-help books by the eponymous Dr Kawashima, your brain is trained via a small selection of exercises, starting with simple maths calculations and word puzzles. Some games can be played separately but you’re encouraged to take part in ‘daily training’ so you can calculate your brain’s mental age.
Your first Brain Age Check is likely to identify you as an octogenarian, whether you are or not, but the idea is that with regular play you can improve your score and thereby your mental acuity. Although the science behind that concept was called into question even at the time of the original release and still seems to be in dispute now.
If nothing else, practising every day does have a demonstrable effect on the Brain Age score, with the game also encouraging rivalries with other people in terms of comparing scores and multiplayer mini-games. Although we should emphasise that all these game are purely therapeutic and, with the exception of Sudoku, none of them are really any fun in their own right – although to be fair they’re not advertised as such.
Brain Training For Switch (NS) – tough luck if you’ve only got a Switch Lite (pic: Nintendo)
What also isn’t advertised is how much you lose out if you only have a Switch Lite. Many of the new mini-games, including the multiplayer ones, use the IR sensor on the right Joy-Con, which the Switch Lite doesn’t have. These are used for things like rock, paper, scissors and counting your fingers but the reliability is not great, which is a real problem when you’re being tested on the speed of your reaction.
Presumably the developers didn’t know about the Lite when they were working on the game, but it’s unfortunate just how much of the new functionality is based around playing on the full fat Switch console. But not even that works particularly well as you can’t play the daily training mode when the console is docked and holding it vertically with a Joy-Con in your other hand is very awkward.
As an extra bonus the handwriting recognition, which is important enough that the physical copy comes with a free stylus, is awful and baffling in the mistakes it makes. Which wouldn’t be so bad except that’s the only way to input numbers.
Brain Training for Switch was always going to feel like a game out of time, but Nintendo have done themselves no favours here. Perhaps if this had been a brand new game, rather than a half-hearted remaster, things might have been different, but with dozens of free Sudoku games available on every smartphone it doesn’t take much braining training to know this isn’t worth it.
Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training For Nintendo Switch review summary
In Short: Regardless of what it may or may not do to your brain age, this is a disappointingly low effort remaster with serious technical issues and a lack of interesting content.
Pros: The basic idea still has value and can be a useful introduction to video games for the committed non-gamer. Sudoku is always fun.
Cons: Many of the mini-games from the previous games are missing and a lot of the new ones need a Joy-Con, which a Switch Lite doesn’t have by default. Poor IR and hand-writing recognition.
Score: 4/10
Formats: Nintendo Switch Price: £24.29 Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Nintendo EPD and indieszero Release Date: 3rd January 2020 Age Rating: 3
Sony has revealed the logo for the PlayStation 5 at CES 2020… and a new concept car that’s blatantly going to be in Gran Turismo 7.
Despite now being in its 53rd year, CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas has never been very important for video games.
You sometimes get the odd small announcement though and this year Sony did reveal more information about the PlayStation 5. By which we mean they debuted the logo above.
Unsurprisingly, it’s almost exactly the same as the PlayStation 4 logo, just with a different number at the end but, well… at least that’s something we didn’t know before.
We kind of knew all this already (pic: Sony)
Sony Interactive Entertainment boss Jim Ryan did take to the stage to talk about the new console though, highlighting the new features in the infographic above, such as 3D audio sound, ultra-high speed SSD, hardware-based ray tracing, Ultra HD Blu-ray support, and haptics/adaptive triggers in the PlayStation 5 controllers.
That’s nothing we didn’t know before though and it was obvious Sony was holding back for a full reveal later, probably at one of their own dedicated events in the spring.
The only time Ryan went into detail about anything was on how successful the PlayStation 4 has been, with sales of over 106 million consoles and 1.15 billion games.
PlayStation VR has also sold an impressive 5 million units, PlayStation Network has 103 million monthly active users, and PlayStation Plus has 38.8 million subscribers.
Ensuring all those people make the jump to PlayStation 5 will be no easy task, but whatever Sony’s plan is they didn’t give any major new clues at CES.
They did unveil a new concept car though, so look forward to seeing that in Gran Turismo 7.
It turns out there wasn’t any new Xbox Series X news at CES 2020 after all, as AMD admit they used a fan-made 3D model of the console.
For a moment there it seemed like CES 2020 might have a major reveal on its hands, as AMD showed off all the connections on the Xbox Series X console. But it turns out it was actually a fake.
AMD make the CPU and graphics chips for the new Xbox (and PlayStation 5) and featured Microsoft’s console during their keynote event, with a video that allowed everyone to get a good look at all the ports and connections on its back – which have never been seen before.
That got some people very excited, counting the two HDMI ports, two USB-C ports (and one more on the front), Ethernet port, optical out, and a power connector.
The only problem was it wasn’t real, and the images hadn’t even come from Microsoft.
