By any estimation, Minecraft is impossibly successful. The bestselling video game ever, as of last December it had 204 million monthly active players. Since it was first released in 2011, it has generated over $3bn (2.3bn) in revenue. Whats more, its players have always been eager to demonstrate their fandom outside the boundaries of the game itself. In 2021, YouTube calculated that videos related to the game tutorials, walk-throughs, homages, parodies had collectively been viewed 1tn times. In short, it is a phenomenon.The Guardians journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link.Learn more.Such is the strength of feeling, almost all of it positive, about Minecraft that it was only a matter of time before someone tried to turn it into a film. After all, you have a historically popular product and a highly engaged fanbase: what could possibly go wrong? Turns out, quite a lot. Last September, the first trailer for the film titled A Minecraft Movie was released, and the reaction was instant and violent. Minecraft fans devastated by awful live-action trailer read one headline the following day. Some called it a crime against humanity; others a soulless neon abomination. In less than 24 hours, the website GamingBible had called it a curse on my eyes and pure nightmare fuel. Within three days of its release, the trailer had been downvoted more than 1m times.If youre familiar with Minecraft, you can probably understand why. Minecraft is a game with a highly distinctive look; everything is made of square blocks, and theres a muted palette. The trailer, however, is insanely garish. Everything looks like it is made of Haribo and, worse, the blocks have slightly rounded edges. Worse still, there are humans in it. Heightened, ironic-looking humans. Jason Momoa is in it, in an unflattering blond wig and hot-pink leather jacket. In other words, it looks like a film made by people who dont understand Minecraft.This is Jumanji but with a Minecraft skin, was the first reaction of Argentinian YouTuber ElVitt0ri0 on seeing the teaser. Minecraft offers an infinite number of narrative possibilities. And yet they decided to go with the we go to another universe and learn about it storyline? What is this? Space Jam 3?ElVitt0ri0s response was to create A Movie About Minecraft (That Doesnt Exist), a version of what the film should have been. The trailer was created with the open-source animation software Blender that was used to make Flow, which won best animated feature at this years Oscars; its a fully animated trailer that retains the look of the original game and features characters recognisable to players. Underneath the video is the comment: This is everything the Minecraft movie should have been, the game elements, the history, the community its so perfect.And ElVitt0ri0 is not alone. Dozens, maybe even hundreds, of fan-made Minecraft trailers have sprung up online since the official teaser went live, each trying to find their own way to undo the damage it caused. Vicky Fernandes, who runs the channel Gloomy Animations, made one entitled Minecraft Movie Trailer But Its Actually Good. Her video is explicitly a fix rather than a reimagining; a shot-for-shot remake where everything is animated in a more immediately recognisable Minecraft style. And it is good; so good that the comments beneath the video are full of relieved now-thats-what-I-expected sentiment.For a certain type of fan, the Minecraft look is gospel. Photograph: MojangI think the movie should have been animated, not live action, Fernandes says over email. Mixing CGI cube-looking characters with real humans looks very weird. The CGI characters also look oddly realistic while keeping the cube proportions, making it look creepy. Overall, the film does not have an appealing art style.What ElVitt0ri0 and Fernandes have in common is that they are Minecraft fans first and foremost. Fernandes first started playing the game in 2014, when she was eight years old, and began making fan videos four years later. ElVitt0ri0 started playing at age 11, and quickly got swept up in its peripheral YouTube content. One thing fans have proved again and again is that Minecraft can function as an amazing platform to tell a story, ElVitt0ri0 says. Not just through animation either you can look at whole series and movies that were made in-game.Both YouTubers lament that this sense of history and appreciation seems to have been lost in the official movie. But perhaps that is to be expected, since Warner Bros has been trying to get a Minecraft movie off the ground for over a decade now. In 2014, when the studio first announced a film, it hired Shawn Levy to direct it. But that fell through, so Rob McElhenney stepped in to replace him. When he too stepped away shortly afterwards, Peter Sollett best known for 2008s Nick & Norahs Infinite Playlist briefly took his place. It was only in 2022 that the film found all of its pieces, with Napoleon Dynamites Jared Hess stepping in to direct a script from Masterminds writers Chris Bowman and Hubbel Palmer.In truth, Hess had his work cut out for him. Minecraft is a game without a traditional narrative. A sandbox game, where players are plunged into a procedurally generated landscape and are free to do whatever they like. If they want to extract raw materials from their surroundings to craft tools, they can. If they want to start fights with hostile creatures, they can. If they want to spend four days using the game to build a giant chicken (as my 10-year-old did this week), then thats up to them.A corpo-vomited product? The Minecraft film. Photograph: Courtesy Warner Bros Pictures/APThe film nods to this with its title its A Minecraft Movie, not The Minecraft Movie, because it would be reductive to be so definitive and, yet, Hess does appear to have taken the easy path, padding the bones of a Jumanji-style offering with blockier skin. Worse still, Hess has a distinctive visual style (he is essentially the Wes Anderson of ironic haircuts) that doesnt intuitively mesh with the Minecraft look.And for a certain type of fan, that look is not only gospel, but in part fan led. For instance, Element Animation, a YouTube outfit that made its name with lushly animated, absurd Minecraft spoofs were so successful that they ended up being hired by game developer Mojang to make official Minecraft videos. Minecraft is now ultimately a feedback loop between the game and the people who play it, and the movie needed to reflect that.However, the story goes that Hess basically stumbled into making the film when another project he was working on for Legendary fell through, they asked him to pitch for Minecraft and perhaps this lack of familiarity shows. After all, Phil Lord and Chris Miller went out of their way to reassure people that theyd played with Lego all of their lives before making 2014s rigorously faithful The Lego Movie. Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic went as far as saying that Super Mario Bros was their main source of entertainment as children when they were announced as directors for 2023s Super Mario Bros Movie.This is the level of familiarity that fans have come to expect, and things have a habit of going wrong whenever directors try to impose themselves too forcefully on a beloved property. The first live-action Mario movie fell apart when it replaced Bowser (a gigantic muscular turtle) with Dennis Hopper in a shiny blazer. Paramount was forced to spend $5m redesigning Sonic the Hedgehog after his appearance in a movie trailer, all tiny eyes and human teeth, horrified viewers. But Minecraft is still a relatively new game. People like Fernandes and ElVitt0ri0, who have been playing the game for long enough to truly understand it, are still only in their early 20s. Maybe one day theyll make a perfectly faithful Minecraft movie that satisfies the fans, but it wont be for years.But, again, this is A Minecraft Movie, not The Minecraft Movie. Warner Bros may have done enough to prevent this one from completely flopping there is wall-to-wall promotion, both in-game and in the real world, plus a second trailer that seems slightly more faithful to the source material. But hardcore devotees may still feel that its time to put the fans in charge of any future big-screen offerings. An Element Animation Minecraft film is exactly what my children want to see, but perhaps the reins will be passed to someone else with an innate understanding of the game. As ElVitt0ri0 says, a film based on something as beloved as Minecraft should be an actual piece of love towards the fans by fans, not just some corpo-vomited product by a big company.

After Nintendos intriguing hour-long live stream on Wednesday, we now know a lot more about its follow-up to the phenomenally successful Switch. But how does the Switch 2 play? After the online presentation, I got to spend about four hours road-testing the new console at a press event in the Grand Palais, Paris, the box-white exhibition hall adorned in Nintendo red and lined with rows of high-end TV screens and Switch 2 consoles. There was also a 90-minute roundtable with three of the masterminds behind the console: Tetsuya Sasaki (hardware design lead), Kouichi Kawamoto (producer) and Takuhiro Dohta (director). Heres what I learned.The gamesSmooth ride Mario Kart World for the Nintendo Switch 2. Photograph: NintendoMario Kart WorldThe headline feature here (playable cow aside) is Knockout Tour mode, which replaces the traditional three-lap circuits with hefty sprints across a sprawling world map. There are 24 racers, double that of its predecessor, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. As you progress, large checkpoints emerge on the horizon and at each of these the bottom four racers drop out. This continues until the final stretch, when the final four duke it out for first place. Think Mario Kart does battle royale. Its intense. Its exciting. It runs incredibly smoothly and will reinvigorate even the most hardened dare I say jaded Mario Kart player.Elsewhere there is a more traditional Mario Kart experience where everyone gets to finish the race. Youre still sprinting across some configuration of a world map one moment youre driving through Boos cinema, the next youre hurtling through a Toad-branded manufacturing plant. Tweaks from the previous game include: a few new weapons, skidding feels less agile, the tracks feel less claustrophobic and theyve styled Waluigi like Steven Van Zandt.Super Mario Party JamboreeQuirky Super Mario Party Jamboree. Photograph: NintendoMario Party is Nintendos party game franchise board games, mini games, screwing each other over, players taking it far too seriously you get the drill. This series has always allowed Nintendo to showcase the quirkier aspects of its hardware, and the camera works well in the mini games I played. I enjoyed the goomba-catching mini game (named Goombalancing Act): you stand in front of the console and camera, then marvel as youre projected on to the TV, now with a red pedestal on your head; as goombas begin falling from the sky you bob and weave to catch, stack and balance. The player with the most goombas at the end wins.Elsewhere, theres a squatting/standing decision based game (I can already see the camera being incorporated into the next Ring Fit/Wii Fit title) and a game that rewards those who move and shout the most, making use of the inbuilt microphone (this one might quickly grow old). Its all very reminiscent of PlayStations EyeToy. The mouse functionality gets a run-out too tagging Bob-ombs with spray scans is the standout (you literally shake the Joy-Con like a canister when you run out of spray).At the roundtable were told that Nintendo developed the microphone to remove unwanted external noise, but the sound of clapping will still get picked up, to allow the full emotion of the experience to come through. Nintendo is clearly trying to keep the spirit of local multiplayer gaming alive at a time where people are more isolated and less inclined to leave their homes. Theres an option to have your friends appear via camera at the bottom of your screen too. Being able to look people in the eye as you stab them in the back at a digital board game thats what makes life worth living.Drag x DriveDrag x Drive is Nintendos combination of Rocket League and wheelchair basketball. You hold the Joy-Con in mouse mode, one in each hand, and then manouvre as though youre operating a wheelchair. Theres a tutorial which takes some getting used to and at times it makes your arm ache a bit, but thankfully the game itself is less taxing and much more about smaller motions and precision. If you dont have a table in front of you to use the mouse then its designed to work on your lap. I gave this a try, but quickly became conscious of the fact that I was a 35-year-old man furiously rubbing his legs under a table.And the rest There have been concerns that the more iterative approach to the new Switch marks a new age for Nintendo, one where its less weird. Well, look no further than Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour. Picture the Switch 2 on its side, then enlarge it to the size of the airport, then turn buttons into kiosks with digital receptionists that you can explore: essentially its a playable guide to your console through the medium of mini games, explainers, tutorials and quizzes. It is more fun that it sounds just.In Donkey Kong Bananza you run around and destroy a lot of rocks. Maybe it was just the early levels I played, but it feels as if it skews toward a beginner audience. It looks amazing though. Then theres Metroid Prime 4. The opening sequence was playable here and all Ill say is it looks and feels exactly like Metroid Prime Remastered (complimentary) but slightly more vibrant, cinematic and busy, with mouse functionality for those who play their shooters that way.The hardwareAn iterative hop Nintendo Switch 2. Photograph: NintendoThe Switch 2 is more of an iterative hop than a grand redesign. The focus is on pragmatic changes that improve quality of life. Its a wider model than its predecessor, and though it feels sturdier it doesnt feel that much heavier in handheld mode. The bigger screen pops, as youd expect; and it all looks very sleek and less like a toy. It all feels like marginal gains, but together adds up to a much slicker, more modern device.The Joy-Con feels more durable, weightier than their predecessors and more comfortable to hold, with bigger buttons that are less awkward to press (the shoulder buttons in particular). I wasnt able to test out the magnetic attach/detach aspect, but I was able to detach the thin case that goes over the edges once theyre no longer docked in the system what a relief to no longer be messing about with those cheap black sliders. As for the dreaded Joy-Con drift, we were told during the roundtable that the new models have been designed from the ground up to account for bigger and smoother movements.The pro controller feels exactly as it did before, albeit with joysticks that feel slightly more durable and comfortable. I have minor concerns about accidentally hitting the new buttons at the base of the controller in the heat of karting battle accidentally firing off a premature red shell maybe but Im sure Ill get used to it. In the developer roundtable it was also confirmed that Joy-Con and pro controllers from the previous generation would be compatible with the Switch 2 (though presumably with some obvious restrictions on functionality).A note on the performance of the Switch 2: in my four hours playtime I remember seeing one loading screen. That was for Cyberpunk and it lasted maybe five to 10 seconds. I only had a few minutes to play, so immediately began shooting Night City cops to start a riot and my brief impressions are that the hardware coped pretty well with the ensuing carnage. Likewise for Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I immediately loaded the save marked Korok Forest and sprinted under the Deku Tree, witnessing the forest for the first time without a single frame dropping.The verdictWhether or not Nintendo can convince diehard fans like me isnt the question here. Nintendo has often struggled with following up its triumphs in the home console market, lurching from runaway success to squandered opportunities. When the original Switch came out in March 2017, it was off the back of the dismal performance of the Wii U, a device that sold 13.5m units in its lifetime. Its job was to move devotees on from a failing system and convince casual gamers to come back. Nintendo has a different job this time around: it now has to convince perhaps the largest install base in its history (150m units sold and counting) to make the switch (Im sorry) to its reasonably similar new model. Its a big ask for Nintendo, and in this climate of home console uncertainty, for the entire industry.

It is a game about love and identity, but it also has forklift truck races. It is a game about bloody revenge, but while youre waiting to retaliate, you can buy lottery tickets and visit the arcade. When Bafta recently asked gamers to vote on the most influential game of all time, Im not sure even the most ardent Sega fans would have gambled on the success of an idiosyncratic Dreamcast adventure from 1999. Yet the results, released on Thursday morning, show Shenmue at No 1, with perhaps more predictable contenders Doom and Super Mario Bros coming in second and third respectively.How has this happened, especially considering the game was considered a financial failure at the time of its release, falling short of recouping its then staggering development costs (a reported $70m, which would now get you about a third of Horizon Forbidden West or Star Wars Outlaws)? Well, nostalgia is a funny thing and so is the concept of cultural influence. When it was released more than two decades ago, Shenmue was an oddity: an open-world role-playing adventure that followed martial arts student Ryo Hazuki as he sought revenge for the murder of his father. But while there were fights and puzzles galore, there was also a lot of other stuff. The game used an internal clock to switch between day and night, and to cycle through seasons. Often, the people Ryo needed to speak to (or beat up) were only available at certain times, so he had to kill time by wandering the streets of mid-1980s Yokosuka. You could go to shops, play old Sega arcade games, you could visit the hotdog stand. The world was filled with eccentric characters and strange mini-games including the aforementioned forklift races.What players also enjoyed were its systemic and narrative oddities. Designer Yu Suzuki, who spent the 1980s making some of the greatest arcade games of all time, including OutRun, After Burner and Hang-On, was a stickler for authenticity and simulation he understood that Ryos life would be boring and mundane at times so thats what the player got. He also loved to experiment with gameplay conventions, which in Shenmue led to the adoption of quick time events, highly choreographed action scenes in which the player dictates the action by following specific button prompts. It was, lets say, controversial at the time, but it was interesting. Even the games rather wooden voice acting and clipped dialogue enraptured players. To this day, the thought of Ryo wandering the docks asking Do you know where I can find some sailors? is comedy gold to those in the know.It was the first time that an epic, immersive role-playing adventure also drew in elements of life simulations and dating games, to expand the interactive repertoire for players. Later titles such as Grand Theft Auto III, would expand on the idea, but we can perhaps say that the concept of living, explorable worlds came from Shenmue and flavoured everything that has followed, from Assassins Creed to Skyrim.Shenmue did end up getting a sequel and, much later, a third title to close the trilogy. I was at the video game event E3 in 2015 when Yu came on to the stage during Sonys press conference and announced that Shenmue III was in development. It was pandemonium. Sure, you could say that Super Mario Bros has been more influential because it popularised the platformer and also the concept of a video game mascot character; you could say it was Doom because it made the first-person shooter the most important genre in PC gaming. But I like the fact that Shenmue has won, and not only because I love Sega and edited a Dreamcast magazine at the time. Its because it shows that gamers still enjoy strange, exotic games, and if thats the case, strange, exotic games will continue to be made. We certainly see that in the success of Shenmues illegitimate children: the Yakuza and Like a Dragon games, where action, dating and silly games still combine to hilarious effect.I like to think that there will always be players willing to just stop fighting for a second, head down to the docks and hunt for sailors.Bafta most influential video game of all time list in full1. Shenmue (1999)2. Doom (1993)3. Super Mario Bros (1985)4. Half-Life (1998)5. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)6. Minecraft (2011)7. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (2025)8. Super Mario 64 (1996)9. Half-Life 2 (2004)10. The Sims (2000)11. Tetris (1984)12. Tomb Raider (1996)13. Pong (1972)14. Metal Gear Solid (1998)15. World of Warcraft (2004)16. Baldurs Gate III (2023)17. Final Fantasy VII (1997)18. Dark Souls (2011)19. Grand Theft Auto III (2001)20. Skyrim (2011)21. Grand Theft Auto (1997)

Parents can now block their children from communicating with specific friends or playing certain games on Roblox, an online gaming platform popular with children.The changes form part of a suite of safety updates intended to give parents more control over their childs experience on the platform.From Wednesday, parents and caregivers who identify themselves with an ID or credit card will have access to three new tools. The friend management tool means they can block anyone on their childs friends list, preventing their child from exchanging direct messages with that account, and report people they believe are violating Roblox policies.They can also review and change the content maturity level for their childs account, determining which games their child can access, and obtain detailed screen-time insights.Under the Online Safety Act, which came into force this year, tech companies must tackle harmful content on their platforms or face fines of up to 18m or 10% of global revenue.There have been reports of bullying and grooming on Roblox and fears that children are being exposed to explicit or harmful content on the site, which is the most popular platform in the UK among gamers aged eight to 12.Robloxs chief safety officer, Matt Kaufman, said safety was at the companys core and its mission was to be the safest and most civil online platform in the world.The US-based company is one of the worlds largest games platforms, with more monthly users than Nintendo Switch and Sony PlayStation combined. In 2024, the site averaged more than 80 million players a day, and roughly 40% of those were under 13.Roblox introduced 40 safety updates last year, including preventing users under 13 from sending direct messages. Roblox has also updated its voice safety technology, which uses a machine-learning model to moderate chat between players more accurately than human moderators.Andy Burrows, the chief executive of the Molly Rose Foundation, said he welcomed the safety improvements but that Roblox still needs to get to grips with substantial problems with harmful and age-inappropriate content.He added: Extensive research has shown Roblox is awash with age-inappropriate games and communities, including depression rooms that can compound misery and offer no support to vulnerable children.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Pushing ButtonsFree weekly newsletterKeza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gamingPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionThis content raises fundamental questions about Robloxs broader commitment to safety and shows it cannot just rely on parental controls but must take decisive action to make the platform safe for its young users.Last month, Robloxs co-founder and chief executive, David Baszucki, said the platform was vigilant in protecting its users and that tens of millions of people had amazing experiences on the site.He added: My first message would be: if youre not comfortable, dont let your kids be on Roblox. That sounds a little counterintuitive, but I would always trust parents to make their own decisions.

