Microsoft begin rolling out Xbox account age verification checks in response to UK Online Safety Act Set to become a concrete requirement early next year Image credit:Microsoft Microsoft have become the latest company to start introducing age verification measures in response to the the Online Safety Act that’s just come into force in the UK. Folks logging into Xbox services with a Microsoft account from today will start getting optional notifications directing them to verify they’re over 18, with the checks becoming a hard requirement in early 2026....

Microsoft Flight Simulator and the quest to replace Earth How high-fidelity does a flight sim need to be? Image credit:Microsoft Early on in Terry Pratchett’s novel The Light Fantastic, a spell is cast to map the world. It begins as a “fireball of occult potentiality,” dangling in the Great Hall of the Unseen University, which evolves into a ghostly “embryo universe.” The embryo expands “lightly as a thought,” with spectral continents “sleeting” through walls and people....

Microsoft pushing for profits “well above the industry average” is reportedly behind Xbox’s layoff and cancellation misery Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Image credit:Microsoft The bit of reporting I’m about to relay to you probably isn’t surprising, but it’s worth making sure you’ve got a pillow on standby to scream into once you’ve digested it. Microsoft, they of more money than a company could ever need or know what to do with, have reportedly spent the last two years pushing Xbox to deliver profit margins which are well above the industry average....

Minecraft’s Bundles Of Bravery update will add hardcore mode and carrier bags Bag for life Image credit:Mojang Minecraft ’s yearly showcase stream took place this evening. As part of the show, Mojang showed off some of the future updates coming to the game. First up: the Bundles Of Bravery update, which will add a proper hardcore mode to Bedrock Edition, as well as bundles, which will allow you to carry more items in your inventory when out adventuring....

Monolith’s co-founder wants to reboot Condemned, but says “please have ZERO expectations” Remake chatter picks up following studio’s closure Image credit:Sega Monolith Productions co-founder Jace Hall has expressed a strong interest in remaking rancid horror game Condemned: Criminal Origins and its sequel, Condemned 2: Bloodshot. It’s not entirely clear how he’d do this, given that Monolith no longer exists even as a brand name , following cuts at parent company Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment, and that Hall himself doesn’t seem to be directly involved with game development or publishing these days....

Monster Hunter Wilds Goldenfish locations Here’s where to find Goldenfish in Monster Hunter Wilds Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Capcom Looking for Goldenfish in Monster Hunter Wilds? If you’re just beginning your fishing journey in Monster Hunter Wilds , then one of your earliest catches may well be a Goldenfish. These vibrant fish are useful for their scales, which can be sold for comparatively large amounts of money - and they’re also the focus of an early fishing side quest, “Seeking The Goldenfish”, which requires you to catch one....

Monster Hunter Wilds: Where to find Ember Rufflizard Here’s where to go to find Ember Rufflizards for Dareel Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Capcom Looking for an Ember Rufflizard in Monster Hunter Wilds? The two researchers in the base camp of Monster Hunter Wilds, Dareel and Samin, have no shortage of tasks for you to undertake. These side quests require you to capture certain forms of Endemic Life and bring them back for study, and one such Endemic Life is the Ember Rufflizard....

The Cooler Master NR200P is easy, cool and capacious. Get the Cooler Master NR200P Mini ITX case for £70 (was £94) Sadly, this isn’t the slightly better NR200P version, which adds on a riser cable for vertical GPU mounting, a tempered glass side panel and an extra slim 120mm fan. However, I genuinely think that the mesh side panel and a horizontal GPU mount allowed for with the standard NR200 is the better option for thermals and noise anyway, so if you’re not building for aesthetics specifically I’d say that it’s not a huge deal....

Nightdive Studios are bringing back 90’s shooter PO’ed in all its frying-pan wielding glory Reheated Image credit:Nightdive Studios It’s usually better when writing about games to defer to personal experience before regurgitating marketing, but in the case of bizarre and deeply intriguing 90’s FPS PO’ed, the trailer that STAR WARS: Dark Forces Remaster studio Nightdive released over the long weekend contains a quote that sums up my memories perfectly: “First game I ever owned and played on my PS1,” says quote-ee matt....

