The world’s first Minecraft hotel is coming to Greater London next year, and we’ve been given a first look at what we can expect.

The Minecraft hotel will be part of Chessington World of Adventures, where a Minecraft World area opens next year.

This project appears to be a repurposing of the current Azteca hotel, found within the Chessington World of Adventures wider grounds. It features rooms themed around The Gruffalo as well as “Monkey Temple” designs.

The Minecraft hotel will feature 69 rooms spread across four floors, with the decor of both those rooms and the reception area drenched in Minecraft-inspired colourful and blocky visuals. Expect wood block-style bunk beds, walls luridly attired with game visuals, Minecraft bed spreads and a stool that looks like a TNT block.

Don’t let the kids see the concept images unless you want them to be begging you for a visit for the rest of the year — and it may be enough to induce a migraine in some adults. The current Azteca hotel does feature some non-themed rooms but there’s no word of that for the Minecraft revamp’s more grumpy visitors.

The hotel will feature a restaurant with “game inspired” meals, replacing the Temple Restaurant & Bar found there today. It will have an underwater theme, while the bar area will be decked out in Woodland Mansion style.

“Every room, corridor and detail has been crafted with immense love for this game, the stories made within it and its community,” says Daisy Mercedes, Creative Producer at Merlin Entertainments.

This is a part of a £50 million project to bring Minecraft World to the park. It replaces the Wild Asia area, which opened in 2010. The unusual Kobra rollercoaster(ish) experience from that zone will reportedly be repurposed in Minecraft World, but the main attraction of the new area is a rollercoaster called Escape the Nether.

It’s dubbed an “indoor-outdoor” ride, and an early visualisation suggests we’ll sit in a four-a-row blocky Minecraft cart. Height requirements for the ride are yet to be revealed, but there is a little time for the kids to sprout up.

Minecraft World’s opening date is yet to be revealed beyond being some time in 2027. Peak season for the park is, of course, during school holidays so the team will want the area, and the hotel, open by July 2027.

The last new major park area was World of Paw Patrol, which opened in May 2026.

• Universal Studios UK theme park gets go-ahead for development — and thrill seekers are in for a treat

If your idea of a good Sunday involves eating your way through a Japanese street-food market while watching sumo, taiko drumming and dreaming of becoming a ninja, we've got some very good news.

Japan Matsuri is returning to London’s Trafalgar Square on Sunday 4th October, bringing a huge celebration of Japanese culture, food and entertainment to the city centre landmark. This year there's an added reason for Nintendo fans to turn up to the annual event: Pikmin are coming to the party.

The festival, which has been running since 2009 and has been held at Trafalgar Square since 2012, is free to attend and runs from 10am until 8pm.

Here's everything you need to know.

Japan Matsuri 2026: In short…

• What: A one-day celebration of all things Japanese culture, including food, music, art and entertainment in the heart of Central London
• When: Sunday 4th October 2026, 10am–8pm
• Where: Trafalgar Square, London
• How much: Free entry

The event is spread throughout Trafalgar Square, with food stalls around the fountains and further stalls and activities dotted around the front of the National Gallery.

The nearest Tube station is Charing Cross, although Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus and Embankment are also within walking distance.

It's worth getting there early, though. If Trafalgar Square reaches capacity, organisers will operate a one-in, one-out system. Bags larger than A4 size, bikes, scooters, e-scooters and weapons are among the things prohibited from the site — so leave your katanas and sake at home.

What’s on?

The main stage will host entertainment acts throughout the day, beginning with traditional taiko drumming and a performance of the event’s Japan Matsuri song "IBUKI" with Naomi Suzuki — kinda like a theme tune for the festival. The opening ceremony will feature a mikoshi procession (a spiritual event where a shinto shrine is paraded), while later performances include Yosakoi dance, Eisa dance (a kind of folk dance usually performed by children), a ‘Samurai Rock Band’ and a ninja show.

You’ll also get to limber up with Radio Taiso (Japan’s popular morning calisthenics routine), quizzes, traditional Japanese music, dance and martial arts, with more performances scheduled throughout the afternoon and evening.

You can see the entire day’s performance schedule at the Matsuri website.

What’s cooking?

The food offering might be reason enough to make the trip. The square will be packed with Japanese food and drink stalls, with options including ramen, takoyaki, karaage, yakisoba, okonomiyaki, Japanese curry, donburi, gyoza and onigiri.

Among the traders are Shoryu Ramen, IPPUDO, Japan Centre, Okan & Oton, Hiden Curry, Tsujiri and Matchado, alongside a host of smaller food businesses.

And it isn't just savoury food. There'll be Japanese sweets, wagashi, mochi, matcha drinks and ice cream, while belly-loving yoghurt drink Yakult is also going to have a stall. Yakult’s presence isn’t as odd as you might think — it’s actually a Japanese invention.

Pop culture shopping

Japan Matsuri also has plenty for fans of Japanese pop culture.

The stalls include Otaky, with Pokémon, ONE PIECE, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Dragon Ball and other anime and manga merchandise, alongside Japanese toys, figures and trading cards.

Elsewhere you'll find everything from ukiyo-e prints and vintage kimono to Japanese ceramics, calligraphy, jewellery and handmade accessories.

There are also plenty of opportunities to learn more about Japan itself, with tourism organisations representing destinations including Tokyo, Hokkaido, Oita, Tohoku and Central Japan, as well as Japan's railway network and travel companies.

Pikmin are coming to Trafalgar Square

Mario makers Nintendo are returning to Japan Matsuri with a collection of free Pikmin activities and goodies — you know, the colourful little lads that have the plants sprouting out of their heads.

Nintendo is using its Pikmin Bloom app — the walking game that turns your everyday strolls into a Pikmin-collecting adventure — into a special Japan Matsuri Party Walk, running from 28th September until 7th October, meaning you don't actually have to be in Trafalgar Square to participate.

If you're heading to the festival itself, visit the Nintendo stall to find a pop-up Pikmin Bloom ‘Special Spot’. Players can receive a Gold Seedling which grows into an exclusive Red Photo Button Badge Decor Pikmin, as well as a postcard. Only one seedling is available per player.

Those taking part in the Party Walk can also show their screen at the Nintendo stand to receive a Pikmin-themed gift, such as a smartphone lanyard. Nintendo will also have a Pikmin photo opportunity and — more exciting than that lanyard — free Pikmin headwear to give away at its stall.

The Party Walk can be registered for in advance through the Pikmin Bloom app, which should save you having to sort everything out when you arrive.

Irasshaimase! (That means ‘Welcome!’)

If you've got even a passing interest in Japanese food, gaming, anime, travel, music or culture, there's a lot to get stuck into.

The best bit is that it's completely free, so you can dip in for an hour, spend the afternoon eating your way around the stalls, or make a full day of it.

And if you're a Pikmin fan, this year's Nintendo presence gives you an extra reason to visit – particularly if you want to pick up the limited-edition goodies and exclusive Pikmin app treats.

For more info, visit the Japan Matsuri festival website.

• The Bayeux Tapestry and the 8 most important historical artefacts you can see in London right now

The NQ64 team, the brains behind London’s top retro-gaming themed bars packed with old-school arcade machines, must have been munching on the Mario Super Mushrooms when putting together its latest venue.

NQ64 has opened the doors to its biggest spot yet at Orange Yard on Manette Street in Soho, bringing two floors of neon-soaked arcade gaming and bar-room distractions to one of the capital’s busiest night spots.

The new venue officially opens today (11th September) and expands on the retro arcade bar group’s familiar formula, with a larger collection of games alongside several new experiences that go beyond the traditional arcade cabinet.

For starters, there’s an expanded line-up of classic arcade machines, including Guitar Hero, PAC-MAN Battle Royale, Mario Kart Arcade GP and pinball machines — a pair themed around Jaws and the Marvel movies. There’s also a serious selection of free-play consoles, covering multiple generations from the Nintendo 64 and original PlayStation through to the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360.

It’s a surefire nostalgia hit for anyone who remembers cramming four people around a telly for a ‘Slappers Only’ GoldenEye session.

The real gems though are among the lovingly-restored stand-up arcade cabinets of yesteryear. Four player Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Check. Four player Outrun SP? Check. There’s even a super-rare version of The Simpsons beat-em-up (again in its four player variant) in a lavish large-scale cabinet that mimics the Simpsons’ family’s own CRT telly. It’s like the heady days of the Trocadero never ended.

High scoring cocktails

But the Soho venue isn’t just about retro gaming. NQ64 has UV pool tables and augmented-reality darts, claw machines and an extensive cocktail list.

NQ64’s arcade-inspired cocktail menu includes the Quick Revive No.5, inspired by the Call of Duty perk and described as the existing venues’ best-selling cocktail, alongside the Frozen Deadshot Daiquiri. There are alcohol-free options too, including CBD-infused Hits From The Pong, as well as craft beers and spirits.

Visually, it sticks firmly to the NQ64 playbook: expect neon artwork, graffiti-covered walls, immersive lighting and a Hip Hop and R&B soundtrack. We may be about to out ourselves as older than some of the retro games on show but, having attended opening night, hopefully the soundsystem volume… gets turned down a little? It was a shame not being able to hear all the charming chiptunes, bleeps and bloops of these classic games under the bass-heavy boom.

The new Soho site is the latest expansion for NQ64, which was founded in Manchester’s Northern Quarter in 2019 and now has venues across the UK, including London, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Bristol, Nottingham and Newcastle.

According to co-founders Andy Haygarth and Matt Robson, the Soho site is designed to give visitors even more reasons to stick around for “one more round” — which, as anyone who has ever played Mario Kart with friends knows, is an extremely dangerous promise to make.

If the thought of another round of ‘Three Small Plates’ at Wetherspoons or the sight of a chin-stroking real-ale fanatic fills you with dread, NQ64 Soho makes for a great score-chasing night out.

You’ll find NQ64 Soho at Orange Yard, Manette Street, London, W1D 4JB, a couple of minutes walk from Tottenham Court Road station. It’s walk-in friendly, but if there’s a big gang of you looking for a table or to secure a round on the dart boards, you can make a booking here.

• 8 tips to eat like a king in London without breaking the bank

There was a time when picking a new gaming monitor was relatively straightforward. You picked a size, chose between 1080p and 1440p (4K if you were feeling plush), and then spent the next three weeks convincing yourself that an extra 20Hz would somehow transform you into a professional Counter-Strike player.

Well, Samsung’s just made that choice a little more complicated… in the best ways possible. Its new Odyssey G8 G80HS is a 32-inch gaming monitor with a frankly ridiculous 6K resolution. That's 6144 x 3456 pixels, putting more pixels in front of your eyeballs than most gaming rigs have the juice to push.

It is also capable of running at 165Hz in its native 6K mode or switching into a 3K mode that pushes the refresh rate all the way up to 330Hz. In other words, Samsung has attempted to build one monitor capable of doing both spectacular cinematic gaming and ultra-fast competitive play.

It's expensive, of course. And you'll need a seriously powerful PC to make the most of it. But if you're looking for a proper end-game upgrade for your gaming setup, here are five reasons why the Samsung Odyssey G8 G80HS deserves your attention.

Samsung Odyssey G8 G80HS: In Short…

• 32-inch display with an incredibly detailed 6K resolution
• Dual Mode: 6K at 165Hz or 3K at 330Hz
• Fast IPS panel delivers crisp colours and wide viewing angles
• 1ms response time keeps fast-paced action sharp
• HDR10+ Gaming boosts detail in shadows and highlights

1. 6K gaming looks absolutely ridiculous

Let's start with that headline number. The Odyssey G8 G80HS is one of the first gaming monitors to bring a full 6K resolution to the party, squeezing 6144 x 3456 pixels into its 32-inch Fast IPS panel. It’s the star attraction here: this is a monitor built around sheer pixel density, rather than simply chasing ever-larger screen sizes.

Those pixels aren't just there for the sake of having an impressive number on the box. Outside of the still-rare 8K monitor market, this is the most detailed picture quality you’re likely to find on a gaming monitor — at least in terms of sheer pixel density. Yes, 8K resolutions can push that higher, but you’ll be hard pressed to find a GPU/CPU combo that can push those pixels at anything above slide-show framerates. To call 6K a compromise is a slightly bizarre choice of words, but against the excess of 8K, it’s a smart middle ground. Tiny environmental details that would normally disappear into the visual noise suddenly become clear — from autumnal leaf fall in Forza Horizon 4, to the war-worn weaponry of Cyberpunk 2077.

2. You don't have to choose between pretty games and fast games

Run the Odyssey G8 at its native 6K resolution and you get a 165Hz refresh rate. It’s an enormous amount of visual detail while still delivering the kind of smoothness that makes 60Hz displays feel increasingly like relics from a less enlightened age. However, 6K is a demanding resolution to run games at, and with the GPU pricing and RAMpocalypse showing no sign of slowing, there will be many rigs that’ll struggle to hit high frame rates at the G80HS’s top resolution.

But switch the monitor into its lower-resolution mode and it drops to 3072 x 1728 — essentially 3K — while boosting the refresh rate to a frankly ludicrous 330Hz. Both modes are paired with a quoted 1ms response time.

It’s the best of both worlds, then. Playing something cinematic like Cyberpunk 2077 or Red Dead Redemption 2? Go 6K and feast your eyes.

Playing Marvel Rivals, Valorant or anything else where seeing your opponent approximately three milliseconds before they see you is the difference between in-game life and death? Switch to 3K and let the refresh rate rip.

The particularly clever thing is that 3K on a 32-inch screen remains properly sharp. Unlike some 4K dual-mode monitors that drop down to 1080p in pursuit of extreme refresh rates, you're not suddenly playing competitive shooters through a screen door. It makes the lower-resolution mode considerably more practical than the compromises required by some existing dual-mode screens.

3. It doesn't look like a spaceship has landed on your desk

Samsung's Odyssey range has never been particularly shy about announcing itself as gaming hardware. The G80HS, however, appears to take a more restrained approach.

Its relatively minimalist design would work just as well in a home office as it does in a neon-lit gaming den. There's RGB lighting around the rear monitor mount, but it’s kept to a minimum, and Samsung's CoreSync system can synchronise those effects — just like a Philips Ambilight TV — with what's happening on screen if you want your desk to join in with the action.

The stand is also adjustable, allowing you to raise, lower, tilt and swivel the display, with the option to rotate it into portrait orientation. There's cable management built into the stand, too — an unglamorous feature, perhaps, but one that becomes more valuable once you've connected a gaming PC, console, speakers and more to it.

Connectivity includes DisplayPort 2.1, HDMI 2.1 and USB ports, while a matte finish is able to diffuse directly lighting and glare without washing out the richness of the image.

4. It's one of those upgrades that could make everything else look old

The danger with high-end display technology is that once your eyes adjust, going backwards becomes difficult. 6K detail and dual-mode performance makes it one of the most impressive non-OLED gaming displays currently available, with the difference in image sharpness immediately noticeable.

And that's really the pitch here. The G80HS isn't necessarily the sensible gaming monitor. With a £1,299 price tag, it’ll hardly qualify as a budget purchase — but if you’ve got a rig capable of making the most of it, we’re going to hazard a guess that it’s within reach of your finances.

This is the monitor for the PC gamer who wants one screen capable of making the latest blockbuster look super detailed while still being able to switch gears for competitive play.

If your GPU can handle it, the Odyssey G8 G80HS might be its perfect companion.

• The best Steam Deck games

Last night, Nintendo held a Direct presentation to tell us about all the stuff it has going on to celebrate the 40th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda.

The very first game in the series was, funnily enough, The Legend of Zelda, released in 1986 for the NES. Or, to be more specific, the Famicon Disk System as the original release happened in Japan alone. It didn’t come to the UK until 1987.

But let’s not sweat the details. Both 2026 and 2027 are going to be big years for fans of Zelda, and fans living in London in particular. Here are six key reasons to paint your spare room green and turn it into a shrine to all things Zelda.

Fresh Zelda movie details announced

Nintendo has not given us a proper extended look at the upcoming Zelda movie. But we do have one important bit of info now: the title. It’s called The Legend of Zelda. That’s it.

Nintendo legend Miyamoto explains it’s because the film takes inspiration from the series’s entire history. This movie still gives us palpitations as the perceived deeper relationship a lot of folks have with it versus Mario may inflate expectations. And, well, Nintendo is yet to make a cinematic masterpiece. Fingers crossed. The Legend of Zelda is out on 30th April 2027.

Ocarina of Time remake: See it in action

It’s not news that Nintendo is making a remake of the beloved The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. But Nintendo has now given us a much more in-depth look at what, well, it actually is. The remake looks dramatically different to the original, while still having more of a spirit of the 90s game rather than just copy-pasting the style of new titles like Tears of the Kingdom and co.

Characters have new dialogue, visual effects abound, and the biggie: you can actually jump on command. However, Nintendo doesn’t appear to have radically altered the scale of the game. The Ocarina of Time remake is out on 5th November, and there will be a companion phone app to go with it too.

You’ll be able to buy an Ocarina (two of 'em)

Nintendo is releasing its own Ocarina, the instrument that features in Ocarina of Time (obviously). It’s not solely a way to Nintendo to flog us some plastic tat either — to be clear we’re yet to confirm it’s made of plastic. You’ll be able to use it to play the songs as Link in the game.

Granted, you can also hum the tune into your Switch 2 to get the same effect, but merch is merch. There's also one coming from Hori that you don't blow into, the "electric" ocarina, which has buttons and a speaker instead, and costs $49.99. Less classy, but potentially also less frustrating for attention-poor kids.

The Legend of Zelda's big London concert

An orchestral concert is going to bring songs from the 40 years of Zelda to fans in London. It’s part of a near-worldwide tour of millennial-baiting shows beginning in, of course, Japan — in January 2027.

The tour arrives in London in April. We’ll get two dates at the Royal Albert Hall, on the evening of 3rd April and the early afternoon of the 4th April. This means capacity over the two dates of around bit over 10,000. And given the exclusivity of this tour, we think these tickets will go quickly. Availability details are yet to be announced.

A Zelda Switch 2 Special Edition console is coming

We have details on the first major special edition of the Switch 2, to commemorate The Legend of Zelda’s 40th Anniversary. The Joy-Cons have a funky sparkly green finish, while the dock has metallic gold elements. It can be paired with a Pro Controller and carry case of the same style.

The console will be available from 29th October, which is actually a week before the remake of the game is out. Does this mean there won’t be a bundle of the game and console? Or that you can actually get the remake a week early by buying the bundle? Who knows, and that’s just another question mark along with the price and how limited a run it may be.

LEGO Link & Epona set

A new large-scale Zelda LEGO set is coming, called Lego The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – Link & Epona. It’s an adjustable set of Link riding his horse Epona. And it’s just the third Zelda set to date, following The Great Deku Tree and Ocarina of Time: The Final Battle. It’s a 1750 brick kit and is due for sale early next year.

Pricing and further details are to be revealed, but you can work out a vague price from the two existing sets. One is £99.99, the other £259.99, and this new kit sits roughly between the two in terms of scale

• The Legend of Zelda movie casting update reveals Sam Neill in his final role

If the Razio Prio isn’t out to make us ask 'who needs a Nintendo Switch 2?', it is at least out to gobble up some of the audience who might otherwise buy a high-end retro handheld.

Why? The Razer Prio is a physical gaming controller that hooks onto your phone, but is small enough to detach and fit into a pocket.

The pitch: it’s not that much larger than a credit card when folded up — although as you’d hope it is a good bit thicker than one. A Razer Prio measures 107 mm × 67 mm × 23 mm when folded, and weights 101g.

You kinda twist it to open up its clamshell of delights.

Despite those trim vital statistics, the Prio packs in proper gamepad-like controls. There are dual analogue sticks, a D-pad, full quartet of face buttons, a pair of bumper buttons and a set of triggers too.

The sticks are no ordinary pair either. Rather than using mechanical innards they rely on capacitive sensing — the same basic thing that powers the interaction between your finger and a phone’s touchscreen.

Sounds weird, but that means no stick drift, which can make your analogue sticks obtain a mind of their own after months of hard game grafting.

Razer says the Prio will fit on just about any phone with a screen below seven inches (and after that is it really a phone at all?), including whoppers like the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

To really understand how it works you need to have a look at the back when the Razer Prio is attached to a phone. A good chunky bit of housing extends across the back of the handset, while a band keeps the two parts together. And there are securing lips that extend over the front of the phone’s sides too.

We would have concerns about whether the Razer Prio will really stay in play during the heat of an actual gaming sessions but, well, Razer has loads of experience in this area. It makes the Razer Kishi series, which has been around since 2020 and is a larger scale controller designed to more closely mimic the style of a console pad.

But this one? Its portability is miles better.

There’s no battery in the Razer Prio to introduce latency or battery headaches either. It connects directly to your phone over USB-C, and supports both Androids and iPhones.

If you fancy some emulation-based retro gaming on the way to work, this one looks hard to beat. The Razer Prio is available now, for £99.99. Yep, it ain’t cheap but it’s not drastically more expensive than the rival Backbone One, which sells at a similar price from most retailers.

• Gamescom 2026: 5 most exciting game trailers from the show

Rockstar Games and Netflix have released a 26-minute look at the most anticipated game of the year, and... possibly ever? GTA 6 is on our doorstep and, as ever, music has a big part to play.

First up, feast your eyes on this quite astonishing trailer — all captured on a regular old PS5:

A handful of signature songs take centre stage during the extended GTA VI preview, but there are actually more than a dozen licensed songs in the video. And you can roughly split them into two camps.

There are the songs that take on an almost narrative significance, where you’re meant to twig the lyrics and have a movie-like cinematic appreciation of the moment. These are basically Gen X catnip, which is the norm for the series — but no doubt some of these will now pop off on TikTok. What goes around comes around, et cetera.

Then there are the atmosphere tracks that are either diagetic, or act more like original score tracks to enhance the atmosphere of the in-game moment.

Below you'll find the lot, as well as links for each track. But what else did we learn from the teaser? Well, GTA VI sure looks nice. You'll be able to kayak across bodies of water, train at the gym, headshots are still basically a mainstay of combat and we've heard the game map is twice the size of GTA V's. It's looking like the 'everything' game — the open world game to end all open world games. Colour us excited for that 19th November, 2026 release date.

For now, though, let's dig into those GTA 6 music tracks, kicking off with the big 'moment' songs from the trailer:

Let Your Love Flow

The Bellamy Brothers (1976)

People are People

Depeche Mode (1984)

Devil Woman

Cliff Richard (1976)

Inner Light

Elderbrook, Bob Moses (2021)

Other GTA VI tracks

Pop Bottles

Birdman, Lil Wayne

Pound Town

Sexyy Red, Tay Keith

Skrilla

Kodak Black

Love Bites

Def Leppard

But I Think It's a Dream

Captain & Tennille

Cars and Girls

Prefab Sprout

Off the Grid

Chk Chk Chk (!!!), Meah Pace

Se Me Nota (Agarrame)

Chimbala, Omega

Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)

Phil Collins

Mine O' Mine

Aluna, Jayda G

GTA VI is coming out for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles on 19th November.

• The best Steam Deck games: 35 essential titles for Valve’s handheld PC wonder

Did you ever play Pokémon on the Game Boy in the late '90s and dream of a sequel set in the UK?

Well, good news: they basically did that 7 years ago. Pokémon Sword and Shield took inspiration from multiple parts of the country in its world of Galar.

But! If you were looking for a less fairytale depiction of the UK – and more specifically, London itself – one upcoming monster-collecting game captures the less tourist-friendly side of living in the capital.

