Oh, what a hole is man We’re a two-hander this week, as Nate has a sore throat, but Matthew and I have a jolly old time talking about the games that sound like amazing ideas on paper (whether they end up being great off the paper or not) and even manage to contrast them with games that sound like a bad pitch but end up great. We manage to talk about a lot of games in a sensible way, and even gesture at serious discussion of how prestige indies can dominate their niche to the detriment of other interesting games....

$150 for a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD with a built-in heatsink, ideal for PC or PS5. The WD Black SN850 is a fast PCIe 4.0 solid state drive, and the 1TB model with an integrated heatsink is going for $150 at Best Buy today - some $120 off the MSRP and a historic low price. This is one of thevery fastest SSDs you can buy, with great sequential and random speeds, so it’s a great choice for running your OS and loading games faster than ever before....

The limits and possibilities of cross-platform play in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt Does Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt support crossplay and cross-saves?Dark fantasy battle royaleVampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhuntcame as a pleasant surprise when it came out in early access on Steam last year. Despite the early concerns of some fans of the setting that a BR simply wouldn’t fit into the World of Darkness, Bloodhunt won many of us over thanks to its appropriately gothic map design and thoughtful integration into franchise lore....

Expand your hive and explore the mountain with the help of some honey-sweet freebies Looking for the latest Bee Swarm Simulator codes for free in-game items?Despite its alarming title, Bee Swarm Simulator is one ofRoblox’sgentler experiences, focused not around summoning swarms of angry hymenoptera to ruin an innocent picnic, but instead on tending and growing your own hive to produce honey. Classed under Roblox’s adventure category, you also get to explore the mountainside where your bees reside, unlocking treasures and secrets as you go....

Prep for endgame with this Glaivier build Need the best Glaivier build in Lost Ark?The Glaivier isLost Ark’spolearm wielder, swapping between AoE and single target-focused stances to adapt to the situation at hand. Like the Gunslinger and Deadeye, the Glaivier can cycle through multiple skill bars, making for a high-APM playstyle Whether you’ve just boosted up a Glaivier with yourknowledge transferorpowerpass, or you’re starting the main campaign for the first time, this guide is here to help....

Private matches are also down due to stability issues Raven Software’s military battle royaleCall of Duty: Warzonesees the arrival of Season 3, Classified Arms, today, which just went live at 9am PDT/5pm BST. The update is also dropping forCall of Duty: Vanguard. In addition to new guns and a special timed event featuring Godzilla and King Kong (because of course), this season also sees the debut of some new types of private matches - although Raven have qualified that the latter are temporarily disabled due to “stability issues”....

American Arcadia combines 2.5D platforming with first-person puzzly bits The studio behind the 1930s supernatural mermaid-filled adventureCall Of The Seahave announced their next game, and it looks like a tonally bang-on pastiche of reality shows, social media saturation and 1970s dystopian sci-fi. Published by Raw Fury,American Arcadiacentres on Trevor Hills – an average bloke in flares, tank top and ‘tache – who is a bit too boring to survive the unwitting reality-show metropolis of Arcadia where he lives....

Maximum House Crytek, developers ofHunt: Showdownand theCrysisseries, have announced that “the company has adopted a remote work option for employees who prefer it.” The decision comes after the studio initially switched to work-from-home during the Covid-19 pandemic and found that development didn’t slow down, and follows a similar decision made by Destiny developer Bungie last month. “The Covid pandemic led Crytek to support its staff to work from home wherever possible....

Out now from the creator of Engare I respect shape-making puzzle gameTandis, though I am terrible at it. It’s a game about bending and distorting shapes by applying mathematical transformations, starting with a simple flat sheet and aiming to replicate elaborate 3D shapes which look like blown glass sculptures. It’s done cleverly and simply by dragging shapes through zones which distort them in real time but alas, I myself am simple too....

We’ve done the (processor) time so you don’t have to. A new raft of Ryzen 5000 processors has hit virtual and physical shelves, making it a good time to pick up a new AM4 CPU at a discounted price. The appearance of the lower-end Ryzen 5500, 5600 and mid-range 5700X have pushed prices for their more expensive counterparts way down, while the 5800X3D remains hard to find due to its relatively low supply and impressive gaming performance....

Secure your Deck with PIN protection Not that the added security isn’t appreciated, but Valve never actually explained how to set the Steam Deck lock screen in theirLock Screen Updatepatch notes. Good thing, then, that adding PIN protection to your handheld PC is quick and easy, as this step-by-step guide will show. Image credit:Rock Paper ShotgunSteam Deck Academybrings together all our guides and explainers on getting the most out of your Steam Deck, no student loans or sweaty dormitories required....

As well as new training modes In hisSifu reviewfor us, Jai found the kung fu brawler difficult enough that at one point he thought he “was going to eat” his controller. He didn’t, thankfully, and enjoyed the game a lot overall. If youhaveingested your controller, you might want to sick it up again quick, because a free update coming toSifunext week will add new difficulty modes and training options. Check out our free content update roadmap for#Sifu!...

The vote will take place this Friday The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) have ruled this week that Raven Software’s 21 QA staff can vote on whether to form a union. The decision comes after months of arguments by Raven and Activision Blizzard management that the employees' petition be either denied or amended in such a way that, QA staff say, would have drastically reduced the chances of the vote being successful....