NYT Connections hint and answers (Monday, July 29) Need a hint for Connections? Read our guide for help with Connections #414 Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/NYT This guide is for a previous day! Looking for today’s solution? Check out the Connections hint for Wednesday 11th February ! Want a hint for Connections today? Piggybacking off the monumental success of daily puzzle game Wordle , the New York Times has another fantastically popular word game out now....

NYT Connections hint and answers (Wednesday, April 24) Need a hint for Connections? Read our guide for help with Connections #318 Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/NYT This guide is for a previous day! Looking for today’s solution? Check out the Connections hint for Wednesday 11th February ! Want a hint for Connections today? Piggybacking off the monumental success of daily puzzle game Wordle , the New York Times has another fantastically popular word game out now....

NYT Connections hints and answers for Wed, December 4th Need some Connections hints today? Read our guide for help with Connections #541 Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/NYT This guide is for a previous day! Looking for today’s solution? Check out the Connections hint for Wednesday 11th February ! Looking for a hint to help with today’s Connections puzzle on 4th December? Another day, another Connections challenge. Read on, as we’ve broken the day’s word groups apart and presented handy tips for each....

NYT Connections hints and answers, Friday Oct 24 Need some Connections hints for today? Read our guide for help with Connections #865. Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/NYT This guide is for a previous day! Looking for today’s? Check out the Connections hint for Wednesday 11th February ! Need a hint for today’s Connections on Friday, 24th October? Frequent Connections players will get caught in a web of strange, seemingly unrelated, entangled words every now and then; it’s an unavoidable fate....

NYT Connections hints and answers, Saturday Apr 12 Need some Connections hints for today? Read our guide for help with Connections #670. Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/NYT This guide is for a previous day! Looking for today’s? Check out the Connections hint for Wednesday 11th February ! Need a hint for today’s Connections on Saturday, 12th April? If you’re struggling with any of the groups in today’s puzzle, we’re here to assist....

NYT Connections hints and answers, Sunday Apr 13 Need some Connections hints for today? Read our guide for help with Connections #671. Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/NYT This guide is for a previous day! Looking for today’s? Check out the Connections hint for Wednesday 11th February ! Need a hint for today’s Connections on Sunday, 13th April? There’s no shame in searching for an assist when it comes to Connections, because some of these word categories are darn difficult!...

NYT Connections hints and answers, Thursday Nov 13 Need some Connections hints for today? Read our guide for help with Connections #885. Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/NYT This guide is for a previous day! Looking for today’s? Check out the Connections hint for Wednesday 11th February ! Need a hint for today’s Connections on Thursday, 13th November? Sometimes, if you’re very lucky, the Connections themes fall right within your field of expertise… But sadly, that’s unlikely to happen very often....

Oblivion Remastered: Canvas the Castle walkthrough How to find the Canvas the Castle clues and accuse the right suspect Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Bethesda Wondering how to complete the Canvas the Castle quest in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered? Canvas the Castle is an entertaining sidequest that you may stumble upon while exploring Chorrol in Oblivion Remastered. Featuring the theft of a painting and two suspects, the quest revolves around investigating the robbery and accusing the right person, or absolving both....

Oblivion Remastered: How to become a Vampire Being a Vampire comes with some serious benefits, if you can stand the sunlight Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Bethesda Want to know how to become a Vampire in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered? There are some very strong advantages to becoming a Vampire in Oblivion, particularly early on in your playthrough. Prime among them is a dramatic increase in several important skills and attributes, making many encounters much easier than they would otherwise....

Oh no, Battle Brothers is actually incredibly unforgiving of minor mistakes Crows and crossbows Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Overhype Battle Prose is a diary of Nic’s exploits in emergent turn-based tactics game Battle Brothers . “….and that, I’m sure you’ll understand, is why I haven’t washed my codpiece in fifteen years,” concluded Rumjugs with a flourish, downing the last of the gutrot in a single guzzle. An alcoholic? He wouldn’t say that, no....

Omnissiah be praised, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2’s system requirements are here What’s the clock speed of a Machine God anyway Image credit:Focus Home Interactive In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only War, unless you don’t have a 64-bit PC with an Intel Core i5-8600K equivalent and at least eight gigs of RAM, in which case you’ll have to, I don’t know, live in everlasting peace, or something....