Sixty minutes thats how long Nintendo took on Wednesday afternoon to remind us that no other video game manufacturer creates joy like this one. It was the Nintendo livestream weve been waiting for: a deep dive into the new console after so much speculation. Sure, the Switch 2 is the companys first real hardware sequel an updated and spruced-up version of its predecessor rather than a radical new piece of kit. But the updates are the intriguing part.Naturally, were getting a larger (7.9-inch, to be precise) screen that displays in full HD at 1080p; but were also getting re-thought Joy-Con controllers that now click to the console via strong magnets rather than those fiddly sliders we all put on the wrong way. The buttons are larger, too, so adults will be able to play Mario Kart with some semblance of skill. But the main new feature for the controllers is a new rollerball that enables each one to operate as a mouse. This will allow for new point-and-click features and some interesting control options. I like that they showed this off with a wheelchair basketball game, where you slide the controllers a long a surface to mimic pushing the wheels.The Nintendo Switch 2.The new Mario Kart game, Mario Kart World, looks rather nice. Perhaps taking inspiration from the likes of Forza Horizon and Test Drive Unlimited, it offers an open world to drive around, and, as well as circuit races, there will be endurance competitions where you drive from one side of the map to the other. According to the trailer shown during the livestream, 24 drivers can take part in each race, the most in the history of the series. Theres even a free-roam mode that lets you explore wherever you like, and take scenic drives with friends.With friends was definitely the theme of the stream. A new C button on the Joy-Con opens up the GameChat facility, which lets you start a group discussion with friends and family who also own Switch 2 consoles; it even has a video chat option if you also buy the Switch 2 camera. Like a sort of candy-coloured version of Zoom, your pals appear along the bottom of the screen as you play a game and you can all chat, even if youre playing different things. Several of the trailers shown during the presentation suggested that video footage of your friends would even be incorporated into the game itself. This is where Nintendo always does best: finding new ways for you to embarrass yourself and/or confuse and delight elderly relatives.Donkey Kong: Bananza on the Switch 2. Photograph: NintendoWas this a knockout victory for Nintendo? Well, there were a lot of game announcements, but we didnt get a big new 3D Mario adventure although those do sometimes come a little while after launch. Also, fans are already tutting about game prices. While the machine is launching at an acceptable 395.99 (or 429.99 bundled with Mario Kart World), it looks like Mario Kart World will retail for 75. Its a lot, but then Mario Kart 8 lasted for the entire lifespan of the Switch and most owners got hundreds of hours of entertainment out of it.The pre-order process, which opens on 8 April, is going to be interesting. Scalpers turned the launches of the Xbox Series X and PS5 into an ugly and expensive drama, with Sonys machine turning up for sale at $2,000 at one point thanks to limited availability.Nintendo is good at joy, and this looks like a truly lovely machine. But in an economic climate far from joyful, fans (and their parents) will be watching pre-order and sales figures very closely over the next few long weeks.What to playTough cerebral challenges Rosewater. Photograph: Grundislav GamesIve been a sucker for western adventure games ever since I played Accolades classic Law of the West for the Commodore 64, so its lovely to see a newcomer in town. Rosewater is a steam punk-infused point-and-click puzzler following would-be journalist Harley Leger, who arrives in the titular frontier town for a job at the local newspaper but instead gets embroiled in a treasure hunt.Created by Grundislav Games, its a spiritual successor to the studios 2018 title Lamplight City, but you can come to this one fresh. Its filled with interesting characters and tough cerebral challenges, and the crisp pixel art is a rootin, tootin treat. Im sorry.Available on: PC, Mac Estimated playtime: What to readThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was originally intended for the Wii U. Photograph: NintendoPerhaps timed to coincide with the Nintendo Switch 2 news, Polygon has a piece about playing Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on the Wii U, which was the intended platform for the earlier machine before it ended up on the Switch. A lot of people have forgotten it did actually get a Wii-U release, though, and it was OK? An interesting read, though.The new industry site Games Business has an interview with Alain Tascan, the head of Netflix games. He sees Wii-style family TV games as the future for the platform: For party games, I believe we can give instant fun, using the phone as a very innovative controller. On every phone you have a gyroscope, you have a microphone, you have a speaker, you have a touchscreen if you give that to creative people, what do they do? Whether youre alone, or with two people, or 20 people, why not? Can we do something really engaging? Um, yes you can as Sony showed several years ago with its PlayLink technology for PlayStation 4. Sadly, that initiative was undersupported, despite having some brilliant games. Maybe Netflix will hang in there a little longer.As a fan of weird mid-1990s horror games, I was very pleased to see Christian Donlan writing for Eurogamer about Harlan Ellisons twisted terror adventure, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. The narrative, about the last survivors of a computer-initiated nuclear war being tortured by their AI-overlords, couldnt be more timely.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Pushing ButtonsFree weekly newsletterKeza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gamingPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionWhat to clickQuestion BlockThe Tearoom Photograph: Robert YangThis week I went on Bluesky to ask for questions and this concise inquiry game back from Rainer Sigl:Wheres the games counterculture? Does it exist?My equally concise answer is: Its complicated. It depends on how we interpret the term.My copy of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary defines counterculture as: A way of life opposed to that usually considered normal. That could almost embrace the entire independent game development community, but we can get more specific.Perhaps the hyper-challenging games of Bennett Foddy are countercultural because they are deliberately not intuitive to control. Or perhaps the Flatgame scene, in which developers create deliberately simple games with limited interactivity, is countercultural because it challenges the ideas that video games need cutting-edge visuals and a strong challenge component.Maybe Robert Yangs games such as The Tearoom and Hurt Me Plenty are counter-cultural because they challenge the heteronormative orthodoxy of the mainstream industry. As ever with this subject, I defer to the developer and writer Anna Anthropy, whose brilliant book Rise of the Videogame Zinesters makes a compelling and detailed case for the existence of a global video game counterculture, existing happily for years on the periphery.If youve got a question for Question Block or anything else to say about the newsletter hit reply or email us on pushingbuttons@theguardian.com.

After months of intense speculation and cryptic teaser videos, Nintendo has finally unveiled the successor to its Switch console. The Nintendo Switch 2 will launch on 5 June at a retail price of 395.99 for the basic package and 429.99 bundled with Mario Kart World.As expected, the screen is now larger, measuring 7.9 inches and offers double the pixels of the previous display, in 1080p resolution. It also supports up to 120 frames per second for smooth animation, as well as high dynamic range lighting for better colour contrast, while the console remains the same thickness as its predecessor. The dock allows connection to a TV with up to 4K resolution supported.The redesigned Joy-Con 2 controllers now connect to the console magnetically. The SL and SR buttons are larger to make it more comfortable to use the Joy-Cons as indepedent controllers. Each one can also be used as a mouse, with a rollerball for precise movement. This feature was illustrated with a wheelchair basketball game, Drag X Drive, in which the two Joy-Cons are used to push and steer the wheels.The announcement live stream began with a trailer for launch title Mario Kart World, a new entry in the karting series featuring stunningly detailed circuits and an open world map. Races take place in different regions around the planet, while players are free to go off-road while racing.Nintendo Switch 2. Photograph: NintendoAlso announced was Legend of Zelda Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, a prequel to Tears of the Kingdom coming this winter. Aerial racer Kirby Air Riders and a new Donkey Kong adventure, Donkey Kong Bananza, were also revealed, the latter arriving on 17 July.Several third-party titles were introduced throughout the hour-long stream. These included a new title from Dark Souls creator, From Software The DuskBloods a dark adventure filled with spectral warriors and ferocious dinosaurs; its out in 2026. Expected for launch or shortly after are Elden Ring Tarnished Edition, Hades II, Split Fiction, EA Sports FC, Madden NFL, Street Fighter 6 and Hitman World of Assassination. Hitman developer Io Interactive also revealed the development of a new James Bond game for the console.Other technical details were also discussed. Switch 2s built-in speakers have been improved, with 3D audio supported. The new stand offers more sturdy support with a variety of viewing angles. Nintendos online network, Nintendo Switch Online, will offer a range of new downloadable retro games from GameCube and other systems, including Legend of Zelda Wind Waker and Soulcalibur II. A reproduction GameCube controller will be available to purchase alongside the Switch 2 launch.Like its predecessor, Switch 2 is a hybrid system, allowing users to play games on its built-in screen or on a TV, and users will be able to alternate between the two. The machine also offers full backwards compatibility with most original Switch games. Switch 2 updated games will also offer upgraded visuals. Launching soon after the console, the party game Super Mario Jamboree: Nintendo Switch 2 edition offers mouse controls, audio recognition, camera support and better rumble effects. Legend of Zelda Breath of The Wild: Nintendo Switch 2 edition features higher resolution visuals and new gameplay features, including an in-game smartphone-style map app. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, Pokmon Legends and Kirby and the Forgotten Land will also get Switch 2 editions. Owners of the original titles will be able to purchase upgrade packs.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Pushing ButtonsFree weekly newsletterKeza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gamingPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionUsed as a mouse a Switch 2 controller. Photograph: NintendoNintendo is going big on the social features of its new console. The right Joy-Con has a new C button, which gives access to GameChat and an in-game communication feature which lets users chat to friends while playing. The mic in the console recognises your voice, filtering out ambient sounds for clear comms. Players can share their game screens with others in the chat even if everyone is playing different games. A Nintendo Switch 2 camera, available from launch, connects to the console allowing video chat while playing. A new GameShare feature will allow users to share a single game with up to three other players who can take part using their own Switch 2 machines.The original Switch was launched in March 2017 and went on to become the companys most successful home console, selling more than 150m units including its later Switch Lite and Switch OLED editions. While Switch 2 remains technically behind the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, Nintendo has long competed on innovation and game quality rather than specifications. With a broader games lineup than the original machine, more advanced visuals and a more intuitive design for its Joy-Con controllers, this was a strong introduction.Youll have to wait just a little bit longer for launch, said Switch 2 design director Takuhiro Dohta at the close of the live stream. For avid Nintendo fans that will feel like an eternity.

I do not replay games. Dont see the point. I dont reread books either, and I rarely rewatch movies or TV shows. Theres too much new, bigger and better stuff coming out every day, and too little time to consume it. However, I made an exception with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Because the original was so special.It came along towards the end of my ZX Spectrum playing days. I was at university and was previously only interested in a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle if it came in a tall glass and was at happy hour prices in the Mandela Bar. But the game hooked me one summer back home and became the hardest video game that I ever completed. And thats what worried me when I started the rerelease on the PS4 that comes as part of the TMNT Cowabunga Collection. (Playstation Plus Essentials March)It was the first time Id thrown a controller at a wall since I stopped playing FifaI worried that my gaming brain had got lazy playing modern games, where you are spoiled by power-ups vomiting up all over the place and collision detection so forgiving it could be a priest, and as a result that this golden gaming memory would be tarnished.I was right!The collision detection is at Manic Miner/Mega Man levels of unforgiving, but through trial and error I rediscovered things that make the game easier. The level structures are soft so you can kill an enemy from above or below platforms and even through walls, which brings into play the Turtles different weapon ranges. I remember also that you can hot swap the Turtles. This means using Donatello with his long pole for everything, switching to Michelangelo with his nunchucks then Leonardo with his swords when Donatellos energy gets low and finally using Raphael with his puny twin sai as a last resort. Sai are tiny metal daggers that resemble whatever cutlery it was that Elon Musk balanced on his fingers at Mar-a-Lago. Only more useless. To kill an enemy with Raphael in this game you have to get close enough to smell what toppings they had on their pizza.Indecipherable Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection. Photograph: KonamiI hate-played this for two hours, death after death it was the first time Id thrown a controller at a wall since I stopped playing Fifa.Night one ends, as it did for so many of us back in the day, with that bloody underwater level where you have to defuse bombs under a dam within a time limit so unforgiving it reminds me of A-level exams. You cannot get through that level without hitting multiple radioactive weeds. I cant believe I completed it back in the day, and worry it may have been one of those 90s things I imagined, like that time I said hi to Sarah Michelle Gellar at Comic-Con and was sure she smiled back at me.Horrible clunky gameplay like this serves no purpose in 2025.Or does it?I persevered on day two. I remembered the way to get through that damned dam level is to crash through every enemy and hot swap the turtles when the energy gets low. (And by remembered I mean searched Reddit.)Most importantly I discovered that there is a flipping rewind button in this rerelease! You can go back 30 seconds every time you fail a pixel perfect jump! I wish I read gaming manuals, but I am a man in his 50s. I no more read instructions than I ask for directions when I am lost.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Pushing ButtonsFree weekly newsletterKeza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gamingPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionI completed the level and was treated to the sweetest sentence ever written in video games history. April saying: Its OK the dam is safe lets go home.Buoyed by this I beat the next couple of levels over the next couple of days. Its hard, even with the rewind button, but I recalibrate my whole gaming attitude. I cant charge through levels like you can with games today, for this was the era when you literally had to inch forward, then wait, see what enemies appear, learn their patterns, then move. You have to slow down your whole way of playing. And that isnt a bad thing. In 2025, life moves at 10bn miles an hour. I wake up three times a night checking who is about to invade who.With my heart and mind reopened I re-notice the greatness of this game. The scroll and boomerang weapons are immense, I would put them up there with the BFG from Doom, the Golden Gun from Goldeneye and the Holy Hand Grenade in Worms in terms of sheer fun.I even learn to love the indecipherable nature of the blocky graphics. The Mutant Toad looked recognisable, as were Shredder and his Foot Soldiers. So were the Cheeky Space Monkeys, until I discovered they were actually Giant Fleas. Mostly the enemies are like an 8-bit Rorschach test, their identity the results of projections from my subconsciousness. So that might be a feral butterfly I am trying to kill, but it may also be my feelings of male inadequacy.I am so glad I didnt give up on this game. Because we never did as kids. You had one game a month. You played it. You kept at it. We are gaming dilettantes now, flitting from one subscription service to another, sometimes not even getting past the list of games to actually play one.I am still only halfway through. But I will soldier on through every hard-earned inch. And it will be utterly cowabunga.

What if the Chornobyl disaster happened in the UK? is the question Atomfall asks. The answer, according to developer Rebellion, is that it would be considerably more picturesque and feature loads of pasties. Aping the nuclear catastrophe fiction of series such as Fallout and Stalker, Atomfall offers a mildly diverting scientific whodunit. But it struggles to muster the same clear identity of the games that inspired it.Using the 1957 Windscale fire as its launchpad, Atomfall thrusts you into a postwar Britain where that accident was dramatically worse, prompting the government to send in the army before walling off a large portion of the Lake District, sealing everybody inside. Your character, an archetypal video game amnesiac, awakes inside the exclusion zone several years later. To escape, they must unravel the mystery behind what caused the disaster, who is responsible and how to fix it.This mystery, and how it unfolds, are by far the most interesting parts of Atomfall. The story reframes conventional quests as leads, where points of interest are revealed by collecting documents such as letters and military reports, and speaking to the surviving locals in the zone. At the heart of the enigma is a vast underground research facility, which you must reactivate by unlocking its entrances and locating atomic batteries to power its various sectors, ultimately unlocking the heart of Windscale and the dark secret kept inside.Wicker Man-esque Atomfall. Photograph: RebellionIts a tale that offers plenty of intrigue. The characters that assist you on your journey, including soldiers, scientists and a publican, have their own motivations for doing so, which youll only uncover by cross-referencing them with other players in Atomfalls unspoken game of zones. These will often relate to diversions youll find along the way, such as infiltrating a castle occupied by Wicker Man-style druids to retrieve a special medicine and solving a quintessentially British murder in a church.Unpicking these threads is fun, and the tale benefits from a tighter focus and better pacing than most open-world adventures. Unfortunately, the accompanying game mechanics feel as if they turn up more from obligation than enthusiasm. Combat lets you choose between guns that are serviceable but unremarkable, and melee fighting that will make you appreciate every rusty firearm you collect. There is a rudimentary crafting system youll mostly use to make bandages and the occasional molotov cocktail. A stealth system exists in theory, but perhaps fittingly I never saw it function in any meaningful fashion. Enemies can spot you from half the map away and seem telepathically connected to nearby allies, which makes sneaking around awkward and unrewarding.It probably doesnt help that its always a bright sunny day in Atomfalls exclusion zone, which would be unusual for any part of the UK, let alone the Lake District. On the whole, it could make better use of its Cumbrian setting. Although Atomfalls four maps are lavish and fun to explore, including craggy valleys filled with shells of dry-stone buildings, and the most meticulously recreated English village since Everybodys Gone to the Rapture, the world is not especially atmospheric.Moreover, the enemy factions, druids and crazed marauders clad in cricket gear, feel like vague attempts to anglicise the kooky gangs of Fallout. Where are the feral ramblers, the roving bands of literati fighting over whether Wordsworth or Coleridge was the better poet? Why are pasties so abundant, while Kendal mint cake and Grasmere gingerbread are absent? This may seem flippant, but given we have recently seen such a brilliant lampoon of northern life in Thank Goodness Youre Here!, Atomfalls own depiction of the north, and indeed Britain in general, feels superficial and haphazard, a jumbled assemblage of cultural touchstones.To use another example, one of Atomfalls key inspirations is Stalker, a series whose strength lies in how it is so specifically, uncompromisingly Ukrainian. Stalker and its sequels are completely unafraid to be weird, bold, challenging and bleak, to wholly envelop the player in its nations radioactive trauma. The UK simply doesnt share that trauma in the same way, so Rebellions what if scenario can only ever be a shadow of Chornobyl.

