Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1223) - today's words

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• HUNGARY
• HUNGRY
• HIPPO
• CHICKEN
• CHIP
• CHAD
• COOLIDGE
• CYRUS
• SPAN
• MARK
• LAOS
• NICK
• PARAGUAY
• SMARTIES
• BULGARI
• SCRATCH

NYT Connections today (game #1223) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Paint repair required
• GREEN: Nations without a coastline
• BLUE: Nations with something absent
• PURPLE: Fashionable to begin with

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #1223) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: SURFACE IMPERFECTIONS
• GREEN: LANDLOCKED COUNTRIES
• BLUE: EUROPEAN COUNTRIES MINUS A LETTER
• PURPLE: STARTING WITH WORDS FOR "STYLISH"

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #1223) - the answers

The answers to today's Connections, game #1223, are…

• YELLOW: SURFACE IMPERFECTIONS: CHIP, MARK, NICK, SCRATCH
• GREEN: LANDLOCKED COUNTRIES: CHAD, HUNGARY, LAOS, PARAGUAY
• BLUE: EUROPEAN COUNTRIES MINUS A LETTER: BULGARI, CYRUS, HUNGRY, SPAN
• PURPLE: STARTING WITH WORDS FOR "STYLISH": CHICKEN, COOLIDGE, HIPPO, SMARTIES

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

Having HUNGRY and HIPPO beside each other on the board, not to mention HUNGRY and HUNGARY, was very distracting. Fortunately I managed to focus and completed the game without a hitch.

I got the four EUROPEAN COUNTRIES MINUS A LETTER first, but it was a toss of a coin between that and the quartet of LANDLOCKED COUNTRIES.

Once again I managed to get Yellow last, which is something of an achievement considering that it was the most straightforward of today's groups and required no lateral thinking. Perhaps Hungry Hippo was a mental distraction after all.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Thursday, October 15, 2026, game #1222)

• YELLOW: WAYS TO PRESERVE FOOD: CURE, DRY, PICKLE, SMOKE
• GREEN: THINGS YOU CAN SCORE IN SPORTS: BASKET, GOAL, RUN, TOUCHDOWN
• BLUE: LOWEST PART: BASE, BOTTOM, FOOT, FOUNDATION
• PURPLE: LOW LANDFORMS WITH A LETTER CHANGED: CANNON, FORGE, RACINE, VOLLEY

• 007 First Light will launch on Nintendo Switch 2 on March 18, 2027
• The edition was originally scheduled to launch this year but was delayed
• IO Interactive says it will continue "refining the game's optimisation and performance" in the lead-up to the game's release

IO Interactive has finally announced that 007 First Light will launch on Nintendo Switch 2 on March 18, 2027.

The release date is much later than initially promised — IOI originally said the Switch 2 edition would arrive this year after the game's PS5, Xbox, and PC launch in May — however, it's now said that the delay allowed the team extra time to address performance issues and that it will continue to improve optimisation in the following months.

"Since announcing additional development time to ensure the quality of experience players expect, IO Interactive has brought hands-on builds of 007 First Light to both Gamescom and Tokyo Game Show, where players and press had their first opportunity to experience Bond's world running on Nintendo's hardware," IOI said in a statement.

"Player response from both events has been positive, reflecting the progress being made across the game as development continues toward launch."

The studio added that "the development team will use the coming months to continue refining the game's optimisation and performance on Nintendo Switch 2, ensuring it meets the standard players expect at launch."

On top of a Switch 2 release date and a new gameplay trailer running on the hardware, the 007 First Light – Deluxe Edition is now available for pre-order for $69.99 / £69.99.

The Deluxe Edition offers the Gleaming Lighter, Gleaming Earphones, Gleaming Dart Gun, and Gleaming Pen gadgets, plus four additional outfits, including the Day of the Dead, the Desert Explorer, the Silent Anchor, and the Gentleman Operator.

In addition, the 007 First Light - Special Edition on Switch 2 is also available exclusively at Amazon, giving players access to the Classic Tuxedo.

Anyone who pre-orders the game on Switch 2 will also receive early access to the GoldenEye Suit at launch.

IOI released 007 First Light's first major free downloadable content (DLC) earlier this month, which included New Game Plus, Photo Mode, and a brand-new "00" difficulty level, among other activities.

• Rockstar Games co-head of development Aaron Garbut says Grand Theft Auto 6 leaks from 2022 were an "invasive" moment
• The leaks caused a huge shift at Rockstar that forced a five-day in-office work policy for security reasons
• Rockstar’s head of publishing, Jennifer Kolbe, says Rockstar plans to reexamine the policy after GTA 6 launches

Rockstar Games has addressed the initial Grand Theft Auto 6 leaks from 2022, calling it an "invasive" moment that resulted in a huge policy shift at the studio.

In a lengthy interview with Bloomberg, where Rockstar leadership discussed GTA 6's long development period, co-head of development Aaron Garbut touched on the huge leaks from 2022 that changed how the studio works today.

In September of that year, someone hacked the company's Slack channel and leaked dozens of raw, unfinished gameplay footage before Rockstar was ready to unveil anything. Rockstar released a statement about the leaks, and despite copyright takedowns, the footage quickly spread like wildfire, and though law enforcement later tracked the alleged hacker down, it was too late.

"It feels like somebody’s wading through your dirty washing," Garbut said. "It’s like they’re inside your head. You see your early work out there. Nobody’s ever supposed to see that. It’s really weirdly invasive. And so it’s quite hard to deal with on an emotional level."

As a result, Rockstar introduced a controversial policy in 2024 requiring every developer to work in-office five days a week for security reasons; developers were also banned from accessing Rockstar’s servers and tools outside the office, which forced them to take vacation days if they needed to stay home for childcare or emergencies.

The policy set back the cultural progress the studio made after Red Dead Redemption 2's release, a game made under extensive periods of "crunch." With GTA 6, Rockstar knew it couldn't repeat those mistakes; however, the new policy following the leaks meant no more hybrid working.

Rockstar’s head of publishing Jennifer Kolbe told Bloomberg, however, that the studio plans to reexamine the policy after GTA 6 launches, though she doubts it will be able to switch to the more common three-days-in, two-days-out hybrid work model.

"The idea that we would have the game in that many environments is something that I think the security team would not love," Kolbe said. “I think if we did not have a game that people wanted to steal as much, maybe it would be an easier conversation."

Unfortunately, more leaks have since occurred, notably ahead of Rockstar's GTA 6 extended look, and persist to this day, with a prevalent leaker known as 'Cyberleek' threatening to release more in the lead-up to the game's launch on November 19.

In case you missed it, Rockstar has released the cinematic GTA 6 launch trailer, which offers a deeper look into the game's story.

• Rockstar Games has released the launch trailer for Grand Theft Auto 6
• The trailer features Jason and Lucia and sets up the game's story
• We see new cinematic footage and gameplay systems in action

Rockstar Games has released the launch trailer for Grand Theft Auto 6, showcasing new story details and a deeper look at crime-duo protagonists, Jason and Lucia.

The trailer, which was captured "entirely in-game from a PlayStation 5," begins with some narration from Jason talking about his time in the army, before we see him receiving a call from Lucia in prison, suggesting the prologue will be from his perspective before we're introduced to his counterpart.

A montage of different scenes plays out, including missions with both characters, the pair getting hot and heavy in a shower, dancing in a club, fighting off bad guys and the police, as well as jumping off a building into a swimming pool.

Interestingly, we see Lucia wearing an ankle monitor, meaning she hasn't completely escaped the law just yet and some of what we're seeing is from the beginning of the story.

We also see Jason wearing tactical gear wading through water with two other men behind him, almost like he's leading an army mission; could this be a flashback to his army days?

The entire trailer looks incredibly cinematic, with footage showing a helicopter crashing into the side of a building, Lucia climbing the wheels of an airplane Mission Impossible-style, and Jason sneaking onto a huge ship; several other gameplay systems can also be seen in action, including bank robberies and seemingly quick-time events.

We also have a brand-new story synopsis provided in the description, which you can read below.

"Jason and Lucia have always known the deck is stacked against them," it reads. "But when an easy score goes wrong, they find themselves on the darkest side of the sunniest place in America, in the middle of a criminal conspiracy stretching across the state of Leonida — forced to rely on each other more than ever if they want to make it out alive."

The trailer also features a new track, 'Flower in a Hurricane,' from electronic duo Justice, the composers behind the original score of Grand Theft Auto 6, feat. Tame Impala, SZA, and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, who are also included on the Grand Theft Auto 6: The Album.

GTA 6 launches in just over a month on November 19 for PS5, Xbox Series X, and Series S. A new report claims the PC version could launch in early 2027.

• The Xbox Nano Controller has been announced and launches on November 4
• Pre-orders are open now for the rechargeable, compact controller at $49.99 / £44.99
• Microsoft says it's designed as a pocketable and approachable controller for the whole family

Microsoft has announced the Xbox Nano Controller, an affordable, rechargeable compact gamepad launching on November 4.

Available for pre-order now at $49.99 / £44.99, the Xbox Nano Controller is Microsoft's "smallest controller," at just over 5 inches, weighing 3.5 ounces, and "lighter and shorter than most modern smartphones."

Designed as a pocketable, approachable controller for the whole family, all 18 standard Xbox gameplay inputs are featured, for games like Minecraft Dungeons 2, Grounded, Forza Horizon 6, and more.

"Designed to fit nearly every pocket and budget," Microsoft said, "Its compact design offers a great option for younger players, smaller hands, or anyone seeking something portable for play on the go."

The Nano Controller also includes a rechargeable battery and a programmable Action Button that players can customize for features like screenshots, gameplay capture, and other shortcuts, as well as Xbox Wireless and Bluetooth support, allowing a connection across a range of compatible devices.

In addition, Microsoft has teamed up with Samsung to introduce a special Xbox Nano Controller and a 2-month Game Pass Ultimate offer for new members in the US who purchase select Samsung TVs this holiday season.

It's also working with Meta on a separate holiday offer in the US that includes an Xbox Nano Controller and a 2-month Game Pass Ultimate subscription for new members with the purchase of a Meta Quest.

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1222) - today's words

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• SMOKE
• BASKET
• DRY
• FOOT
• VOLLEY
• CANNON
• RUN
• PICKLE
• BASE
• GOAL
• FORGE
• FOUNDATION
• CURE
• RACINE
• BOTTOM
• TOUCHDOWN

NYT Connections today (game #1222) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Keep things edible for longer
• GREEN: Game achievements
• BLUE: Sink down to see these
• PURPLE: Altered geography

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #1222) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: WAYS TO PRESERVE FOOD
• GREEN: THINGS YOU CAN SCORE IN SPORTS
• BLUE: LOWEST PART
• PURPLE: LOW LANDFORMS WITH A LETTER CHANGED

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #1222) - the answers

The answers to today's Connections, game #1222, are…

• YELLOW: WAYS TO PRESERVE FOOD: CURE, DRY, PICKLE, SMOKE
• GREEN: THINGS YOU CAN SCORE IN SPORTS: BASKET, GOAL, RUN, TOUCHDOWN
• BLUE: LOWEST PART: BASE, BOTTOM, FOOT, FOUNDATION
• PURPLE: LOW LANDFORMS WITH A LETTER CHANGED: CANNON, FORGE, RACINE, VOLLEY

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 1 mistake

Kudos if you were switched on enough to spot canyon, gorge, ravine and valley in the tiles that formed the purple group’s LOW LANDFORMS WITH A LETTER CHANGED. This kind of clever letter altering trickery always foxes me.

Instead, I fell for today’s most obvious trap and linked PICKLE, BASKET, FOOT and VOLLEY, thinking that “ball” was the connection (I could have included CANNON and BASE, too).

Fortunately, this was the end of my mistakes and I saw the real reason PICKLE and BASKET were in the game.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Wednesday, October 14, 2026, game #1221)

• YELLOW: HINT: FLICKER, SUGGESTION, TRACE, WHIFF
• GREEN: TENNIS SHOTS: SERVE, SLICE, SMASH, VOLLEY
• BLUE: SUPERHEROES, WITH "THE": FLASH, HULK, PUNISHER, THING
• PURPLE: STARTING WITH "FEE, FI, FO, FUM": FEED, FIERY, FOMENT, FUMBLE

• Control Resonant composer Petri Alanko says he likes to "go to extremes to add depth to everything" in his work
• He says each Resonant has "their own features in the concept track" that can be picked apart
• Alanko says, "Nothing is obvious and nothing is rubbed into your face, and in the end it’s all only music made with love and enthusiasm"

Control Resonant composer Petri Alanko has revealed that his music features easter eggs that may take fans years to uncover, as he likes to "go to extremes to add depth to everything."

Speaking to TechRadar Gaming about his favorite aspects of the Control series and its music, Alanko said there are "layers" to each soundtrack, and some of them are only revealed "when you dive deep into my project file timelines and start digging out the details of sounds."

"One trick I’ve used about a million times with various tools is to add some string section’s 'resin' sound to something else, turning it into a resemblance of a stringed instrument," Alanko said. "Some of the tricks will probably never surface and are more or less subliminal, some of them slightly more at the forefront, but as I mentioned, I love to hide all kinds of nods and winks everywhere, pay homage to the greats."

He continued, sharing that if any hardware synth is involved in his work (which he explained is a big part of his musical arsenal), it was " reamped through a speaker setup and a pair of microphones," which was a trick he learned from the articles concerning the late Konradi "Conny" Plank, the sound engineer and producer of Kraftwerk and Ultravox.

"I learned my chops back in the day meticulously inspecting and evaluating Die Mensch-Maschine, Computerwelt, Vienna and Rage In Eden," Alanko said, adding that he "learned a good deal of studio tricks during my early adulthood" when he worked as a synth programmer and a producer for various productions, and all of that experience has "proven to be rather handy during the creation of the Control Resonant soundtrack."

Alanko went on to share some neat details about the creation of the game's enemies, the Resonant, and said each has "their own features in the concept track," with Hedron, for instance, having "clangorous, metallic, sequenced, patterned, constantly moving" sounds.

"Hiss wants to corrupt everything and especially with that entity, the pitches start going all over the place," he said. "And Mold is a triumphant spectacle of all kinds of dispersers, turning everything into some sonic goo."

Alanko said his passion allowed him to add as much detail as he wanted, which also meant leaving in small hints that listeners likely won't find until years later.

"I have, and I will go to extremes to add depth to everything," Alanko said, "and the most beautiful thing is when people realise something after, say, seven-eight years, and I get an email from someone who just realised the rhythm of a certain sound was actually Morse code for 'BEWARE'.

"Nothing is obvious and nothing is rubbed into your face, and in the end it’s all only music made with love and enthusiasm."

Alanko has discussed the early stages of Control Resonant's development, revealing that he was brought on to the project "very early" and was still working on Alan Wake 2. He explained that this proved to be a better outcome and suggested that other studios should value music more if they care about their games and avoid AI.

Funselecktor Labs Inc. is known for its minimalist yet vibrant takes on various forms of motorsport, starting with Absolute Drift in 2015, followed by Art of Rally in 2020 and Golden Lap in 2024. Now, the independent studio is tackling offroading, but rather than competing against the clock or other drivers, over the hill is about exploring an open world on your lonesome (or with a friend or three) at your own pace.

Taking inspiration from the recent wave of cozy games, over the hill doesn’t have concrete aims or objectives as such. Rather, you simply pootle around the various maps to discover various points of interest and earn Pebbles, the game’s currency, to upgrade your vehicle to better navigate the environment.

Off the beaten path

over the hill sticks to the same cardboard-cutout aesthetic of the developer’s past efforts. Textures are flat and basic, but they’re elevated by the pastel colors and lush lighting effects, with environments drenched in pinks, oranges, and greens that invite players to explore them.

There are two main regions to choose from at the start of a game: Canada and Algeria. Each has its own sub-areas (three for Canada and two for Algeria), featuring all kinds of terrain and climates; you’ll see rain, snow, and sandstorms, which naturally affect your driving and navigation abilities, adding an extra element of challenge.

The music complements the visuals perfectly. The in-game radio gives you four ‘albums’ to choose from, each representing a certain flavor of ambient, from synth-heavy pieces to folksy guitar numbers, all with gentle melodies to lull you as you play. I was impressed with the score’s production value, given that it merely serves to subtly set the mood as you play.

This is a game low on story and characters, but high in vibes — specifically of the zen variety. Aside from the Buddha statue that acts as your tutorial guide, the only other character is Crazy Günther, the hippie mechanic you visit to customize your vehicle. His textual dialogue (there’s no VO) adds a small amount of flavor to an otherwise purely functional NPC, and it chimes well with the gentle tone of the game.

Once you learn the basics in the brief tutorial, you’re left to explore the world. Campsites are the chief points to discover, as they act as the game's main fast travel hubs. You can also use them to fast-forward time, useful if you want to wait for a different time of day or skip certain weather events.

Other points of interest in the maps include crates that unlock cosmetic features for your vehicle, as well as scenic points from which to take photographs. You can also find Trial Challenges to complete, which take you along treacherous routes of varying lengths to test your off-roading skills, and find wildlife to snap. These discoveries and activities earn you Pebbles.

Pedal to the metal?

If you’re looking for a fast and furious off-roading experience, over the hill isn’t it. Instead, it takes a considered, sedate approach to the sport, one that rarely rewards harebrained driving and impatience. Speeds are slow at the best of times, with second gear being the highest. True to real life, vehicles have both low and high range gears, with the former being used to give you better control and traction on slippery surfaces and steep slopes. Such surfaces are indicated organically via the game’s visual style, without making it too obvious by overtly highlighting them.

Anyone who’s played MudRunner or SnowRunner will be in familiar territory with over the hill. As long as you’re in the right gear range, you don’t have to worry too much about being sensitive with the throttle; you’ll either make it up a slope or you won’t, regardless of how you modulate the throttle. Steering is fairly laborious as well, with the wheels being slow to turn and recenter on most vehicles, which only adds to the challenge of navigating around obstacles. I’ve never been offroading in real life, but this is how I’d imagine 4x4s to handle.

When the going gets too tough, you can use various bits of equipment to get you out of tight spots. First and foremost of these is the winch. A single button press will fire it at the tree you’re looking at (as long as it’s in range), and holding that same button will reel you towards it. You can also slacken the winch with another button, useful when you want to descend rather than ascend. If you want more control, you can use the winch in manual mode, which lets you choose which side of your vehicle to winch from and which tree to anchor to within a certain radius.

