Gaming

Hop aboard Running Train, a lush Japanese train sim that's out in early access now

There is no abundance of train sims in this world, that's for sure. But I am a person that likes two cakes, so you won't find me complaining when a new one rocks up. Today, that new one is Running Train, a quite lush looking train sim that places a big emphasis on looking as realistic as possible, set in tourist's and gaming's current favourite destination, Japan. Read more

Dishonored dev Arkane Studios nearly made Thief 4 and a Blade Runner game

Redfall and Deathloop developer Arkane almost worked on Thief 4 and a Blade Runner game before it made the first Dishonored. Read more

The opening mission of 007 First Light leaked online, so IO have fought fire with fire by offering up the game's first 13 minutes

As is the case with most big name games that people are desperate to get their hands on, over the weekend the opening mission of 007 First Light leaked online due to someone seemingly acquiring a disc copy a touch early. That video has since been taken down, to no one's surprise, but IO Interactive clearly decided to fight fire with fire, as they've shared the first 13 minutes of said opening mission themselves. Spoilers ahead obviously for those who want to go in knowing nothing! Read more

Paralives feels like the perfect tranquil tonic to the chaos of The Sims

Paralives gets off to a lovely start. We fade up to see the camera tracking a moving train as it winds serenely across a bucolic landscape. Slowly it moves in for an aerial view and the roof pops off, revealing the guard inside. And this is your movement tutorial; you'll guide the little fella into the next carriage, where a cluster of passengers leisurely watch the world go by. One handsome man slumps blissfully against his girlfriend; a group of friends laugh together across the aisle. Another man gazes dreamily into space, nodding along to something on his headphones, while a dad nearby keeps a watchful eye on his son. This household selection screen - which tells you so much about each group's dynamic just by looking at them - feels emblematic of a Sims-like full of warm little touches and distinctive ideas. Read more

A Handheld MiSTer Is Coming, But This Darius-Playing Widescreen Prototype Isn't It

MiSTer FPGA Multisystem 2 Pocket is in development.The team behind the MiSTer FPGA Multisystem 2 has revealed that it is currently working on a portable version of the system.The new device promises "all the fun of MiSTer - in your pocket" and is currently deep in development as the team explore the ideal form factor for the device.Read the full article on timeextension.com

Round Up: 12 Switch 1 & 2* Games We Played At BitSummit 2026 - Here's What We Thought

*Hiccups/dev kits permitting.I’ve covered a lot of gaming conventions in my time. Innumerable PAXes, E3 once, and a few Tokyo Game Shows. None of them match the immaculate vibes of BitSummit, Japan’s indie gaming convention.Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Review: Asus ROG Azoth 96 HE Is An Incredible Keyboard, But Not For £350

For princes, princesses and recent lottery winners only.The keyboard I'm using to write these words costs about the same as a mid-range smartphone - a ridiculous £350. The Asus ROG Azoth 96 HE is a top-notch option, no doubt, but is any peripheral worth such a princely sum? Even as a hardened mechanical keyboard degenerate, I'd struggle to recommend plunking down that kind of honk for a keyboard that doesn't fly around the room or at least do your taxes.Still, as a study of what is possible at the extreme high-end of the mechanical keyboard market, the Azoth 96 HE is still interesting. Like the ROG Harpe Ace 2 mouse I reviewed recently, it shows that Asus has really upped their peripheral game, combining all of the latest must-have features into a product that still feels purposeful, well-designed, even graceful - or at least, as graceful as you could charitably describe a compact 96-key keyboard that weighs around 1.4kg or 3.1lbs.Read the full article on digitalfoundry.net

Your first look at Unreal Engine 6 comes courtesy of a much shinier looking Rocket League teaser

Epic Games have made no secret of the next release of Unreal Engine; they first shared some details about the follow-up back in 2024, namely that it's being built around the idea of "interoperable content" that can be switched between any game that uses the engine. Now, Unreal Engine 6 has been somewhat formally revealed through the lens of a "new era" of Rocket League during the game's Paris Majors semi-finals. Read more

Feature: 007 Tech Secrets From Our First Light Deep Dive: Why Series S Is 30fps, How It Hits 60fps Elsewhere and Much More

Highlights from our big discussion with Io Interactive's tech team.We've published a sponsored video on 007 First Light, with developers IO Interactive offering a refreshing level of insight into the technical underpinnings of its upcoming James Bond epic. The video runs to more than 100 minutes, so here are seven bite-sized highlights we pulled out from conversations between Alex and IO Interactive engineers.Read the full article on digitalfoundry.net

You Can Now Legally Rip Your Wii, GameCube, Wii And Xbox Discs Using A Blu-Ray Drive

