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The Sims 4 shows off its getaway themed Adventure Awaits expansion in first gameplay trailer
Game Reviews

The Sims 4 shows off its getaway themed Adventure Awaits expansion in first gameplay trailer

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Summer might be coming to an end, but The Sims 4 isn’t quite done holidaying yet. Its new getaway themed Adventure Awaits expansion arrives for all platforms on 2nd October, and ahead of its release EA has shared a first gameplay trailer, providing a better idea of what’s in store.


A major new Sims 4 expansion means a new world to explore, and in Adventure Awaits’ case that’s Gibbi Point. Here, players can find three new neighbourhoods: Wanderwood Wilds and its forest trails, Crystal Valley with its sparkling rock formations, and the waterfront Jellyfish Junction.


Each of these features its own getaway location where Sims can retreat from the hustle and bustle of day-to-day life. There’s Wanderwood Wilds’ Camp Gibbi Gibbi, Crystal Valley’s Love Highland, and Jellyfish Junction’s Revive & Thrive. And to aid Sims in their relaxation, Adventure Awaits introduces a new Scheduling Getaway feature enabling players to plan everything from long weekends to summer breaks, even recurring breaks. Additionally, new Custom Venues, in combination with the new Getaway System, mean it’s possible to build getaways from scratch, complete with their own activities and rules.

The Sims 4: Adventure Awaits gameplay trailer.Watch on YouTube


By way of example, Adventure Awaits includes a Cosy Bed & Breakfast, an Outdoor Kids Camp, a Fitness Retreat, and Cooking Competition – and more are available if you own other expansions. You can create a Corporate Retreat with Get to Work, for instance, an Off the Grid Survival Competition with Island Living, even a Dog Training getaway with Cats and Dogs.


On top of all that, Adventure Awaits introduces new systems for child Sims. There are new Traits, new Formative Moments that shape young Sims’ skills and personalities, evolving Childhood Sentiments that “influence experiences well into adulthood”, plus new child focused aspirations (Cool Kid on the Block, for instance), new personality options (Goofball, Creative, Competitive, and Evil), even imaginary friends.


Adventure Awaits also brings new activities. For the young ‘uns, there’s papercraft, archery, diving, and entymology, plus classic games like hide-and-seek or rock-paper-scissors. Adult Sims, meanwhile, can go kayaking, watersliding, take a spin class, test their survival skills in Elimination Challenges, even become a Park Worker, which offers two career paths: Camp Counselor and Park Ranger. There’s a little more detail over on EA’s blog, and you can see at least some of Adventure Awaits’ new features in the gameplay trailer above. Oh, and if you missed it, the original reveal trailer is here.


The Sims 4’s Adventure Awaits expansion arrives for Xbox, PlayStation, PC, and Mac on 2nd October and costs £34.99. Anyone who picks it up before 13th November gets what EA is calling an “early purchase incentive” – the Toasty Tower Lamp, the Toasty Tea Kettle, and the Toasty Tootsies Socks.

This is a news-in-brief story. This is part of our vision to bring you all the big news as part of a daily live report.



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Gorillaz Just Revived Their 26-Year-Old Flash Game Site
Game Reviews

Gorillaz Just Revived Their 26-Year-Old Flash Game Site

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Well, here’s something unexpected: Kong Studios is back. The OG Gorillaz Flash-powered site from the late ’90s was a popular destination for fans and features mini-games, music, and more. And now you can return to an updated and modern version of Kong Studios.

Kong Studios first launched in 1998 and was the coolest place for fans of the fictional animated band. I should know, I used to visit it many, many years ago and struggled to use it on my dial-up connection. The site was powered by Flash (RIP), and over the years following its launch, it grew bigger and bigger, adding more content to find, virtual rooms to explore, songs to jam out to, and lots of fun Easter eggs for fans. Then in 2008, after a decade of support, the site was closed and forgotten. However, that all changed today as Kong Studios is operational once more.

On September 10, Gorillaz released a new updated version of Kong Studios that features a Doom-like first-person shooter experience where players have to fight off the zombie apes as seen in the band’s video for “Clint Eastwood.” You can skip that and just enter Kong Studios directly, and if you do, you’ll find a much higher-res version of the nostalgic site. There’s plenty to click on and explore in the lobby of the place, and Gorillaz promise that more rooms and content will be added to Kong Studios in the future.

“Kong Studios is the home of Gorillaz and a gamified fan experience where you can explore the rooms and spaces of 2D, Murdoc, Noodle and Russel,” explained Gorillaz on the site’s FAQ page. “It’s also a place to go to find out everything you want to know about Gorillaz, first.”

I’m very happy to see Kong Studios return, and not just because I’m a big Gorillaz fan. Over the last decade or so, we’ve seen more and more of the internet and the culture around it move from distinct places to large social media networks and apps. Forums are closing. Fan sites are dying. Instead, everyone and every brand is just using Facebook, Instagram, Discord, and TikTok to interact with fans and other people. And while that’s fine, it isn’t as cool as the old internet, where every band and person had their own site. Or where forums were controlled directly by the companies or groups themselves.

The old internet was a weirder, wackier, and often more interesting era that I miss. While Kong Studios won’t bring that back by itself, it’s great to see a band as popular as Gorillaz realize that having your own place on the web might be valuable in 2025 as apps and networks get stuffed more and more with AI and bots.

Anyway, here’s a walkthrough of the old Kong Studios so you can see what they took from us.

 



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Elden Ring Nightreign's pre-Deep of Night patch rebalances all characters, tweaks some Everdark Sovereign bosses
Game Reviews

Elden Ring Nightreign’s pre-Deep of Night patch rebalances all characters, tweaks some Everdark Sovereign bosses

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Elden Ring Nightreign will, very soon, get its higher difficulty mode – The Deep of Night. The game is clearly about to have a moment again. FromSoftware knows this, of course, so the developer decided to roll out a big update to tweak several things ahead of the new mode’s release.