It is now more or less impossible to put a precise figure on the number of video games released each year. According to data published by the digital store Steam, almost 19,000 titles were released in 2024 and thats just on one platform. Hundreds more arrived on consoles and smartphones. In some ways this is the positive sign of a vibrant industry, but how on earth does a new project get noticed? When Triple A titles with multimillion dollar marketing budgets are finding it hard to gain attention (disappointing sales have been reported for Dragon Age: The Veilguard, the Final Fantasy VII remakes and EA Sports FC), what chance is there for a small team to break out?And yet it does happen. Last years surprise hit Balatro has shifted more than 5m copies. Complex medieval strategy title Manor Lords sold 1m copies during its launch weekend. But what awaits a small developer after they achieve success? And what does success even mean in a continuously evolving industry?James Carbutt and Will Todd of Coal Supper are still trying to make sense of it. Their acerbic satire Thank Goodness Youre Here!, in which players slap their way through bizarre quotidian scenarios in the fictional humble northern town of Barnsworth, is now an award-winning game. Its just not registered as a success in my head at all, says Carbutt. The numbers are going up on screen, and there have been YouTube playthroughs and some erotic fan art. Beyond that, it wont register.I cant imagine making any more games. I dont know where I would go from hereAfter spending three years working on the project, the pair now find themselves in the confusing glare of the spotlight, fielding questions about whats next. Its horrible, Carbutt jokes. But I dont think we feel any sort of second-album syndrome. The space it gives you to be a bit introspective about what you want to do next is the interesting quirk of a successful indie game.Veteran indie developer Gabe Cuzzillo (Ape Out, Baby Steps) offered them sage wisdom. He spoke about how you should focus not just on making something good because how do you quantify that, its amorphous? says Todd. Instead we should look at what it is we want to explore and judge success intrinsically, based on whether we explored that thing. The pressure of speed to market doesnt apply to us, because its never going to be possible to crank something out in six months to chase success anyway. Its more like, in the wake of this being received well, whats the next thing we want to explore? Thats something were interrogating at the moment.Australian developer Grace Bruxner has also redefined success after leaving behind a trilogy of Frog Detective games: bite-size adventures co-developed with Thomas Bowker that quickly became cult indie hits.Has it impacted peoples lives in a positive way? Frog Detective. Photograph: WormclubSuccess in games has always been a bit of a lie, a bit of an illusion, she says, pointing to typical markers such as cultural impact, player numbers and financial gain. My measure of success is: did I make something Im proud of, and has it impacted my life and other peoples lives in a positive way? And yes, it did, so thumbs up.Bruxner began working on the series during her final year at university as an experiment, to see whether she could produce a commercial game. After a relatively breezy first outing, the second Frog Detective game demanded that Bruxner and Bowker lock in, and spend most of their time on the project. By the third instalment, the hard work had paid off, though the pressure had begun to take its toll. Throw in the pandemic, as well as mental and physical health issues, and Bruxner was ready to take a break. I wasnt grinding super hard, but I also wasnt having a great time, she says. It just was really nice to make that choice to stop.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Pushing ButtonsFree weekly newsletterKeza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gamingPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionIm looking forward to making art again, instead of feeling like I have to show up to a job I never applied toBruxner still has game ideas swirling in the back of her head, but she wanted to escape the endless production cycle that has swallowed up many of her peers, regardless of mounting exhaustion or burnout. Its not universal advice, she says, but if youre a solo dev or a really small team, I dont think theres any shame in leaving it there. Unless you love making games. Im not sure I love making games. I was quite young when we released the first Frog Detective, so it was like, This is my entire identity for life. I dont know how to be a separate person from that.Three years after the series swan song, she is on indefinite hiatus, exploring alternative creative paths such as pottery. I cant imagine making games, because of the expectations on me as a creator, she explains. I dont even know where I would go from here.Bruxner has been surprised by her ability to sustain herself on the modest amount of money provided by Frog Detective. If your game continues to have a tail, and you can budget properly and live within your means, it is possible to have a passive income that isnt tied to being a horrible landlord, she explains. Even so, she knows how taboo it can be to talk plainly about money, especially in creative circles like the indie game scene. I have the free time to chill and decide what I want to do, but I assume at some point Ill probably need to have a career again. My biggest question is will this money last forever? Probably not, and then what happens when it runs out? I dont know.Opportunities are limited Consume Me. Photograph: HexecutableIt may seem as though more indies than ever have broken into the spotlight in recent years. But enduring games industry turbulence has made finding financial support for follow-ups and debuts more complicated. The elephant in the room is everything thats happened over the past couple of years, with mass layoffs, studio closures and evaporating funding opportunities, explains AP Thomson, a developer of the forthcoming indie Consume Me with fellow NYU Game Center graduate Jenny Jiao Hsia. Before that, there was a pretty major change around the mid-2010s when indie publishers and funders started rising in prominence. Everything weve heard suggests that the same opportunities no longer exist or are incredibly limited.Consume Me, the duos coming-of-age scheduling RPG doesnt have a release date but has already been nominated for five gongs at the Independent Games Festival awards. As such, Jiao Hsia and Thomson are already under pressure to decide their next endeavour. Multiple people have told us we should be moving forward once it launches, says Thomson.Even with growing expectations, the pair arent keen to get ahead of themselves. Everything weve heard suggests that now is really not a great time to be pitching, so were going to focus our energy on the launch and then read the temperature of the room after that, Thomson adds.Im looking forward to finding enjoyment in making art again, instead of feeling like I have to show up to a job I never applied to, explains Jiao Hsia. The idea of making art for fun, without worrying about making money off it, is something I cant wait to do.

There is a lot of attention on young men and toxic masculinity at the moment. Its about time. The devastating Netflix drama Adolescence, about a 13-year-old boy accused of murdering a girl after being radicalised by the online manosphere, has drawn attention to the problem through the sheer force of its brilliant writing and a blistering lead performance from teenager Owen Cooper. Recently, former England football manager Gareth Southgate gave a speech about the state of boyhood in the UK, specifically about how young men, lacking moral mentors, are turning to gambling and video gaming, thereby disconnecting from society and immersing themselves in predominantly male online communities where misogyny and racism are often rife. There has been some kickback in the gaming press to the idea that games have provided a less-than-ideal environment for boys, but even those of us who have played and enjoyed games all our lives need to face up to the fact that gaming forums, message boards, streaming platforms and social media groups are awash with disturbing hate speech and violent rhetoric.Honestly, we have known this for a while. The 2014 harassment campaign GamerGate, which claimed to be about a lack of objectivity in games journalism, but was really a reaction to increasing inclusivity and progressive thinking in game development, was a testing ground for the radicalisation of young white men by alt-right influencers and news outlets such as Breitbart. Many of the apparatus of online rightwing extremism, including mass harassment and doxing of victims, originated in that rancid cauldron, where female and LGBTQI+ game developers, and game-makers of colour, were made to fear for their lives.The last thing we need from politicians and lifestyle gurus is a blanket statement that boys need to stop playing gamesIt didnt end there toxic fandom has continued to dog the games industry. Developers of games who have sought to diversify their characters and narratives, or have simply delayed the launch of much-anticipated titles, have faced mass online abuse and death threats. A friend of mine, once the media-visible executive producer of a major game series, was forced to accept a police escort for him and his family for several days after fans of the game disagreed with several new features of the latest instalment. More recently, its been reported that members of the team working on Assassins Creed Shadows were told by the company not to mention their role in the production on social media in case they were targeted and harassed. Shadows received a huge online backlash when it was revealed that one of the two lead characters would be a black samurai. Trump didnt come up with the idea of ludicrously misrepresenting the concept of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) to appease right-leaning voters toxic game communities have been doing this for years.The worry, in the current maelstrom, is that the nuance of the problem will be lost. Even while condemning gaming communities that worship influencers such as Andrew Tate and Sneako, that belittle women and share incel and red pill philosophies, it is important to recognise the hugely positive roles that online communities can play in the lives of teenagers. As the father of an autistic teen, I have seen my son flourishing through contact with other players in games such as Minecraft and Warframe. The last thing we need from politicians and attention-seeking lifestyle gurus is a blanket philosophy that boys need to stop playing games or that all games are unhealthy this isnt about screen time, its not about getting boys to touch grass once in a while. We have to understand that our children are digital natives, as at home online as they are in any physical space for many, there is no clear delineation. And honestly, if youre shaking your head at how sad that is while spending hours a day perusing Facebook, Instagram or TikTok, then I dont know what to say to you.What can be done? Of course, the games industry has a responsibility just like social media companies do to monitor its communities and make them safe. Robust online moderation and the use of AI to monitor in-game chat for key slurs and subjects, are a vital part of combating the problem. But in the long term, the problem of abusive, antisocial young men wont go away until we get to the source. Many young men in 2025 lack a sense of direction, identity and purpose. Traditional careers are disappearing; social changes are challenging historical masculine roles; mental health services are hard to access; city centres are dying. Whatever the truth of the matter, whatever we want to say about privilege, the world feels openly hostile to them. And into this vortex, come online influencers who will harness, direct and ultimately monetise that sense of hopelessness and rage, pointing it at easily identifiable targets women, immigrants, libtards, beta males, and yes, the makers of progressive video games.I have spent my whole career defending video games as a medium from those who seek to demonise the entire culture, but you simply cannot approach this subject without recognising that the games community traditionally dominated by young men interested in violent power fantasies is part of it. Young people often come to games to escape, to become virtual superheroes, but their vulnerability and lack of experience makes them targets and victims. Its going to take more than one brilliant TV drama to get society to address this pressing problem, but when it does, the games industry is going to have to be a big part of the difficult conversations to come.

Did you know that soundtrack concerts are among the most popular for touring orchestras? A full third of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestras first-time audience members are coming to the concert hall via their favourite series and movies and video games. It is a huge cultural growth area, and one that may have gone unrecognised by the general public.It is impossible to ignore video game music now, says Tommy Pearson, founder and artistic director of the inaugural London Soundtrack festival. The sheer creativity and artistry in games is incredible, and its been fascinating to see so many composers blossom in the genre.As one of the lead architects behind the festival, Pearson was eager to make space for video games as part of the celebration not just as an add-on to TV and film soundtracks, but as an equal in the art form. When I was first thinking about what we would do at the festival, including games music was a no-brainer. It absolutely has to be there alongside film and TV music. It has a very dedicated audience of fans and the music is as good as anything being written in any genre.Tommy Pearson, artistic director of London Soundtrack festival. Photograph: London Soundtrack FestivalRunning from 19 to 26 March, the festival will consist of live performances, panel discussions, screenings, Q&As and masterclasses. One of the key events, State of the Art, will include performances of video game music by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, masterclasses from Stephen Barton and Gordy Haab composers who recently collected Grammy and Ivor Novello awards for their work on Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.Why is 2025 the perfect time for the first Soundtrack festival in London? Were seeing millions of streams of game soundtracks, daily, says Barton. Theres a huge amount of social media content on Instagram and TikTok that ties into it, not to mention the world of Twitch where a streamers playlist is a huge part of their identity. The record industry is just about catching on to this.I see the streaming numbers climbing in real time, but beyond the data, you can sense it everywhere, adds Haab. Game music isnt confined to consoles any more its woven into peoples every day lives. My nieces and nephews, for example, have game soundtracks on rotation purely for enjoyment. At gaming events, fans know these themes note-for-note, singing them back with the same devotion youd see at a concert. Even in broader entertainment circles award shows, industry mixers video game scores are part of the conversation now. Theyre treated with the same respect as film music, standing on their own as a legitimate art form. And if the surging demand for soundtrack releases tells us anything, its that people arent just listening: theyre seeking it out.Fans know these themes note-for-note Death Stranding. Photograph: Kojima ProductionsComposers Ludvig Forssell (Death Stranding), Harry Gregson-Williams (Metal Gear Solid), Stephanie Economou (Assassins Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnark), and Borislav Slavov (Baldurs Gate 3) will all be part of a panel discussing games music in the day, before joining the performances in the evening.Youd be hard-pressed to find someone who cant sing a tune from Super Mario Bros or Final Fantasy or Halo or The Legend of Zelda, says Economou. Video game music is prevalent because video games are prevalent. The industry itself is more profitable than the film, television and music industry combined. So when people think that its suddenly surging in popularity, all I can think is: no, its just finally getting more recognition and celebration in more public spheres. I applaud the London Soundtrack festival for highlighting the art form and Im thrilled to be part of the festival in its inaugural year.The London Soundtrack festival is a great opportunity to celebrate the differences and diversities in music for media, adds Forssell. Video games may still be the new kid on the block, in some senses, but they are definitely here to stay; and I hope that we as composers will always be able to have our own different approaches to music in general, be it pop, rock or music for film, TV, video games and beyond.Pearson and the team of composers he has assembled see the event as a celebration of the state of video game music. These are all brilliant, hugely respected composers producing terrific and exciting scores that live in the game and in the concert hall very successfully, Pearson says.Will non-gaming audiences ever accept video game music as much as TV or film?There will always be a bit of snobbery about media music, Pearson says, But its nowhere near as much as it used to be. And who cares what people think anyway?