Cassette Beasts 2002 is a game where players record monsters onto cassette tapes then play them back to make them do battle. Superficially, it resembles Pokémon's mix of capturing and battling colourful beasts, but it has a number of unique twists. You can combine any two monsters to generate tens of thousands of variants, for example.

It's also set in London in the year 2002. Well, one half of the game, anyway...

A walk through 'Elmwich'

While you might expect its in-game version of the city to focus on Zone 1, like past London-set video games The Getaway and Watch Dogs: Legion did, the creators took a different tack.

"We weren't interested in setting it in the middle of Oxford Street, Big Ben, or the Millennium Dome," says Jay Baylis, co-founder of developer Bytten Studio. "All the obvious signposts to an outsider of what London is don't reflect our own experiences of London."

This version of London is instead inspired by the creators' own pre-Covid experiences of commuting into the city to work at a development studio based in Canary Wharf. "Setting it in an East London borough high street...that is London to us, in a way."

In Cassette Beasts 2002, players split their time between London – specifically a town called Elmwich – and Nodnol. Both represent different sides of the traditional RPG experience.

"Elmwich is your downtime. It's where you go to gather items, hang out with other characters and further your relationships with them and so on. And then Nodnol is your adventure space. It's where the monsters are. It's where you explore and do dungeons and fight bosses and so on." A mystery-based story links the two locations together.

"Revel in the mundanity"

Cassette Beasts 2002's setting is deliberately down-to-earth, Baylis says, because they can use more humdrum imagery to create an authentic sense of place. Or "revel in the mundanity", as he puts it.

"There was something appealing about making a somewhat mundane high street location, or town centre location that might be like a London borough," Baylis says. "It features characters living in London and working in London, but outside of the Paddington-esque view of the city."

"That taps into our interests and also our sense of humour as well."

Both Baylis and Bytten Studio's other co-founder, Tom Coxon, come from the north of the UK, which coloured their interpretation of living there.

"London to us is very much about people from outside London coming in and working. Is this a stepping stone for them? Is this where they want to end up? A lot of the characters are not from London. That probably does come from our own backgrounds as outsiders."

Baylis makes the point that games are often culturally uncomfortable with being anything less than American, especially compared to the UK's other cultural exports like music, TV and film. This game has zero shame about it.

"The Britishness shines through in how the characters talk and what they talk about and the fashion, and it's unmistakably English. It makes sense, I think, in context for it to be London, thematically and narratively."

"But I think there's something fun about [the idea of], 'hey, this is a game set in London, but it's a bit crap'."

All walks of life

The 20-something characters in Cassette Beasts 2002 reflect the mix of folks you meet in the capital, too: you'll see working class and privileged British people interacting, which is highly unusual for a video game. It perhaps takes a British studio to comprehend our social classes and capture how you can often find yourself talking to another person whose life experiences are totally alien to you.

The game leans more towards British archetypes over the personality types you're likely to see in Japanese RPGs, then. "We prefer drawing from the real world," Baylis says.

The other key component of the London setting is the '2002' bit of the title. This affects in-game details like the fashion and technology, as well as the soundtrack's pop, nu metal and rap influences. Baylis says the early '00s have become a lightning rod for nostalgia among younger players, similar to how the '80s had a stranglehold on Millennials in the 2010s.

"For the longest time, '80s nostalgia was all the rage in games, based on the age of the people that were directing games, I feel. But young people now never grew up in the '80s. I didn't grow up in the '80s."

With Stranger Things ending on a bum note, mainstream '80s nostalgia has arguably passed its peak. The fascination with Miami Vice and synthwave music is less meaningful to younger people today than The Lord of the Rings movies, low-rise jeans or Linkin Park.

"I think part of that nostalgia is there's a recognition of familiar iconography and pieces of media that shaped the modern day and musical stylings and things."

"But it's also the last moment in time where you don't have the panopticon of social media."

Between the analogue and the digital

Cassettes themselves were on death's door in 2002, we point out, which Baylis says the game highlights in one of its first lines of dialogue.

"It's this very transitory time period between the analogue and the digital age. And I think a lot of people are fascinated by looking at the early 2000s through that lens. Exploring that narratively is also a factor in the game."

Video games themselves were also having a real moment in the early 2000s.

"2002 is probably one of the best years there'll ever be for video games. I think it's quite fun to have a video game that is set in an era where at the time video games were very exciting."

2002 saw the UK releases of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Final Fantasy X, Halo and Metal Gear Solid 2, among many other classics. Perhaps some of that magic will rub off.

One of the best 2002 touches in the game, though, is another dull British detail that's somehow way more evocative than seeing Big Ben for the umpteenth time.

"We've made sure to have the crappy, early 2000s BT phone boxes with the glass and the metal frames, as opposed to the really kitschy and iconic red phone boxes," Baylis says. Celebrating the naff parts of British life is one of the great privileges of living here, which is clearly not lost on these developers.

Still, with London ticked off, that doesn't mean the developers plan to tackle other parts of the UK in future games.

"There is something alluring about exploring more mundane places and locations in the country," Baylis says. "But we'd have to also balance that with how many people are interested in going to Middlesbrough in a video game."

Cassette Beasts 2002 releases in March 2027 on PlayStation 5, Xbox, PC and Nintendo Switch 2.

• The best Steam Deck games: 35 essential titles for Valve’s handheld PC wonder

Gamescom is here. The annual video game showcase kicked off in Cologne, Germany, and began with an opening night ceremony hosted by The Games Awards’s Geoff Keighley, one absolutely packed with trailers for upcoming games.

You can expect loads more news to pour out of the show in the coming days. But can these headlines really be topped?

If you have two-plus hours to spare the full opening night Gamescom live stream is available below. But for those with lives, responsibilities and other hobbies, let’s keep it to five of the trailers that really stood out.

1. The Witcher 3: Remastered

If you’re frugal and already own one of the 60-million-plus copies of The Witcher 3 sold, this one should put a smile on your face. Existing owners of the game on PlayStation 5, PC and Xbox Series consoles get an upgrade to the just-announced remastered version for free. And if you didn’t already own ‘em, the two major story DLCs are bundled in free too. This is also kinda the second remaster it has had, after a next-gen console refresh a few years ago. It’s a more substantial one this time, though, with improved mechanics and enemy behaviours as well as visuals. Switch 2 version incoming, too.

2. Metro 2039

Dark and moody first-person shooter series Metro is back, with Metro 2039. This isn’t the first we’ve seen of the game, but this latest Renegade trailer does give us a closer look at some gameplay snippets, as well as some insight into who we’ll play as — The Stranger. It’s looking dark as anything, with moments where the player character is taken over by some sort of dark and scary force. Expect more tightly designed and confined spaces than we saw in Metro Exodus.

3. LEGO Skylines

This is a LEGO version of the beloved Cities Skylines series, which — for lapsed city-builder nerds — largely took on the baton from the classic Sim City series. The series has had its own issues, never quite stacking up to the original in the eyes of fans, but this one looks like it could be great fun for families. You get the idea: it’s a city-builder, but everything’s made of LEGO.

4. Final Fantasy VII Revelation

Cor' they’re really dragging this one out, aren’t they? Revelation is the third and final (for now) part of the remake of 1997 PlayStation classic Final Fantasy VII. It’ll arrive 30 years after the original, in Spring 2027. In this part of the original, the player spends a lot of time bumbling around the map in an airship, with more open access to the game world than in the earlier stages. Oh, and there are giant monsters around the place.

5. Warlock Dunegons & Dragons

There are all sorts of games we could have given this last slot to, but let’s go for something a bit newer. Warlock Dungeons & Dragons got a pretty substantial outing at the show, and is a fantasy-drenched third-person action title in which you play as Kaatri in a “dark fantasy open world.” This comes from the makers of Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance, which received mixed reviews. But we’ll be keeping an eye out for more news ahead of its 2027 release.

There are few sentences guaranteed to make a parent’s eyebrows raise like: “I’m going on Roblox.”

For years, the platform has occupied that seemingly unknowable corner of the internet where children go to play games, make friends and generally spend an amount of time online that you’re fairly sure can’t be healthy. And the concerns aren’t exactly imaginary. Roblox has faced sustained scrutiny over child safety, prompting interventions from regulators including the UK’s Ofcom, while the company has introduced increasingly stringent age checks, account types and communication restrictions.

So if you’re a parent wondering what, exactly, your child is getting up to on Roblox, you could be forgiven for imagining something sinister.

Well, it might be time to breathe a sigh of relief. Perhaps they’re simply driving the 198 through Croydon.

To be more specific, they might be playing Croydon: London Bus Simulator, a game within Roblox in which the primary objective is to drive a London bus around a painstakingly recreated version of one of the capital’s most misunderstood boroughs.

Yes, really.

After a while spent messing about with the game, and after meeting the impressively-young team behind it, there’s something oddly reassuring about discovering that, among the countless strange and occasionally alarming things happening on Roblox, tens of thousands of people have apparently decided that the best use of their evening is operating a fictional bus company.

A bus-spotting success

The game has become a considerable success. For the uninitiated, Roblox, rather than being a single game, is made up of thousands of games built on a core platform, predominately created by its userbase, with some breakout developers turning their titles into full blown business operations. Count among them Centro, the small team behind Croydon: London Bus Simulator.

It has attracted tens of millions of visits and, according to its developers, has at times pulled in up to 90,000 daily users. Its current Roblox listing describes a vast map, hundreds of buses, realistic physics, multiplayer “Shifts”, Simulation Servers and the ability to create and grow your own bus company.

Part of that success comes down to accessibility, says Toby Johnson, the 21 year old Product Designer at developer Centro.

“Roblox runs on pretty much anything that’s connected to the internet nowadays. I think even the latest edition runs on smart TVs,” he explains.

“I think the fact that you can open an app on pretty much any device, click play and within 30 seconds you're playing. There's no friction that might come with a standalone game. You can download it to more than one device. It's very snappy. Roblox has its own multiplayer servers — that's great for us — and also deals with all the monetisation and moderation. So we don't have to focus resources on those areas. We can just be game developers and make a game.”

It’s an efficient money-maker too, he continues:

“Roblox is weird — I heard someone say this a few weeks ago: Roblox is the only platform where you can make a game, and every time it will turn a profit because there's no running costs. Even if you have a quiet month, you might not make as much, but you're never making a loss.”

In fact, Roblox has been key to the team's formation. Toby and lead programmer Dylan Rowley (responsible for “the enthusiast nerdy stuff”) found each other through playing a Roblox game that was part of the inspiration for Croydon: London Bus Simulator — Mind the Gap, by Alex Berry.

“Roblox has certainly been the platform that's nurtured us all the way through,” says Toby. “We get asked, ‘Did you learn specific game development courses or did you do it through Roblox?’ Roblox has taught us everything we know.”

Despite the meme-worthy title, the game’s appeal is considerably more sophisticated than ‘drive bus, lol’.

You choose a vehicle, select a route, operate the doors, pick up passengers, follow the roads and attempt to maintain a service. There are interactive ticket machines, realistic sounds, working accessibility features and a sprawling network of routes. Players can join organised services, operate alongside other drivers and even create their own bus companies, complete with custom liveries, interiors and routes.

There are also trams. There are night buses. There are bus-spotting sessions. Yes, in what might be the most heartwarmingly quaint gaming trend of 2026, people genuinely go bus spotting in a video game about buses.

“With Croydon[‘s playerbase], if they're not outside, the chances are that's what they're doing for their entire spare time,” jokes Dylan.

“Some people, certainly in the winter months, spotting is their way of socialising,” adds Toby.

“I think it's just a new way for people to get to know people in niches. It's great.”

The Croydon factor

It sounds ridiculous until you realise that this is exactly the sort of mundane detail that makes the game so appealing. Croydon is not being presented as some fantastical gaming environment. It is being recreated as a place where ordinary things happen: buses arrive late, passengers get on, someone misses their stop and you spend 30 minutes driving across South London.

And that brings us to the game's inspired choice of setting.

Because if you were going to build a lovingly detailed simulation of London, you probably wouldn't immediately choose Croydon. London has plenty of glamorous candidates. Westminster. Camden. Shoreditch. Notting Hill. Greenwich. The sort of places that come with ready-made cinematic appeal.

Croydon? Less so.

“You know, we've had clips of our game go viral on social media and all the comments have been like, ‘Oh, it's not realistic. It hasn't got this. It hasn't got that, it's not got some guy just on the street yelling at you!’” says Toby.

“And these [comments were from] all local people. People also saying, ‘Oh my god, that's my local bus stop.’”

The borough has spent decades being used as shorthand for urban dreariness, crime and general metropolitan disappointment. Even Croydon councillors have previously acknowledged that it has been the “butt of jokes for a very long time now”, while attempting to remind outsiders that there is, in fact, loads to love about the place.

That reputation is, of course, rather unfair.

“I think there's definitely a reputation to Croydon,” nods Toby, “But I think it's a lovable one. It's an amicable one. We love it.”

Croydon is one of South London’s biggest commercial centres, with a huge population, major transport connections, a long musical and cultural history (in part thanks to housing The BRIT School) and something genuinely useful for a bus simulator: lots of buses.

It is also unusually varied. You can go from dense town-centre streets to residential neighbourhoods, railway interchanges and greener stretches of South London without leaving the game's world. West Croydon, Elmers End, Thornton Heath and Norwood Junction all become part of the playground.

“I'd never been to Croydon before starting this,” reveals Dylan.

“I was sort of going in blind, and I do like learning about new places. I didn't realise how close everything was together — you’ve got such a good selection of routes, a good selection of scenery, all in a small place. When I think of London, I think of those 1930s terrace houses. But Croydon has got a huge variety of housing types. It's got loads of interesting building types. I didn't realise there was a huge, really nice looking library in the centre until I was working on it.

“There's even industrial estates — maybe not people's favourite areas,” adds Dylan. “But the variety is there within a small range.”

And to both the benefit and frustration of the team, Croydon is never standing still.

“I think Dylan also thinks Croydon council is winding him up because every time he builds something, they change it!” jokes Toby.

“They change the road layouts, and it's like ‘you've got to remake it!’ They've got rid of the underpass, and they've changed the roundabout on Dingwall so many times. Like, stop it!”

Everyday excitement

And perhaps that's the secret: Croydon is interesting precisely because it’s so normal.

The game turns the everyday into the extraordinary. A bus route becomes a shared adventure. A bus interchange becomes a social hub. A rainy-looking South London high street becomes somewhere worth exploring because you've got a virtual timetable to stick to.

It is a particularly British form of escapism: escaping reality by meticulously recreating it, like the Airfix model makers of old.

“People like to experience something that resembles what they see when they walk out of their house,” reckons Toby.

“You go from a cityscape to suburbs to countryside within a very small distance, which means that you can create routes which resemble those that maybe you're familiar with in your own life or in your own area.”

But it’s also, crucially, a very social game.

“It's a very social experience in the sense that you see other players driving,” says Toby of the game’s key strength.

“In standard play you can just drive through other buses, there's no collisions. You just go through them. But there is a simulation server which has a paywall, and it's moderated as well. People submit clips of other people driving badly, and then you get suspended — people crash into people, and yeah, people love that shared experience.”

Toby and Dylan began developing Croydon: London Bus Simulator when they were teenagers, with Toby choosing development over university. What started as an extremely niche idea has grown into a game with tens of millions of visits, an enthusiastic community and enough depth to attract important fans — the team are regularly contacted by Croydon’s actual bus drivers, who praise the attention to detail (and point out room for improvement, naturally).

“Bus drivers actually play the game,” stresses Toby. “They message and say ‘I'm a bus driver at this depot. I really love your game. I play it after work’. It’s literally the busman's holiday. They love it.”

That might be the most charming thing about Croydon: London Bus Simulator. In an era when we're increasingly anxious about what children are doing online, here is a Roblox game whose greatest achievement is making the most ordinary aspects of British life feel, if not exciting, then certainly engaging.

“I joined Roblox when I was six!” says Toby.

“I'm 21 now. I used to be that younger audience, but it has grown.”

“Because of that core 15 - 17 audience age range, there are those who then go and become bus drivers or bus mechanics. People can find their niche, find their people who will then help each other to get into the industry. It's one of the only communities that I know of that is really nurturing, to get people into their love of the bus industry.”

Your kid might be chatting to strangers online, of course. They might be spending too much time staring at a screen. The wider concerns around Roblox and child safety are real and shouldn't be dismissed simply because one game happens to be wholesome.

But if you peek over their shoulder and discover they're carefully pulling a virtual double-decker into a bus stop in Croydon, following a timetable and saving up for a better bus, perhaps you can relax for a moment.

So what next for Croydon: London Bus Simulator? The team would be open to a TFL collaboration “if they approached us”, but there’s been no contact thus far. And “map-wise, we have actually reached the limit of what Roblox can do,” says Toby.

“But!” he continues, “That means splitting the game into different servers, like a portal where you transition players into a different path. That should hopefully allow us to just rapidly expand.

“I mean, you should see how fast Dylan can make maps. It's incredible, he's churning out streets in minutes.”

And Dylan might have his most fiendish route yet to conquer:

“There’s one route called 464. It goes from New Addington to Tatsfield, and it goes down this narrow roadway that can only physically fit one bus at a time. I know it's going to be absolute chaos.”

• The best Steam Deck games: 35 essential titles for Valve’s handheld PC wonder

In just under a month, Soho is getting a new retro gaming bar — plus there’s pool and darts if you’re more a Luke Littler fan than a Luigi one.

NQ64’s new London Soho location opens on 11th September and, just like the one in Berwick Street right now, it promises arcade machines, retro consoles, themed cocktails and more.

It’s a two-floor venue found within Orange Yard, just a couple of minutes’ walk from Tottenham Court Road station. And, funnily enough, less than 10 minutes’ walk from NQ64’s current Berwick Street location.

Either that place’s lease is ending soon, or it’s popular enough to justify another location just down the road.

We’re told it will have UV-lit pool tablets, darts enhanced with “augmented reality” games, and loads of retro console stations. What hasn’t been revealed yet is the part we want to know most: what arcade games will be at NQ64’s new Soho spot.

We have pretty high expectations. The Berwick Street branch currently has 31 arcade cabs and two pinball machines — including House of the Dead, Crazy Taxi and Mortal Kombat 3.

The Orange Yard branch is described as NQ64’s “biggest venue yet” so we’re hoping for a haul at least as impressive.

Not been to NQ64 before? Here’s how it works.

You can book a time slot at NQ64, and rather than setting the machines to freeplay, they use tokens. With a standard Arcade Gaming slot you’ll get 25 tokens — 1-2 are required per arcade cab credit. This costs £14 per adult at the Berwick Street branch.

Or over the weekend you can get a Supercharge Weekend slot, which includes “unlimited” game tokens and four cocktails — but you only get a 90-minute slot. That’s a lot of cocktails in a relatively small amount of time.

You can also just enter for free, and buy tokens while you’re there. These cost £10.50 for 15 tokens, £14 for 25 tokens.

Retro consoles are free to play on, but the message from management: “don’t be snide, buy a drink.”

• Best retro games: The classics that still hold up
  

A fresh wave of casting announcement reveals have been made for the upcoming, nervously-anticipated The Legend of Zelda movie, and they include some key character roles and big-name stars. Note they’re not yet officially confirmed, but come under good authority from sources speaking to Deadline.

First up, we now seemingly know who will play Zelda’s big bad, series antagonist Ganondorf. Donning the red wig will be Uli Latukefu (Alien: Covenant, MaXXXine, Black Adam), perhaps most famous for playing a young Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson in Young Rock. The Australian star certainly has the physique for the imposing baddie — if perhaps a bit too handsome. Stick some prosthetics on the man!

Next, and perhaps just as excitingly, if with a touch of sorrow, comes the news that the late, great Sam Neill has a role in The Legend of Zelda film. While it’s not clear yet what part he will play, it is said to be the Jurassic Park star’s last role before his passing at the age of 78 last month. Plenty of older mentor characters float through the games — it’d be a joy to see Neill voice the Deku Tree, in my opinion.

The heroes of time assemble

Rounding out the casting additions are Yvonne Strahovski (The Handmaid’s Tale, Dexter) and Dichen Lachman (Severance, Jurassic Park: Dominion). Again roles have yet to be officially confirmed, but we’ve known about Lachman’s involvement in the film for some time, following set leaks that appeared to reveal her as Princess Zelda’s bodyguard Impa. Lachman has also previously worked with Zelda director Wes Ball on Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.

If true, they’ll all be joining the only two confirmed members of the cast so far — Benjamin Evan Ainsworth (Pinocchio, House of the Dragon) as the heroic Link, and Bo Bragason (Renegade Nell, The Radleys) as Princess Zelda. Ainsworth has looked every bit the sword-swirling-yet-pensive hero in House of the Dragon, so we’re tentatively confident in his casting.

Plot details, including which, if any, of the games are to be closely adapted remain under wraps, but we do know that principal filming concluded in April. The film is pencilled in for an April 30th, 2027 release.

If I were to make a guess on what’s being partially adapted? I’d go for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time — it’s got a great fairytale story, awesome locations and colourful characters, and a killer plot twist. Released in 1998, it’s a fan favourite, and is getting a remaster for the Nintendo Switch 2 later this year.

• The 15 best Nintendo Switch 2 games

Here’s a first — Grand Theft Auto 6, aka GTA 6, is getting an ‘Extended Look’ unveiling, and Netflix looks to be the platform of choice to view it on.

The streaming giant has partnered with GTA developers Rockstar to offer up the next big peek at the game, airing on August 27th, before anywhere else.

GTA 6 is already the most hotly anticipated…anything of all time, and it’s an unprecedented move to put preview-look access to the game behind Netflix’s subscriber wall — a press release accompanying the news explicitly says that it is ‘Netflix subscribers [getting] an extended look’, rather than free-tier members.

Not that you’ll have to wait too long if you’ve not signed up to Netflix, however. While Netflix gets first dibs at 3pm ET (8pm BST) on August 27th, the showcase will be available just a few hours later at 9pm (2am BST, August 28th) on the official Rockstar Games YouTube channel and the Grand Theft Auto VI website.

A Netflix first

Still, expect it to top the Netflix charts for some time to come following its release then, as GTA 6 isn’t scheduled to release until November 19th, and it’s a mighty sight more comfy watching something on your sofa than at a desk.

“Grand Theft Auto reveals have become cultural moments in their own right. The anticipation and fandom around Grand Theft Auto VI is unprecedented, and we’re honoured that Rockstar Games has partnered with us to debut the next part of the Grand Theft Auto story with Netflix members first,” says Brandon Riegg, Netflix’s VP of Nonfiction Series.

“It’s a reflection of what we hope Netflix is becoming: a place where the most ambitious storytelling, from any medium, can find the biggest possible audience.”

This’ll be feverishly awaited too — it’s been almost 13 years since the release of the last Grand Theft Auto (itself the biggest entertainment product of all time, amassing some $10 billion in revenue), and Rockstar has only drip fed two short trailers for this new game in all that time. Fans will be hoping the Netflix reveal will be the first time we get to see the actual gameplay in action, as all clips so far have been solely cutscenes or artfully-edited tasters of the in-game action.

• The 9 games you can't afford to miss in 2026

Living or even just visiting London can sometimes feel like you’re in an immersive gameshow, as you dodge between historic buildings, avoid people filming down Carnaby street accosting people with a mini mic, and see all manner of outfits from cosplay to corporate. Now, London is getting an arena entirely dedicated to bringing your favourite video games to life.

