Each week, Xbox offers a selection of games to play free across the weekend as part of its FreePlayDays perk, but often you'll need to subscribe to Xbox Game Pass to redeem them.

Not so this week, as two of the six games listed this weekend are available to play without needing Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Premium or Essential.

The single-player Dustborn is waiting for all Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One owners to download and play for up to two hours. Released by Quantic Dream (Heavy Rain, Detroit: Become Human), it's a stylised, story-driven action-adventure that's largely gone under the radar.

However, you can check it out for yourself and, if you like it, Xbox is currently offering a big discount on a full purchase – it's just $4.49 / £3.74 for a limited period.

Also available to all Xbox owners this weekend, not just Game Pass members, is Madden NFL 27. The latest iteration of EA Sports' American football franchise is complete free to play across the next few days, not just on trial.

This year's game adds a few bells and whistles, including a more dynamic Franchise mode, and more precise controls over the athletes during games.

There's more for Xbox Game Pass members

Those two games don't require Game Pass membership to play, but if you are an Ultimate, Premium or Essential subscriber, you can also check out four additional games this weekend.

The FreePlayDays lineup this week includes Borderlands 4, F1 25 2026 Edition, Surviving Mars: Relaunched, and CarX Drift Racing Online.

Borderlands 4 in particular is one of my favourite FPS games released in the last year (it hit stores almost exactly 12 months ago). And the 2026 Edition patch of F1 25 is arguably one of the best DLC add-ons ever released for a driving game. It totally changes the original F1 25 to be up-to-date with the latest rule changes, liveries, teams and races.

One thing to note though, all six games will only be available until the end of play on Sunday 13 September, so make sure you get your time in while you can.

I've always been a massive fan of rhythm games over the years, kickstarted mainly by a 90s infatuation with PaRappa the Rapper. So when the Guitar Hero and Rock Band phase kicked off in the mid-2000s, I was really in my element.

I even have my original and special edition guitars, still.

However, like most gaming trends, it was bound to trail off eventually, and while Activision had a second stab at it in 2015, the days of wanging around a truncated plastic axe were over. Until now.

It seems we are about to enter a new era of physical gaming. The free, open source PC game Clone Hero is gaining traction and this December, a brand new release will arrive for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC and Nintendo Switch 2 to get you rocking again.

Stage Tour is a bone fide successor to the guitar and band games of the 2000s. Indeed, it's from RedOctane Games – the team behind the original Guitar Hero – and the heritage is right there on the screen and in your hands.

I got to play a few tracks during Gamescom a couple of weeks ago and can safely say that, even on an early build, it has all the hallmarks of an excellent revival for the genre.

I chose to play using the Kramer wireless guitar controller that comes bundled with the game, but was told that you can also use older Guitar Hero and Rock Band alternatives if you can connect them to your system. That should be easy on PC, maybe not so much on PS5, say.

There will be additional compatible controllers too, made by CRKD (the accessory manufacturer behind the Switch Nitro Deck). They're licensed by Gibson too, and have different designs depending on your system.

And that's not all... Stage Tour also works with drums, and the official kit to be released was in my demo as well. It can even come with symbols, and thanks to a modular design, you can replace any element if it wears out.

But I digress – I'm useless on the drums (always have been), so I stuck to what I remembered most fondly and strummed along to Smash Mouth's All Star like it was the noughties all over again.

Needless to say, I was rusty. Choosing a medium level was foolhardy for my first such play in over a decade, and I soon remembered how difficult it can be to whip my fingers across four fret buttons (let alone the five on offer). One thing I noticed though, that was markedly different this time around, is that the trademark latency and lag of yesteryear has seemingly vanished.

TVs and wireless technologies have dramatically improved in just a few years, let along 20 or so. The game therefore felt significantly more responsive. I was still rubbish, but I couldn't blame my tools anymore.

Also impressive was that you can play the game using a conventional gamepad, too. So if you have friends over but just one guitar, you can still play multiplayer. Not that it's any easier – or as much fun – but it does work effectively.

I didn't get to see many of the game modes that are promised for launch, including the single-player campaign, but there's certainly a lot of hindsight being employed in the development of Stage Tour. It will seemingly be packed with so much content, I can see it appealing for a long while.

And there's no Guitar Hero Live subscription element, hurrah! You get scores of tracks available at launch – with 48 already announced and many more to come. There's also something for everyone, from the recently revealed Parklife by Blur, through the pop of Olivia Rodrigo's Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl and Ed Sheeran's Bad Habits, all the way to classic rock from the likes of Def Leppard and Metallica.

From what I've seen so far, Stage Tour is packed with potential and, most importantly, fun. It will be interesting to see if the modern gamer is willing once more to pick up a plastic accessory and wiggle around in front of the telly, but one thing's for sure – from my brief demo play – the joy while doing so is thoroughly rewarding.

Stage Tour will be available from 10 December 2026 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC and Nintendo Switch 2. You will be able to buy the game separately or with a guitar bundle from multiple retailers.

Sony has announced the new batch of games coming to the PS Plus game catalogue over the next few weeks, and it's a very solid lineup.

PS Plus Premium and Extra members will be able to play WWE 2K26 at no extra cost from Tuesday 15 September, but that's just the tip of the iceberg.

As well as the best WWE wrestling game in years, which is exclusive to PS5 and PS5 Pro, subscribers will also be able to download and play Ball x Pit – one of my absolute favourite indie games right now.

A cunning blend of Arkanoid, tower defence, shoot-em-up and town building, the roguelite sees to take on ever increasing waves of monsters using charged, bouncing balls.

It's crazily addictive and simple to pick up and play, so is a must for every collection, I feel. It'll be available in the game catalogue from 22 September in the UK, US and Japan (15 September everywhere else).

Also coming to PS5 is Runescape: Dragonwilds (15 September). It's an open-world co-op survival game set in the Runescape universe and is brand new to PlayStation.

Another particular favourite, Dungeons of Hinterberg, will arrive on 29 September in the UK, US and Japan. The action-RPG is packed with puzzles and dungeon quests, and is something of an unsung hero in my eyes.

And then there's Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound – the 2D action-platformer that we've raved about in the past. That'll also be available on the same day.

Finally, PS Plus Premium and Extra members will also soon gain access to Sniper Elite: Resistance, and Slitterhead. While Date Everything! has recently been added, too.

Premium members with a PS5 or PS4 will also get Mega Man X Command Mission, and Metro Redux from 15 September, as part of the classics catalogue.

One of the most exciting retro games console reissues was unveiled in April this year, with the NeoGeo AES+ to be a faithful recreation of SNK's iconic 1990s machine.

It proved to be a hugely popular announcement, with pre-orders flying in for the new version and the multiple game cartridges to go with it. All in the hope of getting hold of one before the end of this year.

However, we have learned from distributor Plaion that the NeoGeo AES+ has now been delayed – by almost 12 months. We've been told that it won't ship until 16 September 2027.

Sadly, there's a common reason for its delay: the RAM and components crisis.

"The response to NeoGeo AES+ has been extraordinary, but global component supply constraints mean we simple cannot manufacture enough systems to deliver the worldwide launch our community deserves," said Plaion in a statement sent to T3.

"Rather than launch with severely limited availability, we're taking the extra time to expand production, secure the components we need, and invest in an even bigger future for NeoGeo AES+.

"If you've already pre-ordered, your order remains secure and keeps its priority place. There is no price increase and no action is required."

Existing orders will also get a "Founding Supporter Bonus". Standard and Anniversary Edition orders will receive a free NeoGeo AES+ Gamepad, while those who have paid for the Ultimate Edition with get 30% off future NeoGeo AES+ games.

As for new orders, they are being accepted now (albeit with a much lengthier shipping estimate). The NeoGeo AES+ will cost £179.99 in the UK without a game. It's compatible with old NeoGeo AES cartridges from the 90s, along with new reissues priced around £69.99 / €79.95 each.

The Ultimate Edition bundle also still available. Priced at £799.99, it includes 10 classic NeoGeo games in a cartridge set, with the likes of Metal Slug, The King of Fighters 2002, and Samurai Shodown V Special part of the pack.

Pro controllers are one heck of an investment for most people, but they really can make a substantial difference to how it feels to game on your platform of choice. Most of them bring features like extra buttons or paddles to the table, but SteelSeries is hoping that it's big headset innovation can now work for a controller, too.

It's just announced the Aeon Pro, a controller that has a feature list as long as my arm, but the one I'm most interested in is its battery-swapping option. Like the Arctis Nova Pro Omni headset, it has a swappable battery system with a charging dock so that you're never caught short with a dying gamepad.

That dock also lets you swap between connected devices, so that you can switch between Xbox and PC at will – although the pad won't work with PlayStation 5 consoles. That's a Sony issue, though, since its DualSense haptics basically killed off any chance of third-party controllers working on the platform. Still, it's always annoying.

As well as that battery and device-swapping system, the controller features Hall Effect thumbsticks, which are drift-proof for better longevity. It also has four programmable back buttons and a little onboard OLED screen to make swapping between profiles and modes easier.

You can easily swap out thumbsticks for your preferred options (including convex/concave and different heights), and the controller features some grippy rubberised texture for more of a feeling of control even if you're in a tense moment.

I think that battery system will be the ace in the Aeon Pro's sleeve, since I still forget to charge my controllers pretty regularly. SteelSeries already solved that problem in its high-end headsets, so it's a great shout to add it to a controller. The lack of PS5 support is an Achilles' heel, but it can take solace in the long list of other gaming brands in the same boat.

Of course, all this comes at quite a price, with the Aeon Pro launching at $259.99 in the US, £229.99 in the UK and €259.99 in Europe. You should be able to order it from SteelSeries' site now, and it'll trickle through to retailers imminently.

Late last week, Xbox confirmed that it is to limit the amount of hours Xbox Game Pass subscribers will be able to play games over the cloud. That even includes members who pay for Ultimate. However, it has now revealed that some regions will be exempt.

Sadly, that doesn't include the UK, US and Canada – residents in those zones will still have their perk curbed from November. Instead, it has seemingly rolled back the restrictions in countries where it is legally prohibited to change a subscription mid-contract.

Existing subscribers in Australia, Brazil, Poland and Germany have reportedly received emails saying that they will not face limitations as long as they continue to subscribe. According to VGC, the changes will only apply to new accounts in those regions – or if a subscriber leaves the service and rejoins.

"At this time, these changes will only affect new purchases and will not affect your current subscription for the market in which you reside, as long as you are on an auto-recurring plan," it says in the email.

"Should you choose to cancel your plan and repurchase, you will receive a set number of cloud gaming hours each month, based on your plan.

"If for any reason there may be changes to your existing account, we will notify you at least 60 days in advance and you will have the option to cancel or change your subscription plan at any time."

This is in stark contrast to the email I've received in the UK: "Beginning in Nove‌mber, Xbox Game Pass subscriptions will move to a set number of cloud hours each month, based on your plan."

I have been informed that, as an Ultimate member, I will be restricted to 15 hours of play per month. Premium members get 10 hours, while Essential subscribers get just five.

In all honesty, I don't use Xbox Cloud Gaming for 15 hours as it stands anyway, so it won't affect me. Nor will it affect 96% of Xbox Game Pass subscribers, claims the company – only 4% use more than that per month, it says.

It's still a shame that another perk is being stripped back (after new Call of Duty games) and does raise questions about the future for the service. It certainly hasn't taken off as Phil Spencer had once hoped.

If you've been using Xbox Cloud Gaming as an easy way to play without downloading games or owning an Xbox, there's some bad news coming.

Microsoft has announced that Game Pass subscribers will soon have a monthly limit on how much time they can spend gaming in the cloud. The change is due to arrive in November and applies to both existing and new subscribers.

The amount of cloud gaming you get will depend on your Game Pass plan. Ultimate subscribers get 15 hours a month, while Premium subscribers get 10 hours and Essential subscribers just five.

That's a significant change from the current system, where cloud gaming doesn't impose a monthly playtime allowance.

Microsoft says the change is necessary because the cost of providing cloud gaming increases as more people use the service and spend longer playing. It also says that the new limits will affect around 4% of Game Pass subscribers, suggesting the majority won't regularly hit their allowance.

For those who do burn through their allowance, there's another option: buy more cloud gaming time through the Xbox Store. Microsoft hasn't announced how much those additional hours will cost yet, with pricing expected to be revealed closer to the November launch.

That could make sense for occasional players who don't want another monthly subscription. But for existing Game Pass subscribers, particularly Ultimate members who use cloud gaming regularly, it means a service that was previously bundled without an explicit time limit is about to become another metered part of the subscription.

And with Xbox continuing to push cloud gaming onto TVs, phones and other devices, the timing is curious. Microsoft is expanding access to the service at the same time as it puts a ceiling on how much subscribers can use it.

The good news is that this doesn't limit the amount of Game Pass gaming you can do on an Xbox or PC. The restriction is specifically on games streamed through Xbox Cloud Gaming.

Still, if cloud gaming is one of the main reasons you're paying for Game Pass, it's worth keeping an eye on how much you actually use it. From November, 15 hours might sound generous, until you realise that's only around 30 minutes of cloud gaming a day.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and while Elden Ring hasn't exactly been absent in the last few years, it's nonetheless been disturbingly long since I've played the game. After finishing the brutally hard Shadow of the Erdtree expansion a couple of years ago, that was that.

Now, though, I'm back in the grip of an Elden Ring obsession, thanks to the release of the game's Tarnished Edition on Nintendo Switch 2 – a port that we thought would probably have been here a year ago, but only just arrived.

FromSoftware quite rightly chose to take the time to make the game performant on the system, rather than rushing it out of the door sooner to the console's launch, and it's been striking how each wave of previews has highlighted improved stability over the last year or so.

Now, finally, millions of gamers get the chance to play what I think is probably the finest game of the last decade, on the Switch and at a smooth but obviously not totally optimal 60FPS. The Tarnished Edition packages in Shadow of the Erdtree, too, along with a couple of new starting classes, to make this technically an all-in-one of the game and all its possible content.

What a game, too. Diving back into Limgrave (the starting area) again, I'm struck immediately by how absolutely immersed I was in this whole environment the first time around. I dutifully avoided guides and discussion of the game for weeks to make sure that I didn't just follow others' tips, which actually meant I spent dozens of hours in Limgrave without even breaching the next area, Liurnia.

It's unbelievably impressive to see the game, something of a performance hog even on the PS5, running like this on a portable console this small and thin. The Switch 2's power might become a running topic once it's been around a little longer and games start to outstrip it, but for now this is a good example of how scaling things down can still make for a wondrous experience.

Sure, things are a little blurrier here than on any other platform, and sure you don't have the choice of a 60FPS mode to make combat smoother and more responsive, but it's hard to get too irate about that when I'm exploring a crystal mine on the overground, or making one more attempt at a boss while lying in my bed.

Plus, look at the header image that I captured for this story, and tell me it's not an awesome vista – part of the visual genius of Elden Ring is how it uses technically simpler distant sights to beg you for more exploration, and I just love how that's been preserved here.