I have played many Assassins Creed games over the years, but Ive rarely loved them. Ubisofts historical fiction is perennially almost-great. A lot of players would say it reached its peak in the late 2000s, with the trio of renaissance Italy games beginning with Assassins Creed 2, and their charismatic hero, Ezio Auditore. Since then, the series has become bloated, offering hundreds of hours of repetitive open-world exploration and assassination in ancient Greece, Egypt and even Viking Britain. Odyssey (the Greek one) was the last I played seriously; I found the setting exquisite, the gameplay somewhat irritating and the scale completely overwhelming.The Assassins Creed games are extraordinary works of historical fiction, fastidiously recreating lost periods of history and letting you walk around in them. Theyre the closest thing to time travel. I play them for the virtual tourism, and find myself vaguely disappointed that 80% of what you do in these painstakingly realised worlds boils down to parkouring around killing people.Assassins Creed Shadows was released this week after a couple of last-minute delays, and I was surprised to find that it makes running around and killing people more fun and interesting than it has been in many years. This is partly down to the setting: 16th-century Japan, the era of warlord Oda Nobunaga, of samurai and shinobi and endless complex, fascinating conflicts. Japan was changing fast, having reluctantly opened up contact with the rest of the world. Shadows two protagonists are at the centre of all this change and tumult: Yasuke, a slave turned samurai under Nobunaga, and Naoe, a peasant shinobi building her own resistance movement as her home is torn apart.Two protagonists, two playstyles: Naoe is fast and quiet, and makes playing stealthily a viable and enjoyable way to experience the game for the first time in ages. Yasuke is strong and skilled, and can cut through enemies when a situation suddenly explodes into conflict. This adds variety and choice to the gameplay. Both characters are genuinely interesting, and I care about their stories. Yasuke appeared right at the beginning of the game and then was absent for about 12 hours; when he showed up again, I was beginning to get bored by Naoes quest for revenge, and having someone new with whom to explore this extraordinary setting kept me interested.And truly: what a setting. Ive been playing Shadows on a PS5 Pro and it is the most beautiful video game I have ever seen. You know how you just get used to how gorgeous modern games look after a few hours, and forget to admire the scenery? That hasnt happened to me yet after 15 hours with Shadows. The light, the architecture, the natural beauty of Japans mountains, the way you can see the roofs of shrines poking out from the treetops, the delicate beauty of Kyotos winding streets It helps that the seasons change every few hours, letting you quite literally see your surroundings in a new light. I cannot begin to imagine the hours of human effort that have gone into creating this environment. The detail is exceptional.Naoe in Assassins Creed Shadows. Photograph: UbisoftOne example of this is in the multilingual script. You can play the whole thing with English voice-acting, or you can play in period-appropriate Japanese and Portuguese with subtitles, which the games calls immersive mode. With the provisos that I am by no means an expert in Japanese history and that my own Japanese is extremely rusty, playing like this was astonishingly good. Every conversation feels like a series of delicate and dangerous manoeuvres; much is left unsaid, implied by tone and careful choice of words. You can choose Naoe or Yasukes responses at times, and saying the wrong thing sometimes results in an infinitesimal change in your interlocutors expression just enough to let you know that youve screwed up. It is, for a game about a ninja on an assassination revenge quest, surprisingly subtle.If you watched FXs exceptional TV adaptation of Shgun, youll probably be thinking that a lot of what I describe sounds familiar. And though Shadows isntThere are still some things about Assassins Creed that belong in the bin. The Animus is one of the all-time great video game framing devices. All Assassins Creed games take place inside a machine that lets you relive the memories of your ancestors, but with all the useful info and overlays of a video game. But thats all it needs to be: a framing device. We can surely get rid of the modern-day subplots about the Animus and whos controlling it. Dont interrupt my fun adventures in historical Japan by making me hunt down glitches and anomalies in the machine. And over the series 18-year history, it has acquired altogether too many systems. Its fiddly and unfocused there are too many menus for collecting and upgrading equipment, too many different skill trees for your characters abilities.Shadows may be sometimes confusing and overwhelming, but for the first time in a while, I was willing to forgive all that if I got to see more of Japan. If, like me, youve skipped the last few Assassins Creed games, you might be pleased to find that this is as streamlined and enjoyable as the series has been for a long time.What to playIntelligent and funny Expelled! Photograph: InkleIf you do not have the 30 to 50 hours required for Assassins Creed Shadows right now, heres a much more manageable treat: Expelled! Made by one of my favourite studios, Inkle, it is the story of a working-class scholarship girl trying to avoid getting kicked out of a posh English boarding school in the 1920s. Its full of intelligent and funny digs at the British class system and its poisonous social norms. As you get to know more about the teachers and students at this school on each playthrough, you soon learn that if you want to beat em, you kind of have to join em.Available on: iPhone/iPad, Switch, PC, Mac Estimated playtime: What to readMiddle Earth: Shadow of Mordor by Monolith, which has been shuttered by Warner Bros. Photograph: Monolith ProductionsOur writer Rick Lane put together an obituary of sorts for Monolith Games, the developer that Warner Bros closed last month after 30 years.The Game Developers Conference is in San Francisco this week. A billboard in the citys Union Square takes aim at corporate mismanagement of game studios: Has a Harrison fired you lately? it reads, evidently referring to ex-Sony/Microsoft/EA/Google Stadia executive Phil Harrison.FuturLab has announced Powerwash Simulator 2, a sequel to one of the most surprising gaming hits of the decade. This time you can hose down gunk in split-screen as well as online co-op. I look forward to cleaning virtual things alongside my eldest son on the couch while my partner complains that we do not have similar enthusiasm for cleaning the actual things in our house.Actor Seth Rogen shared an amusing anecdote about the making of Superbad last week: apparently Sony was so appalled by Jonah Hills character that they forbid him from touching a PlayStation.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Pushing ButtonsFree weekly newsletterKeza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gamingPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionWhat to clickQuestion BlockA combat-free option Assassins Creed: Origins Discovery Tour. Photograph: UbisoftA timely question today from reader Rick:During the pandemic, I played a lot of peaceful/passive games, largely avoiding games with conflict or too much stressful action. But I love a good open world and decided to start on Assassins Creed Origins. When I got to the menu, I noticed an educational/discovery option: combat-free walkthroughs of the historical places and people that were heavily researched and included in the game. It was amazing. Does Shadows have this mode? And can you recommend any other games that employ these passive, but immersive educational modes?Assassins Creeds Discovery Tour mode is brilliant as you said in your email, Valhalla and Odyssey also gave players the option to walk around in their worlds and learn cool facts about the time period depicted. Ubisoft made a fuss about this feature back when it was first created, offering it to schools as an educational tool, but not a lot of people talk about it. I love this mode I had a big interest in ancient Egypt when I was a kid, and I would have eaten this up. Theres no Discovery Tour mode in Shadows at launch, but Ive asked Ubisoft whether one is forthcoming. Ill report back when I get a response.In the meantime, here are a couple of other games with similar pacifist modes, though neither is educational: in GTA Online, you can turn on passive mode to simply enjoy and explore Los Santos without getting grief from other players; and in strategy game Humankind you can turn off war and just build your civilisation. Does anyone know of any more?If youve got a question for Question Block or anything else to say about the newsletter hit reply or email us on pushingbuttons@theguardian.com.

An investigation by the UK advertising watchdog has found a number of shocking ads in mobile gaming apps that depict women as sexual objects, use pornographic tropes, and feature non-consensual sexual scenarios involving violent and coercive control.The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) used avatars, which mimic the browsing behaviour of different gender and age groups, to monitor ads served when mobile games are open and identify breaches of the UK code.While most of the thousands of promotions served to the avatars complied with UK rules, the watchdog identified and banned eight that featured shocking content that portrayed women in a harmful way.Two ads promoting an artificial intelligence chatbot app, Linky: Chat With Characters AI, began with a woman dressed in a manga T-shirt, a short skirt and large bunny ears dancing in a bedroom with text reading: Tell me which bf [boyfriend] I should break up with.The ad moved on to animated content featuring text conversations with three manga-style young men. They were variously described as obsessively possessive, aggressively jealous, a kidnapper and a killer. Further text described yanking the woman into the car, swiftly knocking her out, with the woman asking: What if I enjoy this?The ASA said the ad was suggestive and implied scenarios involving violent and coercive control and a lack of consent.An ad for an interactive romance story game called My Fantasy featured an animation of a woman being approached by another woman and being pushed on to a desk. Options appeared asking what she should do enjoy it, push her away, please continue and stop it.The ASA said the animations were strongly suggestive and implied the sexual encounters were not consensual.The ASA also identified three ads for Love Sparks: Dating Sim, which were shown to its female child and adult male avatars. One ad showed an animated woman lying on her back with her legs spread, with the options kiss her and take it slow.The second ad featured sexually suggestive depictions of Kate your naughty step sister wearing a bra, and an animated image of Lally, 18.The third ad featured an animated clothed woman with her bottom pulsating with the options next girl and slap, as well as text reading punish me please.The ASA said that in the ads the women were shown as stereotypical sexual objects using tropes from pornography.The watchdog banned the eight ads and issued a warning to those behind them. It said that although they were rare examples out of the 5,923 adverts served to its digital avatars, the harmful or degrading portrayals of women in ads are completely unacceptable and we take a zero-tolerance approach to this kind of content.The ASA also published findings of a study that found that almost half of UK consumers were concerned about the depiction and objectification of women and girls in ads.The survey of 6,500 people, conducted by YouGov, found that 45% of people were concerned about ads that include idealised body images of women. It found 44% were concerned about the objectification of women and girls.Last month, the ASA banned an advert from the high street retailer Next for featuring an unhealthily thin model in digitally altered clothing.The survey marks the latest initiative in this area by the ASA since it introduced tougher rules regarding the depiction of men and women in ads in 2019.The new rules were developed after a consultation process partly prompted by the outcry over adverts in 2015 for the slimming product Protein World, which promised to make women beach body ready.

Japan, 1581: Iga province is burning down around you. You watch on, injured and helpless as the Oda Nobunaga - the warlord responsible for numerous civil wars and the eventual unification of the country - smirks from a nearby hill. You draw your katana, the blade shining in the flickering light of the flames. This is Assassins Creed: Shadows part exciting ninja game, part history lesson. Its an odd combination but it comes together in a sprawling historical-fiction adventure full of discovery and deception.The tumultuous period that saw the unification of Japan and the fall of Nobunaga in the late 1500s is an ideal setting in which to play around as a sneaky shinobi and a brave samurai. The series science-fictiony framing device is that you, the player, are diving into your ancestors memories to hunt down a mysterious artefact by taking down a group of menacing masked samurai, one at a time. But mostly the game leaves you alone to enjoy feudal Japan.In this fraught time period, there is a sense of constant danger, each conversation like careful steps on a knifes edge. The story is complete fiction of course, but it does weave around actual historical events and figures, and the developers at Ubisoft have clearly gone to great pains to make the settings feel authentic, both landscapes and the people who inhabit them. Youll automatically remove your shoes when entering a building, and famous temples appear as they would have looked then, rather than as the tourist destinations they are now.The world truly is gorgeous, with several provinces to explore in all seasons and weathers, and period-accurate cities including Kyoto and Osaka. Giant temples rise up over busy towns full of stalls and workshops, while mossy shrines are scattered along winding paths through the countryside. Youll see Japan in all colours, too, from the gentle pinks of springs sakura blooms, to the fiery-coloured leaves blanketing the hills in autumn, to the inky darkness of a winters night. Its easy to be distracted by the view mid-mission when youre surrounded by ancient red torii gates, or notice a random puppet performance in the street. Ubisofts Japan feels alive. It also feels totally overwhelming, at times.As much fun as it is to roam the countryside on horseback, scouting out new villages and historic sites, theres just so much of it that its easy to feel lost. There are plenty of missions and side quests that will guide you around the map, but theres a lot of repetition in those tasks. To kill a high-level samurai you will need some help; the person who can help you wants a favour, which involves finding another person who wants you to kill a different samurai, and so on. Over the games long run time, this starts to grate.Important feature: you can pet all the cats (and dogs) in Japan if you want. Photograph: UbisoftThe dual protagonists do help to alleviate the feeling that youre stuck in a repetitive loop. For the first 10 to 15 hours of the game, youll step into the sandals of shinobi Fujibayashi Naoe, a young woman seeking revenge after her home was destroyed, and help her to rebuild her life and set up a network of spies and rebels from a secret mountain base. Then theres Yasuke, a principled black samurai based on the real historical figure of the same name, who appears briefly in the games introduction, then disappears until Naoe gets close to Nobunaga.Naoe is light on her feet, capable of scaling walls and temples with ease, while also melting into shadows to creep around enemies. Her stealthy approach makes for some fun sneaky moments, such as stabbing through paper shoji screen-doors for a surprise attack. That tip-toe approach comes at a cost, though, when shes faced with a brawl. Enemy strikes hit her hard and shell quickly get overpowered in a fight. Yasuke, on the other hand, is brutally strong, and capable of running straight through those screen doors and shrugging off sword strikes like theyre a tickly irritant. He can still assassinate foes like Naoe can, but he does it head-on rather than in the shadows. In a series that has traditionally prioritised stealth, it feels extremely liberating when you bust through a castles gate and face everyone head on. Both characters are viable options to play through most of the game and you can swap between them (mostly) at will.Few other games have done such a good job with this setting Assassins Creed: Shadows. Photograph: UbisoftUnfortunately, no matter whom you play as, youll have to put up with a few niggles in a fight. While dodges and parries feel amazing when you can pull them off in one-on-one scraps, youll often find yourself surrounded as more opponents are alerted to your presence, which makes it really tricky to see where hits are coming from. When youre creeping around castle rooftops and taking your time picking enemies off, springing backwards into the shadows afterwards before scoping out your next kill, everything feels as it should. But the instant you get into a fight on the ground it starts to feel messy and frustrating.While I did find myself getting annoyed running back and forth between quest givers, I still cant stop thinking about Shadows. Excellent performances and emotionally resonant moments, such as Naoes painful recovery after she loses everything she holds dear, mean youll feel every bit of sorrow and anger alongside the games heroes. Events are often troubling, as power struggles between lords often come at a huge cost to locals, and you see the unwelcome effects of your actions on your allies.Few other games have done such a good job with this setting, as you run through lush bamboo forests before scaling ancient castle walls and sneaking inside to steal treasures. These moments of brilliance more than compensate for its weaker points.Assassins Creed: Shadows is released on 20 March; 59.99

Late last month, Warner Bros announced it was closing three of its game development studios in a strategic change of direction: WB Games San Diego, Player First Studios, and Monolith Productions. At a time when the games industry is racked with layoffs and studio closures, the barrage of dispiriting headlines can be numbing. But the shutdown of Monolith cut through the noise, sparking fresh shock and outrage at the industrys slash and burn approach to cost cutting. There are numerous reasons for this, but among them was a pervading belief that Monolith would be around forever. I dont think I ever really considered the possibility that it would shut down one day, says Garrett Price, one of Monoliths seven founding members.True to its name, Monolith was a singular presence. Founded in 1994, it was a prolific developer whose games displayed visual flair, mechanical inventiveness and a knack for synthesising pop-cultural themes. Most excitingly, you could never really predict what the studio would do next. While it primarily produced first-person shooters, there were forays into platformers, dungeon crawlers and open-world games. And even the core FPS titles differed wildly in theme and style, inspired by everything from 60s spy films to Japanese horror.Went toe-to-toe with Quake Blood. Photograph: Monolith Productions/GOGMonolith didnt really have a true identity, and we honestly didnt really care, Price explains. We pretty much just made whatever we wanted to make We didnt spend a lot of time trying to figure out what genre would sell the best or what theme would be the most accessible to the mass market. We just tried to make what we thought was cool.Monolith emerged from the edutainment software company Edmark, where several of the companys founders were previously employed. On my interview day, I remember this bald chap walking past me on the stairs wearing a Wolfenstein 3D T-shirt. I figured this would be a great place to work, says Toby Gladwell, Monolith co-founder and software engineer. He recalls that his co-founders were emboldened by the recent release of Doom, the demonic first-person shooter that catapulted its creators, id Software, to rockstar status and transformed perceptions of the PC as a gaming platform. We realised quickly that this was our calling. We simply had to make the best games of all time.However, Monoliths initial project bore little resemblance to id Softwares classic. Claw was a 2D, Mario-style platformer about a pirate cat. It was meant to be Monoliths debut title, but in a quirk of fate, the company acquired another developer in late 1996 Q Studios which was deep into production on a Doom-like first-person shooter called Blood. Monolith opted to prioritise Bloods completion over Claw a decision that would have huge ramifications.Released in March 1997, Blood puts players in the role of Caleb, a gunslinging servant to the demon Tchernobog who is is betrayed and murdered by his fiendish master. Those early games, especially Blood and Claw, have a very hand-crafted feel to them and were very much DIY endeavours, Price says. A 2.5D shooter released as games were pivoting hard into full 3D rendering, Blood was in some ways behind the times. But its gritty visual style, creative weapons such as flare guns and voodoo dolls, and innovative addition of alternate fire modes for weapons, helped it stand toe-to-toe with more technologically advanced games such as Quake.Anime-inspired Shogo: Mobile Armour Division. Photograph: Monolith ProductionsThe success of Blood sent Monolith into a frenzy of FPS development. Between 1998 and 2003, it designed seven new games in the genre including Blood 2; the anime-inspired shooter Shogo: Mobile Armour Division, which alternated between on-foot combat and city-flattening battles inside Gundam-style mechs; and two licensed tie-in games, Aliens Versus Predator 2, and Tron 2.0.Our studio culture was born from a deep-seated conviction that we could accomplish anything we put our minds to, Gladwell says. We talked games, we played games together, both competitively and to analyse. There werent significant boundaries, given that we were all new to building a company other than a strong desire to build games that would stand alongside the giants of the time.The lack of boundaries also applied to the practical side of game design. This was still a fledgling industry when we got started. The more specific roles you see today, such as world builder or environment artist were far more nebulous. Everyone pitched in. This helped give us a broader spread of opinion and feedback, because everyone was contributing to design, Gladwell says. Much of my own time at Monolith was spent in the energy vortex between design, art, audio and engineering.A gloriously colourful pastiche of 60s espionage fiction The Operative: No One Lives Forever. Photograph: Monolith ProductionsThe brightest star of Monoliths early years, The Operative: No One Lives Forever, or NOLF as it is affectionately known, saw players don the orange catsuit of Cate Archer in a gloriously colourful pastiche of 60s espionage fiction. Its wide-ranging adventure transported players to Morocco, Germany, the tropics and even into space, with each level introducing new ideas, weapons and gadgets. Released in 2000, It was also one of the only shooters of its time with a female protagonist and her portrayal holds up surprisingly well for a game that owes a significant debt to Austin Powers.Monoliths vintage year, however, came in 2005, during which it released three games. Alongside The Matrix Online, a massively multiplayer adaptation of the 1999 sci-fi action movie, Monolith released a second game partly inspired by the same film: Fear. The culmination of Monoliths mastery of the FPS, Fear combines the espionage themes of NOLF, the stylised ultraviolence of Blood and the Japanese borrowings of Shogo though this time it looked to J-horror films, particularly Ringu, for inspiration. It bound these elements together with dynamic slow-motion combat and state-of-the-art enemy AI design, pitching the player against an army of clones that could seemingly work together tactically to outfox the player. The result is one of the best first-person shooters ever made.Fear is arguably Monoliths best game. Yet despite its title, it isnt the scariest. One month after Fear launched, Monolith released Condemned: Criminal Origins. A dark and gritty detective thriller inspired by films such as Se7en and The Silence of the Lambs, Condemned likewise blended horror and battles against eerily human enemies. But the foes you face in Condemned are crazed vagrants who attack the player with steel pipes and wooden planks, these tooth-and-nail duels interspersed with grisly crime-scene investigations.Arguably Monoliths finest Alma from Fear. Photograph: Sierra GamesBy far Monoliths most unsettling game, Condemneds atmosphere of dread is thicker and more convincing than anything in Fear. A level set in a mannequin-filled department store has become infamous for its paranoia-inducing qualities. Their studio had a real talent for permanently altering your imagination by turning everyday locations into memorable levels, says Cameron Martin, senior producer at New Blood Interactive, publisher of retro shooters including Dusk, partly inspired by Monoliths work. After playing their games, youll never look at empty office buildings or crusty subway stations the same way again.Fear and Condemned would be the last truly original games the studio would make. By 2005, Monolith had been acquired by Warner Bros, and after providing Fear and Condemned with decent if lesser sequels, Monolith became a servant of Warner Bros media licences.Yet even in this role, Monoliths inventive, capricious personality shines through, as in 2012s bizarre multiplayer shooter Gotham City Imposters, where players assumed the roles of random Gotham citizens pretending to be Batman and the Joker. The highlight of the studios latter years, however, was Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor. An open-world game in the Assassins Creed mould, Shadow of Mordor featured the remarkable Nemesis AI system, which reorganised Saurons faceless army of orcs into a scheming political hierarchy, filled with recognisable personalities players would repeatedly encounter in tit-for-tat blood feuds.Highlight of Monoliths later years Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor. Photograph: Monolith ProductionsNemesis was a potentially genre-defining concept, an idea dozens of other games would borrow from and riff on. But we will never know what its influence could have been. Warner Bros patented the system in 2021, and the only game to feature it since is Monoliths final release, Middle-Earth: Shadow of War. Monolith was working on a Wonder Woman game that would also have featured the system, but this project was cancelled alongside Monoliths closure.When a game studio closes, it can be difficult to gauge what is lost. Drive, perhaps, is what ultimately defines Monoliths legacy. Between its foundation in 1994 and Shadow of Wars publication in 2017, Monolith created 23 games, one for every year of its existence up to that point. Which makes it more shocking that Monolith closed with nothing to show for its last eight years of existence.That such a dependable studio failed to release another game in almost a decade should raise serious questions about modern industry practices and how studios are increasingly subject to the whims of executives, investors, and venture capitalists. The demand that every release be bigger and better looking, appealing to the widest audience, and poised to serve players for years, is transforming the industry into a zero-sum game a game that some studios arent allowed to finish, let alone win or lose.