The winch can be used as many times as you like and is always in your inventory. Other tools, though, have to be selected before you enter a map; if you want to alter your loadout while playing, you’ll need to visit the mechanic. They’re also single-use items, although you select multiple instances of them, and they replenish whenever you visit a campsite. Among them are a portable anchor, which you can winch onto when there are no trees around, and two wooden planks to lay across small gaps or on the ground to give you more traction. These are a little fiddlier to use, as it can be a chore to line them up with your wheels, and misaligning them even slightly can easily result in your vehicle slipping off them. Still, they’re very useful and rewarding when you find yourself stuck. Other tools include a portable camp, a repair kit, and a car jack for righting your vehicle if you roll it over, which is easily done.

There’s a respectable number of customization and upgrade options for your vehicles. There are a variety of vehicle bodies to choose from, ranging from classic 4x4s and wagons to more utilitarian and industrial models — and yes, there’s even a campervan. The differences between them are more than cosmetic, as they each have their own speed and handling characteristics, despite the game not actually listing these stats. The selection is resolutely vintage, with no model looking beyond the 90s at best. Most are inspired by iconic real-life vehicles, too, as suggested by their menu descriptions.

You can personalize your vehicle with a large number of trinkets, unlocked via the crates you find throughout the world. Sadly, however, the paint options are more limited. As for upgrades, you can improve attributes such as speed, grip, protection, and tool capacity — all of which you’ll need to do if you want to explore every area completely. Again, though, the upgrades are limited in their stages, and you’ll find yourself maxing out your vehicle’s potential quite quickly.

Riding shotgun

While over the hill offers a good time solo, it’s more fun with friends. Having companions by your side (you can have up to four players in a server) not only takes some of the burden out of exploration, but also introduces the possibility of mischief. This is because you can winch to each other’s vehicles, which is obviously a big help when one of you is stuck in the weeds, but also allows you to pull each other off cliffs and into rivers. However, in order not to put the winch-ee at too much of a disadvantage, they can de-winch themselves at any point.

You can also explore independently if you so wish, and fast travel for one doesn’t mean fast travel for all, which gives everyone greater flexibility to explore. The whole experience ran smoothly during my testing; I didn’t encounter any problems with connectivity or lag, save for one occasion when my friend’s framerate dropped considerably, but Funselektor said this is a known issue with the preview build I played, so it’s entirely possible it’ll be rectified before launch. For most of my time in both single- and multiplayer, the game ran very smoothly, even at Ultra settings. The only real bug I experienced concerned some input clashes when I remapped certain buttons, but this was easy to work around.

Perhaps my main gripe with over the hill is that there’s just not that much to do. And while the central act of driving over rough terrain is fun thanks to the skill and problem-solving nous it requires, the mechanics lack real depth to sustain the game for long periods in the face of little additional activity. There’s not quite enough feel and feedback from slipping and sliding on loose ground to make it as engaging as it could be, and the lack of any sort of drifting mechanic — guaranteed to amplify the fun of any driving game by a factor of ten — is a real shame, especially since Funselektor has great form in this area, if its previous games are anything to go by.

I can only hope that future updates will add more to the driving and DLC will arrive to give players more to do. But for now, over the hill remains a fun time to while away an hour or so, but not much more than that.

Should you play over the hill?

Play over the hill if…

Don't play it if…

Accessibility features

There are no accessibility features to speak of in over the hill. Subtitles for dialogue are on by default, since there’s no VO, and the closest the game comes to offering any comfort features is letting you disable motion blur.

How I reviewed over the hill

I played over the hill for about 10 hours, seeing most of the main areas and features the game had to offer. I was also given a save file by Funselektor with all areas, upgrades, and customizations unlocked.

I mainly played solo, but I also tested online multiplayer by playing with a friend. I played on a gaming PC with an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D processor, an RTX 5070 GPU, and 32GB of RAM. I played mostly with a controller, but I also tested its mouse and keyboard controls.

I’m a fan of racing and driving games, and I’ve played similar off-roading games, such as SnowRunner. I also played a lot of Art of Rally, one of Funselektor’s other titles.

First reviewed October 2026

• Nvidia has considerably improved the AI model for DLSS 5
• This means the tech now offers up to 40% faster frame rates
• Team Green has also improved frame generation, and is bringing DLSS 5 to two new games: Hogwarts Legacy and Where Winds Meet

If you were wondering how soon Nvidia might start ramping up the performance of DLSS 5, well the answer is that it just happened.

Team Green's neural-rendering tech, which officially debuted in NBA 2K27, has only been out for just over a month, but Nvidia is claiming that it has doubled the performance of the AI that drives DLSS 5.

When it was first previewed in March 2026, DLSS 5 needed a pair of RTX 5090 GPUs to run, with the company improving the performance of the AI model by 5x for the release of the tech in NBA 2K27. With this latest update, it's now 10x more performant than that baseline.

Nvidia also made it clear that it has reduced the video memory (VRAM) usage of the tech considerably, noting that: "The DLSS 5 October update shrinks the [AI model] footprint by 24% to roughly 118 million parameters while reducing 4K VRAM usage by 20%. The result is half the GPU overhead of the September [launch] version while maintaining comparable visual fidelity."

Based on Nvidia's testing in NBA 2K27, that translates to boosts in frame rates in the order of 30% to 40%. Check out the video clip below to see the gains in the basketball game.

This new DLSS 5 model launches on October 16, with availability for RTX 5000 GPUs, RTX Spark laptops and the GeForce Now streaming service.

Nvidia also announced that DLSS 5 is being introduced for Hogwarts Legacy on November 5, and also Where Winds Meet in the "near future", although we aren't given a specific launch date in the latter case.

Finally, away from DLSS 5, Nvidia announced that it's bringing in a new performance mode for frame generation, speeding up the tech considerably. The company explains that this benefits from a "faster and lighter algorithm" that boosts frame rates even further, and that it'll offer up to 35% better frame rates with an RTX 5060.

This performance mode is called 'Preset C' in the Nvidia app's frame-generation override.

DLSS 5 is also coming to RTX Remix on October 23, meaning old games can get a graphical makeover with added neural-rendering goodness. That only makes sense. given that gamers have been fudging support (in various ways) with classic PC games anyway.

Analysis: a laudable step forward — but gamers want more

It's remarkable to see DLSS 5 performance being boosted so quickly, although Nvidia needed to act in this regard. One of the main criticisms of this tech has been that the performance hit is too hefty, and it requires a powerful RTX 5000 GPU to run smoothly enough — at a time when the prices of such graphics cards are getting rapidly more expensive.

That said, an increasing number of gamers seem to be accepting that DLSS 5 is worth the cost to the frame rate for the visual uplift. Those folks will doubtless be pleased with Nvidia's progress here, and likely wouldn't disagree with Team Green's assertion in its blog post that 2026 has been a "year of relentless DLSS innovation."

Of course, there are still skeptics who'd rather Nvidia didn't bring AI into play in this way with DLSS. And it's also true that these early optimizations are where the larger gains will be carved out, and as the AI model is further refined, performance improvements are likely to become a lot more modest.

There are also gamers out there who are asking whether, now that the AI model is much improved, this going to usher in wider support for Nvidia's older graphics cards? As this Redditor put it: "Great so could we get official support on the [RTX] 40 series now since the new model is so efficient?"

It's a good question, given that Nvidia has promised that after tuning RTX 5000 performance it's going to work on bringing support to the last-gen RTX 4000 range. I'm guessing this won't happen until early next year, though.

The other work on DLSS frame generation is obviously welcome, too, albeit the new 'Preset C' option has attracted some criticism for causing a bit more glitching and artifacts while boosting frame rates by a decent amount. Not everyone is seeing this, mind, and how obvious it is may be somewhat subjective going by reports (and it could obviously depend on the specific game, too).

At any rate, this preset should be useful for laptop gamers looking to further bolster frame rates with relatively modest Nvidia GPUs — and indeed, it's likely tied into the release of RTX Spark laptops to help their gaming chops.

Logitech G Pro X3 Superstrike review: Two-minute review

The Logitech G Pro X3 Superstrike isn’t the gaming mouse revolution that its predecessor was. The X2 Superstrike wowed in our review when it launched earlier this year, earning a rare five-star score, with most of the praise centered around its incredibly HITS (haptic inductive trigger system) switches.

These allow the user to fully customize the actuation point of the two main mouse buttons in the Logitech G Hub companion software, so you can tweak them specifically for the game that you’re playing. Hair trigger actuation cuts down click latency in competitive first-person shooters like Counter-Strike 2, potentially giving you a split-second advantage, while going for deeper, more deliberate clicks might be preferable for productivity work or slower strategy titles.

You can also choose the level of haptic feedback provided with each input, ranging from very little (or even nothing) to robust, strong clicks. Built on much the same principles as popular Hall effect switches, the sensors are extremely durable too, which is a massive plus.

Though they now lack that initial novelty, the HITS switches remain superb in the Logitech G Pro X3 Superstrike. Other things we appreciated, like the comfortable right-handed shape, two customizable side buttons, and understated aesthetic, remain just as good this time around as well — as very little has been changed on the surface beyond the introduction of two new colorways: a sleek Midnight Black and a bright Magenta Eclipse (a cool pink and black).

Internally, things are different. Logitech G has redesigned the weight distribution to make the mouse less top-heavy. It’s weighs very slightly less at 59g, so very comfortable and light, and is now more balanced overall, which makes it slide even more smoothly in your hand. It’s also powered by a new chipset, the NxLOGI, designed for increased power efficiency.

Logitech G claims that it has taken the battery life all the way to 135 hours per charge, up by 45 hours compared to the previous model. Although it didn’t quite hit that lofty target in my testing, it still comfortably lasts a full week of daily use even with power-hungry features like click haptics cranked up.

The Logitech Pro X3 Superstrike has an upgraded Hero 2 sensor, too, raising the sensitivity from the X2’s 44,000 DPI (dots per inch) to 48,000 DPI and tracking speed from 888 IPS (inches per second) to 930 IPS. You can now access the 8,000Hz polling rate when using the mouse in a wired capacity too – the feature was previously locked to just wireless mode.

I’m not exactly an esports pro, but throughout my testing I found the mouse to be incredibly responsive and accurate, undoubtedly helping my performance as I sunk hour after hour into Counter-Strike 2 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.

I do wish Logitech G had packed even more upgrades to really justify the X3 name, but all contribute to a successor that is a clear upgrade compared to what came before. You do unfortunately have to pay a little more this time around, though, as you will see below.

Logitech G Pro X3 Superstrike review: Price & availability

• Costs $199.99 / £169.99 / AU$299.95
• Available via Logitech and online retailers
• More expensive than the X2 Superstrike

The Logitech G Pro X3 Superstrike comes at $199.99 / £169.99 / AU$299.95 and is available via the official Logitech website and online retailers like Amazon. In the US and UK, it’s slightly more expensive than the X2, which costs $179.99 / £159.99 / AU$299.95 and remains on sale alongside this newer arrival.

That’s firmly in premium territory for a gaming mouse, and whether the added $20 / £10 for the newer model is worth it for you is going to come down to whether you’re willing to pay a little more for even greater specs and better weight distribution.

Bizarrely, the price is the same as the old model in Australia, making the X3 the clear choice out of the two in that region.

Should I buy the Logitech G Pro X3 Superstrike?

Scorecard

Buy it if…

Don't buy it if…

Logitech G Pro X3 Superstrike review: Also consider

How I tested the Logitech G Pro X3 Superstrike

• Tested for multiple weeks
• Tried with popular esports titles
• Compared to other competitive gaming mice

I tested the Logitech G Pro X3 Superstrike for multiple weeks, both in the lead-up to and after its official reveal and release. I used it daily for both gaming sessions and productivity tasks.

On the gaming side, I endeavoured to test popular esports titles including Counter-Strike 2 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. I also played a range of other games from Gears of War: E-Day to Cities: Skylines 2 and Far Cry 6.

Throughout my hands-on time with the mouse, I compared its performance to that of other high-end gaming mice – particularly my usual go-to models, the Asus ROG Harpe Ace Aim Lab Edition and Razer DeathAdder V4 Pro.

• Read more about how we test
• First reviewed: October 2026

If I could scoop up the feeling of playing any game for the first time and relive it, I’d use my free pass on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Thankfully, after two hours with the game in an early access preview with Nintendo of Europe, I’m fully backing the 40th Anniversary remake for the Nintendo Switch 2 as the next best thing.

I was invited to play through the first 45 minutes in Kokiri Forest, a quick 15-minute jaunt across Hyrule Field and into the Hyrule Castle Town Market, as well as the entirety of Adult Link’s forest temple, and in that time, I was totally won over on this long-awaited remake.

From what I’ve seen so far, Ocarina of Time’s 2026 remake is faithful to the original, but additive in all the right ways. Having replayed the same segments in the original through Nintendo Switch Online post-preview, though, these refinements make the two feel worlds apart, and I think the 2026 remake is shaping up to be the definitive way to enjoy the Hero of Time’s epic adventure.

Something old, something new…

Rendered in vivid greens and cerulean blues, the Nintendo Switch 2-exclusive 40th Anniversary remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is a feast for the senses. The biggest talking point and most drastic change is, of course, the art style.

The level of detail could be described as maximalist, from the intricate woven patterns on Link’s iconic green garb to the litany of floaties, sprites, and fairies crowding the airways of Kokiri Forest. However, online discourse suggests it hasn’t been to everyone’s taste — nor was it to mine, at first glance.

From playing the game, I’m reassured that the art style makes sense in Ocarina of Time’s Hyrule. Nintendo has a history of shifting artistic gears with each new era, but there’s a sound logic, thematically, behind its arguably garish style.

The game has always had plenty of visual cues for the loss of innocence, the death of magic, and the corruption of whimsy; I’ve previously compared many of Nintendo’s artistic treatments within Zelda games to mid-century fantasy media like The Lord of the Rings. That contrast is all the more apparent with such a lush backdrop to build upon, and every second I played felt totally immersive visually. Plus, with free camera movement and no fixed perspectives in Hyrule Castle Town Market, you can take in every angle of the world; it’s a facelift I feel the game really deserves.

There is a cartoonish quality to the character models, with some online naysayers calling them DLSS or AI slop-coded. While I still have my reservations when it comes to Zelda and Sheik’s models, they do fit well in this more fantasy-inspired Hyrule. Perhaps not to everyone’s taste, no, but welcome to the world of entertainment media where your feelings are not fact. To me, all of the stylistic changes feel true to what the game would have looked like if hardware back in the late 90s was capable of rendering it, but most crucially, the feeling of the original is preserved and, in places, improved.

The soundtrack is grand and sweeping, refining an already beautiful soundscape with re-orchestrated themes, refreshed vocal efforts (read: Link’s “hyup” and “hyaah”s), and all-new cutscene voice acting.

Given there’s a lot more dialog now, too, nailing the voice acting feels more important than ever; I’m personally not sold on some of the performances, though. The sparse lines I heard from Navi weren’t quite as distinctive (nor annoying) as I was hoping for, and the Greak Deku Tree is less epic Shakespearean, more audiobook reader on 0.75x speed. In fairness, I wasn’t immediately impressed by some of Breath of the Wild’s voice acting, either, but over time these grew on me — perhaps it will be the same here.

I noticed in my time with the game a few shifts in the story beats; the Deku Tree gives some more context about spirit stones and the fate of Hyrule in his first meeting with Link, and Malon wasn’t in the Hyrule Castle Town Market by the fountain as she is in the original. Those hoping for a 1:1 repeat of the story might find themselves slightly alarmed when the full game releases, but what I’ve seen so far is minimal at best and serves only to neaten up the narrative and some translations.

Fundamentally, though, the core gameplay loop seems to have been preserved, and again, the bulk of what you’re getting with this remake is refinement. Smoother combat and tweaked dungeons and puzzles work around Link’s increased mobility; menus feel more streamlined, and locations for collectibles and items have moved around somewhat. It’s an altogether more cohesive package and offers older fans a chance to rediscover the Hero of Time’s world.

Outside of the obvious talking points already covered in Nintendo’s 40th Anniversary Zelda Direct back in September (Threads of Time quest log, better mobility with dashing, jumping, and swimming, fewer loading screens, etc.), the main addition I noticed that’s entirely new to me is Fairy Messages hidden around Hyrule. I only encountered two of these, but they seem to be a hint system for finding secrets and clues for dungeons. These appear to replace (and add to) at least some of Navi’s clues; though I did miss her near-constant yelling.

Something borrowed, something blue

I’d wager Nintendo was very intentional in choosing these segments for our demo to keep some of the bigger surprises and adaptations shielded from view before release; and my deepest desires for the remake lurk in these as-yet-unexplored locations.

Some are more expected; from extended gameplay footage and these recent demos, we already know the topology of some locations like Kakariko Village has changed, and arguably for the better, with more to see and do.

We were under strict instruction not to enter peripheral locations like the Lost Woods, and my hope is that’s because there’s a meaty change here. I loved stumbling through Breath of the Wild’s swirling mists and spindly trees; seeing something similar here rather than a series of logs would be a great reimagining of the location, and I'm all for borrowing from more recent games' success.

I’d be willing to bet that changes will be more significant in later adult Link locations I didn’t see in my preview, though. It’ll be interesting to see how Nintendo navigates the gritty, dark themes in the new world of game age ratings and its more squeaky-clean image. Those who skipped the 3DS remaster might be surprised to discover that, in all likelihood, the blood stains in the Bottom of the Well and Shadow Temple dungeons might be heavily sanitized or entirely removed — but I’m really hoping they find a sensible way to keep the sinister atmosphere intact.

There’s also an opportunity to tie up some loose ends: namely, Zora’s frozen domain, which, presumably for file size reasons, never unfreezes after Adult Link defeats the Water Temple in the original game. It's one of my favorite locations, and seeing it returned to its vibrant ultramarine hues would make Link's efforts all the more satisfying.

These are nice-to-haves, but based on what I’ve played, Nintendo has built a reimagining of greatness from the ground up, and it might even be hard to return to the original without noticing its every flaw or limitation. I certainly struggled post-preview despite racking up more than 20 saves in my lifetime.

I’ll certainly be playing the full game when it releases on November 5th, so make sure to check back then for our full review. Provided it doesn’t take me eons to figure out the new Water Temple… again.