Arcade Arena will be bringing iconic arcade classics to life, where you won’t just be playing the games, but you’ll be in them. Three iconic gaming worlds will be brought together all inside the one arena space. There will be retro favourites you'll remember from rainy days inside your local arcade spending your life savings on another attempt at a high score in 2p installments. Plus, there will be new next-gen challenges, brining the kind of adventure you won’t just watch but can see, hear, and feel. There is an exclusive new game, Alien Invasion, which will be launching at the Arcade, bringing a new world and host of challenges into the experience.

It’s the first arena of its kind in London, being helmed by Little Lion Entertainment – the company who brought other immersive experiences like the Crystal Maze Experience, and Maze Runner Live to hundreds of guests. Basically, it brings all the best of gaming with the fun of doing it irl with your mates – without any of the Jumanji style sci fi implications. The new London arena will span roughly a whopping 15,000 square feet, blending the digital world with huge projections bringing the games to life.

Currently, the London arena will host Chaos Karts where you’ll be go-karting around a projected track which will make you feel like you’re racing around your favourite on-screen routes. It uses state of the art technology to combine real-life racing (see: Go-Karts) with augmented reality to immersive racers in a variety of track designs, drivable karts, and even usable in-kart power-ups which will allow you to battle all the way up to the finish line.

There will also be the PAC-MAN Live Experience where you’ll take on the game IRL, navigating through a life sized glowing maze as you transform into the PAC-MAN himself. You’ll be dodging ghostly pursuers, collect Power Pellets, and chase high scores in the big recreation of the world’s most famous arcade game.

Whilst the Arcade Arena is new to London, it’s not its first rodeo, having launched permenant sites in Manchester and Dubai. The London iteration will be opening up in September, but you can already book tickets, which start at £30 for an individual entry.

• Four London pizza spots have been named the best in Europe – with one West London joint crowned number one

Noticed the prices of everything techy are going up? Microsoft is the latest to announce some cost rises, this time for its Xbox game consoles.

And, brace yourselves, they are not small jumps.

The top-billing Xbox Series X with a disc drive and 1TB storage now costs £669.99, up from a launch price of £449.99 back in 2020, and £499.99 before this latest hike.

Remember when game consoles used to get cheaper as they aged? We’re in a different world now folks, and it’s not a friendly one.

Here’s the full list of reworked prices:

• Xbox Series S 512GB £429.99 (up from £299.99, £249.99 at launch in 2020)
• Xbox Series S 1TB £519.99 (up from £349.99, £299.99 at launch in 2023)
• Xbox Series X 1TB Digital £619.99 (up from £449.99, £429.99 at launch in 2024)
• Xbox Series X 1TB £669.99 (up from £499.99, £449.99 at launch in 2020)

We’re looking at price rises of up to 43 per cent here. And it is not at all surprising, because the US had already been subject to major price increases. This one was coming.

It means the Xbox Series X now costs more than the PlayStation 5, which will set you back £569.99 direct from Sony. The digital-only version costs £519.99, while the PlayStation 5 Pro costs £789.99.

There are signs this could also get even worse, too. According to Windows Central, Microsoft is losing money with each Xbox sold in the US, which has already had comparable price hikes. It's losing up to $150 a piece according to the report.

So what on Earth is going on?

You can blame what has been dubbed the RAM-Apocalypse. The cost of the memory chips that go into these consoles has been increasing quickly for some time now, thanks to giant tech companies gobbling up supply in order to produce server infrastructure for the (supposed) AI-powered future.

There is a point at which buyers are just priced out of participating, though. After Valve was forced to increase the price of its Steam Deck by hundreds of pounds, analysis of chart data suggests sales dropped by up to 80 per cent.

And we’re not at the end of this ride yet, either. Analysts predict we’ll see the cost of RAM increase throughout the remainder of 2026, and into 2027. That means giants like Sony and Microsoft will likely have to wring even more money out of us for a console in the future, too.

Casual gamers considering an upgrade ahead of GTA 6’s November release may be in for a shock.

• The 40 best Xbox Game Pass games: Essential games to download first

Netflix changed film and TV forever. Xbox Game Pass has done much the same for gaming.

With hundreds of games available for one monthly subscription, Microsoft's service is arguably the best deal in entertainment. The only problem for subscribers? Figuring out what to play first. Between massive RPGs, indie gems, multiplayer favourites and all-time Xbox classics, it's easy to spend longer browsing than actually gaming.

It is admittedly, however, a strange time to be an Xbox fan, and that’s in part down to the Game Pass concept itself. Microsoft bet the house on its subscription service pulling in gamers looking for a value proposition, and hoovered up studios to support that goal and bolster the library with exclusive titles. And though the games are there — there are literally hundreds on Game Pass, at least on its top ‘Ultimate’ tier — the profits seemingly haven’t been. Xbox is undergoing a massive restructuring program that’s seen it let go of thousands of staff members, and the jettisoning of entire studios.

It’s an ongoing gamble then for Microsoft and the developers it represents, but, with prices recently reduced, Game Pass subscribers remain definite winners.

The beauty of Xbox Game Pass isn't simply the size of its library, but instead its sheer variety. One evening you can be carving through demons in Doom: The Dark Ages, the next you're tending crops in Stardew Valley, before disappearing into a 100-hour RPG like The Witcher 3 or Persona 5 Royal.

Whether you're completely new to Xbox or a lifelong fan, these 40 games represent the very best of what Microsoft's subscription service has to offer. Download any one of them and you'll quickly understand why Game Pass remains the cherry on top when it comes to playing on Xbox.

The best Xbox Game Pass games

1. Absolum

Modern side-scrolling beat 'em ups are enjoying a renaissance, and Absolum is among the finest examples. Mixing beautifully animated hand-drawn visuals (remember the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon? This is for you) with roguelike progression, every run unlocks new abilities, weapons and tactics. It captures the pick-up-and-play fun of arcade classics while giving you plenty of reasons to jump back in for another run.

• Best for: Players who love classic arcade action with plenty of replay value.

2. Assassin's Creed Origins

Origins didn't just move Assassin's Creed to Ancient Egypt, it reinvented the franchise as a full-blown RPG series. Sure, that’s been for better and for worse in recent years, but Origins remains a series high point. That’s largely down to its setting: vast deserts, bustling settlements and towering pyramids provide one of Ubisoft's most beautiful open worlds, while Bayek's heartfelt story gives the series one of its strongest protagonists. It's an adventure that still feels fresh years after release, and arguably hasn’t been bettered by the Creed RPGs that followed.

• Best for: Fans of huge open worlds, history and exploration.

3. Avowed

Obsidian has spent decades making brilliant RPGs, and Avowed continues that tradition. Set in the fantasy world of Eora, it combines surprisingly-meaty first-person combat, meaningful dialogue choices and richly written companions. Every decision feels important, while magical abilities encourage plenty of experimentation throughout your journey. Eora is really well realised too — more colourful and densely packed than Skyrim, or even Obsidian’s own darling, Fallout New Vegas.

• Best for: RPG fans who like shaping their own adventure.

4. Batman: Arkham Knight

Rocksteady's Batman trilogy reached an explosive conclusion with Arkham Knight. The free-flow combat system remains one of gaming's best, stealth encounters reward careful planning and Gotham has never looked better. Ignore the criticism surrounding the Batmobile — this is still one of the greatest superhero games ever made, and I’d argue the best ever iteration of the Batverse in any medium. Come at me, Nolan-heads

• Best for: Anyone who's ever wanted to be Batman. Which is all of us, right?

5. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

One of the biggest breakout surprises of recent years, Expedition 33 blends turn-based combat with perfectly timed real-time actions to create something genuinely fresh in the JRPG world. We say JRPG, but JRPG inspired would be more accurate, as it’s actually been made by a French studio (Sandfall Interactive), enamoured with the Final Fantasy series. Combined with stunning art direction, superb performances and an emotional story, it's the sort of RPG that stays with you long after the credits roll.

• Best for: Players who value unforgettable storytelling alongside brilliant combat.

6. Control

Imagine The X-Files directed by Christopher Nolan, then turn it into an action game. That's Control. Remedy's supernatural thriller fills every corridor of the Federal Bureau of Control with mystery, while telekinetic powers make every firefight surreally chaotic. Few games are stranger, or more entertaining. With a sequel on the way, it’s a good time to dive in, too.

• Best for: Fans of weird sci-fi and spectacular supernatural action.

7. Cyberpunk 2077

Forget its rocky launch. After years of updates, Cyberpunk 2077 has become one of the finest RPGs on modern consoles. Night City is packed with memorable characters, side stories and incredible world-building, while the combat allows you to become anything from a stealthy hacker to an unstoppable cybernetic powerhouse. It’s an all-timer, and shouldn’t be missed.

• Best for: William Gibson fans who love immersive role-playing games.

8. Death Stranding Director's Cut

No game divides opinion quite like Death Stranding. Until the naysayers actually play it, at least. Yes, you’re a glorified postman, but beneath that surface lies a thoughtful, strangely moving adventure about rebuilding society after catastrophe. It's beautiful, at times relaxing, occasionally bizarre and unlike anything else on Xbox Game Pass. Hideo Kojima at his weird best.

• Best for: Players looking for something completely different.

9. Deathloop

Groundhog Day with shotguns, Arkane's ingenious shooter traps two assassins inside an endlessly repeating day, encouraging players to learn, experiment and gradually unravel the perfect murder. Slick gunplay, imaginative level design and plenty of dark humour keep every loop feeling rewarding, even when your plans inevitably go spectacularly wrong. Deathloop has an incredible sense of style too, feeling like one of those sexy James Bond opening credit sequences, thanks to its 60s inspired style.

• Best for: Shooter fans who enjoy experimentation over brute force.

10. Diablo IV

Diablo IV understands one thing better than almost any other game: the thrill of finding better loot. Every dungeon promises another legendary weapon or game-changing upgrade, while seasonal content gives veterans endless reasons to return. It's dangerously addictive whether you're playing solo or with friends online. If you’re an old-school ARPG fan, the Diablo II remaster is also on Game Pass.

• Best for: Players who love chasing increasingly powerful gear.

11. Disco Elysium: The Final Cut

Disco Elysium swaps swords and gunfights for conversations, detective work and one of the sharpest scripts ever written for a role-playing video game. As an amnesiac detective investigating a murder in a decaying coastal city, every decision shapes both the case and your deeply flawed protagonist. Equal parts hilarious, philosophical and heartbreaking, it's a game that trusts players to think, question and role-play in ways few others dare. The soundtrack by British alt-rockers Sea Power is absolutely breath-taking, too.

• Best for: People ready to have an argument with a necktie over the malaise of later-day capitalism.

12. Dishonored 2

Stealth games rarely offer as much freedom as Dishonored 2. You can ghost through entire levels without harming anyone, unleash supernatural chaos or invent your own creative solutions. Combined with exceptional world-building and memorable missions, it's still one of Arkane's greatest achievements.

• Best for: Players who enjoy tackling challenges their own way.

13. Doom: The Dark Ages

The Doom Slayer swaps Mars for medieval battlefields, but the core appeal remains gloriously simple: move fast, hit hard and leave absolutely nothing standing. Brutal melee combat, enormous weapons and spectacular boss fights make this one of the most satisfying shooters on Game Pass. Don’t forget that basically every other Doom game ever is on Game Pass too, and they’re almost all uniformly excellent — we’re just going for the newest, shiniest one here.

• Best for: Anyone who likes their shooters loud, fast and gory.

14. Fable II

Lionhead's fantasy RPG remains one of Xbox's most beloved exclusives. Its wonderfully British sense of humour, memorable moral choices and charming fantasy world still hold up remarkably well. While newer RPGs may be bigger, few are quite as effortlessly likeable as this Xbox 360 classic. A good one to dip into ahead of the franchise’s big budget revamp, landing in 2027.

• Best for: Players nostalgic for a quaintly British sense of humour, and the long-gone charm of Lionhead’s games.

15. Fallout 4

You’ve seen the show, now play one of the games that inspired it. Bethesda's post-apocalyptic Boston is packed with stories waiting to be discovered. Whether you're building settlements, hunting legendary monsters or simply wandering into another strange side quest, Fallout 4 rewards curiosity better than almost any other open-world game. You can easily lose hundreds of hours here, and Game Pass has the rest of the modern entries in the franchise, too, if one apocalyptic fix isn’t enough for you.

• Best for: Explorers who like a side helping of dark humour.

16. Forza Horizon 6

No racing series understands pure fun quite like Forza Horizon. Playground Games has refined its open-world formula once again, delivering spectacular visuals as it takes us to its recreation of Japan, with hundreds of cars and enough events to keep petrolheads busy for months. It's approachable for beginners while still rewarding dedicated driving enthusiasts.

• Best for: Anyone who loves driving games without the seriousness of simulators.

17. Gears 5 Game of the Year Edition

The Gears series has always excelled at blockbuster action, and Gears 5 expands the formula without losing its identity. Crunchy cover-based shooting, spectacular set pieces and excellent co-op make this one of the strongest entries in Microsoft's longest-running franchises. There’s still no better gun in gaming than the chainsaw-equipped Lancer, too.

• Best for: Players looking for a cinematic co-op shooter in the vein of a muscle-bound 80s action film.

18. Hades II

Following one of gaming's greatest roguelikes was never going to be easy, but Supergiant has somehow pulled it off. Hades II delivers lightning-fast combat, gorgeous artwork and brilliantly written characters, ensuring that every defeat simply becomes another excuse for one more addictive run.

• Best for: Players who love to master combat systems.

19. Halo: The Master Chief Collection

Six legendary Halo campaigns. Iconic multiplayer. Decades of Xbox history. The Master Chief Collection isn't just one of the most generously stuffed titles on Game Pass, it's essential gaming homework for any FPS fan. Whether you're revisiting old favourites or experiencing Halo for the first time, this collection remains unmatched, a love letter to one of the most important series in all of gaming.

• Best for: FPS fans wanting to experience some timeless shooting action.

20. Hi-Fi Rush

Hi-Fi Rush arrived with almost no warning before immediately becoming one of Xbox's best exclusives. A sonic symphony tied to a third person action game, every attack lands to the beat of its infectious soundtrack, for an experience that feels like starring in an interactive music video. Super stylish and guaranteed to get a foot tapping.

• Best for: Music lovers who appreciate inventive action games.

21. Hogwarts Legacy

Yeah, JK Rowling has tarnished Potter’s actual legacy a bit, but let’s not take that out on the truly sublime Hogwarts Legacy, which fully delivers on the ‘Yer a wizard [INSERT YOUR NAME HERE]’ fantasy. Whether you're a lifelong Harry Potter fan or simply love a good fantasy RPG, Hogwarts Legacy is a magical way to lose dozens of hours. Exploring Hogwarts itself is the real highlight, with secret passages, moving staircases and hidden rooms capturing the wonder of the books better than any previous game.

• Best for: Anyone who's ever wanted to receive their Hogwarts letter.

22. Hollow Knight

Don't let its charming art style fool you, Hollow Knight is one of the toughest games on Game Pass. Team Cherry's haunting underground kingdom rewards patience, precision and curiosity, with every shortcut, boss victory and hidden area feeling genuinely earned. It's a modern Metroidvania masterpiece, and we’d argue better than its successor Silksong, which just veers too far into brutal territory to be anything other than frustrating.

• Best for: Players who enjoy difficult games that reward perseverance. Goth Entomologists.

23. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has no right being as good as it is. MachineGames somehow pulled off the impossible by creating an Indiana Jones game that genuinely feels like one of the classic films. In fact, it’s the best bit of Indy adventuring we’ve had since 1989’s The Last Crusade. Blending puzzle-solving, fist fights, exploration and globe-trotting adventure, The Great Circle perfectly captures the wit, charm and excitement of Spielberg's iconic hero, with actor Troy Baker totally capturing the essence of Harrison Ford’s character.

• Best for: Those who think Indiana Jones DOESN’T belong in a museum.

24. Inside

Some games don't need pages of dialogue to leave an impression. Inside tells an unforgettable story almost entirely through atmosphere, clever environmental puzzles and unsettling imagery, as you guide a lone boy through an unnerving, Lynchian nightmare world. It's only a few hours long, but you'll probably spend far longer thinking about its unforgettable ending once the credits roll.

• Best for: Players looking for a short game with a lasting impact.

25. It Takes Two

Few games celebrate cooperative play as brilliantly as It Takes Two, which makes having a co-player a requirement. Every level introduces fresh mechanics, ensuring the experience never becomes repetitive, while its heartfelt story about repairing a fractured relationship gives the adventure surprising emotional weight. A real mastery of the art of multiplayer — and a test of your real-world friendships and communication skills.

• Best for: Couples, friends or family members looking for the ultimate co-op game.

26. Mass Effect Legendary Edition

Three incredible sci-fi RPGs, dozens of unforgettable characters and hundreds of decisions that shape the fate of an entire galaxy. The best Star Trek game that never was. The Legendary Edition packages one of gaming's greatest trilogies — seeing you recruit a rag tag crew of spacefarers and aliens to take on an ancient intergalactic enemy force — into a beautifully remastered collection that's every bit as compelling today as it was when Commander Shepard first sat at the thrusters of the Normandy. Bioware at its all-time best.

• Best for: Sci-fi fans who love deep storytelling and memorable companions.

27. Minecraft

The biggest game in the world earned that title for good reason. Minecraft can be whatever you want it to be: a survival adventure, a creative sandbox, a multiplayer playground or a peaceful escape. Whether you're building castles or exploring underground caverns, there's always another project waiting. Just leave those ‘chicken jockey!’ screams out of my cinema, please.

• Best for: Creative players who enjoy making their own adventures.

28. No Man's Sky

No Man's Sky has completed one of gaming's greatest redemption stories. Years of free updates have transformed Hello Games' ambitious space exploration title into a colossal universe packed with near-infinite planets to discover, ships to customise and alien worlds to colonise. It's endlessly compelling and constantly surprising. If you only played it at its shaky launch period, dive back in, as it now fully delivers on that ‘explore the stars’ promise it first offered.

• Best for: Explorers who want near-limitless freedom.

29. Ori and the Will of the Wisps

Moon Studios followed one masterpiece with another. Ori and the Will of the Wisps combines razor-sharp platforming, satisfying combat and breathtaking visuals into a fairytale-like adventure that's as emotionally moving as it is technically impressive. Every leap, dash and wall jump feels wonderfully responsive from beginning to end — think of this as a more forgiving alternative to Hollow Knight.

• Best for: Players who appreciate beautiful platformers with emotional stories.

30. Pentiment

Obsidian proves it doesn't need dragons or epic battles to create a brilliant RPG. Set in 16th-century Bavaria, Pentiment casts you as artist Andreas Maler as a series of murders unravels the quiet town of Tassing. Inspired by illuminated manuscripts and medieval woodcuts, its striking art style is matched by thoughtful writing, memorable characters and decisions whose consequences echo across decades. It's a slow-burn mystery that rewards patience with one of the most intelligent stories on Game Pass.

• Best for: Players who enjoy historical mysteries, outstanding writing and choices that genuinely matter.

31. Prey

Arkane's overlooked masterpiece deserves far more attention than it originally received. Set aboard a space station overrun by shape-shifting aliens, Prey gives players extraordinary freedom to tackle problems however they choose. Every encounter rewards creativity, making it one of the smartest immersive sims ever made.

• Best for: Players who like experimenting instead of following one solution. NOT FOR: Paranoid players who jumpscare at an out-of-place coffee mug.

32. Psychonauts 2

Double Fine's long-awaited sequel proved the studio’s madcap creativity was still flowing like a torrent, with a Burton-esque psychedelic platforming adventure. Jumping into people's minds allows every level to explore wildly different visual ideas, while the writing balances laugh-out-loud humour with surprisingly thoughtful explorations of mental health, family and identity.

• Best for: Fans of quirky platformers and quirky animations — this one pulls from the best of them.

33. Resident Evil Village

Resident Evil Village feels like Capcom's greatest hits album. Gothic horror, frantic action, terrifying monsters and brilliantly designed locations all combine into one unforgettable adventure. Whether you're fleeing Lady Dimitrescu's castle or surviving its later gory horrors, Village constantly keeps players guessing — and screaming.

• Best for: Horror fans who enjoy blockbuster thrills rather than pure scares.

34. Sea of Thieves

No multiplayer game creates stories quite like Sea of Thieves. Primed for online play, you’ll need to pull together a gang of mates to help you man a pirate ship with painstaking detail, despite the cartoon visuals. Yes, you’ll need to drop the anchor. Yes you’ll need to unfurl the sails. Yes, you’ll even need to grab a bucket and bail out water if the ship springs a leak. It’s the ultimate pirate fantasy simulator, without being po-faced about it — one minute you'll be peacefully digging for treasure, the next you're battling skeleton ships while another pirate crew steals your loot. Every voyage becomes unpredictable, hilarious and completely unique, especially when played with friends over voice chat.

• Best for: Groups looking to create memorable multiplayer moments together.

35. Star Wars Outlaws

Unfairly maligned on release, this is one of the best Star Wars games of recent times. Rather than making you another Jedi, Star Wars Outlaws lets you experience life in the galaxy's criminal underworld. Smuggling cargo, outsmarting rival syndicates and exploring beautifully built planets makes this giant open world game one of the best Star Wars adventures in years, and much better than the sum of its parts. Kay Vess is a likeable new hero, too, despite the naysayers.

• Best for: Star Wars fans looking for something beyond lightsabers.

36. Stardew Valley

What’s left to be said about Stardew Valley, the cosy game to end all cosy games? Grow crops, make friends and slowly transform an overgrown farm into your own peaceful paradise. It's chill gaming at its absolute finest and remains dangerously easy to lose entire weekends to.

• Best for: Anyone looking to unwind after a stressful day.

37. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition

If you've somehow never played Skyrim, firstly…what rock have you been living under? And secondly, Game Pass gives you the perfect excuse to fix that. Bethesda's fantasy epic remains astonishingly easy to disappear into, with dragons to slay, guilds to join and endless caves waiting to be explored. A truly gigantic game to get lost in, there’s a reason that fifteen years after its original release it’s still sucking players back into its goblin-filled icy tundras.

• Best for: Players wanting one of gaming's greatest open-world RPGs.

38. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition

Many RPGs promise meaningful storytelling, but The Witcher 3 actually delivers it. Even seemingly minor side quests often become unforgettable tales, while Geralt remains one of gaming's greatest protagonists. Add two exceptional expansions, and you've got hundreds of hours of world-class fantasy waiting to be experienced.

• Best for: Fans of darker fantasy ready to sink serious time into an unforgettable adventure.

39. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4

These remakes prove some games never lose their magic. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 perfectly recreates the addictive "one more run" feeling that made the originals legendary, while modern visuals and smoother controls make them feel better than ever before. They’ll make you feel like anyone can pull off a Superman… until you go and try it in the real world and break an ankle, of course.

• Best for: Anyone craving nostalgia, high score chasing and a punk-rock soundtrack.

40. Tunic

Tunic looks adorable, but appearances can be deceptive. Beneath its colourful world lies an ingenious adventure packed with hidden mechanics, cryptic puzzles and surprisingly demanding combat. Discovering how its mysterious in-game instruction manual works is one of the most satisfying moments you'll experience in any modern game. If Zelda and Dark Souls had a love child, and put it in a furry costume, Tunic is what you’d get.

Best for: Curious players who love uncovering secrets without being guided.

• The best Steam Deck games: 35 essential titles for Valve’s handheld PC wonder

Frightfest is one of the highlights of London’s cinema calendar each year. But in 2026, we’re getting a little livener for those who enjoy gaming as well as movies.

SEGA will snatch a spot at Odeon Luxe in Leicester Square to show off Alien: Isolation 2, the sequel to one of the very best horror video games ever made.