More than four years after its announcement and after two last-minute delays, the latest title in Ubisofts historical fiction series Assassins Creed will finally be released on Thursday. Set in Japan in 1579, a time of intense civil war dominated by the feudal lord Oda Nobunaga, it follows two characters navigating their way through the bloody chaos: a female shinobi named Fujibayashi Naoe, and Yasuke, an African slave turned samurai. Japan has been the series most-requested setting for years, Ubisoft says."I've been on [this] franchise for 16 years and I think every time we start a new game, Japan comes up and we ask, is this the time? says executive producer Marc-Alexis Cot. We've never pushed beyond the conception phase with Japan until this one."The game comes at a crucial time for Ubisoft after the disappointing performance of last years titles Star Wars Outlaws, Skull and Bones and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, and the expensive closure of live service shooter XDefiant. There has also been a furore over the games Black and female protagonists, with the usual rightwing YouTubers criticising them as woke and historically inaccurate, despite the fact that female warriors fought throughout the feudal period, and that Yasuke, the games Black samurai, is a historical figure.It is something the team is keen to address. In-house historians were some of the first people to get staffed on the production team, says creative director Jonathan Dumont. A huge data bank is continually fed. As we get a sense of the era, the research effort then requires the help of specialists from around the world, including Japan, to narrow down details or understand finer cultural points.The game features advancements in lighting on landscapes. Photograph: UbisoftThere were also field trips to the games key locations of Kyoto and Osaka, which revealed elements the team hadnt thought of. Cote recalls travelling to Japan to show local colleagues some technological breakthroughs the development team had made with lighting on landscapes. But they all shook their heads and said it wasnt working. I was like, Why?! he says. And they just replied: Thats not how light falls on the mountains in Japan. So when our art director was there I asked him specifically to go look at the mountains. He went, took reference photos, and now weve captured it.The team also had to render individual characters socks, because they are always depicted removing their footwear when entering a building. The expectations have been this high throughout. Its been a challenge.Like all the previous Assassins Creed titles before it, Shadows uses authentic locations and historical figures to seat the games time-hopping narrative. Takeda, Fukuchiyama and Himeji castles are all replicated along with the villages, ports and rural landscapes of Central Japan. But as ever, this is first and foremost a game about sneaking over rooftops and skilfully taking down enemies. In a demo we played just before release, the lead characters are assaulting Himeji castle, and you can choose to play either as Naoe, skulking in the shadows using smoke bombs and silent attacks to escape detection, or Yasuke, running in with his sword and lopping off limbs. While Ubisoft has put immense effort into capturing the Azuchi-Momoyama period and the nature of the Iga peasant class (the possible origin of the modern ninja archetype), what matters equally is how good it feels to leap off a rooftop and decapitate a passing enemy.Incredibly bloody combat. Photograph: UbisoftIn many ways, it seems the game draws as much from modern cultural depictions of the period and its warriors as from history. Japanese storytelling has been very influential to the development of the game and to all occidental arts in general, says Dumont. Kagemusha from Kurosawa, 13 Assassins, Zatoichi, Sekigahara, The Tale of Genji or Musashi from Eiji Yoshikawa, to name the more obvious, have [all] helped shape our vision for the game. Even Studio Ghibli movies such as My Neighbour Totoro have helped us understand the countryside and vegetation.Its certainly an interesting time for Shadows to release. Multiple high-profile failures of recent live service games have left players yearning for the era of big single-player adventures, with decent sales reported for Obsidians recent RPG Avowed. Meanwhile, the huge success of FX/Hulus Shgun series has brought feudal Japan back into the cultural spotlight, and its story of stranded English navigator John Blackthorne becoming a high ranking samurai somewhat reflects that of Yasuke.The game does look beautiful, with intricate environments, a dramatic weather system and incredibly bloody combat. Ubisoft has survived a difficult period; a lot now rests on its most treasured possession.

When Jan Scott Wilkinson, frontman of the band formerly known as British Sea Power, was first asked to work on a video game soundtrack, he was sceptical. We didnt know much about the game, but our manager Dave seemed to think there was something interesting about this Robert guy who had been pleasantly hounding him, he says. That was Estonian novelist Robert Kurvitz, part of a team who had just started work on an esoteric video game about an alcoholic cop trying to solve a murder in an impoverished region of a war-torn country. The game was Disco Elysium, now regarded as one of the all-time great cerebral role-playing games: released in 2019, it sat atop PC Gamers top 100 list for four years in a row.Kurvitz is a Sea Power superfan. Pick a random scene from the game and therell be something a bit of dialogue, a location, a theme that has some sort of Sea Power reference in it. Wilkinson tells me that Kurvitz was captivating and full of a bubbling passion and that he knew an unsettling number of strange details about our music. Kurvitz had already embedded some of those very obscure Sea Power references in the world of Disco Elysium before they had even met. Whether the band liked it or not, they were already enmeshed in this eccentric Estonians world.[Disco Elysium] seemed both separate, and also sympathetic to, the bands identity, Wilkinson reflects. It was a strange, fucked up, sci-fi existence parallel to the one we were inhabiting Kurvitz seemed to mythologise the mundane.Mythologising the mundane Disco Elysium. Photograph: ZA/UMThe game is about the perennial pull between fascism and communism; police violence; the importance of community in the face of state oppression; alcoholism; homosexuality; the politics of poverty; and a tiny, pixel-sized hole in reality. It suited Sea Power down to the ground. The band, after all, had been writing music about the slow, perilous collapse of the planet as ice shelves slid into the ocean. There had been sombre, reflective, tracks about obscure bodies of water in Orkney. Theyd waxed lyrical about the virtues of being an EU citizen (pre-Brexit, naturally). The band have always embraced the miserable alongside the beautiful. Wilkinson is particularly complimentary of the games strange sense of humour, something he thinks resonated with the band and their fans.The initial meeting between took place in Birmingham. Birmingham is a strange place. Its own world. Very strong in character, reflects Wilkinson. Maybe [Kurvitz] had been to Alan Moore for a magical blessing? [To meet us] in the spiritual home of heavy metal and Tolkiens inspiration for the Shire it seems oddly fitting, I suppose, now that I look back. I had never thought about that until now.Sea Power, new to the world of video games, took direction from Kurvitz, caught in the tidal pool of his vision for most of the project. Wilkinson tells me that Kurvitz had a plan, and a fastidious knowledge of our albums and rare EPs and B-sides. As such, many of the songs in the game come from pre-existing Sea Power tracks, reworked, remixed, and re-recorded to coalesce with the watercolour weariness that defines Disco Elysiums fading world.The games thought cabinet cover art for Disco Elysiums soundtrack. Illustration: ZA/UMThinking about it, some of the tracks we used on the game continued their existence into our following album, Wilkinson says. So working on the game not only drew from our past but influenced our future, too.Disco Elysiums songs are stripped down, exposing the core melodies, and a little bit less dense than what youd hear on a standard Sea Power album. There are fewer vocal melodies and longer, dreamier sequences. Any explicit narrative is stripped away, and youre left with a soundscape, a Turner painting as a song. Generally, songs needed distilling down to a fundamental mood fitting the scene, doing away with anything which was in competition with that mood and usually adding a little dreamy liminal menace, Wilkinson says.There is so much dialogue, and the visuals do so much, so the music really just needed to reach into the subconscious and open the gates of the mind, allowing the brain to absorb the words and images and help them become totally immersive. And that was enjoyable, artistically, to do I love creating atmospheres and sonic textures as much as writing choruses or words. Maybe more, sometimes.Sea Power have also worked on film soundtracks, rescoring a 1934 Irish fictional documentary called Man of Aran an experience that helped Wilkinson know what to expect from creating a game soundtrack, even if there were some key differences.Games are a little more easygoing with regards to timing, he says. With film, its often important to hit cues and you know exactly when different moods need to change direction. It can be more mathematical. The game needed more general mood textures to sit behind scenes, and blend into and enhance the feeling of various parts of the world. I would definitely work on more games. I love games like Disco Elysium, although they are a very rare thing.This spring, Sea Power are embarking on a mini tour named Soundtracks Live. The set will feature various Disco Elysium songs, work from the Man of Aran soundtrack, and various tracks from another documentary feature film, From the Sea to the Land Beyond. Wilkinson is excited about the prospect of performing these tracks live especially for an audience of Disco Elysium fans.The game needed general mood textures to sit behind scenes Disco Elysium. Photograph: ZA/UMWe have had a noticeable growth in listeners since [the game was released], he says. They seem like a cool and thoughtful bunch, these Disco Elysium players. They are appreciated. The odd drunken detective has been sighted along the crash barrier at gigs.The relationship between Disco Elysium and Sea Power has been symbiotic; they have given new life to each other. Sea Power have seen a swell in listeners as a result of the game, and existing Sea Power fans discovered a new love for video games as a result of the collaboration. And the relationship is still evolving.On our first meeting, [Kurvitz] did tell me that he had worked very hard on re-ordering the track list to our album Valhalla Dancehall, smiles Wilkinson. Hmm, Valhalla Dancehall, Disco Elysium could there be a link of some kind? The band are now considering this revised track list for the albums anniversary reissue. He is very talented and intelligent. So are all the games core creators. I dont think many people notice all the little nods to the world of Sea Power through the game. It was strange when it became such a huge hit around the world, and we were proud to be a part of its story.And, of course, he nods, we got a Bafta out of it, too, which would have been unlikely to happen to us otherwise.

Its easy to feel a bit beset by doom these days. The other week, I watched the heinous AI-generated Trump Gaza video and was so appalled that I impulse-bought a kayaking guide book. It felt like the only sane response was to take to the water and paddle away.Video games are a reliable antidote to existential doom, but layoffs, corporate homogenisation and AI slop are all encroaching on my safe haven, making it more difficult to get a brief reprieve from whats happening in the outside world. Thank God, then, for the Bafta games awards nominations, which reliably remind me that video games are pretty great, actually.The 2025 picks were announced last week (right after my newsletter deadline, as longtime readers will know is now tradition). In my opinion, Baftas event is the classiest and least commercial of the gaming awards shows, and its judging panels, with a mix of video game industry professionals and specialists from Baftas membership and beyond, usually come out with the broadest range of picks. I always see a lot of what I personally love about video games in these nominations: their sheer creative variation and vivacity. (Disclosure: over the years Ive been involved with these judging panels in various capacities, but not in 2025.)The eligibility period runs from November 2023 to November 2024, so there are no nominations for the superb Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. (I feel so sorry for great games that come out in December.) One of my favourites I played made the cut: A Highland Song, a magical-realist game about running through the Scottish mountains, is up for best British game, alongside another Scottish-set game called Still Wakes the Deep, a cosmic horror thriller set on a North Sea oil rig. Yorkshire-ish comedy Thank Goodness Youre Here! is also up for this award, as are Lego Horizon Adventures, Paper Trail and Hellblade II.Hellblade II is actually the most-nominated game overall, appearing in 11 categories. Still Wakes the Deep, meanwhile, appeared in eight, and Thank Goodness Youre Here in seven. If I may be allowed some very mild patriotism, Britains games industry should be very proud of its output last year, which was overall a horrid one for those working in the business of play.Personal fave Neva, a game about a warrior and her wolf, is nominated for an artistic achievement award. Photograph: nevaDelightfully, Thank Goodness Youre Here! made it into the best game category with Astro Bot, Black Myth: Wukong, Balatro, Helldivers 2, and Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, a game that I liked less, apparently, than almost everyone else. There are a bunch of big games here in various categories, but what I like about the Baftas is that indie games arent relegated to their own specific category: they appear everywhere, resulting in an enjoyably unpredictable slate. The stop-motion submarine puppet adventure game Harold Halibut and the warrior-and-wolf environmentalist action game Neva (a personal fave) are up for the artistic achievement award, next to big titles including Astro Bot and Wukong.The ambiguously named games beyond entertainment category is always my favourite to peruse, partly because of the nebulous definition: these are all games with some kind of message or intended wider meaning. We have Kind Words, in which you send nice messages to strangers or send your worries out into the world. Theres Botany Manor, about exploring the home of a Victorian botanist. Tales of Kenzera: Zau was informed by its directors grief after the death of his father. Tetris Forever is a fascinating interactive documentary about the block-arranging game, and an insight into a wild period of video game history. Hellblade is in there, too, presumably because of its portrayal of living with psychosis. And then theres Vampire Therapist, in which you are a cowboy talking the immortal undead through their emotional baggage. I had never heard of this game, and will be downloading it forthwith.Last years awards were so comprehensively dominated by Baldurs Gate 3 that the show lacked its usual propensity for surprises, but a lot of the categories this year are much tighter. The show is on 8 April at 7pm BST, hosted once again by comedian Phil Wang, and pretty much everything on this list of nominations would be a worthy winner. That said: if the gloriously clever and maximalist role-playing game Metaphor: ReFantazio doesnt win best narrative, Ill be fumin.What to playWanderstop. Photograph: Ivy Road/AnnapurnaWanderstop is game is about a formerly fearsome warrior forced to slow the heck down and run a whimsical tea shop in a fantasy forest, and she is not happy about it. Its also a game about burnout. Co-written by Davey Wreden (The Stanley Parable, The Beginners Guide) and Karla Zimonja (Gone Home), it will speak to anyone who has ever overinvested in their work and found the meaning suddenly stripped from their life when they can no longer work like they used to. (No idea what youre talking about.)Available on: PS5, Xbox, PCEstimated playtime: 10 hoursWhat to readA landmark for explorable 3D game worlds The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, from 1998. Photograph: NintendoInspired by a Bafta survey, I asked a bunch of interesting and distinguished people for their most influential video game of all time. No two people picked the same game. Most of their selections were so brilliantly esoteric that I felt distinctly boring for picking something relatively predictable.Sony has been experimenting with AI-powered game characters: an AI version of Aloy from Horizon was leaked to the Verge, talking to the player in a synthesised voice. Important reminder: Horizon is a story about how greedy technocrats destroyed the earth with the help of AI.Theres a new official trailer for The Last of Us season two, with Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsay returning as heroes Joel and Ellie. Those of us who have played the game will know there is, uh, plenty the trailer doesnt show And speaking of trailers, theres a 10-minute (yes, 10) trailer for Death Stranding 2, which will be released on 26 June. Being a Hideo Kojima game, it looks equal parts creative, confusing and utterly bonkers.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Pushing ButtonsFree weekly newsletterKeza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gamingPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionWhat to clickQuestion BlockTrigger warning for vegetarians Monster Hunter: World. Photograph: CapcomReader Robin provides this weeks question:Heres a question I cant get out of my head: how can you play Monster Hunter!? Im not squeamish at all but I could barely get through a training session, which involved hurting a harmless creature trapped in an arena I was disgusted and my son was horrified. Then some innocent creature lay dying and I was pulling silly faces and taking photos of the poor thing as it breathed its last. And if Monster Hunter didnt do it for you, what has prompted you to walk away from a game?This is such a valid question! I was vegetarian for 12 years and yet throughout, I happily cut down majestic creatures in Monster Hunter and felt proud of my achievements. I am so fascinated by this dichotomy that I wrote a whole article about it when Monster Hunter: World came out in 2018. Forgive me for quoting myself, but heres what I wrote:One of the functions of fantasy violence, whether in Monster Hunter or Game of Thrones, is to prompt reflection on the role that violence plays in the real world and in human nature. Monster Hunter might involve killing, but it also restores humans to the hierarchy of the natural world Perhaps spending hours of my leisure time pretending to be a hunter-gatherer-warrior is an outlet for the slavering carnivore within.I am not vegetarian any more, but I fully acknowledge the dissonance between respecting and admiring these incredible virtual creatures and then killing them to make fancy helmets. The latest game does a lot of cognitive somersaulting in its story to try to make out that killing these dangerous beasts is noble because we do it to protect people and the ecosystem. But on a base level, were doing it because its fun, and that is pretty gross on one level. On another: its fantasy. With absolutely no judgment towards fans of first-person shooters, I am personally more comfortable with killing virtual dragons than killing virtual people.On to the second part of your question: one moment in Grand Theft Auto V made me so uncomfortable that I had to fetch my partner to play through the scene for me. A scene in the story that involves a hillbilly psycho capturing and torturing a guy who is Middle Eastern. You have no choice but to actively participate, and it made me feel nauseated. Its obviously intended to be satirical commentary on the US governments immediate recourse to torture after 9/11, but it massively missed the mark for me.If youve got a question for Question Block or anything else to say about the newsletter hit reply or email us on pushingbuttons@theguardian.com.