• Control Resonant composer Petri Alanko shares what game he would like to work on next
• He says he would "love to do a proper sci-fi score one day" and enjoys "emotional psycho-thrillers a lot"
• Alanko says he would pass on any "cute cartoon-like games" like My Little Pony

Petri Alanko, the composer for Remedy Entertainment's Control, Control Resonant, and Alan Wake 2, has revealed which genre of game he would love to work on next, but insisted that "cute games" are a hard pass.

In an interview with TechRadar Gaming, Alanko said that with "synth" being part of his musical arsenal, he would "love to do a proper sci-fi score one day," and shared his enthusiasm for thrillers.

"Just gimme a project and free hands, thank you," Alanko said. "I enjoy emotional psycho-thrillers a lot; they offer so much writing ground, but combining that with some other, say, sci-fi flavours, now that would be something I’d love."

As for what he's working on right now, the composer said he's moved on to another game soundtrack, which he couldn't reveal, and also the movie Häyhä, which is about a WW2 Finnish sharpshooter, Simo Häyhä (aka The White Death).

He explained that "scoring movies is relatively easy, really," as "you have the linear media unchanged in front of you," and compared to the average game, " you need only a handful of music for it."

"I certainly don’t want to look down on any film composer," Alanko added. "I know several of them, and they are very dear to me, but in some ways, I feel like that posse has it pretty easy in their line of work."

Alanko went on to share which genre of game he would absolutely avoid if offered the chance to compose music for, including cozy games, because they don't align with his personal tastes.

"One thing is sure: I’m not much good for a My Little Pony game," he said. "Or cute cartoon-like games. Or rally games. Nothing against them, but I don’t have that in me. I’m from a Northern faraway country, and I live with a forest behind my house, and Nordic Noir is more or less a code of conduct in my whereabouts (laughs), so that pretty much stamps my life with [a] 'psycho-thrillers ahoy' badge."

Elsewhere, Alanko suggested studios should value music more if they care about their games and avoid AI at all costs, saying, "Love your game, love your handiwork. Respect the client: the gamers, the fans, dammit."

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1221) - today's words

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• FEED
• THING
• SERVE
• SUGGESTION
• FIERY
• FLICKER
• FLASH
• FOMENT
• SMASH
• HULK
• TRACE
• FUMBLE
• SLICE
• WHIFF
• VOLLEY

NYT Connections today (game #1221) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: A small reveal
• GREEN: As seen at Wimbledon
• BLUE: Comic book champion
• PURPLE: A giant’s saying at the start

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #1221) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: HINT
• GREEN: TENNIS SHOTS
• BLUE: SUPERHEROES, WITH "THE"
• PURPLE: STARTING WITH "FEE, FI, FO, FUM"

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #1221) - the answers

The answers to today's Connections, game #1221, are…

• YELLOW: HINT: FLICKER, SUGGESTION, TRACE, WHIFF
• GREEN: TENNIS SHOTS: SERVE, SLICE, SMASH, VOLLEY
• BLUE: SUPERHEROES, WITH "THE": FLASH, HULK, PUNISHER, THING
• PURPLE: STARTING WITH "FEE, FI, FO, FUM": FEED, FIERY, FOMENT, FUMBLE

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

There is often a link between Strands and Connections and today I can’t help thinking that the purple group STARTING WITH "FEE, FI, FO, FUM" has some NYT thread with today’s folk and fairy tale theme in Strands.

For me, the expression, along with the next line “I smell the blood of an Englishman”, is a strong reminder of being a small child, when all adults seemed like giants, as it is what my uncle would bellow at the start of a hide-and-seek game.

Anyway, I digress as I completely missed it in favour of TENNIS SHOTS (I wanted to add PUNISHER in there as I’m sure there are some players who call their best shot that) and SUPERHEROES, WITH “THE”.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Tuesday, October 13, 2026, game #1220)

• YELLOW: DISCERNMENT: EYE, FLAIR, SENSE, TASTE
• GREEN: FASTEN: HITCH, LASH, TETHER, TIE
• BLUE: SPORTS CHAMPIONSHIP PRIZES: BELT, CUP, JACKET, RING
• PURPLE: LOOSE_____: CANNON, CHANGE, ENDS, LIPS

While a lot of fans have been mixed on Capcom’s remake of Resident Evil 3 since its initial release in 2020, there’s no denying that it's an incredibly tense survival horror experience that’s filled to the brim with high-octane action. And now, you can experience Jill Valentine and Carlos Oliveira’s terrifying journey on the go, thanks to a new Nintendo Switch 2 port.

I’ve spent more than 10 hours playing Resident Evil 3 on Nintendo Switch 2, experiencing the main story in full. So, is it a port that’s worth your time and money? Here’s my take.

For the most part, I want to focus on the quality of this port on Nintendo’s latest hybrid system, but before we delve into that, I’d like to share a few thoughts on the remake of Resident Evil 3 in itself.

Nemesis is coming for you...

I played through the Resident Evil 2 remake right before this entry, and while there are a lot of similarities in terms of the combat, resource management, environments, and visuals, they have a few striking differences.

Above all, Resident Evil 3 feels far more focused on the action — it feels like you’re constantly on the run, blasting through zombies, and rushing to save the people of Raccoon City. In some ways, this works to the game’s advantage: the horrifying Nemesis is a truly daunting foe, the high-paced gameplay is engaging from start to finish, and the explosive set pieces make this entry feel truly cinematic.

However, the fast pace and distinct action focus come with its drawbacks. The game’s runtime is very short — you’ll easily finish this one in about six hours. On top of that, the overall narrative feels a bit thin, and there are very few puzzles. Ultimately, Resident Evil 3 is still a blast, and its likeable cast and engrossing gameplay make it worth playing alone — it just doesn’t quite have the depth of some of the best entries in the series.

Anyway, let’s talk about how this title plays on Switch 2 specifically. And good news — the Resident Evil 3 remake runs very well on this system. The Switch 2 edition targets 60 frames per second (fps), and I enjoyed smooth frame rates in both docked and handheld mode with barely any noticeable drops. Yes, the movement of some distant enemies could appear a little shaky — something I also saw in the Resident Evil 2 remake on Switch 2 — but even the most action-packed segments of the game were silky smooth.

While you could probably get a more premium visual presentation from a gaming PC or PS5 Pro, the game’s graphics also translate well onto Nintendo Switch 2 after calibrating HDR. The dark, moody environments look sharp and intricate in docked mode, with character models looking pleasantly detailed. Contrast is solid too, with colors popping against the dismal city streets, though it’s worth noting that in handheld mode there’s a noticeable (yet understandable) hit to graphical fidelity — though the game still looks very decent overall.

The game also controls nicely, and you can switch between a few different schemes in the options menu, although it would’ve been neat to see gyro aiming, which worked well on the Switch 2 edition of Resident Evil Requiem. There’s also no mouse mode integration, and more generally, it would’ve been nice to see this version play to the Switch 2’s strengths a bit more. One thing that I did like, though, was the Switch 2’s virtual spatial sound, which provides an expansive, almost three-dimensional soundscape when you’re battling through hordes of zombies.

In the end, then, it’s easy for me to recommend the Resident Evil 3 remake on Switch 2. While the graphics won’t wow you in handheld mode and the core game isn’t without its flaws, it consistently runs at a stable frame rate, visuals are strong in docked mode (and still more than adequate in handheld), and the action-packed gameplay is sure to keep you absorbed in the game from start to finish.

Should you play Resident Evil 3 for Nintendo Switch 2?

Play it if…

Don’t play it if…

Accessibility features

The options menu allows you to make a few changes to your experience, with a range of camera options, three separate control schemes, toggle or hold run modes, and a range of voice and text languages available. What’s more, you can change the color of the reticle, laser dot sight, and dot display, alter HUD opacity, and tone down damage display if you’d prefer.

How I reviewed Resident Evil 3 for Nintendo Switch 2

I sunk just over 10 hours into the Resident Evil 3 remake on Nintendo Switch 2, during which time I finished the main story and tried playing in both docked and handheld mode.

Most of the time, I played the game docked, with my Switch 2 connected to the Sky Glass Gen 2 TV and Marshall Heston 120 soundbar. I did try out handheld mode from time to time, though, and used my JBL Live Beam 4 earbuds to experience the game’s virtual spatial sound.

More generally, I’m an experienced gaming hardware and software reviewer, and have been testing all kinds of games and accessories at TechRadar for years now, where I serve as a Senior Reviews Writer. I’ve reviewed all sorts of Nintendo Switch 2 titles, from major first-party releases like Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave to ports like Yakuza Kiwami. I’ve also played a number of Resident Evil games, including the Switch 2 port of the Resident Evil 2 remake.

First reviewed October 2026

• The PC version of Grand Theft Auto 6 will reportedly launch in early 2027, a few months after the console versions
• Some fans believe a 2028 release was possible, but Rockstar Games has moved the PC release up
• Fans speculate that Rockstar wants to get ahead of a potential PS5 emulator

A new report has claimed the PC version of Grand Theft Auto 6 will launch in early 2027, and fans believe Rockstar Games wants to get ahead of a potential emulator.

The news comes from GamesBeat, which reports that Rockstar plans to release the PC version of GTA 6 "in the first quarter of 2027," and that's according to "four industry sources familiar with the studio’s plans, all of whom requested anonymity to avoid damaging business relationships."

It's worth taking this report with a grain of salt, as Rockstar has yet to announce any PC edition; However, this is GTA 6 we're talking about, and fans are already theorizing over potential reasons a PC release could arrive mere months after the PS5 and Xbox versions, despite the PC version of GTA 5 arriving roughly two years after the console editions.

Many have speculated that Rockstar moved the PC release date up to anticipate a possible PS5 emulator, which would allow PC owners access to a "PC build" of GTA 6 without having to wait and pay for the official version. This would also allow users to avoid the "double dipping" scheme that many believe Rockstar is going for.

One redditor suggested Rockstar is "Not waiting a year with the PS5 emulator breathing down their necks." Some other fan wrote something similar, saying, "GTA 6 will probably be emulator ready a month after launch. It’s almost guaranteed at this point."

Some have also pointed out the more recent leaks from 'Cyberleek' (via GamesRadar) and suggest the studio wants to get ahead of the hacker.

"I actually believe this because of the leaks and emulator thing, they probably want the game out asap," a fan said on Reddit, as another wrote, "Im leaning heavily towards an original 2028 PC launch, but some exec has seen the speed that recomps are coming out and realised if they dont release it quick, everyone will be playing it for free."

Other fans think Rockstar hasn't announced the PC release date yet in order to maximise console edition sales; we've recently seen retailers hit with huge price hikes on the PS5 and PS5 Pro in anticipation of the game's launch.

"Not the first rumour we've heard like this," one fan said. "I find it believable - I strongly suspect the PC version is already pretty much done and the 'delay' is artificial from Rockstar to maximise the console release."

We'll have to wait for an official announcement from Rockstar, but in the meantime, PS5 and Xbox users don't have much longer to wait because GTA 6 launches next month on November 19.

In other news, new details have emerged ahead of the GTA 6's launch, which details even more gameplay features and immersive systems.

• The God of War Laufey - Collector's Box has been revealed for £130 / $149.99
• The box doesn't include a copy of the game, just like Grand Theft Auto 6's collector's edition
• Fans are frustrated with the exclusion of the game from the collection, with some calling it "greedy"

Santa Monica Studio has revealed its God of War Laufey Collector's Box, and just like Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto 6 collector's edition, the pricey package doesn't include the game.

The studio shared the "Collector's Box" in a social media post, confirming that the £130 / $149.99 package includes a light-up Faye statue, 51-card Oracle Deck, and a mini art book, noting that the God of War Laufey game is "sold separately."

That's the part of the announcement that has fans talking, with many sharing their frustration over yet another collector's edition that doesn't offer a physical or digital copy of the game.

"I remember when collector's editions used to come with games. Not liking this new trend," one user responded, as another wrote, "'Game sold separately?' ...man, [the] gaming industry is getting greedier and greedier."

The lack of physical games has been a point of contention ever since Sony announced its plans to stop producing game discs by January 2028. The PlayStation company isn't alone; Rockstar Games is also skipping physical discs for GTA 6, the biggest game launch of all time, and players will instead receive a code in the box, a decision that initially caused an uproar.

On top of that, the studio recently announced The Goodtime State – Vice City Collection, a £349 / $399 premium collector's box featuring exclusive merchandise and no game.

"I see Rockstar is an inspiration for everyone," one redditor said about the Laufey - Collector's Box.

Another said, "We need to stop calling these collectors edition when they dont include the game and start calling them over priced cash grabs."

For now, it doesn't look like every company is cutting out games from their expensive collector's editions; Blizzard, for example, is selling its World of Warcraft: Forever's Collector's Edition with a digital download code included, and Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis's version will also offer a physical copy and steelbook alongside other goodies.

Still, fans are particularly worried about the future of collector's editions, which used to typically offer more than just a pretty statue and artbook.

"They [Santa Monica Studio] soft launched this back in Ragnarok, when the collector's edition only had a download code, same for Horizon Forbidden West. Eventually the statue is going to be digital as well," remarked a fan.

The remake of Resident Evil 2 is considered by many to be among the greatest games in Capcom’s legendary survival horror series, and it’s really not hard to see why. Stellar gunplay, immersive environments, a killer cast, and big scares…this entry has it all. And now you can experience it on the go like never before, with the game finally launching on Nintendo Switch 2 in its Resident Evil 2 Deluxe Edition form.

I’ve played the entirety of Leon and Claire’s stories, dabbled in some extra modes, and tried the title out in both docked and handheld mode.

So, if you’re wondering how the game runs and plays on Nintendo’s latest hybrid system, you’re in the right place. Here’s how I’d rate the Resident Evil 2 remake on Nintendo Switch 2 after more than 20 hours of gameplay.

Experience a legendary remake on the go

While I’m mainly here to talk about Nintendo Switch 2 performance, I’ll get this out of the way first: the Resident Evil 2 remake is survival horror at its finest. This game conjures up a truly daunting atmosphere, with haunting and iconic areas like the Raccoon City Police Station and sewers translating beautifully into a modern, HD format. The gunplay is incredibly smooth and satisfying; you truly have to manage your resources carefully if you want to survive, and everything from random skirmishes through to major boss fights feels phenomenally tense. Pair that with a set of likeable characters, an ambient soundtrack, and rewarding exploration, and you’re looking at a true classic of the genre.

But how well does this top-tier Resident Evil title translate onto Nintendo Switch 2? Very well, thankfully.

First of all, let’s talk performance. While a platform like PS5 Pro may still offer a technically superior experience, I never felt like I was sacrificing much with this Switch 2 version. This version targets 60 frames per second (fps), and my frame rates were delightfully consistent, and gameplay felt smooth, even during higher-octane action segments — when docked or in handheld. Sometimes, the movement of distant enemies seemed a bit choppy, but this never affected my ability to blast them down, and I never realized any similar issues during crucial close combat situations.

It’s a similar story when it comes to visuals too. The game looks solid on Nintendo Switch 2 with HDR support. Dark and gloomy city streets and ambiently lit indoor areas appear detailed and faithful, while character models such as the Tyrant look polished and sharp. As you’d expect, some textures don’t look quite as refined in handheld mode, with elements like Claire’s hair slightly lacking in definition, but the game still looks clear with decent contrast and lighting.

Resident Evil 2 also controls nicely on Nintendo Switch 2, with multiple schemes available through the Options menu. Whether I was using my Turtle Beach Rematch Wireless Controller or playing handheld, it was easy to switch weapons during combat, sprint past zombies, or sort through my inventory. This title also supports HD Rumble, which at times can feel a little overassertive, but overall adds to the immersion nicely. You also get virtual spatial sound, which works brilliantly, especially with headphones.

Something that this title does lack, though, is control schemes that make use of the Switch 2’s unique hardware. For instance, there’s no motion-controlled aiming, which would’ve been a nice touch for those who enjoyed it on Resident Evil Requiem, for instance. There isn’t any mouse mode functionality either, so you’ll be using traditional controls throughout the game. For me, this isn’t a huge problem — I prefer standard right stick aiming, but it would’ve undoubtedly been good to see this game make the most of the Switch 2’s hardware.

When all’s said and done, this is a very competent port of a fantastic survival horror game, and it only helps the Switch 2 establish itself as a major destination for third-party titles as well as big-hit Nintendo releases. Whether you’re new to this series or you’re a long-time fan, this is a great way to experience Resident Evil 2 at home or on the go.

Should you play Resident Evil 2 for Nintendo Switch 2?

Play it if…

Don’t play it if…

Accessibility features

There are a number of ways to customize your experience in Resident Evil 2, with customizable camera options, three distinct control schemes, toggle or hold run modes, and a wide array of voice and text languages to pick from. In the display section, you can change the color of the reticle, laser dot sight, and dot display, alter HUD opacity, and even turn damage display levels down if you’d prefer.

How I reviewed Resident Evil 2 for Nintendo Switch 2

I spent more than 20 hours with Resident Evil 2 on Nintendo Switch 2, during which time I completed both Leon and Claire’s stories, played some of the extra modes like The Ghost Survivors, and played in both docked and handheld mode.

For the most part, I played the game docked, with my console hooked up to the Sky Glass Gen 2 TV and Marshall Heston 120 soundbar. However, I did indulge in some handheld action here and there, and used my JBL Live Beam 4 earbuds to enjoy virtual spatial sound on the go.

More generally, I’m a seasoned gaming hardware and software reviewer, and have been testing all kinds of games and accessories for years here at TechRadar, where I serve as a Senior Reviews Writer. I’ve reviewed all sorts of games on Nintendo Switch 2, from major first-party releases like Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave to ports of awesome action games, such as Yakuza Kiwami 2.

First reviewed October 2026

Metro 2039 pre-orders, including that brilliant-looking Collector's Edition, are out in the wild right now!

The big news right away is that some UK retailers are live already! I expected action to commence at 4pm UK time, but Smyths Toys, The Game Collection, Game UK went live ahead of that time and a few on both sides of the |Atlantic have followed after that time to fill out the options for players.

We now know that there are three editions: the excellent Collector's Edition with a wearable Spartan helmet; a Deluxe Edition with a steelbook and art book; and a Standard Edition. If you pre-order any copy, you get a few in-game goodies as well as what each edition brings to the table. I've got more info on the specifics below.

Now we have one more reason to look forward to our next grim adventure in the Moscow metro tunnels; below you'll find all the best links for the Collector's Edition, Deluxe Edition, and Standard Edition that I could find at the time of writing this.

