Venba is a cooking game obsessed with the emotional impact of food

 Posted on January 30, 2023  |  6 minutes  |  1186 words  |  Patria Henriques

Like most people who survived 2020, my brain now seems incapable of recovering past memories or creating new ones. But as I was recalling an old song recently (something pop-punk, a la Head Automatica), I came across Fran Lebowitz talking about the power of music in her Pretend It's a City series on Netflix. "No one is loved like musicians, because they give people the ability to express their emotions and their memories," [Read More]

Warzone phone locations: Where to answer phones in Warzone's Ghosts of Verdansk event

 Posted on January 30, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  509 words  |  Fernande Dalal

Curious where you can complete the challenge? Here's where to answer phones in Warzone's Ghosts of Verdansk during The Haunting.The challenge to answer phones in Warzone is part of Ghosts of Verdansk, a Halloween-themed variation of the battle royale mode. Featured during The Haunting, Ghosts of Verdasnk features a total of nine challenges to complete. As well as a reward for each, you will obtain the new LAPA SMG for completing them all. [Read More]

You Awaken in a Strange Place: the remarkable RPG you create as you play

 Posted on January 30, 2023  |  5 minutes  |  981 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

It's remarkable what can be created from so little. It's all the more remarkable for the number of times I've told myself I cannot create something because I don't have time. In only two-and-a-half hours at the weekend, I helped create a world from scratch and played a one-off campaign in it. To be ultra clear: nothing was prepared beforehand. In fact, the only real rule in the game was you cannot prepare beforehand. [Read More]

Zelda: Breath of the Wild uses advanced Mii characters for NPCs

 Posted on January 30, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  399 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

It appears The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild uses an upgraded version of Nintendo's classic Mii character creator to design many of its NPCs. That's according to datamined research from HEYimHeroic, a self-professed "Mii expert" who runs the Wii Facts Plus blog. Within Breath of the Wild's files, NPCs are referred to as "UMii"s (Ultimate Miis?), who use a combination of familiar Mii facial components for their various designs. [Read More]

AMD Ryzen 9 5900X and Ryzen 7 5800X review: eliminating Intel's gaming advantage

 Posted on January 29, 2023  |  9 minutes  |  1818 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Page 1 of 5 Next page We've loved AMD's Ryzen processors for their high core counts and excellent value, but they've had one major weakness since their first generation: worse gaming performance than Intel, due to slower single-core speeds. Each subsequent Ryzen release has narrowed the gap, but Intel has held onto the gaming crown with grim determination - until today. AMD's new Ryzen 5000 processor lineup has finally equalised with Intel when it comes to single-core performance, meaning this is the moment that Ryzen can earn our full-throated recommendation for gaming. [Read More]

BioShock series now backwards compatible on Xbox One

 Posted on January 29, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  263 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

BioShock, BioShock 2 and BioShock Infinite are now backwards compatible on Xbox One. This brings the backwards compatibility library up to an impressive 300 titles. It's worth noting that just this September 2K released BioShock: The Collection, an anthology containing every title and expansion in the series, now with director's commentary, for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. While the PC version offered free visual upgrades to owners of the original titles, console players had to purchase the Collection to play these remastered forms. [Read More]

COD: Black Ops gets UK age rating

 Posted on January 29, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  436 words  |  Fernande Dalal

Activision's mega-blockbuster Call of Duty: Black Ops has been given an age rating of 18 by the BBFC. It contains "strong bloody violence and strong language". The game passed with no cuts made. The classification reads (do not read on if you're avoiding spoilers): "Call of Duty: Black Ops is a military first-person shooter in which the player takes the role of a member of an elite CIA covert action team operating during the Cold War and attempting to stop the threat of a Soviet chemical weapons project. [Read More]

Controversial US army FPS shutting down after 20 years

 Posted on January 29, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  334 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

The controversial US government-backed shooter America's Army is shutting down. The game has seen multiple iterations since its initial release in the U.S. in 2002, all developed on the Unreal Engine. But on 5th May, the latest version America's Army: Proving Grounds will shut down. According to an official blog post, the game "represented the first large-scale use of game technology by the U.S. government as a platform for strategic communication and recruitment, and the first use of game technology in support of U. [Read More]

How well does Mass Effect Legendary Edition run on last-gen consoles?

 Posted on January 29, 2023  |  7 minutes  |  1352 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

We've already covered Mass Effect Legendary Edition as it presents on Xbox Series consoles and PlayStation 5, with some very favourable results across the board - but the fact is that it's actually a project built around the last generation consoles, leveraging 'back compat plus' features to improve the showing on the new wave of machines. So how does the game look and run on the consoles it was actually designed to run on? [Read More]

It takes too damn long to level up weapons in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War

 Posted on January 29, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  752 words  |  Trudie Dory

I've spent a lot of time in Nuketown lately. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War got its version of the fan-favourite competitive multiplayer map this week, alongside a Nuketown 24/7 playlist, and I've jumped in each evening since to enjoy the close quarters chaos. But there's another reason why I've set up shop in Nuketown: playing it is the only way I'm going to get anywhere with the Cold War grind. [Read More]