Frightfest attendees will be able to play the game themselves, as part of a “prologue” preview that to date mostly only gaming jounalists have had the opportunity to play.

The bad news: we won't be playing on one of the cinema’s actual screens — those things are in short supply during Frightfest. SEGA will instead setup a demo pod for play sessions.

“Partnering with FrightFest is a perfect match. Their audience appreciates the craft of fear, and we can’t wait to let them experience the relentless dread of Alien: Isolation 2 firsthand,” says Al Hope, Creative Director at Creative Assembly — the game’s developer.

A rare luxury Alien screening

As part of the partnership, the original Alien will also be shown at Odeon Luxe’s top-billing screening room, arguably the most plush public screen in all of London, complete with luxury recliner seats, at 3pm on 30th August.

This may not sound too special. A horror movie shown at a horror fest is the norm, right? It’s not, though, as Frightfest is typically used to screen brand new movies. Plenty of the screenings are actual world premieres too.

A screening from 1979 is a rarity.

Not familiar with Alien: Isolation? It’s a game in which you are stalked around a space station by a relentless Xenomorph. Unpredictable and terrifying, the original still holds up more than a decade on — it was originally released in 2014.

Alien: Isolation 2 was announced in June 2026 and does not yet have a concrete release date. This demo may be the most convenient way for Londoners to have a play before that date arrives. Its other big upcoming showing will be at Gamescom in Cologne, from 26th August.

Frightfest 2026 tickets are available now, although as usual the most desirable seats sold out in no time — despite being released just a few days ago. A few Balcony area festival passes are available at the time of writing, for £225.

Those tickets offer reserved seating for the main screening room, while day passes and single tickets for the four Discovery Screen flicks go on sale on 25th July. Frightfest takes place between 27th and 31st August this year.

• The BIG London Cinema List 2026: Film festivals, seasons, Q&As and rep screenings

Amid the big gaming noise of bland triple-A bluster, big-publisher mergers and even bigger mass layoffs, you can sometimes forget that there’s thousands of small creative teams around the world slaving away on some really interesting things for you to play, see and do.

Which is why the Convergence Games Showcase was launched, running must-see events three times a year that spotlight the best new indie games currently in the pipeline, broadcast live on Twitch and YouTube and hosted and commentated on by expert game streamers.

Their latest event was yesterday (16th July), which showed off 70 games either out now or in development across two-and-half hours of live gameplay, exclusive trailers and unseen demos. And of the games shown from 29 different countries, three of the best were from the English capital.

Here are some must-play titles with London backing to subtly drop into your next Steam binge or pub convo…

1. The Mermaid Mask by SFB Games

London-based developer and publisher SFB Games, founded by brothers Tom and Adam Vian, have been pulling up virtual trees since the Flash and browser-game days. With notable wins such as Nintendo collab ‘Snipperclips: Cut It Out, Together!’ for the Switch launch and the critically acclaimed survival horror ‘Crow Country’ under their belts, though, they’ve established their own distinctive style of hand-drawn artwork, quirky humour and inventive puzzles.

The latest in their point-and-click Detective Grimoire mystery series is The Mermaid Mask, which launched yesterday as part of the Convergence showcase, alongside news that it will soon be coming to Switch and PlayStation platforms as well as the humble PC.

A locked-room mystery in the world’s strangest submarine, it has all of the brothers’ trademarks as well as the kind of heady-scratching problem-solving reminiscent of Lucasarts’ finest. A credit to the capital.

• Buy or wishlist on Steam

2. MAVRIX by Cascade Interactive

There’s nothing more British than pedalling as fast as you can over mud bumps till you fall flat on your face. Headquartered in London, publisher Cascade Interactive’s latest game, MAVRIX, lets you do just that, and more besides. The new high-speed downhill mountain-bike sim sandbox, created in partnership with Leamington Spa dev Third Kind Games and Milton Keynes-born pro MTB rider and Red Bull athlete Matt Jones, is as rad as rides get.

Launching out of Early Access yesterday, too, as part of the Convergence showcase, the 1.0 update of the multiplayer open-world biking behemoth showed off new features such as jump trails, custom frames and (very 2026) sponsors. It was one of the key titles handed the live demo treatment, with bike-gaming expert and Twitch/YouTube creator SamTaborGaming giving it a one-hour test drive after the show. If Tony Hawk was training to be a Deliveroo driver, this would be his go-to.

• Buy or wishlist on Steam

3. Remote Control by Weekend Games

If you’ve ever daydreamed about the mundanity of your office job, this one’s for you. Our third capital craic of note is from Weekend Games, part of London-based marketing and publishing agency Secret Sauce, and it’s pure City boy hell. Control remote workers from the comfort of your desk in a dark mix of old-school dungeon crawling and psychological horror through the truly British terror of typing efficiently.

Weekend champions games from a lot of British devs (including Echobreaker from Surrey’s Upstream Arcade) but Remote Control, from Brighton developer Canteen Games, looks the business, somehow both mundanely familiar and unsettlingly dystopian. It’s launching in autumn, so best add it to your To-Do list now.

• Buy or wishlist on Steam

Catch up on the rest of the Convergence Games Showcase on-demand at their website or on their YouTube page. For the full list of wishlistable games from the show, visit their Steam hub.

• The best Steam Deck games: 35 essential titles for Valve’s handheld PC wonder

Olivia Rodrigo is heading to Fortnite – and she's swapping headshots for heartbreak, butterflies and karaoke.

The three-time Grammy winner officially joins Fortnite's coveted Icon Series today (25th June), becoming the latest music superstar to cross over into Epic Games' ever-expanding digital universe.

Launching at 8pm ET (1am BST), the collaboration arrives just as Rodrigo's third album, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, continues its chart-conquering run. The record delivered another milestone for the singer-songwriter, making her the first artist to debut her first three lead singles at No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100, while all three of her studio albums have opened atop the Billboard 200.

Now Fortnite players can step directly into Rodrigo's world.

SOUR skins

The crossover includes two playable skins inspired by different eras of the singer's career. The SOUR Olivia Rodrigo Outfit channels the purple-hued aesthetic of her breakthrough debut, while the Lover Girl Olivia Rodrigo Outfit celebrates her latest album. Both come with reactive styles and LEGO Fortnite variants.

Fans can also pick up a collection of themed cosmetics, including Olivia's Butterfly Wings Back Bling, new emotes based on good 4 u and maggots for brains, plus three Jam Tracks featuring drop dead, maggots for brains and the Rodrigo classic deja vu. Someone really needs to show her where that SHIFT key on her keyboard is.

The timing isn't accidental. Epic is also launching Fortnite Festival Karaoke on mobile, allowing players on iOS and Android to sing along to six Olivia Rodrigo tracks with performances scored in real time.

"I've always loved how Fortnite brings people together in a really specific way," Rodrigo said. "It's exciting to have my music brought into this world and to have players embrace different looks from my albums."

There's even a freebie for dedicated fans. Rodrigo now appears as an NPC on the Battle Royale island, and players who track her down and jam nearby can unlock a Heart Locket Spray and exclusive Loading Screen at no extra cost.

The Olivia Rodrigo takeover runs until 25th July.

• The best Steam Deck games: 35 essential titles for Valve’s handheld PC wonder

Sony may have plans to go way beyond the PlayStation 5’s DualSense tech, with gamepad buttons that can become harder and softer to the touch.

It sounds mad, but comes with a caveat. This is not a gamepad we expect to see any time soon as it’s a design outlined in a patent, not a product announcement.

But it is pretty wild regardless.

It uses what’s called a magneto-viscoelastic elastomer, a rubber-like material that can become harder or softer depending on how a magnetic field is applied.

This could potentially be adjusted to personal preference, mirroring how some gamepads have customisable triggers. Or it could reflect something in the game itself, which is a more interesting exploitation of this technology.

The most dynamic example discussed in the filing is of a squishy button hardening as the player’s finger is depressing it, in order to reflect the player character being grabbed by an enemy. Creepy stuff.

Sony’s filing also describes how you could achieve a similar effect using “fluid-filled” membranes.

It’s a completely different kind of techy feedback to what you get in a PlayStation 5 DualSense controller, which uses haptic motors to make the triggers feel softer or harder. The two forms of feedback are kinda related in effect, then, just not so much in how those effects are achieved.

This patent filing was submitted back in 2024, but wasn’t published until 2026.

We’d love to see this kind of next-generation gamepad tech become a reality, but tech giants publish loads of these patents, and heaps of them never actually amount to anything.

And even if does become a reality we’d still be facing the same eye-rolling thing that holds back DualSense — that barely any games really make proper use of this awesome haptic potential.

What’s actually next for PlayStation hardware? A wireless fight stick is coming in August, called the FlexStrike. Out in the rumour sphere, Sony is also reportedly working on a handheld, and one that can actually play games rather than simply streaming them like the PlayStation Portal.

• The 6 most exciting announcements from PlayStation's June State of Play

As part of its 25th birthday celebrations, Xbox has unveiled a new limited-edition Series X console and controller inspired by the look and feel of the machine that launched the brand back in 2001.

Dubbed the Xbox Series X25 Limited Edition, the console takes the modern Series X and wraps it in a translucent OG Green finish that immediately recalls the chunky black-and-green aesthetic of the original Xbox.

It's the first time Microsoft has brought a translucent design to the Series X, and the nostalgia doesn't stop there. The console features a glowing green Xbox logo, special 25th anniversary branding and a number of hidden details designed as nods to the platform's history and the players who helped build it over the last quarter of a century.

The matching Xbox Wireless Controller X25 Special Edition follows a similar approach. Finished in the same translucent green, it features the original Xbox ABXY button colours, transparent rear housing and references to the infamous Duke controller, including shoulder buttons inspired by the original controller's black and white face buttons.

The announcement came during the Xbox Games Showcase 2026, where Microsoft used the occasion to celebrate both its future and its past. Alongside a slate of new game announcements, the company also confirmed that both Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution will launch as Xbox console exclusives, underlining its renewed focus on the platform's hardware ecosystem.

For longtime fans, though, the anniversary collection will no doubt be the standout reveal. The original Xbox launched on the 15th of November 2001 and helped establish franchises including Halo, Fable and Forza, while laying the foundations for what would become one of gaming's biggest brands.

The Xbox Series X25 Limited Edition and Xbox Wireless Controller X25 Special Edition will launch in select markets this November. The controller will also be sold separately, with pricing and pre-order details expected to be announced closer to release.

• The 6 most exciting announcements from PlayStation's June State of Play

Sony officially kicked off this year's summer gaming showcase season with a packed June State of Play that leaned heavily on big first-party projects, long-awaited updates and a handful of genuine surprises.

While there weren't quite as many announcements as some fans had hoped for, the show still delivered plenty to get excited about, including the reveal of an entirely new God of War game, a substantial gameplay showcase for Marvel's Wolverine and the unexpected return of Until Dawn.

Throw in some impressive-looking action RPGs, a cult classic revival and one of the most unsettling horror games we've seen in a while, and PlayStation has given players plenty to talk about ahead of what's shaping up to be a busy few years for PS5 owners.

1. God of War: Laufey

The biggest announcement of the night came right at the end, with Santa Monica Studio unveiling God of War: Laufey.

Rather than putting players back in control of Kratos or Atreus, the new game stars Faye, Kratos' late wife and Atreus' mother, who fans have only previously encountered through flashbacks and stories. The extended gameplay demo opens with Kratos seemingly cremating Faye's body, before she awakens in a strange afterlife populated by creatures, gods and mythological threats from multiple worlds.

Deborah Ann Woll reprises her role as Faye, and the footage showcases the same brutal, cinematic combat the series is known for, albeit with a much faster and more agile protagonist. There was also, somewhat unexpectedly, a talking gelatinous cube voiced by Jack Quaid.

No release date has been announced yet, but it's already shaping up to be PlayStation's next major blockbuster.

2. Marvel's Wolverine

After a period of relative silence, Insomniac finally gave fans a substantial new look at Marvel's Wolverine.

The gameplay reveal showed Logan tracking down a group of kidnapped mutants, carving through enemies in gloriously bloody fashion while proving this is very much not another Spider-Man game. The combat looks heavier, nastier and significantly more violent than anything Insomniac has tackled before.

There was also a surprise appearance from Jean Grey, hinting that Wolverine's adventure could have wider X-Men implications than previously expected.

Most importantly, the showcase confirmed a release date. Marvel's Wolverine launches on the 15th of September 2026.

3. Until Dawn 2

One of the night's biggest shocks came with the reveal of Until Dawn 2.

The sequel swaps snowy mountains for a seemingly idyllic tropical island, where a group of ghost hunters quickly discover they've made a terrible mistake. Judging by the trailer, players can expect masked killers, supernatural horrors and plenty of opportunities to accidentally get everyone killed.

The original Until Dawn became a cult hit thanks to its branching storylines and choice-driven gameplay, and it looks like the sequel will be doubling down on that formula.

Until Dawn 2 is currently scheduled for release in 2027.

4. Phantom Blade Zero

We've seen Phantom Blade Zero before, but every new trailer somehow manages to make it look even more impressive.

The latest footage showcased its lightning-fast sword combat, acrobatic martial arts and horrifying supernatural enemies, blending wuxia action cinema with dark fantasy horror. It remains one of the most visually striking games currently in development and could become a serious contender among action RPG fans.

Following the showcase, developer S-Game confirmed Phantom Blade Zero will launch on the 29th of October 2026 for PlayStation 5 and PC.

5. Stuntman Hollywood

Perhaps the most surprising reveal of the entire showcase was the return of Stuntman.

The cult driving franchise, which first launched back in the PS2 era, is being revived with a new entry that appears to recreate iconic moments from famous films and television shows. Footage shown during the presentation included sequences clearly inspired by Back to the Future and Knight Rider.

It's a niche revival, but exactly the kind of unexpected announcement that State of Play showcases often do best.

6. ILL might be the most disturbing game Sony showed

If Resident Evil and body horror movies are your thing, ILL is worth keeping an eye on.

The trailer was packed with grotesque creatures, disturbing transformations and some genuinely stomach-turning imagery. Set in a world overrun by horrifying monsters, the game appears to lean heavily into realistic physics and graphic dismemberment, creating some of the most unsettling enemy encounters shown during the event.

There's still plenty we don't know, but based on this latest footage, ILL could end up being one of the most talked-about horror games of 2027 and makes the list because the trailer is absolutely minging.

State of Play didn't have quite the volume of announcements some fans were hoping for, but between God of War: Laufey, Marvel's Wolverine finally getting a release date, and the surprise reveal of Until Dawn 2, Sony certainly delivered a few major talking points. The biggest winner, though, was arguably God of War. We've been waiting for some time to find out where we will be going next after Ragnarok, and Laufey looks like a good evolution for the series. You can check out the full showcase below:

• Pac-Man, kart racing and alien battles are coming to London’s Southbank

Was Nintendo’s movement-based Wii a blip on the gaming cultural radar? The modern games console is usually designed around one thing: sitting still. Whether it’s sprawling online adventures or endless YouTube rabbit holes, most screen time now happens sprawled across the sofa with little movement.

Nex Playground wants to change that.

Launching in the UK and Ireland this summer after selling close to a million units in North America (it outsold the Xbox overseas last year), the motion-controlled console has quickly built a reputation as a different kind of gaming machine — one aimed squarely at families who want children to be active, social and safely entertained in the same space.

A tiny cube that sits in front of your TV and ditches traditional controllers for hands-free movement, the camera-equipped console tracks your frantic waves and weaves, and is designed to be as simple to use as possible. And it’s mighty good fun for all the family, from toddlers right up to nan and grandad.

Here are five reasons why it might become one of the most interesting family tech launches of 2026.

Nex Playground: In Short…

• A controller-free family games console that uses motion tracking
• Launches in the UK in late June 2026, with pre-orders opening from May 18th through retailers including Amazon UK, Argos and Smyths Toys
• Pricing starts at £269 in the UK, which includes the console and five starter games
• Play Pass subscription costs £90 annually or £45 quarterly, unlocking a library of more than 60 games
• Family-friendly franchises and games, with titles tied to Bluey, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Sesame Street and more
• Focussed around child safety and privacy — with no ads, no in-app purchases, no open internet access

1. It Turns Screen Time Into Active Play

Perhaps the biggest selling point of Nex Playground is that it gets players moving.

Unlike traditional consoles that rely on controllers, Nex uses motion tracking to turn players’ bodies into the controller itself. A small camera on the front of the cube is able to see into your room, picking up the players in front of it, and translating the movements of their arms and legs into controls for the games. With Nex Playground games, you’ll be jumping, stretching, dancing, running on the spot and mimicking actions on-screen, making it feel closer to offline play than your standard game session.

That approach has already drawn comparisons with the golden era of Nintendo Wii-style gaming, but Nex is arguably simpler and more intuitive, seeing as no controller is needed — a remote control is included just for navigating menus.

For parents increasingly concerned about their kids being glued to screens, that physical element is a major draw. Nex is positioning the console as an antidote to endless scrolling and sedentary entertainment, and the timing is notable. In both Britain and Ireland, conversations around children’s screen time and online wellbeing have intensified over the past year, creating demand for devices that feel healthier and more purposeful.

2. It’s Built Specifically With Families in Mind

Games consoles from the big three manufacturers — Sony’s PlayStation, Microsoft’s Xbox and Nintendo’s Switch — try to be all things to all people. Hardcore shooters sit next to cosy farming sims, horror games sit next to cutesy platformers. They are not especially tailored to children, meaning ensuring a child is playing an appropriate title can take a fair bit of preparation.

It’s here where Nex feels it can win, where previous motion-based consoles (like Microsoft’s mega-selling Kinect, which eventually fell from favour with core gamers who demanded more complex experiences) failed. Nex Playground feels different because families are clearly the priority from the outset.

The system is designed as a closed ecosystem, meaning there are no ads, no web browsing functions and no mature content unexpectedly surfacing through recommendations or online interactions. Every game on the platform is published directly by Nex, giving the company tighter control over quality and age suitability.

That safety-first philosophy has become a major part of the brand’s identity. Nex Playground aligns with GDPR requirements, carries PEGI 3 ratings on its starter bundle and maintains kidSAFE+ certification alongside COPPA compliance in the United States.

Importantly, the console also addresses privacy concerns in ways many larger tech brands have been criticised for ignoring. Motion-tracking data is processed locally on the device rather than uploaded externally, and every console includes a physical camera cover.

In a market where many parents remain uneasy about connected devices listening, recording or collecting data, that straightforward emphasis on trust feels refreshingly direct.

The same goes for hidden fees — while there’s a subscription cost to access the vast majority of games available on Nex Playground (a service which feels essential to get the most out of the console, and should be factored into any purchase price), the team has vowed to never allow in-app purchases in its apps. Pay that subscription fee, and that’s all — little Jimmy won’t be running up a thousand-pound bill for Dora the Explorer skins.

3. The Games Library Is Surprisingly Broad

A motion-controlled family console only works if the games are good enough to sustain attention beyond the first week. That appears to be where Nex has quietly exceeded expectations.

The platform now includes more than 60 games covering sports, dance, fitness and educational experiences, with recognisable children’s brands helping broaden its appeal. Bluey is there. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are there. Elmo and Cookie Monster make an appearance. You don’t even have to have kids to recognise the characters fronting games here.

That variety matters because it prevents the console from feeling like a novelty fitness gadget, and having access to all of them under one subscription lets you flit between them all without a major commitment.

Kids in the US that have been playing with Nex over the past couple of years have been seen to play a wide variety of games, Nex tells us, swapping between energetic party games, educational activities and collaborative family challenges. The ease of play encourages cross-generational appeal too — even those not interested in gaming can get involved immediately.

4. It Encourages Co-operative Play Rather Than Solo Gaming

Online multiplayer has never been more popular, but Nex Playground harks back to the lost-art of local multiplayer experiences. There’s still nothing quite like staring into the whites of the eyes of your competitor, or hi-fiving a game-playing comrade. And with Nex focused around living room play, practically every title on the machine offers multiplayer fun.

Most of its experiences are designed around people sharing the same room, taking turns, competing side-by-side or cooperating physically together. Instead of children disappearing into bedrooms with headphones on, the console encourages communal play in the living room. Parents are more likely to participate, younger siblings can watch and join in, and gaming becomes a visible household activity rather than a solitary one.

I can see it being a particularly big hit come those major family gatherings like Christmas — there’s no complicated setup or gaming knowledge required to get involved. Nex Playground doesn’t demand existing gaming literacy, meaning grandparents, younger children and casual players can all take part almost immediately.

5. It Feels Like a Fresh Alternative to Current Consoles

At £269 with five starter games included, Nex Playground is not necessarily a budget purchase. Yet compared with the escalating costs associated with mainstream gaming consoles, subscriptions and accessories, it occupies an intriguing middle ground.

More importantly, it offers something genuinely different.

Rather than competing directly with PlayStation, Xbox or Nintendo on graphical power or blockbuster franchises, Nex has carved out a niche centred around movement, simplicity and family interaction.

And, it's a minor point, but boy, is it cute. With colour-matched cabling and a colourful construction, it's attractive but subtle, its playfulness expressed in the device itself in a way that more serious consoles don't match.

For families looking to make screen time feel more active — and safe from the worries of other digital experiences — Nex Playground may arrive at exactly the right moment.

• The best Nintendo Switch 2 games

The Steam Deck has quietly become the best way to play PC games full stop. Not because it’s the most powerful machine around — it absolutely isn’t — but because Valve’s handheld has nailed something the games industry spent years overcomplicating: convenience.

This is a machine that lets you chip away at a 100-hour RPG on the sofa, sneak in a roguelike run on the train, or replay an indie classic in bed with headphones on and the rain battering the windows outside. It’s the Nintendo Switch energy PC players had been craving for years.

And while every week brings another “Steam Deck Verified” badge, not every game actually feels right on a handheld. The best Steam Deck games are the ones that respect your time, suit shorter sessions, scale beautifully to the Deck’s screen, and don’t require a keyboard shortcut cheat sheet taped to your forehead.

From sprawling epics and endlessly replayable deckbuilders to indie darlings and old-school action classics, these are the Steam Deck games worth installing immediately.

New must-play games

Diablo IV: Lord of Hatred

Buy it on Steam

There was a point where the idea of playing Diablo IV on a handheld sounded faintly absurd. Blizzard’s demon-slaying action RPG is huge, relentlessly online and visually dense — the sort of game traditionally associated with expensive desktop rigs glowing in dark bedrooms at 2am. And yet on Steam Deck, it feels unexpectedly perfect.

Part of that comes down to the structure. Diablo IV is built around loops: quick dungeon clears, gear grinding, seasonal objectives and endlessly tweaking character builds until entire screens explode into showers of gold and gore. Those rhythms naturally suit portable gaming. You can jump in for 20 minutes, complete a Nightmare Dungeon, salvage a mountain of loot and suspend the Deck instantly without disrupting the flow.

What’s also helped is Blizzard’s steady stream of post-launch improvements. The game today feels dramatically stronger than it did at launch, with smarter itemisation, faster levelling and far more satisfying endgame systems.

Vessel of Hatred, the game’s first major expansion, pushed the story deeper into Mephisto’s corruption while introducing the lush jungle region of Nahantu and the agile new Spiritborn class. Blizzard also added Mercenaries, the Dark Citadel co-op activity and major gameplay overhauls alongside the expansion.

Then there’s the all new Lord of Hatred add-on.

