People who play video games are generally well educated and more likely to engage with other cultures, according to research conducted by innovation foundation, Nesta.
A new report published by the group looked at data from the UK government's Taking Part survey, which quizzed 10,000 British adults, to better understand how playing video games affects individuals
The study found that there aren't any obviously negative effects of playing games, at least in socio-economic terms.
In fact, the report suggests that people who play are greater consumers of culture, and are more likely to do things like read, paint, visit the theater, and explore heritage sites. Come from Read more
During previous console generations, the concept of popping down to your local big-box store and buying the hot new console of your choice wasn’t a luxury–it’s simply how things worked. Over the past two years, the pandemic completely changed the way that most people shop for desirable items such as the PS5 and Xbox Series X. In recent months, however, there have been indications that the new shortage culture surrounding video game consoles might be fading–at least in the short term.
If you tried to get your hands on a PS5 or Xbox Series X in the past two years, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Eager would-be buyers were greeted by “out-of-stock” messages at every retailer. Advertised restocks would run dry within a minute or two after the gate opened…
Read moreWyverns have come to Ark: Survival Evolved. The new DLC expansion map of Fjordur in Ark: Survival Evolved has introduced several new dinosaurs, regions to explore, and resources to harvest. As always in Ark, getting around the map to accomplish the different tasks set out for you is made ten times easier if you have a tamed creature to help you along the way. Whether this is so you can ride it around the map, saving hours compared to being on foot, or helping you retrieve items you’ve lost after death, having a handy-dandy dino by your side makes life easier in Ark. On the map of Fjordur, the story is the same. However, the dinosaurs this time around can be a little difficult to tame, so why go through all of the trouble? In Fjordur, you can acquire wyvern eggs, that can hatch and give …
Read moreBaldur’s Gate 3 players on Xbox banned for recording clips of some of the game’s more explicit content should soon see their bans lifted, according to developer Larian Studios.
The issue recently came to light after a player posted on Reddit to warn other Xbox users about using the console’s capture tools, in this case video recording, to record scenes involving, as they put it, “naked camp time fun.” The player, Daddy-Vegas, received a ban for all three of their recorded clips, resulting in a ban of over a year total. Larian caught word of the bans and said it would work with Microsoft to remedy the situation, with the studio’s director of publishing Michael Douse calling the whole ordeal “annoying and uncool.” Come from ba…
Read moreEarlier today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to reinstate net neutrality. Taking place during an April Open Meeting, commissioner Anna M. Gomez voted in favor of restoring federal oversight of broadband internet access service under Title II of the Communications Act. According to a press release, the aim is to ensure the resource is open, safe, and secure for all moving forward.
“Broadband access to the Internet is a critical conduit that is essential for modern life,” said Gomez in the press release. “Protecting this critical infrastructure that is essential to the safety, economy, health, education, and well-being of this country is good public policy. The value is so great that we cannot wait for the flood to arrive before we start to build the levee.…
Read moreIn 2015, director George Miller revitalized his Mad Max franchise with Mad Mad: Fury Road. Tom Hardy took over the role of Max Rockatansky from Mel Gibson, while Charlize Theron originated the now iconic part of Imperator Furiosa, who will be portrayed by Anya Taylor-Joy in the upcoming prequel, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. Hardy and Theron openly feuded with each other while filming Fury Road, and the stories about their animosity have circulated for years. Now, ahead of Furiosa’s release, Miller is reflecting on what drove his Fury Road stars apart, and what brought them back together again.
“They were just two very different performers,” Miller told The Telegraph. “Tom has a damage to him but also a brilliance that comes with it, and whatever was going on with him at the time, he h…
Read moreMicrosoft has announced the latest additions to its Free Play Days promotion, which drops games to the low, low price of $0 for a limited time. The latest Free Play Days titles are Microsoft’s own shooter Gears 5 and the racing game F1 2020.
Xbox Live Gold and Game Pass Ultimate members can play both games at no extra cost now through midnight Pacific on Sunday, May 23, so it’s a full weekend of free play. You can download the games from Xbox.com through the Free Play Days hub or by navigating to the Subscriptions tab in the Xbox Store on console to get started.
