Over the weekend, every friend I hung out with inevitably ended up asking me if I’d watched Amazon Prime’sFalloutyet. Unfortunately, because of my job, most of my friends think I’m some kind of gaming hot take generator, and people wanted to know if I thought the show was worth their time. I do, for the record – I’m just three episodes in, but it’s definitely good. It’s good enough that I’m now starting to reevaluatePrimeas a viable streaming service, which is huge considering I only use it for Fleabag rewatches and to catch up on The Boys and Gen V....

Summary When we leftour hour-long previewofDragon Age: The VeilguardatSummer Game Fest, my colleague Eric Switzer turned to me and asked “why did they spend so long on the character creator, is it that big a deal?”. I just laughed. The dev spent 15 minutes building their Rook, and if they’d spent the whole hour it still wouldn’t have been enough. I’m surprised atBioWare’schoice not to show it off as part of its gameplay showcase, but from what I’ve seen it might be the new peak of character creators in gaming....

Like everyone else, I finished the first season of Amazon’s Fallout series and immediately craved more. Good TV shows should always leave you a little unsatisfied. I remember restarting Lost from the beginning at the end of every season just because I couldn’t stand the thought of waiting all summer for more. I started reading A Song of Ice and Fire in between seasons of Game of Thrones, but I never wanted to read ahead for risk of spoiling myself....

I’ve long bemoaned the fact that I don’t have enough time forWarhammerbattles. When I was a teenager, I’d take over my mum’s dining table for a day – or her living room floor for an entire weekend – sorry, mum! – to play toy soldiers with my friends. It was the perfect way to spend a weekend before we discovered beer. Nowadays, though, I’ve got better things to do. Firstly, I have to pay my own way now....

Disco Elysiumrules. Whether it’s the beautiful art direction, deep dialogue, heavy political themes, or captivating choice-based narrative, you’d be hard-pressed not to fall in love with it. One of the most striking parts of Disco Elysium to me is also one of its most underappreciated. In the middle of their investigation of Revachol, protagonist Harrier “Harry” Du Bois comes across a smoker on a random balcony, and after a series of random questions, the player (but not Harry) finds out the smoker is homosexual....

Summary Marvelmight have slowed things down when it comes to movies for the time being, but the video game side of things is busier than it ever has been before,EA has an Iron Man gamein the works,the first trailer for Marvel 1943: Rise Of Hydrahas been revealed, andOverwatch-like Marvel Rivalslaunches later this year. If you can’t wait for any of those titles, or you prefer your Marvel games in a tabletop form, then you can play Marvel WordARound right now....

Monopoly Go, the fan-favorite mobile game, takes theclassic board gameexperience but adds an extra layer of fun by introducing Sticker Albums. Each sticker album is made up of multiple smaller sticker sets, which have nine unique stickers that follow the album’s theme. The newest sticker album in Monopoly Go is called “Monopoly Games” and is centered around various sports. The Monopoly Games albumcomprises 28 sticker sets, each representing popular sports like rowing, swimming, and hockey, and even funky ones like remote duck races....

Summary Almost 20 years after its original release,Mother 3has still never been officially released outside of Japan. Nintendo has never offered up a concrete explanation as to why that is, and for some reason, it continues to taunt those of us who would give them vast amounts of money for an official US release.Mother 3 was recently added to Nintendo Switch Online, but only on Japan, andthe plushes revealed to mark the occasionare now available to pre-order....

Summary Your keyboard might not be something you’ve considered jazzing up, thought of as little more than the collection of buttons you sit in front of to write emails every day. Since keyboards are something most of us use every day, it only makes sense that we put some thought into how it looks and what it feels like to use. 8bitdo can improve your experience on both of those fronts, and right now it can do it for less as itsNES-inspired mechanical keyboard is on sale....

I’ve got a well-documentedpassion for New Pokemon Snap, a game that I think is much better than it needed to be, and significantly more impressive than it gets credit for. Not only is it a fantastic puzzle game with clever gameplay and level design that keeps giving you more the more you’re willing to put into it, but it’s also the most stunning depiction of the Pokemon world we’ve ever seen....

Summary We may never live in a world wherePokemonare real, but on the bright side, there are a lot of ways The Pokemon Company has brought them into the real world. Whether that be viaFunko Pops, plushes, or action figures. Its latest venture technically falls into the plush category even though their primary function is furniture as Gengar, Lechonk, and Jigglypuff have all been turned into massive beanbags. All three items inthe Pokemon x Yogibo collectionare available now, and since they’re so big - and officially licensed Pokemon products - it’s going to cost you a Lechonk of change if you want to own a Gengar you can sit on....

Summary Pieced Together is a beautiful story-driven game with a cosy vibe but heartbreaking undertones. It tells the story of Connie, a thirty-something woman who is making a scrapbook of old photographs and keepsakes, while reminiscing about Beth, her best friend at school. AtWASD, part of London Games Week, we got a chance to play the demo and chat with Kate Killick, CEO and creative lead of Glowfrog Games, about Pieced Together’s development, inspiration and reception....

Summary Magic: The Gatheringis a game with tens of thousands of cards, and some of them are as complicated as understanding banding or layers. If you claim to know what Questing Beast or Wheel of Misfortune do without checking the card, you’re a filthy liar. With Modern Horizons 3, Wizards has given me flashbacks to all these rules confusions with just one card. Shadow of the Second Sun is inspired by a card that has caused me so many headaches since its first printing, and this time I’m cutting the arguments off before they happen....