Playing it once again is a genuine treat, and a good example of why I find it almost impossible to leave on holiday without packing my Switch 2 as a contingency against boredom or an idle flight.

Plus, quite frankly, half a dozen hours back in Elden Ring have made me check its release date (and that of its DLC) multiple times. Time flies, and I couldn't be more excited about any game than I will be when Elden Ring 2 is announced, as I'm realising it might be in the next couple of years.

There's no doubt about, darts is undergoing a period of resurgence, thanks in no small part to the young generation of pro players sweeping the world with their talent. Luke Littler (19) and Gian van Veen (24) are ranked first and second in the world respectively, and their success is prompting new junior players to seek their local clubs and organisations.

Meanwhile, the sport is also gaining in popularity thanks to its gamification. Interactive darts centres and venues, like Flight Club, are springing up around the UK, Europe and the US at a rapid rate, bringing a fun, tech-fuelled side to the sport for families and friends to explore.

But what if you don't have a darts club or interactive experience nearby, or there's a dearth of players in your area to coax into a leg or two? What then?

Well, Winmau believes it has found an answer – a solution that combines the passion and skill of the new wave of pro players with the fun, interactive elements of a Boom Battle Bar. It has Autodarts.

The democratisation of darts

Having bought Autodarts from its developers around a year ago, Winmau has further developed the app and service for a wider, grander launch during IFA 2026.

It essentially automates the nuts and bolts of darts for you, like scoring, assessing checkouts, and keeping stats, while also adding different games and activities. The app can even match you with players around the world of a similar skill level, to play against remotely. But the best part is it does this from a smartphone pointed at a normal, regular dartboard, old or new – no other equipment is necessary.

Oh, and the app is free.

"So many people have dartboards, but they're not playing," explained Winmau's CEO, Tom Brown, to T3.

"I think that this is a really exciting step for them because they, at one point, were interested enough in darts to go and buy a dartboard. They may or may not follow darts. So they'll probably come across the app and they'll think, okay, that's pretty fun."

And once they see how much it has to offer, it might have them dig out their board once more. That's the idea.

"We just want people to play. If you've already got a dartboard, download the app and let's get going," added Brown.

"If you don't, you can get one from Amazon, Argos, John Lewis."

The app itself doesn't distinguish: " We use the Blade X that on the stage, and that is our more premium board, but you can use a board that you can buy for under £50.

"So you get that, a surround, and download the app, you're ready to go – for around 60 quid.

"I was also adamant that I don't want to use the app to push people to buy more things. It's just about building a community, getting people to play, getting people excited about about playing the game again."

Autodarts X

The one thing that breaks from that a touch is Autodarts X – a step-up system that takes auto scoring and data collection to a whole new level.

Where Autodarts is an app that runs on just about any Android phone or iPhone with a camera, Autodarts X is hardware in itself. It is a camera system that physically clips onto any dartboard and provides an even more accurate experience.

It's also built in such a way that it can be fitted and removed in minutes.

"There's just two pieces in the box. First piece, you take it out, you click it onto the board and it clicks into place. Really satisfying," revealed Brown.

"Then you take the second piece out, you unfold the four legs, and you click that on. No drilling, no screwdriver, that's it. That's done.

"To connect it, you plug in a USB-C cable. That pairs with your phone and the app. You then disconnect the cables, and that's paired forever. You're ready to play."

It's this simplicity that Winmau believes is key, and a real advantage over rivals. After all, Autodarts is meant to lesson the barriers to play, not create new ones.

The price

Of course, to go the whole Autodarts X route, you'll probably take your darts a bit more seriously. The camera system will cost around £450 when it arrives for pre-order in October.

But then there's still the app for everyone else, which starts at zero cost.

You can unlock more features and additional games (such as fan favourite, Killer) with a £5.99 monthly subscription, but you'll still get five matches to play using the LENS capture function each month for free, plus many of the other capabilities.

And the app is available to download and use right now.

So will Winmau succeed in democratising darts – to bring it to a new and disenfranchised audience. Time will obviously tell. One thing's for certain though, everyone will have plenty of fun while we find out.

Professional dart board maker Winmau has announced a tech product and service that could make playing darts easier and more fun for thousands.

Winmau Autodarts is a system that uses a smartphone or tablet app to help score games of darts, suggest checkouts needed to win, and even matchmake players with similarly skilled peers to play against around the world.

It even includes an AI referee to help during your match, or an AI bot to play against when you're on your own.

Launched during IFA in Germany this week, with the support of Winmau ambassador and World number two, Gian van Veen, Autodarts can be used through an iOS or Android device, or over the web on another device.

Pointing your phone or tablet at a standard dart board using a tripod, for example, allows the app to utilise proprietary LENS technology to read throws as they land. Autodarts will then automatically keep score, and offer insights and guidance.

This can include score calling from iconic darts referee Huw Ware, who is on board as your AI ref. An Autodarts X setup will also be available with four dedicated cameras that attach to a standard board. This includes pinpoint detection and 360° Plasma-class lighting, so is more accurate for those who want to take their play a step up or two.

There are free elements to the app, to get you playing immediately, but you can also expand the feature base and add extra games and capabilities through an Autodarts Plus subscription from £5.99 per month.

The Autodarts app and LENS functionality is available to download in English, German or Dutch now. The Autodarts X camera system coming later. It will be available to pre-order from October.

More information can be found on Winmau's website.

The last few years have seen a major increase in gaming handhelds. While the Nintendo Switch has aided this rise, it's really been the Windows PC makers that have risen to advance what's on the market.

Earlier this year, my colleague attended Computex in Taipei and tested all of the latest and greatest options – from MSI, Acer, Asus and OneXPlayer – and his consensus was that, while they're all great, they're all just rather large.

Acer's latest gaming handheld, the Predator Atlas 7, looks to address that balance, though, fixing the one big problem with the previous Atlas 8 – ultimately its size. That's achieved in part by opting for a 7-inch rather than 8-inch display.

As a result the 7-inch handheld maxes out at 48.4mm thick, compared to the 58.4mm of the 8-inch version. That might not sound like a lot, but trimming down on the chunkiness factor will make a big difference in comfort and usability.

There's nothing trim about the Predator Atlas 7's internal hardware, though, offering up to an Intel Arc G3 Extreme processor and even 24GB LPDDR5x RAM and 1TB storage if specified in your build.

The handheld runs Windows 11 Home and comes with an Xbox Game Pass subscription out of the box, so you'll have access to loads of titles. The 7-inch display runs at up to 120Hz, supports Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) and is protected with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus.

But all that power brings inevitable heat, which is where Acer's Predator AeroBlade fan setup comes into play. One metal fan is joined by a second plastic one, cooling the system in tandem with internal channels to dissipate heat.

Despite being a smaller system, the Atlas 7 offers up to an 80Wh battery – the same capacity as found in the larger Atlas 8 and, therefore, offering the same or better longevity potential. That's a big win in the handhelds world.

However, the Predator Atlas 7 doesn't replace the Atlas 8. The latter will finally be available in Europe from later this month, while the newer, smaller model will be coming in November. Pricing is yet to be revealed.

Razer may have a new solution to the problem of phone sized gaming console controls. The new Prio is a foldable USB-C controller that shrinks down to roughly the size of a credit card when you're not using it, then opens out into a full-sized gamepad when it's time to play.

The Razer Prio measures just 107 x 67 x 23mm when folded and weighs 101g, making it small enough to disappear into a pocket or bag. Twist it open and it expands to accommodate phones up to 7 inches, including the iPhone 17 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra.

Despite its diminutive folded dimensions, Razer hasn't gone for a stripped-back control layout. You get analogue sticks, a four-way D-pad, face buttons, bumpers and triggers, giving the Prio much more in common with a traditional console controller than a clip-on phone accessory.

The sticks are really interesting. They're capacitive rather than relying on traditional physical contacts, which Razer says should reduce the potential for stick drift and keep movement accurate over time.

There's also no internal battery to worry about. The Prio connects directly to your phone over USB-C, so there's no Bluetooth pairing and nothing extra to charge. Razer says the flexible design can also accommodate most slim and medium-sized phone cases.

The Prio is designed as much for short bursts of gaming as it is for longer sessions. Its tactile face buttons are designed to be quiet, which should make it less conspicuous when you're gaming on public transport or sitting in a waiting room.

It supports iPhone running iOS 18 or later and Android 14 or later, and can be used for local games or cloud and remote play through services including Xbox Cloud Gaming, Steam Link and PS Remote Play.

There's also a dedicated Razer Cortex Mobile button for quickly accessing your game library, with Razer's PC Remote Play allowing compatible PC games to be streamed to your phone.

The Razer Prio is available now for £99.99 / $99.99 / €109.99. That makes it a fairly serious investment for a mobile controller, but its unusual folding design could be a super practical options for anyone who wants proper controls without permanently attaching a bulky gamepad to their phone.

Ranking the best gaming headsets on the market got a lot more complicated late last year when SteelSeries launched the Arctis Nova Elite, by far the most expensive mainstream headset I'd ever tested. It was and remains an absolute beauty, and it's the headset I return to between reviews, making it clearly my favourite.

It's also ferociously pricy, which means it's always worth paying attention when it gets a discount, however slight. Well, the one available right now really isn't slight – it knocks a full £100 off the Nova Elite, taking it down from £600 to £500. Sure, that remains really expensive, but it's the biggest price cut we've seen on the headset since the day it launched.

As I've said, I keep coming back to the Nova Elite, and perhaps the key clincher there for me has been its omni-compatibility. Plug this into any of the major consoles, and it'll work, but you can also mix and match inputs at will. That makes it unbelievably flexible, and for me it's a one-stop solution on my desk.

Of course, it helps that its sound quality is best-in-class, and I've long found SteelSeries' design to be the most comfortable for me on the market. Its headband suspends weight really impressively, especially in the Nova Elite's case, since it's heavier as a result of premium material choices.

The simple fact is that if I could keep only one headset that I've tested in the last five years, it would be this one. While that doesn't make its price sensible, by any stretch, it should put it on plenty of gamers' wishlists, which in turn means that when a £100 off deal like this one comes around, it's worth considering pretty carefully.

Nvidia spent a couple of months keeping a little more quiet about DLSS 5 after unveiling it earlier this year, and it's perhaps learned a valuable lesson about how it needs to package its AI-enhanced tools in the future.

Now, it's breaking cover to confirm that DLSS 5 will launch on 3 September, and that it's going to be in NBA 2K27 at launch as the first big game to arrive with the tech already in use. Crucially, the lengthy blog post and set of videos and sliders to exemplify what the tech is all about is much clearer this time around.

It also emphasises that the developers are really in the driving seat in terms of the degree to which they use DLSS 5 (if at all), and some of the examples that filter through are much more compelling than those given last time around.

While there are still some faces that seem to get a little, shall we say, glamourised by the tech, there are a heap of examples where it simply results in vastly more realistic lighting and details.

One crucial clarification, for example, explains that developers will be able to tell the model to operate only on environments, rather than characters, or the reverse (or both). This means you could benefit from the increased detail and lighting realism of your carefully-designed maps, without being required to allow for similarly different-looking characters.

Devs can even do this on a per-object basis, so it really could just mean that certain important props, characters or items are highlighted for special treatment, which you'd assume would reduce the performance cost of the tech, too.

As someone who was pretty definitively unimpressed by the reveal back in March, it's fair to say that Nvidia's delivery this time around is in a completely different ballpark in terms of clarity and detail. That makes all the difference, and it might learn a lesson about how to tell people about its new options in the future.

That said, it'll be most fascinating to watch how DLSS 5 rolls out in the coming months, and how developers implement it. One of the most persuasive takes I've seen came from the creative director behind the masterful Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, who explained that the tech would let them render NPCs in armour vastly more accurately.

It's curious that he's saying this model differs from what Nvidia presented, something I can't really vouch for, but the fact that his conclusion ends up being so positive is pretty interesting and instructive. As he says, though, it's also deeply interesting that the tech might be so expensive in performance terms, at a time when the latest Nvidia cards are out of many people's budgets.

I'm lucky enough to have a rig with an RTX 5070 Ti in it, so I'll look forward to seeing what DLSS 5 can do when I get my hands on a game that's implemented it properly, but until then you might want to read Nvidia's breakdown of the tech in detail; it's fascinating stuff.

Samsung had a productive Gamescom last week, announcing no less than four new gaming monitors for 2027 – each with "world's first" or groundbreaking tech – and showcased Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 on its stand as a bit of a coup. But there could be even more exciting things yet to come. And not just for gamers.

I managed to catch up with the company's head of its European monitor business, Pepe Dijkstra, during the show, along with the director of product management for TV, AV and sound, Jeremy Demont, and we discussed possible plans for the future.

One of them is the potential use of Privacy Display technology on monitors.

Privacy Display is a highlight feature of the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. When activated, it restricts anyone other than the owner to see what's on the screen, even for individual windows or apps.

That means interlopers see just a black display or zone and cannot read sensitive information, for example. It's a clever addition that is so far unique to Samsung's flagship phone, at least at this level of complexity. And it's something that could also work with monitors.

That was agreed by Dijkstra, who told me that it could be a technology that would work as well on computer displays. But it all comes down to cost.

Could we see Privacy Display on Samsung monitors

Privacy Display won't really be needed for gaming monitors, but it could be transformative for working spaces. There are some brands who use filters on their displays already, which make it difficult to see the screen at wider viewing angles, but they are a blanket solution. Samsung's tech can target specific areas of the screen, which is on a different level.

The only issue, as Samsung explained, is that it's a very pricey technology, and organisations and governments might find it beyond their budgets.

To add a Privacy Display to a computer monitor would add an extra element to the production line, one that would require new tooling and processes.

Dijkstra told me that the Canadian government had made enquiries in the past, but it will likely take further and wider interest to make such a major commitment for Samsung. Still, it could happen in the coming years, he explained: "Maybe one day it'll force its way into these spaces," he said.

Let's hope so.

I also spoke with Demont and Dijkstra at Gamescom about the new gaming monitors and Samsung's recent decision to combine the TV and monitor business into one, which benefit both categories with shared technologies and visions. That extended interview will follow in the coming days.

The tide of videogames shows no sign of abating – with September now hoving into view and promising a genuine deluge of new games, many of which are hugely anticipated. Capcom has one of the earliest slots in the month, with Onimusha: Way of the Sword arriving on 4 September, and I've played a whole heap of it on my PS5 Pro over the last 10 days.

It's a return for a franchise that hasn't had much love recently, other than some recent remasters of older titles, and it brings Onimusha kicking and screaming into 2026 with a pretty interesting approach to character action gaming.

Playing as Miyamoto Musashi, a samurai trying to become the greatest swordsman alive, you'll soon run into trouble and find yourself, well, dead. Revived with an Oni gauntlet on your arm, you'll be tasked with hunting down demons across a version of Kyoto that's been infected with miasmic nastiness.

It's a simple setup in some ways, but it's a little bit of a drag that the first couple of hours of Way of the Sword involve a heap of cutscenes for you to watch. The gaps between combat tutorials can feel torturous at times, even though those cutscenes are pretty terrific in production quality.