It’s a good time to jump into Gears 5, as the game’s big Operation 7 update just recently arrived. It adds a new multiplayer map, Ephyra, along with new characters Ukkon and Hana. Gears 5 is also available on Xbox Ga…
Read moreSome games demand a specific kind of real-life setting to really be absorbed. Horror games beg for the lights off and headphones on, while co-op games are often more enjoyable when played together on a couch rather than online. Season: A letter to the future requires its own special circumstances–a calm, peaceful environment–and if you can provide that, you’ll find in it a special stillness, a pensive story, and a memoir from a fantasy land worth experiencing.
Sometimes the language of open-world games is obvious, especially if you’ve played a few of them. Excitingly, Season doesn’t feel like such a game, as its approach to gameplay and story are fresh and largely disinterested in giving you boxes to check. You play as Estelle, a young woman who sets off to o…
Read moreDisney’s Star Wars TV show Obi-Wan Kenobi just aired its sixth and final episode. Fans are wondering if there will be a Season 2, and while that’s yet to be confirmed, series stars Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen are up for reprising their roles.
McGregor, who plays Obi-Wan, told GQ, “I really hope we do another. If I could do one of these every now and again–I’d just be happy about it.”
As for Christensen, who plays Darth Vader, he told Radio Times that he would be excited to play the villain again in a potential Obi-Wan Season 2 or something else Come from Sports betting site VPbet .
“Well, it was definitely conceived as a standalone story. But I would love to continue with this character. You know, …
Read moreThe Overwatch 2 PvP beta begins today and Blizzard has revealed more details about what to expect, as well as how you can get invited.
The beta begins today, April 26, at 11 AM PT / 2 PM ET and wraps up on May 17. Blizzard will send out invitations to the beta by email throughout the day on a rolling basis, so if you don’t get an email right away, keep checking. You won’t be getting code drops, so you will need to sign up. Come from Sports betting site VPbet
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Read moreThe preliminary results took a look at both the fourth quarter and the full year. In terms of four-quarter performance, the company posted revenue of $576.7 million, but net loss amounted to $476.8 million, the company said in the update shared with media late on Monday.
Fourth Quarter Sees “Unacceptable” Interactive Division Performance
Adjusted EBITDA stood at $145.8 million while adjusted EBITDAR was posted as $164.4 million. Bally’s President – Interactive and the company’s incoming chief executive officer – Robeson Reeves – commented on the results and what they meant for the business. Reeves focused on the company’s strengths at first, arguing that Bally�…
Read moreOn 30 August 2023, reputable real-estate investment company Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (GLPI) acquired the land designated for the Hard Rock Casino development project in Rockford, Illinois from 815 Entertainment, the Illinois-based operator of the Hard Rock-branded casino. The acquisition reportedly worth $100.0 million is complemented with a ground lease agreement between GLPI and 815 Entertainment for a period of 99 years.
Comprehensive Acquisition Deal
As reported by GLPI, the ground lease agreement includes an initial $8.0 million annual rent with an option to adjust the annual rate up to 2.0% upon expiry of the first year of the lease to remain fixed over the entire term of the agreement. In addition, the ground …
Read moreScientific Games and Groupe FDJ, which operates La Française des Jeux, France’s national lottery, released a revolutionary lottery feature. This enhancement, named iDecide, will provide the card players with the possibility to carry on with the game through a digital game, which potentially can increase their prizes.
This concept is revolutionary in the global lottery industry. The release time of iDecide is well-prepared – its launching comes a few days before the World Lottery Summit, which will be held in Vancouver. Groupe FDJ and Scientific Games will host the demonstrations…
Read moreAn indie studio called Crusader Games has decided to make a Game Boy-like version of Halo: Combat Evolved. However, instead of calling it Halo Combat Evolved, the studio decided to have fun with it and call it Halo: Combat Devolved.
The game was made using software called GB Studio. The official website describes the software as “a quick and easy to use drag and drop retro game creator for your favorite handheld video game system.” Halo: Combat Devolved can be played on a Game Boy Color, Analogue, or straight from your web browser.
You’ll need to visit their website to play this unofficial version of Halo. A message from the developers can be found on their website, reading, “As a longtime fan of Halo: Combat Evolved, I’m creating a faithful demake for th…
Read moreIt just became way less of a hassle to launch 2K games from your Steam library. The publisher has officially removed its launcher from every game that used it on Steam (and the Epic Games Store). The removal went through on November 18, but a follow-up update to ensure the Launcher was fully removed dropped on November 25.
