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HomeNewsOverwatch Echo hits the Overwatch test realm as a damage dealing copycatSay it again Say it again A whole year-and-a-bit after she wasfirst teased in Ashe’s reveal trailer, flying holo-faced robot Echo is finally playable inOverwatch. Well, the test realm, at least. An Echo in more than name, Blizzard’s latest brawler is a flying robot thief who can nab any other hero’s abilities with her unprecedented ultimate. If you want to get your hands on Echo’s toolset, head on over to theOverwatchPTR and, well… hope to god your match loads faster than the rest of your team....

HomeNewsHalf-Life: Alyx Gabe Newell says brain-computer interfaces will be an “extinction-level event” for entertainment"The Matrix is a lot closer than people think" “The Matrix is a lot closer than people think” In a rare interview, Gabe Newell has said he’s been spending “a lot of time” looking into brain-computer interfaces. “The Matrix is a lot closer than people think”, he says, and it’s going to be “an extinction-level event for every entertainment form that’s not thinking about this....

HomeFeatures Have You Played… The Adventures Of Batman & Robin: Cartoon Maker?“Educational” “Educational” I’m not that into Batman, generally, but I’d broadly agree thatBatman: The Animated Seriesis one of the best animated shows ever made. Visually it was unmistakable, combining bold, simple character designs and restrained use of tone and palette to make a unique noir aesthetic. It was super cool. Which makesThe Adventures Of Batman & Robin: Cartoon Maker, B:TAS' 1995 “educational” spin-off CD-ROM, even more brilliant for how totally busted it was....

HomeFeaturesThe Sims 4 I made an isolated island hermitage in The Sims 4 but it is a complete coincidenceThe welcome committee still turn up though The welcome committee still turn up though Regular readers will know that I play a lot ofThe Sims 4these days, although I don’t actually play the game where you puppet a tiny person. I just build homes. My current project is building an ideal home for each of the RPS staffers, having started with aferny cottage for Alice 0....

HomeNewsSea of Thieves I adore the shipwrecks inSea Of Thieves. There’s just something so thrilling about pulling up besides one and diving in to claim some sunken treasure. Maybe it’s the fear of sharks lurking about, ready to strike, or perhaps it’s the excitement of never knowing what sort of booty these lost vessels might contain. You’ll understand then, dear reader, why I’m baffled to learn I’m in the minority of Sea Of Thieves players who love these sunken beauties so dearly....

HomeHardwareNews What Sony’s PS5 specs tell us about AMD’s Big Navi cards16GB of GDDR6, here we come 16GB of GDDR6, here we come As big hardware spec reveals go, yesterday’sPS5 specsdeep-dive was pretty darn dry. Sony’s Mark Cerny spent at least 50% of the 50-odd minute presentation talking about the console’s SSD, and we still don’t have any idea what the thing actually looks like. It was just abstract graph after abstract graph, a bit like the one up the top there, which I think is meant to portray how certain games affect the PS4’s fan noise and power consumption....

HomeNews A virtual Steam Game Festival will let you play a load of demos todayFilling the hole GDC left Filling the hole GDC left Valve heldtheir first Steam Game Festivalin December alongside The Game Awards. It was the highlight of that charade and a good idea to revisit - especially now. With so many public and industry events cancelled, people are trying to come up with alternatives. The Game Developers Conference isbroadcasting on Twitcha selection of talks that were due to happen at the industry event this week in San Francisco until it was postponed....

HomeFeaturesMinecraft Beyond the edge of reason on the RPS Minecraft server: a gallery"It was all starting to feel a bit like the end of a China Miéville novel." “It was all starting to feel a bit like the end of a China Miéville novel.” Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve beenpostingphotographsfrom an archaeological expedition into the RPSMinecraftserver. Having left the place to go fallow last October, I had assumed it had been quietly abandoned, as often happens to these multiplayer sandboxes when their founders move on....

HomeNewsDota 2 Dota 2’s Snapfire can now spit your pals at your enemiesSalivating Salivating Aspiring spitters will need to buy an Aghanim’s Scepter, I’m afraid. You can’t spit right from the bat. Here are the specifics, as detailed in the update 7.25 path notes: “Added Scepter ability, Gobble Up. Allows you to swallow an allied creep or hero and spit it towards enemies, stunning enemies in the area for 1.5 seconds and leaving a glob on the floor dealing 100 DPS for 3 seconds....

HomeNews Exit The Gungeon rolls out to PCIt’s all gone sideways It’s all gone sideways It is time toExit The Gungeon. Please form an orderly queue, there are plenty of bullets to go around. Exit The Gungeonis a side-on platforming spin off from Dodge Rolls' shootey roguelikeEnter The Gungeon. A mobile version came out on Apple Arcade back in September, but last night it escaped to Steam, too. I’ve played a little and enjoyed destroying sentient bullets with an electric guitar....

HomeNewsHalf-Life: Alyx Get Half-Life: Alyx for free with an HTC Vive Cosmos EliteAnd that includes everyone who pre-ordered one, too And that includes everyone who pre-ordered one, too HTC have announced they’re going to be bundling in free copies ofHalf-Life: Alyxwith everyVive Cosmos EliteVR headset today - and that includes everyone who pre-ordered the headset as well. The Vive CosmosElite, which launches worldwide today, is HTC’s latest high-end PC-based VR headset and will come with a redemption code forHalf-Life: Alyxin the box, which will then unlock the game when it launches on March 23rd next week....

HomeNewsHalf-Life: Alyx Half-Life: Alyx will start preloading on FridayWhy wait a second longer? Why wait a second longer? Image credit:Valve Image credit:Valve For folks who’ve already waited 12 years for a newHalf-Lifeand absolutely, positively will not wait another second longer than necessary, Valve have announced thatHalf-Life: Alyxwill be available for preloading from Friday. You’ll need to have pre-ordered it, which usually we wouldn’t condone, but loads of folks are getting the game as a pack-in freebie with VR goggles and hell, goggheads already know if they’re going to get it....

HomeFeatures Have you read… Japanese crime fiction?Murder most florid Murder most florid Shimada’s style is to pack the preceding pages with specific details - times, dimensions, weights, etc - giving you a vast pile of facts to combine into technically-minded solutions. Motives are suggested, briefly, but the emphasis is on the how rather than the why. The meat of the book, then, is all the gathered characters debating how the murder was done, getting so carried away in their excited hypothesising that they tend to forget that one of their number is the horrible killer in question....