AMD just gave us a look at the rear of the Xbox Series X. It has ethernet, 2X USB-C and 2X HDMI pic.twitter.com/NV6y40ncGC
Bizarrely, AMD admits that they got the 3D model from website TurobSquid, with the model they used apparently being a fan-made mock-up and not anything official.
‘The Xbox Series X imagery used during the AMD CES press conference was not sourced from Microsoft and does not accurately represent the design for features of the upcoming console,’ is the official statement from AMD.
Why AMD didn’t run all this via Microsoft is a mystery, but it does suggest that maybe the Xbox Series X has a few connection-related surprises it wants to keep secret until a later date.
Since Microsoft themselves no longer attend CES that means there was no Xbox Series X news at the show at all, and the only real next gen news we got was the PlayStation 5 logo.
God Of War – will the sequel feature multiple playable characters? (pic: Sony)
Kratos’ second wife may end up being a playable character in a future God Of War game, as Cory Barlog discusses his story plans.
Director Cory Barlog has given some first hints as to what direction a God Of War sequel may take, as he talks about his desire to put the focus on Kratos’ second wife.
Speaking to PlayStation Access, he said that he’d like a future game to deal with Faye’s backstory, which given the way he talks about it may even mean she becomes a playable character.
‘Faye was the one I identified with the most’, says Barlog in the video. ‘You get to understand that she has way more power than all of them and is actually the controller of so much in this universe.
‘That way, when we build this up to when you actually get to see this… I don’t know how we’re going tell this or when we’re going to tell this, but I really want to tell the story of Kratos and Faye meeting.’
Faye is never seen in the God Of War reboot, but her death sets in motion the plot of the game and she’s constantly referenced by Kratos and her son Atreus.
At first it seems that she, unlike most of the other characters, is not from Norse mythology, but a late game reveal (which we won’t spoil here but the video above does) explains who she really is.
Her true nature implies plenty of potential for interesting video game abilities and several times she’s described as being a great warrior.
As you can see, there’s no indication that Faye’s story would necessarily be told in the next game, as the reboot is expected to be part of at least a trilogy of new games.
It is the most Barlog has talked about a follow-up though, with Sony never confirming a sequel or indicating when it might be out. Although you can expect that to change as soon as the PlayStation 5 is properly unveiled.
Existing rumours suggest that future games may involve Kratos heading to Ancient Egypt or Japan, but there’s little real evidence for that and so far the talk of involving Faye is the most detailed confirmation we’ve had of anything.
Zombie Army 4: Dead War – never fight alone (pic: Rebellion)
GameCentral plays the new Horde mode from Zombie Army 4 and finds that fighting undead Nazis is something that never gets old.
The idea that less is more is not something that ever applies to video game sequels. No matter what franchise it is, each new entry brings with it more features, more complications, and the increasing danger of diluting what made the original work so well. That’s a particular problem for a game like Zombie Army 4, where its simplicity and straightforwardness is a major part of the appeal. What would be seen as a flaw to be addressed in other games is here something that has to be protected and nurtured.
The Zombie Army series started off as a low budget spin-off from Rebellion’s Sniper Elite series, a four-player co-op game that had you battling reanimated hordes of Nazi zombies – as well as zombie Hitler himself. The games were more successful than expected, which led to console ports (with a Nintendo Switch version coming later this year) and now the new, bigger budget, Zombie Army 4.
The preview we played including sections from both the main campaign and the new Horde mode, both of which allow for up to four players at a time in online co-op. We’d already played the campaign briefly at E3, but this time we got to have a look at the new progression system which, true to the tenets of the series, is purposefully uncomplicated. The upgrades you can unlock for your characters and guns work similarly to Call Of Duty perks and none have any downsides, so it’s more a question of whether you prioritise things like movement speed, ammo capacity, or special moves.
‘The key thing we wanted with Zombie Army 4 was to make a game you can drop into and just have fun with. A kind of more classic arcade style shooter’, lead designer Ryan Baker told us.
‘We wanted to add all these extra layers of new enemy types, progression, new weapon upgrades, and all that kind of stuff, and that does add quite a layer of complexity, but it is one of those things that you actually don’t have to worry about too much. You can still drop in there and just kill zombies.
‘All the upgrades help you, so you don’t have to get too bogged down on if you’re making the right choices. It’s not that kind of RPG thing where you make a choice early on and it massively effects everything else you do.’
The section we played through revolved around getting into a locked bunker, which involved syphoning off petrol from various vehicles and equipment in a large courtyard filled with wrecked machinery and… zombies. You could see why Rebellion had chosen it for their demonstration though as at first everything seems relatively easy, as you pick off zombies from a distance and run around trying to fill up petrol cans to take back to the bunker door.