The new Skovos region swaps endless muddy wastelands and gothic misery, for an eerie Mediterranean-style island full of ancient temples, cults and sun-bleached ruins, and is one of the most visually interesting places Blizzard has made for Diablo in years.

And then there are the classes. The new Warlock class lets you play like a complete menace — summoning demons, corrupting enemies and chaining together ridiculous spell combinations. Meanwhile the returning Paladin scratches that classic Diablo power fantasy of becoming an unstoppable holy tank smashing through hordes of demons.

But the thing that will keep you glued to the Steam Deck is the loot and build variety. Blizzard’s finally leaned into the sort of experimentation that’s made rivals like Path of Exile such gigantic hits. Skill trees are more flexible, and the new Horadric Cube systems let you customise gear in genuinely interesting ways, letting you spend hours tweaking builds as almost everything feels viable now. Basically, if you bounced off Diablo IV originally because it felt a bit repetitive, the new expansion finally gives the game an identity of its own, not just within the Diablo franchise, but within the wider ARPG genre. Even cynical longtime Diablo fans on Reddit seem cautiously impressed, which honestly might be the strongest endorsement of all.

The result is a version of Diablo IV that feels bigger, darker and considerably more confident than the original release.

• Why it’s great on Steam Deck: Loot-heavy dungeon runs, seasonal grinding and instant suspend-and-resume make it dangerously easy to play for “just 10 minutes” before accidentally losing an entire evening.

The best Steam Deck games

1. Animal Well

Buy it on Steam

One of the cleverest indie games of recent years, Animal Well drops you into a strange subterranean labyrinth full of cryptic puzzles, hidden pathways and deeply unsettling pixel-art creatures. It looks cute from a distance, but there’s something wonderfully eerie beneath the surface.

The joy here comes from Metroidvania-esque discovery. Every screen hides another secret, every item opens up fresh possibilities, and the game trusts players enough to work things out for themselves.

• Why it’s great on Steam Deck: The low-power visuals barely dent battery life, while the pick-up-and-play exploration loop feels perfect for handheld sessions. Just a few MB to download, you’ll hardly notice it on your hard drive, either.

2. Aperture Desk Job

Get it on Steam

Valve essentially made Aperture Desk Job as a playable Steam Deck instruction manual, but thankfully it’s also very funny. Set in the Portal universe, this short comedy adventure turns office work into total chaos.

It’s packed with sharp writing, absurd gadgets and enough in-jokes to keep longtime Valve fans grinning throughout, even if the runtime is only a couple of hours. But hey, it’s a freebie with every Steam Deck purchase, so just fire it up!

• Why it’s great on Steam Deck: It was literally designed to showcase the Steam Deck’s controls, haptics and features.

3. Balatro

Buy it on Steam

The game responsible for thousands of destroyed sleep schedules, Balatro somehow transforms poker into one of the most addictive roguelikes ever made. Every run becomes an escalating whirlwind of jokers, multipliers and gloriously broken point-spiralling combinations.

It’s easy to learn, impossible to stop playing and dangerously suited to the “just one more run” mindset.

• Why it’s great on Steam Deck: Short runs, simple controls and instant suspend-and-resume make it borderline too convenient.

4. Batman: Arkham Asylum

Buy it on Steam

Before superhero games became bloated live-service monsters, Arkham Asylum delivered a tightly focused gothic action adventure with brilliant pacing and still-excellent combat.

Roaming the asylum as Kevin Conroy’s Batman remains a genuine thrill, while Rocksteady’s detective mechanics and predator encounters still hold up remarkably well. Just note that you’ve got to mess around with an ageing launcher to get things running here, requiring some touchscreen use that isn’t best suited for hooking up a Steam Deck to a TV. A minor inconvenience for an all-time great.

• Why it’s great on Steam Deck: Older AAA games are often ideal Deck material, and Arkham Asylum runs beautifully while barely touching the battery.

5. Blue Prince

Buy it on Steam

Part puzzle game, part roguelike mystery box, Blue Prince turns a shifting mansion into one of gaming’s most compelling mind-scratching challenges. Every room placement changes the shape of your run, and every clue drags you deeper into its layered secrets.

It’s exactly the kind of smart, conversation-generating indie hit that flourishes on PC.

• Why it’s great on Steam Deck: Ideal for slower, thoughtful sessions curled up on the sofa with headphones.

6. Cuphead

Buy it on Steam

Studio MDHR’s run-and-gun masterpiece remains one of the most visually stunning games ever made. Every frame looks hand-animated, every boss feels wildly inventive, and every victory feels earned. If Walt Disney circa-1940 had a Steam Deck, he’d probably have commissioned something just like it.

Yes, it’s brutally difficult at times, but the sheer charm of its mid-century cartoon aesthetic makes repeated failure weirdly enjoyable.

• Why it’s great on Steam Deck: Tight controls and quick retry loops make handheld play feel natural.

7. Dave the Diver

Buy it on Steam

One minute you’re harpooning sharks in a mysterious underwater trench, the next you’re managing a sushi restaurant. Dave the Diver should feel like total chaos, yet somehow everything clicks together perfectly.

It’s charming, funny and constantly introducing new mechanics before you’ve had time to get bored.

• Why it’s great on Steam Deck: Bite-sized objectives make it dangerously easy to squeeze in “just 20 minutes”.

8. Death’s Door

Buy it on Steam

A moody little action adventure about a crow collecting souls shouldn’t work this well, but Death’s Door nails the balance between melancholy atmosphere and satisfying combat.

There’s a touch of Zelda, a hint of Dark Souls, and a gorgeous isometric art style tying everything together.

• Why it’s great on Steam Deck: Smooth performance and compact dungeon design make it perfect for portable play.

9. Disco Elysium

Buy it on Steam

Still one of the best-written games ever made — if not THE best game ever — Disco Elysium transforms a detective RPG into something strange, political, hilarious and deeply human.

The real action happens inside your own head, as competing personality traits argue with each other while you attempt to solve a murder. It runs like a dream on Steam Deck, with a cracking soundtrack and some of gaming’s most memorable characters.

• Why it’s great on Steam Deck: It feels surprisingly close to reading a great novel on a handheld device.

10. Dispatch

Buy it on Steam

A stylish narrative adventure built around emergency-response decision making in a superhero-filled world, Dispatch mixes branching storytelling with tense real-time choices.

It’s one of those games where conversations matter as much as reflexes, making every decision feel loaded with consequence. Just keep an eye out for the surprise willies — this one's not for kids...

• Why it’s great on Steam Deck: Dialogue-heavy games feel wonderfully intimate on the Deck’s smaller screen.

11. Dredge

Buy it on Steam

At first glance Dredge looks like a relaxing fishing game. Then the fog rolls in, strange creatures emerge from the depths, and things become worryingly Lovecraftian.

Its blend of exploration, inventory management and creeping horror is quietly brilliant.

• Why it’s great on Steam Deck: Slow-paced exploration and short voyages make it ideal for handheld gaming.

12. Elden Ring

Buy it on Steam

The idea of playing Elden Ring on a handheld still feels faintly ridiculous, yet Valve’s machine handles FromSoftware’s masterpiece surprisingly well.

The Lands Between remains one of the greatest open worlds ever created — vast, mysterious and packed with unforgettable boss fights. And it’s of course tough-as-nails, a trait that feels a little more manageable when you can chip away at its brutal combat gauntlets on the go.

• Why it’s great on Steam Deck: Being able to chip away at exploration and boss attempts in portable sessions is genuinely transformative.

13. Hades & Hades II

Buy ‘em on Steam: Hades | Hades II

Supergiant’s Hades already felt like one of the greatest handheld games ever made, and Hades II doubles down on the formula with even slicker combat and richer storytelling.

Both games marry fast-paced roguelike action with genuinely excellent characters and writing. The comic-book-like isometric art style is bold without being demanding, meaning it's easy to get consistently great framerates to match the speedy combat.

• Why they're great on Steam Deck: Few games complement the Deck quite as perfectly as a quick Hades run before bed.

14. Halo: The Master Chief Collection

Buy it on Steam

Six Halo games in one package is already absurd value, but the Steam Deck turns Master Chief Collection into a portable nostalgia machine.

Whether you’re replaying Combat Evolved or diving into Reach, Bungie’s original trilogy still delivers some of the best FPS campaigns ever made.

• Why it’s great on Steam Deck: Older Halo titles run smoothly and feel surprisingly natural with handheld controls.

15. Hollow Knight & Hollow Knight: Silksong

Buy ‘em on Steam: Hollow Knight | Hollow Knight: Silksong

Hollow Knight remains one of the defining modern Metroidvanias: beautiful, melancholy and deceptively enormous.

Meanwhile Silksong spent years becoming gaming’s most mythical sequel before pummelling waiting fans into submission with its difficulty upon release. But whether you’re revisiting Hallownest or stealing yourself for Hornet’s follow-up adventure, the series feels tailor-made for portable play.

• Why they're great on Steam Deck: Tight platforming and exploration-heavy design work brilliantly on the Deck.

16. Inside

Buy it on Steam

Playdead followed Limbo with something darker, stranger and even more visually arresting. Inside is a short experience, but every moment feels meticulously crafted.

Helping a mysterious boy navigate a dangerous, Lynchian world, it has perhaps the most memorable ending in indie-game history. It’s the kind of game that sticks in your brain for years.

• Why it’s great on Steam Deck: The cinematic pacing feels incredibly immersive on a handheld screen.

17. Into the Breach

Buy it on Steam

Subset Games took the tactical brilliance of FTL and distilled it into razor-sharp mech combat. Time travelling mechs take on city-stomping kaiju in a strategy game with the complexity of chess and the cool-factor of a Godzilla film.

Every battle in Into the Breach feels like a tiny puzzle box where careful planning matters more than luck.

• Why it’s great on Steam Deck: Turn-based gameplay makes it perfect for quick sessions or travel.

18. Marvel Cosmic Invasion

Buy it on Steam

Dotemu’s retro-inspired Marvel brawler channels the spirit of classic arcade beat-’em-ups while modernising the action with slick visuals and co-op chaos.

It’s colourful, fast and gloriously comic-book ridiculous, letting you tear enemies to shreds as Wolverine, Spider-Man, and more Marvel superheroes than even an Avengers film can handle.

• Why it’s great on Steam Deck: Beat-’em-ups have always thrived on handhelds, and this feels built for portable co-op.

19. Mass Effect Legendary Edition

Buy it on Steam

Commander Shepard’s trilogy still represents one of gaming’s greatest sci-fi sagas. The remastered collection sharpens the visuals while preserving everything fans loved about BioWare’s space opera.

The Steam Deck also makes those lengthy RPG campaigns feel far more approachable, with the revamped visuals giving some spit and polish to the classic games without giving the Steam Deck too much of a workout. If you’re the lucky owner of an OLED Steam Deck, the HDR mode here is a real showcase for the quality of that premium screen, too.

• Why it’s great on Steam Deck: Being able to tackle missions in shorter bursts makes the trilogy less intimidating. For those that remember Mass Effect the first time around, playing it now on a handheld feels like a mini marvel.

20. No Man’s Sky

Buy it on Steam

A whole galaxy in the palm of your hand? Why not?! Few games have transformed themselves like No Man’s Sky. What launched as a disappointment is now one of the most expansive and relaxing sci-fi sandboxes around, letting you explore incalculable individual planets, and carving out your own personal story among the stars.

• Why it’s great on Steam Deck: Great suspend-and-resume support makes interstellar wandering incredibly convenient.

21. Outer Wilds

Buy it on Steam

Explaining Outer Wilds without spoiling it is almost impossible. What starts as a charming space exploration game slowly becomes one of the smartest and most emotionally devastating mysteries in gaming. Go in blind if you possibly can — it’s quietly one of the greatest puzzle games of all time.

• Why it’s great on Steam Deck: The game’s slower pace and exploration-heavy structure feel ideal for handheld immersion.

22. Pentiment

Buy it on Steam

Obsidian’s murder mystery trades explosions and combat for illuminated manuscripts, theological debates and Renaissance politics.

That might sound wildly niche, but Pentiment turns historical storytelling into something utterly absorbing. There’s nothing else quite like it.

• Why it’s great on Steam Deck: It plays beautifully in handheld mode thanks to its slower pace and text-driven structure.

23. Persona 5 Royal

Buy it on Steam

Stylish to an almost absurd degree, Persona 5 Royal combines dungeon crawling, social simulation and turn-based combat into one of the best JRPGs ever made.

It’s massive, yes, but the Steam Deck somehow makes its length feel manageable. For anyone that ever wished they could have lived their youth out as a moody, impeccably dressed teenager on the streets of Tokyo’s Harajuku district, this is the one.

• Why it’s great on Steam Deck: Daily in-game routines translate perfectly into shorter portable sessions.

24. Pizza Tower

Buy it on Steam

Imagine Wario Land after six espressos and you’re halfway towards understanding Pizza Tower.

Its manic animation, chaotic speed and wonderfully unhinged energy make it one of the funniest platformers around, with an animation style that’d make 90s Nickelodeon fans proud.

• Why it’s great on Steam Deck: Fast levels and snappy controls feel superb on handheld hardware.

25. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

Buy it on Steam

Ubisoft quietly delivered one of the best Metroidvanias in years with The Lost Crown. Combat feels fluid, movement is razor sharp and the time-manipulation mechanics are brilliantly inventive.

It deserved far more attention than it received, re-inventing the classic franchise for a new era. It’s also generously priced.

• Why it’s great on Steam Deck: Smooth platforming and compact exploration loops make it ideal for portable gaming.

26. Resident Evil: Requiem

Buy it on Steam

Capcom’s latest survival horror entry proves the RE Engine remains astonishingly scalable. Resident Evil: Requiem balances tense horror with cinematic action while still running impressively well on handheld hardware.

It’s exactly the kind of technically ambitious game that makes the Steam Deck feel slightly magical.

• Why it’s great on Steam Deck: Suspense-heavy gameplay works brilliantly with headphones and handheld immersion, and somehow manages to run at a decent pace on the modest hardware.

27. Slay the Spire & Slay the Spire 2

Buy ‘em on Steam: Slay the Spire | Slay the Spire 2

The original Slay the Spire essentially invented the modern deckbuilding roguelike boom, blending card strategy with endlessly replayable runs.

The sequel expands on that formula without losing the elegant simplicity that made the first game such a phenomenon, eating away hours while you battle monstrous foes in quick succession with a deftly-managed card hand.

• Why they're great on Steam Deck: It feels dangerously close to carrying an infinite time machine in your backpack.

28. Stardew Valley

Buy it on Steam

No list of Steam Deck essentials would be complete without Stardew Valley. Farming, fishing, mining and romance shouldn’t be this compelling, yet millions of players continue disappearing into Pelican Town for hundreds of hours.

Few games feel as comforting, and few games offer as much memorable player-steered storytelling.

• Why it’s great on Steam Deck: It genuinely feels like the game was born for handheld play.

29. Thank Goodness You’re Here!

Buy it on Steam

A gloriously daft comedy adventure packed with surreal British humour, Thank Goodness You’re Here! feels like an interactive cartoon made by people raised on The Beano and regional pub banter. It’s wonderfully silly in the best possible way, and the perfect way to wile away a gloomy Sunday with its explosive energy.

• Why it’s great on Steam Deck: Short scenes and quick laughs make it perfect for casual portable sessions.

30. The Case of the Golden Idol & Rise of the Golden Idol

Buy ‘em on Steam: The Case of the Golden Idol | Rise of the Golden Idol

These brilliantly strange detective games ask players to reconstruct crimes using observation and deduction alone from mostly-static crime scenes.

There’s no hand-holding, no glowing objective markers — just your brain, a notebook and an increasingly bizarre conspiracy to unravel.

• Why they're great on Steam Deck: Solving mysteries on a handheld somehow makes the experience feel more intimate and tactile.

31. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Buy it on Steam

Yes, Skyrim has been re-released more times than anyone can count, but there’s a reason Bethesda’s fantasy RPG refuses to die.

The freedom, atmosphere and sheer volume of things to do remain wildly compelling over a decade later. And having all those ruins, forests and tombs to explore in the palm of your hand is a perfect reason to return to this all-timer.

• Why it’s great on Steam Deck: Wandering Skyrim from a handheld still feels faintly impossible.

32. Undertale & Deltarune

Buy ‘em on Steam: Undertale | Deltarune

Toby Fox’s RPGs balance absurd comedy, emotional storytelling and inventive combat systems unlike anything else around. Both games thrive on personality, constantly surprising players with clever fourth-wall-breaking ideas. If you were raised on JRPGs and are looking for a series that understands what makes them great while having a wildly subversive streak, you shouldn’t miss out.

• Why it’s great on Steam Deck: Their retro presentation and compact download sizes make them ideal handheld companions.

33. Unpacking

Buy it on Steam

A game about unpacking boxes shouldn’t be emotionally devastating, yet Unpacking quietly tells an entire life story through objects alone. Cosy, meditative and surprisingly affecting, it’ll churn up nostalgic memories while scratching that itch for a good tidy-up.

• Why it’s great on Steam Deck: The tactile drag-and-drop gameplay feels wonderfully relaxing on handheld.

34. Vampire Survivors

Buy it on Steam

Another game responsible for countless vanished evenings, Vampire Survivors strips action games down to pure dopamine. You move — controlling nothing else onscreen — while thousands of enemies explode, numbers go up, and suddenly two hours have disappeared.

It’s ridiculously cheap, endlessly replayable and impossible to uninstall.

• Why it’s great on Steam Deck: Few games better demonstrate the Steam Deck’s “instant gaming machine” appeal.

• ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X review: 5 reasons it’s the premium PC handheld to fuel your on-the-go gaming sessions

LEGO has unveiled its latest retro-flavoured kit, which recreates the original version of the Sega Mega Drive. Or, sure, the Sega Genesis for the US folks out there. Its official name is the LEGO SEGA: SEGA Genesis Console.

It’s not a 1:1 size replica of the classic 16-bit console, but that also helps keep the price to a pretty reasonable — for LEGO — £34.99.

There are 479 pieces in the set, and a handful of bespoke Genesis-slash-Mega Drive bits let you build it as either the US Genesis or the Mega Drive, which the console was known as in the UK and Sega’s homeland of Japan.

It’s only the original design that’s represented here, though, not the Sega Mega Drive 2 some of your childhood memories may be based around.

The kit includes two controllers, a game cartridge, and the top part of the console can be lifted off to reveal a portrait of Sonic.

A real-life Mega Drive is around 27cm wide. LEGO’s Mega Drive is around 16cm wide, making it closer to the size of one of the retro console revivals that have littered shelves for years now.

Sega’s own effort, the Mega Drive Mini, was released in 2019. While it didn’t pick up quite as much heat as Nintendo’s Super Nintendo Entertainment System Classic Edition and NES Classic Edition from 2017, it did receive great reviews.

This LEGO take doesn't play games, though.

The LEGO SEGA: SEGA Genesis Console will be available from June 1st. And just like the retro console scene, Nintendo got there first with this one. That said, LEGO has been making Sega sets for years. The first was announced in 2021.

A LEGO Nintendo Entertainment System set was released in 2020, and has since been discontinued. But you can still get hold of LEGO’s take on the Nintendo Game Boy. It’s a 421 piece set that costs £54.99.

LEGO recommends the LEGO SEGA: SEGA Genesis Console for builders aged 12 years and up.

• Best LEGO sets for kids, big and small

There’s a fine line between “retro-inspired” and just flogging you a grey box with a red button on it. This, thankfully, leans more toward the former.

Game Outlet Europe has announced that the 8BitDo Retro Cube 2 Speaker - N Edition is landing across Europe today (the 27th of April), and it’s about as subtle as a nostalgia hit to the face. Think chunky, cubic, and unapologetically throwback, clearly riffing on the design language of the Nintendo Entertainment System, which, slightly terrifyingly, is now pushing 40.

It’s tiny, too. Under 90mm on each side, which basically means it’ll sit happily on a cluttered desk, disappear into a backpack, or get dragged along to a park hang without much thought. At 450g, it’s not exactly weightless, but you’re not going to resent carrying it either.

Where it earns its keep is versatility. You’ve got three ways to hook it up: Bluetooth, 2.4GHz wireless, or good old wired USB, so it’ll play nice whether you’re pairing it with a phone, a laptop, or something a bit more niche in your gaming setup. There’s even a wireless charging dock bundled in, which doubles as a signal extender, so you’re not dealing with dropouts when you wander off mid-playlist.

The controls are pure fan service: a chunky D-pad up top handling volume, playback and pairing. It’s the kind of detail that could’ve felt gimmicky but actually makes sense once you’re using it.

Sound-wise, it’s doing more than just coasting on looks. Dual speakers push proper stereo audio, and there’s a built-in mic if you end up taking calls through it. Battery life clocks in at up to 30 hours, which is comfortably in “charge it and forget about it for the weekend” territory.

There’s also a toggle to flip between music and gaming modes, which is a nice touch if you’re bouncing between Spotify and whatever you’re currently rinsing.

At £39.99, it’s not trying to be your main speaker setup, and it doesn’t need to be. This is more about having something portable, functional, and just a bit fun to look at. A desk toy that actually does something useful, rather than just collecting dust.

If you’ve got even a passing soft spot for that old-school red-and-grey aesthetic, it’s going to be a tough one to ignore.

• The BIG London gig list 2026: Your guide to this year's very best shows, festivals and concerts

The hugely-anticipated Elden Ring movie has begun filming in London — and we’ve got some exclusive photos from the set.

A24’s massive fantasy epic, based on the 2022 Bandai Namco game of the same name, has taken over the Greenwich Naval College in South London, with hundreds of members of cast and crew re-imagining the historical setting as a foggy medieval thoroughfare.

Closed to the public, we went down to see the filming in action. Here’s what we saw (and read on for everything else we know about the Elden Ring movie so far)...

If you were in any doubt that it’s the Elden Ring film being shot, here’s director / writer Alex Garland on set — he’s the one with the grey hair and beard:

There were dozens and dozens of extras near and on the set, all wearing medieval garb:

The area had also been covered in dry ice and smoke to add to the misty / mystical / mysterious feel. Though there were many actors and physical props on show, there was also the presence of green screens, likely to extend the setting and make it possible to add giant scenery like the game's iconic giant 'Erdtree':

The scene itself appeared to show some sort of market or town square, with many peasant extras, armoured soldiers (and a few goats) wandering around stalls, carts and tents:

Ahead of filming, we were also able to see some of the construction work for the sets in close up:

Additionally, Reddit user Continuent also came across the set during set up ahead of filming, and shared some photos online, littered with details:

This first image shows the area where the main filming was taking place today — a box to the bottom left reads ‘Leyndell Streets’. This would refer to the game’s Royal Capital city, which sits at the foot of the giant 'Erdtree' which dominates the game’s skyline. We can assume that's what Greenwich's Naval College is doubling up as.

A second image revealed a box of brooms and props labelled ‘Stormveil’ — a key castle location in the game, home to Godrick the Grafted boss.

A third image showed off an array of cages and lanterns which look the spit of those hanging from the ceiling in Raya Lucaria, the wizarding school of The Lands Between.

With the Naval College’s Painted Hall also closed off for filming, it’s easy to imagine it being decorated with these lanterns and acting as that location in the game. It’s pictured in its usual state above.

Finally, there’s this gallows-like beam — unremarkable by itself until you note that it’s identical to the one in the game’s opening cutscene, upon which the ‘Dung Eater’ character is hung (a bit of a wrong-un who curses his victims).

Who has been cast in the Elden Ring movie?