This latest patch, version 1.02.2, arrived moments ago across all platforms, bringing with it a number of unexpected balance changes and gameplay tweaks that were no doubt made with Deep of Night in mind.

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Patch 1.02.2 released following an hour of server maintenance. While it does contain Deep of Night content, that higher difficulty mode won’t be available until tomorrow, September 11, as previously announced.

What you are going to see today, however, is a list of wide-ranging balance changes to all of (except Ironeye) the game’s Nightfarer character classes. Here are some of the highlights: Wylder now has increased poise while casting Claw Shot, and the ability now deals increased Stamina damage to blocking enemies. Guardian now gains more Strength and Dex with each level, and their Steel Guard passive has a wider range.

Duchess has a lot of changes of her own. She gets more Dexterity with each level up, and some of her dagger attacks deal more damage. Her ever-popular Finale Ultimate now lasts longer, too. Executor gets a flat attack power increase while Cursed Sword is in use, and a boost to the skill itself. While Aspects of the Crucible: Beast is active, the class now deals more damage. Revenant is the recipient of another interesting change, as other players can now pass through her summoned spirits. Their transparency has also been adjusted, perhaps to better signal to players that they can be passed through.

Image credit: Bandai Namco/VG247

Beyond the individual changes for each Nightfarer, 1.02.2 makes changes that affect everyone using certain weapons. For example, dual-wielded jump attacks performed with small and medium weapons now deal more stagger damage, but doing the same with larger weapons will deal less.

Death Flare of Eclipse Shotel, a weapon skill that applies Death, should now be more effective at doing so. Interestingly, there’s now a cap on the cumulative effects of the Power of Vengeance and Power of House Marais passives, which is something that might mess with some builds out there.

The other big component of the patch affects a couple of the Everdark Sovereign bosses. Everdark Sovereigns are more challenging versions of the game’s Nightlord bosses, and though some have seen balance tweaks in the past, today’s changes have a wider reach. Everdark Sovereign Sentient Pest, Equilibrious Beast, and Darkdrift Knight have received a mix of buffs and nerfs to their attacks, as well as how they respond to attacks/status effects from players.

Image credit: Bandai Namco/VG247

Read on below for the full change log.

Nightfarers adjustments

Wylder

  • Increased Poise while casting Claw Shot.
  • Increased Stamina damage dealt by Claw Shot to blocking enemies.

Guardian

  • Increased Strength and Dexterity gain when leveling up.
  • Increased the Steel Guard passive ability angle range.
  • Increased the range of the Wings of Salvation Ultimate Art’s weapon portion.
  • Increased the attack power of Halberd guard counters.

Duchess

  • Increased Dexterity gain when leveling up.
  • Increased the attack power of some Dagger attacks.
  • Decreased the two-handed Dagger’s second heavy attack damage.
  • This change does not affect charged attacks.
  • Increased the duration of the Finale Ultimate Art.

Raider

  • Increased the Greataxe’s and Great Hammer’s ability to stagger enemies with attacks.
  • Increased the attack range of the Retaliation skill.

Revenant

  • Adjusted the transparency of Revenant’s summoned spirits.
  • Players can now pass through Revenant’s spirits Helen and Frederick.

Recluse

  • Increased the offensive spells attack power of Magic Cocktail.
  • Decreased the time required to cast spells using Magic Cocktail.

Executor

  • Increased attack power while Cursed Sword is in use.
  • Increased the attack power of the Cursed Sword weapon skill when the skill is in use and the blade is in its unleashed state.
  • Increased the attack power of some attacks while Aspects of the Crucible: Beast is active.

Weapons, Passive Effects, and Special Effects adjustments

  • Increased the stagger damage with dual-wielded jump attacks for some small and medium weapons..
  • Decreased the stagger damage with dual-wielded jump attacks for some large weapons.
  • Increased the potency of the death status ailment applied by the weapon skill Death Flare of Eclipse Shotel.
  • Set a cap on the cumulative effects of the Power of Vengeance and Power of House Marais passive effects and adjusted their potency accordingly.
  • Adjusted the stagger effect of the “Guard counters trigger holy bursts” passive’s explosion to ensure that it doesn’t reset the enemy’s posture break state.

Relic Effects adjustments

  • Adjusted the effect “[Wylder] Standard attacks enhanced with fiery follow-ups when using Character Skill (greatsword only)” to consume stamina when performing follow-up attacks.
  • Increased the attack power of the “[Wylder] Art activation spreads fire in area” burn effect.
  • Adjusted the effect “[Wylder] Art activation spreads fire in area” so that the burn effect’s attack power does not vary between one-handed and two-handed weapon wielding.  Increased the duration extension of the “[Ironeye] Extends duration of weak point” effect.
  • Increased the potency of the “Continuous HP Recovery” effect.
  • Increased the potency of the “HP restored when using medicinal boluses, etc” effect.
  • Increased the potency of the “[Recluse] Activating Ultimate Art raises Max HP” effect.
  • Changed the “[Recluse] Activating Ultimate Art raises Max HP” effect so that the HP increase persists until an attack is received, even after the art’s duration ends.
  • Increased the amount of Runes obtained through the “Critical Hits Earn Runes” effect.
  • Increased the potency of the “HP Restoration upon (specific weapon type) attacks” effect.
  • Increased the potency of the effect “FP Restoration upon (specific weapon type) attacks” effect.
  • Reduced the duration of the “Improved Poise & Damage Negation When Knocked Back by Damage” effect.