The facial animation on hand here is some of the most expressive I've ever seen in a major videogame, with Musashi's expressions in particular routinely causing me to chuckle. He's a refreshingly grumpy and curmudgeonly hero, although his real strength is with the sword.

On that front, Way of the Sword is impressively traditional. While it has moved to an over-the-shoulder camera that you can freely manipulate, its adherence to a core system of parries, dodges, light and heavy attacks really works nicely. You get special moves to earn during fights, and a variety of items to find that can help you, but the combat loop is actually quite simple.

It's dead effective, though, thanks to enemies whose attack patterns can often be surprising and deadly – in particular any time you face off against a boss. These tend to come when you find rifts of particularly concentrated evil energy, and the ones I've fought have all been memorable and rewarding.

The game's visual design is also really quite lovely in places – although it does suffer from the fact that the cuts between cutscenes and gameplay often involve obvious lighting downgrades.

On the PS5 Pro, though, Way of the Sword comes with a heap of graphical options to choose from. You can toggle between a 30FPS quality mode or a 60FPS performance one, but also up to a 120Hz option, too, while a separate frame-rate limiter is a rare addition on console.

It includes a 40FPS mode that might be a favourite for some people, and you can also choose to toggle ray-tracing on or off, as an added tweak. I've been playing at 60FPS with ray-tracing on, and have found the game pretty great to look at, albeit some recent Capcom releases (like Resident Evil Requiem) have wowed me more.

I'm keen to get further into Way of the Sword to discover whether its combat system has more surprises to keep things switched up, but from the roughly five hours I've played so far, it's been really fun and old-school. A semi-open hub area that funnels you towards objectives is fun to explore, but I prefer the linear levels even more.

These are where the game feels closest to its older PlayStation 2 roots, but you can still detect this elsewhere. It's there when you, for example, keep attacking in one direction while an enemy moves, and realise that you're not just going to magically magnetise onto them for continued hits.

These touches make Onimusha: Way of the Sword feel like a clever reinvention of the franchise for a modern world in which people love retro gaming. People want games to feel like they're still a continuation of what came before, even if they're actually substantially modernised in most ways, and this first massive release of September ticks that box smartly.

Microsoft is making the shift towards digital Xbox games a little easier for people who still have a shelf full of discs. The new Disc-to-Digital feature lets you insert an eligible game disc into your Xbox One or Xbox Series X and claim a digital version without buying the game again.

The feature is due to start testing with Xbox Insiders on 31 August, with thousands of Xbox One and Series X titles expected to be supported. Publishers can decide whether their games are included, so this won't work with every disc in your collection.

There's an important catch to how the system works. The digital entitlement remains tied to the physical disc, so you can't simply turn a game into a permanent digital copy and then sell the disc while keeping the game.

That does mean you can still lend or sell the disc, with the digital entitlement moving with it. It's a fairly smart way of dealing with physical games as Xbox moves towards a more digital future.

The bigger benefit comes if you eventually move to hardware without a disc drive. A supported game you've converted can be played digitally on Xbox, and some titles can also take advantage of Xbox Play Anywhere and cloud gaming, giving you more ways to play without having the disc in the console.

Microsoft hasn't confirmed whether its next-generation Project Helix console will include a disc drive. Xbox president Asha Sharma has said the company is thinking about affordability and efficiency, while Microsoft continues to push towards an ecosystem where Xbox games can work across consoles, PCs and other devices.

So this isn't really Microsoft saving physical games. It's more practical. If you've already spent years building a physical Xbox library, Disc-to-Digital gives you a way to carry at least some of it into what's increasingly looking like a disc-free future.

We're living through an era of price hikes right now, and gaming consoles are acting as some of the most obvious and visible examples of how the memory crisis is affecting consumer prices. While Xbox relentlessly raises the price of its own consoles, and PlayStation broadly keeps pace, Nintendo has been taking things slightly more slowly.

It announced earlier this summer that it would be raising the price of the Switch 2, but it gave us all plenty of time to get ready by confirming that the price hikes would only come into force on 1 September.

In case you weren't concentrating, though, we're now in extremely late August, which means you don't have much longer to grab a Switch 2 for its launch price.

The real point here is that anyone thinking about buying a Switch 2 would almost certainly be well advised to do so now, or at least before this month is out. I'm normally a big fan of advising people to wait until their budget allows for a splurge like this, but the fact is that I don't think it's ever going to be this price again.

In the US, we know that the console will go from $449.99 to $499.99, while Europe will see it go from €469.99 to €499.99. We actually don't yet have a confirmed new price for the UK, but you can fairly reasonably conclude that it'll go up by at least £30 and possibly as much as £50.

The real worry, though, is that this won't be the final price. Nintendo announced these changes a few months ago, in May. Even since then, the price of memory has continued to go up, and giants like Xbox have indicated that every indication is that we can expect it to continue rising through all of 2027.

That means the new price of the Switch 2 might realistically only hold for a number of months before it, too, has to be revised upwards to account for the new cost of bulk memory orders for Nintendo.

Sure, we might also get a Switch 2 OLED at some point, but that console is likely to be even pricier still, thanks to a fancier display, and it all starts to add up to a really grim scene eventually.

I love the Switch 2, and its flexibility is why it's my default console for massive RPGs that I can play over a series of weeks, and I want as many people as possible to experience what it has to offer. Right now, I think that means buying it sooner rather than later, though.

It'll come as no surprise to anyone who knows me that one of my favourite booths at this year's Gamescom belonged to the resurrected Commodore brand. One of my first jobs was as editor of Your Commodore back in the day, so it's part of my heritage.

But even with my intrinsic, long-standing link to Commodore hardware, the company is still capable of pulling out a surprise or two. And announcing a Cyberpunk 2077 edition of the C64 Ultimate on the eve of the show was certainly one of them.

Cyberpunk is tricky to run on a moderate, modern PC, let alone a Commodore 64. And when you think of the classic titles to have released for the machine over the years, there's nothing really comparable. But hey, these are new days for the reimagined and renewed firm, and a bright yellow C64 certainly turns head.

I managed to see it in the flesh on the booth, in fact, and it looks resplendent in its new colourway. And while I didn't get to play on it or even turn it on (it was in a glass case, in fact), I had an instant desire to buy one for my collection.

That's furthered by the spec sheet and what you'll get for your money.

The Commodore 77, as it's cheekily renamed, actually comes with an improved processor that runs up to 77MHz (a nice nod), and while the full Cyberpunk 2077 will never run on it, an exclusive 8-bit Cyberpunk game will come with the computer in demo form.

You also get a themed box, enamel pin badges and some BASIC Cyberpunk-centric programmes to type in and enjoy.

That's about it, but I'd imagine it'll appeal to both CD Projekt Red fans and retro gaming enthusiasts alike. It's certainly a collectable in every sense of the word – only 500 pre-order models are being made.

You'll just have to splash out $377 / £276.79 to secure yours.

Also available to pre-order now is the slimline version of the Commodore 64 Ultimate, in Beige, Starlight, and Founders Edition variants.

Based on the C64C released in 1986, and even using the original case mouldings, the new version has a flatter profile – rather than the breadbin shape.

It feels as authentic as these things get, and instantly took me back to my origins in the games industry. I'd like to spend a bit more time with one to really deliver my full impressions, but you can see from my pictures just how convincing it all looks.

I also got to see the Commodore Callback 8020 phone – albeit without being able to use any of the functions or features, due to unfinished software. But the brand seems in great hands under the stewardship of Christian "Perifrantic" Simpson.

Long may it continue to surprise.

A lot has been made about the death of physical media in gaming recently, with Sony announcing that it is to stop releasing PlayStation games on disc, and Xbox hinting that it will follow suit. But the Hyperkin SupaBoy is proof positive that physical media will never truly die.

Retro gaming enthusiasts will already be very familiar with the handheld – it's actually been around so long, it's arguably a retro classic itself. However, I'm not one of those who imported one originally and it's only now being officially released in the UK and Europe.

That's why it was all new to me when I finally got to play with one (two, in fact) at Gamescom in Germany this week.

We're getting the Hyperkin SupaBoy Prime model in the UK, which comes in a colourway that pays homage to the PAL Super Nintendo, so I focused on that. There was also the Crimson version at the show, but that is sadly destined for other regions only.

Where the SupaBoy differs from most other retro gaming handhelds is that you don't load it with countless, legally-questionable rom files. Instead, it is more like the Analogue Pocket or ModRetro Chromatic in that it takes original games cartridges.

However, while they are essentially modern versions of the Game Boy – a handheld itself – the SupaBoy has a slot for SNES cartridges (PAL or NTSC). This makes for a wacky-looking, chunky device, but also something fun and unique.

Owners of original Super Nintendo hardware will also appreciate that there are joypad connectors on the front, so you can hook up the SupaBoy to a TV and use it with the original gamepads for up to two-player action.

But it also works well as a handheld, save for the sheer size of the unit. It's a beefy boy, that's for sure.

I'm be reviewing one of them fully in the coming weeks, but from my 10 minutes or so with it at Gamescom, I soon got used to the girth. And the 4.3-inch, 800 x 480 screen is a highlight. It's nice a bright and has a physical button to switch the display from 4:3 to 16:9 – the latter for those who don't want black bars and don't mind stretching the pixels a touch.

It's 4:3 all the way for me (well, a slightly stretched 8:7) and I particularly liked the shader being used on the demo unit – it looked resolutely CRT-like. I was instantly taken back to the early 90s, and to when I loaded Super Mario World for the first time.

The controls are the same ones used since 2015, I understand, so have a slightly spongy feel to them but are accurate and authentic. And we even had an issue with one of the cartridges initially, having to blow on its pins to get it to work. Anyone around back then will know exactly what that means.

And that's why, even with such a little amount of time with it, the Hyperkin SupaBoy already stands apart as one to watch – especially if you have access to a decent library of Super Nintendo games.

I'm looking forward to reviewing it in full, with several of my own classic carts. At the very least, it puts the switch to a digital-only future to shame.

It'll be available in the UK and Europe this autumn, priced at £119.99 / €129.99 per console. You'll also be able to get the new version(s) in the US for $129.99.

Well, it took a bit of time but here we are – living in a post Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look world. Rockstar waited almost as long as it could to showcase the next GTA game properly, and almost certainly wishes it had gone a little earlier, given the plague of leaks in August.

Now, though, we can all sink in to watch the Extended Look for free on YouTube, after its maddening Netflix exclusivity faded. What a showcase it is, too, fully 27 minutes of cut-together gameplay that makes the game look like possibly the most accomplished console release in ages, at least visually.

Still, for as much as the preview obviously does give us a clear look at the game and its structure, particularly where main missions will be concerned, it still leaves quite a lot vague. Here are three things I think were missing from the showcase, ranging from the technical to the stylistic.

1. Performance details!

Rockstar ends the Extended Look by clarifying that it was captured on a PS5 (not a PS5 Pro), which confirms what everyone suspected – the game is going to look fairly unbelievable.

However, beyond that one fact we don't really know much at all about its approach to performance. In interviews with influencers released just after the showcase, Rockstar apparently confirmed that the game will target 30FPS on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, with no 60FPS mode available at launch.

We still don't know what might differ on the PS5 Pro, though, which is a major variable, and I would have loved to find out more about the wizardry being employed to get such a dense world working.

There's clearly some degree of ray-tracing going on in the lighting engine, for one, but there are also some moments where what I can only assume is upscaling gives some blurriness in busy moments. I'd have loved Rockstar to give us a more precise readout on this all, although such details might still come down the line.

2. Proper introductions to our main characters

Sure, those with a smattering of media literacy who've watched the previous trailers and now the Extended Look can easily build out a picture of Jason and Lucia, but still – why not give us firmer details?

These two characters are clearly going to be the centre of the game, and we'll be able to swap between them with relative freedom outside of scripted moments. Maybe they're blanker slates than I realise, but I'd have been interested to learn more about them this time.

Is their motivation pure capitalistic greed? Do they have a social mission that's simmering under the surface? Is Lucia really going to be this much more lively to watch than the somewhat morose Jason? All these questions and more are lingering after watching the showcase, and I do think Rockstar could have grounded us in their characters a little more, given the length of the showcase.

3. Where's my darn voiceover?

Okay, this might start off sounding daft, but stick with me. Some of my clearest memories of gaming trailers from my younger life have been Rockstar's showcases of its games, using serene and calm voiceovers to explain the game world and the technical advancements being shown.

Check out these trailers for Red Dead Redemption and its sequel, Red Dead Redemption 2, for instance. Both feature lovely voiceovers explaining the times the games are set in, and the things you'll be able to do in each. Sure, they're a little bit more old-fashioned as a result, but by golly, they're informative.

I get why Rockstar didn't take this approach for the Extended Look, from a marketing point of view, since it left the showcase open-ended and gave the impression of limitless activities in-game, but I really missed some explanation. This was Rockstar's chance to control the narrative more carefully and to actually go into detail, but it stuck to the broad brush instead.

I'm now left hoping that subsequent trailers will return to that old style, so we can actually get some more concrete details about what we're looking at.

Gamescom is Europe's biggest annual video games show and it often plays host the latest games and launches. However, it can also throw the odd curveball your way, with a device or product a little more unusual.

Such is the case with the Zestum Scentbar. Having undergone a successful crowd funding phase on Kickstarter earlier this year, it's a gaming accessory that is quite unique. I've certainly never experienced anything quite like it before.

Imagine a small soundbar-shaped device that sits under your gaming monitor, but instead of blasting you with audio it coughs out relevant smells instead. So if you're riding through a forest, you might be treated to the whiff of green grass and tree bark.

Or you're walking through a village that's burning around you, and the aroma of smoke wafts towards your sitting position. That's the Scentbar in a nutshell.

In technical terms, it plugs into a PC through USB-C – or a console using an adapter – and you load it with up to 10 different scents provided by Zestum. Each comes in the form of a cartridge filled with scent pellets – a bit like an elaborate Glade air freshener – and then, once the bar's software thinks an appropriate aroma should be released, it fires up the relevant miniature fan(s).

The specific scent (or scents) hit your nose, enhancing the immersive experience. And it really works.

I got to try it myself in a hidden corner of Gamescom and while the show has its own unique honk, the Scentbar genuinely impressed. Its software uses AI algorithms to assess what's being displayed on the screen at any one point, and if you have a matching scent loaded, it'll release it.

This can be a combination of different smells to really set the mood, or just the one. And throughout my demonstration, it seemed to get it spot on every time. For example, when I was watching some gameplay of a farming simulator, the smell of cut grass was distinctive.

The same was true when digging a cave in Minecraft. First I got a grassy odour, and what smelled like wood, but then a musty, wet rock kind of aroma. It wasn't as unpleasant as that sounds, and did help place me in that environment.

There was also a sea water scent during a snippet of Grand Theft Auto V (when at Vespucci Beach), and the unmistakable and pungent blast of gunpowder during a gunfight scene. It wasn't completely game-changing, I'd say, but has the potential to enhance play.