We’ve also now got a full, star-studded cast run-down for the film. The Elden Ring movie will star:

• Kit Connor (Warfare, Hearstopper)
• Ben Whishaw (Skyfall, Perfume, Paddington)
• Cailee Spaeny (Alien: Romulus, Pricilla, Civil War)
• Tom Burke (Furiosa, Mank)
• Havana Rose Liu (Tuner, Bottoms)
• Sonoya Mizuno (Ex Machina, Annihilation)
• Jonathan Pryce (Brazil, Pirates of the Caribbean)
• Ruby Cruz (For All Mankind, Bottoms)
• Nick Offerman (The Last of Us, Parks and Recreation)
• John Hodgkinson (Skyfall, Napoleon)
• Jefferson Hall (House of the Dragon, Tenet, Oppenheimer)
• Emma Laird (28 Years Later, The Brutalist)
• Peter Serafinowicz (Guardians of the Galaxy, Star Wars: Episode I)

Eagle-eyed fans of Garland’s work will see plenty of familiar faces in that cast list, with the director turning to regular collaborators for Elden Ring.

Lead Kit Connor worked with Garland before on Warfare, while Cailee Spaeny was in Garland’s TV show Devs and movie Civil War. Sonoya Mizuno and Nick Offerman were both also in Devs, while Mizuno was in Ex Machina and Annihilation, too:

There’s no word yet on who is playing who (or what), but there seem to be some obvious character look-a-likes lined up here. Most notable is Emma Laird — the 28 Years Later star certainly has the hair for Queen Marika, and her Instagram post playing the game with her character outside the Church of Marika certainly raised eyebrows. We’d also imagine Spaeny as Melina, who follows the player character throughout the game. And as Kit Connor is to take the lead, we’re going to guess he’s down to play Vyke, the tragic knight on the game’s cover — a story that’s perhaps the most obvious in-game tale to adapt.

What’s the Elden Ring movie about?

While no plot details have been shared yet, knowing the game we can make a good guess as to what’s going to be happening in the Elden Ring film.

A dark fantasy tale set in ‘The Lands Between’, the Elden Ring is a powerful and mysterious artifact, destroyed, with its remains cast throughout the world. The goddess Marika’s monstrous demigod children collect these shards, leading to a war for power from which no one ruler emerges. In the game, the player faces a menagerie of warriors and creatures in an attempt to secure and reforge the Elden Ring. With the lore well fleshed out, we’d expect the film to follow the world’s fall into ruin and war.

Yes, it’s all a bit weird and silly, but beneath that high concept there’s great potential not only for a Game of Thrones-like tale of ambition and corruption, but also one of great spectacle — the beasts of Elden Ring are inventive and wild to behold.

It’s worth remembering that the original concept for Elden Ring’s rough story was put together by Game Of Thrones creator George R. R. Martin, along with Hidetaka Miyazaki, the lead at game development studio FromSoftware (and also responsible for the long line of influential Dark Souls games to which Elden Ring is a spiritual successor). It’s not clear yet how involved either will be with this new film project.

Where is Elden Ring filming?

Alongside the London locations, Elden Ring is filming across England, Scotland and Wales (specifically Conwy Castle in Wales), and will be heading to Iceland for additional scenes this summer. The country, that is, not the supermarket.

Leaked footage from an undisclosed location in England earlier this month revealed a recreated ruins set, which seems to depict the game's 'First Church of Marika':

What is the Elden Ring movie release date?

Filming for the Elden Ring movie may have kicked off, but we’re in for a long wait until its release. The A24 production is set to release on March 3rd, 2028. So that’s close to a two year wait until it finally hits screens.

Will the Elden Ring movie actually be good?

Is the Elden Ring movie the most ambitious video game adaptation to date? Quite possibly — it’s a difficult film to make for many reasons. Not only is it hugely beloved — it’s rated as one of the greatest games of all time, and has sold upwards of 30 million copies — its fans are rabid lore fiends who will want as accurate an adaptation of the source material as possible.

That won’t necessarily be easy — the game certainly has an interesting setting and aesthetic, but its narrative is quite loosely revealed, with the player character protagonist a silent adventurer rather than wisecracking knight. Not only that, but its world is vast and fantastical, meaning the art department has its work cut out for it.

But some of these issues could also be seen as a blessing for writer / director Alex Garland, who can use the flexibility of the source material to weave his own grand narrative through the iconic locations and themes of the game. Garland is one of the most interesting directors and writers of his generation too, working as either writer, director, or both on hits such as 28 Days / Years Later, Ex Machina, Devs, Civil War, Dredd and Annihilation. He’s definitely got an eye for the weird and creepy.

Perhaps most reassuring of all? He’s a MASSIVE Elden Ring fan, with as many as SIX ‘New Game+’ runs under his belt. We’d say it’s in safe hands, then.

• 10 upcoming video game TV and movie adaptations we can't wait to see

Nintendo has quietly dropped a new pop-up store in London, and it’s hiding in plain sight. The “Nintendo Experience Zone” has opened inside the Argos Tottenham Court Road, turning part of the shop into a surprisingly well-stocked corner of all things Mario, Zelda and beyond.

The discovery didn’t come via a big announcement, either. It was first spotted on TikTok by creator BadxGurlCosplay, with the find later picked up by VGC, which explains why it feels like one of those blink-and-you-miss-it setups rather than a full-blown launch.

At first glance, it’s just a regular Argos. Head inside, and you’ll find shelves stacked with Nintendo merch that’s usually a bit of a nightmare to track down in the UK. Plushies, action figures, and, most importantly for collectors, a solid run of amiibo are all on offer.

If you’ve ever tried to get hold of certain amiibo without paying resale prices, you’ll know that’s a pretty big deal. These things have a habit of disappearing quickly, and not always reappearing at retail.

There’s also the expected lineup of games and consoles, so if you’re after a new Switch title or picking up hardware, you’re covered.

Realistically, it’s the merch that makes this worth a visit, especially if you’re after something a bit more niche than what you’d find in your average high street shop.

It also taps into something Nintendo fans in the UK don’t get all that often: physical retail experiences. Outside of Japan and a handful of flagship stores in places like New York and San Fran, most of Nintendo’s more interesting products tend to live online.

London did briefly get a taste of that last year with a pop-up in Westfield, which pulled in exclusive items from those global stores, everything from apparel to homeware. That one only lasted a few weeks, though, and once it was gone, so was the stock.

This new Tottenham Court Road setup isn’t quite on that level in terms of exclusivity, but it still fills a similar gap. Reports suggest there are items here that aren’t widely available elsewhere in the UK, even if they’re not strictly “Tokyo store” exclusives.

It’s not huge, and it’s not trying to be a full destination store. Think of it more as a well-stocked pit stop, somewhere you dip into rather than plan a whole day around. But for fans, collectors or anyone after a slightly more interesting gift, it’s an easy win.

The Nintendo Experience Zone is set to stick around for the next couple of months, so there’s no immediate rush. That said, if past pop-ups are anything to go by, the more desirable bits won’t hang around forever.

So if you find yourself near Tottenham Court Road and fancy a quick nostalgia hit, or just want to see what’s actually on the shelves, it’s probably worth a look before it quietly disappears again.

• Wes Anderson collaborator turns 5 coffee machines into stunning city scenes

She’s long been rumoured to sing a Bond song, and now it’s confirmed: Lana Del Rey will be the next singer to perform a James Bond theme tune.

But! It’s a James Bond with a difference...

The Summertime Sadness singer will perform the title track to 007: First Light, the new big-budget, cinematically-styled game being developed by IO Interactive.

Fitting, giving Del Rey’s rise to stardom with the hit song Video Games? Whatever — you can hear the track for yourself embedded below:

The song gets some added Bond pedigree via its co-writer, David Arnold, who has scored five Bond films — Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Casino Royale, and Quantum of Solace.

“The music of James Bond has always been a huge part of its identity. A title song has to tell us about the world we are about to enter into. It has to intrigue, excite, and beckon us in,” he said in a release accompanying the news.

“This song joins a long line of genre defining songs, each one creating a benchmark of style that adds to the magnificent heritage that is ‘The Bond Song’. That’s why I was so excited to work with Lana, an artist who brought elegance, atmosphere, and her totally unique character to this piece, which I hope will open the world of Bond to a whole new audience.”

It’s a great coup for the gaming world, but I can’t help feeling just a little bit sorry for Del Rey — she seems like the natural choice to do the bigscreen James Bond tune and, as cool as the game is, it won’t have quite the prestige that the main franchise has. It’s unlikely she’ll get a chance now to do both.

Still, 007: First Light is looking like a stonking game. Visually impressive and with a great developer behind it (IO Interactive previously worked on the excellent, Bond-like Hitman games), it will follow the adventures of a rookie Bond on his earliest missions. will release on May 27th, 2026, on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, and Summer 2026 on Nintendo Switch 2.

For a bit more on 007: First Light, tune into IO Interactive’s YouTube channel at 8pm on April 17th to see the reveal of their take on the iconic Bond opening title sequence.

• All the artists rumoured for the next Bond theme song

We’re deep into the era of “every game you’ve ever played is now a film”, and Street Fighter is the latest to step into the ring.

A new trailer for the live-action adaptation has landed, giving us a better look at what’s coming when it hits cinemas this October.

Directed by Kitao Sakurai, the film is set in 1993 and follows Ryu (Andrew Koji) and Ken (Noah Centineo), who are dragged back together by Chun-Li (Callina Liang) for the World Warrior Tournament. There’s also a bigger conspiracy bubbling away in the background, led by M. Bison, which no doubt means a lot of fighting with slightly higher stakes.

Tone-wise, it’s going full ‘90s. There’s karaoke, there are dramatic standoffs, and there are people kicking each other through walls like it’s just another Tuesday. Jason Momoa pops up as Blanka, while Roman Reigns adds to a cast that feels deliberately stacked with big, chaotic energy.

Alongside all the obvious action, the trailer is packed with nods to the games, some subtle, some very much not.

Here are five you might’ve missed:

1. Ken vs. Ryu

One of the more unexpected beats in the trailer is Ken doing what can only be described as slightly tragic karaoke. It’s not just there for a laugh, it ties into the idea that he’s become a sideshow, a washed-up version of himself.

That’s a bit more character depth than you might expect, and hints the film is pulling from later Street Fighter storylines where Ken’s life isn’t quite as straightforward as “rich guy who fights well”. All of which is the backdrop for his rivalry with Ryu which in this iteration is clearly already well established.

2. Ryu’s Hadoken gets a full cinematic glow-up

Thankfully, the Hadoken is in here, and it looks exactly how you’d want it to so make sure you watch the trailer until the end to see it.

Ryu’s signature fireball attack has been given the full big-screen treatment, complete with dramatic build-up and a lot of glowing energy. It’s a small moment in the trailer, but also one of the biggest indicators that the film isn’t shying away from the more over-the-top elements of the games.

3. The soundtrack is doing a lot of heavy lifting

Setting the film in 1993 is one thing, backing the trailer with “What’s Up?” by 4 Non Blondes is another. It’s an extremely on-the-nose choice, but it works. It immediately locks in the era and adds to that slightly scrappy, throwback feel the whole trailer is going for. You can tell they’re aiming for nostalgia, not realism and the whole score will no doubt be playing in your ears for weeks after you see the film.

4. Chun-Li’s legs get a knowing nod

There’s a quick line referencing Chun-Li’s famously powerful legs, often dubbed “thunder thighs” by fans, which have been a defining part of the character for decades.

It’s a slightly tongue-in-cheek inclusion, but it shows the film is willing to have a bit of fun with its own legacy rather than playing everything completely straight and will no doubt include more references to memes the iconic games have generated over the years.

5. A blink-and-you-miss-it parade of fighters

Beyond Ryu and Ken, the trailer quickly flashes through a wider roster that includes characters like Cammy, Blanka, Dhalsim, Vega and more. None of them gets much screen time here, but their presence suggests the film is going all-in on bringing as many familiar faces into the mix as possible, which checks out given the cast list.

Whether that turns into meaningful roles or just a series of cameos is another question, but from what we've seen so far, your favourite character will likely pop up in some capacity.

• A Metal Gear Solid movie is finally moving forward at Sony

If you like your tech a bit less polished, and a lot more interesting, this might be one to keep an eye on.

The 'hOMMEMADE Game Console' is a custom-built retro machine that looks like it’s been pulled from an alternate-universe Nintendo lab. It runs on RetroPie, packs a flip-up LCD screen, and comes wrapped in a clean cream-and-blue shell that leans hard into that late-90s aesthetic.

It’s got all the right bits, too. Dual red analogue sticks, a bright blue d-pad, classic four-button layout, plus Select and Start where you’d expect them. Round the back, there’s USB support and a power toggle, nothing flashy, just properly thought-through. You also get two SNES-style wireless controllers in the box, which tells you exactly how this thing’s meant to be used: on a sofa, arguing over split-screen.

What’s pushed it onto people’s radar, though, is who’s already been spotted using it. A$AP Rocky himself has been seen trying it out on Instagram, giving the console a bit of early hype before it’s officially on sale. And that should come as no surprise, given that hOMMEMADE is backed by AWGE — A$AP Rocky's own creative agency.

That low-key rollout fits with the brand behind it. hOMMEMADE isn’t your typical tech company chasing mass production, it sits somewhere between design studio, streetwear label and hardware tinkerer.

The focus is on small-batch, design-led pieces that feel more like collectibles than off-the-shelf gadgets, often blending nostalgia with modern functionality. Which explains why buying one isn’t straightforward...

There’s no listed price and no standard checkout, if you want the console, you’ll need to enquire directly through the website. That suggests limited quantities, custom builds, or at the very least something that’s not being churned out at scale.

The appeal here isn’t just playing retro games, it’s owning something that feels deliberately made, slightly rare and a bit different from the usual identikit tech. We still don't know anything about software or how the console runs, but its certainly one to keep an eye on.

In a world of identical consoles and endless digital downloads, this is the opposite: tactile, niche and built with actual personality. Whether that’s worth the mystery price tag is another question, but it’s definitely got people paying attention.

• London’s 2026 Ideal Home Show celebrates space-saving and green-living home improvements — here are 5 of the best ideas for a Spring refresh

After years of rumours, Bloodborne is officially getting the big-screen treatment, and it sounds like it’s not holding back.

Sony Pictures has confirmed that an R-rated animated feature based on the cult PlayStation title is in development, with the studio promising it will fully embrace the violence and gothic horror that made the original game such a hit.

Announced during CinemaCon, the film is expected to stay close to the tone of the source material, which follows a lone traveller navigating a plague-ridden city overrun with grotesque creatures. Sony’s Motion Picture Group president Sanford Panitch said the adaptation will be “very true” to the game’s spirit, a clear nod to the blood-soaked combat and unsettling atmosphere fans will be expecting.

The original game was developed by FromSoftware and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, and has built a reputation over the years as one of the most distinctive and punishing action RPGs around. Set in the decaying city of Yharnam, it leans heavily into cosmic horror, body horror and a general sense of dread, all of which the film looks set to carry over.

Production-wise, the project brings together a slightly unexpected mix. It’s being co-produced by PlayStation Productions and Lyrical Animation, alongside Seán McLoughlin, better known online as JackSepticEye, who has long been associated with the game through his playthroughs and fan following. He’s said he’ll do “everything in [his] power” to make it the best adaptation possible, which suggests this is one aimed squarely at existing fans as much as newcomers.

Details are still fairly thin at this stage. There’s no confirmed director, cast or release date yet, but the expectation is that the story will centre on a hunter battling through the nightmarish streets of Yharnam, experiencing the core loop that made the game so compelling in the first place.

The project also lands at a time when video game adaptations are having a serious moment. Big-screen versions of major titles have become some of the most reliable box office performers in recent years, and Sony in particular is going all in on its gaming catalogue. Alongside Bloodborne, the studio has projects in the works based on Helldivers and The Legend of Zelda, with the latter already wrapped.

More broadly, there’s a clear push to bring FromSoftware’s catalogue to screens. An Elden Ring film is currently in development at A24, with Alex Garland attached to direct, while a Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice animated series is also said to be on the horizon.

For fans, that means Bloodborne is no longer the outlier; it’s part of a wider wave of adaptations built around some of the most atmospheric (and punishing) games of the last decade. The real question now is whether the film can capture what made it so memorable in the first place, without sanding off the edges that gave it its bite.

• A Metal Gear Solid movie is finally moving forward at Sony

After years of false starts, delays and near-misses, a live-action Metal Gear Solid movie is finally moving forward, and it’s coming together quickly.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein have been tapped to helm the project for Sony Pictures, as part of a major first-look deal with the studio.

If those names sound familiar, it’s because the duo are coming off the back of Final Destination: Bloodline, a revival of the long-running horror franchise that ended up being both a box office hit and one of the best-reviewed entries in the series. That success has effectively fast-tracked them into one of the more in-demand directing teams in Hollywood right now.

Under the new deal, their production company Wonderlab will develop and produce projects across Sony’s various film labels, with a focus on big, commercial, character-driven genre films. The Metal Gear Solid adaptation is one of the headline projects to come out of that agreement.

For anyone who’s been following this one, it’s been a long time coming. A film adaptation of the franchise, created by Hideo Kojima, has been stuck in development since 2012, with various directors, ideas and casting rumours coming and going over the years.

At one point, Jordan Vogt-Roberts (best known for Kong: Skull Island) was attached to direct, and Oscar Isaac had been lined up to play protagonist Solid Snake. There’s no confirmation yet on whether any of those earlier plans will carry over into this new version.

What is clear is the scale of the ambition. The original Metal Gear Solid games blended stealth gameplay with dense, cinematic storytelling, mixing military espionage with sci-fi elements in a way that was pretty groundbreaking at the time. Translating that to film has always been the challenge, and the reason it’s taken this long to get off the ground.

Lipovsky and Stein seem fully aware of that legacy. In a statement, they described the game as “a groundbreaking cinematic masterpiece” and said they’re aiming to bring its “iconic characters and unforgettable world” to life on screen.

There’s no release date or casting confirmed just yet, so it’s still early days. But after more than a decade of development limbo, the fact that it’s now locked in with a studio, directors and a broader production deal suggests this might finally be the version that sticks.

• The BIG London Cinema List 2026: Film festivals, seasons, Q&As and rep screenings

If you’ve been quietly losing hours to Pokémon Pokopia, there’s now a way to log off and still stay in that world. A real-life Pokémon garden has landed in London, and it’s completely free to visit.

Called Pokopia Gardens, the pop-up has taken over The Mount in Acton, first opening on the 31st of March and running through to the end of September. It’s open 24/7, costs nothing to enter, and sits just a short walk from Acton Town station, meaning you can swing by whenever, whether that’s a quick wander after work or a slightly more intentional weekend detour.

The whole thing is part of a wider push from The Pokémon Company, which is also rolling out similar gardens across Paris and Berlin. The idea is to take the core concept of Pokopia, rebuilding a soft, nature-filled world designed to bring Pokémon back into it, and recreate that feeling in real-world public spaces.

In practice, that means a curated mix of plants and greenery designed to mirror the game’s gentle, slightly dreamlike aesthetic. There are “living walls”, Pokémon-inspired terrariums, and little visual touches that make the space feel like it’s been lifted straight out of a Nintendo screen without going full theme park.

It’s not trying to be loud or overly interactive. Instead, it leans into the same slower, more relaxed rhythm that makes Pokopia work in the first place, somewhere between a garden, an art installation and a low-stakes spot to chill out

There’s a bit more going on if you’re playing Pokémon GO, too. The site includes themed Gyms and PokéStops, meaning you can spin for items, collect gifts and send them on while you’re wandering around. It’s a small detail, but it ties the physical space back into the wider Pokémon ecosystem in a way that actually makes sense.

Pokopia has quickly become a daily ritual for players, the kind of game you dip into for a bit of calm, and this feels like a natural extension of that. A way of turning a digital experience into something you can walk through.

While it’s easy to roll your eyes at branded pop-ups, this one’s at least doing something a bit different. No tickets, no queues, no pressure to buy anything, merely a free, open space that happens to be themed around one of the biggest franchises in the world.

If nothing else, it’s a solid excuse to get outside, slow down a bit, and pretend, even briefly, that your walk through Acton is part of a much nicer, more carefully designed world.

You can visit the Pokopia garden at The Mount, Acton, London W3 9NW

• LEGO finally catches ’em all with first-ever Pokémon sets

You’ve collected every star, moon and shine in the Super Mario Games. You’ve visited the Universal Studios theme park, you’ve bought a Switch 2 and you’ve lined up IMAX tickets for this year’s big Super Mario Galaxy movie cinema release. What next for the die-hard Nintendo fan?

Picking up one of the best books about Nintendo, that’s what.

A gaming juggernaut more than a century old, Nintendo is one of the few major video game companies to be richly covered in literature, despite the company’s own reluctance to speak openly about its inner workings, or to document its own fascinating history. Thankfully, journalists, enthusiasts and specialist publishers have done that job for the Japanese giant, meaning the making of Mario, the lore of Link and the… yarns of Yoshi are all ready and waiting among the pages of an incredible line-up of tomes.

From reportage to coffee-table sized art books, we’ve pulled together our absolute favourite books about Nintendo, covering some of the best writing and little known facts about the singular gaming force.

The best books about Nintendo

• The best Nintendo Switch 2 games

There was a time when the sharp metallic clink of a coin hitting the tray of an arcade machine felt like possibility itself. One coin, one chance—no downloads, no updates, no tutorials. Just you, a joystick worn smooth by strangers, and the quiet belief that this next go might be the one. You’d hover before pressing start, glance at the leaderboard, and imagine your three initials sitting there like a tiny monument to greatness.

Arcade gaming is having a glow-up, and the biggest names in the industry recently gathered at the Entertainment, Attractions and Gaming Expo to show where the whole glorious business is heading. The offer of free play had us speeding down there quicker than you could say Pole Position, jostling for joysticks, hitting buttons with aplomb, and getting hands-on with some of the quirkier cabinets that blur the line between game and spectacle.What hasn’t changed is the atmosphere. That heady mix of questionable carpet, electricity overload, and the magnetic pull of a machine where you’ve just entered your initials still defines the experience. It was the ultimate hangout then, and remains so now—a place to say goodbye to your coin collection while pretending you’re investing in skill.

The arcade scene is undeniably having a revival. Retro machines from decades past are everywhere again, humming away in dedicated venues and hybrid entertainment spaces. But nostalgia alone isn’t enough to sustain a comeback. The question is: what’s actually new?

First, a quick word on what shouldn’t be new. Card payments can do one. There should be a coin machine at the door—non-negotiable. The ritual matters. As for ticket rewards, we’re not impressed. The wildly inflated exchange rate for something like a single Chupa Chups feels less like a prize and more like a life lesson in diminishing returns.

Still, 2026 is shaping up to be one of the most innovative and exciting years in coin-op culture—possibly since Pac-Man swallowed our pocket money whole. Think cutting-edge tech, wildly inventive concepts, and interactive fun that demands more than just hands-on. The big difference? You shouldn’t need to scavenge down the back of the sofa for shrapnel first.

From forever-rigged claw machines to VR experiences that make you the entertainment, arcades are leaning into what makes them unique. Because here’s the simple truth: screens at home are fine, but the cumulative effect of everything an arcade offers—the noise, the competition, the mild chaos—is hard to beat. And manufacturers know it. They’re in creative overdrive to ensure every machine offers something worth shouting about (or shouting at).

So, what’s actually worth your coins this summer?

1. Hyper-Haptic Racing Seats That Punish Your Spine

These latest racing simulators don’t just rumble—they actively recreate every pothole, collision, and questionable driving decision through seats that feel engineered by sadists. You don’t just play the game; you survive it. Emerge from a ten-minute session feeling like you’ve been waltzing with a sumo.