Where to buy the Metro 2039 Collector's Edition - US

• Walmart:
  🔆Check for PS5 stock🔆
  🔆Check for Xbox Series X stock🔆
• Best Buy:
  🏷️Check for PS5 stock🏷️
  🏷️Check for Xbox Series X stock🏷️
• Target:
  🎯Check for PS5 stock🎯
  🎯Check for Xbox Series X stock🎯
• GameStop:
  🎮PS5 - $299.99🎮(out of stock)

Where to buy the Metro 2039 Collector's Edition - UK

• Very:
  𝓥 PS5 - £259.99𝓥
• 𝓥 Xbox Series X - £259.99 𝓥
• Smyths Toys:
  🧸PS5 - £279.99🧸(out of stock)
  🧸Xbox Series X - £279.99🧸(out of stock)
• The Game Collection:
  🎮PS5 - £259.95🎮(out of stock)
  🎮Xbox Series X - £259.95🎮(out of stock)
  🎮PC - £259.95🎮(out of stock)
• Game:
  🕹️PS5 - £259.99🕹️(out of stock)
  🕹️Xbox Series X - £259.99🕹️(out of stock)
• EE:
  📱Check for PS5 stock📱
  📱Check for Xbox Series X stock📱
• Currys:
  ©️Check for PS5 stock©️
  ©️Check for Xbox Series X stock©️
• Argos:
  🟥Check for PS5 stock🟥
  🟥Check for Xbox Series X|S stock🟥
• ShopTo:
  🟡Check for PS5 stock🟡
  🟡Check for Xbox Series X stock🟡
• John Lewis:
  🛍️Check for PS5 stock🛍️
  🛍️Check for Xbox Series X stock🛍️
• Hit:
  💥Check for PS5 stock💥
  💥Check for Xbox Series X stock💥

Where to buy Deluxe and Standard Editions - US

• Best Buy:
  🏷️PS5 Standard Edition - $69.99🏷️
  🏷️PS5 Deluxe Edition - $109.99🏷️
  🏷️Xbox Series X Deluxe Edition - $109.99🏷️
  🏷️Xbox Series X Standard Edition - $69.99🏷️
• Amazon:
  📦PS5 Deluxe Edition - $109.99📦
  📦PS5 Standard Edition - $69.99📦
  📦Xbox Series X Deluxe Edition - $109.99📦
  📦Xbox Series X Standard Edition - $69.99📦
• GameStop:
  🎮PS5 Deluxe Edition - $109.99🎮
  🎮PS5 Standard Edition - $69.99🎮
  🎮Xbox Series X Deluxe Edition - $109.99🎮
  🎮Xbox Series X Standard Edition - $69.99🎮
• Walmart:
  🔆Check for PS5 stock🔆
  🔆Check for Xbox Series X stock🔆
• Target:
  🎯Check for PS5 stock🎯
  🎯Check for Xbox Series X stock🎯
• PlayStation Store:
  🅿️PS5 Digital Deluxe Edition - $99.99🅿️
  🅿️PS5 Standard Edition - $69.99🅿️
• Xbox Store:
  ❎Xbox Series X|S Digital Deluxe Edition - $99.99❎
  ❎Xbox Series X|S Standard Edition - $69.99❎

Where to buy Deluxe and Standard Editions - UK

• Amazon:
  📦PS5 Deluxe Edition - £94.99📦
  📦PS5 Standard Edition - £59.99📦
  📦Xbox Series X Deluxe Edition - £94.99📦
  📦Xbox Series X Standard Edition - £59.99📦
  📦PC Standard Edition - £59.99📦
• Smyths Toys:
  🧸PS5 Deluxe Edition - £89.99🧸
  🧸PS5 Standard Edition - £59.99🧸
  🧸Xbox Series X Deluxe Edition - £89.99🧸
  🧸Xbox Series X Standard Edition - £59.99🧸
• The Game Collection:
  🎮PS5 Deluxe Edition - £94.95🎮
  🎮PS5 Standard Edition - £54.95🎮
  🎮Xbox Series X Deluxe Edition - £94.95🎮
  🎮Xbox Series X Standard Edition - £54.95🎮
• Very:
  𝓥 PS5 Deluxe Edition - £94.99 𝓥
  𝓥 PS5 Standard Edition - £59.99 𝓥
  𝓥 Xbox Series X Deluxe Edition - £94.99 𝓥
  𝓥 Xbox Series X Standard Edition - £59.99 𝓥
• Game:
  🕹️PS5 Deluxe Edition - £94.99🕹️
  🕹️PS5 Standard Edition - £54.99🕹️
  🕹️Xbox Series X Deluxe Edition - £94.99🕹️
  🕹️Xbox Series X Standard Edition - £54.99🕹️
• EE:
  📱Check for PS5 stock📱
  📱Check for Xbox Series X stock📱
• Currys:
  ©️Check for PS5 stock©️
  ©️Check for Xbox Series X stock©️
• Argos:
  🟥Check for PS5 stock🟥
  🟥Check for Xbox Series X|S stock🟥
• ShopTo:
  🟡Check for PS5 stock🟡
  🟡Check for Xbox Series X stock🟡
• John Lewis:
  🛍️Check for PS5 stock🛍️
  🛍️Check for Xbox Series X stock🛍️
• Hit:
  💥Check for PS5 stock💥
  💥Check for Xbox Series X stock💥
• PlayStation Store:
  🅿️PS5 Digital Deluxe Edition - £84.99🅿️
  🅿️PS5 Standard Edition - £59.99🅿️
• Xbox Store:
  ❎Xbox Series X|S Digital Deluxe Edition - £84.99❎
  ❎Xbox Series X|S Standard Edition - £59.99❎

Should I pre-order Metro 2039?

We can safely (probably) approach this question for Metro 2039 in terms of the editions that will be available.

In short, if you're interested in the Collector's Edition for Metro 2039 with that super cool wearable helmet, then my advice is to absolutely pre-order. We already know that there'll be a limited number of these, so waiting around until launch to hopefully snag one is a fool's game. If you're a big fan and willing and able to place a Collector's Edition pre-order, then my advice is to definitely do that.

If you're interested in the other editions only, then the pressure probably isn't so high. Certainly not with the standard edition in terms of stock anyway; you'll be able to find this at launch naturally, but the pre-order bonuses might make it tempting.

Now, if you're keen on the Deluxe Edition that sits 'in between' the standard one and the Collector's, then I'd lean more toward placing a pre-order over not if you're interested. We often see these middle editions being super popular due to the fact that the Collector's might be too pricey for most (or sell out), but fans want something a bit more special than the standard edition, especially if they are big followers of the series.

As a result, it's slightly nuanced but, in brief: the bigger the edition, the more need for a pre-order, I reckon.

Metro 2039 pre-orders — what's in each edition?

Thanks to Smyths Toys in the UK going earlier than I expected, we now know what's in each edition of Metro 2039. First, if you pre-order any copy of the game, you get:

• The Metro 2039 Specialist Pack that includes three blueprints - three unique, swappable backpack upgrades: an Equipment Specialist Pouch, Chemtech Specialist Pouch, and Munitions Specialist Pouch

If you want to go for the Collector's Edition, you'll get:

• A copy of the game
• A wearable replica Spartan helmet
• An exclusive steelbook
• A hardback art book
• Story expansion DLC
• A digital copy of the art book
• A digital copy of the soundtrack

But if you'd rather go for the Deluxe Edition, you'll bag the following:

• A copy of the game
• An exclusive steelbook
• A hardback art book
• Story expansion DLC
• A digital copy of the art book
• A digital copy of the soundtrack

• Control Resonant composer Petri Alanko tells TechRadar Gaming how he approached the game's musical aesthetic
• He says "human vocals" and the "significant" relationship between Dylan and Hedron helped inform his writing
• Alanko says Dylan being an "involuntary hero" provided "a lot of writing material"

Control Resonant composer Petri Alanko has shared how the game's new setting and the relationship between protagonist Dylan and antagonist Hedron informed the soundtrack.

"Usually, it’s the scenery that hits best, and how the main character is related to the scenery, be that a connection or a disconnection," Alanko told TechRadar Gaming in an interview when asked about his design process. "It’s interesting, as there also are no rules whatsoever; again it’s a classic case of 'Hey, I think THAT would make you think this…'

"It’s basically psychological to an extent, really. Trying to play with your brain first, and later on with the player’s brain."

Alanko said "human vocals" was a term he and Remedy identified as part of the Resonant's core music aesthetic, "offering a whole dimension, practically." In addition, the "significant" relationship between Dylan and Hedron, a powerful Resonant entity, was another angle that "drove this first phase onwards."

"The path of the main character [Dylan] and the main antagonist’s [Hedron] relationship with him, it’s indeed a very conflicted pairing," he said. "Dysfunctional, one would say, but that provided a very human layer to the original setting.

"Dylan, being one might call 'an involuntary hero', or 'anti-hero' even, provided a lot of writing material; his path from a blank, soulless and partially mindless being into something willing to sacrifice himself just to find his sister is worth a dozen stories alone, not to mention the fact that their relationship hasn’t been exactly peaceful."

The composer went on to say that terms like "rough," "larger than life," "gut-wrenching," "human, yet inhuman," and "organic" were all on his Post-It notes at the beginning of development, concerning how he approached Dylan.

On the other hand, for Hedron, he had "strangely familiar yet frightening," "clangorous," "structured and sequenced," "mathematical and procedural" as his terms.

"And when I mention 'procedural', I mean the appearance," Alanko added. "It’s almost as if Hedron communicated with circular shapes, hence the term."

Alanko also shared his approach to the whole Remedy-verse score and musical landscape with TechRadar Gaming, saying, "There’s always the absolute evil lurking in there," at the games' core.

Slaying vampires always feels good, and 2D action-adventure and exploration game Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse is no exception. The first entry in the iconic horror platformer in more than a decade, Evil Empire and Konami have crafted a love letter to past titles that, while not changing much of the formula, delivers an experience worthy of the Belmont name.

Despite a fantastic animated adaptation (and great spinoff series with Nocturne), Castlevania has been six feet under as Konami barely revisited the series. Seldom for tie-ins with Dead Cells and re-releases, so fans were ready to sink their fangs into a new title.

Fortunately, it would come from the Dead Cells team, Evil Empire. Its mastery of the craft with the Metroidvania genre made it a safe but effective pick to hand the Vampire Killer whip to. And, lo and behold, they ran with it and made something fans will love.

You must whip it, whip it good

Surprisingly, the game is a sequel of sorts to both Netflix’s Castlevania and Castlevania 3: Dracula’s Curse. As Rose Belmont, the daughter of Trevor Belmont and Sypha Belnades, she is tasked with stopping the newfound dangers flooding Paris.

With her father’s guidance and all the Belmont tactics, she’ll discover the root of it all, as well as how she and her mysteriously cursed arm fit into things.

Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse does go a good distance with its narrative, but it doesn’t reach too high. It’s got some twists, turns, and great moments, though it can feel sparse. Of course, most of the fun will come from your experience dashing and slashing, but it can feel uneven with its cinematic counterparts. Still, it’s serviceable enough for you to want to keep playing and see more.

Rose Belmont, as the daughter of Trevor and Sypha, is a pretty likeable protagonist. She’s not one-note by any means and struggles with her emotions, especially with the spotlight now on her. However, it’s the supporting cast that provide her with what she needs to be a worthy Belmont.

Without spoilers, her Confidantes will be her moral compass, and it’s up to her to choose which direction she wants to go in. Props go to many of the fantastic performers in the game, as everyone works perfectly with their respective characters.

A missable little pile of secrets

Once you set foot off the docks of the Seine, you’re instantly thrust into classic Castlevania gameplay: slay monsters and maneuver through obstacles. There are small tutorials, but for the most part, Paris is an open book, and you’re free to flip through the pages almost immediately.

Action-wise, it also harkens to classic Castlevania, with Rose using a variety of weapons to kill the many creatures of the night. There are many types of weapons, from the iconic whip to flashy gauntlets. Finding new versions of them throughout the world is always a treat, as it never disappoints when you equip them and test them out. Personally, the whip was a go-to, as it rewarded distance with better damage output, though the spear was a close second.

Also, with Rose’s abilities, which she’d earn after certain bosses, it unlocks various attacks, like throwable crosses or pillars of fire. It leaves customization very open, letting you play how you’d like in terms of combat.

Without going into spoilers, Rose’s journey goes beyond the confines of Paris into various regions. Each of them has some theme and gimmick that makes them memorable in both a playing sense and a backtracking sense. As this is a Castlevania game, you will find yourself going back to certain locations to find secrets and clues for other locations. Luckily, with new abilities like an air dash and, of course, a grappling hook whip, you’ll be able to do so easily and rapidly.

That said, the level design in Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse is phenomenal. Traps and platforming take advantage of Rose’s abilities, including ones she earns throughout her adventure. It takes precision and good reflexes to maneuver through them, and it never gets old. It can get frustrating, though, especially if you’re going back and forth a ton. Still, finding what you need after a seemingly impossible challenge feels so good.

Slaves to our family’s wishes

As the first new 2D Castlevania in decades, there have been noticeable increases in graphical fidelity since then.

Belmont’s Curse blends 2D with 3D to bring a Dead Cells-like style to the gameplay and look. It does keep the drawn silhouettes of characters for dialogue, but in-game cutscenes are all flat 3D. While the pixelated depth in past titles like Symphony of the Night and Order of Ecclesia is sorely missed, Evil Empire’s redesign works well with the series and fits right in.

Frame-rate-wise, there were rarely any hiccups during the playthrough. There was a stutter or two during certain moments with tons of monsters, but it was pretty seldom. However, there were a handful of glitches with the audio, as it would cut in and out and, often, restart with each level transition. While rare, some glitches with the gameplay, like phased-out enemies or awkward platforming, would happen.

It’s also important to mention that it can be quite a difficult game. The series is known for being brutal, and Belmont’s Curse is no exception. A death can bring you way back and reset tons of progress. It’s a worthwhile challenge, but it is one that takes time and patience. Bosses will be the bane of many people’s existence, as some of them, especially late-game ones, are super difficult. It can feel a bit overkill, but it’s nonetheless satisfying to whittle them down and then finally get the last laugh.

In short, Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse is classic Castlevania brought to the modern age. Evil Empire and Konami have crafted a title that, while it’s not the huge blockbuster many would hope for, is a well-done action platformer. It doesn’t go too far outside the box, but it makes the most of what it does have.

With fantastic level design and combat, the franchise is in a position to return to its glory days and its bloody reign over the action platformer genre.

Should you play Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse?

Play it if...

Don't play it if...

Accessibility features

While the game touts its difficulty, there are available accessibility features to lessen it. There are also various visual adaptations for thicker outlines or colorblind mode. In addition, subtitles are available in different languages, as well as voice-overs. However, despite some accessibility, some things, like one-hit-kill traps, exist and can be frustrating.

How I reviewed Castlevania: Belmont's Curse

I played Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse for around 16 hours, seeing much of the game’s map, bosses, and secrets. I also got many of the available weapons and spells, as well as heart and mana containers. In addition, I did play the demo, which was released prior to the game’s release, and transferred the save file from that to the full title.

I played the game on a base PS5 with the DualSense Wireless Controller and HyperX Cloud 3 wired gaming headset, all on a Roku 4K TV.

First reviewed October 2026

When you read ‘video game fashion’, you likely picture faintly embarrassing Pokémon-inspired onesies, awkward PlayStation-branded rucksacks, or cringeworthy Sonic the Hedgehog T-shirts. But the world of video game and lifestyle collaborations has changed markedly over the last few years. With gaming becoming more of a major cultural force, higher-end brands have started to get involved.

You can probably already think of some examples. It wasn't long ago that cult streetwear brand ARK/8 launched a capsule inspired by the world of Elden Ring at the peak of that game’s popularity, including a coat that made headlines thanks to its eye-watering $1,700 price tag.

On the more approachable end of the cost spectrum, premium watchmaker Hamilton has been collaborating with some of the biggest names in gaming for years and has big plans for the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 launch in just a few weeks.

From Hollywood to high scores

“What’s fantastic about Hamilton is that the brand keeps working to its DNA and its roots,” explains Hamilton International CEO Francesca Ginocchio as we chat about the company’s gaming efforts. “I would say the American spirit of the brand, now with Swiss movement, is very strong, as is the link with cinema and entertainment, which has been so consistent starting back in 1957 with Elvis Presley.”

The King of Rock and Roll himself famously owned and frequently wore a Hamilton Ventura, the watch even appearing on his wrist in the 1961 musical film Blue Hawaii. The asymmetrical design became so synonymous with the star that the model is still dubbed the ‘Elvis watch’ today.

Hamilton continues to work closely with the glamorous world of Hollywood today, collaborating with directors including Christopher Nolan and Denis Villeneuve to create custom pieces for titles like Tenet and Dune: Part Two.

“We have been in more than 300 movies so far, but we keep on trying to update ourselves,” Ginocchio continues. “Gaming is really a new part of the DNA of a brand linked to entertainment and movies. It’s the next step.”

Hamilton’s gaming collaborations began back in 2021, when eagle-eyed Far Cry 6 players might have spotted a custom titanium field watch on protagonist Dani Rojas’s wrist. Designed specifically for the game, Hamilton made 1983 identical real-world pieces available for dedicated fans to buy.

For a tie-in product, the design was understated: a vintage brown leather strap, military-style titanium case, and a simple watch face with beige numbering. It looked like an object that could plausibly exist in the game’s fictionalized Yara setting, which draws heavily on the aesthetic of modern-day Cuba. You would be hard-pressed to identify it as a collab unless you spot the vertical line dividing the dial’s number six in a reference to the game’s logo.

According to Ginocchio, this subtlety is by design and all in view of delivering a product that feels authentic to the fictional universe: “We have this credibility in the entertainment world, and we apply how we work with movies to the gaming industry. Basically, we try to do the best watch for the character in the movie or in the game.”

Mission ready

This approach is evident in Hamilton’s latest video game endeavor, a collaboration with the upcoming blockbuster first-person shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4.

Fan-favorite hero Captain Price wears a Hamilton Khaki Field watch on his wrist throughout the story campaign, with a matching model releasing alongside the game.