Zombies not only become more numerous the longer you hang around but more dangerous ones appear too, including some with chainsaws and giant Gatling guns. Although the strangest of all is a zombie tank, which has a grotesquely beating heart that you must shoot at between its plates of metal armour. Between the more powerful enemies and having to wait for the petrol cans to fill up co-operation is essential and whenever someone died it was almost always because they’d tried to be a lone wolf rather than a team player.
Zombie Army 4: Dead War – co-operate or die (pic: Rebellion)
Of course, the whole co-op zombie concept is not a new one, and there are obvious comparisons between the likes of Call Of Duty Zombies and Left 4 Dead, but Baker is confident that there are important differences between all the different franchises.
‘They [Call Of Duty] have a lot of things that can get very silly and over-the-top. We’ve really gone for the 80s shlocky, gory horror movie thing. So we’ve got that ridiculousness there, that sort of slightly slapstick comedy with the way you can kill things, but in the world of the game they’re all taking things seriously. Because to them they’re fighting real zombies.’
‘I think with Left 4 Dead it’s the fastness of those zombies that puts you under instant pressure. But in our game, you can often feel, ‘Oh, this is fine, they’re all way in the distance where I can pick them off’. But then suddenly it’s, ‘Oh, these ones are a bit close! I might be in more trouble than I realised!’
Horde mode features the same gameplay mechanics but in a much more compact scenario that’s reminiscent of Call Of Duty’s Zombies mode. You start off with a random weapon but can buy new ones as you unlock more and more of the level (a sewer system of some sort, in the stage we played). Like the campaign, there’s really nothing very original or clever about Horde mode but again that’s almost the point.
Comparing the game to an arcade shooter is entirely accurate and we were very impressed by how well paced the stages were, even though Horde mode features a lot of randomised enemy placement. The ebb and flow all seemed to be timed perfectly and in both modes the game always make it clear that it is your mistakes – and in particular the failure to co-operate – which causes your failure, not the zombies themselves.
That said, the lack of ammo in campaign mode, and the general lack of grenades in general, did seem slightly unfair and the various special abilities of the four main characters never seem that useful considering how long they take to power up. But beyond that Zombie Army 4 seems to have everything it needs to both please its existing fans and earn new ones.
Formats: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC Publisher: Rebellion Developer: Rebellion Release Date: 4th February 2020
Tomb Raider, Lemmings, WipEout, and Sensible Soccer are amongst the British video game classics being honoured by your local post office.
The British video games industry is not something that gets celebrated nearly as often as it should. Almost all retro nostalgia is focused on what was big in America and Japan, with games on the ZX Spectrum and Amiga rarely ever getting a look in. But not when it comes to… stamps.
We’ve no idea why, but the Royal Mail has decided to celebrate the best of British retro gaming with a set of stamps featuring classic games from the 80s and 90s.
The games featured are Elite, Dizzy, Populous, Lemmings, Micro Machines, Sensible Soccer, WipEout, Worms, and Tomb Raider.
Are the stamps miniature or the pack? Answers on a postcard… (pic: Royal Mail)
The first eight are on regular stamps but there’s four Tomb Raider ones on a ‘Miniature Sheet’. Although we’re not big enough on stamps to know whether that means they’re smaller than usual or just that there’s only four of them.
You can immediately tell whoever made the selections knew what they were doing and lo and behold the official website reveals that veteran UK journalist Julian ‘Jaz’ Rignall was the consultant.
We might’ve been tempted to try and get Grand Theft Auto in there – since it only came out a year after Tomb Raider – but given it’s by the same developer as Lemmings we’re not going to complain. Some representation for Ultimate Play the Game/Rare would’ve been nice too, but it’s still a great line-up.
Whether you’d want to pay £14.25 for it is up to you, but they’re available either online or from an ordinary post office – although only up until 21 January.
If you like the idea of the Switch but wish it was more powerful then the Alienware UFO PC portable could be the device for you.
There’s no way to avoid the comparison: the Alienware UFO looks an awful lot like the Nintendo Switch.
Not that the Switch was the first to have that kind of form factor but it definitely popularised it enough that many PC manufacturers have been rushing to build something similar.
Razer are rumoured to have a new portable in production but the new UFO portable from Alienware has got that first and it’s looking pretty impressive.
Unveiled at CES 2020, the UFO runs Windows 10 and claims to be able to play any current PC game at a reasonable level of detail – with games such as Mortal Kombat 11 and Rocket League already used in demos.
The UFO has an 8-inch screen (compared to the Switch’s 6.2-inch one), so it’s pretty big, but other tech specs haven’t been released yet so we don’t really know how powerful it is or, perhaps most importantly, what the battery life is going to be like.
That means there’s no price either, but obviously it’s going to be expensive and probably considerably more so than the £250-odd that the Switch costs.
A lot of stuff shown at CES never makes its way to shop shelves, and Alienware have admitted that the UFO is nowhere near ready to release and currently just a concept, but it was playable on the show floor.