Niantic Labs said it would sell its video game division to Saudi Arabia-owned Scopely for $3.5bn, as the US augmented reality firm shifts focus to geospatial technology after failing to recreate the success of its 2016 smash hit Pokmon Go.The deal, announced on Wednesday, also advances Saudi Arabias ambitions to become the ultimate global hub for gaming. The kingdoms sovereign wealth fund, via Savvy Games, bought Scopely for $4.9bn in 2023 as part of a broader push by the country to diversify beyond fossil fuels.Niantic said it would distribute an extra $350m to its equity holders under the deal. It will also spin off its geospatial artificial intelligence (AI) business into a new firm called Niantic Spatial, which will be led by the Niantic founder and CEO, John Hanke.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to TechScapeFree weekly newsletterA weekly dive in to how technology is shaping our livesPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionNiantic Spatial will be funded with $250m of capital $200m from Niantics balance sheet and $50m from Scopely. All of Niantics original investors will also continue to be shareholders of Niantic Spatial.The move follows several tough years for Niantic. After Pokmon Go became one of the successful mobile games, the company struggled to replicate its success and had to lay off employees in 2022 and 2023. It also axed the Harry Potter: Wizards Unite video game in 2022.For Saudi, already a growing hub for gaming and home to the Esports World Cup, the deal builds on a plan to invest nearly $38bn in initiatives related to the industry through its Savvy Games Group.Savvy Games is a major investor in global video game companies including Nintendo, in which it has a stake of around 7.54% after a small cut in its interest last year.

Parents who are worried about their children gaming on Roblox should not let them use it, the platforms chief executive has said.There have been reports of bullying and grooming, and fears that children are being exposed to explicit or harmful content, on the site, which is the most popular platform in the UK among gamers aged eight to 12.Robloxs co-founder and chief executive, David Baszucki, told BBC News the platform was vigilant in protecting its users, and said tens of millions of people had amazing experiences on the site.But he added: My first message would be: if youre not comfortable, dont let your kids be on Roblox. That sounds a little counterintuitive, but I would always trust parents to make their own decisions.We do in the company take the attitude that any bad, even one bad, incident is one too many. We watch for bullying, we watch for harassment, we filter all of those kinds of things, and I would say behind the scenes, the analysis goes on all the way to, if necessary, reaching out to law enforcement.Justine Roberts, the head of Mumsnet, told the BBCs Today programme that parents could not watch everything their child was doing 24/7, even if all the parental controls were set and especially if they had several children. She said parents on the forum had spoken of how they struggled to manage their childrens use of Roblox.The US-based company is one of the worlds largest games platforms, with more monthly users than Nintendo Switch and Sony PlayStation combined. In 2024 the site averaged more than 80 million players a day, and roughly 40% of those were under 13.Players who behave badly can face temporary time-outs and longer bans, and Roblox claims to analyse all communications that pass between members on the platform. The company is increasingly using more advanced AI systems to flag certain behaviour for investigation.In November last year, under 13s were banned from sending direct messages and also from playing in hangout experiences, spaces that feature chat between players.Baszucki said: We dont condone any type of image-sharing on our own platform, and youll see us getting more and more, I think, way beyond where the law is on this type of behaviour.He added that Roblox used rigorous guidelines and had a consistent policy on age ratings, based on the content as well the titles of the games.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Headlines UKFree newsletterGet the days headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morningPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionBaszucki founded the platform with Erik Cassel in 2004 and released it to the public in 2006. The pairs first company was an education software provider called Knowledge Revolution, but they quickly noticed that children were using the platform to do activities other than homework.Baszucki said: They wanted to play and build stuff. They were making houses or ships or scenery, and they wanted to jump in, and all of that learning was the germination of Roblox.As the platforms popularity grew, the founders noticed players starting to act out, prompting them to appoint four people as safety moderators.Despite attracting decent numbers of gamers, it was only when the company launched its digital currency, Robux, a year later that it really started to make money Roblox is now worth $41bn (32bn).Players use Robux to buy accessories and unlock content. Content creators now receive 70% of the fee and the store operates on dynamic pricing, meaning popular items cost more.Baszucki said he believed Roblox was the future of communication and was now focused on its evolution into a metaverse-style experience where people go about their daily lives in a virtual world, in avatar form, and hoped eventually to attract 10% of the worlds gamers.

The term cosy game typically inspires one of two responses in those of us who play video games regularly. It will either call you in with the promise of soft, resource-management oriented gameplay whose slower pace offers a gentle escape and a bucolic alternative to gunslinging and high-stress adventure. Or it will repel you as admittedly, it repels me. Cosy is often a kind of code for twee, low-stakes domestic adventures where drama is eschewed in favour of repetitive tasks intended to generate comfort, or imitate lightning-in-a-bottle resource management sims such as Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing.So when faced with Wanderstop, a colourful game in which a fallen warrior trades in her fighting life for managing a tea shop, I was hesitant. However, this is Davey Wredens third project, after The Stanley Parable and The Beginners Guide, which means that, if it is anything like its predecessors, it will be full of surprises and made with deep attention to detail and artistic vision. Wreden is an auteur one of his trademarks being a knowing, wry postmodernism. His work bends what the medium of the video game is capable of, and thankfully this latest offering is no exception.Urn your living Wanderstop. Photograph: Annapurna InteractiveWanderstop excels at combining the nature of the gameplay with a narrative about the perils of burnout. The game practises what it preaches it does not simply gesture towards a quiet life; rather, it erects one around the player whether they like it or not.Alta, our fallen warrior protagonist, distinctly does not like it. She has lost too many battles in a row, and on a quest to study under her hero, finds herself collapsing in the woods. Boro, a benevolent gentleman who runs the Wanderstop teashop, takes Alta in and coaxes her into participating in some tea-making and light chores until she recovers. Characters come and go while the player makes them tea and maintains the colourful and dangerously Ghibli-esque gardens. Aside from making tea, you can take care of some fine creatures that look like puffins. Take photos. Sweep. Gather trinkets. Read some of the books that are lying around. Grow plants, pick seeds, grow bigger plants, pick fruit. Use the fruit to make tea. Give the tea away to your guests, or drink it yourself, staring into the lovely landscape.Growing pleasure Wanderstop. Photograph: Annapurna InteractiveThis is not an unfamiliar vignette. Wytchwood, Spiritfarer, Spirittea, Moonstone Island there are plenty of games that deal in combining botanical ingredients to fulfil the wishes of whimsical creatures. What makes Wanderstop different is that it refuses to hand you progress or resolution. There is no way to optimise, no way to tick off boxes, no pressure. No winning. The game refuses to give you the satisfaction of the grind, of boxes ticking up, neat little rows of plants. To explain how the story manages this would be to spoil the great magic trick of the game but suffice to say I was awestruck at real ludonarrative harmony in action. It is one thing to talk, within the dialogue and story of a game, about burnout. About working so hard you can no longer even think about working. It is one thing to extol the virtues of rest. It is another altogether to actively demonstrate what surrender and healing look and feel like.On a technical level, the game offers no resistance the controls are immaculate, straightforward and cleanly executed. The music is pleasant and unobtrusive, the voice acting is used in small doses and is very strong. The mechanical aspects of the game are perfectly tuned and the dialogue and incidental text are funny, surprising, and shockingly poignant when they need to be. There are no snags to trip up on, nothing in the way of a deeply transporting experience.It takes around 12 hours to complete Wanderstop, but for me the game demanded a replay immediately. I was eager to return to the gardens around the teashop, to look for secrets, to talk to Boro as much as possible. To linger for a little while more. To slow down, and to consider what exactly it is that is rushing all of us. If the slippery and infallible nature of the gameplay is frustrating to seasoned resource management fans, I would argue that that is exactly the point. To play while letting go.Wanderstops cosy and cute exterior belies something much richer and much cleverer than I have seen in quite some time. It is a masterpiece in a cute disguise offering the player a place worth visiting, staying and paying attention to.

Theres a lot going on with video games and generative AI right now. Microsoft and Google have each created models that can dream up virtual worlds, with significant limitations. And people have been using Grok, the gen-AI chatbot from Elon Musks xAI, to make rudimentary clones of old arcade games.All you have to do is type write me Pong and AI (sort of) does the rest, albeit quite badly. On Feb 21, xAI employee Taylor Silveira claimed to have created an accurate version of 1980 coin-op Pac-ManThe takeaway is that AI can apparently write simple video games in seconds, so long as you have a good command of the software. But is that really true? How good are these Pac-Man clones, and how do you make one? Can anyone do it? Could I do it? I decided to randomly approach some people on X who had posted their own Grok Pac-Man clones to ask how they did it, and I then had a stab at it myself.Attempt oneJohn Hesters Pac-Man. Illustration: AI-generatedAuthor: John Hester, @HesterJohnTime spent: two hoursFirst up, welcome retired corporate software developer John Hester from California. Perhaps Hester can help explain why people are gushing over Grok. Grok is a large language model (LLM) that competes with other language models like ChatGPT or Llama, he says over Zoom. Grok 3 is the most advanced because its learning new things on a daily basis.So, is it as easy as typing: Hello, Grok. Please write me Pac-Man? (Manners are important. My mum still says please and thank you to Alexa.) Almost, says Hester. I asked: Can you create [a version of] Pac-Man that I can play on a Windows desktop? I didnt give much more detail. It chose to write it in [coding language] Python I got a pretty good approximation in seconds. It knew Pac-Man was yellow, a ghost was red, and the maze was blue, but my Pac-Man was square. I had to say: Make Pac-Man round with its mouth open. Get the ghosts to actually chase Pac-Man. I need to add more ghosts, the power pills, more levels. From my experience as a software developer where I was using AI to write half of my code Im extremely impressed with Grok. Id give myself three out of five.I dont know if youve heard, but now Musk has announced hes starting his own gaming company using Grok to develop games, says Hester. Isnt computers writing code how Terminator starts? The main worry with the AI doomers is once machines are able to improve themselves, humans are out of the loop. Im sufficiently concerned, but also cautiously optimistic that AI is not going to kill us all.Score: 3 starsAttempt twoSuperTruckers Pac-Man. Illustration: AI-generatedAuthor: Justin Martin AKA SuperTrucker, @supertruckerTime spent: One hourI wanted to make a game for my four-year-old son, says 41-year-old ex-truck driver SuperTrucker, from New Jersey. I took programming in high school, but Im not a coder. It was surprisingly easy. My first attempt, Pac-Man was a dot, there were no pellets, the warp tunnels didnt work, and the ghosts wouldnt move until you were in their line of sight, but then came screaming at you. You cant ask open-ended questions like: make Cyan a hunter and Red a scavenger. You have to be specific. Sorting out the bugs was frustrating. After an hour, I decided to make Tetris instead. Grok is great at making Tetris.When I was behind the wheel, there was a massive push to recruit. There was a skill bar, and everyone has to be able to drive to a particular safety level. So they made the trucks easier to drive. Now the pool of truck drivers has gone through the roof and wages are down. I see the same thing happening with AI.Score: 3 starsAttempt three8 Bits Pac-Man. Illustration: AI-generatedAuthor: Jimmy AKA 8 Bit, @0rdlibraryTime spent: 15 minutesI found an image of the original Pac-Man and dragged it in. Its pretty freaking awesome how quickly it broke it down, says 8 Bit, who also lives in New Jersey. (Ive no idea why all these AI-assisted Pac-Man cloners live in New Jersey, so I ask Grok: Theres no evidence that people who use Grok are concentrated in New Jersey, it answers, uselessly.) The sound and maze could be more accurate, but its got an actual server for high scores. Id give it four out of five, says 8 Bit.Score: 3 starsAttempt fourOxLnks Pac-Man. Illustration: AI-generatedAuthor: Stiven AKA OxLnk, @LnkWeb3Time spent: Five minutesI wanted to see what Grok could do, says 32-year-old OxLnk over Zoom, who is from Estonia and works in HR but dabbles in AI and crypto in his spare time. I asked it to write me Pac-Man. It was so fast Im very impressed. However, Im not sure hes got the colours, maze, ghosts or even Pac-Man right, even if it was only a five-minute jobbie.Score: 1 starskip past newsletter promotionSign up to Pushing ButtonsFree weekly newsletterKeza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gamingPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionAttempt fiveZasts Pac-Man. Illustration: AI-generatedAuthor: Stephane AKA Zast, @zast57Time spent: 30 minutesI loved Pac-Man when I was young, says Zast from France over DM. I found it very easy, but I had to correct the controls and increase the intelligence of the ghosts. When you ask for modifications, it often adds a few bugs, which is annoying. Im impressed by Grok 3. In the time its taken to answer you, Ive used it to create a version of Arkanoid. Its that easy.Score: 3 starsAttempt sixPhreakops Pac-Man. Illustration: AI-generatedAuthor: Matt AKA Phreakops @phreakopsTime spent: 10 minsSo far, most of these games do look like Pac-Man. But what of the crapper efforts? Over to Phreakops, from somewhere in the UK, who has summed up the mood of the entire country in one Pac-Man clone. Id noticed Musks engagement accounts gushing over their creations Asteroids etc and gave it a go, he says over DM. Pac-Man didnt feel a big ask for something as hyped as Grok 3. The results were a lot worse than I expected. I wont be a game developer anytime soon!Score: 1 starAttempt sevenlackthornes Pac-Man. Illustration: AI-generatedAuthor: lackthorne, @BtcBlackthorneTime spent: UnknownI knew that randomly approaching people on X would backfire sooner or later. All it takes is a two- or three-sentence prompt. But it was kind of a failure, as Grok couldnt be bothered to place the Pac-Man in a non-wall area, says lackthorne over DM. Unfortunately, my invitation to chat further over Zoom apparently means Im after his crypto. [Expletive] you, scammer, he says. I ask if it would help if I sent over my Guardian credentials. How about [Expletive] you? comes the reply. Shame, as this is definitely the best Pac-Man clone yet everything from the ghosts eyes and the extra lives to the maze makes it a five-star attempt. But after such an unsavoury exchange, I feel compelled to knock it down to three.Score: 3 starsAttempt eightRich Pelleys Pac-Man.Author:@richpelleyTime spent: All afternoonHaving dished out the criticism, its only fair to have at go at it myself. Ill assume you want an accurate version of Pac-Man based on the classic arcade game complete with a proper maze, four ghosts with distinct behaviours, power pellets, and smoother gameplay? says Grok. Yes, please. Unfortunately, the next steps are beyond me. I was hoping a pixel-perfect version of Pac-Man would somehow pop up on my screen. Instead, I need to open the Terminal to install XCode and then use Pip to install PyGame and I think I need some fresh air, so decide to dress up as Blinky and run around the maze at my local park instead.Score: 0 stars

As with seemingly everything in the UK, it all comes back to the class system. Verity Amersham, a scholarship student at Miss Mulligatawneys School for Promising Girls, is accused of pushing the hockey captain out of a window, and the schools fearsome headmistress is determined to expel her despite the flimsiest evidence. When Verity protests her innocence, Miss Mulligatawney remains unpersuaded, spelling out her reasoning in plain terms: as a northerner with working-class parents, Verity simply isnt the right sort.The injustice of it all is a potent driver, ensuring I set about my goal of preventing Veritys expulsion with determined zeal, much like Matilda defying the hateful Miss Trunchbull. As in developer Inkles 2021 game Overboard!, youre given a time limit to work within and a handful of areas to move between, from the library to the sick room (AKA the san, where the schools grumpy matron lurks). Each area has characters to talk to and objects to find, and each action moves the clock forward. The game follows a rigid school timetable: at 2pm, for example, all of the students will troop up to the library for Latin.The idea is to work out who will be where and when, and plan your exploration accordingly. You might, say, want to sneak into the san while matron is teaching gym in the grounds, so you can poke around in her locked medicine cabinet. The secrets you uncover will unlock new lines of conversation, which in turn unlock further secrets and more avenues of exploration, all with the eventual aim of preventing Veritys unjust expulsion.The injustice of it all is a potent driver Expelled! Photograph: InkleYou wont be able to achieve that on your first try, though. This game is designed to be played multiple times, each half-hour run improving your understanding of characters motivations and what exactly has been going on at this strange school. I wont spoil it here, but the plot goes to some delightfully unexpected places, and the 1922 setting offers an excuse to riff on the effects of empire, the first world war, and of course the class system. And that system really is rigged against Verity, who quickly discovers that the only way to fight back is to get nasty.Cheeky or venomous retorts will unlock further dialogue, and if you want to help Verity not only to avoid expulsion but also to succeed at becoming head girl, you will see her stoop to lying, stealing and blackmail. We also get the sense that Verity might be a somewhat unreliable narrator; the story subtly changes in each telling, as she relates it to her father.This helps to shake things up a little, but inevitably the structure of the game results in some repetition as you perform many of the same actions each day. It requires a little patience, then, as well as some mental agility, to hold all of the avenues of investigation in your head: some kind of in-game notebook to keep track of it all would have been welcome. But its worth persevering to uncover all of the schools intimate secrets, as well as to enjoy more of narrative director Jon Ingolds excellent writing.It will only take a couple of evenings to reach the games corker of an ending, and Veritys arc is supremely satisfying, as she goes from put-upon victim to master manipulator. Here, the public-school system serves mainly as a way to ingrain inequality, normalise bullying and encourage ruthlessness, and the only way to succeed is to beat the bastards at their own game. When the system is so rotten, what choice do you have?Expelled! is out on 12 March