Zestum supplies all the different scents itself, which you can get in bundles and packs, such as a collection for racing games – fuel, asphalt, rubber tyres, that sort of thing. And I was told that there's potential to do deals with games developers and publishers in future to supply bespoke collections to match their titles.

The software can also be tweaked, including the strength of each scent, plus profiles to better match your favourite games. But I also found the algorithm did a fine job of figuring out what I was looking at and blasting out the right combinations to suit.

I left impressed for sure. The Scentbar won't change the world, but is a lot more effective that I originally expected. And it's fun, which is important, I feel.

It will be available in Europe later this year, I was told by Zestum, for €299 and can be pre-ordered on the dedicated website. Scentpacks containing multiple modules are €40 apiece, and there's a Scentbar Pro model with even more slots for your scents for an even more rounded experience.

I was also told that it will be coming to the UK in Q1 2027, so keep an eye (or nose) out for that.

Samsung has announced the world’s first gaming monitor with a refresh rate of 1,100Hz.

The forthcoming Odyssey G6 display also promises 1ms response times, plus AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync compatibility.

But that's not all. The company also unveiled a couple of additional "world's first" monitors during Gamescom.

The new Samsung Odyssey OLED G9 is the first 49-inch ultrawide double QHD display with a 360Hz refresh rate, while the Odyssey OLED G7 debuts a 42-inch screen size – a first for a curved model.

The company took to the stage during Europe's biggest games show. Samsung's monitor lead, Pepe Dijkstra, detailed the new technologies on the brand's booth, where a the latter two displays were also shown for the first time.

Also announced was a further commitment to 3D technologies in the gaming sector. It will be working closely with developers to provide wider support in some of the biggest titles.

And Samsung Display revealed that it will begin to mass produce 24.5-inch QD-OLED panels for pro gaming and eSports, starting later this year.

However, you'll have to wait until next year for the "world's first" tech and the new monitor range.

It was revealed that the new Odyssey OLED G9, OLED G8 and OLED G6 will be joined by an OLED G7 in 2027.

It looks like OLED is very much the way to go for Samsung.

T3 is attending Gamescom for the next few days, so please come back often to hear all the latest gaming announcements and news from the likes of Samsung, Xbox and more.

JBL has developed into a pretty big player in the world of gaming headsets in recent years, with its Quantum line having become way more compelling since it was first launched. Now, with Gamescom in full swing, it's a great time to refresh its lineup again.

In the new Quantum 850, it has a new premium offering, in fact, and it looks like it adds some features that the high-end competition for best headset has been making hay with for a little while. For one thing, it has adaptive noise-cancelling, which should ensure that you get more easily immersed in your sessions.

On top of that, it expands JBL's system of replaceable parts and will let you swap out any of the microphone, USB-C cable, ear cushions, earcaps, hammock, and battery pack. Any of those failing could be the end of a headset, so it's great to know they'll be replaceable.

That said, I was hoping this would mean the headset would come with a swappable battery to make for basically never-ending battery life, and that feature remains absent. It's something that SteelSeries and others now do impressively, so it's a bit of a miss given the price of the Quantum 850. That feature is on the more expensive Quantum 950, which remains the absolute flagship for JBL as a result.

Still, there are other interesting inclusions, including head-tracking and spatial sound, along with the option to use either 2.4GHz wireless or Bluetooth 5.3 as your connection of choice. JBL hasn't specified how much battery life the headset will offer on a charge, surprisingly, but I'd expect it to be over 40 hours based on its cheaper models.

The new Quantum 850 will be available from 1 October this year, starting at £249.99 in the UK and €279.99 in Europe, which puts it into the premium market pretty firmly.

To give more options, JBL's also launching the Quantum 520, Quantum 520X and Quantum 120. Each one goes down in price from the previous, and none of them has noise-cancelling, but they all have pretty similar aesthetics and use 50mm drivers, so hopefully even the cheapest of them still has good sound.

Those more affordable models are available now from JBL directly, so if you're in the market for a cheaper headset, they could be solid options. We hope to test the Quantum 850 in depth closer to its release, meanwhile.

One of my favourite gaming franchises of recent years has been A Plague Tale, a great example of how humble beginnings can lead to great things. The first game was a fun little stealth adventure with a rat-based twist, and the second took that to its zenith with expanded gameplay and some genuinely ravishing visuals.

Now the series gets a rat-free prequel in the form of Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy, and for all that I think the title is clunky, I've had a really fun time with this action-adventure title.

Resonance takes the enigmatic pirate Sophia from the second game and gives her a prequel that's frankly crazy in its storytelling ambition. It explains how she came to be so knowledgeable about curses and secret islands, and weaves a tapestry that takes in Greek mythology and the story of Theseus and the Minotaur in really fun ways.

Crucially, though, it's no longer a stealth title (barring some brief sequences), instead juggling between puzzle-solving as you explore and combat arenas. The new combat system is simple but generally pretty fun, although I can't pretend to love it as much as the old The Last of Us-style stealth from previous games.

Sophia is a fun central character, though, and has obvious overlaps with Amicia from the older games, including her insurmountable ability to come through harrowing moments without just dying on the spot.

What's really taken me aback as I've played through Resonance, though, has been its visuals. As I already said, I think the Plague Tale games already punched way above their weight, and that trend has continued in some style here.

This is straight-up one of the loveliest games I've ever played, with vistas that'll have you rubbing your eyes each time you round a corner to see them. Whether it's the crumbling ruins of a massive ancient arena, the dramatic clash of waves against a rugged coast, or the charming beauty of a cliffside nunnery, there have been too many gorgeous sights to really list.

I mean, just look at the screenshots below – all the images in this article are shots I took while playing, but they don't half look like marketing shots, eh?

Crucially, I've been playing the game on an ultrawide monitor that I can't quite name yet, for media embargo reasons, and it's been an added treat that really confirms what's great about PC gaming. Sure, I love my PS5 Pro and play it multiple times a week, but there's nothing quite like playing a game at a frankly silly aspect ratio for ludicrous immersion.

Since ultrawides generally come at silly resolutions, it's also a great way to stress test your PC and a game's optimisation, and I've been having a lovely time playing Resonance at maxed-out settings and a steady 60fps – all at 5120 x 2160. That's on my Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, so I'm not even boasting about a 5090 here.

I'll be able to be clearer about my monitor of choice later this week, but back to Resonance. I'm just a big fan of the way Asobo Studio structures and unfolds a story, and how cleverly it pipes a player through areas that sometimes feel more open than they actually are.

The game is a bit of a throwback, frankly – like an Xbox 360 action game, but with the visuals and sound design of a 2026 release, which is intended as a compliment. I think that the move from a really fleshed-out stealth system to a far simpler combat model is ultimately one that makes things less memorable, but that hasn't stopped the game from getting its hooks into me.

I've finished it, at a time when there are about five other titles sat on my various platforms waiting to be played – and ahead of a busy September, that's an even more thorough recommendation than it sounds.

I've seen a fair few launches in my decade or so of attending Gamescom in Germany, but never anything like the YXSTABY home furnishings collection from IKEA and Xbox.

Situated in a corner of the Xbox booth at the show, the mock living room was as popular as any game or gaming device. And, I'll admit, rightly so. The collaboration to celebrate Xbox's 25th anniversary could have turned out, well, a bit naff. But I actually came away wanting at least one of the items for my own gaming zone.

Funny enough, that was one of the cheapest items of the bunch – a green D-pad cushion at £12. But I was also impressed by many of the other items too.

The second D-pad is a mirrored platter that's designed around the equivalent on the Xbox Elite 2 controller. It looked equally at home on a table as it did hanging on the wall.

One of the priciest items in the range is a gaming lounge chair, on which the cushion was sat, but unfortunately I didn't get to try it myself. It seemed comfortable enough, but my attention was rather drawn to the gaming thumbstick stool instead.

Available in black or green (the version on the Xbox stand), it's actually quite small, and a bit plasticky. However, it also has a rocking bottom to emulate the way a real thumbstick swivels on a controller. This a neat addition, although I'm not entirely sure how long you'd want to sit on one.

It looks good though. And as it's compact it'd happily sit in the corner of a room, ready to be employed when a gaming guest comes round. And at £35, it's reasonably priced, too.

As for the rest of the collection – there are nine pieces in total – it's largely anonymous. The green accents run through most of them to continue the theme, but apart from that they are standard furniture fare. Yes, you do get the ability to hide cables, but you can do that with many alternatives, including other items from IKEA.

So, for me it's the cushion and platter – which cost a total of just £24. And on this evidence I'll be placing my order when I get back, that's for sure.

All of the YXSTABY collection will be available online and in stores from October "while stocks last". Just save a cushion or two for me.

Now I'd better go look at some games while at Gamescom, even though my trip might have been justified already.

After I finished Star Wars Jedi: Outlaws back in 2024, I'd have been more than a little surprised if you'd told me that the next major Star Wars game I'd play wouldn't be until 2026, and that it would be a tactical strategy game.

Still, that's how things have unfolded – although I'm sure there's a third Jedi game on the way, nothing much of note has come out in the last couple of years. Now, though, the dry spell is finally over, and it's ending with a quite surprising new game, Zero Company, which has been compared widely to the modern XCOM games.

Like them, it's a turn-based tactical strategy game that sees you assembling a team of soldiers with varied characteristics, constantly hounded by the threat of permanent death if any of them dies in combat. That one feature makes it stressful at times to play, but in about five hours of in-game progress, I've had a really enjoyable time exploring the combat arenas that it's thrown my way.

Zero Company is set during the Clone Wars, when the Republic is starting to resemble the Empire in its clothing and uniforms, but is still on the right side of the moral divide. You play the leader of a ragtag mercenary group called Zero Company, and the game opens with you in severe debt to the Hutts with no way out.

So, a job offer from Republic intelligence services is too good to turn down, even if it quickly takes you down a rabbit hole, chasing after a mysterious cult that seems to be spreading powerful new abilities among its faithful.

The story that I've sampled so far has been told in a sprightly way for the most part (though some cutscenes can drag a little), albeit without doing anything particularly shocking or surprising. What's more impressive, though, is the gameplay on offer.

Zero Company drops you into your home base between missions to let you recruit new team members, tweak your loadouts, level up and choose your next operation. Some of these are just text-based decisions that you make to earn rewards, while others are full tactical incursions.

The latter offers the real meat of the game, in turn-based battles against droids, enemy soldiers and more. Sometimes you'll be tasked with simply taking out every enemy on the map, but it's just as likely that you'll have an objective like planting a bomb and evacuating, or reaching a wounded ally to add them to your squad.

Each turn, then, you'll control a squad of Zero Company soldiers, consuming their small stores of Action Points to move, attack, use items or abilities. Your decisions about how to position them, when to attack and when to wait for enemies to advance, and how to help them support each other, will basically determine whether you're successful or not as a mission unfolds.

At a time of year when a simply ridiculous volume of gaming releases are hitting the market, I can't pretend to have got more than my five hours into Zero Company, which leaves me with one big unknown – whether the game will get more challenging at some point.

I have a medbay for injured teammates, and I know that permanent death is on the cards for them, but so far none of my soldiers has ever left a mission in need of recovery. I'm generally pretty mediocre at strategy games, too, so I don't think that's down to my genius play.

One interesting side note has been performance on my undoubtedly powerful PC, which has been relatively mediocre. I have an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, and while the game's been looking great, it's run at a fairly chugging frame rate with quite noticeable screen tearing, even with VSync on and a framerate limit set. Big hitches are also present during transitions – a classic Unreal Engine bugbear.

It's a little surprising to find this is the game that's taxed my system the most since I installed it, but there we are. Luckily, footage I've seen of the game on PS5 looked really smooth, and dialling my settings down a little on PC hasn't been too harsh a compromise.

All that said, the visuals do look terrific – it's a great-looking game with some impressive visual design and environments in particular. Frankly, if you're a Star Wars fan this is a great moment for you. A surprise game that comes in with its story nailed down, and its gameplay loop completely tuned and ready to go doesn't happen all that often. It's the best Star Wars game for years, by default, but a great little title in its own right regardless.

Dragon's Dogma 2 was one of the great surprise pleasures of 2024, at least for me – a sprawling, mechanically complicated RPG that did things in different ways from the vast majority of the competition. Its commitment to those foibles made it feel really unique and special, so its upcoming expansion is naturally alluring.

Dark Arisen repeats the trick that worked for the first Dragon's Dogma by updating the base game and also adding a large new area at the same time, and I was super interested to get my hands on it at Capcom's UK office a couple of weeks ago.

After over an hour with the game, it immediately convinced me that more Dragon's Dogma 2 is a good thing, with the added bonus that it's coming to Switch 2 in a pretty impressive way.

The new expansion is set in Norgan, which you can basically think of like Skyrim – it's the snowy northern region of the landmass you've been exploring. That means icy terrain, snowstorms and generally frigid climes. These look lovely, especially on PS5 Pro, and give some fun new traversal challenges and obstacles.

To the victor, the spoils

I had around an hour to run around an open starting area, beginning in a small village with some quest-givers, a hub that I'd return to a few times. Dark Arisen introduces a new loot system called Spoils, and it'll be familiar to Diablo or other ARPG fans. As you explore and kill foes, you'll collect generic loot called Spoils, in various rarities.

Only by returning to this base can you pay a vendor to reveal these items of loot before choosing to keep or sell them according to their worth to your build. Even in just an hour's play, I uncovered some really powerful new items this way, and it's clear that it opens up a world of loot grinding that wasn't really in the base game at all.

After pootling around for 45 minutes finding enemy camps and completing some side quests, I realised the time and mainlined my way to the boss arena that would close the demo out.

Along the way, I had to fight a giant, horned giant that proved quite a formidable foe on its own, frankly, but with my memory of the base game flooding back, I was able to chop off its horns and eventually best it with the help of my NPC pawns.

From there, it was a short hop to a dark arena inhabited by a sort of zombified dragon, which I got to fight up to a certain point – once I whittled its health down by a certain amount (chopping off limbs and even its head, only to watch them regenerate), a cutscene ended my fun.

This Fallen Dragon seems to clearly be central to the plot of the expansion, along with the mysterious woman Eir who showed up to help me with it. I'd imagine the encounter I played won't be the only time you get to clash with the beast.

While the reality of more Dragon's Dogma 2 was indeed just as fun as I'd hoped, and the new region was great to explore, perhaps the bigger treat was getting to play the game on Switch 2 after my main demo ended.

This far more limited demo, the one now on the show floor at Gamescom, let me choose between a few boss fights, with a 15-minute timer to limit things. I played the most advanced available, battling against an ice dragon with a pretty sinister voice, and had a great time beating it.

Some 12 minutes later, I left massively impressed by how smooth the 30fps-capped gameplay had felt in a boss fight with a lot of particle effects, weather, powers and stuff flying around the screen. Whether it's truly representative of performance in the open world, I can't say, but I definitely know that the game will be extremely playable on Nintendo's console.