That made it all the more obvious just how similar the form factor is to the Switch, as not only does it have a tabletop and docked mode but the controllers are detachable – just like Nintendo’s Joy-Cons.
We’re sure Nintendo’s lawyers will be taking a very keen interest in the UFO but cash rich PC gamers should also keep an eye an out for more information later this year.
Best of British
Well this is a new one for me: I’m currently finding myself wanting to spend £15 on a box of stamps, just because I like the picture on them. But seriously, I have no idea why the post office wants to celebrate British gaming (but only till 21 January?) but they’ve done a really good job of it.
I agree with GC that there should have been something from Rare there though, and ideally Jet Set Willy as well. A Bitmap Brothers game would be nice as well (probably Speedball 2) and something by Andrew Braybrook (probably Uridium). Jeff Minter (Llamatron) deserves the recognition too, and Sir Geoff Crammond (Stunt Car Racer), Skool Daze, and X-COM.
That together with Grand Theft Auto are the big omissions I think, but it is a good line-up. The only one I don’t think really deserves to be there is Worms, but if nothing else it’s nice recognition for Team 17 who must be one of the longest lasting British companies out there.
It all begs the question of what is the best British game ever though and I’m not sure. My favourite retro one is probably Elite but of modern titles I think it’s probably Batman: Arkham Asylum. Not a game you’d guess was British to play it but that’s the problem with almost all games made today. It says something when Pokémon Sword/Shield feels more British than anything actually made here. Trepsils
Sold out
After overindulging over Christmas, I was looking at alternative ways of losing some of the weight I had happily put on. I read your review of Ring Fit Adventure and it looks exactly like what I’m looking for, but it seems that not just the game but the Switch console is sold out everywhere I have looked.
I live in Ireland but it seems to be the same on the UK sites that deliver to Ireland. Has anyone seen any good bundles or deals online or in shops? Dan
GC: Most places do seem to have run out of stock. We guess that means Nintendo had a good Christmas. We can only assume more will arrive soon, but if you’re in a hurry there’s always eBay?
Forgotten fad
Does anyone lament the withdrawal of support for gaming and televisions regarding a 3D option? To me, it was the best thing to happen to games and took them properly 3D. It was great to get the depth perception in racers and first person shooters.
We are about to move house at the end of the month but the 3D TV will be going into my gaming room. TV is currently playing ‘fireside in your home’ as the missus dozes off. I’m just thinking/worrying about dead pixels that might mar my future enjoyment of 3D games. I need to play Sonic Generations in 3D. Hope those plasma gasses hold up. They better. D Dubya
GC: We do. The 3D effect worked far better for games than it did movies.
Coming soon
I’m a backer of the SWERY-designed game The Good Life and over the holiday period I received a newsletter from SWERY to say Happy Christmas and also to say that The Good Life game is due out this year, so I am looking forward to that as I will get a digital copy on day of release.
I enjoyed his previous game D4 but I was a bit disappointed that he did not finish that game. But hopefully with The Good Life it will be the complete game and one day he might go back to finishing it as I did enjoy it a lot even though it was very surreal. Andrew J.
PS: On the topic of one-handed games, can Sayonara Wild Hearts be played one handed? I’ve just bought it over Christmas but not played it yet.
GC: There’s one way to find out.
Final week
Before the week is out, I will have traded in Shenmue 3. I’m sorry fellow fans, I tried to stick with it – but it is just too dull. I came to this decision near the end of 2019 when I downloaded the absolutely wonderful Sayonara Wild Hearts. A short game, certainly, but it took my breath away immediately. It would be somewhat shameful if certain people forgot it existed by the time it came to their best of year lists… ahem, wink. Shame!
Now, it might seem unfair to compare an apple to an orange, as I metaphorically am, but I thought: why am I putting up with Shenmue 3? There are no fun or interesting characters, the combat and pacing are significantly worse than its immediate predecessor; I just can’t be done with it. There’s grinding now in Shenmue! Why did Suzuki think that was a good idea?! Baffling.
On the other hand, Sayonara Wild Hearts uplifted me immensely. It’s like a mix of Rez and Night In The Woods. It’s amazing. Everybody should play it. And, as would be mandatory for a game such as this, the soundtrack is glorious. As I am now straining to find more superlatives, I shall leave it at that. ‘Everything is strange, please don’t let go…’
Yes. I may have cried. A bit. DMR
Dual screens
Given the increased likelihood of two Switch households post the Christmas period (my children received a Switch Lite under the Christmas tree so I could get some playtime back on my original Switch), I thought it was worth reminding others about the hidden gem that is Pac-Man Vs.
It was one of the few GameCube games to use the GameCube-Game Boy Advance link cable in a meaningful way and it’s a fantastic little game.