Another month, another revolutionary generative AI development that will apparently fundamentally alter how an entire industry operates. This time tech giant Microsoft has created a gameplay ideation tool, Muse, which it calls the worlds first Wham, or World and Human Action Model. Microsoft claims that Muse will speed up the lengthy and expensive process of game development by allowing designers to play around with AI-generated gameplay videos to see what works.Muse is trained on gameplay data from UK studio Ninja Theorys game Bleeding Edge. It has absorbed tens of thousands of hours of peoples real gameplay, both footage and controller inputs. It can now generate accurate-looking mock gameplay clips for that game, which can be edited and adapted with prompts.All well and good, but in an announcement video for Muse, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer caused confusion when he said that it could be invaluable for the preservation of classic games: AI models, he implied, could learn those games and emulate them on modern hardware. Its not clear how this would be possible. Further muddying the waters, Microsofts overall CEO Satya Nadella then implied in a podcast interview that Muse was the first step in creating a catalogue of AI-generated games.But Muse, as it stands, cant create a game it can only create made-up footage of a game. So just what is this new gaming AI tool? A swish addition to game developers tool belts? Or the first step towards an era of AI-generated gaming detritus?The idea is that designers (or indeed players) can try out ideas with Muse without spending hours (or days) in a gameplay engine implementing something that might not feel good or even work. If a designer wants to see what, say, a power-up would look like in-game, they could generate mock video showing what that might look like, with the AI filling in the gaps.Game engines are complicated, messy things and it takes a lot of time to simulate things theyre not built for that, comments Julian Tongelius, associate professor in computer science and engineering at the New York University Tandon School of Engineering. [Working with] a simulation of the game can be much easier and faster. The opportunities opened up by this kind of study are pretty big, but the limitations are also real.AI gameplay simulations arent totally new Googles GameNGen project created a playable version of Doom that ran without a game engine in 2024. But the problem has always been consistency. Googles Doom simulation worked well at first, but the longer you played, the more the AI would dream up game elements that werent accurate. This is what Microsoft claims to have solved with Muse, but it comes with a massive caveat.This particular model is trained on 500,000 game sessions, so likely around 100,000 hours of gameplay. But it only works because you have so much data. If you move far beyond whats been recorded, simulations generally stop behaving well, explains Tongelius.Microsoft has stated that it is already using Muse to develop real-time playable AI models trained on its other first-party games. But while Muse is great for live-service games such as Bleeding Edge, with access to thousands of hours of live gameplay, for smaller games and single-player titles, it would be a monumental and probably pointless effort to train a generative AI model in each and every specific game.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Pushing ButtonsFree weekly newsletterKeza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gamingPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionIts an amazing technical hurdle that theyve jumped, but it kind of feels like theyre going through their Zoom moment: a product coming into a market that doesnt really have a purpose, says Ken Noland, the veteran game designer and self-described AI realist who runs AI Guys, an AI-focused co-development company. The technology is cool, and dont get me wrong, video generation is not an easy thing to do I just dont see its target audience. Game developers wont be able to use it for rapid production because it doesnt actually, aside from visualising a particular thing, address any underlying game development issues.Ultimately, there appears to be a disconnect between Spencer and Nadellas comments and what Muse actually does at the moment. Unless something significant changes, it doesnt appear capable of creating playable simulations of classic games, and it certainly doesnt create entirely new AI-generated games. It isnt even clear how Muses generated videos could be translated into actual gameplay.AI-generated video games may yet be on the horizon. Google quietly released Genie 2 a few months back, which is capable of generating playable worlds but thats not what Muse does, at least for now. I will choose to graciously interpret what Satya said as visions of what could be done in the future, says Tongelius. Its entirely possible that we will get to some version of that, but its not around the corner. What Microsoft has done in this paper is a foundation stone.

The year is 1962 and youve just woken up in the shadow of the Windscale (now Sellafield) nuclear power station in Cumbria, five years after its catastrophic meltdown. Trapped in the sizeable quarantine zone surrounding the accident site, you must stay alive long enough to figure out how to escape a task made rather more challenging by the presence of aggressive cultists, irradiated monsters and highly territorial terror bees. Imagine Stalker, but set in northern England, and youre edging towards what Oxford-based developer Rebellion has in store.Fallout may seem like another obvious inspiration for this irradiated game world, but after playing a two-hour demo, its clear the game draws more from classic British sci-fi. Here you are, stuck in the picturesque Lake District, with its lush woodlands, gurgling rivers and dry-stone walls. But all around you are the burned-out remains of 1960s cars and tanks, abandoned farm buildings and odd sounds and symbols that suggest something extremely sinister is happening. The development team have mentioned Dr Who, The Wicker Man the novels of John Wyndham as key inspirations, and you can see it in the grubby dislocated scene all around you. Approach a phone box and pick up the ringing handset, and you may hear a disembodied voice warning you about an apparently friendly character you met up the road. Stray into a cave and a ghost-like monster comes at you, infecting you with a paranoid mind virus. This is very much the stuff of Quatermass and Jon Pertwee-era Who.Something sinister is happening Atomfall. Photograph: Rebellion DevelopmentsIts not long before I bump into a gang of druids stalking the undergrowth and Im suddenly thrust into combat. But in the spirit of Stalker, and other survival games such as Escape From Tarkov, I have to rely on improvised melee weapons such as cricket bats and scythes, or on rusty guns that may or may not fire the meagre handfuls of ammo Ive managed to accrue. The developers have said they want this game to be about grimly hanging on to life; youre not a super-soldier. Everywhere there are little trinkets to scavenge, from apples to machine parts.When characters arent trying to clobber you with bats, they may offer you information or trading opportunities. It seems youre free to wander through overgrown farms and ruined industrial buildings looking for clues about what the hell even happened here. Just watch out for the glowing greeny-blue bees nests hanging from trees those guys are really territorial. And poisonous.Looking for clues about what the hell even happened here Atomfall. Photograph: Rebellion DevelopmentsEven in my short demo, theres a nice sinister sense of tension in the air. Relying on faulty handguns and explosive devices that youve stuck together, Blue Peter-style, with double-sided sticky tape and things youve found in an abandoned military checkpoint adds a sense of desperation and disaster.I did find some of the menus and weapon selection tricky, and for a game that relies heavily on stealth, its very easy to accidentally mess up because youve not loaded your shotgun in advance. But then this is the stuff of the survival game: often its better to hang around in the long grass than engage with the enemy (although sometimes its not exactly clear where youre in cover and where youre not, so I was giving my location away a lot).Atomfall looks like an interesting amalgam of Stalker, , Resistance: Fall of Man and Everybodys Gone to the Rapture, with some role-playing elements lobbed in. Skill points improve your stealth, health and combat efficiency as you progress, and there are plenty of little notes and clues scattered about the wilderness to find. I think a lot is going to depend on just what the mystery at the heart of the game turns out be.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Pushing ButtonsFree weekly newsletterKeza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gamingPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionWhat does it mean for an apocalyptic adventure to take place in rural England? Were gonna need more than quaint cottages and enemies with regional accents to capture the horrific majesty of The Triffids, The Daemons or that 70s public information film about playing Frisbee too near an electricity substation. But just the fact that we have a survival adventure with the Lake District as its beautiful, supernaturally charged setting is something to be excited about.Atomfall is out on 27 March

Is Lara Croft hot? Its a question thats plagued our greatest minds for almost three decades. Yes, she appeared on the cover of the Face magazine next to the tagline bigger than Pammy in 1997, and yes, in 2006 lad mag FHM created a whole TV special designed to find the real tomb raider. But what does science say? In a world where American academics cant use the word women without jeopardising their scientific funding, its a relief that a gambling site called Casino Days is willing to do this important work, recently ranking The Top 10 Most Attractive Video Game Characters According to Science.Using the so-called golden ratio which determines how beautiful someone is by measuring their facial features the company has found that Lara Croft is the second most attractive video game character in the virtual world. In a move that will finally leave women with nothing to complain about, first place goes to The Witchers Geralt of Rivia.You can probably guess the rest Red Dead Redemptions gruff, stubbly Arthur Morgan in fifth place, Geralts situationship Yennefer of Vengerberg in eighth. Whats most offensive about these findings is not the fact that, for some reason, people are still bothered about the hotness of video game characters, but that familiar faces continue to get snubbed. When will Guybrush Threepwood get a look in? For how much longer must Mario ask, Why is it never a-me? Pointy pixelated chests are one thing, but matching your hat to the shirt under your dungarees before a hard days plumbing? That takes effort. Consistency. Grace.Hello, is it me youre looking for the dashing protagonist of Luigis Mansion 3. Photograph: NintendoScientists (real ones, this time) have found that good conduct can make your face seem more attractive to others honest people are considered hotter than dishonest ones, whereas men lose points for seeming aggressive. So isnt it a little archaic to judge video game characters based on how perfectly symmetrical their faces are, when all this time, Luigis kind eyes have been blue enough to swim in?Here are the most attractive video game characters according to science, if science means me: Bella Goth from The Sims, Harvey and Haley from Stardew Valley, the King of Hyrule when hes scowling at me, the red ghost from Pac-Man, Flo from Diner Dash. If we insist on ranking and rating each other and after hundreds of years, I cant see why wed stop now cant we at least make our desires a little less base? Cant we admit theres something about that king thats always on fire in those mobile game ads?skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Pushing ButtonsFree weekly newsletterKeza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gamingPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionCruelly robbed Guybrush Threepwood. Photograph: LucasArtsSadly, Casino Days press release also decreed Princess Zelda to be the least attractive video game character, which is a travesty not just because pitting Lara Croft against the princess of Hyrule is depressingly sexist, but because Zelda is a woman with a lot on her mind. Is it not enough that Ganondorf is way too into her, and like Princess Peach before her, she cant seem to go a day without being kidnapped? The text itself demonstrates the dangers of being blond and cute in a world dominated by malevolent men, and yet we insist on reminding Zelda that actually, shes not blond and cute enough. Would it kill her to show a little more skin? (Yeah, actually, it probably would. Those bokoblins have spears.)Not blond and cute enough? Zelda in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Photograph: NintendoWe live in a period of great upheaval and change. I dont mean thatthe third world war is waving at us from the horizon; I mean that they put hair on womens faces in games now and Ciri in The Witcher 4 is possibly not going to be as hot as she was in teenagers minds. Its a relief, then, that some things remain consistent in our wild and wicked world, and thats that everyone from left to right (to B, A, Start) can agree that Lara Croft and Geralt of Rivia are hot. No matter what happens next, were clearly going to continue discussing the sexiness of lines of code for years to come.

Ahead of the 21st Bafta games awards this April, the institution is running a public survey asking people to nominate the most influential video game of all time. As the survey points out, this is an open-ended question: early, groundbreaking titles such as Space Invaders and Pong regularly crop up as answers because they helped write the rules of the form, but on a personal level, the right game at the right time can be exceptionally influential, too. For players, its often the games that made us feel differently about what games could do that feel the most influential. For a game designer, a film director, a writer or a musician, one particular game might inspire a whole creative era.Inspired by Baftas survey, we asked people from across games and culture for their most influential game and not one name cropped up twice.Mike Bithell, game designer and head of Bithell GamesRevision evasion Metal Gear Solid 2. Photograph: KonamiMetal Gear Solid 2 (2001) hit me at the perfect moment. I was trying to power through my GCSEs, and here came this perfect thing that pointed to a future of games that took me seriously as a player. (I nearly failed my last maths test after staying up for those final few cutscenes.) It engaged with sci-fi tropes and stylish storytelling in a way that felt generations ahead of its peers. Shenmue was the game that convinced me I wanted to make games, but MGS2 showed me the kind of games I wanted to make. One day Ill get there.Louise Blain, creative lead at Blumhouse GamesFresh fear PT. Photograph: Kojima Productions/KonamiHelpfully, the constantly evolving nature of the horror genre means that a new game can arrive and instantly unlock a fresh fear. Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toros shortform horror game PT (2014) holds a special place in my heart, and its all the more bittersweet for the fact that it is now unavailable and its full-length successor, Silent Hills, never saw the light of (foggy) day. Taking the lead from Amnesia: The Dark Descents oppressive first person experience, the simplicity of PTs looping corridor is its masterstroke. All you really need to do is push forward and peer into its darkest corners, making this a frankly agonising haunted house taken entirely at your own pace. The game has spawned an infinite number of spiritual successors in atmospheric horror over the last decade, but even the recent trend for anomaly horror has a distinct PT flavour, as we enter the same spaces over and over again, on edge for the frightening differences.Keza MacDonald, Guardian video games editorBeyond fun The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Photograph: NintendoAs Grand Theft Autos Dan Houser once said: Anyone who makes 3D games who says theyve not borrowed something from Mario or Zelda is lying. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998) set an example for explorable 3D game worlds that is still followed today everything, from Links movement to the sword combat to the little fairy who acts as a guide to what was then a new way of controlling games, was designed from scratch and with little precedent. But its the mood of this game that I think was especially influential, not just on me but a generation of children who played it. Ocarina of Time is exciting, but also scary and a little sad. With its child hero, who hurtles forward in time against his will, it depicts a loss of innocence; it trusted young players to overcome their nervousness and get to grips not just with a new type of video game, but with all the threatening creatures, malevolent forces and hidden secrets that might be out there in its world. I think its the first video game I played that felt like it wasnt just for fun.Ellie Gibson, comedianGirls own adventure Tomb Raider. Photograph: ReutersThe obvious and only correct answer is Tomb Raider (1996). It introduced the idea that a female video game character could be the star, rather than sidekick or hostage. It was the first game I played that wasnt just about collecting shiny things or killing baddies (and its a great shame the series lost its way down these rabbit holes in later years). It was about adventure, exploration and clever puzzles that made you feel like a genius when you finally solved them. Tomb Raider went on to inspire a raft of successful action adventure titles, such as the Uncharted games, and its influence is still present in the Assassins Creed series. Its a shame this influence didnt extend to inspiring a raft of strong female characters, but patriarchy gonna patriarchy, innit. On a personal note, Lara Croft was such a huge influence on me personally that in 2002 I visited Angkor Wat wearing a tight vest and attempted to climb up a temple via some overhanging vines. I got shouted at by a security guard and ran away.Nina Freeman, game designerPhysical humour QWOP. Photograph: Foddy.netThe most influential game for me must be QWOP (2008), by Bennett Foddy. It sort of brings me back to my roots when I play it. Ive always been drawn to small, experimental games, and QWOP is a timeless example of that. At one of the first game jams I ever did, my friends and I made how do you Do It?, which was heavily inspired by the physical humour of QWOP. Bennett, whom I hadnt yet met, was a judge at the jam! We showed him the game, chatted a bunch, and kept in touch after that. Bennett ended up becoming one of my biggest mentors at this early stage of my career, so his work in general has had a big impact on me.Brenda Romero, game designerFather of FPS Doom. Photograph: id SoftwareLook, I admit a bias here, but even if I were not married to John [Romero], my answer would still be the same: Doom (1993). I actually tried to think of something else, but nothing compared to its impact. Doom defined the first person shooter and set the stage for what is gamings most popular genre. At the same time, it introduced deathmatch and online multiplayer to a wide audience. All FPS games truly owe their DNA to Doom.Doom was created to be moddable, and that decision is part of the reason why the community is still active almost 32 years later. I dont know of a single game developer who was not taken aback when Doom hit. It was mind blowing and a cultural shift for both games and game culture. At the time, consoles really dominated, and Doom sold the PC hard.From a design perspective, Doom introduced the abstract level design philosophy, the style for which John Romero is still known. As a designer, the non-linear and non-standard level design was a big break from the way things were done at the time. I have heard others say that everything about those early levels was a masterclass in game design. Not a week goes by where a well-known game developer doesnt credit Doom for inspiring them and starting their career. And its still going, now playable on everything from pianos to ATMs and pregnancy tests.Iain Cook, musician, producer and composerMile melter A Nintendo 64 with a Mario Kart 64 cartridge. Photograph: Sam Stephenson/AlamyI had mostly kicked my video game addiction for the only period in my life between 1997 and 1999, but fell off the wagon hard when the PlayStation 2 was released. The next-gen allure of Metal Gear Solid 2, Silent Hill 2 and Gran Turismo 3 convinced me that I was missing out on something revolutionary. But in 2001 I was suddenly in the recording studio and on tour in Europe and America with my first proper band, Aereogramme, and there was a lot of downtime to fill. Eight-hour driving days in the back of a smokey van; endless post-soundcheck afternoons, waiting anxiously to go on stage. Not that I didnt succumb to other vices, but video games made the hours melt away. Advance Wars was a huge hit with me and my bandmates; the pass-and-play turn-based strategy really worked to engage the brain in between service station piss stops and weed-induced naps. But it was Mario Kart (1992-present) that really got the heart pounding.In time trials on 2001s Super Circuit I would spend an hour or more trying to shave a tenth of a second off the previous best three laps laid down by the fastest racer in the band. Once wed dialled in on a new course, identified the shortcuts and mapped out the best racing line, you had to stitch all of those things perfectly together in a single run. Mess up and theres no point in continuing. Restart. Deep breath. Palms sweating. You needed total focus as well as muscle memory. The mounting anxiety explodes in expletive-filled euphoria when you cross the line. This game has brought me together with some amazing people. Im now part of a WhatsApp group where my friends and I compete with other bands and video game industry people, setting a new course every couple of weeks, posting screenshots to validate authenticity. I know for sure that when Mario Kart 9 drops, my productivity is going to drop sharply again.Sam Barlow, game designer and founder of Half MermaidWay to go Super Mario Bros. Photograph: NintendoSuper Mario Bros (1985). What more to say? You move a character he looks like a human, and a characterful human. There is a world: the one in the background, evocative landscapes and skies; and the one in the foreground that you run and jump over. The imagery! Natural landscapes mashed up with Alice in Wonderland. The physics and the controls allow expression you can go fast, slow, cautious, bold its the way in which we exist as a primal level as a biped that walks through the world, condensed down into a game. Challenge, exploration, expression. We go left to right, and there are levels and goals and bosses and secrets! This game laid down the structures and the ideas that weve been using ever since but also showed that masterful execution is the heart of a video game.Shuhei Yoshida, former head of PlayStation StudiosSentimental Journey. Photograph: SonyMy most influential game of all time is Journey (2012). Journey moved players deeply; they had tears in their eyes at the end. It was proof that a game, like movies and novels, could affect people emotionally.This game, which was developed by a small team of 18 people and could be played in three to four hours, swept most of the industrys highest game of the year honours, competing against AAA blockbuster titles. I believe it was the first time that had happened in the industry.Meghna Jayanth, writer and narrative designerSim sensation Princess Maker 2 Refine. Photograph: CFK Co/Bliss BrainThe Princess Maker series (1991-2007). You are tasked with raising a fairy princess disguised as an ordinary human girl, managing her time between learning important skills, pursuing her interests, adventuring and dating. This early social simulation game is surprisingly crunchy and punishing; its extremely possible for your daughter to die or be exiled during the various social and political trials that mark her coming-of-age. Each instalment varies, but its not uncommon to have 50+ endings as well as branching dialogue and narrative events conditional on your princesss particular stats and attributes. As a narrative designer this game was a revelation, and apart from in my own work, I think you can see its influence in everything from the wildly successful Persona games to last years intriguing indie meditation on capitalism Final Profit to any of Hanako Games niche but satisfying offerings. In fact, I see a genre through-line all the way to the ambitious and genuinely brilliant design of indie game Closer the Distance, one of this years Independent games festival narrative nominees. Oh, and it was unashamedly marketed to and interested in girls. I wish more publishers and executives would pay attention. This is a game that I wish was even more influential.Keith Stuart, Guardian video game correspondentWeirdly therapeutic Paperboy Photograph: AtariIn the early 1980s, most of the games I played were extremely abstract: you were a space ship fighting aliens, or you were a hungry yellow circle being chased by ghosts. But in 1985 Atari released Paperboy, a game in which you were a boy delivering papers. Not only was this arcade classic revolutionary in that it featured a real-life job, it also presented a world that was absolutely full of detail and experimentation, in which players were actively rewarded for messing about. What if you threw a paper at a window or a passerby? You got feedback. You got feedback whatever you did. As a schoolboy with an actual paper round it felt weirdly therapeutic to do the job badly, but in game design terms it also taught a generation of designers that the everyday world is an exciting, amusing and challenging place to set a video game. It was also a game that let you mess about, it rewarded mischief. It was GTA a dozen years early.