Many games, including Bioshock Remastered, Marvel’s Midnight Suns, and The Quarry, will now launch directly through Steam. Other games used the launcher for additional functionality. Those games will now launch a small submenu before opening the game itself.
For example, XCOM 2 and XCOM: Chimera Squad used the 2K launcher for mod management. Now, launching the game will open a small menu which will let you open the mod launcher or the selected game directl…
Read moreThe NCAA’s Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports (CSMAS) has initiated discussions on potential changes to sports betting policies, particularly regarding student-athletes. Meeting recently in Indianapolis, the committee examined the possibility of deregulating sports betting, which could, in theory, allow student-athletes to place bets on professional sports, a significant shift from current restrictions.
Central to the committee’s discussions was the realization that current prohibitions on gambling by student-athletes have been largely ineffective in preventing unwanted gambling behaviors. This acknowledgment marks a key moment for the NCAA, which has traditionally maintained a firm stance against any form of gambling by …
Read moreFor players who crave luxury and want to experience the high life, Pragmatic Play has prepared a brand-new, lavish, online slot game, Towering Fortunes.
The luxury is now available to everyone:
Prepare to try new yachts, drive fast cars, and fly in private planes in this extravagant 5×3 reel slot. The action is pretty simple but very exciting. The symbols are visible in the forms of planes, yachts, or luxurious cars.
Why Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco Are Sparking Engagement Rumors
Does Selena Gomez just have her love on, or is she wearing something more?
The 32-year-old is sparking engagement rumors with her boyfriend Benny Blanco thanks to some strategically placed emojis.
Posting a mirror selfie to her Instagram Stories on Aug. 8, the “Love On” singer sported a champagne-colored slip dress, covering her hand with heart emojis as her producer beau stood in the background.
Gomez also shared a photo dump of PDA-packed pics with her man by the beach. Notably, the Only Murders in the Building star was not rocking any rings in the roundup, though it was clear she couldn’t keep her hands to herself.
The music producer has mad…
Read moreUpdate: In a statement to PCG, Larian says that the problem players are running into with the shared stash system is “not the intended behavior and will be fixed in an upcoming update.”
Baldur’s Gate 3 is excellent. Historically excellent, in fact, but it’s not without its flaws. The first of these, of course, is that Astarion was not voiced with Neil Newbon’s original Brummie accent, but the game’s awkward inventory system is a close-run second. I don’t know about you, but I probably spent at least a couple of hours of playtime standing stock-still in camp, desperately trying to give my chaotic inventory and those of my allies some semblance of organisation. It never worked.
The third patch for the game tried to ameliorate that a bit, i…
Read moreถึงแม้แบรนด์ Xbox ในเวทีคอนโซลตอนนี้อาจจะไม่ได้โดดเด่นเทียบเท่ากับแบรนด์ PlayStation หรือเครื่องเล่นจาก Nintendo แต่เมื่อย้อนกลับไปเมื่อราว 10 กว่าปีก่อนต้องบอกเลยว่า Xbox รุ่น 360 นั้นได้รับความนิยมตามหลังเครื่องเล่น Wii เลยทีเดียวจากการแพ้ภัยตัวเองครั้งใหญ่ของ PlayStation 3 เช่นเดียวกับสเปคที่แรงและราคาที�…
Read moreหลังจากประกาศเปิดตัวสู่สายตาสาธารณชนมาตั้งแต่ปี 2021 ก่อนที่จะอัปเดตความเคลื่อนไหวในการพัฒนามาหลายต่อหลายครั้ง ล่าสุด Kakao Games ผู้ให้บริการเกมสัญชาติเกาหลีก็ได้ออกมาเคลื่อนไหวอีกครั้ง พร้อมประกาศเปิด Teaser Site และวิดีโอเทรลเอร์ prologue ที่เผยให้เห็นเรื่องราวภายใน Goddess Order เกมมือถือกราฟิก…
Read moreFrench esports club Team Vitality has announced that its star Counter-Strike player Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut, who helped the team win the last-ever CS:GO Major, has re-signed to stay with the Parisians until 2026. And boy is Vitality excited about the news.