To play it as it was meant to be played using two Switches, you need to purchase Namco Museum (which was on offer over the Christmas period) on an original Switch and then download the free Pac-Man Vs. app on the second Switch/Switch Lite.
The player on the second Switch/Switch Lite is Pac-Man, who has their own screen and can see the whole map whereas the three players on the main Switch play as the ghosts with a limited view trying to eat Pac-Man (and then take their turn as him). It’s a great port, which works seamlessly and still includes Charles Martinet voicing Mario as the announcer at the beginning. It has been a real hit in my household over Christmas and easily playable even by my four-year-old.
It makes you realise how this set-up could theoretically allow other past Nintendo games that needed more than one screen for their gameplay to be ported. I’d love to see Nintendo Land from the Wii U brought across using the same two Switch set up for example. I’m afraid that is just wishful thinking though! Legal assassin
GC: Nintendo Land was always unfairly underrated and Mario Chase has a lot of similarities with Pac-Man Vs.
Portable limits
That Alienware UFO thing sounds all well and good in theory but it’s going to cost well over a grand, which is just silly. I personally doubt it will even ever be release as most of the stuff shown off at CES doesn’t if it’s like that. It’s just for the electronics companies to show off and catch some headlines.
Not that I wouldn’t want it, of course, but the truth is cost and battery life are the limitations here, not Nintendo’s engineering. If you want a more powerful console then you can always have one, it’ll just cost more than most people are willing to pay.
The new Xbox and PlayStation 5 may just be PCs in a box but they’re cleverly engineered to be as cost effective as possible and that’s the real trick. Anton
Predicting Nintendo
Happy New Year guys. Interesting Switch 2/Pro stuff… I don’t really understand the arguments that Nintendo will make a move to counter the new generation of consoles, Nintendo stopped playing the generation game with the Wii and don’t believe they are too bothered about the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, when they try and go up against them, as they did with the Wii U and GameCube era, it usually ends in tears.
Indies and Japanese developers will likely stay with Nintendo and I saw some interesting (and worrying) stats that 80% of total games sales on the system were Nintendo first party. The Switch sales prove it can sustain its unique place in the market with minimal third party triple-A support.
Anyway, the Switch could do with a few quality of life upgrades outside just the power output, like Bluetooth audio, better Wi-Fi radios (please better Wi-Fi radios!), a laminated/improved screen, better USB-C power delivery, and Joy-Con durability. Maybe this 2020 revision will look at those. Or just be a stealth update concentrating on better efficiency in the manufacturing. Nintendo haven’t dropped N64 or GameCube/Wii games on it yet, suggesting there’s a couple of years left in their plans for the current specification.
A new revision will eventually be released but it’s difficult to say what it’ll be called. The Switch Lite branding suggests it’ll be a ‘Switch Pro’ or ‘New Switch’ à la the 3DS, but having new software needing to support legacy hardware could give them the same problem as the New 3DS. A Switch 2 and Switch Lite 2 with full backwards compatibility would be the way to do it, giving a defining cut off in the software/hardware support that everyone can understand.
More fruitless Nintendo predictions… Marc
Inbox also-rans
I wish Jet Set Willy or Manic Miner had been in that stamp set but good to see British games being remembered like that. One of the few times I can think of anything like that from the mainstream. Trembole
RE: Baker. You imply that mind control for consoles might be far-fetched even in 2020, but the Mindlink controller was developed for Atari 2600 and 7800 in 1984! Although it never got released, it was still way a ‘head’ of its time! Tim Keeling
The things they can do nowadays (pic: Atari)
This week’s Hot Topic
As the first week back after the Christmas break, the question for this weekend’s Inbox is an obvious one: what are you looking forward to from gaming in 2020?
You can find a list of all the most prominent upcoming games in our preview of the year but feel free to mention anything that has a good chance of coming out in the next 12 months (although try to avoid random guesses). What new games are you most looking forward to and which do you expect to be the most successful?
Of course, a huge part of 2020 is going to be the new consoles, so what do you hope and expect to hear about in regards to them, and how likely do you think it is that you’ll buy one of them this year?
The small print New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length.
You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word 4Player viewer features at any time, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.
You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.
Monster Hunter World: Iceborne (PC) – better later than never (pic: Capcom)
Cacpom’s massive expansion pack for Monster Hunter: World finally arrives on PC, but is it the definitive version fans are hoping for?
After the success of Resident Evil 2 and Devil May Cry 5, Capcom has never been more successful than it is now and it’s all thanks to Monster Hunter: World. The game was released on consoles exactly two years ago and has become Capcom’s best-selling video game ever. Which considering their history is some achievement.
And yet apart from Resident Evil 3 Capcom has no other major games scheduled for this year or beyond, so there’s no clue what the future is for Monster Hunter or their many other franchises. No doubt they don’t want to rush out a sub-par sequel, but they’ve also got the problem that the PC versions of the game have been lagging behind the consoles and that’s not something anyone wants to see repeated for the next game.