Happy Monster Hunter Wilds week to all who celebrate: Capcoms thrilling action game has sold 8m units in three days, which means that quite a lot of you are likely to be playing it. Im a huge fan of this series and am delighted by the latest entry, but after filing the review last week, Ive barely had a minute to play it since it came out. Regular readers will know that this is a familiar problem for me: I have two kids, so my gaming time is tight, and the living room TV is very often in use.I anticipated this, so in the run-up to Monster Hunter Wilds release, I spent 200 on a PlayStation Portal essentially a screen sandwiched between two halves of a PlayStation 5 controller. I cant decide whether its one of the most unwieldy things that Sony has ever come out with, or one of the most elegant. It lets me stream games from my PS5, so the console can be whirring away under the TV and I can be on the sofa with my little screen, swinging a transforming axe at a dreadful octopus.Heres how the Portal works: you turn it on, and it makes pleasing futuristic noises. A circular portal appears, pulsing soothingly, as it tries to connect to your home console. Then, if it works (sometimes it took a few attempts for me), your PlayStation 5 homepage appears through that portal, and expands to fill the whole of the screen in your hands. Then you can play everything just as you would on your TV, with controller rumble and haptic feedback and everything. When the internet connection falters, the device downgrades the games appearance rather than booting you out; itll let the game become a soup of pixels and weird messy visual artefacts rather than forcing you to reconnect.Monster Hunter Wilds looks perfect on the PS Portal when the device works. Photograph: CapcomI have played with a whole bunch of game-streaming solutions over the years (the first was Gaikai, way back in 2009, which offered games like World of Warcraft streamed from the cloud, still very novel at the time), and they have always been, well, suboptimal. No matter how good your internet connection was, there was always just that bit too much lag. Streamed games always looked noticeably worse. Wifi was never quite reliable enough. But the Portal works stunningly well on my home wifi. Monster Hunter looks perfect. Its a demanding action game, so any lag quickly makes it feel unplayable, yet I have been able to play it on the Portal for many hours without feeling too frustrated.You can also use the Portal to play PS5 games away from home, using the device to turn your console on remotely in your empty house (tip: yank the HDMI cable out the back before you leave so it wont turn your TV on). I took the Portal on a wee half-term holiday with my family certainly more convenient than packing up an entire console and all its gubbins and had a go at connecting to my home PlayStation 5 from my hotel room. It took a few tries, but it did work even on hotel wifi, which I found near-miraculous. Unfortunately, under these circumstances, the streaming quality was sometimes so bad that the game looked worse than it did 15 years ago on the PSP, and the lag was unbearable. It was not the on-the-go PlayStation gaming experience I was hoping for.The Portal is a useful little gadget at home, when it works. And that is the case with any kind of internet-reliant game streaming: its good when it works. One day I would love to be able to play my games wherever I am, without sacrificing the quality of the experience, but streaming technology hasnt gotten there yet and Im starting to wonder if it ever will. Its certainly gotten better: Ive streamed games from the Xboxs Game Pass library on my home console with only the occasional problem. But what I really want is to be able to stream games to a handheld when Im in my office or travelling.The Nintendo Switch was released eight years ago, and it remains the gold standard of at home/on-the-go hybrid gaming because it doesnt rely on an internet connection. It just works, seamlessly: you pick it up and take it with you, put it in the dock and it instantly appears on the TV. The Switch changed my life, by letting me fit my game time around my job, friends, travel and family. The Steam Deck has also been transformative, letting me take a game Im reviewing (or enjoying) from my office to my house, or play it on a long-haul flight. Were used to this now, after almost a decade, but it was truly one of the most revolutionary technical things any console has achieved.Its only a few weeks until the big Nintendo Switch 2 event on 2 April, when well learn more about what this next console can actually do. Given that this is Nintendo, Id be surprised if internet-based game streaming was a part of the new consoles offering; Nintendo tends to favour older, proven technology over risky bets. Eight years is a long time for Nintendos competitors to have perfected an alternative untethered gaming solution, and nobody has yet done it. Perhaps its just not possible; no wonder the Switch 2 is sticking to what works.What to playAmbitious and gently silly Split Fiction Photograph: Electronic ArtsFrom the makers of co-op divorce platformer It Takes Two which unexpectedly, sold 23m copies, a figure that publishers would do well to remember in this age of safe bets Split Fiction is an ambitious and gently silly game about two authors who are forced to inhabit each others stories. Sci-fi writer Mio and fantasy writer Zoe turn up at a meeting at a big publishing house, only for its sinister CEO to imprison them in a futuristic idea-stealing machine.You need two players for this game, as its entirely dependent on working together for both the puzzley and actiony bits. (Dont worry if theres a skill differential between you and your prospective co-op partner one player can do most of the heavy lifting if required.) Its full of ideas, this, and wonderfully designed around co-operative play, whether youre playing with a friend, a partner or an older child.Available on: PC, Xbox, PlayStation 5 Estimated playtime: What to readBetter skate than never Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3 + 4. Photograph: SteamTony Hawks Pro Skater is back, again. The third and fourth entries in the series are being remastered by Activision, and will be out in the summer.Activision ran a bunch of horrible AI-art ads on Instagram last weekend for games that dont actually exist. The ads link to surveys presumably intended to gauge interest in the fake games, but instead all everyones talking about is why the band in Guitar Hero Mobile has four guitarists, no singer and a phantom drummer.Rockstar has bought an Australian studio run by Brendan McNamara, the director of the 2011 detective drama game LA Noire, which was also published by Rockstar. His previous studio, Team Bondi, closed down shortly after LA Noire ended its protracted development, after former employees called out an allegedly toxic, oppressive, crunch-heavy work culture led by McNamara.Games industry analyst Mat Piscatella ran the numbers and found that 40% of all the time spent gaming in the US in January was spent playing the same 10 live service games, most of which are years old. It paints a bleak picture for any developer trying to break into this space.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Pushing ButtonsFree weekly newsletterKeza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gamingPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionWhat to clickQuestion BlockPast favourite Skies of Arcadia. Photograph: Dean Mortlock/Super8 MediaI got something wrong in last weeks Question Block answer: Doug wrote in to say that the Nintendo Switch does now have a YouTube app, though happily he says the parental controls are good enough to stop his 11- and 8-year-old kids from constantly redownloading it.As for this weeks question, it comes courtesy of reader Emily:What games did you previously love that you wouldnt enjoy playing today?I really had to think about this one. Im sure we can all immediately think of a TV show we enjoyed as teenagers that we find deeply embarrassing now (*cough* Family Guy *cough*) but we tend to make excuses for the games we adored when we were young, even if our tastes have changed massively since then. I would have talked your ear off about how great Shenmue was as a teenager, because everything it did was new at the time. Now, even if you ignore the technological advances that have made realistic-looking game worlds standards, the sheer cringeworthy thinness of the plot and characters make it harder to love. I adored a lot of JRPGs, from Skies of Arcadia to Dragon Quest, that I simply wouldnt be able to enjoy now due to their slow pace (and the interminable repetitive random battles).Also, in the 00s we all gave a lot of games a pass for being technically interesting or ambitious, when they were also juvenile and/or sexist. Im thinking especially of 2005s Indigo Prophecy here (Fahrenheit in the US), a game that was certainly interesting but also rife with racial and gender stereotyping that made me want to cringe myself inside out when I replayed it a few years later. I remember defending an obscure Japanese horror-ish game that put all the female characters into a strip-club room as a reward for finishing the game, because it was otherwise novel. These days, with the benefit of age and experience, my tolerance for casual sexism is basically zero and quite a few games in my PS2-era collection would now be more difficult to enjoy.If youve got a question for Question Block email us on pushingbuttons@theguardian.com

All was quiet at the County Archives Museum, until a woman erupted from one of the toilets. Clad in full scuba gear, she would have gone unnoticed as she weaved among the usual visitors a bored gaggle of schoolchildren, tourists, and a yeti were it not for a beady eyed security guard. The woman, it turns out, was a member of an infamous crime syndicate, renowned for breaking into museums, stealing priceless exhibits and slipping back into the sewers like a well-renumerated goldfish. As my security guard tackled the thief, the museums prehistory expert neatly sidestepped the fray and departed for a far-flung corner of the Earth, soon to return with a prized relic of the ancient world. Burglars get caught; museums just hire better qualified thieves and send them on expeditions.This is the kind of whimsical satire that Two Point Studios trades on, making delightful and irreverent management games that poke fun at very serious establishments: hospitals, universities, and now museums. Here, as the curator of the countys timeworn institutions, you must protect profit first and history second. Easier said than done when theres so much to manage: you must hire experts to source and maintain exhibits, assistants to run front-of-house, janitors to scrape stubborn substances from floors, and security guards to handle donations and play whack-a-mole with criminals.Tour routes must be carefully plotted and decorated to impress, thus generating buzz and convincing visitors to make a donation. Different visitor types like different things: sage professors crave knowledge from well-placed information stands, while hyperactive children just want something that goes beep. To please pint-sized punters, you need to research and build kid-friendly interactive displays in the workshop, paying for the materials through any fundraising means necessary, whether that be loans, gift-shop sales, or advertising deals with local businesses. Its a beautifully detailed operation that suggests the developers have paid close attention to human nature, and how to mirror it in an intriguing game-loop.You can imagine that the curators atthe British Museum scratch their heads over the same challenges (save the scuba thieves). Some visitors barrel straight through, pausing just long enough to take a selfie with the most popular exhibit, while others will spend hours in the gift shop. Two Point does a spectacular job of simulating the challenge of satisfying diverse crowds despite the fact that here, your audience includes literalMuseum themes range from the expected prehistoric, aquatic, botanical to the outlandish haunted, extraterrestrial, apocalyptic. Previous instalments in the Two Point series forced your institutions to stay siloed (it would have been odd, after all, for a sports university to install a wizarding magic department). But the very nature of museums requires a joyful mishmash of curiosities, allowing you to build wildly varied exhibits across unique locations. The aquarium, for instance, offers expeditions that yield the prehistoric bones of sea creatures, or cursed booty from creepy sunken pirate ships. This means your collection stays useful, rather than languishing in a forgotten inventory menu, and progression feels consistently rewarding.History repeating itself Two Point Museum. Photograph: Two Point Studios/SEGAThis is easily the best-looking Two Point game yet, even the simple act of placing objects has been improved, with priceless artefacts wobbling precariously as you move them. Floors gleam with the reflections of those walking across them, shadows slant dramatically through windows, and vending machines cast an almost heavenly glow. This new lighting enhances Two Points signature cartoonish style, preserving its charm while elevating the spectacle. A hallmark of any great management game is empowering the player to create something that boasts form and function.Prehistoric items have been here for thousands of years, announces the museums public address system. Same, you may think, as you adjust the colours of your gift shop counter to match your new tiles. Yet, as you step back to admire the result, not a second feels wasted. Two Point Museum takes all the lessons from the previous games and builds on them to make a thoughtful and hugely entertaining contribution to the management sim genre.

Over the last few months, the makers of a popular card game have been wrestling with the byzantine process that surrounds video game age classifications. Age ratings are intended to help parents determine whether or not a game is appropriate for their children. But in practice, an erroneous label doesnt just mislead consumers it can be the difference between success or failure.Balatro is an award-winning poker game made by an anonymous game developer known as LocalThunk, in which the only guiding principle is chaos. In each match the player must divine the best possible poker hand out of a randomised draw, but the conditions fluctuate constantly. In one round, the game might prevent you from using an entire suit or junk all your face cards, while the next round might challenge you to achieve an eyebrow-raising score with only a single hand. As the game progresses, players accrue jokers for their deck that add yet more wild rules.Its an ingenious premise that has allowed a game that began as a small side-project to sell millions of copies since its release in February 2024. Though players win in-game money to buy new cards between rounds, Balatros version of poker is fictional, and only bears a faint resemblance to the classic card game. Yet shortly after launching, Balatro hit a snag: it was classified as a gambling game.At first, Balatro went on sale with a classification that deemed it appropriate for audiences ages three and up. But then, the classification was revised to an adults-only 18 rating. The reasoning? The Pan-European Game Information (Pegi), the organisation that determines age classifications, claimed that Balatro contains prominent gambling imagery and material that instructs about gambling.Without warning, Balatro was pulled from sale on some digital storefronts in Europe and Asia.This was obviously a crucial moment and we had two options, says Wout van Halderen, the communications director at PlayStack, Balatros publisher. Be de-listed, or take the 18+ rating and get back in the store Asap. We opted for the second and started preparing an appeal to have the rating changed.The appeal was initially declined and issues began to snowball. In Korea, the rating outright barred Balatro from being sold. In December, when Balatro won Game of the Year at The Game awards, the team was also ramping up for a physical release. Another appeal was filed by that versions distributor, Fireshine. It is only now, a year later and after a handful of updates, that the dust has settled and Balatro has been bumped down to a 12+ rating by Pegi.Its difficult to quantify the sales impact, as Balatros surge in popularity may have mitigated losses, Halderen says. That said, the de-listing disrupted momentum at a key point in the launch. Development-wise, the rating saga took time and resources, but it didnt fundamentally delay planned updates.Pegi, for its part, reiterated that it seeks to apply a fair criteria for ratings in a press release, and that any game that teaches or glamorises gambling will automatically lead to an 18+ rating. The board that oversaw the appeal also ceded that Pegi is a system that continuously evolves in line with cultural expectations and the guidance of independent experts who support our assessment process. To that end, Balatros dilemma has led Pegi to create a more granular classification system for games that depict gambling. The 18+ rating will now only apply to games that simulate the type of poker people play at actual casinos.It is a tale with a happy ending for Balatro, yet it highlights the limitations of Pegis current system. The appeal process was an extended one, and while that didnt impact Balatros massive success, a smaller game without such acclaim would not fare nearly as well.The wording of the new classification system suggests that any realistic depiction of gambling within a game would still result in an 18+ rating, even if players cannot actually spend, bet or lose money in the game. Meanwhile, games such as EAs football series Sports FC, which sell players digital loot boxes with randomised contents, sport Pegis 3+ classification. The loot boxes only have a small chance of dropping a rare item, which means players are effectively gambling their money by buying them.Even with better classification systems and streamlined processes, any age rating system would struggle to keep consumers informed about the contents of a game in the age of user-generated content. A game like Roblox, for example, is deemed to be appropriate for users 7+ but the rating does not apply to anything created by players, which is the vast majority of the content, and can be inappropriate.The reclassification of Balatro has been a great relief for its publisher, and the amendment to Pegis rules shows that the organisation is open to change. We applaud the Pegi Experts Group on their commitment to develop a more granular set of classification criteria as indie games continue to stretch into new ideas and concepts, Halderen says.We believe it is a sign of a healthy classification board that it evolves in line with cultural expectations and continues to ensure that audiences understand the type of content present in games.