Pending final testing, that looks like another major notch in Capcom's belt, underlining how impressive its Switch 2 strategy has been compared to basically any other multi-platform publisher. Day-and-date launches keep coming, and they keep being barely compromised compared to more powerful consoles' versions.

I don't know if I'll have time to fully replay Dragon's Dogma 2 on the Switch 2, but the fact that people will have the option to, along with its expansion, feels like a pretty great thing. That said, they'll have to wait for its release date on 9 October.

There are few things more humbling than having to retry a boss for fifteen minutes straight in the middle of a press preview, but at least I wasn't the only one. With just three stages available to play from the newest Mega Man, the first fully new title in the series since Mega Man 11 in 2018, the pressure was on to get through them unscathed.

This is Mega Man, though, and if there's one thing the series is known for, it's relentless challenge. More on that in a moment, though.

Dual Override is a curiously low-key arrival in terms of Capcom's slate, and it was unveiled last year with a short trailer that didn't necessarily light the world on fire. Dropping the number from its title probably hasn't helped with people's understanding of the game's intended place in the pecking order.

It's definitely the newest full Mega Man game, though, and that's exactly how it felt when I went hands-on a couple of weeks ago. This is Mega Man in 2026, still just as sprightly and tightly-coiled as ever, with controls that ensure you're always able to make split-second adjustments, and that you know your death was definitely your own fault every single time.

This means that the game will be extremely familiar if you've played literally any Mega Man game, going right the way back to the first couple, but it does have its own twists. Principally, you get a pair of power-ups that you earn by dealing damage to enemies with your blaster.

The loadout I chose (from a couple of choices) let me put up a temporary shield to absorb one hit, while saving up for more power could activate the override mode from the title, which basically takes whatever attack configuration you're in and supercharges it.

This gives you something to aim towards in boss fights, in particular, and can be huge for swinging a fight your way, given how much damage you take per hit (loads). If you want, though, you can play with these power-ups disabled, for the brutally retro purists' experience.

I played through three stages, each one ending in a boss fight, but of these, the first two were mini-boss rooms, while the third stage ended with a proper showdown against Twinkle Girl. Don't believe the name; she was evil, and it was her fight that took me 15 minutes to conquer.

Generous checkpointing ensured that I could try again from the start of the fight, nice and quickly, rather than replaying the whole stage, but the total time of all my attempts was included in my stage summary, so I was still a little ashamed there.

The fight itself was all about pattern recognition and figuring out weaknesses, though. Once I realised that my secondary power mode, which made me into a sort of drill man, could powerfully counter one of Twinkle Girl's attacks, the fight swung around my way, and it didn't take long to win.

It helped that I was bopping along the whole time to a zippy and enjoyable soundtrack that felt nice and old-school, and looking at visuals that were impressively crisp and readable. Is this 3D style quite as charming as the old sprites? No, but it's more approachable and still really clear, which isn't saying nothing.

I played the game on PS5 and found it unsurprisingly buttery-smooth, but didn't have time to try it on Switch 2, which is where I'm certain I'd intend to actually play it once it's out in 2027. That handheld mode seems a natural fit, if Capcom can deliver it at 60fps.

Three stages is hardly anything, of course, and I was probably done with the demo content in about 30 minutes all told, but that half-hour left me really excited to play more of Dual Override. Frankly, beating a boss fight you've struggled with almost always leaves you either wanting to put the game down and take a walk, or to push right into the next level, and it's a pretty great sign that I landed on the latter.

IKEA has followed up on the teasers it started making recently by unveiling a big collaboration with Xbox, confirming nine different new pieces of homeware that it'll be selling from 1 October this year. The range is called YXSTABY, in typical IKEA fashion.

The range includes some really out-there stuff, not least in the form of a joystick-themed stool, along with various other more functional stuff that should make it easier to game without needing to set up your entire living space around the idea.

That said, this is obviously going to be a way to fly the Xbox flag, at a time when the gaming brand is under immense strain after a string of strategic failures and a simply massive wave of layoffs at its studios.

This collection might lighten the mood a little bit, at least for those unburdened by the above stresses. Throughout the new announcements, the Xbox controller was apparently the main inspiration – in some cases for its design, and in others to accommodate its storage or use while gaming.

I think the three highlights of the collection are the YXSTABY gaming thumbstick stool (the one that looks like a joystick), which is kitsch and fun; the YXSTABY gaming D-pad cushion, which looks impressively comfortable and useful; and the YXSTABY gaming D-pad platter.

That last one is modelled on the D-pad from the Xbox Elite Controller, which has a dish-like pad. It's shiny and metallic and fits the bill of "you wouldn't know this was an Xbox collab without if you weren't told".

The range also includes a gaming lounge chair with some canny hidden storage pouches for controllers underneath it; an attractive and minimalist gaming TV stand on castors; a gaming side table on castors for additional utility; a gaming controller display box, for those who want to wear their affinity proudly; a gaming laptop support with storage that's also impressively disguised as a toolbox; and finally a gaming monitor stand.

All are obviously very reasonably priced, with only one breaking the £100 mark and most loitering well below that level – you can check out all the pricing in full below, and get whatever you like from the range online or in-store from 1 October.

• YXSTABY gaming lounge chair - £89
• YXSTABY gaming thumbstick stool - £35
• YXSTABY gaming TV stand on castors - £99
• YXSTABY gaming side table on castors - £115
• YXSTABY gaming controller display box- £15
• YXSTABY gaming laptop support with storage - £19
• YXSTABY gaming monitor stand - £25
• YXSTABY gaming D-pad cushion- £12
• YXSTABY gaming D-pad platter - £12

It's been no secret that an upgraded version of the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X was on its way, but we finally have more details.

The ROG Xbox Ally X20 runs on the same Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme CPU but swaps the display for a 7.4-inch Full HD OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate.

Pre-orders are now open for a release date of 15 October 2026, and the handheld starts at £1,299 in the UK, $1,299 in the States..

Like the previous model, there's 24GB of LPDDR5X RAM on board, along with 1TB of SSD storage. The display supports HDR, Freesync Premium Pro, and is covered by Gorilla Glass for scratch protection.

It runs on Windows 11, of course, with the Xbox Mode front-end, and should be very capable with games on its own screen and when outputted to an external TV or display.

You can order the ROG Xbox Ally X20 as a standalone handheld or in a bundle, with a collection including a Dbrand Killswitch case, custom Pelican case, and the ROG XREAL R1 Edition 20 Gaming AR Glasses. That set is also available to pre-order for the princely sum of £2,299 / $2,499.

The glasses are also available to order separately.

We said that the standard Xbox Ally X is a "portable beast" when we reviewed it last year, and that should be the case again here. However, its price was already mighty, even before the RAM and component crisis hit its hardest.

You can get the previous model for £849.99 in the UK, $999.99 in the US, so you are paying a considerable, additional premium for the new OLED panel.

The announcement was made ahead of Gamescom starting in Germany this week, where T3 will be attending to bring you more news from Europe's biggest video games show. Make sure you check the site daily to keep up with the latest.

This is a huge week for Grand Theft Auto fans worldwide, with the long-awaited reveal of actual, honest-to-goodness gameplay from GTA 6 finally about to arrive. Or, at least, we're all very much assuming that we'll get a massive chunk of gameplay to digest when Rockstar releases Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look, a 30-minute preview of the game.

The trailer, as everyone and their nan now knows, will hit Netflix first on Thursday 27 August, with a six-hour exclusivity window for subscribers to one of the biggest and best streaming services out there.

That makes it the first of its kind – an advertisement for an upcoming game, delivered like a one-off documentary special on a streamer. It's a pretty wild situation, but you're probably wondering about the exact timing of the show, both on Netflix and then subsequently on YouTube. Read on to find out all the key times.

Netflix timings

Here are the timings for when the Extended Look will go live on Netflix (all on Thursday 27 August):

• UK: 8:00 PM BST
• Europe: 9:00 PM CEST
• North America: 12:00 PM PT / 3:00 pm ET

YouTube timings

Next, here are the times when the trailer will then go live on YouTube, for free, six hours after the Netflix premiere:

• UK: 2:00 AM BST, 28 August
• Europe: 3:00 AM CEST, 28 August
• North America: 6:00 PM PDT / 9:00 pm EDT, 27 August

What will the GTA 6 Extended Look show?

Rockstar has stayed extremely vague about what the Extended Look will actually show us from GTA 6, but it's a really safe bet that it'll be an extended showcase of the gameplay offering that the game will bring to the table.

The developer's patience has clearly been stretched by a fortnight of nonstop leaks, during which anyone who really wants to see gameplay from the upcoming mega-release could simply search for it and, well, see it.

Frankly, there's no way those leaks haven't at least slightly dimmed the hype, since millions of people can no longer say that the Extended Look will truly be their first glimpse of actual gameplay. Still, untold millions more won't even know the leaks have happened, so there's no real doubt that this remains one of the biggest trailer events of this generation.

My guess is that we'll get a more detailed breakdown of the story of the game, and then we'll see a campaign mission play out. That'll involve some driving to show off the cars and physics model, as well as some run-and-gun action. Those two are the biggest parts of the game's actual gameplay loop, so we'll surely get proper looks at them.

I'd also hope that we'll get clarity on the game's graphical settings, namely whether it'll have a mode aiming for 60fps or not, and what upgrades the PS5 Pro will bestow on the game for those who have one.

Beyond that, it's anyone's guess what exactly Rockstar will choose to walk us through. With half an hour to fill, though, we should leave the showcase with a much clearer expectation of what the game will be like.

Whether you call a network test a beta, a demo, or just a network test, it's generally the first opportunity that most of us get to go hands-on with a FromSoftware game, making it a thrilling moment. The Duskbloods has been a mysterious concept for well over a year at this point, but this past weekend I was able to play it for a couple of hours to see what it actually involves.

A Switch 2 exclusive from FromSoftware is always going to be an eye-catching prospect, but I didn't expect the game to begin with quite such a cinematic introduction. In fact, it opens much like a single-player game from the studio, with an enigmatic cut-scene, and a journey through some very scenic areas before a boss who'll likely kill you.

Before long, you'll have the controls down, but you'll need to complete at least a few more tuturials before you understand what the game actually is. The answer? It's a lot like Elden Ring: Nightreign, but way slower and more digestible.

A match of The Duskbloods starts with you selecting an area of the map to spawn into, at the same time as seven other players. Over the course of three rounds, you'll explore that map, killing enemies to level up, but also completing objectives that accumulate a currency called Virtue.

At the end of each round, the players with the least Virtue will be culled, and the game ends with the top three players fighting in a small PvP arena, each with two lives. That's the broad strokes of the game, but there's a lot to learn as you explore. There are a bunch of ways to gain Virtue, for instance.

Some players will naturally gravitate towards basically hunting down their rivals, and this can be profitable. Thankfully, death doesn't set you back too far, since you respawn quickly with no lost progress – your loss is more in the form of others' gain.

If you want, though, you can largely play the game as if the other players are just high-level enemies you want to avoid. My first match, for instance, saw me doing just that, simply exploring the map and killing high-value enemies to eventually enter the final battle with more Virtue than anyone else despite never having killed a human enemy.

I won that battle, largely by having something resembling a brain and just holding off while the other two players ground each other's health pools down. I can't pretend it wasn't thrilling, though, and it was also pretty funny to take a photo of the post-match screen with its series of confusing tallies – breaking down where I got my Virtue with symbols that I still don't understand.

While exploring the map, you can find Kin, which are basically summons that you can level up if you concentrate on it. They're hugely helpful in both PvE and PvP, and I found at least three different ones to experiment with. That's one layer of build-craft, with another being the character you choose to play as. This test had six, but there will apparently be fully 10 at launch.

This is a huge differentiator from Nightreign. There's no scrambling to find good weapons, since your base attacks and even your magic powers are determined by your character pick. Instead, the main variable is how far you manage to level up, what Kin y you use, and whether you can earn some upgrades to branch out your stats and resistances.

The reality is, though, that with only a few hours of in-game time under my belt (largely thanks to the network test's very precise windows), I still feel like there's a huge amount to learn.

What I can say is that I thought the game ran well and looked lovely, though I only played it in docked mode since I was at home. It's targeting a frame rate of 60fps, which is key for smoothness, and while I saw some stutters, given it's not yet out, I'm pretty happy with performance.

Elden Ring hits Switch 2 this very week, and I think that game's far larger map and open areas could be more of a challenge for the hardware, but either way I'm thrilled to get major FromSoftware games on Switch 2 at all.

The Duskbloods already feels like one of the most intriguing games I've played this year, and we don't even know exactly when it'll be released. When it does, I can't wait to dive in to find out just how all of its many hidden systems work.

Gamescom is Europe's biggest video games show and the annual event is once more about to kick open its doors to eager fans. The show starts in full this Wednesday 26 August and runs through to the end of play on the Sunday. However, you will also be able to watch a massive showcase event on the Tuesday before.

Gamescom Opening Night Live is hosted by Geoff Keighley of The Game Awards and Summer Game Fest fame, and like those other presentations, it'll be jam-packed with new trailers and reveals to watch live.

You can see it all unfold above, and get ready to strap yourself in for a major session as it's set to run for two hours.

Here then is everything you need to know about Gamescom Opening Night Live, including some of the games confirmed to feature.

When does Gamescom Opening Night Live start?

Gamescom Opening Night Live will begin at 20:00 CEST on Tuesday 25 August 2026 – the local time to Cologne in Germany, where it's taking place.

Here are the start times for multiple regions:

• US West Coast: 11:00 PDT
• US East Coast: 14:00 EDT
• UK: 19:00 BST
• Central Europe: 20:00 CEST
• India: 23:30 IST
• China (Beijing): 02:00 CST (26 August)
• Japan: 03:00 JST (26 August)
• South Korea: 03:00 KST (26 August)
• Australia (Sydney): 04:00 AEST (26 August)

How to watch Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026

You can watch the entire, two-hour Opening Night Live showcase via the video further up this page,

Alternatively, it is being hosted on The Game Awards YouTube channel.

What to expect

As with Keighley's other shows, you should expect plenty of big game announcements and new gameplay trailers during Opening Night Live.

Confirmed games so far include Final Fantasy VII Revelation, Gears of War: E-Day, Metro 2039, and Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons. But arguably the most exciting of the bunch will be The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past.

Coming 11 years after The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was first released, this is the first major expansion to the RPG since Blood and Wine in 2016.

It'll be released next year while CD Projekt Red continues development of The Witcher 4, although we don't know much about it as yet. Hence its debut during the show.

Depending on who you are, Call of Duty has either spent the last few years ruthlessly specialising in exactly the quick-paced twitchy action you love, or has become so rapid and relentlesss as to alienate you a little bit. With the arrival of Battlefield 6, I'm in the latter camp – wall-running and omnimovement made the last couple of COD games feel too challenging for my little soul.

That's meant I've been quietly quite excited for Modern Warfare 4, which sees developer Infinity Ward return to centre stage. I want a return to the smooth but methodical action of Modern Warfare 2019, but a weekend of open beta action with MW4 has confirmed I won't be getting that, quite.