It’s a pairing that Ginocchio says came naturally given the brand’s heritage. “When the Call of Duty collaboration came up, a big pillar of a business and big part of our story, or DNA, is the Khaki collection,” she explains. “It was born in the US and used in World War One and World War Two. It’s very recognizable; Khaki, I would say, is almost a brand within the brand. If you have a Khaki on your wrist, everybody can tell you’re wearing a Hamilton, and Call of Duty was the perfect combination to put all that storytelling and this part of the collection in a game.”

The Hamilton x Modern Warfare 4 special edition is outfitted with a 38mm black PVD-coated stainless steel case, a rugged material in an unassuming color befitting a man trying to keep a low profile.

There is some brightness, though, in the highlighter yellow arrow of the second hand and little triangle shape at 12 o'clock – a dominant color in the upcoming game’s marketing. Otherwise, the dark green numbers are perfectly legible against the black dial and, if you look closely, you’ll spot the Korean character 사 in place of the usual Arabic number, reflecting the game’s Korea setting and mirroring its branding.

It’s paired with a durable green fabric strap for a look that the brand says is inspired by British-issued service watches. Interestingly, this model uses Hamilton’s mechanical H-50 movement, which offers an 80-hour power reserve but requires hand winding.

Ginocchio notes this as another conscious choice steeped in history, saying that "Mechanical hand winding was really important for us" as it harkens back to old service watches and "really represents Hamilton."

She goes on to explain that, although the finished watch is something entirely new, it’s important to use existing real-world models as a starting point to maintain believability. She also says every design decision was the result of close conversation with Activision and the Call of Duty team: “It’s really done in collaboration, because we don’t want to make the perfect Hamilton watch. We want to make the perfect watch for the character of the game, and that’s a different story.”

Custom packaging is also an important part of the real-world product, and the Hamilton x Modern Warfare 4 watch comes nestled inside a cigar-box-like travel case – a not-so-subtle allusion to Price’s frequently lighting up in-game.

Never slowing down

This isn’t Hamilton’s first Call of Duty collaboration: the brand released a special edition Black Ops 7 model last year (worn in-game by multiplayer operator Axel Vermaak).

Last year’s watch was noticeably tamer, however, with far fewer customized elements and little more than a branded caseback to set it apart at a glance – something that many online commenters were quick to lament.

The CEO says that the choice to make this year’s model more adventurous came as a result of such feedback: “Last year, we had some enthusiastic people, and some people who were saying, ‘Oh, but we wanted something more customized. You could have done more!’ [...] People that buy a Hamilton watch, they are passionate, and so we listen to them.

"This year we said, ‘Okay, let’s do something stronger. Something with more differentiation.’ [...] This year, as it’s the second collaboration, we feel we can push a little more and go with something more aggressive.”

Of course, for well-known brands like Hamilton, gaming collaborations are a way to reach a new audience outside of their core market. “We have our usual watch 'passionates' who have to buy everything we propose, and they will go for this because it's something totally new, totally fun,” she adds. “Then we have many, many people who are gaming passionate – but they don’t know about Hamilton, and they get to know us.”

It’s a strategy that seems to be working, with Ginocchio stating that Hamilton’s top sellers “are all watches with a movie or storytelling behind them” and teasing that there are even more collaborations to come. “We already have three new projects for 2027,” she reveals. “It’s a long-term strategy; we want to keep on going and be consistent.”

You can learn where to buy the Hamilton x Modern Warfare 4 special edition via the brand’s official website, or see it in-game when Modern Warfare 4 launches for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC on October 23, 2026.

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1220) - today's words

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• EYE
• LASH
• LIPS
• JACKET
• TIE
• SENSE
• CHANGE
• BELT
• RING
• TASTE
• CUP
• HITCH
• CANNON
• TETHER
• FLAIR
• ENDS

NYT Connections today (game #1220) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Very particular
• GREEN: Put together
• BLUE: What winners get
• PURPLE: Begin with the opposite of tight

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #1220) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: DISCERNMENT
• GREEN: FASTEN
• BLUE: SPORTS CHAMPIONSHIP PRIZES
• PURPLE: LOOSE_____

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #1220) - the answers

The answers to today's Connections, game #1220, are…

• YELLOW: DISCERNMENT: EYE, FLAIR, SENSE, TASTE
• GREEN: FASTEN: HITCH, LASH, TETHER, TIE
• BLUE: SPORTS CHAMPIONSHIP PRIZES: BELT, CUP, JACKET, RING
• PURPLE: LOOSE_____: CANNON, CHANGE, ENDS, LIPS

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 1 mistake

Seeing LIPS, LASH and EYE on the top line of the grid immediately made me think about makeup, but I resisted the temptation to cobble a group together and instead waited to see if I could find anything more concrete.

I stumbled on a Purple First after trying to think about what possible group could contain CANNON and could only come up with weaponry and the phrase “loose cannon”, which chimed with CHANGE, ENDS, and LIPS.

Sadly I ruined my clean run with eight tiles left, as I thought we were looking for ways of strapping items of clothing, so I had BELT instead of TETHER in the group that became FASTEN.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Monday, October 12, 2026, game #1219)

• YELLOW: STATUS: CONDITION, SHAPE, SITUATION, STATE
• GREEN: TOLERATE: BEAR, HANDLE, STAND, WEATHER
• BLUE: WORD SHORTENINGS, OFTEN: ABBREVIATION, CONTRACTION, ELISION, NICKNAME
• PURPLE: WORDS MADE USING U.S. POSTAL ABBREVIATIONS: ALKYLAMIDE, CALAMARI, MANDARIN, MELAMINE

• Blizzard Entertainment says it learned plenty of lessons from World of Warcraft Classic: Season of Discovery
• It acknowledged that "we were going too far" with class changes in Season of Discovery and "Forever will be a lot more careful and cautious with slower class changes"
• The studio also learned "what levers we could create to help us manage the in-game economy" in Forever

Blizzard Entertainment has learned a lot from World of Warcraft Classic: Season of Discovery, but it's taking care not to overindulge in class experimentation for World of Warcraft: Forever.

In the same lengthy interview with TechRadar Gaming, where Blizzard confirmed it doesn't plan to modernize Forever's classes, as it wants to preserve the Classic experience, the team shared what it learned from Season of Discovery, a seasonal release for Classic that reimagines progression systems, adds new abilities, unconventional class roles, and redesigned instances, and how it will apply those lessons to Forever.

The team said that it had fun exploring class changes, but admitted it went "too far" and is taking steps to be more considerate with how it applies updates in Forever.

"We pushed every class to the limit and explored every power fantasy on every class," Blizzard said. "But we knew we were going too far. It’s like eating all your Halloween candy on October 31. It’s fun and amazing, but afterward you are sick to your stomach.

"Forever will be a lot more careful and cautious with slower class changes."

Another lesson it learned from Season of Discovery was "what levers we could create to help us manage the in-game economy," something that sometimes suffers from botting and real-money trading (RMT).

It told us that it's actively working to combat RMT in Forever and has already devised penalties that, depending on the terms of service infraction, could result in permanent bans.

Blizzard continued, saying, "We built several systems both under the hood and player-facing that allowed us to control the inflow and outflow of key resources, which led to a much healthier economy, with much less problematic behavior such as RMT."

RMT has always been a huge issue in WoW, whether it's retail or Classic, and Blizzard confirmed it has "a number of new systems in place" to support detection.

"It’s a cat and mouse game, so talking too much about our plans here could tip our hand," it said. "Suffice to say, we are watching very closely, and engaging in RMT is not worth putting your account at risk."

Blizzard has also addressed WoW: Forever's controversial Skyborne race and explained why the Elf race is available to both Alliance and Horde. It's also shared why Summoning Stones won't be in the upcoming game.

There’s little else quite so satisfying in gaming as a really chunky parry sound effect. When you read your opponent precisely and time a deflection to perfection, hearing that impactful audio cue as a reward is about as good as it gets — especially if you can follow it up with a devastating finishing move. Valor Mortis nails this.

I never tired of hearing the reverberated twang of blades clashing in my time with the first-person ‘Souls-like’ from One More Level. And given how much time is spent duelling with the reanimated corpses of Napoleonic soldiers, body horror monstrosities, and a few unique creatures I won’t spoil, it’s really something the developers had to nail.

So, I’m pleased to say that they have, and it’s one reason why I stuck with Valor Mortis through several of its other less successful aspects.

The opening, however, is strong. You awaken on a battlefield, surrounded by corpses, the rousing voice of Vincent Cassel as Napoleon in your ear encouraging you to move forward. But this conflict has turned into something far worse than just blades and cannon fire. A plague of sorts has torn through the land, transforming humans into monsters and unlocking mystical powers for you to use in your quest to understand exactly what’s happened while you’ve slumbered.

It’s all a setup that fits the Dark Souls-inspired core of the game, with its dangerous, foreboding, war-torn world to explore. This time, lanterns serve as the safe spaces to save your progress, level up using the blood from dead enemies, tweak your build with several skill-tweaking gems, and restart from when you inevitably die.

Your power to fight back against the horrors builds slowly and doesn’t ever get massively expansive. First, a sabre. Then, a pistol. After that, well, it’s the ability to shoot fire from your hands and put enemies in stasis. You can switch between these and a handful more melee, ranged, and magical powers at will — and will often need to do so to tackle different enemy types most effectively.

Bonjour

For example, basic soldiers can be taken out with a few sword slashes. A more imposing axe-wielding officer is better handled by keeping your distance as you burn it with fire to set off the explosive keg on its back. There’s a malformed grenadier who protects its sack of explosives with an engorged hand, but when it moves to lob a grenade at you, a well-timed shot can cause a massive explosion.

As you proceed forward, each encounter requires you to assess whichever threats you’re facing and break down the best way to take them out or exploit a weakness with the tools at your disposal. Of course, you can always go wailing in with a sword, but it’s rarely the smartest move. You have limited stamina, and the aggressive enemies can obliterate you in just a few hits.

As is the trial-and-error nature of these types of games, it takes a few encounters with some new foes to get the better of them, but I wish Valor Mortis wasn’t so obsessed with the trickery of it all. Long delayed attacks that are preceded by multiple feints and five seconds of interpretive dance before a sudden blow pulverises you is kind of funny the first couple of times, but by the dozenth time I was getting irate.

The same goes for some aspects of the level design, which is regularly full of traps and “gotcha” moments. Enemies pop up out of bushes, others surprise you from behind doors, items are placed for you to be ambushed, or trigger rocks falling on you, or make you step on sections of floor that fall out from under you. I get that these moments are meant to keep you on your toes, but when they happen repeatedly in quick succession, they start to feel cheap rather than challenging.

What I do like is that at least Valor Mortis mixes up linear gauntlets with open areas that give you more freedom in how you approach. There are opportunities to sneak up or around to get better vantage points and backstab enemies for an instant kill or significant damage. Thinning out larger groups is definitely something you’ll need to do, as even facing just two enemies at once puts you at a massive disadvantage in the game’s first-person view.

Variety is added further with some fantastic sections that combine the frenetic platforming of the team’s previous Ghostrunner series with the tight combat mechanics to create some entertaining and inventive set pieces. A section across broken-up ships that are suspended in time above the sea is a highlight, as you hop and swing between the splintered decks, take out snipers with your musket, and slash through any remaining soldiers prowling around.

Finding its footing

On the other hand, a diversion into a mine is perhaps one of the game’s most dreary and aggravating sections. Here, lots of tight, dark, and windy corridors are not the easiest to see or fight in. Then, while you’re also trying to dodge and parry different enemies, the game decides to throw freewheeling minecarts that can almost kill you in one hit down these same small alcoves at the same time. A fun idea, in theory, but there’s a point where a situation becomes too chaotic for you to assess it and react to it quickly enough, and so my approach changed to brute force and luck rather than skill.

But then I was quickly brought back again by another thrilling on-rails segment that makes full use of all abilities and weapons you’ve gathered until now, before culminating in a surprising out-of-this-world boss fight that puts the rewarding parrying mechanics front and centre.

When that works, it really works. And the flourishes One More Level adds with ranged weapons and magical abilities are welcome tactical options — even if you will have to rely on swordplay more than anything else. The fact I kept getting beat up but wanted to keep coming back to nail a parry combo shows where the strengths of Valor Mortis lie. It’ll likely scare many away, but if challenging Souls-likes are what you enjoy, here’s another with an intriguing premise and a neat twist to add to your list.

Should you play Valor Mortis?

Play it if…

Don’t play it if…

Accessibility features

Valor Mortis offers very few accessibility features. In terms of dialogue, there is only an option to adjust the subtitle size between small, medium, and large. Mouse and keyboard, and controller options are available, with full key rebinding possible on the former and several control schemes available to choose from on the latter. You can also adjust the field of view, turn off or tone down camera shaking, as well as turn blood splatter and dismemberment on or off if you prefer a less gory experience.

How I reviewed Valor Mortis

I played over 10 hours of Valor Mortis on PC using an Xbox Wireless Controller and playing audio through my Bose QuietComfort Headphones. I’m using a fairly mid-range rig with a Ryzen 5 9600X, an AMD Radeon RX 9060XT, 48GB of RAM, and a Samsung 990 EVO Plus SSD. My monitor is the MSI MAG 27CQ6F.

With some tweaks to the settings, I was able to play the game on High at 1440p with frame generation on and maintain a comfortable 100+ fps at almost all times. It may not be a hugely demanding game, but it looks good and runs smoothly, which is ideal for reaction-based combat.

First reviewed October 2026.

• Nintendo has confirmed its commitment to physical games
• The statement comes as Sony abandons physical media
• “We go off of what the consumer prefers,” Nintendo declared

Physical game releases are becoming increasingly rare these days, but one company that still plans to sell its titles this way is Nintendo. The Japanese gaming giant confirmed as much in an interview that might come as some relief to fans of disc-based media — although don’t take it as a guarantee that things will stay this way forever.

Speaking to Brazilian interviewer Rodrigo Coelho, Bill van Zyll, Vice President & General Manager of Nintendo Latin America, explained that, “There are no plans to ditch physical [media]. We know how much the fans like it as well.”

Nintendo’s van Zyll gave the example of the Nintendo Switch 2, for which games are available in both digital and physical formats. That's something Nintendo appears to be committed to continuing, at least for the time being, which could help to assuage the concerns of some fans.

Nintendo fans on social media seemed hopeful about the revelation. “Maybe there is window for cartridges to make a comeback in some capacity,” mused one on Reddit, while another proclaimed that “I have no plans to abandon Nintendo. The system works!” “I hope Sony takes notice,” wrote a third, referring to Sony’s decision to completely abandon physical games by 2028.

Good news — for now

Of course, there’s no way to know exactly how long Nintendo will remain devoted to physical games for. As van Zyll said in the interview, “historically, we’ve been very agnostic. We go off of what the consumer prefers and take that into account very heavily”. While that might mean physical releases are here to stay at the moment, van Zyll’s response doesn’t rule out a change of approach in the future if consumer tastes shift.

With that in mind, it’s worth considering that Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has previously noted that “Our business is well over 90% digitally distributed,” which explains why GTA 6 is going to be an entirely disc-less launch. While Graft Theft Auto players and fans of Nintendo games are two quite different groups, I wouldn’t be too surprised to see Nintendo follow Take Two’s example in the future.

If you are a keen collector of physical games, and prefer to own hard copies of every title you play, Nintendo’s announcement will be great news. But with the industry increasingly heading in the digital direction, you might want to pick up hard copies of your favorites, just in case Nintendo decides to change course.

• Control Resonant composer Petri Alanko says every Remedy game has "absolute evil lurking in there"
• Alanko says he and Remedy rely on players' intelligence to understand the "psychological aspect to it all"
• He adds that "Remedy is not a dictating entity; we don’t do walking simulators, and we don’t hold hands"

According to Control Resonant composer Petri Alanko, every Remedy Entertainment title has a sinister aspect at its core, and he relies on the player's intelligence to understand it through his music.

When asked if there is a particular approach to the whole Remedy-verse score and musical landscape in an interview with TechRadar Gaming, Alanko explained that "There’s always the absolute evil lurking in there," with an added psychological aspect.

He said, "It affects instruments, instrumentation," as well as "the overtone series" (a sequence of musical pitches or frequencies that naturally sound above a main base note when it is played), as something so evil it "has a gravity" and "that affects the sounds, too, by bending and separating the overtones from each other."

"Its nature is very prominent, and there is a psychological aspect to it all: when you hear something familiar to be slightly off, it triggers your lizard brain into action, and with some preparation, we’re able to have a very suitable fight-or-flight reaction to introduce some action as a spice," Alanko said. "It is a very, very interesting process to affect people, to sort of kick them into action without actually telling them what to do."

As for how he and Remedy portray that "evil" across the games, he explained that they rely on players' understanding of subtext and context clues to find the meaning of what they're experiencing.

"Remedy is not a dictating entity; we don’t do walking simulators, and we don’t hold hands; we believe in intelligence and the ability to think and deduce something from the facts given," he said. "Same applies to music: a set of hints and a basic feeling may be introduced, but it ends there.

"A good mentalist always lets the audience do the magic. And everyone has seen those really awful marketplace magicians; nobody wants that for a birthday. Remedy is not that. We believe in a thinking, investigating, curious human being."

This applies across all of Remedy's games, whether it's Control, Alan Wake, or Quantum Break; however, Alanko and the studio know they can't regurgitate the same thing over and over again, but players will find a commonality between each series.

"Every new IP adds to the recipe, more or less, and though we don’t exactly want to repeat ourselves, there must be something in common and something familiar to the scores and the soundtracks, and that’s something you can’t really create overnight," Alanko said.

"The same applies with everything: it gets better with time. For instance, we introduced orchestra to Remedy’s sonic identity with Alan Wake, and it was there as is, but also as a slightly mangled version of itself, too. Then there was a very softly played grand piano, with enough compression to turn Manhattan into a peanut, with a reverb that ate half of Helsinki, basically. Quantum Break allowed for much more industrial and electronic flavours to enter the soup, and Control brought musique concrète in."

He added that those three qualities created "What I love to call 'A Remedy Sonic Bermuda Triangle', some top-notch processing," noting that a "huge amount of raw material is originated from acoustic sources, as "There’s very little 'just synths' stuff, although I do love my arsenal."

In the same interview, Alanko has suggested studios should value music more if they care about their games and avoid AI at all costs.