Iceborne first came out on consoles four months ago and even now it still hasn’t caught up with all the smaller updates that have been released since then. Capcom realise this is an issue though and have published a roadmap that promises to catch up ‘as soon as possible’, beginning with the monster Rajang and the Resident Evil crossover next month. Thankfully though there’s plenty to be getting on with until then.
For those not familiar with Monster Hunter: World you can read our original review of the game here. Although its premise is not a complicated one and does exactly what it says on the tin. You play as a custom character, ideally alongside a team of co-op allies, in a pseudo-medieval world filled with dinosaur-like creatures which you hunt to survive and to make new armour and weapons out of. This all takes place in a huge open world area, with its own complex ecosystem, and Iceborne expands that world further with a new arctic-themed area and many new monsters and items.
Iceborne is a very old school kind of expansion, in that it’s very expensive and absolutely huge. Rather than the microtransaction-filled circus you see in other games as a service titles you get what you pay for here, with enough new content to last at least 100 more hours and no additional costs to worry about. It is very much an addition to the previous game though, as not only do you need the original to run Iceborne but you’ll have to have got to Hunter Rank 16 first – so this is not an experience for newcomers.
In terms of the PC version Monster Hunter: World already runs much better than it did at launch and now supports all manner of additional features, from ultrawide monitors to DLSS and a high-resolution texture pack. Iceborne also brings with it smaller quality of life improvements, such as customisable button icons depending on what kind of joypad you’re using and better mouse and keyboard support.
Perhaps the most important addition though is DirectX 12 support, which should help with performance on newer hardware set-ups. You’ll needy a hefty beast to run the game at 4K and 60fps, especially if you turn on the new snow effects, but even on a more modest machine it’s still an impressive looking game.
If only Monster Hunter: World had been released at the same time as the console versions we might have been looking at cross-play support by now, but sadly that seems unlikely until a sequel appears. In the meantime, Capcom has clearly learnt a lot about PC support over the last two years and when the content does reach parity with the consoles this will be the definitive version of what is one of the best online co-op games of the generation.
In Short: An essential purchase for any Monster Hunter fan, that also happens to be one of Capcom’s best ever PC ports.
Pros: The new environments are very well designed and all the new monsters are interesting. Some useful quality of life improvements and a lot more PC-specific features than the launch game.
Cons: Could be more welcoming for new players. No new weapon types or major new ideas. It’ll take months to reach content parity with the console versions.
Score: 8/10
Formats: PC (reviewed), Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 Price: £34.99 Publisher: Capcom Developer: Capcom Release Date: 9th January 2020 Age Rating: 16
Monster Hunter World: Iceborne (PC) – you don’t have to stay in the cold (pic: Capcom)
This is official concept art, but it’s not proof that Ragnarok is real (pic: Ubisoft)
Ubisoft’s next Assassin’s Creed has allegedly turned up on GameStop and Amazon, with both a Mjolnir and Valhalla Edition.
The one thing we know for sure here is that Ubisoft is planning a new Assassin’s Creed in 2020. Or at least they were before the disappointing sales of The Division 2 and Ghost Recon Breakpoint lead to the delay of Watch Dogs Legion, Rainbow Six Quarantine, and others.
Until they make an official announcement we won’t know what’s going on for sure, but in the meantime there have been alleged leaks for Assassin’s Creed Ragnarok on both the Italian GameStop site and Amazon in Germany.
We say alleged because these things are very easy to fake and in both cases the listing was supposedly taken down immediately – leaving no evidence.
The most believable aspect is the multiple editions (pic: Reddit)
They’re easy to fake because not only do retailers often leak games in exactly this manner but the way Ubisoft handles their releases is highly predictable, so as long as you’ve watched a Marvel movie or played God Of War it’s not hard to imagine that one of the special editions might be called Mjolnir Edition and another the Valhalla Edition.
That said, it could still be true, with rumours suggesting that the game will be officially revealed in February – which in itself could be part of the full unveiling of the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X.
Despite Viking settings already seeming a little overdone, especially in the wake of God Of War, rumours have always been very consistent about the new Assassin’s Creed being set in ancient Scandinavia, including leaked screenshots and what may be a teaser in The Division 2.
At least there’s no Stormbreaker Edition (pic: Reddit)
When is the Assassin’s Creed Ragnarok release date?
Supposedly, the game will be out this autumn and is set around 800 BC, with a map that includes large parts of Scandinavia and the British Isles.
The rumours also suggest the game will feature more mythological beings than any previous game, including Odin and Loki and trips to the nine realms – which, again, will be familiar to anyone that’s watched a Marvel movie or played any number of video games over the years.