Other Nightfarers adjustments

  • Adjusted the visibility of the “Rykard’s Rancor” sorcery.

Everdark Sovereign adjustments

Everdark Sovereign Sentient Pest

  • Increased attack and stamina attack power against guarding Nightfarers while possessed by Animus, Ascendant Light.
  • Adjusted and modified the attack actions of Animus, Ascendant Light, Gnoster, Wisdom of Night, and Faurtis Stoneshield.
  • Reduced the stagger duration when Nightfarers is hit by some attacks of Animus, Ascendant Light.

Everdark Sovereign Equilibrious Beast

  • Adjusted the effect granted to summoned condemned Nightfarers so that it can be dispelled by Law of Regression.
  • Increased the enhancement granted by the light dropped by defeated condemned Nightfarers.
  • Reduced the attack power of the condemned Guardian.
  • Removed the effect that increased damage negation upon re-summoning condemned.
  • Reduced the death status effect resistance of condemned Nightfarers.
  • Adjusted the reaction of condemned Nightfarers to player character’s ranged attacks.
  • Adjusted the targeting priority of condemned Nightfarers under specific combat rules.

Everdark Sovereign Darkdrift Knight

  • Increased the HP and stamina attack power against guarding Nightfarers for Fulghor, Champion of Nightglow.
  • Increased the attack power of some attacks from Fulghor, Champion of Nightglow.

Other enemies

  • Adjusted the reaction to player character’s ranged attacks of condemned Nightfarers that appear during events.
  • Added a stagger reaction when strong attacks, such as Ultimate Arts, hit the Red Wolf of the King Consort boss.
  • Fixed a bug where some attacks of the Marionette Soldiers were less likely to hit player characters.

Limveld adjustments

  • Increased the Night’s Tide damage after defeating the second night boss.
  • Adjusted the spawn locations of Sentient Pest incursions so they are less likely to occur far from player characters.

Menu adjustments

  • Adjusted the design of the Holy attribute icon.

Penalties for disconnecting from online sessions

  • Adjusted the penalties rate for session disconnection.
  • Disconnecting from a session due to network issues or quitting the game during a session in progress will result in penalties, which may limit multiplayer capabilities. Rejoining the session you left will remove the penalty imposed upon disconnection.

Bug fixes

  • Fixed a bug where the post-attack delay for right-handed Greatswords when handled by Wylder was shorter than expected when using Sorceries or Incantations with a left-hand weapon right after attacking.
  • Fixed a bug where Guardian’s Wings of Salvation Ultimate Art could be interrupted by enemy attacks or other factors during its activation.
  • Fixed a bug where Guardian’s Wings of Salvation Ultimate Art could be deflected and interrupted.
  • Fixed a bug where backstepping as Duchess did not accept pre-inputs for skill commands.
  • Fixed a bug where spells cast through using the Magic Cocktail skill could be casted again under certain conditions.
  • Fixed a bug where allied player characters could clip through tombstones when Totem Stella was used.
  • Fixed a bug where spirits summoned by Revenant did not revive if their HPs were depleted.
  • Fixed a bug where special effects applied to spirits summoned by Revenant would appear above Revenant.
  • Fixed a bug where Executor could not perform critical hits using the Cursed Sword while holding a weapon in the right hand that cannot land critical hits.
  • Fixed a bug where the Relic Effect “HP Restoration upon Thrusting Counterattack” did not apply to the attacks of Executor’s Cursed Sword.
  • Fixed a bug where Executor could not use pre-inputs for actions after deflecting an enemy attack with the Cursed Sword under certain circumstances.
  • Fixed a bug where accumulated effects of Power of Vengeance and Power of House Marais Passive Effects would disappear when opening the large door and moving to the final battle area by using the “Open the door” action prompt in the Spirit Shelter.
  • Fixed a bug where the rarity of weapons placed directly on the field from Dormant Power might not be displayed correctly.
  • Fixed an issue where Passive Effects triggered by walking did not activate during horizontal movement with precision-aimed shots using “Bow” and “Crossbow”.
  • Fixed an issue where the player character could become unresponsive for several seconds after performing an attack from a stance with certain Skills.
  • Fixed an issue where the passive effect “Improved Charged Sorceries” was not applied to the sorcery “Shattering Crystal”.
  • Fixed an issue where the status ailment “Frostbite” could be inflicted on the player character due to the accumulation of the frostbite status ailment from some enemy attacks while using an Ultimate Art.
  • Fixed an issue in the battle with the Everdark Sovereign “Equilibrious Beast” where “Libra, Creature of Night” could move below the ground under certain conditions.
  • Fixed a bug where levels would decrease without healing from flasks when False Blessing occured during the battle against Everdark Sovereign Equilibrious Beast.
  • Fixed a bug where the player would level down if the False Blessing effect was activated during the battle against Everdark Sovereign: Equilibrious Beast, even if the action was interrupted by an enemy attack before the HP recovery effect occurred.
  • Fixed a bug where blessings would become usable again after defeating the second night boss.
  • Fixed a bug where the player character could perform unintentional moves when using the Spectral Hawk.
  • This addresses issues that were not fully resolved in App Ver. 1.02.
  • Fixed a bug where the player might not be correctly transported to the battle area if they died from falling during the cutscene while moving to the final battle area in the Spirit Shelter.
  • Fixed a bug where Dormant Power might not appear upon defeating an enemy under unstable network conditions.
  • Fixed a bug where the effect of an used Wending Grace could activate when rejoining a session after a disconnection.
  • Reduced rendering load for some attacks of the Everdark Sovereign Tricephalos on PS4 and Xbox One.
  • Fixed a bug where it was difficult to switch targets with a diagonal input (PC only).
  • Improved game stability in some environments (PC only).