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1219) - today's words

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• CALAMARI
• MANDARIN
• STATE
• ABBREVIATION
• NICKNAME
• HANDLE
• SHAPE
• WEATHER
• CONDITION
• CONTRACTION
• SITUATION
• BEAR
• ALKYLAMIDE
• STAND
• ELISION
• MELAMINE

NYT Connections today (game #1219) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Where we’re at
• GREEN: Put up or shut up
• BLUE: Brief words
• PURPLE: As seen on letters and packages

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #1219) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: STATUS
• GREEN: TOLERATE
• BLUE: WORD SHORTENINGS, OFTEN
• PURPLE: WORDS MADE USING U.S. POSTAL ABBREVIATIONS

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #1219) - the answers

The answers to today's Connections, game #1219, are…

• YELLOW: STATUS: CONDITION, SHAPE, SITUATION, STATE
• GREEN: TOLERATE: BEAR, HANDLE, STAND, WEATHER
• BLUE: WORD SHORTENINGS, OFTEN: ABBREVIATION, CONTRACTION, ELISION, NICKNAME
• PURPLE: WORDS MADE USING U.S. POSTAL ABBREVIATIONS: ALKYLAMIDE, CALAMARI, MANDARIN, MELAMINE

• My rating: Hard
• My score: Perfect

Living and growing up outside of the US put me at a disadvantage for today’s purple group — although I am still not sure I would have seen it even if I was based in the States. Kudos if you did.

I managed to get through without making any mistakes, but this was one of those games where I got by on hunches and luck and never had a strong hold on what the group categories might be.

ELISION was a word that I had not heard of before, but ABBREVIATION, CONTRACTION and NICKNAME all seemed to go together, so I took a chance. I have since discovered that it means “omission of one or more sounds, vowels, consonants, or whole syllables from a word or phrase to make speech faster and easier". Yes folks, it’s a good ‘un.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Sunday, October 11, 2026, game #1218)

• YELLOW: PUT TO USE: APPLY, HARNESS, UTILIZE, WIELD
• GREEN: MONTHLY BILLS: CABLE, ELECTRICITY, INTERNET, PHONE
• BLUE: THINGS YOU MIGHT FIND IN A GLOVE COMPARTMENT: GLOVES, ICE SCRAPER, MAP, REGISTRATION
• PURPLE: ENDING IN GAMBITS: EMPLOY, PATRICK, PERUSE, SYNTACTIC

• World of Warcraft: Forever won't receive any new races from retail World of Warcraft
• Blizzard says its "main focus" is to "build off the foundational lore of Warcraft," since Forever exists in its own "continuity"
• It confirms that the stakes won't be as high as retail WoW to begin with, as "You aren’t THE hero in WoW: Forever, you are just A hero"

Blizzard Entertainment has confirmed that it doesn't plan to add any modern World of Warcraft races to World of Warcraft: Forever, since the game exists in its own timeline.

In an interview with TechRadar Gaming, where the WoW: Forever team discussed adding the controversial dual-faction Skyborne race and its plans for the game's future, Blizzard said it doesn't plan to reintroduce any races from Azeroth-based expansions, such as Battle for Azeroth, Shadowlands, or Midnight.

"We have no plans to add races from WoW’s expansions at this time," Blizzard said, meaning fans shouldn't expect new races like Vulpera, Goblins, or Haranir.

And Blizzard's reasoning for avoiding the newer additions to retail WoW? It explained that it wants to build on the original Warcraft game because WoW: Forever essentially exists within its own timeline.

"Our main focus for the game is to build off the foundational lore of Warcraft," it said. "This means first and foremost the RTS [real-time strategy ] games, and we’ve hit on this right from the start with our content that picks up after the events of the new Warcraft 3: Forsaken Kingdom campaign.

"One of the liberating things about this game existing in its own continuity is that we can forge our own path forward and tell stories that serve the world of WoW: Forever first and foremost. It wouldn’t be fair to WoW: Forever and the players who want to see where this world is going for us to spend a ton of time trying to further flesh stories that have already been told extensively in the modern game."

Blizzard added that it plans to "keep our stories very grounded," explaining that while the stakes of modern WoW are "so vast" and "have that gravity and weight because of how far our characters have gone in that world," WoW: Forever will start "in a very different place."

"We may be a part of larger narratives and events, but how we interact with those narratives will be more subtle and grounded, just as was the case in original WoW," the team said, emphasising that "You aren’t THE hero in WoW: Forever, you are just A hero."

It continued, teasing, "That isn’t to say we’ll never go to some of the places that came in later WoW expansions, but we are fairly committed at this time to doing the WoW: Forever version of those places, not simply retreading the versions of these places that we’ve already seen."

Elsewhere in the same interview, Blizzard confirmed that it's actively working to combat real-money trading (RMT) in WoW: Forever.

Revisiting one of Omega Force’s most beloved works via Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered has been interesting. I got into the series quite late, so I’ve never had the same reverence for the earlier games that many other fans do. I’m happy to say that has changed with this remastered version.

This is a very different game compared to modern entries like Dynasty Warriors Origins or Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment. Objectives are straightforward, battles (for the most part) tend not to last as long, and your KO count per battle is much lower than the thousands you rack up in newer installments.

Satisfaction lies elsewhere in Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered. It trades bombastic theatrics and ‘rule of cool’ battlefield domination for a more grounded approach. Instead of tearing across battlegrounds like a Category 5 hurricane, you’ll need to pick your fights more carefully and move with your army. Even basic peons are far more aggressive in this game, so ditching your allies isn’t exactly the wisest decision.

There are some cool quality-of-life additions, such as being able to counter enemy Strong and Special attacks with your own. A handy checkpoint feature lets you rewind the battle to key moments if you die, and there’s an honest-to-goodness dodge button that helps even the odds and can even be followed up with a counter if timed correctly. Alternatively, you can set the entire game to a ‘Classic’ mode, ditching all of this in favor of the original gameplay experience.

It’s an incredibly thoughtful remaster in that regard, offering options for newcomers, purists, and everyone in between. The visual facelift is nice, but not overbearing. Plus, additional content from the Xtreme Legends expansion is included here, too, making Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered an extremely beefy package for its relatively budget price tag.

Same as it ever was?

Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered, as ever, presents a loose interpretation of Luo Guanzhong’s Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Which in itself is a romanticization of this turbulent wartorn era of Ancient China.

As an earlier entry, Dynasty Warriors 3 pretty much gives you the highlights rather than delving deep into character drama or motivations. It’s quite refreshingly simple, though individual playable officers do get their own cutscenes, endings, and the like.

You’ll spend the majority of your time in Musou Mode — effectively the game’s campaign. You will then choose an officer from one of four factions: Wei, Wu, Shu, or Other. The latter of which featuring officers with no set affiliation like Lu Bu, Dong Zhuo, and Diaochan.

Each officer has their own bespoke Musou Mode route, though some are longer than others. Even so, your goal on each map typically boils down to defeating a key enemy officer, while ticking off smaller objectives to boost your side’s morale or rob the enemy of powerful weaponry.

That might sound repetitive, and it can be if played over longer sessions. However, I think Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered is tailored to shorter bursts of play, and the bite-sized Musou Mode campaigns for each officer support that. Playing through a campaign will bolster that officer’s stats, as well as earn them new weapons and equippable items — the latter of which can be shared between all officers.

Part of the beauty of Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered is that it feels like a snowball of unlockables. You’ll routinely be bagging new playable officers, more powerful weapons, and potent rare items should you meet their conditions during a stage.

Some stages can also grant you an officer’s fourth or fifth weapon. These are extremely strong, but are typically gated behind higher difficulties and some rather stringent objectives so be sure to bring upgraded officers and plenty of patience for these.

Old and new

One of my favorite things about Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered is that it has options for basically everyone. You can play the entire game in either modern or classic modes. Classic is just that: Dynasty Warriors 3 as it played on the PlayStation 2, for the most part. No fancy extras. Does it feel a bit dated? Yes absolutely, but I’m happy it’s here as an option for purists.

The more modern take applies a bunch of quality-of-life changes and gameplay additions. As mentioned at the top, these include Strong and Special attack counters, a dodge, and a quick mount option for your horse. It helps the game feel a lot more fluid, in my opinion.

Was I still getting juggled to death by lowly peons for daring to take on an officer on my lonesome? Yep. More than a few times. But ultimately I did appreciate the more humbling experience here when I’m so used to treating enemy armies like mowing the lawn in more modern Musou games.

What’s nice is that if you’re somewhere in the middle — say, wanting a hybrid modern/classic experience — Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered supports that. Quality-of-life additions can be toggled individually in the options menu, allowing for a widely customizable experience.

Additions aside, Omega Force has elected to keep the original game’s amazing soundtrack and cheeseball dialogue fully intact. I love this because there are some truly hilarious line deliveries across cutscenes, and the overt mispronunciation of officer names just adds to the charm of it all. Battles have been spiced up with combat lines from later entries like Dynasty Warriors 8, though, which is a nice touch.

Should I play Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered?

Play it if…

Don't play it if...

Accessibility features

There aren't any dedicated accessibility toggles in Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered such as subtitles or colorblind modes. However, individual game settings can be toggled based on preferences. These include target-facing assists, dodging, power guards, and strong attack counters.

How I reviewed Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered

I played Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered for 15 hours on PC via Steam for this review. Being a remaster of an older title, my Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 was more than enough to run the game on maximum settings with zero hitches or issues.

My gamepad of choice was the Valve Steam Controller (2026), and I often hooked up my RIG 900 Max HS gaming headset to enjoy the game's banging soundtrack and corny dialogue sequences.

The majority of my playtime was spent in the main Musou Mode, unlocking characters, weapons, and optional rare items. Though I did delve into the Free and Challenge modes for a change of pace, too.

First reviewed October 2026

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1218) - today's words

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• HARNESS
• MAP
• PERUSE
• PHONE
• GLOVES
• CABLE
• APPLY
• PATRICK
• ELECTRICITY
• WIELD
• ICE SCRAPER
• UTILIZE
• EMPLOY
• REGISTRATION
• SYNTACTIC
• INTERNET

NYT Connections today (game #1218) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Deploy
• GREEN: Paid off 12 times a year
• BLUE: Hidden in your car
• PURPLE: Final risks

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #1218) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: PUT TO USE
• GREEN: MONTHLY BILLS
• BLUE: THINGS YOU MIGHT FIND IN A GLOVE COMPARTMENT
• PURPLE: ENDING IN GAMBITS

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #1218) - the answers

The answers to today's Connections, game #1218, are…

• YELLOW: PUT TO USE: APPLY, HARNESS, UTILIZE, WIELD
• GREEN: MONTHLY BILLS: CABLE, ELECTRICITY, INTERNET, PHONE
• BLUE: THINGS YOU MIGHT FIND IN A GLOVE COMPARTMENT: GLOVES, ICE SCRAPER, MAP, REGISTRATION
• PURPLE: ENDING IN GAMBITS: EMPLOY, PATRICK, PERUSE, SYNTACTIC

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 3 mistakes

Congratulations if you saw ploy, trick, ruse, and tactic at the end of the four purple tiles.

This wasn’t the only thing that passed me by today.

After successfully getting the four utilities that made up MONTHLY BILLS and the THINGS YOU MIGHT FIND IN A GLOVE COMPARTMENT (I’d add a pack of mints, cheap sunglasses and a scrap of paper with an unknown phone number on it) I floundered over the yellow group, as I was convinced EMPLOY was one of the four.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Saturday, October 10, 2026, game #1217)

• YELLOW: USEFUL WHEN WRITING A PAPER: DRAFT, NOTES, OUTLINE, THESIS
• GREEN: PRESUME: FIGURE, GATHER, IMAGINE, SUPPOSE
• BLUE: SOCIAL MEDIA SECTIONS: FEED, MESSAGES, NOTIFICATIONS, PROFILE
• PURPLE: ___BOXING: BEAT, KICK, SHADOW, UN

• World of Warcraft: Forever's classes won't be modernized, Blizzard says
• However, they will receive more "engaging depth" since some Classic classes felt "too simple"
• Blizzard wants to serve the "Classic" ethos, while also "adding things to freshen up the vanilla experience"

Blizzard Entertainment has confirmed it won't modernize World of Warcraft: Forever's classes, as it wants to align with the "Classic" experience, but some will receive more "engaging depth."

World of Warcraft has undergone many class and balance changes over the years, in both 'retail' and Classic, and with WoW: Forever launching next month, players can expect similar updates.

However, in an interview with TechRadar Gaming, the WoW: Forever team doesn't plan to dramatically alter vanilla classes fans are familiar with; instead, it wants to build on them to make them more engaging as part of its design framework.

Blizzard wants to make a "Classic Plus" experience centered around four design pillars (Nurture and Protect Social Experiences, Approachable and Familiar, World as the Main Character, and Journey before destination), which will help the team build on the vanilla experience while staying true to the game's established "core design, pacing, and tone."

With this in mind, Blizzard plans "to err on the side of simpler classes, but with engaging depth,". The company further explained that "some classes in the Classic era were too simple, so those have gained a few mechanics."

How many? "The level of mechanical complexity found in the beta classes is indicative of our intentions," the team said. "When considering encounter design, we want to align those with our core values. Namely Approachable and Familiar."

It explained that its encounter team played a lot of Classic dungeon and raid content "to truly get an understanding of how the Classic game felt," and it discovered that "encounters that were very approachable and systems that encouraged players to go out into the world, adventure, prepare, and come back ready to take on any sort of challenge ahead of them."

But when it comes to specific mechanics, "we want to empower the team to be creative and surprise the player, but we always want everything we do to point back to our core pillars."

Blizzard touched on the "complexity" of class combat, saying that it likes the pacing "the pacing and combat speed of original WoW, and that all the changes it makes to classes or raid content "need to still serve that" while also "adding things to freshen up the vanilla experience."

"Particularly in terms of classes," the team said, "as some classes or specs had wild power swings and/or sometimes uninteresting gameplay. That’s something we want to improve upon without drastically speeding up the game or making it overly complex or unapproachable."

As for specialization changes and multi-specs, the game already has Dual Specialization, which can be learned at level 40 for a cost, but there are "no plans to go past that."

"We do not want to have cheap respecs," Blizzard continued. "The first re-spec every hour is temporarily cheap in the beta. When the game goes live, the price of re-spec will climb quickly and only decrease once per week. We want players’ talent decisions to be meaningful. There is the possibility, however, of some increased re-spec utility coming to the Legacy talents in the future."

However, Blizzard does plan to incorporate "a lot of class changes in beta" with a rather ambitious update schedule. "When we do make changes, they will be batched up to all happen at the same time, rather than trickle in."

The company added that it anticipates frequent balance changes in the first six months, as it will be able to gather class performance data during this time. Blizzard said, "Initially, we plan this to be once per week."

However, the aim remains to make "very few design changes once the game goes live" on November 4.

Over the years of multiple house moves and life events, I've somehow managed to keep hold of my original Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX cartridge on Game Boy. My actual Game Boy handhelds and various other Pokémon games have all, disappointingly, been lost to time — but that one cart has stuck around. For the last two weeks, I've finally had something to play it on.

I'm talking about the latest ModRetro Chromatic Transparent: an updated version of its homage to the original Game Boy that's capable of playing all original Game Boy and Game Boy Color game cartridges, as well as ModRetro's own re-releases.

What's even more interesting is that this new version of the Chromatic doesn't just come in several transparent colorways, but also sports a much lower starting price of $149.99 / £139.99 — that's $50 / £45 cheaper than the original version. Plus, a copy of Tetris is still included with all purchases.

I've been bouncing between that classic block-based puzzler and probably one of my favorite Zelda adventures over the last couple of weeks to test out the Chromatic — and I'm super-impressed with the swish little handheld.

As much as I love the idea of playing retro games on original hardware, there's no denying the impact of some of the huge improvements the Chromatic makes over the classic Game Boy.

The design is one thing, which is made up of a see-through plastic shell that weighs just 6.2 oz (176g), making it slightly lighter and more comfortable for longer gaming sessions.

But the real highlight is the screen. It maintains the same dimensions and resolution as the original Game Boy, but upgrades it to an IPS backlit LCD with scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass. That means you get a sharp and clear image in all conditions, so long gone are the days of waiting for the next streetlight to pass to see the screen on nighttime journeys.

Overall, it just works incredibly well as a modern refinement to an iconic handheld that I grew up spending many hours on during long journeys and holidays. It makes me wish I'd taken better care of my old library of Game Boy games so that I could try them all out again now.

Maybe, though, like the Chromatic M64 before it, this will inspire me to start building another collection of retro games.

If you're interested in picking one up, the new ModRetro Chromatic Transparent is available to buy now for $149.99 / £139.99.

What could possibly be left to say about Grand Theft Auto 5?

In the 13 years since the release of Rockstar Games’ open-world magnum opus, we’ve had a nonstop running commentary from YouTubers, podcasters, and game journalists about its world, writing, and many secrets. Entire careers have flourished based on the art of talking about GTA 5.

Rockstar’s 2013 open-world opus has had such an effect on culture since its initial release that it’s hard to imagine a world without it. It’s seen releases and remasters across three console generations. It’s won the highest awards in some countries and been outright banned in others. And an entire generation of gamers has grown into adulthood knowing the streets of Los Santos better than their hometown.

Alas, GTA 6 is on the horizon – following years of trailers, teasers, and unfortunate leaks, the sixth Grand Theft Auto game arrives on November 19, 2026. The fact that the game won’t launch with a physical disc version won’t stop it from dominating conversation and the sales charts on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC for years to come.

I’ve spent a good few years playing GTA 5 (in order to keep PEGI off our backs, that’s as specific as I’ll be getting) and have put in thousands of hours across various versions of GTA 5 and GTA Online.

As a final salute to Los Santos, I loaded up GTA 5 on my PlayStation 5 and PS4 to see how one of the best games of all time has evolved during its ten-year tenure at the forefront of gaming culture.

Re-remastered

Full disclosure: I’d never actually played the PS5-native version of GTA 5 before starting work on this piece, and loading up the game for the first time, I wasn’t sure if Los Santos could still surprise me after so many years spent drifting through its virtual streets.

Luckily, I was proven wrong — not in the prologue, which is showing its age at this point, but in my first drive around the open world. After speeding through the first few missions as Franklin, I stole an Aston Martin-esque sports car and blasted north on the Great Ocean Highway, stopping along the way to take in the enhanced visuals and classic San Andreas vistas, and ultimately spending around an hour just drifting through the streets and countryside trails.