Despite the overfamiliarity of the setting none of the other rumours have much weight behind them, with the suggestion that the new game might be set in Ancient Rome, completing the trilogy that began with Egypt and Greece, not having so much as a fake shop page to its name.
Either way, if the game really is coming out this year we should hear about it soon. Especially as Ubisoft has used Microsoft and Sony events before, to announce new sequels.
That in turn would mean that the new game will definitely be on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, as well as the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
This leaked screenshot may also be fake (pic: 4chan)
The Steam winter sale has only just ended and yet already there’s rumours that Valve is planning to start a lunar new year sale.
At some point Valve is going to have to give up on the idea of having individual Steam sales and just have one long one that lasts the entire year.
Their peculiarly complicated winter sale only ended on New Year’s Day and yet there’s already rumours that they’ve got a new one ready to start in just a couple of weeks’ time.
A poster on Reddit claims to have got an email from Valve that was sent to developers, advising that the Steam Lunar New Year Sale will start soon. This was then confirmed by PC Gamer via its own sources, who suggested a slightly later date.
You’re never far from your next Steam sale (pic: PC Gamer)
When is the next Steam sale?
According to PC Gamer the Steam Lunar New Year Sale will start on Tuesday, 4 February at 6pm GMT and end on Tuesday, 11 February at 6pm.
That’s different from the initial leak that suggested it’d start on Thursday, 23 January – but PC Gamer’s sources seem to be more reliable than the initial Reddit post.
Either way it seems to be imminent, and since last year’s Lunar New Sale started on 15 February the new dates do make sense.
There are no details on what exactly the sale will be like, but last year there were money-off tokens for buying games, as well as just cheap prices, and since that’s how the winter sale worked as well it seems a shoe-in it’ll be the same this time.
As for what happens after that, there wasn’t another new sale in 2019 until May. But we’re sure Valve can think up an excuse to fit another one in before that, if they really want to.
This logo is the only official artwork so far (pic: Daedalic)
A new next generation game has been confirmed, with a new Lord of The Rings title based on the books rather than the movies.
You could be forgiven for forgetting the fact, considering nothing else has been heard about it since, but The Lord Of The Rings: Gollum was announced back in March last year as coming out on PC and ‘all relevant console platforms at that time’.
That was obviously code for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, but now it’s been officially confirmed by developer Daedalic Entertainment.
The game got its first preview in the latest issue of Edge magazine, but it’s unclear whether it’ll also be coming to current gen consoles.
Its release date is meant to be 2021, so a cross-gen release seems likely – but Daedalic don’t seem to have confirmed it either way.
Don’t expect Gollum to look like this in the game (pic: Warner)
The preview, as summarised by IGN, doesn’t give much away but since the game has no connection to the films it’s implied that Gollum will look more like his original book descriptions (despite the very movie-esque logo above).
‘Tolkien didn’t give a size reference for Gollum, to begin with,’ says art director Mathias Fischer. ‘So in the first illustrations, he’s gigantic. He’s like a monster emerging from the swamp.’
In the game you’ll play him in both his original hobbit form and once he’s been corrupted by the One Ring, as the story aims for a more sympathetic portrayal of the character.
Talking about him being gigantic sounds like it’s setting him up to be more of an action hero, but although the game is described as an ‘action adventure’, developer Daedalic is best known for point ‘n’ click adventures like Deponia and The Dark Eye – as well as fellow book adaptation The Pillars Of The Earth.
They describe the game as featuring stealth mechanics, ‘huge levels’, and less violence than in other Lord Of The Rings games. Instead, the dual-personality of Gollum will be the focus, as the two sides of his psyche constantly battle for dominance.
‘You will have maybe two, three or four conflicts per chapter that lead to a final decision point. And at this final decision point, it will be harder to pick Sméagol, for example, if you’ve always fought for the Gollum side before’, says Fischer – which sounds reminiscent of Telltale Games style moral decisions.
Because Daedalic only have the book licence they’re not allowed to reference the movies whether they want to or not, so the Nazgûl will also be based only on their descriptions in the novels.
Daedalic do have the go-ahead to make at least two other Lord Of The Rings games though and have hinted that while the others won’t be about Gollum they will be in a similar style.
Shenmue 3 – could a fourth game already be underway? (pic: Deep Silver)
Fans have amassed a body of evidence that Shenmue 4 is going ahead after all, following comments by Lakshya Digital and Yu Suzuki.
To many people Shenmue 3 was the most anticipated video game sequel of all time but the game’s poor performance at retail made it clear that mainstream audiences weren’t really interested.
Together with the lukewarm critical response, that immediately put plans for Shenmue 4 (and Shenmue 5) into question, especially given how much money was raised through crowdfunding and outside investment – which might not be quite so forthcoming a second time.
Series creator Yu Suzuki definitely wants to see it happen though and so does Indian studio Lakshya Digital, who posted a message on Facebook that ended with the exclamation, ‘We look forward to working on Shenmue 4 very soon!’