All thanks to OmniDrive.A new tool has been released which allows you to legally rip optical media for a wide range of classic consoles using your PC's Blu-Ray drive.OnmiDrive is a firmware modification for MediaTek MT1959-based optical disc drives manufactured by Hitachi-LG Data Storage, allowing the drive to read proprietary game discs for consoles such as the GameCube, Wii, and Xbox 360.Read the full article on timeextension.com

"The Wii U Was On Life Support" - Reggie Restates The NES & SNES Classic's True Purpose

Holiday magic.It's no secret that Nintendo was in a bit of a dark time at the end of the Wii U era. With sales down and everyone awaiting the next console (or should we say 'NX console'?), the company needed something to bring in the big bucks over the holidays. The answer, alongside amiibo, was the NES and SNES Classic systems, and boy, did they work.Ever ready to give a cracking PR response, Reggie was ready for the mini systems' launch. We all knew that they were something of a stopgap for the big N while the Switch was still in the oven, and the then-NOA president told Kotaku as much at the time: "these were limited time opportunities that were a way for us as a business to bridge from the conclusion of Wii U as a hardware system to the launch of Nintendo Switch".Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Jason is finally coming to Dead by Daylight, and he goes invisible and tosses hooks at you

Jason Voorhees is finally entering The Fog, and he’s set to be one of Dead by Daylight’s most lethal killers. Oh; he also goes invisible.

Helldivers 2 begins the long march back into the community's good books with a technical patch that represents the 'opening salvo' in a battle for better performance

Upscaling support, advanced visual optimisation, and more on the way.

"We're not competing with Dawn of War 1, we're competing with people's memory" says DoW 4 lead creative

Dawn of War 4’s creative director shares the challenges of innovating in the nostalgia-bound RTS genre in an exclusive interview with PCGamesN.

Interview: Preparing the Monster Hunter Stories 3 Soundtrack

Monster Hunter Stories 3 Lead Composer Yuko Miyata and Composer Kodai Ikeda spoke with us about creating the game's soundtrack. The post Interview: Preparing the Monster Hunter Stories 3 Soundtrack  appeared first on Siliconera .

"I'm very rusty:" Counter-Strike creator 'Gooseman' doesn't play CS2 much these days, but he did check out Cache

Minh ‘Gooseman’ Le, one of the creators of Counter-Strike, says he hasn’t regularly played the FPS since 2008, but does watch the pro scene.

Retro Dodo Podcast #110 - Lenovo's Naughty Handheld, KONKR Pocket Block & LEGO Donkey Kong

Zara Shadow Drops PSP Crossover Bag For Retro Gamers With Taste

🤝 Like our website? Support us as an independent publisher by tipping , joining our paid community or checking out our accessories brand GAMENOOK ! The PSP is one of the greatest handhelds ever made; it revolutionised not only portable gaming but portable media, thanks to the large storage capacity of UMDs

As smash success Crimson Desert boosts Pearl Abyss revenue by a whopping 419%, company confirms it's thinking about DLC

It's no secret Crimson Desert was an incredibly popular release this March. However, it has proven such a success that Pearl Abyss has just announced a 419 percent increase in operating revenue compared to this time last year. And that, it says, means DLC could be on the way. Read more

Netflix misspells a lead Devil May Cry character's name and has to recall official merchandise

They say the Devil is in the details, but it seems someone missed that memo, as Netflix has had to remove a Devil May Cry T-shirt from its official storefront, after misspelling Vergil's name. Read more

Here are our PS Plus Premium and Extra games for May

Sony has lifted the lid on its PS Plus Premium and Extra game offerings for May. Read more

The Talos Principle 3 is bringing the Serious Sam studio's acclaimed philosophical puzzle series to an end, and it's coming soon to PC and PS5

Since its debut in 2014, The Talos Principle has slowly established itself as one of modern puzzle gaming's most intriguing series, and developer Croteam has now confirmed it's returning for one last instalment. The Talos Principle 3 is coming soon to PC and PS5, but we don't yet know when. Read more

"I can only tip my hat to those guys" - BioShock creator Ken Levine praises Baldur's Gate 3 amid fresh talk about his ambitious plans for next game Judas

BioShock creator Ken Levine has praised Baldur's Gate 3, explaining how developer Larian's "amazing" work shares certain similarities with the "engineering and thought" challenges his studio is trying to solve for its upcoming first-person immersive sim Judas. Read more

"I'm not going to actually do this" - Stardew Valley creator isn't really going to let you cheat in your marriage in the cosy farming sim

A rumour has started going around that Stardew Valley creator Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone is considering adding the ability to cheat in your marriage in the wholesome farming sim. However, Barone has since come out and squashed those rumours while having an out-loud discussion about the merits of a theoretical cheating system in the game. Read more