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NBA 2K26 review | Rock Paper Shotgun
Game Reviews

NBA 2K26 review | Rock Paper Shotgun

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NBA 2K26 review

NBA 2K26 offers some on-court improvements over its predecessor, while its other new wrinkles are a bit hit and miss.

  • Developer: Visual Concepts
  • Publisher: 2K Games
  • Release: September 5th 2025
  • On: Windows
  • From: Steam
  • Price: $69.99/£59.99/€69.99
  • Reviewed on: Intel Core i7-12700F, 16GB RAM, NVIDIA RTX 3060 Ti, Windows 11

I regularly go against my best consumer instincts and check out the yearly iterations of sports games. It’s not something I’d likely be doing without some Steam press account magic letting me dodge the yearly cash sacrifice for a game that usually shares a huge chunk of DNA with its direct predecessor; a sense of deja vu is inevitable, unless you’ve been sensible enough to either let a few years pass or wait until you’ve spotted a new feature that piques your interest.

With NBA 2K26, there was one such addition in my mind. As someone who’s been keen to see 2K’s ball-to-basket series get rid of the invisible wall it’d put up between its simulations of men’s and women’s basketball for a good few years, the first-time addition of WNBA players to one of the marquee male-dominted modes caught my attention. Granted, it was MyTeam, the depressing pit in which you fork over either real money or fake money – acquired across hours of grinding – to buy trading cards that may or may not be dished out via something resembling a slot machine.

I wouldn’t be deterred from at least giving it a go, though. Given the nature of basketball, with its emphasis on height dictating different playstyles and requirement for close-knit teamwork, I figured mixing WNBA ballers in with NBA giants might make for a more unique contrast in experience than, say, playing with a mixed team in EA Sports FC.

In practice, I wasn’t disappointed. I opted for a starter pack that gave me the entire lineup of the WNBA’s Seattle Storm, then built it out with some extra cards and short-term high overall loanees that leant more female than male, making sure I retained some lads to work into my lineup.

Over the course of some breakout and triple threat park matches, most of which have minimal margin for error despite their less formal trappings, I’ve found getting the right mix of baller genders to be satisfyingly difficult. Naturally, the average NBA squad has a height advantage in any matchup, which can make securing rebounds and scoring close to the basket a very tall order for an all-WNBA squad. So, you’ve got to lean into skill and speed, either by finding ways to quickly streak to the rim in transition (or after breaking a defender’s ankles), or relying on your shots from distance.

In terms of the former, I’ve had a lot of fun with Jordin Canada, whose relentless pace and great handles make her feel like a five foot six Allen Iverson. For threes, I’ve taken to relying on Kayla McBride, while the best all-round package I’ve found has been an 89-rated Kelsey Plum, who excels in both of those areas. In terms of a trios squad, teaming up Plum and McBride with the 85-rated Moses Malone (who you get in the tutorial) made for some fun wins, with the retro big man’s inside defensive presence and rebounding prowess helping balance out the areas that even taller WNBA players like Angel Reese tend to struggle in.

Image credit: 2K / Rock Paper Shotgun

Disappointingly, I’ve found that the teams I’ve gone up against – whether AI or player-controlled – tend to still be mainly blokes. With CPU-controlled opponents, I figure it might be down to a WNBA-heavy squad potentially being an easy win if someone’s decided to play with three forwards or centers, so that’s something devs Visual Concepts will need to address going forwards.

In terms of the on-court action, part of what made those games a blast are the tweaks 2K26 makes to the shooting, rebounding, and movement. I’ve got a more mixed view on the former, which is literally hit or miss. Getting a perfect release, which has been signified by the meter turning green for a good few years now, appears to be easier in a number of 2K26’s modes. Which is a good thing, because the chances of making the shot if you don’t release right on cue seem to have been drastically nerfed. The result is that you get to go on immensely satisfying runs when your shots are dropping, but being on the other side of that and trying to grind out points sometimes feels impossible. Get into a park match against someone who’s got their jumper timings down to a T and has players who aren’t easy to block? You might as well not try on defense.

Going up against the AI makes that less of a concern, and it’s in MyPlayer mode where the game really start to sing. I opted to play as a center, the tallest and slowest player on the court who generally spends most of their time getting physical near the basket. The lingering annoyance of your rookie player starting off as a useless lump that’s a bore to control is still there. They can only be upgraded using the virtual currency, which feels deliberately grindy, and can also be bought using real money because of course it can.

Image credit: 2K / Rock Paper Shotgun

Once I’d managed to get a decent baseline, though, I was flying through the air to catch rebounds, employing the new timing meter to ensure I lept at just the right moment. The jostling under the rim feels nice and weighty, and close-range scoring via layups and post moves now seems as effective if you’re keen to more than a pure slamdunk merchant. What Visual Concepts have dubbed their “MyPlayer Freelance Engine” has also vastly improved your AI teammates’ off-the-ball intelligence, making them much better at picking you out with passes at the right time – without you having to grind the offense to a halt every time via repeated calls for the ball.

This brings me to the narrative of this year’s MyPlayer mode, dubbed Out of Bounds. These are relatively simple, often cliche-heavy tales simply designed to put a bit of story meat on the bones of your created baller’s short journey from nobody to NBA hero. Out of Bounds certainly doesn’t disappoint in that regard. With college basketball now back on the map in terms of standalone games thanks to its athletes finally being paid for the use of their names, images, and likenesses, 2K’s NBA game has had to dip back into the bin of royalty-free routes to stardom. As such, after playing a couple of high school games in remote Vermont, 2K26’s MyPlayer jets off to Los Angeles to take part in a club league that’s treated like university ball’s more casual cousin.