Some fans have already taken that as confirmation that Shenmue 4 is in pre-production, but while that seems a bit premature a post on the official Shenmue forum has collected a range of evidence suggesting preliminary work has already begun.
Some of the would-be evidence is a bit of a stretch, but the two most convincing examples are a Famitsu interview with Yu Suzuki where he says he’s starting a new open world game project in 2020 and a tweet from writer/producer Cédric Biscay about moving onto the ‘next steps’ after Shenmue 3.
A video interview with Biscay also suggests the plan is to start work on Shenmue 4 as soon as possible: ‘If you plan on doing a fourth instalment of a game, you have to keep your team, so you need to start as soon as possible. Otherwise the team would leave and you’d miss your opportunity to make the new game’.
Even publisher Koch Media have been caught posting suspicious tweets, with the one below being a clear reference to Shenmue.
As the forum post also points out, there’s a lot of cut content from Shenmue 3 and even with its rushed conclusion the story is far from complete.
But it all comes down to money. Yu Suzuki and his team are clearly keen to do more, but will they get the backing they need to make another game?
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League Of Legends gets its new year’s patch (pic: Riot Games)
The first new League Of Legends patch for 2020 has been released but new character Sett won’t be available until next week.
Riot Games has released their first patch of the year and while technically the most important addition is Sett, he won’t be available to play until Tuesday, 14 January.
For the same reason, the release of the new Mecha Kingdom skins is being spread out across the month, with the first one, Freljord Sylas, due out on Friday, 10 January.
Then, after Sett comes out next week, the other four Mecha Kingdom skins, plus a prestige version of the Mecha Kingdoms Garen skin, will be released on Wednesday, 15 January.
Coming soon-ish (pic: Riot Games)
Although it’ll be a few days’ wait until the new content the patch does bring with it a number of immediate changes to the existing champions.
Sylas has borne the brunt of the changes, with new limits to his ability to reset auto attacks and increase his damage. You’ll no longer be able to do that using R – Hijack and casting Q – Chain Lash at the same time as E – Abscond/Abduct has now been made impossible.
To compensate, passive ability Fast Chainz will give Sylas 60% attack speed and there’s a new minion execute that works under 25 health when a minion is hit by Sylas’ passive ability.
You can read the patch notes in detail here and then check out the changes for Sylas while you endure the short wait for Sett.
It may be a laughing stock to some but the PS5 logo has become the video game equivalent of Jennifer Aniston’s Friends reunion pic.
The PlayStation 5 logo has been mocked by some for being too similar to the PlayStation 4 version, but it’s certainly been a hit on Instagram, where it’s clocked up over 5 million likes.
That compares to just under 1 million for the Xbox Series X reveal and a little over 1 million for things like the FIFA 20 cover star announcement.
There’s been no official announcement from Instagram, or Sony, but website VGC studied the 20 most popular video game and publisher (but not influencers) accounts and found it was the most liked of any of them.
Of course, nobody really cares about the logo itself, it’s just an indication of people’s excitement about the PlayStation 5 in general, so you can only imagine what’s going to happen when Sony properly announce the console and show what it looks like.
When that will happen remains a mystery but it would be very surprising if it wasn’t this side of Easter, with the same going for the Xbox Series X.
The photo of a Friends reunion hosted by Jennifer Aniston is currently the most liked Instagram photo ever and blamed for briefly breaking the site when it was first posted.
And yet its 15.5 million total is still within the same ballpark as Sony, especially as the logo itself isn’t very interesting in its own right.
Now let’s see what happens when Sony announce something really exciting…
Somebody clicked the Tweet button too early (pic: Voxel)
PlayStation Brazil may have given away the fact that Overwatch 2 is due out a lot sooner than expected, but not necessarily on PS5.
Given the language they used when Blizzard announced it, with all the talk of a ‘shared multiplayer environment’ with the original, it always seemed like Overwatch 2 was due to come out sooner rather than later.
And if the PlayStation Brazil tweet that they’ve just had to hurriedly delete is anything to go by, it should be out this year – at least on PlayStation 4.
Overwatch 2 isn’t, as far as anyone knows, a PlayStation exclusive but the tweet above only mentions the PlayStation 4, despite the fact that the PlayStation 5 is due out this autumn.
Brazilian website Voxel took a snap of the tweet before it was deleted, and it seems highly unlikely that an official PlayStation account would just make something up.
The link goes through to the Brazilian version of this Q&A from November, which doesn’t mention anything about a release date.
When it was first announced Blizzard said that Overwatch 2 was at least a year away, so assuming this tweet isn’t complete nonsense that must mean they’re aiming for a Christmas release – right around the time of the new consoles.
If it is going to be on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X then it’ll likely feature at either Sony or Microsoft’s reveal events, which are expected to take place sometime in the next few months.