The immersion is undeniable. You’ll believe you can take that hairpin bend at excessive speeds—and you can—but it will inevitably end as a pixelated pile-up delivered directly to your lower back. Our only gripe? The limited music selection and the absence of a fake window to rest your arm on, which would do wonders for confidence. Keep a chiropractor’s card close by.

2. Trash Talking Basketball Games

Not content with a game where you rapidly launch balls toward a net a few feet away, someone decided basketball arcade machines needed personalities. So now, they heckle.

Miss three shots? The machine questions your life choices. Hit a streak? It becomes your loudest, most over-the-top supporter. Powered by adaptive AI, these games learn your patterns and adjust difficulty accordingly—which sounds helpful until you realise it’s essentially a robot designed to humble you in public.

It’s part game, part performance, and entirely addictive. There’s something uniquely motivating about being roasted by a machine while a group of strangers—often children—watch your form unravel in real time.

3. Collaborative VR Escape Rooms for People Who Hate Their Friends

These multiplayer VR pods trap you and three teammates in virtual puzzle scenarios that require communication, cooperation, and patience—three things gamers are famously inconsistent at.

Watch your friendships crumble as someone inevitably ignores instructions, touches the one thing everyone said not to touch, or just stands there admiring the graphics while the clock ticks down. It’s less about escaping the room and more about discovering who you’ll never invite out again.

The twist is that you’re not just playing—you are the entertainment. Spectators gather, laugh, and occasionally offer unsolicited advice while you flail around in a headset, arguing about levers and codes. It’s chaotic, brilliant, and slightly revealing.

4. Retro Cabinets with Modern Guts

Classic arcade cabinets are back—well, they never really went away—but now they’re appearing in abundance with a modern twist. Think original exteriors paired with emulation boards packed with thousands of games.

Purists complain these aren’t authentic, but conveniently forget they can’t afford rows of original cabinets anyway. These machines let you jump from Galaga to BurgerTime in seconds—before remembering why you never actually liked BurgerTime in the first place.

It’s nostalgia without commitment. A greatest hits album you didn’t ask for but somehow keep playing. And while it may lack the purity of the original experience, it makes up for it in sheer accessibility.

5. Prize Machines That Dispense Useful Stuff

The claw machine has evolved. Gone are the dusty plush toys that look like they’ve been waiting since the era of leg warmers. In their place? Smartphones, AirPods, designer trainers—the kind of prizes that justify the effort, at least in theory.

Of course, they’re still fundamentally rigged. That hasn’t changed. But now the stakes are higher, and arcades have realised something important: people will happily throw money at impossible odds if the prize photographs well on Instagram.

It’s less about winning and more about the attempt. The spectacle of trying, failing, and trying again—fuelled by the faint belief that the next grab might be the one.

• From back-room rebel to retro royalty: Pinball is nudging 95 years old — and is more popular than ever

Filming on the TV adaptation of Tomb Raider has hit a temporary pause after star Sophie Turner suffered what’s being described as a minor injury. Thankfully, it sounds like more of a brief hiccup than anything that’ll derail the show.

According to Amazon MGM Studios, production has been halted “as a precaution” to give Turner time to recover, with filming expected to resume relatively soon.

While there’s no official word on how the injury happened (on set or otherwise), reports suggest the delay could last a couple of weeks, hardly catastrophic, but enough to press pause on one of Prime Video’s more high-profile projects.

Turner, best known for Game of Thrones, is stepping into the boots of Lara Croft, a role previously owned by Angelina Jolie and Alicia Vikander, and early looks suggest Amazon is leaning into a fairly classic take on the character.

Dual holsters, shades, and that familiar action-hero edge, just with a slightly more modern polish.

Behind the scenes, there’s a serious pedigree too. Phoebe Waller-Bridge (of Fleabag fame) is leading the charge as writer and exec producer, with Jonathan Van Tulleken on directing duties. The cast is also enjoyably stacked, featuring Sigourney Weaver, Jason Isaacs and Celia Imrie.

All in, it still feels like Amazon is building something pretty substantial here, especially off the back of its success with Fallout, and a short production pause isn’t likely to change that.

There’s no confirmed release date just yet (2027 feels like the safe bet), but assuming Turner’s recovery goes to plan, this should be back on track before long.

• EXCLUSIVE: Riz Ahmed on the best kebab in London, playing Bond and the best smelling man in showbiz

If you were to tell us prior to September 2025 that a Super Mario Galaxy movie would be hitting cinemas within a year, we’d have fobbed it off as an April Fool’s joke.

It’s not that we weren’t expecting a sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie – that sucker made an astonishing $1.36 billion at the box office, making a follow-up nigh-on guaranteed.

Rather, it’s the specificity of the sequel (which hits cinemas on 1st April) that took us by surprise. Super Mario Galaxy seems to have lifted both its title and its basic premise from two idiosyncratic entries in the sprawling Mario video game franchise.

Super Mario Galaxy was released onto the Nintendo Wii console in 2007. Many fans rate it and its 2010 sequel to be among the very best games in the series, notable for introducing bold gravity-defying mechanics to Mario’s previously earth-bound formula.

All of which got us to thinking about which other Nintendo games would make for a good movie treatment. In some instances, we’re talking about single entries that don’t necessarily represent the wider IP, much like Super Mario Galaxy itself.

1. Pikmin

All four Pikmin games to date follow the same basic formula, so let’s just start at the beginning. Released onto the Nintendo GameCube in 2001, and inspired by creator Shigeru Miyamoto’s love of gardening, Pikmin casts you as a pint-sized alien astronaut who crash lands on an Earth-like planet. Your tiny explorer is forced to corral the local fauna – tiny plant-like creatures called Pikmin – and put them to work collecting, building and fighting. We’re thinking it would make a charming action-comedy movie that mines the game’s exaggerated sense of scale in a Toy Story/Honey I Shrunk the Kids/Ant-Man fashion.

2. Splatoon

Few would have predicted that Nintendo would attempt to make an online competitive shooter, but that’s exactly what it did with Splatoon and its two incrementally improving sequels. Of course, Nintendo’s family-friendly nature means that this doesn’t play like your teenage nephew’s slur-filled military simulator. Rather, it’s a delightfully colourful, deeply cooperative action game that doesn’t even require you to shoot people if you don’t wish too, thanks to a tactile level-painting mechanic. It also features an excellent single player campaign that fleshes out the squids-vs-octopi lore. Ample material for an animated movie, in other words.

3. Animal Crossing: New Horizons

If any game in this series should serve as the basis for a film, it’s Animal Crossing: New Horizons. This 2020 Switch game was by far the biggest entry yet, providing solace and a precious sense of community for millions during the global lockdown. It’s not worth being too pedantic about which Animal Crossing entry you would choose here, however. There isn’t really a story to be adapted, just the premise of a mute avatar (that’s you) rocking up on an idyllic island filled with assorted anthropomorphic animal characters and building a blissful virtual life filled with building, trading and fishing. As the Minecraft movie proved, you don't have to have a grand narrative attached to a gaming property to put together an entertaining trip to the cinema.

4. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Yes, yes, we know. There’s already a Zelda movie in the works. But we’re petitioning for a full-blown animated adaptation of a very particular entry. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker landed on the Nintendo GameCube in 2003, and is quite unlike any Zelda entry before or since. Its gorgeous cel-shaded art style is a total one-of-a-kind, and the game generally feels like you’re playing a cartoon. Add in its distinctive maritime twist on familiar Zelda staples, and you have all the material for one special animated feature.

5. Metroid Prime

The Metroid series has a long and varied history, but we’re particularly interested in adapting Metroid Prime. This series pinnacle took the hitherto 2D series into the third dimension, switching the style and perspective from zoomed-out side-on platformer to first person adventure. The result was arguably the most immersive game in the series. Three solid sequels have been released since, the latest in 2025, so it’s likely to be fresh in people’s minds. Nintendo might be slightly squeamish about the unabashed influence of Ridley Scott’s Alien, but we think its world is distinct enough to warrant its own cinematic entry.

6. Star Fox

Also known as Starwing here in Europe, Star Fox was released onto the SNES in 1993 with a then-revolutionary deployment of 3D graphics. The adventures of Fox McCloud (who is confirmed to be making his debut in Super Mario Galaxy, voiced by Glenn Powell) and his fellow fighter pilot buddies could make for a cracking slice of family-friendly sci-fi, if it was handled properly. Think of the epic against-the-odds space battles of the original Star Wars trilogy – and particularly those Death Star trench battles – but with a gaggle of babbling animals taking the place of Luke Skywalker and co. Doesn’t that sound ace?

7. F-Zero

Largely thanks to the all-consuming success of the Mario Kart franchise, Nintendo’s other major racing game IP has been somewhat neglected over the years. What better way to relaunch the F-Zero IP than with a movie spin-off? OK, so I may just be angling for a new standalone game in this lightning-fast futuristic racing series, but the original 1990 SNES game (and its mighty fine sequels) could be turned into a unique family-friendly sci-fi racing film. We’re thinking Speed Racer meets the pod racing bits of the Star Wars sequels, plus a little F1.

8. Donkey Kong Country

Donkey Kong played a fairly major part in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and we think it’s high time the character got his own production. If the past decade has shown us anything, it’s that there’s no such thing as too much Seth Rogen. In the spirit of Super Mario Galaxy, we’d rather Nintendo picked out a specific entry in the great ape’s oeuvre. In this case it’s Donkey Kong Country, the first game in a series of highly regarded side-on platformers initially developed by British developer Rare. The game’s epic production values (it was one of the most visually spectualar games of the 16-bit era), vibrant characterisation, and cheeky sense of humour warrant further exploration on the big screen.

• The best video game books to read right now: 10 brilliant books about gaming

Independent Swiss brand Krayon has taken one of the most niche complications in watchmaking and somehow turned it into a tribute to Pac-Man. The result is the Pac-Man Anywhere, a limited run of just 15 pieces, each one unique, each one made from platinum, and each one costing somewhere in the region of £170,000.

At its core, this is still Krayon’s Anywhere watch, an impressive bit of kit that tracks sunrise and sunset based on your exact location. It’s the type of thing that’s usually reserved for serious collectors who like their watches complicated and on the nerdier side.

What Krayon has done here is swap out the usual astronomical display for something a lot more playful. Instead of the sun moving around the dial, you’ve got Pac-Man doing the rounds, marking the transition from day to night as he goes.

It sounds gimmicky, but the execution is anything but. The dial sits on a polished onyx base, with a barely-there maze design that only really shows itself when the light hits it properly. Floating above that are tiny, hand-painted elements, ghosts, fruit, dots, all placed on rotating sapphire discs that shift depending on the length of the day.

When midnight hits, the ghosts turn blue, just like in the game. On equinox days, the whole thing balances out into a perfectly symmetrical display. It’s clever, slightly mad, but it does look class.

Under the hood, it’s just as serious. The manual-winding movement packs in over 400 components, with a 72-hour power reserve and all the mechanical complexity needed to track daylight cycles in real time.

The watch is certainly nostalgic without being tacky and just self-aware enough to pull it off. Each of the 15 watches has a slightly different layout, too, so no two are the same, which only adds to the sense that this is more of an art piece than an accessory.

Will you ever see one in the wild? We wouldn't have thought so. But as a concept, and as a reminder that watchmaking doesn’t always have to take itself so seriously, it’s hard not to like. You can see more of the watch on the Krayon website and even enquire.

• The Camden Watch Company drops its first-ever pocket watch

If you’ve ever played Angry Birds and thought “this would be better if I could absolutely leather it,” your oddly specific wish has just come true.

TOCA Social, the immersive football entertainment venue inside The O2 and Westfield White City in London and the Bullring in Birmingham, is launching a brand-new Angry Birds game this Easter, and it’s exactly as chaotic as it sounds.

For the uninitiated, TOCA Social is what happens when five-a-side football collides with arcade gaming. You and your mates step into a private booth, fire footballs at a huge interactive screen, and take on a series of skill-based challenges, all while food and drinks are delivered straight to your table. It’s fast, competitive, and just the right level of ridiculous, whether you’re a seasoned baller or someone who hasn’t kicked a ball since Year 9 PE.

From the 30th of March, things are getting even more frantic. The new Angry Birds experience takes the global gaming phenomenon, with more than 5 billion downloads, and turns it into a full-body event. Instead of dragging a slingshot across your phone screen, you’ll be using your foot to ping balls at targets, sending birds crashing into towers, setting off TNT explosions and wiping out the ever-annoying Bad Piggies.

There are multiple difficulty settings, Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced, so you can ease yourself in or go full competitive mode. It’s designed to work for pretty much everyone, making it a strong shout for families over the Easter holidays, groups of mates, or even a slightly chaotic date night. And because it’s all indoors, it’s also a very handy option when London inevitably decides to chuck it down for a week straight.

The game marks TOCA Social’s first collaboration with a major gaming brand, teaming up with Rovio Entertainment to bring the colourful chaos into the real world. It’s also the first of several new experiences set to roll out across 2026, so expect more where this came from.

If you’re looking for something a bit different to fill an afternoon, or just fancy proving you’ve got better aim than your pals, this might be one of the more fun ways to do it.

• London’s Leicester Square is getting a new activity bar with axe throwing, shuffleboards, DJs and more

Back in 1930s America someone decided watching a tiny metal ball rattle around a slanted wooden box just might be brilliant. Early pinball tables had no flippers, barely any control and just enough chaos to distract a nation deep in the Great Depression. But when times are tight, creativity gets loud - Jazz was booming, Art Deco was everywhere, and pinball was quietly rolling onto the scene.

Fast-forward almost a century and pinball is nudging its 95th birthday, enjoying a full-blown renaissance. Modern machines now glow with screens, soundtracks and storylines, while vintage tables command eye-watering prices from collectors who know their bumpers from their bonus lanes.

But how did we get here? And what about the next century of pinball?

Pockets and Prohibition

It all started with Baffle Ball, Gottlieb’s 1931 hit - a simple pin table inspired by French bagatelle. Cheap to play and even cheaper to buy, operators often made their money back in a single day. Production ramped up to hundreds of machines daily, waitlists stretched into the tens of thousands, and competitors like Bally and Williams jumped in fast. Bigger tables arrived, like Ballyhoo, pockets were added to the play surface and suddenly pinball wasn’t just a novelty - it was a phenomenon.

But not everyone loved it — the fun police were on patrol. By 1942, America’s war on gambling turned its sights on pinball.

Electricity had been added in 1933, bumpers in 1936, and the game’s reputation grew murkier by the minute. New York’s mayor led a dramatic crackdown, branding machines the tools of organised crime. Police raids seized thousands, others were smashed to pieces on the spot. For decades, pinball lived in a legal grey area, half entertainment, half alleged vice.

The man who saved the game

Then came the flipper in 1947, the moment pinball became less luck, more skill.

Yet bans lingered until one Roger Sharpe, often dubbed the original pinball wizard, walked into a New York City Council hearing in 1976 and proved his point with a perfectly called shot. The council relented, the ban lifted, and pinball’s golden age kicked into gear.

If you want the cinematic version, the docudrama Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game tells that story - a 28-year-old journalist, a courtroom showdown and the ultimate ball save. It sounds absurd, but that moment flipped the narrative: pinball wasn’t a shady gamble anymore, it was a legit game of skill.

Manufacturers wasted no time shaking off the old stigma. Creativity exploded. Gottlieb led the charge, while machines cheekily nodded at authority without poking the bear too hard. The very table used in Sharpe’s demonstration using the deceptively named Bank Shot became a quiet icon. If you knew, you knew.

The late 70s leaned into rebellion. Themes got louder, artwork bolder. Bally released Evel Knievel in 1977, then pushed boundaries again with a Playboy machine a year later. These tables today are the Holy Grail, collectors’ gold - even their backglass panels sell for serious cash.

Technically, everything was changing too. Mechanical score reels gave way to digital displays, electronic sounds replaced bells, and arcades started to glow like futuristic playgrounds.

But more change was on the horizon. Just as pinball peaked, video games crashed the party. Companies merged, some vanished, and for a while the machines drifted into the dusty corners of arcades - still alive, just waiting for their second act.

A modern renaissance

Enter Stern. Not exactly newcomers, being part of Chicago’s pinball lineage for decades. But over the past ten years they’ve driven the modern revival.

Their machines come loaded with licences like Star Wars, 007, The Beatles, Godzilla and Stranger Things, turning pinball into an immersive, story-driven experience under glass. Each table is still handmade, often costing over £12k, with limited editions pushing £20k - and they rarely stay in stock for long.

Peter Heath of Kent’s Pinball Parlour – finders, fixers and all-round pinball obsessives - sums it up, “One minute everyone’s chasing the future and old stuff’s worthless, then suddenly nostalgia hits and people want the good old days again. We deal purely in retro, so we’re always looking back at the classics. Come down to Margate - the showroom’s full of surprises.”

Stern’s Zach Sharpe, son of Roger, grew up surrounded by the machines that shaped the industry.

“I own a very rare game called Cyclopes,” he says. “Only 400 were ever made, and between me, my brother and my dad we’ve got almost one per cent of the total run in the family.”

For him, pinball’s appeal is simple: “Once you connect with it, it never really leaves you. Stern keeps pushing what’s possible, building whole worlds inside these machines.”

And yes, skill still matters.

“There’s an old saying: if you’re not tilting, you’re not trying,” says Zach. “But no machine lets you win by tilting. You’ll lose bonuses, and on older tables you could end the whole game.”

Despite its rebellious past, pinball today is surprisingly universal. Collectors chase machines for their art, their nostalgia or just the thrill of fixing something mechanical. Newbies fall for those alluring flashing lights and that unmistakable ding. Different reasons, same obsession.

Which brings us to now. Once contraband, pinball lurked in smoky back rooms like a chrome-plated speakeasy. Today it’s enjoying an unlikely renaissance, with arcades across the country once again dedicated space to tables new and old, while gamers — looking to escape the digital confines of their favourite hobby — turn to the physical fun of a rattling pinball machine. Maybe it’s the tactile chaos, maybe it’s the nostalgia, or maybe we’re all just tired of staring at flat screens.

Either way, there’s something irresistible about a game that lights up, dings and clatters at volume and occasionally rewards you with a free ball - proof that sometimes the best way forward is backward, preferably with flippers.

• Sounds on 45: How the jukebox is making a modern-day comeback

A new system update for the Nintendo Switch 2 is going to breathe new life into your catalogue of older Nintendo Switch 1 games.

Well, in handheld mode at least.

System update 22.0.0 adds an optional ‘Handheld Boost Mode’ that will lift performance of games released for the original Switch console when played in handheld mode on the newer Switch 2.

Effectively, it allows Switch 1 games to play as if they are using the console’s docking station when played handheld on the Switch 2 console — meaning that many games will see a boost to resolution and to frame rate, as was allowed by the first-generation console’s dock, by virtue of the additional horsepower the newer console offers.

Nintendo power

This is a much-requested feature for Switch owners — though the Switch 2 is backwards compatible with 99.9% of Switch 1 games, the previous console’s limited 720p screen meant that playing them on Nintendo’s latest hardware could look blurry, and wouldn’t take advantage of the frame rate boosting power of Switch 2. This update should address that, boosting older titles where possible to the Switch 2’s native 1080p resolution, and potentially pushing framerates higher, too, without the need for developers to go back in and manually patch the games.

It will not be possible for every single title however — those that make use of touchscreen controls in handheld mode, for instance, or those that rely on docked motion controls, will likely not be able to take advantage of Handheld Boost Mode. But a vast swathe of the Switch 1 games library should see a marked improvement.

To activate the new optional feature:

• Select System Settings on the HOME Menu.
• Scroll down through the System Settings menu and select System.
• Scroll down on the right and select Nintendo Switch Software Handling.
• Select Handheld Mode Boost to enable or disable this setting.

The update comes alongside a bunch of other smaller improvements and tweaks to the Nintendo Switch 2 system, including new ways to manage storage, the ability to save notes about friends on your Friend List, and more — alongside the usual system stability and performance improvements.

• The 14 best Nintendo Switch 2 games

Chappell Roan just made headlines for her Grammys dress, but her garb is potentially about to earn a whole lot of cash as she joins Fortnite.

She is a headliner act of Fortnite Festival season 13, which is the rhythm game side of Fortnite.

This sees her mega-hit Pink Pony Club join the Jam Tracks selection, while her other songs Good Luck, Babe, Hot To Go! and The Giver also return to the library.

There are also two Chappell Roan outfit styles incoming, each complete with a set of accessories and emotes. And you’ll need to fork out for two bundles to get access to them.

The first is the Heartcore Music Pass, which features an outfit based on on-stage looks from Roan’s tours, referencing Pink Pony Club. Because, well, it’s a very pink look, complete with pink cowboy hat. There's a red version of the dress too.

Fortnite is also getting a Battle Royale-ready Chappell Roan look, dubbed Roan of Arc.

This outfit is a metallic armour costume based on what the singer wore during her 2024 performance of Good Luck, Babe at the VMAs. And it pairs with a flaming sword and a pink pony piñata as part of another bundle about to go on sale at the Fortnite shop.

This Fortnite content drops on February 5th at 2PM, UK time. We expect the Fortnite Festival Heartcore Music Pass to cost 1400 V-Bucks and the Roan of Arc bundle to cost upwards of 3000 V-Bucks, based on Epic’s usual pricing.

These drops represent Chappell Roan’s biggest Fornite collab to date, but not the only one.

A Hot to Go! dance emote came to Fortnite in December 2024. And in early 2025 Roan told Radio 1 she liked nothing more than eating an edible and playing Fortnite, as Ariana Grande. She also begged Epic to make her a costume back then. A year later, it’s happened.

Chappell Roan currently has zero UK gigs in the calendar, but is currently touring Australia this month, ahead of dates in Argentina, Chile and Brazil throughout March.

• The BIG London gig list 2026: Your guide to this year's very best shows, festivals and concerts

The London Card Show is back for its first outing of 2026, and it’s starting the year exactly as you’d expect: bigger, louder and packed wall-to-wall with cardboard.

Running from 13–15 February 2026, the UK’s largest card event will once again take over Sandown Park Racecourse in Esher, welcoming more than 10,000 collectors across three days of trading. With 1,000 tables and an estimated two million cards expected to change hands, this is about as close as Europe gets to a full-scale cardboard frenzy.

This year marks the show’s 19th edition, and for the first time, Friday’s trading will expand into the first third of the upstairs hall, giving early attendees more space, more vendors and a stronger sense that the weekend has properly begun.

It’s a small change with big implications, especially for serious collectors who like to get in early.

Founder Harry Reynolds says the expansion is all about momentum. “Our mission has always been to bring card collectors of all types under one roof,” he explains. “Opening up more space on Friday means more vendors, more interaction and more opportunities for fans to discover something special.”

Heavy hitters from across the trading card world will be in attendance, including eBay, Fanatics Live, Goldin, Whatnot and Ace Grading, alongside a broad mix of sports cards, Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh, TCGs, retro gaming and memorabilia.

There’s more than just buying and selling, too. Highlights include a Main Stage packed with live interviews, unboxings and raffles; a Kids Zone for younger collectors; a Saturday night Trade Night session; creator and vlogger areas; on-site grading services; and eBay’s oversized Live Van broadcasting straight from the show floor.

Tickets range from VIP to family passes, with VIP entry from 9am and general admission from 10am each day. Doors close at 4pm — assuming you haven’t lost track of time digging through binders.