The outfit decided that only one thing would do for this announcement. Zywoo is French and the king of the AWP-ers, Vitality is a French esports organisation, and arguably the team’s finest moment was winning the Paris Major last May.
Vitality therefore announced the player’s new contract by making him sit on a golden throne made out of Counter-Strike guns, with the Eiffel tower as a backdrop.
Vitality later posted a tribute video to the player:
The team later posted some close-up shots of the thr…
Read moreThe traditional view has always been that games consoles were a useful but relatively petite contribution to AMD’s overall revenues. Turns out that’s not entirely true. In fact, Sony’s PS5 alone represented fully 16% of AMD’s revenues in 2022 and likely a quarter of revenues came from Sony and Microsoft consoles combined.
That’s according to an official AMD filing (via Tom’s Hardware). “One customer accounted for 16% of our consolidated net revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022. Sales to this customer consisted of sales of products from our Gaming segment,” the filing revealed.
That customer can only really be Sony and the PS5, which comfortably outsells the Xbox Series consoles. Of course, AMD wasn’t just responsible for the PS5’s APU, it also created the chips for b…
Read moreOnly five days post-launch, Palworld has sold over seven million copies and become the second game ever to log over two million concurrent players on Steam. Its unexpectedly absurd level of success has led to much speculation over the source of its appeal—as well as some condemnation—but the notion that it’s “Pokémon with guns,” while not exactly accurate, must be at least part of the answer.
Finding someone to design Palworld’s firearms was apparently a challenge for Japanese developer Pocketpair, though.
“Japan makes a ridiculous amount of RPGs,” said Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe in a lengthy blog post last week (translated from Japanese). “But how many Japanese-made shooters are there? The only one that comes to mind is Resident Evil, and that di…
Read moreHideo Kojima recently gave an interview to the magazine Weekly Tokyo Keizai, in which he talked a little about the run-up to the release of Metal Gear Solid 2 and how real-world events almost scuppered the game’s release. At the time MGS2 was probably the most anticipated game in the world, and was due to release in November 2001. Then two months before the game’s release, the September 11 terrorist attacks happened, killing just under 3,000 people and changing the course of the world.
MGS2, which featured terrorist factions attacking New York, was suddenly a project with very bad timing indeed. Kojima and Konami went into crisis mode, with Sony also involved, realising that it simply could not release the game as-was in this context. Particular scenes, such as Arsenal Gear crashi…
Read moreThe original PlayStation 5 is getting on a bit these days. First launched back in November 2020, the console set tongues a-wagging with its reasonably impressive spec sheet, including a fast SSD, a custom eight-core AMD Zen 2 CPU, and an RDNA 2 GPU that brought it up to greater performance parity with gaming PCs of the time.
While this latest leak for the upcoming PS5 Pro doesn’t go into those sort of hardware specifics—although we have summarised rumoured hardware specifications previously—it does reveal some potential performance numbers and upscaling features that might give us more of a clue as to what Sony has been cooking up behind the scenes for the new model.
This latest information comes from YouTube channel Moore’s Law is Dead, which has tradition…
Read moreOverwatch 2 has had some trouble in the past year-and-a-bit since its release—between promised PvE content being absent, an outright admission that the game has been in decline, and a ‘colourful’ reception on Steam, the game’s freemium model has been a point of contention—especially for players who bought Overwatch 1 fully-priced.
A recent controversy has made that sentiment worse, with players responding to the bitter fact that they wouldn’t be able to earn every cosmetic in the Winter Fair event even if they went for the premium option—things worsened after executive producer Jared Neuss responded to a player in a post on X, where he wrote: “It’s $5 for 4 Legendary skins”—though some of them are recolours of past skins—”which feels squarely in the s…
Read moreFrench indie studio Evil Empire, which has spent the last five years working on expansions for roguelike sensation Dead Cells, prides itself on being a “triple I” developer: independent, but still big enough to make “world-class” games. Evil Empire likes the label so much, in fact, that it’s spent the past few months organizing a new showcase with some other indie superstars, including the developers of Slay the Spire, Darkest Dungeon, Vampire Survivors, and Terraria. The Triple-I Initiative will be streaming on April 10 and will show off more than 30 games.