GTA 5’s PS5 edition comes with a few new graphics modes, and the one that stands out is Performance RT. This combines the ray-tracing of the Fidelity mode and the 60 frames per second (fps) framerate of the Performance mode, and leaves the game looking simply gorgeous.

There’s only so far you can polish 13-year-old character models, and some textures are beginning to look a little JPEG-ish, but the environmental design, excellent weather effects, and increased framerate made GTA 5 feel more alive than ever. The game has always had best-in-class driving controls for a casual title, and passable combat and on-foot input, but doubling the framerate to a stable 60fps makes everything feel more immediate and responsive.

Speaking of driving, the PS5’s DualSense controller gets a few neat tactile responses with this version of the game — you’ll get a bump on the right trigger as your car changes gear, feel the weight of each trigger pull in a shootout, sense the rumble of passing traffic. It’s a small change, but one that pulls you even further into the game’s criminal underworld.

Not that immersion was ever an issue. I played GTA 5 on PS5 up until the end of the first heist, and I felt that, in some ways (more on that later), the writing had aged tremendously — though I’m not sure how much of that is down to my own progressing adulthood.

As I step into the latter half of my twenties, Franklin’s frustration with the everyday struggle at the start of the game comes through as incisive and relatable. Michael’s unstable ennui is, likewise, easier to imagine with the weight of the world resting a little heavier on my shoulders. I don’t quite relate to Trevor yet (maybe that’s one for my thirties). It’s quite something for a game to imprint on you as a blockbuster action experience in your teens, only to reveal some much more grounded undertones years later.

That’s not to say that GTA 5 is any less of a spectacle than it was at launch. This is where Rockstar really started presenting its games as directed, cinematic experiences, a formula it perfected with the follow-up Red Dead Redemption 2.

Even the first few missions — sneaking into Michael’s mansion as Franklin, the boat chase just a few missions later, and of course the jewel store heist — are loaded with moments ripped straight out of Hollywood. And a near-endless render distance makes launching off of Mount Chiliad on a dirt bike seem terrifyingly real.

It’s really quite amazing that GTA 5 originally launched on PlayStation 3. My original disc has been lost to time, but looking at videos, the original holds up pretty well — despite its 720p resolution and graphical patina, it’s still entirely enjoyable today. And beyond graphics, its gameplay and world wouldn’t feel totally out of place in a 2026 release.

The PS4 version holds up even better — I remember being stunned by Rockstar’s 2014 trailer for the remastered version of the game, which focused on new wildlife, non-player character (NPC) density, and graphical improvements. It’s the version of the game I’ve spent the most time in, thanks in large part to these updates, and it still feels utterly alive today.

Cultural impact

Indeed, the massive reaction to GTA 6 proves that the Grand Theft Auto series is very much alive in the public consciousness, even if the long wait for its next entry rendered it dormant for a while.

It’s worth remembering how totally dominant GTA 5’s hold over online culture has been, especially for the first five years of its life cycle. We’ve seen countless YouTube video essays debating Mount Chiliad conspiracy theories and in-game UFO sightings, let’s play channels dedicated to covering GTA Online’s endless updates, and scammy shitposters claiming to have early copies of GTA 6.

Many of us will remember the mad dash to our gaming setups the day a new heist was added to GTA Online, or endless hours spent playing minigames and missions to grind for a new sports car or apartment.

Then there are the memes. ‘Watch your jet’. ‘Davey!’. Franklin showing up to defend his home. The green vs purple alien war. The Welcome to Los Santos texts. ‘We got X before GTA 6’. As one of the most-played games in the world for its entire lifespan, GTA 5 has propped up the online nonsense industry for years, priming the algorithm for an inevitable landslide of GTA 6 content in about a month’s time.

And as one of TechRadar’s contributing music nerds, I just have to talk about the radio stations. GTA 5 introduced me and thousands of others to some of the best music of the 2010s. I will never, ever forget the first time I raced Lamar through the streets of LS in a boosted sports car to the sound of ‘Appetite for Destruction’ by N.W.A., courtesy of West Coast Classics, or driving up to Paleto Bay to Frank Ocean’s Blonded Radio station, or idling in Vinewood while listening out for Cara Delevigne’s insane quips as the host of Non-Stop Pop.

In large part, GTA 5 is responsible for my love of rap music, dance music, country music, and radio DJing, which I continue to utilise as a writer and musician today.

Where do we go from here?

GTA 5 stands as a true titan of modern gaming and holds a deep-rooted place in my heart and hard drive alike. With that said, it’s not perfect, and jumping back into Los Santos left me with a couple of things that I hope GTA 6 can improve on.

First of all, GTA 5 is, in part, a story about contemporary masculinity struggling and failing to cope with late-stage capitalism – but in telling this story, it treats its female characters horribly. The only female characters with any substance are Michael’s wife Amanda and daughter Tracey, and Franklin’s aunt Denise, all of whom are portrayed as whiny annoyances that serve as plot devices for the male characters to revolve around and objectify.

In fairness, the game is a satire of American culture, which has no shortage of problems with sexism and objectification, and there’s an abundance of annoying male characters as well – neurotic heist-master Lester Crest and TV host Lazlo come to mind. But the game’s male characters get the chance to develop through or into their flaws, even if, as in Lazlo’s case, it’s only to become more of a punching bag.

Rockstar has said it’s leading with a more grounded tone for GTA 6, and the game introduces the series’ first female protagonist, Lucia, which suggests we’ll be getting at least one fully realised female character.

Gamers’ expectations and the window for jokes about gender have both changed quite significantly since 2013, and GTA Online grew to feature several key female NPCs throughout the 2010s, so I’d be surprised if GTA 6’s other female characters don’t have a little more substance.

We already know GTA 6 will introduce a hugely expanded map and RDR2-style role-playing mechanics, so my other request concerns how we get around that new immersive world. For lack of a better term, GTA 5 has a bit of jank about it – the ‘tap to sprint’ mechanic has never been anything but annoying, and its strange approach to climbing ledges and ragdoll physics is good for a laugh but not great in the heat of a firefight or police chase. Rockstar, with its infinite budgets and massive staff, is certainly powerful enough to smooth over the few bumps left in the GTA experience.

With these complaints well considered, GTA 5 still stands tall over the gaming industry, not only as a titanic financial success, but as an enduring blueprint for open-world excellence. It remains a totally gripping gameplay experience and, despite some dated writing, a genuinely cinematic heist adventure. In short, GTA 6 has a lot to live up to.

Before brandishing Geralt of Rivia's twin blades and braving a "new game" in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered, the main menu invites you to check out the re-release's patch highlights.

Clicking the option opens a top-level list of the title's abundant updates, improvements, and enhancements, from "Upgraded Visuals and Performance" to a "Reimagined Skill System." But while these entries showcase the game's most significant and ambitious inclusions, some of the remaster's best new features are hidden under the catch-all category of "And Much, Much More."

For example, the fact that the grey-maned monster hunter no longer navigates ladders and waist-high ledges like a toddler sorting out their motor skills might impress seasoned fans more than any fancy new lighting tech. Looting resources while riding Roach – another awesome update that doesn't earn its own bullet point – will similarly delight anyone who previously endured getting on and off Geralt's trusty steed every time they wanted to pick a flower.

While these subtle tweaks aren't as sexy as, say, the stunning visual update, they are welcome, meaningful fixes that not only make the game better, but also reflect CD Projekt Red's larger commitment to deliver more than the bare minimum to make a quick buck.

Much more than a pretty makeover

Of course, while you're effortlessly gathering alchemy ingredients from the saddle, you'll indeed also appreciate the significant graphical leap the game has achieved. The Witcher 3's 2022 next-gen update was already a looker, but the remaster's response to it is a confident, "Hold my beer (or Redanian Lager).

The lighting effects – and resulting shadows – are far more realistic, textures pack noticeably sharper details, and flora-filled environments look as though they've leapt off a postcard. Overall, there's an across-the-board fresh layer of detail and depth that makes the Continent come to life like never before.

If you're tackling the Wild Hunt on a PlayStation 5 Pro, you also have some say in just how striking you want the game to look. A Performance mode uncaps the framerate, guaranteeing the game runs at 60 FPS minimum – but is capable of hitting as high as 90 FPS.

Meanwhile, a dedicated Ray Tracing mode consistently hovers around 60 FPS, while funneling more horsepower into rendering the absolute best lighting effects. Both options more than get the job done, though I preferred the slight visual bump and solid framerate offered by the latter selection.

Combat worthy of a Witcher

It also doesn't hurt that you can now soak in the picturesque sights – such as sunlight realistically filtering through dense foliage – without having to pause every few seconds to reposition Roach. That's right, another "And Much, Much More" addition addresses your mount's previously frustrating collision detection, ensuring the 1,000-plus-pound animal no longer gets caught up on jutting branches and small rocks.

Roach's smoother movements have also apparently rubbed off on Geralt, as the sword-swinging, spell-casting hero not only navigates environmental obstacles with ease, but wields his steel like a proper badass on the battlefield. Previous iterations of The Witcher 3 have been endlessly praised for their graphics, storytelling, quest design, and content-packed open world, but their combat mechanics were typically left out of those acclaim-filled conversations.

That's been remedied in the remaster, as CD Projekt Red has seemingly reworked the clunky combat from the ground up. Where the protagonist's attacks previously felt loose and lacking weight, they now pack a more precise, impactful punch. But not at the cost of speed, as enemy encounters also feel faster, more fluid, and kinetic.

Some factors – from smoother animations and smarter, more reactive enemies to new finishing moves and, crucially, a dynamic camera that no longer struggles to keep up with the lightning-quick action – combine to deliver an experience that now has me eager to breach any bandit camp or monster lair I might stumble upon.

An unbeatable, beast-slaying bundle

CD Projekt Red could have polished the visuals, improved the combat, added a few quality-of-life fixes, and then collected a fat paycheck for their efforts. But they dug deep, considered fan feedback, and made the typical remaster look like a stain on the titular beast-slayer's boots.

Speaking of Geralt's well-trodden footwear, a new style-forward transmog system allows you to wear the armor and wield the weapons you want without sacrificing any attached stats. You'll find further flexibility in the reimagined skill system, which offers newfound freedom for molding your playstyle, experimenting with skills, and generally forging a meaningful character progression path on par with contemporary RPGs.

But these inclusions, too, barely scratch the surface of a lengthy list of improvements that could over-encumber Roach's Beauclair saddlebags. Quest tracking has also been streamlined, looting is less tedious, and meditation is now more immersive and interactive. All that, and a much deeper photo mode ensures you'll spend more time snapping pics than swinging your swords.

Needless to say, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered is the absolute best, most definitive version of a game that was already a genre-defining banger when it launched 12 years ago. Toss in the fact that this impressive update also includes the base game's two massive, equally excellent expansions – Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine – and securing this bundle is a no-brainer for anyone who's yet to conquer the Continent.

Best of all, those who already own any previous version of the award-winning RPG won't pay a single Novigrad Crown for the update, as it's completely free for returning fans.

Should I play The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered?

Play it if…

Don't play it if...

Accessibility features

On top of standard settings for adjusting subtitles, interfaces, and HUD elements, The Witcher 3 includes an expansive suite of accessibility options under a new, dedicated section dubbed "Bard's Ballad."

This mode includes several default presets – from unlimited item durability to faster boats – meant to make the game less taxing for those who might experience mental fatigue.

But the mode's nearly 20 toggles can also be tailored to individual needs, so different options, like color-blind-friendly Witcher Senses or fisheye Witcher Senses, can be selected individually based on a particular player's needs and preferences.

How I reviewed The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered

I played The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered for 30 or so hours. Having already invested dozens upon dozens of hours in more traditional playthroughs of both the original 2015 game and its 2022 next-gen update, I approached the remaster differently, focusing on the many fresh features, updates, and enhancements that separate it from its previous iterations.

I played the game on a PS5 Pro using my budget TCL 4K 65" TV, with HDR enabled. I tested the platform's Performance and Ray Tracing modes, finding the latter offered the preferred experience. For audio, I tested with both my TV's onboard stereo speakers and Sony's PlayStation Pulse Elite headset.

First reviewed October 2026

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1217) - today's words

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• OUTLINE
• SHADOW
• FEED
• FIGURE
• DRAFT
• IMAGINE
• KICK
• NOTIFICATIONS
• GATHER
• NOTES
• UN
• MESSAGES
• BEAT
• SUPPOSE
• PROFILE
• THESIS

NYT Connections today (game #1217) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Steps to creating written work
• GREEN: Dr Livingstone, I…
• BLUE: Online life
• PURPLE: Add a fighting word

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #1217) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: USEFUL WHEN WRITING A PAPER
• GREEN: PRESUME
• BLUE: SOCIAL MEDIA SECTIONS
• PURPLE: ___BOXING

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #1217) - the answers

The answers to today's Connections, game #1217, are…

• YELLOW: USEFUL WHEN WRITING A PAPER: DRAFT, NOTES, OUTLINE, THESIS
• GREEN: PRESUME: FIGURE, GATHER, IMAGINE, SUPPOSE
• BLUE: SOCIAL MEDIA SECTIONS: FEED, MESSAGES, NOTIFICATIONS, PROFILE
• PURPLE: ___BOXING: BEAT, KICK, SHADOW, UN

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

Sometimes you see it, sometimes you don’t — and in my case I nearly always don’t — but today I saw the Purple First within seconds of surveying all of the tiles.

Having said that, it did take me a little while to get to the 'UN' of UNBOXING, as I was reading it as the abbreviation of the United Nations.

From here, the next two groups felt pretty straightforward. Today, it was the green quartet that went over my head.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Friday, October 9, 2026, game #1216)

• YELLOW: DECISIVE VICTORY: BLOWOUT, ROMP, ROUT, SWEEP
• GREEN: CONTROLLED BY A TV REMOTE: CHANNEL, INPUT, POWER, VOLUME
• BLUE: FEATURES OF A SPORTS SHOW: HIGHLIGHTS, RECAP, SCORES, STATS
• PURPLE: AIR ____: CONDITIONER, GUITAR, KISS, QUOTES

In my books, the most satisfying part of any action role-playing game (ARPG) like Diablo or Titan Quest is the constant feeling of progression. Nothing quite compares to watching your little on-screen hero grow from a tiny ant that can barely bash their way through a pack of lowly wolves to a maxed-out bringer of destruction that mows through entire armies without breaking a sweat.

Minecraft Dungeons 2’s aggressive level scaling robs the player of that experience. In the more than 12 hours it took for me to beat the story campaign, I never felt more powerful. Sure, I unlocked more interesting abilities and got to try a variety of weapons, but the amount of time required to take down each newly spawned foe remained near-constant throughout.

A friend even joined my game towards the end of my playthrough, with their level 1 character effortlessly keeping pace with my level 40 one throughout the final encounters, really underscoring the system’s ridiculousness. I’m sure the intention here is to make it easy for friends to jump into the same lobbies and play together without having to worry about their respective levels, but it left me wondering what the point of all the grinding actually is.

Blocky buddies

It’s a shame, because there is still some good in Minecraft Dungeons 2. This standalone spinoff recreates the blocky look of the popular Minecraft survival game expertly, with its own more stylized twists that make the world instantly recognizable, yet refreshingly new thanks to more expressive lighting and Pixar-like character animations that make everything pop even from the distant isometric perspective.

I may have lamented the fact that I couldn’t wow my friend with my character’s power, but the co-op experience is otherwise well done. Creating a group with up to three companions is impressively straightforward no matter where they play, thanks to seamless cross-platform connectivity. There’s even couch co-op, which is quite rare in 2026 and worth praising. The ability to play with others easily goes a long way in making Minecraft Dungeons 2 genuinely worthwhile for younger players.

For everyone else, however, everything here is just too straightforward to appeal. The enemy variety is sorely lacking for starters. The expected Minecraft favorites like the Creepers, Zombies, Skeletons, and, of course, the iconic Chicken Jockey are all present and accounted for, along with the evil grey-skinned Illagers from the first Minecraft Dungeons game. Unfortunately, most enemies function indistinguishably. Those with projectile weapons spray arrows at you from afar, while the rest just rush towards you in a big group.

The strategy in every encounter is to simply mash the attack button and occasionally dodge, even as more powerful Illagers with magic attacks are introduced. The boss fights are equally bland, forcing you to whittle down gigantic health bars for minutes at a time while waves of low-level enemies spawn in. To make matters worse, many of them are repeated throughout the campaign with little variation.

It’s frustrating because, on paper, the combat does have some depth: you have a melee and ranged attack, plus three equipped abilities granted by items that you’ve managed to find.

The weapon selection is decently varied, with scooping shovels and fast-attacking double daggers performing very differently from slow-swinging war hammers or claymores, and a steady trickle of new gear encourages you to experiment. They can be upgraded too, with unlockable enchantments that add little mechanics such as a lightning strike that triggers at the end of a chain attack.

Your abilities are powered by a blue soul-meter, which fills up a little with each defeated foe. I think the intention is to create some form of rhythm, with you alternating between melee, ranged, and your abilities, but the fundamental problem is that there’s just no real strategy to any of it.

Sure, you could probably spend ages creating a build with complementary gear – though there’s no real reason to bother when the aforementioned enemy scaling wipes out any real power gain.

Lacking craft

Much was made of Minecraft Dungeons 2’s world in its marketing. It’s much more open than the previous game, though I wouldn’t exactly call it a true open-world.

The map is designed like a linear corridor that funnels you from one story mission to another with no real room for exploration. Yes, there are side quests and optional dungeons scattered around, but none of the ones that I sampled offered anything that felt meaningfully distinct from the main story.

Regarding the story, the most polite way to describe it would be ‘functional’. It’s presented entirely in second person through a narrator that is devoid of personality. There are no memorable non-player characters (NPCs), no charming companions, no real atmosphere at all — just a bland summary of events.

The game also serves as the Minecraft community’s introduction to The Sift — a new dimension that’s being added to the main game sometime next year. It shows up a few times in the campaign in both procedurally generated encounters and a hand-crafted map. It's got a very distinct aesthetic and its own unique enemies, though it's sadly mechanically indistinguishable from the normal world as you navigate through it spamming attacks.

Like many elements of Minecraft Dungeons 2, it feels like a missed opportunity. Everything here is perfectly functional, but it’s just bland to the point of tedium. If the pitch was a skimmed-down version of Diablo for kids, then developers Mojang and Double Eleven have delivered a serviceable product.

Creativity is a core part of the Minecraft brand, and here I wish the team had been more adventurous.