• You could spend your Valentine’s dining under one of London’s most picturesque and historic buildings

When Resident Evil Requiem closed out the Summer Game Fest 2025 showcase, it did something refreshingly rare for a modern AAA game: it announced itself and locked in a release date. No years of vague teasers, no endless speculation. Capcom confirmed that the ninth mainline Resident Evil lands on 27 February 2026, and that was that.

Set roughly 30 years after the Raccoon City outbreak, Requiem returns players to the Midwest ruins of the city following a missile strike. You’ll switch between two protagonists with very different energies: FBI technical analyst Grace Ashcroft and long-time series survivor Leon S. Kennedy. The pair are drawn to the abandoned Wrenwood Hotel to investigate a suspicious death, a location with personal stakes for Grace, whose mother was murdered there years earlier.

Capcom is positioning Requiem as its most immersive entry yet. Classic survival horror when playing as Grace, puzzles, investigation, careful resource management, and full-blooded action when you step into Leon’s boots. You can switch between first- and third-person perspectives, a first for the series.

Into all of these steps Hamilton, not with a background cameo, but with two watches designed to exist inside the game’s world, and on your wrist, if you’re quick enough.

Leon S. Kennedy’s Khaki Field Auto Chrono

Leon’s watch is exactly what you’d expect: functional, tough, and quietly loaded with character detail. The Khaki Field Auto Chrono worn by Kennedy leans into military utility, with a crown shaped like a sniper scope dial and chronograph pushers inspired by bullet cartridges.

There’s symbolism, too. A black wing motif at 9 o’clock and an engraved emblem on the caseback serve as a nod to fallen comrades, a subtle reminder that Leon has been doing this for a long time, and it’s never been easy.

It’s not flashy, and that’s the point. This is a tool watch built for survival horror, not the red carpet.

Grace Ashcroft’s Pan Europ

Grace Ashcroft’s Pan Europ is a different proposition altogether. Where Leon’s watch is about endurance, Grace’s reflects intelligence and control. Finished in a striking ‘gold and noir’ palette, it pairs a black PVD-coated case with gold detailing across the dial, bezel and strap.

The result is sleek, composed and quietly confident, much like Grace’s gameplay style, which focuses on deduction, analysis and staying one step ahead of whatever’s lurking in the dark. Geometric details on the caseback and restrained gold accents keep it elegant rather than showy.

Both watches appear in Resident Evil Requiem and will be available in the real world, with 2,000 units of each produced. They launch alongside the game on 27 February 2026.

• Kai Cenat announces clothing brand in weird YouTube video

Grab your khaki shorts, draw those dual pistols and lock your butler in the fridge: Amazon’s just lifted the lid on the full cast for its upcoming Tomb Raider TV show.

A couple of details we already knew — Sophie Turner of Game of Thrones fame takes the lead Lara Croft role, writing duties are covered by Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and Sigourney Weaver had previously told Shortlist about her exciting role. But we’ve now got word of how the rest of the cast is fleshed out for one of video gaming's biggest TV adaptations.

According to the press release, Tomb Raider will also star:

• Martin Bobb-Semple as Zip: Lara Croft’s long-standing tech support and friend.
• Jason Isaacs as Atlas DeMornay: Lara’s uncle.
• Bill Paterson as Winston: Long-standing Croft family butler sure to be stuffed in a freezer before too long.
• Jack Bannon as Gerry: Lara’s personal pilot and snack collector.
• John Heffernan as David: An exhausted government official who finds himself tangled up in Lara's unusual world.
• Celia Imrie as Francine: The Head of Advancement at the British Museum, focused solely on raising funds and glasses of champagne.
• Paterson Joseph as Thomas Warner: A senior government official brought in to clean up an almighty mess.
• Sasha Luss as Sasha: A fierce, deeply competitive new adversary of Lara’s.
• Juliette Motamed as Georgia: A devoted, by-the-books curator at the British Museum, dedicated to the ‘proper’ preservation of history.
• August Wittgenstein as Lukas: An illegal raider who shares history with Lara in more ways than one.

Sigourney Weaver’s role remains shrouded in secrecy, but is revealed as “Evelyn Wallis a mysterious, high-flying woman who is keen to exploit Lara's talents.”

There’s some heavyweight talent lined-up there then — not least of all being Paterson Joseph, AKA Peep Show’s devilishly bureaucratic Johnson. And it seems writer Waller-Bridge is chuffed to have them all.

This cast is beyond my wildest dreams!” she said of the news.

“Tomb Raider boasts a plethora of iconic characters. I am thrilled to have been able to bring some personal and fan favourites to the screen while also introducing a few new rascals of our own to the mix.”

For now there’s no release window for Tomb Raider — it'll be an Amazon Prime Video exclusive — but we’ll be keeping a close eye on how the show develops.

• The best Amazon Prime series: Fantastic Prime Video shows you need to stream

ASUS Republic of Gamers has a lot to shout about at CES 2026, but the headline-grabber here is its unexpected, beautifully unhinged collaboration with Kojima Productions. Because if you’re going to celebrate 20 years of gaming innovation, you might as well do it alongside the industry’s most eccentric auteur.

At the heart of the partnership is the ROG Flow Z13-KJP, a limited-edition 2-in-1 gaming tablet that looks like it’s been lifted straight out of a Death Stranding cutscene. Designed with direct input from legendary artist Yoji Shinkawa, the device draws heavy inspiration from Ludens, Kojima Productions’ space-suited mascot and philosophical avatar for play, creativity and experimentation.

The Flow Z13-KJP blends art and engineering into something genuinely collectable: an angular CNC-milled aluminium chassis, carbon fibre detailing, bespoke typography, exclusive packaging, custom Armoury Crate themes and Ludens wallpapers baked in. It’s the kind of hardware that feels less like a laptop and more like a prop from a future sci-fi epic… It’s incredibly on-brand.

Under the hood, it’s no slouch either. Powered by AMD’s Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor, Radeon 8060S graphics and a 50 TOPS NPU, the Z13-KJP is designed to handle high-end gaming, creative work and local AI tasks in a tablet-sized form factor.

A 13.4-inch 2.5K Nebula HDR touchscreen with a 180Hz refresh rate delivers slick, cinematic visuals, while the detachable keyboard lets it shift effortlessly between gaming console, creator tablet and ultraportable workstation.

The Kojima crossover doesn’t stop there. ASUS is also launching a suite of Kojima Productions-branded peripherals, all bearing Shinkawa’s distinctive artwork and the suitably dramatic slogan For Ludens Who Dare. Highlights include the ROG Delta II-KJP headset with 50mm titanium-plated drivers and marathon battery life, the ultra-light ROG Keris II Origin-KJP mouse, and the ROG Scabbard II XXL-KJP mouse mat, complete with a hand-drawn Ludens motif.

It’s merch, but merch done with taste. We’re still waiting to find out more regarding pricing but this is certainly one to keep an eye on.

Everything else ROG announced at CES 2026

Once you pull yourself away from the Kojima gear, there’s still a lot going on at ROG’s CES showcase. Highlights include:

• World-first dual-screen gaming laptop: The new ROG Zephyrus Duo 16 features twin 16-inch Nebula HDR OLED displays, designed for serious multitasking, streaming and creative workflows alongside high-end gaming.
• Next-gen Zephyrus G14 and G16 laptops: Ultraportable powerhouses with Intel Core Ultra Series 3 or AMD Ryzen AI processors, up to RTX 5090 Laptop GPUs, AI acceleration built in, and stunning new 1100-nit Nebula HDR OLED displays.
• ROG G1000 desktop PC: A statement gaming tower featuring the world’s first holographic AniMe Holo fan system, extreme cooling, and support for top-tier RTX 50-series GPUs.
• Cutting-edge OLED monitors: Including the ROG Swift OLED PG27UCWM with dual-mode 4K/240Hz and FHD/480Hz gameplay, and the ultrawide PG34WCDN, pushing colour, contrast and refresh rates to new extremes.
• AR gaming glasses: The ROG XREAL R1 glasses offer a giant virtual screen experience with a 240Hz micro-OLED display, spatial audio by Bose, and seamless PC, console and handheld connectivity.
• New audio and peripherals: From the audiophile-grade ROG Kithara planar magnetic headset to open-ear Cetra wireless earbuds and the lightning-fast Falchion Ace 75 HE keyboard.
• Cases, cooling and components: Including new Crosshair and Strix motherboards, advanced AIO liquid coolers, panoramic PC cases, and high-performance ARGB fans.

It’s a suitably stacked line-up for ROG’s 20th anniversary, but the Kojima collaboration is the one that turns this from a tech showcase into a genuine cultural moment.

• Fiio's Snowsky Disc is like a retro iPod inspired by the CD

2025 was absolutely jam-packed with fantastic video games, but if you feared that meant that there would be nothing left on the slate for 2026, well, you’d be very wrong indeed.

There’s every chance that the best games we’re going to be playing in the next 12 months aren’t even on this list. In fact, we might not even know that some of them exist yet. And of course, some will inevitably get delayed into 2027. But we've scoured the tentative release calendar to see what is confirmed right now, and there’s a lot to get excited about, from the return of a beloved British RPG series, to a Marvel game that doesn’t feature Spider-Man and a little known open-world title from a studio called Rockstar. Not really sure what to make of that last one...

Time to get your 2025 backlog out of the way before it gets loaded up with this lot — here are nine games to watch out for in 2026, plus, where available, how to pre-order them, too.

1. Resident Evil Requiem

Capcom has been on a hot streak with Resi since 2017’s Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, so we have every reason to feel very confident about Resident Evil Requiem. The ninth mainline game in the long-running survival horror series features a new protagonist named Grace Ashcroft, an FBI analyst who’s sent to what remains of Raccoon City to investigate a series of mysterious deaths.

Resident Evil Requiem also brings back fan favourite Leon S. Kennedy as a playable character. The campaign will have us switching between Grace and Leon, with the former’s sections serving up the scares, while Leon’s segments will seemingly be combat-driven and closer to Resident Evil 4 in style.

In the last decade, Capcom has shifted towards a first-person perspective for Resident Evil, but Requiem will offer third-person and first-person from the off, allowing you to switch at any time. It sounds like a bit of a Resi grab bag, then, and it’s only a few months away.

• Due: February 27th

2. 007: First Light

2024 saw Indiana Jones burst back onto the big-budget video game scene in some style, and in 2026 it’s the turn of another pop culture giant. 007: First Light is the first James Bond game of any significance for well over a decade, and it’s being developed by IO Interactive, best known for the Hitman series. Unlike the majority of 007’s video game outings, First Light isn’t a movie tie-in, but something of an origin story, in which we’ll play as an up-and-coming agent likely still working out his cocktail preferences.

Patrick Gibson will portray the 26-year-old James Bond still chasing his 00 status, and the story will feature plenty of other familiar characters. Gameplay shown off so far points towards a game that blends the player freedom that is signature to IO’s Hitman games with the cinematic flair we expect from Bond. Expect shooting, sneaking, wise-cracks and plenty of fast cars.

• Due: March 26th

3. Mouse: P.I. for Hire

Of all the games due to come out in 2026, few are as irresistibly stylish as a Mouse: P.I. for Hire, a black-and-white FPS inspired by 1930s rubber hose cartoons. You play as Jack Pepper (voiced by Troy Baker), a private investigator and, crucially, mouse, in what appears to be as much as a rodent-themed detective sim as a shooter. There will be plenty of the latter too, though, with combat that’s apparently inspired by the likes of Doom and BioShock.

Mouse: P.I. for Hire is also inevitably going to be compared to Cuphead, the rock-hard 2017 run-and-gun platformer that channels the same era of American animation with its stunning hand-drawn visuals. Time will tell if Mouse: P.I. for Hire makes as much of an impact as Studio MDHR’s masterpiece, but if its sleuth ‘em up gameplay is as mesmerising as its art, this one could be quite special.

• Due: March 19th

4. Saros

The first major first-party PS5 game of 2026 is set to be Saros, the next game from Returnal developer Housemarque. Like its predecessor, Saros is a sci-fi third-person action game with roguelike elements, in which you play as Arjun Devraj, a Soltari Enforcer investigating an off-world colony on the planet Carcosa.

Returnal is one of the best games of the PS5 generation, but it’s also mercilessly difficult. Luckily, it sounds like Saros could be a bit more forgiving. Unlike Returnal, you’ll be able to permanently upgrade your gear and weapons after each death, so while the game’s procedurally generated world will ensure you never get too comfortable, you’ll at least head into every run a bit more powerful than you were before.

From what we’ve seen of it running so far, Saros is going to be another AAA technical showcase for the PS5 with refreshingly indie sensibilities, and there aren’t many games you can say that about.

• Due: April 30th

5. Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight

It’s been more than 10 years since Rocksteady signed off its legendary Arkham series with Batman: Arkham Knight, and while we have had a VR game and Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League since then, a proper Bat-focused continuation of the beloved trilogy feels a long way off. Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight might be the next best thing. Lego Batman games are nothing new, but this one looks like a celebration of the character’s entire history across comics, TV, films and games.

You’re given a huge open-world Gotham to explore, and while Legacy of the Dark Knight is obviously taking itself a lot less seriously than Rocksteady’s games, it certainly looks like developer Traveller’s Tales is riffing on the Arkham combat. If you’re a Batman fan of any kind, Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight will likely have something for you, and if you’re still not sold, know that UK comedy icon Matt Berry is voicing Bane. What more could you ask for?

• Due: May 29th

6. The Duskbloods

It was pretty clear from the moment Nintendo unveiled the Switch 2 that it wants third-parties to flock to its console this generation, but I’m not sure anyone would have had a Switch 2-exclusive FromSoftware game on their bingo card. The Dark Souls and Elden Ring developer is currently working not on a Bloodborne sequel (that we know of anyway), but the equally Gothic-y The Duskbloods, a multiplayer action RPG that lets up to eight players fight it out across various maps.

You choose from over a dozen playable characters known as the Bloodsworn, vampire-like creatures that can wield guns, and as in other From games, you can summon in companions to aid you in a particularly testing fight. Hidetaka Miyazaki’s recently released Elden Ring Nightreign, a co-op-focused spin-off of its 2022 RPG with roguelike elements, and with The Duskbloods being a PvPvE experience, it is clearly keen to keep branching out.

Whether the Switch 2 exclusive will be able to tempt the FromSoftware diehards over to Nintendo’s platform remains to be seen, but it will be fun to watch it all play out.

• Due: 2026

7. Fable

There are countless fantasy RPG series out there, but to my knowledge there's only one that places as much importance on the dedicated fart button as the one you press to swing your sword. For all of the overpromising of its famed creator Peter Molyneux, the Fable series is beloved by its fans, and the upcoming reboot has been Xbox’s most hyped game since it was announced more than five years ago.

The keys to Albion have been handed to Forza Horizon developer Playground Games, which has already proved on numerous occasions that it knows a thing or two about designing open worlds. But an RPG? That’s new territory for the Leamington Spa-based studio. We’ve seen precious little gameplay of the new Fable since it was announced, but expect another third-person action RPG with magic-enthused combat, lots of player freedom and a host of immediately familiar British actors in the voice cast. I just hope that it A) retains the slapstick humour of its predecessors and B) actually does finally come out in 2026.

• Due: 2026

8. Grand Theft Auto VI

Grand Theft Auto VI has already been the victim of two delays in 2025, and if it gets pushed any further than its current release date of November 19, 2026, then we’re surely getting dangerously close to GTA skipping this troubled generation altogether. But assuming Rockstar does manage to get its game out next year, the long wait will only add to what is almost certainly going to be the biggest video game launch of all time.

GTA 6 is set in the fictional state of Leonida (essentially Florida) and will let us finally return to the Miami-inspired Vice City for the first time since 2006. The game follows the law-breaking lovebirds Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos, and the trailer released so far hints at a more grounded story, a la Red Dead Redemption.

That said, it wouldn’t be GTA without all the open-world silliness that made it the biggest series in the world, and whatever Rockstar is cooking up with GTA 6, you can be pretty sure that it will raise its own very high bar once again.

• Due: November 19th

9. Marvel’s Wolverine

With its superb Marvel’s Spider-Man series, Insomniac Games has cemented itself as one of the most exciting AAA studios in the world, and arguably the most prolific that PlayStation has. Spidey is taking a bit of time off, but while we wait for the next one of those, the studio has been hard at work on its first Wolverine game, and it looks as unflinchingly violent as you’d hope.

Judging by the information Insomniac has released so far, Marvel’s Wolverine is going to be a love letter to the angriest mutant, with Logan (Liam McIntyre) on a mission to uncover the secrets of his past that takes him to the Canadian wilderness, the neon streets of Tokyo and the lawless fictional nation of Madripoor. Basically if you’ve ever read an X-Men comic, you’re in good hands here.

We already know how good Insomniac is at combat, and if you thought webbing up goons as Spider-Man was satisfying, I’d imagine that jamming adamantium claws right into someone’s face is going to feel even better. No game is a complete banker, but Insomniac’s Logan simulator is probably as close to one as you’re going to get.

• Due: 2026

AI may be the buzz-word bingo term of the year but, for once, we’re able to embrace it without reservation — thanks to artificial intelligence, I’m getting to recreate the greatest Christmas of all time: Christmas 1997.

Why? How?

First the “why” — Christmas 1997 was the year I got a PlayStation 1, and with it the home port of arcade lightgun classic, Time Crisis. Many a pound coin was saved as I blasted away baddies at home rather than with the coin-op arcade machine. Santa did me proud, and it was the start of a beautiful friendship between me and my PS1.

And the” how”? That’s because, thanks to the nifty new G’AIM’E hardware and some AI wizardry, we’re finally able to get a faff-free lightgun experience at home on modern flatscreen TVs. And it’s brilliant.

Want to make a retro gamer’s Christmas dreams come true? The G’AIM’E might just be the answer. Read on to find out why.

G’AIM’E Lightgun: In short…

• AI powered lightguns that bring arcade shooters to your living room
• Easy to set up
• Works with TVs and projectors
• Comes pre-loaded with classic games
• Available now, starting at £99 for a single gun, console and Time Crisis
• ‘Premium’ bundle costs £149.99 and throws in three additional games and an arcade-authentic foot pedal
• ‘Ultimate’ bundle costs £199.99, includes two guns plus the pedal, all the games, and throws in bonus physical collectibles

An AI-fuelled arcade revival

Gamers of a certain vintage will have fond memories of the many lightgun games you could find in your local arcade. These point-and-shooters, with accessory guns that you pointed at a screen to aim and fire, were big business in the arcade’s hey-dey, and in the era of the bulky CRT TV screen, they were a core part of the at-home gaming experience, too.

But flat screen TVs changed all that. The aim tracking methods changed with the TV technology, old accessories no longer worked, and motion tracked consoles like the Nintendo Wii could never really match the experience of dedicated lightgun shooters. Plus, the decline of the arcade meant the lightgun shooter as a gaming genre fell out of vogue, and fewer games were available to be ported for home play.

It’s no wonder then that the G’AIM’E lightgun, created by Tassei Denki, cooked up a crowd-funding storm when it was revealed on Kickstarter. It managed to raise more than £860,000 by promising a dedicated console with AI-trained lightguns that would accurately work on all manner of TVs, including projection screens. Gamers starved of the arcade-at-home experience lined up to pledge their cash.

And, despite some small gripes, it was money well spent.

The hardware and set-up

To be clear, modern lightguns do exist, but they’re quite notoriously convoluted to set up, and are predominately for enthusiasts willing to work with emulators and PC software to get them up and running, making the plug-in-and-play nature of the G’AIM’E very appealing.

The fact the hardware on offer here is so satisfying and easy to use is just the icing on the cake. The G’AIM’E package consists of a main console unit (seemingly running a fork of Android) that plugs into your TV, plus the USB-C cabled gun. No wireless shooters here.

There’s two USB-C ports on the front of the console (a small black box the size of two CD cases stacked on top of each other), allowing for a second gun to be added for multiplayer play, or a pedal for arcade-accurate ducking and reloading in supported games. Those added extras are included in the pricier Premium and Ultimate bundles — you get just the console, a single gun and a single game at the basic tier.

Set up is surprisingly simple. Plug the power supply in, hook up the HDMI cable to your TV or projector (yes, projection screens work here!) and the console fires up into its calibration mode. You’ll be tasked with shooting a number of onscreen markers a few times, and then boom! You’re in the game selection menu.

A few pointers are shared to make sure calibration is as accurate as possible. You’ll need a distance of about 3 metres between you and the TV for a 50-inch TV, and 3.5m to 4m+ for 65-inch TVs and larger. Try to play in a darker room if possible, or at least minimise lights near your TV — lamps, other screens, or windows should be switched off or covered up, as it can confuse the camera tracker built into each gun. Also, make sure you’re using a high-quality USB-C charger — I started off using one I had laying around, and the guns kept disconnecting as a result. Only the Ultimate bundle includes a charger in the box.

Those boxes ticked, it’s a joy to play. Accuracy is as good as I remember from the PS1 days, and the blue-with-orange-highlights guns themselves are chunky and sturdy, walking that line between toy and not-quite-a-firearm satisfyingly. The force-feedback accompanying shots is a little weaker than you’d get in an arcade, but that’s a minor point, and the option for playing with a pedal will bring back fond memories of the original experience, very well recreated here. Rubber pads on the bottom keep it from sliding around too much underfoot.

The games

The star of the show here is undoubtedly Time Crisis, bundled in at every tier of the G’AIM’E package. Its innovative-for-the-era cover mechanic remains as satisfying as ever, and its against-the-clock shootouts against polygonal baddies as tense and thrilling as remembered.

A new conversion from original developers Namco Bandai is included here, based on the arcade original, meaning it's as close to that initial experience as you’re likely to find these days outside of a retro arcade. Note it is based on the arcade version — not the PS1 version which included a secondary campaign to fire through, meaning you might see all it has to offer relatively quickly.

Stump the cash for the Premium and Ultimate bundles, and you get three additional games — Point Blank, Steel Gunner, and its sequel Steel Gunner 2.

Of all the games offered, Point Blank may be the secret best of the bunch, certainly in terms of replayability. Offering a two-player mode that Time Crisis lacks, it’s a madcap point-chasing shooting gallery, full of minigames and manic ideas. You’ll likely spend most of your time here.

Steel Gunner and its sequel are 2D sci-fi shooters, and the oldest games included on the console. They’re still good fun, but show their age more than Time Crisis and Point Blank.

Notes for next time

We’ve had a lot of fun playing with the G’AIM’E kit, but there’s a few gripes we hope will be ironed out should any next-gen model appear, or variants of the hardware be produced.

Though accurate, the calibration can be a bit picky about the environment the kit is best played in. The ‘AI’ here has been baked in during development to work with as many TVs as possible, but doesn’t account for individual setups — this isn’t an actively learning model that can adapt to the unique characteristics of your living room. Likewise, it’s not saving any information about your setup, meaning you’re going to have to go through the calibration process every time you fire it up.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, there’s no plans to offer further games down the line. There’s no Wi-Fi onboard, and though the developers say the USB-C ports can be used to issue firmware updates in the future, the business model as it stands today is to sell the guns alongside preloaded consoles. So if any more games become available via the G’AIM’E, at present you’d have to buy the kit all over again to play them. Hopefully the manufacturers see sense and offer downloadable gaming updates, or at the very least offer future console units as sold-separately options without the guns.

Final verdict

Those small concerns aside, the G’AIM’E lightgun is a metaphoric and literal blast. Using the best of today’s technology to hark back to a golden age of gaming’s past, this is retro revivalism at its best. Well considered, well made, and with a bunch of classic games to play through, it’s time to party like it's 1997 all over again.