A few matches of multiplayer confirmed that the game is, at least, slower than the frenetic Black Ops games from the last couple of years, and that's a huge step. Once again, footstep audio feels key, and far more limited starting ammo also meant I had to manage my shots more carefully and pick up other people's guns more often.

The movement tech here is a middle ground between older, slower styles and newer crazes. Mantling and jumping over obstacles is super quick, and the same goes for sprinting and sliding; you can also now climb pipes and jump to edges more freely, which actually feels quite cool to control.

Gunplay, meanwhile, does feel great, albeit I only sampled a handful of weapons. Rattling through killstreaks remains compelling, and as the first game to abandon the PS4 and Xbox One generation, MW4 looked pretty excellent in motion on my PS5 Pro.

Most intriguingly, though, this is the first time the open beta for a COD game has included a single-player mission. This might be Activision's way of trying to convince people that the dire campaign of Black Ops 7 was just an aberration, and to be fair, it might achieve just that.

The mission, called Entrenched, is a fairly classic slice of COD, seeing you start with trench-to-trench warfare before moving into a vehicle for some tank action, then back on foot for more close-quarters interior fighting and a final run through climbing sections to escape a burning reactor.

It's a great little demo, and it makes the open beta feel more like just that – an old-school demo disk that gives you the chance to really sample the final game, rather than purely its multiplayer component. A good COD campaign is a real thrill, after all, and we haven't had a properly consistent one in a surprisingly long time.

I think MW4 will still have a hard time pulling me away from Battlefield as it stands, though, and most shooter fans will know what I mean when I say there's only really room for one of them in my life. Since these games are where I play socially with my friends, it's a proper tussle for supremacy.

With my mates largely scarred by BO6 and BO7's outrageously fast pace of play in multiplayer, COD has its work cut out for it in convincing them to come back for another try. This beta is a good start, to be fair, but the fact that I'm most captured by the single-player element is probably a sign for caution, still.

Considering Rockstar Games only releases one game a decade (just about), it comes as no surprise that people are eager to find out more about each title ahead of time. More so when it's a new Grand Theft Auto.

I'm the same – I cannot wait to get my hands on GTA 6 and find out what the team has been cooking for the last 13 years. And I'll certainly be tuning into Netflix this coming Thursday (27 August) to see the world's first gameplay reveal.

However, what I won't be doing is seeking out the swathe of leaked gameplay videos that have appeared on the likes of Discord and GitHub over the last week. I also not be linking to them, nor repeating any of the information gleaned from them here.

That's not because I'm worried of repercussions from Rockstar, but I just don't want to spoil the game, the story, and the excitement for myself or any T3 readers. Clips shown out of context are never positive. Judgements can become clouded, and no matter how much we tell ourselves, our opinions will be affected.

I remember when Grand Theft Auto IV came out in 2008. I pre-ordered it for the Xbox 360 in an actual store, from an actual person. And come release day I went to the store to pick it up.

I'd seen an official trailer or two beforehand, but Rockstar had cleverly tailored them to give us a glimpse but without genuine spoilers. That's somewhat the point – it allowed me to get my disc home, pop it in my console and play with no preconceptions, other than knowing I was going to get my money's worth.

Every second of that game was a revelation to me. The same with GTA: San Andreas beforehand, and Vice City. I was tasked with reviewing GTA 5, so that was a little different, but no less exciting. And all because I'd manage to avoid major spoilers.

But even more than the leaked clips themselves, it's the comments underneath that I'm most keen on swerving. As hard as you try to remain agnostic about them, you can't help but be affected by the critical responses of others – good or bad. I can't, at least.

The last thing I want is for my opinion about Grand Theft Auto VI to be swayed by 13 year-olds on Discord months before I get to play it. All based on short clips of a development build taken out of context.

I advise you do the same. The leaks are easy enough to find (unless Rockstar has managed to take them all down, as per its legal action reported by Kotaku), but just ask yourself if it's really worth it.

I'll be waiting for the official reveal on Netflix instead, and 19 November when I'll be waiting patiently at the (digital) door (of my PS5 Pro) for the postman (my internet) to deliver the game.

Audeze occupies a really fascinating place in the pantheon of gaming headset makers. It's best known as an audiophile brand, making the sort of headphones that your dad wishes he could get his hands on.

However, after branching out into gaming audio some years back, it's found the segment to be by far its best-selling one, thanks to a lower price of entry, perhaps. Of course, there's also the fact that people want top-level immersion – and the news that a headset is the best way to get it has long since spread worldwide.

I've tested Audeze's headsets over the years and found their sound superb, but their design perhaps a little particular – but the Maxwell 2 ANC (noting that three-letter append differentiates this product from the base Maxwell 2) is perhaps the brand's most attractive and generalist effort yet.

Price and Availability

The Maxwell 2 ANC was unveiled earlier this summer, and it's therefore available to order now, although it's not at the widest range of retailers here in the UK – so you may have to dig around a little.

In case its name didn't make it clear: this is a direct follow-up to the Maxwell 2, which remains on sale.

The Maxwell 2 ANC has two variants, in a flashback to older days. The PlayStation version (which will also work on PC) comes in at £429 in the UK, while the Xbox-certified version is a bit pricier at £449.

In the US, that translates to $429 and $449, respectively. That price gap is almost certainly entirely down to the license that Microsoft charges for Xbox compatibility.

Design and Features

If you stuck a Maxwell 2 next to the newer Maxwell 2 ANC, you might be relatively hard-pressed to pick out differences between them. They're there, but they're extremely subtle where the design is concerned.

The most obvious tell is where the headband meets the earcups – where it was previously colour-matched, the arms now have a metallic finish that makes them contrast a little. Beyond that, though, almost nothing has changed (which is no bad thing).

That means you still get the same round earcup shape, along with the newer, wider headband that debuted on the Maxwell 2. It's suspended below the main headback (which is rigid) and has holes in it for ventilation, as well as some adjustment points for sizing.

The earcups themselves are pretty massive, and the headset overall is in fact one of the biggest I've tested. That probably won't matter to you since it's likely for home use, but you do look amusing with the Maxwell 2 ANC strapped on.

On that front, a weight of 560g is also worth considering – this is a seriously heavy headset by any reckoning, although that does also mean it feels really premium in terms of build quality.

On those earcups you have a couple of removable parts to experiment with. Firstly, the outer panel of each earcup can now be removed, a bit like on SteelSeries' Arctis Nova Pro headsets, but without the hidden battery – this time it's just to offer the option of custom plates down the line.

You can also really easily pry off the ear cushions themselves. This both gets you a neat view of the planar magnetic drivers they hide, but should also make replacing them a total doddle, which is great.

Finally, the microphone is completely removable, too. I'm on the record as preferring a retractable system for convenience, but Audeze is hardly the only brand sticking with this model.

The earcup housing the microphone also holds most of the controls. It has a button to toggle between ANC modes, a USB-C port for charging, a 3.5mm jack for wired audio, and two volume dials.

One controls your master volume, while the other adjusts the balance between in-game audio and your chat – that this works out of the box on PS5 with no adjustments is a real boon.

The other earcup has the power button and a mute switch for the microphone, rounding out your controls. The big selling point of Audeze's headphones is the planar magnetic drivers, which are present and correct here – each of them 90mm.

The big addition, though, is active noise-cancelling (ANC), and you get to choose between having it on, turning it off entirely, or using a transparency mode to hear the world around you more clearly.

Leaving ANC on, you'll get around 35 hours of gameplay on a charge, while turning it off raises this to 40 hours. Recharging from empty takes around 2 hours, but you'll get 25% of your charge in the first 20 minutes.

Finally, the box includes the all-important USB-C dongle for wireless 2.4Ghz audio, although Bluetooth is also supported (with LDAC, which is welcome). The dongle has a switch to go between PC and PlayStation modes, and you also get a cabled adapter for USB-A sockets.

Comfort-wise, having worn the Maxwell 2 ANC for dozens of hours at this point, I'm impressed. The wide headband makes its objectively sizeable weight feel like far less, and I've been able to wear it for 3 hours at a time without any complaints. The earcups are impressively plush, while the clamping force isn't excessive.

The materials also ensure this feels really premium, as befits the price. The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite is a chunk more expensive, but I'd put these in a similar bracket in terms of solidity and build quality. That said, the trade-off in weight isn't to be ignored.

Sound and Performance

Audeze is famed for its planar magnetic drivers, and they're the stars of the show in almost all of its over-ears – but this isn't one of its regular launches. This time, ANC is right there in the product's name to highlight that it's the major addition, so it's what I'll tackle first.

When a brand that hasn't done much ANC dips its toes, the first results can be quite unpredictable. But I think Audeze has done a really creditable job here. The noise-cancelling offered by the Maxwell 2 ANC does almost exactly what I expected, dulling and dimming background noise to make immersion easier to achieve.

Audeze's marketing material makes it fairly obvious that it thinks it can match the ANC on the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite, and in fairness I think it's in the same ballpark. There are slight differences when it comes to tuning, but with an air conditioner running or a washing machine going at full spin, I've been able to have enjoyable gaming sessions without interruption.

The transparency mode here is serviceable enough, and could be useful if you're waiting for the doorbell or some other important audible alert, but I can't say I found the need to use it much.

That brings me back to the core question of sound quality, which is as impressive as the last few Audeze headsets led me to expect. The exact mechanics of what makes planar magnetic drivers good can be labyrinthine, but the outcome is obvious – powerful, crisp and detailed sound.

The richness here is really impressive, and I've found the bass response to be extremely solid, too. Playing a bunch of Battlefield 6, I've had no issues picking out footsteps near me, but I haven't had to compromise and turn down the scale of the booming sound of warfare.

Dipping into a busier soundscape like in Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced, the business of Havana or the stark open air of the sea are both translated really nicely, and you do get the precision to pick up tiny audio cues and background details.

Connectivity has been rock-solid throughout my testing, while battery life has lined up with Audeze's claims, making for a really impressive package that comes together with ease.

Verdict

The Audeze Maxwell 2 ANC is exactly what it says on the tin – an improvement on the Maxwell 2 with one major addition that is a genuine upgrade for gaming in normal environments. I'd always rather have ANC than not, and it helps when it's paired with powerful, accurate sound like this.

There are some minor caveats, though. The Maxwell 2 ANC is basically the heaviest high-end headset you could find, so trying it on before you buy it might be advisable, since its dimensions are also plus-sized.

It's also got a punchy price, even more so if you're an Xbox gamer. Still, if your budget is big and you like planar magnetic tech, then Audeze's latest is a seriously accomplished headset.

Also consider

A price that's this high means the Maxwell 2 ANC doesn't have much direct competition. That said, my top gaming headset recommendation (full stop) comes in a good chunk cheaper – the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Omni, which outdoes Audeze by bringing all console uses into one headset. It sounds great, too.

Another good way to cut costs would be to pick up the existing non-ANC Maxwell 2, which remains excellent and can be had for around £/$100 less than the new version, and doubtless more when sales events roll around.

Realistically, the only way to upgrade on the Maxwell 2 ANC is to step up to the Arctis Nova Elite, meanwhile, which is even more unbelievably expensive, but does have a few more bells and whistles. Again, its universal compatibility is a real boon if you want one headset for everything.

Details about the next Xbox console have leaked and they're not painting a pretty picture – either for the model coming before Christmas, or the potential price of Project Helix.

Microsoft announced its special edition Xbox Series X25 console in June, but we've not heard much about it since. However, trusted leaker Billbil-kun claims to have learned the release date and price. And we hope you're sitting down.

Reporting on French site Dealabs, the leaker revealed that the 25th anniversary Xbox Series X will cost a jaw-dropping €899.99, with the US version likely an equivalent $899.99. That could equate to around £849 in the UK.

It's €100 / $100 more than a standard Xbox Series X at today's prices.

You do get the special translucent green shell and a wireless controller to match, but the innards are the same as the model released six years ago. It's a lot to ask for a current-generation machine, especially when it matches the price of the more powerful PS5 Pro.

Xbox Series X25 special edition release date

Billbil-kun has also confirmed that the Xbox Series X25 will be available from Friday 27 November 2026, which just so happens to be Black Friday. That's thought to be a coincidence, but it could mean standard Xbox models might be available in the sales, so you'll have a decision to make.

There's no doubt that the XSX25 is a cool thing to covet, especially if you fondly remember the translucent green original Xbox. But that sort of money for a current-gen console that's coming to the end of its run seems steep.

Sadly, the components crisis shows no signs of letting up any time soon, so this is just a continuation of elevated pricing for gaming kit, it seems. And how much will Project Helix be in comparison?

It's looking ever more likely that it will be a $1,000 console – possibly with an even higher ticket.

It's starting to make the Steam Machine look normal.

Accessory maker Genki has released a few devices and cases in its time, but few are as ambitious as its latest. The company is turning its hand to pro game controllers, and in some style, to boot.

The Genki Manta is currently available to pre-order on Kickstarter and could be the all-in-one controller to beat them all. Not only does it sport a decently-sized display on the front and adjustable TMR thumbsticks, but you can get up to 8,000Hz polling rates when wired (1,000Hz through wireless).

The controller itself has a familiar shape and form, although the bottom is extended to incorporate the 2.79-inch screen. It resembles the Steam Controller in that sense (which houses two touchpads on the lower half).

That screen can also be used for a myriad of functions, including changing polling rate and profiles on the fly, remapping the controls, tweaking the sensitivity and calibration of different elements, and even as a keyboard. Genki also promises to send future updates to add even more features and apps to its "MantaOS" on-board software.

What else does the Genki Manta controller offer?

There's so much more to the controller too. It uses "pulse" buttons that sense full travel without needing an electrical contact, TMR thumbsticks with adjustable resistance (from 30 to 80gf), and tristage triggers, enabling you to switch between a digital click, short rapid travel, and full analogue trigger control.

You can programme macros – a sequence of button presses – to activate with single activations. And there are maglev haptics on board, with an independently driven LMR motors in each grip.

You can even swap the D-pad from a traditional cross design to a "satellite" dish-style alternative.

There are three connectivity options included, allowing the Manta to work with multiple systems. There's Bluetooth for mobile and Switch / Switch 2 support, 2.4GHz Wi-Fi for wireless PC play, and a wired mode with the fastest polling rate when you want to take your gaming more seriously.

Of course, all of this doesn't come cheap, although the Genki Manta is reasonably priced in comparison with some other pro controllers I use.

It's currently listed on Kickstarter from £139 / $189 as a Super Early Bird offer. The RRP after the crowd funding / pre-order phase will be $279 – so 32% more.

A Manta Founders Edition is also available, which will come with a serialised number, exclusive colourway, special case and a Founder's mark on the controller itself. That currently costs £256 / $349.

The Genki Manta is due to ship from February next year.

I think something might have clicked quite recently for Sony when it comes to its Inzone gaming brand. When it first launched a few years ago, it was confusing – the devices were clearly intended for PC gaming, but they were designed with the same white aesthetic as the PlayStation 5, muddying the waters in terms of intended audiences.