To be fair, a single four-game season there isn’t the be-all-and-end-all, with a trip to Europe on the cards as you aim to up your draft stock. Ooh, thought I, 2K have included teams from real-world European basketball leagues in the past, are those back? Sadly not. Instead, you’re suiting up for mirror universe Real Madrid and rubbing shoulders with yet more created players. There are at least nice establishing shots of cities like Malaga and Madrid to make things feel a tiny bit more real. 80% of your player’s dialogue is boasting or pouting, to the point where they feel genuinely unlikeable at certain points, though that’s to be expected. Oh, and the Madrid season’s storyline is mostly based around you earning the approval of a Slovenian teammate whose personality and mannerisms have been shamelessly ripped from GTA IV.

Image credit: 2K / Rock Paper Shotgun

Having had enough of shooting guard Roman Bellic, you may well bolt for 2K26’s array of management modes. Understandable – I’ve spent much of my time with previous NBA games’ equivalents, if only for a reprieve from constantly being advertised at. This time, though, I’ll save you some trouble: don’t bother. Whether it’s MyGM, MyWNBA, or the MyNBA Eras mode that’s essentially been my only excuse for playing more than 30 hours of these games over the past half decade, you’ll be disappointed in how little they’ve progressed.

There are a couple of minor changes. Some new GM scenarios to start from and more of a structure to yearly owner goals. A new expansion team in the form of the Golden State Valkyries. The option to make your Eras sim run slower, but purportedly smarter, or to speed things up and sacrifice some depth of computer thought. The first two are ok, but hardly worthy headliners.

The last one, meanwhile, genuinely seems to have changed almost nothing. Teams with an abundance of players at one position will still trade for, draft, and sign more players at that position without offloading one of their established crop to get better elsewhere. Offseasons still end with very good players left unsigned because computer teams haven’t managed to manage their cap room effectively, making them very easy to pick up on cheap one-year deals once the season kicks off.

That seems particularly problematic when it comes to WNBA sims, with a lot of star players being on short-term deals, meaning plenty of talent can be left on the table amid the bidding wars – then signed for pennies. Computer-made trade proposals do seem a tad more logical this time around, but I still saw instances of teams pulling questionable moves, like trading multiple future first-round picks for one mid-round pick during drafts.

Oh, and you can still phase through your staff in MyGM mode. | Image credit: 2K / Rock Paper Shotgun

All in all, it’s the usual fridge full of good and bad ingredients, making for a soup that tastes slightly different to last year’s – but not noticeably superior. As such, unless there’s a specific change you like the sound of, 2K26 is probably a year to skip. It’s best summed up by its version of The City – the explorable hub where MyPlayers wander around and join impromptu street games. Rather than 2K25’s ridiculously extravagant urban sprawl, complete with pirate ship area, mech workshop and Michael Jordan-themed coliseum, this time, almost everything is tightly packed into a nondescript shopping centre and park.

Am I going against my instincts by preferring when this basketball game had a huge pirate ship, which was likely at least partially responsible for 2K25 taking up about 50GB more hard drive space than the still-almost-100GB 2K26? Almost certainly, yes, but that’s what reviewing yearly sportsathons can do to a guy.



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Reports of mind control exaggerated as Pokemon Legends: Z-A debuts new Mega Evolution
Game Reviews

Reports of mind control exaggerated as Pokemon Legends: Z-A debuts new Mega Evolution

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Mega Malamar has been announced for Pokémon Legends: Z-A and Eurogamer couldn’t be happier to see its favourite Pokémon get a glow up.

Mega Evolution refers to when a Pokémon undergoes a temporary transformation to increase its power and alter its appearance. In the case of Malamar, its head tentacles have twisted together to resemble a brain and it now has spiked shoulderpads. Unlike its traditional form, Mega Malamar also has longer tentacles and a thinner body, all of which have a beautiful rainbow glow.

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Best of all, however, is how Mega Evolution greatly increases Malamar’s hypnotic powers. Perfect for this Dark and Psychic-type squid! If it chooses to, Mega Malamar can rewrite a person’s memories and personality, turning them into a whole new (better) person. We’re sure Mega Malamar would never use these powers for evil or self-promotion though. The official Pokémon website and social media accounts are Malamar-themed, because everyone just wanted to celebrate its special day. Just watch Mega Malamar’s debut video to see people celebrate the joy of Malamar out of their own free will.

SPECIAL REPORT: The Truth About Malamar | Pokémon Legends: Z-AWatch on YouTube

Malamar was already highly notable in the Pokémon universe thanks to the unique evolution requirement you need to meet. Unlike all of those other Pokémon evolutions where you simply stare at the screen, evolving Inkay into Malamar requires turning your whole console upside down. What other Pokémon asks you to put your mind to such good use? I’m sure we can all agree that this, combined with its cool Mega Evolution look, proves Malamar is truly everyone’s best friend.

Mega Malamar is the fourth new Mega Evolution to be announced for Legends: Z-A, with the reveal of Mega Dragonite, Victreebel and Hawlucha coming before it. Since the release of Legends: Z-A is drawing close, we’ll hopefully get a look at more new Mega Evolutions in the coming month. (But none of them will be as awesome as Malamar.) We’ve taken a look at all of the new Mega Evolutions and every returning Pokémon in Legends: Z-A if you want to get an early start on planning your team. Though six Malamars will work for any occasion!

This is a news-in-brief story. This is part of our vision to bring you all the big news as part of a daily live report.



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Dell Inspi Laptop
Game Reviews

This Dell Laptop with Ryzen 7 and Crazy Specs Is 73% Off on Amazon, Stock Is Flying Out

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Dell is a bit of a favorite when it comes to Windows laptops. They offer options for every budget but it’s rare to find one priced under $1,000. So, if you’re in the mood to hit the jackpot, there’s currently a Dell Inspiron 15.6-inch touchscreen laptop (32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Windows 11 Pro, AMD Ryzen 7 7730U) valued at $3,000 going for $799 on Amazon—talk about a huge deal.