Should I play Minecraft Dungeons 2?

Play it if…

Don't play it if...

Accessibility features

Minecraft Dungeons 2 has some accessibility options. The game features a guidance trail that is enabled by default. Subtitles are used throughout, with customizable sizing, color, and background opacity.

There are two font options: the default stylized font and a simplified, easier-to-read version. There are also multiple color blind modes, a high-contrast mode, and the ability to set your own HUD colors.

How I reviewed Minecraft Dungeons 2

I played more than 13 hours of Minecraft Dungeons 2 on my RTX 4090-powered PC using the Turtle Beach Pacific Skyline Wireless Controller as my main peripheral, along with a 1080P Lenovo monitor and Logitech computer speakers.

I completed all missions of the single-player campaign and experienced a decent amount of side content both solo and with a friend.

First reviewed October 2026

• Blizzard Entertainment has explained why World of Warcraft: Forever won't have Summoning Stones
• It says, "Easy, quick access to teleports shrink the world"
• Summoning Stones would disrupt the experience it's trying to build

World of Warcraft: Forever won't feature Summoning Stones because Blizzard Entertainment believes quick access to teleporting would conflict with its design intentions.

In an interview with TechRadar Gaming, where the WoW: Forever team also discussed the controversial addition of the new Skyborne race, Blizzard shared its design philosophy for creating an authentic "Classic Plus" experience; it centered around four design pillars, which include: Nurture and Protect Social Experiences, Approachable and Familiar, World as the Main Character, and Journey before destination.

These pillars help the team build on the "vanilla" WoW world while also staying true to the game's established "core design, pacing, and tone."

A feature like Meeting Stones, also known as Summoning Stones among the player base, wasn't an option in vanilla, but was a convenient addition to retail WoW, letting players teleport their friends to a raid or dungeon entrance.

However, Summoning Stones is something WoW: Forever won't offer. Blizzard explained that teleporting would minimize the scale of the game's world, which would clash with a few of its four core design pillars, specifically Nurture and Protect Social Experiences and World as the Main Character.

"Making sure any change we make passes the muster of those pillars is a must," the WoW: Forever team said. "And certain convenience changes can very easily erode one or more of those pillars.

"Summoning stones are one of those. Easy, quick access to teleports shrink the world, and marginalize part of the identity of a class like Warlock. Thus, it fails muster against 'Nurture and Protect Social Experiences' and 'World as the Main Character'."

It continued, saying, "We have a lot of different players with a lot of different preferences joining us for this journey, which is a great thing, and makes it all the more important to hold the line when it comes to our pillars."

Blizzard said it has 22 years of data on how quality-of-life or convenience changes impacted "the social fabric of the game." However, with WoW: Forever, the studio is "going down a different path," meaning every update it introduces is "going to be well-informed by that experience and regulated by our pillars.

"It’s a great place to be," the team added.

• Control Resonant composer Petri Alanko explains the process of developing Dylan's theme song, which is Jesse's theme played backwards
• He explains how Jesse's theme was more about power, while Dylan's is "a source of growth"
• Alanko says, "Dylan’s is more upward-reaching, as if it was asking for permission for Dylan’s existence"

Control Resonant composer Petri Alanko has shared his process for developing Dylan's theme song, compared to how he designed Jesse's, his sister and the main character of Control.

In the same interview with TechRadar Gaming, where Alanko explained how he created the game's eclectic soundtrack for Remedy Entertainment, the composer said the method for writing Dylan's theme was distinct from Jesse's, because their origins start in different places.

Without going into spoilers, Alanko explained that their paths are different, but, "Due to their roots, they actually share the same theme - but Dylan’s is essentially Jesse’s theme backwards."

"It first appeared already in the original Control at a few points, but here I wanted to slap the gamer’s face properly with it," Alanko said. "They share the DNA, so the theme’s shared too. What was Jesse’s power theme is, for Dylan, a source of growth; it appears in different harmonies across the game, and depending on the events, the harmony root is changed under the melody a few times."

He added, "Jesse had her power theme played in direct conjunction with her position only in the ending, whereas Dylan’s appears all the way, texturizing his path from nothing to a superhero."

Alanko continued, explaining that "The scale of the protagonist is larger in Control Resonant," and while Jesse's theme "landed" and was "grounded" in a way that was "a 'THIS IS ME' statement," he said, "Dylan’s is more upward-reaching, as if it was asking for permission for Dylan’s existence."

"From the very early points of development, I had the feeling Dylan was asking for a justification for his release and his freedom," he added. "Dylan is an involuntary hero; although he chooses to become one, he just doesn’t know it in the beginning.

"By grabbing a walkie-talkie from a corpse hanging mid-air after having come out from the building is his knowingly made decision: 'I choose this.' He chose to walk that path, and I wanted to pinpoint and emphasize the attempt by creating a few very driving percussion patterns through the story."

While Jesse and Dylan have two different juxtaposing themes, Resonant also features a blended theme for both called 'Sibling Theme.' Alanko shared that the game's end credits track, 'The One I Once Knew,' "was easily one of my favourites," as 'Sibling Theme' "wouldn’t exist without it."

"We weren’t able to use any vocals with the 'Sibling Theme' as there was a metric ton of voiceovers happening, and we didn’t want to distract the gamer from the core feeling of the Broken Conduit, the place where 'Sibling Theme' is played through various devices and means," he said. "I had one of the music industry’s most beautiful voices appear on the end credit track, 'The One I Once Knew' (TOIOK), Amelia Jones, who recorded and edited her own vocals and sent me everything she had performed, and I didn’t have to change a thing from her selections. Awesome voice, awesome work ethic, awesome ear."

• Control Resonant composer Petri Alanko says he was brought on to the project "very early" while still working on Alan Wake 2, which he thinks resulted in a better soundtrack
• He suggested that if studios care about their game, then they should respect their soundtrack more and avoid "AI music"
• Alanko says, "If you value and respect your IP and your game - and your story - give a lot of love and time for the music"

Control Resonant composer Petri Alanko has suggested studios should value music more if they care about their games and avoid AI at all costs.

In an interview with TechRadar Gaming, the composer, who has a long history working with Remedy Entertainment, discussed the early stages of developing Control Resonant's soundtrack, revealing that he was brought on to the project "very early" and was still working on Alan Wake 2.

"I was still neck-deep with Alan Wake 2, and I used Control Resonant’s concept to detach myself from the Dark Place where Alan Wake 2’s events were happening," Alanko said, adding that it was beneficial to be brought on to the game during this time because, "The earlier I exist in the project, the better the outcome."

Alanko went on to talk about how he hears how other studios bring composers into the mix far too late into a game's development, which can be a great detriment to the quality of the soundtrack.

He suggested that if studios care about their project, then they should respect the music aspect more, and expressed a dislike for "AI music" specifically.

"I sometimes feel a great pity to hear a colleague was dragged in three months before the final deadline and they need to compose eight hours of music or similar," he said. "If you value and respect your IP and your game - and your story - give a lot of love and time for the music.

"And please, no library or AI music. Love your game, love your handiwork. Respect the client: the gamers, the fans, dammit."

The composer said he's been working with Remedy since 2004, and so he always has "some kind of an idea what their stories need," and the studio "also know what to expect from me," which shortens the soundtrack development process considerably, meaning less meetings and emails.

"The coherence of material increases greatly," Alanko said, "I’d say value for quality is much, much higher, not to forget the value for money. I’m known to work my ass off for a project I love, and I don’t exactly count hours - if you do this job properly, you cannot count in the first place, but one needs to remember there are no free days or free themes. And, at some certain level you need to re-evaluate your work/life balance, which I have done already ages ago. It was a surprisingly fruitful decision, and I’ve felt much better ever since. This was in 2011 already, so nothing new as such."

Alanko added, "When the time passes, you will notice 'speaking developer' (as in 'speaking French') gets easy and becomes your second nature, and you’ll start supervising your own creating so that your artistic outcome suits better to any sudden changes. And after a little time, you’ll notice how effortlessly you’re still able to maintain a high creative level and high emotional value despite what in the beginning looked like a restriction.

"Just hone your workflow into a decent order, and your ass will follow, basically. Know your tools, know the client’s tools."

In the same discussion, Alanko shared how he created the eclectic soundtrack for Control Resonant, revealing he captures a lot of everyday sounds on a recording device that he later manipulates into harmonies.

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1216) - today's words

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• POWER
• GUITAR
• CONDITIONER
• VOLUME
• BLOWOUT
• KISS
• SWEEP
• HIGHLIGHTS
• SCORES
• QUOTES
• INPUT
• STATS
• CHANNEL
• ROMP
• RECAP
• ROUT

NYT Connections today (game #1216) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Overwhelming triumph
• GREEN: Zapper buttons
• BLUE: As seen during big game coverage
• PURPLE: Begin with a word that rhymes with “fair”

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #1216) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: DECISIVE VICTORY
• GREEN: CONTROLLED BY A TV REMOTE
• BLUE: FEATURES OF A SPORTS SHOW
• PURPLE: AIR ____

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #1216) - the answers

The answers to today's Connections, game #1216, are…

• YELLOW: DECISIVE VICTORY: BLOWOUT, ROMP, ROUT, SWEEP
• GREEN: CONTROLLED BY A TV REMOTE: CHANNEL, INPUT, POWER, VOLUME
• BLUE: FEATURES OF A SPORTS SHOW: HIGHLIGHTS, RECAP, SCORES, STATS
• PURPLE: AIR ____: CONDITIONER, GUITAR, KISS, QUOTES

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 2 mistakes

The words HIGHLIGHTS, VOLUME, CONDITIONER and BLOWOUT immediately made me think of hair, so with little thought I bundled them together.

My second mistake was less reckless and on the right track for FEATURES OF A SPORTS SHOW — I had QUOTES instead of RECAP, I was thinking about interviews with athletes and coaches.

From here, I got home without difficulty, although I did kick myself that I’d missed AIR ______ which on review of all four categories post-game seemed the most gettable despite being the so-called hardest.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Thursday, October 8, 2026, game #1215)

• YELLOW: FOLLOWS, AS RULES: HEEDS, MINDS, REGARDS, RESPECTS
• GREEN: OUTDO: BEST, ECLIPSE, SURPASS, TOP
• BLUE: THINGS THAT COME IN THREES: CHEERS, STOOGES, STRIKES, WISHES
• PURPLE: ENDING IN ACTORS NAMED TOM: AUTOCRUISE, FOOLHARDY, MULHOLLAND, THANKS

• Vogel ported Doom to run entirely inside a SQL database
• The port draws 640×480 full-color frames from about 1,300 lines of SQL
• Missing BSP-tree traversal in DoomQL prompted Vogel to start a second version

Developer Lukas Vogel has ported Doom to run entirely inside a SQL database, with both the game logic and rendering handled through queries.

The project, called SQLDoom, stores level geometry and game state in CedarDB tables, while a lightweight Python script handles timing, input, and display output.

The result produces 35 full-color frames per second at 640×480 resolution, using roughly 1,300 lines of SQL code divided across 89 query blocks.

An earlier attempt fell short of real Doom

An earlier effort called DoomQL was launched last year and relied on raycasting with grayscale text characters, so it resembled Wolfenstein 3D more than Doom.

The raycasting skipped the BSP-tree traversal that helped distinguish Doom’s rendering approach, prompting Vogel to develop a second version.

For SQLDoom, the developer required both the rendering system and game loop to operate entirely through SQL, with output limited to exact-color tables or bitmaps.

“Rendering Doom in a database is obviously a bad idea,” Vogel said in a blog post about the project.

Building the new version meant recreating key parts of Doom’s rendering process using database operations rather than conventional game-engine code.

Handling the level geometry was relatively straightforward because a sort key calculated when each map loads lets a single ordering clause determine which wall sections are drawn.

Floors and ceilings presented a tougher problem. Doom’s original engine uses visplanes and state changes, neither of which translates neatly to column-by-column SQL rendering.

Vogel replaced that system with what he called a “pretty hacky” approach, looping through a sequence of sorted panels to fill those surfaces.

Speed figures and server tests give mixed results

Vogel reports about 60 fps on a laptop with a Ryzen 7 7840U chip, though busy scenes can fall to 35 fps.

He said table overhead was substantial, yet the port still ran faster than his simpler DoomQL effort from last year.

"I intended it as a tech demo, but it just feels like the real Doom, even though it doesn't share a single line of code with any existing Doom port,” Vogel said.

The port also supports deathmatch play, with public online servers hosted in Europe and the United States open for multiplayer matches.

Reviewers who tried the online demos described sluggish performance, with one outlet suggesting the servers rather than the port itself were responsible.

Vogel argues a database keeps one steady record of game state, with “no partially applied updates, physics bugs, or disagreements over whether the rocket actually hit”

The Register noted the work doubles as a showcase for CedarDB, a database system that compiles complex queries into machine code.

Anyone wanting to try it can run the GitHub code locally with CedarDB and Doom's original WAD data, or join a free hosted match online.

Via The Register

• Blizzard Entertainment has shared its design philosophy for creating an authentic "classic" World of Warcraft: Forever experience
• The studio says there are four design pillars it uses to build on the vanilla
• However, since the game is releasing in 2026, there's a challenge in balancing the game's look, with Blizzard saying, "We need to hit that vanilla era for the long-term sustainability of this game"

The World of Warcraft: Forever team at Blizzard Entertainment has shared its design philosophy for creating an authentic "Classic Plus" experience, while still finding that "good middle ground" for a modern audience.

In an interview with TechRadar Gaming, where the team also addressed the controversial inclusion of the new Skyborne race, it explained that it's important to stay true to the "vanilla" WoW experience many fans of the MMO are familiar with and that there are four core pillars it sticks to while working to expand it.

"The philosophy is largely to take the original 'vanilla' WoW world and building on top of it in a way that stays true to the core design, pacing, and tone of the original game," Blizzard said. "We keep it classic by adhering firmly to our design pillars when we consider any new change we introduce."

These pillars are: Nurture and Protect Social Experiences, Approachable and Familiar, World as the Main Character, and Journey before destination.

"Those pillars were developed as we have been playing different versions of classic over the years and have a firm basis in Vanilla WoW," the studio explained. "That said, we don’t tend to think in terms of 'is this classic' as much as we simply weigh decisions we make against those pillars and if the idea doesn’t support them, we don’t do it. It’s kind of another way to say the same thing, but the distinction is somewhat important."

As important as it is to retain that "classic" feel in WoW: Forever, Blizzard has also implemented modern visuals, such as new lighting effects and rendering, that add to the immersion; it explained that "one big challenge" it had was "finding a good middle ground" with assets by finding the right balance between the vanilla and newer look you'd find in the retail version.

"The goal here is not to create assets that look like they were made in 2004; it's also not a goal to create assets at the fidelity level of modern WoW," Blizzard said. "We need to hit that vanilla era for the long-term sustainability of this game. Getting specific about what vanilla era means, it could have existed in Vanilla, Burning Crusade, or Wrath of the Lich King.

"This is a game we are releasing in 2026, and we've made a lot of changes to lighting, rendering, and other aspects of the engine, and we ideally want to find a level of fidelity that feels like it fits with our 'WoW as you remember it, not as it was' approach, but also looks good alongside some of those older assets and works best with the new technology updates."

In the same discussion, Blizzard also confirmed it's monitoring real-money trading (RMT) in WoW: Forever, and is working to mitigate botting issues that could result in permanent bans.

• Rockstar Games just released a sneak preview of six Grand Theft Auto 6 radio stations
• They include Cocoteo FM, Back Country Radio, AfroBank FM, The Chamber 106.6, Flash FM, and Dirty South Classics
• The studio also confirmed that " a series of on-demand podcasts" will also be available to listen to in-game "in vehicles or on foot"

Rockstar Games just dropped a preview of Grand Theft Auto 6's radio stations, while also confirming the existence of on-demand podcasts that players can listen to in-game.

Ahead of GTA 6's launch next month, fans can now head to Rockstar's website and listen to six "hand-picked stations from the Leonida airwaves," including singles from the game's official soundtrack.

"Spanning stations dedicated to everything from Classic Rock to Talk Radio, Grand Theft Auto 6 features the biggest and widest-ranging selection of in-game radio and podcasts yet," Rockstar said.

The six radio stations include:

• Cocoteo FM: Leonida's home for the best of modern Latin music. Hosted by El Martillo and La Gata and featuring everything from bachata and merengue to dembow and reggaeton — Cocoteo FM is el party que nunca se apaga.
•  Back Country Radio: MW and Delta Dawne blast renegade country music to the Grassrivers, Port Gellhorn, and beyond. Stay tuned for Back Country’s roving reporter, swamp meteorologist, and Delta’s not-so-secret lover Mud Dog Mike checking in from the driver’s seat of his Grassrivers airboat.
•  AfroBank FM: Turn up the gbedu with Burna and Palmsy, AfroBank FM's dynamic duo curating the best in African music, from 20th-century classics and undiscovered gems to contemporary sounds like amapiano, 3-step, and more.
• The Chamber 106.6: Crushing metal has landed in Leonida. Jump in the pit with DJ Kerry and DJ Tom for classic metal from the ‘80s and beyond as they channel Leonida’s deep metal roots.
• Flash FM: The Vice City institution that delivers the best in pop music with Robyn and Alex — guaranteed to make you dance no matter where you find yourself in the Goodtime State.
•  Dirty South Classics: A little southern hospitality from Trick and Trina, blasting regional rap and hip-hop classics. From the beach to the block, nobody reps Leonida and the South like they do.

In addition, Rockstar has confirmed that "for the first time ever" GTA 6 will introduce "a series of on-demand podcasts, with both radio and podcasts available to listen to in vehicles or on foot through newly introduced headphones and earbuds connected to their smartphones."

This means players can tune into podcasts in-game using earbuds or headphones while playing as Jason and Lucia, and on the radio while driving around Leonida and Vice City.

Last month, Rockstar also released a sneak preview of 'Grand Theft Auto 6: The Album'. The soundtrack will feature 24 original tracks from artists like Travis Scott, PinkPantheress, Morgan Wallen, Keith Richards, and more, and the first six singles are available to listen to now.

• Blizzard Entertainment says it's monitoring real-money trading (RMT) in World of Warcraft: Forever
• The studio says it has devised penalties for gold buyers that could result in a permanent ban
• Blizzard is "watching very closely" and says "engaging in RMT is not worth putting your account at risk"