Now, though, a second generation of products has been making its way to the market, and they're almost all redesigned with more stealthy, lightweight black aesthetics, nailing down their place a little more clearly. The latest I've tried is the H6 Air headset, a more mid-range option compared to the H9 II from late last year. So just how does this headset stack up?

Price and Availability

Sony released the Inzone H6 Air earlier this year, so they're fully available now and come in at £179 / $199 / AU$269 / €199.

That sees them sitting in the upper end of the mid-range market, although "mid-range" is a bit of a misnomer given how good some of the headsets in this bracket can be.

For context, similar money would get you the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7, a wireless model that has no noise-cancelling, but does pack in more features than the Inzone H6 Air.

Design and Features

The H6 Air has a really familiar design from the H9 II, but with one very obvious difference: where that earlier headset had smooth, matte plastic on the outside of its earcups, the H6 Air is covered in tiny perforations that actually make its cups semi-transparent.

That's because it's an open-back headset that deliberately avoids isolation to give you a really wide soundstage. And, to be fair, I really like how the headset looks as a result. It has the same suspended headband system as the older model, but the fact that you can see its drivers from the outside gives it a really nice industrial quality.

The other incredibly obvious feature of its design comes the moment you pick it up out of the box. This headset is phenomenally light, as the "Air" in its name suggests. It comes in at just 199g, which means it's one of the lightest options anywhere on the market.

That weight (or lack thereof), combined with the comfortable headband system, makes it a dream to wear – it's in the category of headsets that you might forget you have on if you're immersed enough in what you're playing.

Of course, as I'll get to, some of that weight has been saved in ways that do have downsides, but from a comfort point of view, the H6 Air is a home run.

Rounding out the design, the headset comes with a detachable microphone arm, and its controls are relatively limited. You get a 3.5mm jack for that connection, a volume slider, and a bobbly mute button that pops out when you're muted, so you can tell just from feeling it with your fingers.

The absence of many buttons and settings hints at the absence of ornamentation where features are concerned. This is a wired headset, so there's no Bluetooth or any wireless standard at all here, and that also means that its software configurability is somewhat limited.

You can use the Inzone Hub to customise the headset's EQ, but if you want those changes to be saved, then you have to listen to the headset through the included USB-C audio dongle – the headset itself has no storage for profiles or anything. That's a drag, although it arguably doesn't actually change the convenience level, given it's already wired.

Sound Performance

So, if the H6 Air is deliberately stripped back where the design and features sides of things come into play, it arguably has its work cut out to justify those decisions from a sound perspective.

After all, by skipping wireless play, it makes itself less convenient, and it also doesn't have any noise-cancelling to speak of (other than in its microphone). The open-back system here is really impressive, though – it sounds phenomenal, provided you don't have any background noise fouling things up.

I used the headset for a good few hours of Battlefield 6 and found it nice and precise when it came to enemy footsteps and vehicle locations. It also worked well in more immersive games like The Adventures of Elliot on my Nintendo Switch 2, where the orchestral soundtrack sounded lush and deep.

That said, I can't pretend that I didn't miss some more isolation – when my robot vacuum was running, or the neighbour's washing machine was in its final spin, the simple fact was that these sounds made it past the earcups and disrupted my audio experience.

You have to know going into the H6 Air that you're fine with that, I'd say, or the lack of isolation could end up being more frustrating than rewarding.

Another interesting note on the microphone side of things. My friends are used to me popping up with new microphones pretty regularly as I test headsets, but this was one of those occasions where I caught pelters for my mic. It took a lot of adjustment, both in software on my PS5 and in terms of physical placement, before the microphone would stop picking up my breathing sounds and relay them to my chat.

That's a very rare problem in my reviewing experience, and the slightly over-tuned microphone therefore doesn't get a top grade from me, despite its actual recording quality being very solid.

That's another asterisk in my experience with the H6 Air, though, and for the price attached, I think Sony might have liked to get it more flawless to really compete with wireless models.

Verdict

The Inzone H6 Air is a curious headset, not least because I'm not sure who exactly will be clamouring for it. Inzone's other headsets like to claim that they're great for pro gamers, for instance, but there's no way they'd use this and be bombarded by outside crowd noise at events, surely?

For normal gamers like me, the same doubt lingers. Is your gaming environment reliably quiet enough to make noise-cancelling an unnecessary extra, and do you care about wireless play? In both cases, I know that I'd rather have those features than not.

That said, the Inzone H6 Air sounds excellent in the right setting. If you're a wired aficionado, then have at it, as you'll love the lightweight built. But other gamers might be better served by more appropriate alternatives.

Also consider

I've compared the H6 Air a couple of times to the pricier and only slightly older Inzone H9 II, and I think the pricier headset is well worth a look if your budget is flexible. It solves all my issues with the H6 Air and is still impressively light, making it also very comfortable.

If you do want to stick to the same rough price point, though, you'll probably save money by opting for the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Gen 2, which can often be had for a fair discount and is brilliant. It's light and sounds great, but it has way more features and works a treat wirelessly.

Xbox has just delivered a new update for Insiders that, among other things, finally adds something dedicated fans have waited more than a decade for.

As part of the gaming giant's 25th anniversary celebrations, it is given a select group of Xbox gamers a new profile badge they earned 13 years ago.

Those who bought an Xbox One on day one – 22 November 2013 – are being recognised with a commemorative "Day One 2013" badge. You just need to have unlocked the original achievement to receive it.

In addition, Xbox Insiders can also try several new features that have arrived with the same update. For starters, you now have more control over your Recent Games and Apps list at the top of the home screen.

You can remove items from that list, including the Play History file, and finely trim it to show the games and content that means most to you.

Other new Xbox features available to try

A new immersive background mode is available too, with the ability to fade away the user interface with a press of the right thumbstick (R3). It'll just then show your background image instead.

And there's more control over local storage and game saves. You can now view, sort and delete local game saves that aren't being used. And you can batch delete them to save time.

Just head to Settings > System > Storage > Manage local game saves to check out the options.

Finally, even if you're not a day one Xbox One user, you now get other profile badge features, including the ability to view detailed information on every badge didsplayed on your or somebody else's profile.

To get all of these new features now – before they appear in a full, public software release somewhere down the line – you need to be an Xbox Insider. You can find out how to join the program on a dedicated website or by downloading the Xbox Insider Hub on your Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One or Windows PC.

Sony has finally furnished us with more details on its PlayStation-branded wireless speakers, as revealed last September. That includes pre-order and full release dates, plus pricing.

The Pulse Elevate speakers were unveiled during a State of Play video feed in 2025, but with the understanding that they would release in 2026. We didn't expect it to take so long, though.

Coming in two colour options, black and white, the speakers will be available to pre-order from 1 September 2026 in the UK, US and several Central European countries. They'll be available on the PlayStation store online.

Pricing stands at £199.99 / $219.99 / €219.99 a pair and they come with a wireless dongle to attach to a PS5 for ultra-low latency. They will also come with Bluetooth support for connection to a smartphone, PC or Mac.

Why are the speakers called "Pulse Elevate"

The clue to one of the speakers' main features lies in their name. Each speaker is designed to sit straight on a desktop or tilt backwards to "elevate" the audio to a listening position.

This allows them to mimic height channels for a wider soundscape.

They can also be connected to power via a cable or, thanks to housing rechargeable batteries, can be moved around a desk or even room to room. That's much like a Sonos Move 2 speaker, so you aren't restricted to using each Pulse Elevate with gaming.

However, when you do, you can also make use of their built-in microphone for multiplayer online play. That way you won't need a separate headset with a boom mic.

Each speaker comes with a woofer built-in too, so they should work fine without a separate subwoofer.

We hope to test the Pulse Elvate speakers here on T3 soon, to let you know what we think.

The right hand giveth, the left taketh away – Xbox is certainly living by that idiom this month. Not only has it announced a decent collection of new games coming to Game Pass, it's revealed that one of the greatest RPGs – one of the best games, full stop – is leaving the platform, too.

While new sould-like platformer Vapor World: Over the Mind has been added today, with the new Plague Tale adventure, Resonance, coming on 27 August, you can also say goodbye to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered Edition.

CD Projekt Red's masterpiece will only be available until 31 August and removed from Game Pass for cloud play or console.

Also leaving on that day are Another Crab's Treasure, I Am Your Beast, Neon Abyss, and One Lonely Outpost.

Still, at least Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy looks great. The action-adventure game acts as a prequel to A Plague Tale: Requiem and has you step into the shoes of Sophia across two time zones – the familiar Middle Ages and Ancient Greece.

It'll be available to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass members first. The same is true with Vapor World and Blood Dungeon (coming on 25 August), although there are plenty of new additions for Premium members too.

From today, all subscribers to Premium, Ultimate and PC can download and play BlazBlue Entropy Effect X and Relooted. Starsand Island will arrive tomorrow, 20 August, while Aerial_Knight’s DropShot is coming on 25 August and Young Suns will be available from the last day of the month.

One game for September has also been announced – Shelldiver, which will be available to all members from the first day of the month.

How much is Xbox Game Pass and what do you get?

There are four Xbox Game Pass tiers that offer different benefits, including one that's solely for PC laptop, desktop or handheld owners.

Xbox console owners will need to subscribe to one of the plans below to play games online – or the vast majority of them, anyway.

Xbox Game Pass Essential costs £6.99 / $9.99 per month and gives you access to a curated list of 50 or so games to play at no extra cost. You also get access to Xbox Cloud Gaming to play the games on the list or supported games you own yourself.

Xbox Game Pass Premium costs £10.99 / $14.99 per month and greatly ups the amount of "free" games available to you. There are more than 200 games available in the library, to play on your console and multiple devices over the cloud. Unlike Ultimate membership, you don't get day one releases and may have to wait a year or so for those new games to be added.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is the top tier and costs £16.99 / $22.99 per month. It provides access to many 100s of games, including day one releases (just not new Call of Duty games). You also get free EA Play, Ubisoft+ Classics and Fortnite Crew memberships. Ultimate also includes PC Game Pass membership (as below).

PC Game Pass is a separate subscription for PC games. It costs £10.99 / $13.99 per month and gives you over 300 titles to download or play over the cloud. Like Ultimate, it includes day one releases (bar COD), as well as EA Play membership.

While I thought my Lego building days might be numbered – largely down to lack of space and funds than anything else – this Lego Ideas Star Fox build would have me scurrying to clear some shelf space.

The Lego Ideas site showcases builds from creatives, which other users can upvote in order to promote. It's a savvy idea and one great example of internet community done right.

It's also a prime opportunity for Nintendo to stand up and take note. The Japanese gaming giant is no stranger to Lego, of course, with its current Mario range and other builds, such as the classic NES console, already licensed and available.

But this Star Fox Arwing? It's a thing of beauty, from the creative mind of Lego Ideas member OfficierSerieuzePruik. Check out the detail in the gallery above!

Absent, of course, is any kind of Fox McCloud and co. Minifig set – but what a prime opportunity this would be for Falco Lombardi, Slippy Toad and Peppy Hare to show face in Lego form.

Indeed, the closest 'fox' Minifig I can find is Lego 71025, the series 19 Minifigs pack, which contains a 'fox girl costume', complete with a chicken and a sack. Don't think that'd quite fit the bill – but it'll do as a stand-in for the time being.

There's a lot of fanfare around Star Fox at the moment, not least because Nintendo released a revamped version of the N64 classic for the Switch 2 – which I loved playing, as it felt like an all-new game to me.

This Lego Ideas build has so much detail that really honours the games – and that's a big part of what I love so much about it. Just look at the in-seat controls, the moving wings, the integrated lighting, and the custom stickers.

At the time of writing the build has 897 supporters. That number will surely only increase, though, hitting the integral 1000 figure requirement in little time. You have to be signed up to Lego and logged in, so there's no funny business in fixing the numbers.

So, Nintendo and Lego and Star Fox fans, go and show your support. That's the way this could be made into a real Lego Ideas set – one that you could go and buy in the not-too-distant future. I'll reserve my spot in line right now...

Samsung has announced a collaboration with Activision to become the official TV, monitor, soundbar and Wi-Fi speaker partner of the forthcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4.

As a result, it has been working with the development teams to help implement HDR10+ Gaming support in the sequel, plus native 32:9 super ultrawide support on the PC version for use on Samsung's Odyssey G9 monitors.

Some Call of Duty games have offered Dolby Vision in the past and/or standard HDR10 for displays that don't support it. However, Modern Warfare 4 will be the first to offer HDR10+ Gaming, which will be especially good news for Samsung TV and monitor owners as they don't have access to Dolby Vision.

Samsung is a lead partner (originator) for the HDR10+ standard, so the collaboration makes sense. It essentially offers more accurate colour and contrast, highlighting brighter elements of a scene while keeping dark zones inky black.

Support means it will be switched on automatically while playing, with settings tweaked for low latency playback.

"We will continue working with leading developers to strengthen gaming experiences across our display portfolio," said Samsung's executive vice president of its visual display business, Hun Lee.

Free early access to the COD: MW4 beta

In addition to the baked-in settings, the Samsung partnership will also provide TV and monitor owners access to the Call of Duty: NEXT livestream, straight through the Samsung Gaming Hub.

Taking place on 21 August at 9am PDT / 5pm BST, the live presentation kicks off Activision's annual event for Call of Duty fans and will detail new information on the latest game.

Samsung device owners will also have the chance to get their hands on early access codes for the Modern Warfare 4 beta. You'll be able to play the game from 21 August – a week before the open beta then rolls out on 28 August.

Finally, Samsung will have Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 playable on its stand at Gamescom, with some Vault Edition Battle.net codes available to visitors.

I've had a dedicated home office for the past 6 years, having worked from home – and from anywhere around the globe or when inside various modes of transport, quite frankly – for more than the past 15 years.

Wear and tear happens, of course, so when my dedicated Humanscale office chair's arm rests began to crack due to sunlight damage and shed pieces over my home office's floor, I was outside of the 5-year warranty for replacing those.

Try as I might – and resorting to wrapping soft eye-masks around the arms for some degree of comfort – I couldn't find replacement pads for a sensible price, especially with shipping and import costs being far too much.

So I began further research and was looking at whether buying one of the best gaming chairs would better fit my needs than one of the best office chairs. Timing answered that for me, as Asus offered its top-tier gaming chair, the ROG Courser.

That was two months ago, when I duly assembled the flagship ROG on day of receipt. It comes with many features that appeal, but having now used this seat for many dozens of hours, there's also one or two reason to consider not buying one, too.

1. Armrest ace

While the arm rests might not be the first thing you notice about the ROG Courser (it's got built-in lighting, after all, which I'll get to later), they're one of my favoured features about this chair.

That's twofold: one, down to the degree of adjustability; two, related to the level of comfort.

There are three adjustments that can be made: a rise/fall for the arm height; a forward/backward for the arms' forward position relative to your body; and a left/right width adjustment that can position the arms nearer of farther from you.

As such, I've always found my elbows to be in a comfortable position – and, if not, I can make adjustments to accommodate or offset positions related to how reclined or positioned I am, whether I'm casually browsing or in a fixed typing position.