See at Amazon

Why Buy That Dell Laptop?

This laptop comes with a 15.6-inch widescreen display that delivers Full HD visuals with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels. The screen uses Wide Viewing Angle technology, which means the colors stay crisp and accurate even when you’re not looking at the screen head-on. Furthermore, the anti-glare coating reduces reflections so you don’t strain your eyes doing work in a brightly lit room or near a window. The thin bezels on the sides of the screen give you more screen space without interruptions, and the LED backlight shines on the screen without wasting power so your battery will last longer.

The brain behind this machine is the AMD Ryzen 7 7730U processor, which clocks 4.5 GHz at its best: It’s optimized to provide snappy performance without draining the battery. So, if you’re doing work life seriously or studying, it won’t slow you down, and you’ll get decent battery life for it.

Internally, the laptop comes with 32GB of RAM which is the memory that enables your computer to have several programs open at the same time without lagging. Put simply, the more RAM you have, the more smoothly things go when switching between tasks or working with large files. This laptop’s generous memory puts you ready to handle demanding programs, so you won’t find yourself waiting around for things to load. Besides that, it also comes with a generous 1TB solid-state drive where all of your apps and documents reside.

You’ll be running Windows 11 Pro, the professional version of Microsoft’s latest operating system. It’s designed for business and serious users and offers strong security features along with tools that make managing your work easier.

What makes this deal even sweeter is the bundle of accessories included: You get a stylus pen for easy touchscreen operation, a camera privacy cover to ensure your privacy during video calls, a 128GB USB flash drive for extra portable storage, a dust plug to ensure the ports remain free from dust, a carrying sleeve for protective transport of the laptop, and a microfiber cleaning cloth to have everything spick and span.

This deal won’t last forever, make sure you don’t miss it.

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Blizzard brings Diablo 4's Developer Update livestreams back from the dead to reveal Season 10
Game Reviews

Blizzard brings Diablo 4’s Developer Update livestreams back from the dead to reveal Season 10

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Things haven’t been going well in the world of Diablo 4. Everyone pretty much knows that, but it’s especially weird when Blizzard can be seen has having given up itself. In August, the studio took the very unusual step of announcing the game’s next PTR (Public Test Realm) via… a Discord Q&A.

That’s the 2.4.0. PTR, containing much of the Season of Infernal Chaos content, which would typically be enough of a big deal to warrant multiple developer livestreams. The PTR has come and gone, and we’re now under two weeks away from the start of the game’s next season, so now we’re getting a developer livestream.

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Blizzard announced that the next Developer Update livestream will take place on Tuesday, September 16. You’ll note that this is not the less structured, more casual Campfire Chat, which is about as good of a sign as we can get.

The show kicks off at the usual times – 11am PT, 2pm ET, 7pm UK – and will serve as the last preview of Season of Infernal Chaos, Diablo 4’s 10th season. We expect the new season to kick off September 23, so there’s just about enough time to start building excitement.

As always, there’s going to be a panel of developers who will guide us through the big new content additions, and what’s changed from the season’s 2.4.0. PTR (held in August). The livestream announcement namedropped Chaos Armor, Chaos Rifts and the updated Infernal Hordes among the topics we can expect to see discussed.

There’s going to be a Q&A segment at the end, too, as usual. What is changing is the format of the livestream itself. Blizzard didn’t say what form it’s going to now take, so we’ll have to tune in next week to see for ourselves.

Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment.

We’ll be able to do so via Diablo’s official channels on YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, and TikTok. And, Blizzard is throwing in a free cosmetic – the Fusillader’s Arc Rogue Crossbow – if you watch any Diablo 4 livestream on Twitch for 30 minutes while the Developer Update is live.

Season 10 is the last announced season on the Diablo 4 2025 roadmap, which was revealed in April. It’s going to take us all the way to December, so that’s pretty much it for Diablo 4 seasons in 2025. Apart from the next IP collaboration taking place in the season, Blizzard really has its work cut out for it to make a case for Infernal Chaos, because Season 9 has been a major letdown.





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Borderlands 4 PC hardware requirements ask for an RTX 2070 as a minimum, but a 3080 is recommended
Game Reviews

Borderlands 4 PC hardware requirements ask for an RTX 2070 as a minimum, but a 3080 is recommended

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Borderlands 4 releases on 12th September, and just in time developer Gearbox has revealed the PC hardware specs you’ll need to run the game at a decent or intended level – essentially the minimum and recommended PC specs.

Gearbox says that the minimum hardware requirements will let you run the game with solid performance on older PCs, while the recommended specs will let you play Borderlands 4 with high performance and graphical detail the studio set out to deliver.

Image credit: Gearbox Software

Borderlands 4 PC Specs

Borderlands 4 Minimum PC Hardware requirements:

  • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
  • Requires SSD
  • OS: Windows 10 / 11
  • Processor: Intel Core i7-9700 / AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
  • Memory: 16 GB RAM
  • Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 / AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT / Intel Arc A580
  • Requires 8 CPU Cores for processor and 8 GB VRAM for graphics.
  • Storage: 100 GB available space

Borderlands 4 Recommended PC Hardware requirements:

  • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
  • Requires SSD
  • OS: Windows 10 / Windows 11
  • Processor: Intel Core i7-12700 / AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
  • Memory: 32 GB RAM
  • Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 / AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT / Intel Arc B580
  • Storage: 100 GB available space

Borderlands 4 PC graphics settings:

Basic:

  • Display Mode: Fullscreen, Windowed Fullscreen, Windowed
  • Resolution (Varies by setup)
  • Display Stats: None, FPS, All
  • Limit Frame Rate: Off, On
  • Custom FPS Limit (Varies by setup)
  • Vertical Sync: Off, On
  • Field of View (ultrawide monitors supported)
  • Vehicle Field of View (ultrawide monitors supported)

Advanced:

  • Graphics Preset: Low, Medium, High, Very High, Badass
  • Anti-Aliasing: Disabled, Enabled
  • Resolution Scaling
  • Upscaling Method: Disabled, DLSS, FSR, TSR, XeSS
  • Upscaling Quality: Ultra Performance, Performance, Balanced, Quality, Full Resolution
  • Spatial Upscaling Quality: Performance, Balanced, Quality, Ultra Quality, Disabled
  • Scene Capture Quality: Low, High, Full Resolution
  • Frame Generation: Off, On
  • NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency: Off, On, Boost

Environment:

  • HLOD Loading Range: Near, Medium, Far
  • Geometry Quality: Low, Medium, High
  • Texture Quality: Low, Medium, High, Very High
  • Textures Streaming Speed: Medium, High, Very High
  • Anisotropic Filtering Quality: Off, x1, x2, x4, x8, x16
  • Foliage Density: Off, Very Low, Low, Medium, High, Very High
  • Volumetric Fog: Low, Medium, High, Very High
  • Volumetric Cloud: Low, Medium, High, Very High
  • Shadow Quality: Low, Medium, High, Very High
  • Directional Shadow Quality: Low, Medium, High, Very High
  • Volumetric Cloud Shadows: Disabled, Enabled
  • Lighting Quality: Low, Medium, High, Very High
  • Reflections Quality: Low, Medium, High, Very High
  • Shading Quality: Low, Medium, High

Post-Processing:

  • Post-Process Quality: Low, Medium, High, Very High
  • Motion Blur Amount
  • Motion Blur Quality: Off, Low, Medium, High, Very High

Borderlands 4’s accessibility features have also been detailed by Gearbox, as listed below:

Borderlands 4 accessibility features:

Subtitles:

  • Show Subtitles: Off, On
  • Subtitle Text Size: Normal, Large, Extra Large
  • Force Bold Text: Off, On
  • Subtitle Color: White, Orange, Yellow, Pink, Light Blue, Green
  • Subtitle Background: Off, On
  • Subtitle Background Opacity: Off, Low, Medium, High, Full

Speaker Identity:

  • Toggle Speaker Identify: Off, On
  • Speaker Identify Color: White, Orange, Yellow, Pink, Light Blue, Green

Audio & Visuals:

  • Menu Text Scaling: Off, Size 1, Size 2
  • Damage Numbers: Off, On
  • Force Mono (converts all game audio to mono): Off, On
  • Mix Preset: Bass Reduction (Vestibular), Ear Fatigue Reduction, Hyperacusis Relief, Misophonia Relief, Sensory Comfort, Tinnitus Relief General, Tinnitus Relief Targeted, 80 Hz Notch
  • Color Preset (accessibility settings for different types of color vision deficiency):
  • Default
  • Green/Red (recommended for those that experience Deuteranopia)
  • Red/Green (recommended for those that experience Protanopia)
  • Blue/Yellow (may help those that experience Tritanopia)
  • High Contrast HUD: Off, On
  • High Contrast Reticle: Off, On
  • Friendly Reticle Color: Green, White/Blue, Red, Blue, Orange, Purple
  • Enemy Reticle Color: Green, White/Blue, Red, Blue, Orange, Purple
  • Neutral Reticle Color: Green, White/Blue, Red, Blue, Orange, Purple

Gameplay:

  • Map Zoom Speed (Adjust how quickly the Map zooms in and out)
  • Enable Vibration: Off, On
  • Enable Adaptive Triggers: Off, On
  • Screen Shake Intensity
  • Toggle Crouch: Off, On
  • Toggle Sprint: Off, On
  • Enable Dash: Off, On
  • Camera Head-bob
  • Grapple View Tilt: Off, On
  • Mantle with Forward: Off, On

In addition to the above, Borderlands 4 also offers a number of options that may make the game more accessible to some players:

  • Difficulty (set when creating a new character, scales individually in co-op parties):
  • Easy: “Looking for a story.” Reduced damage, Elemental Affinities matter less
  • Normal: “Looking for a balanced experience.”
  • Hard: “Looking for a challenge.” Increased damage taken, increased Cash, Loot Quality is increased, Elemental Affinities matter more
  • Saving: The game autosaves at checkpoints and key moments, or whenever you quit the game via the pause menu.
  • Full keyboard and controller remapping
  • Audio:
  • Main Volume Controls:
  • Master Volume
  • Music Volume
  • Sound Effects Volume
  • Dialog Volume
  • Main Audio Settings:
  • Audio Preset: Hi Fi, Balanced, Compressed, Quiet Time, Colorful Realism, Voice Focus
  • Music (Trim options allow you to fine-tune SFX categories, but not completely mute them. You can use these in combination with the main volume sliders):
  • Menu Music Volume
  • Game Music Volume
  • Cinematic Music Volume
  • Boss Music Trim
  • Sound Effects:
  • Player Weapons Trim
  • Explosions Trim
  • User Interface Trim
  • Outgoing Damage Trim
  • Incoming Damage Trim
  • Mute Hit Marker: Off, On
  • Dialog:
  • Player Voice Volume
  • Player Efforts Trim
  • Player Callouts Trim
  • Player Idle Lines Trim
  • Combat Voice Volume
  • Claptrap?