“We did collaborations with many indie studios [for Dead Cells]: Slay the Spire, Risk of Rain, Terraria,” Evil Empire’s marketing director Bérenger Dupré told me in an interview at last week’s Game Developers Con…
Read moreStarfield is out today—you may have heard something about that already—and if you want to be a part of the Big Launch Moment but would also like to save a few bucks, Newegg is currently offering $8 off the Premium Edition of the game, or $5 off the standard.
To take advantage of the lower price, head ’round to newegg.com and choose the Starfield edition of your choice. The deal applies to both Steam and Xbox versions of the game, but do note that if you go for the Standard Edition, you will not be able to start playing today: Early access is only available through the Premium and Constellation editions of Starfield.
On the checkout screen, you’ll see a field to drop in a promo code: Use STARFLD8 for the Premium Edition, or STARFLD5 for the standard edition, and t…
Read more“I’m going to do something ridiculous every day until [x videogame thing happens]” might be a little pat now—hell, there’s probably a sociological paper to be written about gamers performing devotion for companies as if they were implacable deities.
But JPNB on YouTube was a pioneer of the form, fighting secret Elden Ring megaboss Malenia every week (initially every day) over a span of months until we finally got that Shadow of the Erdtree announcement last February. He hung up his spurs after that, but now he’s back once more to tango with the Blade of Miquella.
Watch On
During his original run, JPNB started out trying to fight Malenia every day until we got news of an Elden Ring expansion. As the wait dragged on, that quickly became “every few …
Read moreUnity’s found itself under fire from the public these past few months—and for decent reasons. In June, for instance, it announced that it would incorporate AI programs into its developer tools, something it didn’t really elaborate well enough on to soothe artists and developer fears alike.
Unsurprisingly, it then had to drop one of its AI partners after it was found to have just been pulling models wholescale from SketchFab, like this cat from Murdered Soul Suspect. Then there was the whole pricing fee fiasco, which is pretty much still ongoing, with revelations that it was a rushed-out decision in October amidst its CEO’s resignation. Trust in Unity has eroded, which makes any calls of ‘we’re doing the right thing here, we promise’ a hard sell.
Now, in an interview wi…
Read moreIn August 2022, Embracer Group added Middle-earth Enterprises to its ever-growing lineup of studios and properties. And it’s not wasting any time doing something with it: Embracer revealed in its Q3 2022 financial report that it now has no less than five LotR games in development.
“There are currently five games in production by external partners, to be released in financial year 2023/24,” the report states. “There is also one film in production by an external partner.”
Embracer’s 2023/24 fiscal year runs from April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024, meaning that, if the schedule holds, all five games will be out within little more than a year.
The report doesn’t give any indication of titles or platforms, but it’s possible that we know of at least three of the games in develo…
Read moreIf you’re struggling with today’s Wordle you’ll find a helpful clue below, as well as a range of general tips designed to make the most of every guess. And if you’re more than a bit struggling and would just like someone to tell you the answer to the October 15 (848) puzzle, please? I’ve got your back.
A nice, simple, win in three was just what I needed after all the frantic fun I seem to have had the rest of this Wordle week. I may not be able to boast about any fantastic turnarounds or sudden sparks of inspiration with this one, but at least I had one day where my eyebrows didn’t repeatedly crash into each other as I scoured my previous guesses for clues to today’s Wordle answer.
Wordle today: A hint
Wordle today: A hint for Sunday, October 1… Read more
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Most headset or webcam mics are a disappointment at best, so a dedicated desktop microphone can be an easy way to hugely improve most setups. Most gamers could benefit from having a better quality mic for…
Read moreMicrosoft must be wringing its hands in frustration as it tries to get users to move on from Windows 10 and embrace the wonders of Windows 11. It seems no matter what it tries, users just stubbornly refuse to move on from that old dinosaur of an OS.
According to Statcounter (via Neowin), as of March 2024, Windows 10 accounts for just over 69% of desktop market share worldwide. That’s an increase of nearly two points from February. By contrast, Windows 11 claimed 26.7% in March, down from 28.16% in February. A couple of points here and there isn’t what you’d call a dramatic change, but a year’s worth of data shows Windows 11 has failed to win the hearts and minds of those users familiar with Windows 10.
It’s quite an oddity to see the market share of the latest Windows …
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