Comfort is key, too, with these rests' high-density foam padding being firm, with just enough give. If I press elbows in, there's a slight resistance, further aiding comfort.

2. Rock it or lock it

Sure, plenty of office chairs offer recline, some more than others. The ROG Courser? If you want to go super chill then you can – as you can see from the image above.

Indeed, this Asus gaming chair can go from 90-degrees upright all the way down to 155-degrees in an angle-flat position.

No, it's not 180-degrees flat, but I'm not looking for a spare bed from my office chair, just something that can permit varied positions when using different products – as I'm not always key-pressing a laptop.

The recline is activated by an easy-to-operate lever on the right-hand side of the chair. There's ample resistance from the chair itself, though, so you need to assert a little push with your body for motion to occur.

Whether you want a fluid 'open' degree of recline – where pressing back will naturally tilt the chair in tandem with your body – is up to you. A second lever, to the left-hand side and a little lower down beneath the seat, can be rotated to 'lock' the tilt feature.

Those who want a rigid position that holds them in a very particular way will appreciate this, as you can make all your preferred positional tweaks and then lock into one position. I do this sometimes when locked into writing, Gmail tab closed, and on task.

3. Lumbar lovin'

The comfort train continues, too, thanks to lumbar adjustment. Inside is a "cold-pressed thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) lumbar pad", the position of which you can adjust by using two rotational dials.

The left-hand dial controls the position of the pad, so whether it will impact your lowest back area or only mid-lower. The right-hand dial, meanwhile, adjusts how much the pad protrudes to offset the typical seating rear.

It's all good for comfort and spine position, while the included headrest is magnetically attachable – so ensures it never sits too low and presses into your back unduly.

I'd quite like the option to advance the headrest's protrusion from its natural position, as my imperfect spine could do with a bit of extra to make the most out of. Nonetheless, this effortless adjustment makes positioning it best for your preference a breeze.

4. Heat and light

So far, so good, then. But what's not to like? Well, I've got one take-it-or-leave-it comment, while another aspect of the ROG Courser I find more troubling.

The integrated lighting is very on brand, so I'm perfectly content with its presence – even if I never use it. It has to be operated using a separate battery pack (sold separately) which you can attach to the pouch on the rear of the seat.

It's sensible that the chair has no integrated batteries, for sake of safety, not to mention weight. It includes a USB-C cable with a magnetic attachment to the end, which naturally mates with the input port. A series of controls on the rear permits you to make various adjustments, too.

My issue, however, is that even with the lighting off, the surface material of the ROG Courser isn't great at dealing with heat. As such, I find my legs get rather warm in contact with this seat – and that's been amplified further during the UK's persistent heatwaves.

In the winter, mind, I suspect I'll be loving my cosy new office/gaming chair and how it feels. As there's no question of the comfort – this material feels great – it's just the temperature level rises after extended sitting. Kinda like a leather seat in a car – it could do with in-built cooling fans (like some cars offer).

Should I buy an Asus ROG Courser?

One point I've not raised up until now is the price. While my Humanscale 'Task' series office chair (RIP) would have cost somewhere around £900 / $1400, the Asus ROG Courser is yours for £669 / $975 direct from Asus' store.

I'm not saying that's a small price by any means, but paying for quality and assurance of longevity is integral for an office and/or gaming chair. You want something that's comfortable and that'll last you for years – otherwise it's just a false economy.

I'm certainly sold on the comfort and adjustability, non-plussed about the RGB lighting – this will be a make-or-break feature for some, I'm sure – but it's the warmth factor that I find the only real downside of this Asus chair. During the British summertime anyway.

That aside, the Asus ROG Courser is a great gaming chair that'll act as a logical office chair stand-in option for many. Or a do-it-all chair that'll cover all bases, day and night.

I've been writing about games and games systems for the best part of four decades, and in that time I've seen and owned just about every console, handheld or otherwise. Except one.

Strangely, 2001's Game Boy Advance eluded me. I didn't just decide to skip it, I failed to realise it existed until years later. By then it was too late and I'd moved onto the Sony PSP. The same with its fip-style successor, the Game Boy Advance SP.

But now I've finally had the chance to correct that error, and in some style. The Konkr Pocket Advance is, for all intents and purposes, the perfect handheld to catch up on GBA emulation and then some.

Made by Ayaneo – the pinnacle of the retro gaming handheld industry, for me – it is both premium yet affordable. It is also shaped exactly like an original Game Boy Advance, with a 3:2 display that's a direct match for GBA games, and it even shares the chunkiness and heft of an early 2000s device.

I'm besmitten by it and while I've enjoyed playing several GBA titles since it turned up on my doorstep, I'd argue that it's the best retro gaming handheld under $100 / £100 full stop.

Design and build

That's partly down to the build quality. Ayaneo is renowned for its attention to detail and use of quality materials for its handhelds. I own both a Pocket Air Mini and a Pocket Evo and while they are vastly different in price, they each feel premium.

Konkr is the main firm's budget brand, but nothing feels budget about the Pocket Advance. Its plastic is reassuringly sturdy and grippy, and the overall feel is solid and dependable. On top of that, it has some of the best buttons I've ever used on an affordable device.

There's no thumbstick here, but the rubber membrane D-pad and action buttons are accurate and almost eerily quiet. Most of my handhelds click and clack like an ex-rugby player's knees, but not so the Pocket Advance.

That includes the top triggers, which are a little louder but not by enough that you can't play (almost) silently. There are also more buttons than you'll likely ever use, with additional ones on the top, including programmable LC and RC types.

It'll also great to note that, while you can alter the volume in the Android OS you also get a physical wheel on the bottom (alongside a 3.5mm headphone port). That's rare these days and a great touch.

The only caveat to all this is that, as normal with Ayaneo handhelds, the start and select buttons are range together on one side of the display, with menu and home buttons on the other. This makes it hard to use them as hot keys for Retroarch, for example, as pushing them both at the same time is tricky.

The last thing I'll say about the design is that I was thrilled to learn that my review unit was the indigo blue model – the exact one I liked best in the images. You can also get the device in orange/coral, retro grey and there are a couple of special edition variants that have since been announced too, but the blue seems more fitting to me.

Display and sound

Also built into the frame are stereo speakers. They are down-firing which isn't ideal, but the sound that comes from them is robust and clear.

The music in retro games is often overlooked because of tech limitations at the time, but some of the most iconic composers worked on soundtracks that deserve to be heard at their best.

Then we get to the display which, for this price point and use case, is superb. It measures 3.5-inches, LCD and is capable of refresh rates up to 60 frames per second. It has excellent colour saturation too, and can be set extremely bright if needed (albeit at a faster drain to your battery).

You get a 960 x 640 resolution, which works out as a perfect 4x integer scale for Game Boy Advance games, and it handles shaders well. Personally, I prefer to see pixels represented at their best on the modern hardware rather than degrade the effect to look like the original, but I get it either way. And that's easy here.

You can also change the brightness and check frame rate, etc, by opening Ayaneo's trademark Android sidebar using the dedicated button on the front. And that will come in handy when it comes to performance too.

Performance

One significant difference between the Konkr Pocket Advance and original hardware lies in its capabilities beyond GBA games. Running on the octa-core MTK Helio G90T processor and up to 4GB of RAM (the option I tested), the device can play other systems – up to the original PlayStation comfortably, and even PSP and Dreamcast if you are willing to accept that there's no thumbstick and use workarounds.

Some GameCube and PS2 titles will even work, although it's a bit more hit and miss and the control system might get in the way even more.

As for everything else, it is buttery smooth and a joy to use. You will have to spend a fair while setting it up and supply your own games. Ayaneo doesn't supply ROMs or shady apps with its devices, just the Android operating system (Android 12 here) and its own AyaSpace software that can act as a hub for emulators that you'll need to download yourself.

Personally, I always use the ES-DE front-end on Android handhelds, plus Retroarch for the vast amount of older systems – GBA, Game Boy, SNES and that sort of thing.

I have a curated ROMs library I can transfer to microSD cards whenever a new handheld arrives too. That said, it still takes me about 30 minutes to an hour to set each device up, so factor that in.

Once going though, the Pocket Advance is simply brilliant. Even 4:3 games run well on the excellent display, with minimal black bars either side. And I don't mind the bars top and bottom on PSP titles either.

But for me, this handheld will be primarily used to catch up on the GBA games I so sorely missed back in the early 2000s. Especially considering that with the less intesive games, it can last many hours of play on its 4,000mAh battery. It should last me the entire London to LA flight I'll be taking in a few weeks time, that's for sure.

Conclusion

Admittedly, I have a mighty collection of handhelds that I can call upon for numerous circumstances, including an AYN Thor, Odin 2 Portal, Anbernic RG Rotate (which I mainly use for original Game Boy), and a myriad of Chinese clone devices in all shapes and sizes, so I can afford to dedicate the Konkr to the one main task.

Others won't be so lucky (or foolhardy with their money) so are looking for a one-size-fits-all kind-of device. But if you're willing to stick to the earlier systems, the Pocket Advance can tick that box too.

The lack of a thumbstick or two means it won't be for everyone or every type of game, and the fan noise can be aggressive if you need to bump up the profile to play the more modern titles, but personally I prefer the earlier retro games anyway and this is easily my new favourite handheld in that field.

Then when you consider that it's currently just $89 (around £65) for the 3GB / 32GB version on the Ayaneo webstore, or $109 (around £80) for the 4GB / 64GB one I tested, it's a true no-brainer.

And even when those early bird prices raise by $20 each, the Konkr Pocket Advance is a steal. Now I just can't wait to see what Ayaneo has up its sleeve next.

Well, after just one more game of ChuChu Rocket! that is.

After the stunning success of Fire Emblem: Three Houses, absolutely one of the finest RPGs you could possibly hope to play, Fire Emblem: Engage was a bit of an oddity, and I don't think I'm the only one who bounced off its slightly looser storytelling and lighter tone.

Fortune's Weave aims to bring fans like me right back into the fold, and it's the first Fire Emblem game for Switch 2, making it a really interesting release from multiple angles. After a dozen hours with the game, I'm almost agog at how ruddy big it is, and how interestingly it's been structured – this is a Fire Emblem game unlike any that I've played.

Opening the game by taking control of Eshmel, theoretically the main player character, you discover that the world is being consumed by a demonic threat, and that it's seemingly too late to stop it. With the help of a friendly goddess, though, you get the chance to go back in time to influence the past and try to ensure that you have more allies in the future.

It's a bit of timey-wimey time travel plotting, and the early hours of the game don't really clarify how much you'll be able to change, or how you'll alter various heroes' fates, but the crux is this – you get access to four protagonists, each with their own timeline and campaign. You can play one of these campaigns all the way through, if you like, but you can also chop and swap between them, with each having its own save state so that you don't have to progress them all at the same rate.

These four stories are quite different in tone, too, ranging from the optimistic coming-of-age story of Cai and his rural friends to the blood-soaked revenge journey of the bard Leda; they offer quite contrasting experiences. Given that I spent hours getting Cai through various tutorials and opening battles, I'm genuinely baffled by the idea that there are three more full versions of this process to progress – Fortune's Weave could be genuinely massive.

Of course, while the story routes are interesting, they're arguably only part of the equation, with the battles being the main attraction. Based off this early slice of the game I'm actually interested to see if the cadence of fights picks up – I was often only overseeing one or two per hour, with all the other busywork that the game offers up, from exploration to bond-deepening.

Those fights were excellent, though, full of the old-school rock-paper-scissors style management of your troops' weaknesses and strengths, and with some new powers thrown in to spice things up. Big hero characters have combat abilities that cost them HP to cast, and they're unsurprisingly very powerful if you can manage your health properly.

Again, these are only the early hours of the game, though, so if I say that I didn't encounter much challenge in the early fights, you'll have to bear with the fact that the rest of the game could easily underline that I was just fighting tutorial battles, even after a few hours.

Juggling battles and time-keeping actually makes this yet another game that feels Persona-like, which isn't a criticism. It just underlines how influential Atlus' RPG series has been over developers in the last decade, and the similarities between Fortune's Weave and Metaphor: ReFantazio are striking.

Still, after playing through some of the early phases of Fortune's Weave, I'm basically now just champing at the bit to keep going – I have a feeling this could be one of the biggest RPGs released in years, from a sheer content point of view. That means September's busy release schedule is now looking even more improbable, frankly.

One of the best PlayStation games of recent times has been added to the PS Plus game catalogue for Premium and Extra members to download from today.

Helldivers 2 is a rip-roaring co-op shooter that was released a couple of years ago, but has been regularly updated with new content since. It puts you in the boots of an elite soldier and thrusts you and up to three friends into combat against hordes of alien foes.

Thankfully, you are given access to an enormous amount of firepower as you blast your way through every-increasing numbers of enemies. And it's worth remembering that the game also features friendly fire, so make sure your mates have your back, rather than shoot you in it.

Also coming to the PS Plus game catalogue soon are Kingdom Come: Deliverance II – arguably the best RPG to have released in the last couple of years – as well as Vampire Survivors – one of the finest indie games ever made.

They'll both arrive on Tuesday 18 August.

As will Hell is Us, Umamusume Pretty Derby – Party Dash, Two Point Museum, and Metro Exodus. They'll be available everywhere outside of the US, UK and Japan on that day.

They will then be added to the game catalogues in the US, UK and Japan on 25 August.

Another game being included in the catalogue is Dying Light 2, which is also one of the free games for all PS Plus members this month.

Some of the games will be available for PS4 as well as PS5 and PS5 Pro.

PS Plus Premium members will be getting a couple of titles added to the classics catalogue this month too – from 18 August. Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams and Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire will be playable on PS4 and PS5.

It's been seven years since Xbox last released a pro controller, with the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 having remarkably made its bow in 2019. Now it looks like we're finally about to get a successor, with an alleged Elite 3 having appeared in hands-on images.

Redditor ssuberlex claimed to have bought a prototype Xbox controller for just $200 and posted pictures asking the community what it could be. The replies soon rolled in and it seems as if he's managed to snag a pre-production version of the next pro pad from Microsoft.

His Reddit post has since been deleted, but not before images were shared elsewhere (such as on The Verge). They show a similar controller to the Elite Series 2 but with a few differences – most notably a small display along the top.

This matches a diagram that leaked earlier this year, showing Xbox's intentions to include exactly that sort of screen.

Other clues that this could be the real deal include scroll wheels on the bottom of the controller – which were also mentioned in the previous leak. And there's an additional wireless mode to pair the controller directly to a Wi-Fi network for cloud gaming, rather than having to pass through a console or device first.

This latter technology should reduce latency while playing as it eliminates one of the connectivity steps in the process of playing.

It seems this new pair button is also ranged on the top next to the new screen.

It's not clear at the moment when the controller could be announced. The existence of this prototype suggests it could be soon, and considering Gamescom in set to take place in Cologne in just a couple of weeks, maybe we'll hear more then.

Considering how much I still use my Elite 2 seven years later, I'll be keeping a beady eye on the show to find out. It's arguably the best controller ever made, so it'll be interesting to see how all the upgrades pan out.