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A guy floats in a pool in GTA.
Game Reviews

Ghost Of Yotei Studio Still ‘Hungover’ From Celebrating GTA 6 Delay

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How much champagne do you charge to the company credit card when GTA 6 mercifully shifts out of your release window? Which celebrity will star in Cyberpunk 2? And what game are Helldivers 2‘s devs working on next? Welcome to another edition of Morning Checkpoint, Kotaku‘s daily roundup of gaming news and culture.

People are buzzing about Jump Space, the sci-fi co-op adventure about blowing up spaceships with friends. It comes to Early Access next week and already has an impressive post-launch roadmap of updates lined up. How many more cool ship games will we get before Starfield‘s next expansion arrives?

It was a good day in the Sucker Punch offices when GTA 6 delayed

Ghost of Yotei is one of the biggest game releases of the fall, at least now that GTA 6 has been delayed to May 2026. Creative director Nate Fox was asked about that moment in a new rapid-fire interview with MinnMax (via VGC). “When GTA 6 was delayed, did the entire studio pop some champagne?” host Ben Hanson asked. “We’re all still hungover. Multi-month hangover,” Fox responded. “That was a great day.”

Yotei‘s October 2 release date was announced before Rockstar revealed its delay, locking in its fate one way or the other. Fortune favors the bold. Now lots of games that were waiting to come out until 2026 to escape the GTA 6 gravity well are faced with a new conundrum: get out ahead of it or come out later in the year and risk stumbling into a second GTA 6 delay?

Helldivers studio’s next game will have a Destiny-style social hub

But what is it, exactly? Arrowhead CEO Shams Jorjani seemed to be speaking off the cuff when he responded to a fan in the game’s Discord who requested a place where Helldivers 2 players can hang out in between drops. “It’s on the feature list for the next one,” Jorjani teased. What next one? Helldivers 3? Nope.

“This was about our next game. Not HD3,” he added on Reddit. Some fans are wondering if it’s a nod to the studio’s isometric fantasy multiplayer series Magicka. The studio has already confirmed that its next project, whatever it ends up being, won’t be published by Sony.

Fans think GTA 6 parody website names have leaked

The open-world blockbuster is still over six months away, but in the meantime players may have some fresh teases to parse. What seem like in-game website names appear to have been registered as real internet domains by Take-Two back in May. They include what-up.app, rydeme.app, and wipeoutcornskin.com. I don’t know if we’re ready for GTA 6 in the post-internet, algorithmic slop phase of lampooning pop culture.

Will Johnny Silverhand return in Cyberpunk 2?

Because Keanu Reeves would be happy to do it if CD Projekt Red wants him back. “Absolutely,” he told IGN when asked about reprising the role. “I’d love to play Johnny Silverhand again.” Effectively a virtual ghost in the first game, there’s no reason Silverhand would need to come back in a sequel, but also nothing precluding it either. Cyberpunk 2 is set to return to Night City but also take players to a new location likened to “Chicago gone wrong.”

Satoru Iwata laughed when he heard about trying to sell Animal Crossing in America

Veteran Nintendo localizer Leslie Swan told Time Extension that’s how the former president of the company reacted when she told him they were translating the cozy sim. “He just laughed and said, ‘I don’t know how you’re going to do this.’ And it’s true, just everything in that game was so specific to Japan,” she said.

Long-time producer Takashi Tezuka was not confident either. “[Tezuka] basically said to me, ‘We’d like to have you localize it’ and I said, ‘Sure.’ But then he said, ‘No, Leslie, I’m not sure you understand, it’s going to be difficult.’” Swan recalled. “And I kept having to assure him that we would make it happen.” Decades later, the franchise is now one of the best selling in the world.

ICYMI:

Silksong is harder than Hollow Knight, but is that a problem?

Tech is beyond parody: even Black Mirror is getting a meme coin

Digimon Story: Time Stranger might be the best JRPG of the fall

Watch this:



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Genshin Impact is teaming up with Among Us to celebrate its fifth anniversary
Game Reviews

Genshin Impact is teaming up with Among Us to celebrate its fifth anniversary

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Today is a big one in the world of Genshin Impact. The long-awaited Version Luna 1 update – formerly known as version 6.0 – has arrived, bringing with it the game’s seventh major region, Nod-Krai.

But that’s not the only thing worth getting out of bed for, because Genshin is also celebrating its fifth anniversary with a whole lot of community content, and an unexpected collaboration.

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MiHoYo announced that it’s celebrating the release of Version Luna 1, and the game’s fifth anniversary, with a number of events, both in-game and outside of it. The biggest one, of course, is the special collaboration with Among Us.

Available from September 10 to October 10, this particular event lets you unlock Paimon Cosmetic Set for free in Among Us, simply by logging into the game. The set comes with the Paimon Wig, Paimon Costume and a Crest of the Best Travel Companion Nameplate – all of which are available to use in Among Us.

It’s a little strange that you don’t get anything in Genshin Impact as part of that collaboration, but there are plenty of freebies you’ll be earning on that side of the aisle simply by logging in. Some of the rewards include a free 5-Star character from the Standard Wish Pool, as well as enough ascension materials to get it to level 60. Starting now, you’ll also receive ten Intertwined Fates, 1,600 Primogems, two special Nod-Krai-themed gadgets (in the mail), and more.

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The celebrations also extend to some community events, which include a new HoYoFair Genshin Impact Fan Art Special Program. This two-hour show will feature plenty of content from fans and MiHoYo, and it’s set to air on September 20.

In case you missed it, Version Luna 1 is a significant update for Genshin Impact, adding a lot more than the new playable area, new characters, new story chapter, and new mechanics. It also comes with changes to some of the game’s systems to make for a smoother levelling experience.

If you’re planning to jump in today, be sure to check out our guide that’ll help you learn all the ways to get to Nod-Krai, and don’t forget to browse the list of our most updated Genshin Impact codes.



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