A long time ago in a games industry far, far away, a bunch of Sony Online Entertainment developers had the crazy idea of adding Jedi characters to an MMO without either robbing all the other classes of appeal, or nerfing the Force-wielders into oblivion.
With the days ticking down until July, when Xbox are said to be fully pulling the trigger on mass upheaval that could see studios closed and will almost certainly see jobs cut, bosses at one of the studios reported to have its future hanging in the balance have given some staff permission to openly seek new work. This, it's claimed, is the reason a bunch of devs at South of Midnight studio Compulsion Games have taken to LinkedIn ahead of any layoffs being confirmed to post that they're on the market for other jobs.
There's nothing I revel in more than a game with a simple concept and committing to it as fully as possible. So, here's BREKEKEKEX, a stylish action/3D brawler that pits you against frogs, cultists, guys on hogs, guys with buckets on their heads, "and worse." It is mouthwateringly ridiculous; in what world does a Dragon Ball arena fighter where you fight frogs somehow pass as a good pitch? My one, at the very least.
Many years ago, Suzy Eddie Izzard did a stand-up routine about different makes of vacuum cleaner, including the immortal "Hodededededer" of undecided linguistic origin. Izzard also enjoys sending up cheesy horror movies. Now that I've played 7 Nights with Vroombi, which launches today on Steam, I'd love to see Izzard do a sketch about a robot vacuum cleaner stuck in a haunted house. Because that is what 7 Nights with Vroombi is about.
Each night, you emerge from your nook to ingest a certain quantity of dust particles, while contending with eerie phenomena. The furniture is in the habit of moving around of its own accord. There is moaning behind some of the doors. The dust lies in peculiarly ornate patterns. Worst of all, perhaps, are the scribbled notes and doodles left out for you by a child, Lily. These range from tips about your scanner button to worrying asides like "You can't leave, can you, Mr Vroombi?" Right now, I'd say there's a 55% chance that Lily is actually Satan.
I swear to God it's too warm to do anything in the UK this week. I am barely coping in the heat if it wasn't for the array of small Ohyama Woozoo fans I have, plus an array of Meaco air circulators and more besides. Of course this week is the week that all the deals are happening - that's just the way of the world it seems - and none of us can catch a naffing break. Godspeed to anyone outside doing real work in this UK heat - can we make air con mandatory in new homes, please?
Being too hot to do anything means it's too warm to build your own PC as I see it, so to save you the hassle, I've gone on my merry way and found an array of six pre-built PC deals from up and down the price ladder across the UK and USA that should give you plenty of grunt for your favourite games. Finding discounts on pre-built PCs was surprisingly difficult, owing to the issues we've seem with everything from shortages for components to pesky overpricing that doesn't do anybody any favours, meaning that the whole pricing structure for certain tiers of PC have shifted up somewhat, which doesn't help anybody.
The six PCs I've put below have been picked out in the following order. First based on region, and then in order of mid-range, budget and then expensive - putting the one that I think is best for price to performance first and hitting a strong mid-tier choice with good power, then a more affordable choice for 1080p or 1440p gaming, and then a bit of a splurge option if you've got the spare cash to play at 4K. Given the way things are these days, I haven't gone mad with the latter choice and specced out a money-no-object choice, and kept to things that are a bit more reasonable given the circumstances for at least a hint of affordability.
Of course, we're sticking with the fact this is anti Prime Day coverage after all, so none of these deals are from The Retailer Who Must Not Be Named, instead from either PC builders directly or larger retailers with surpisingly good deals given the current context. If you're on the lookout for more deals after this, then you can check out James' master guide for our RPS Anti Prime Day deals coverage, or my roundup of seven more excellent deals across the UK and USA. Without further ado, here are six prebuilt PC deals I've spotted from other retailers that I think are worth your time.
Patreon CEO Jack Conte has shared his views on the difficulties of working with payment processors and networks such as Stripe and Mastercard, who have the power to enforce their ideas about 'adult content' on stores and platforms by threatening to stop processing customer transactions. As boss of one of the biggest crowd-funding outfits, he's keen to support artists "who are on the edges", but also claims that the likes of Patreon have minimal "leverage" against the payment networks. It's a useful bit of context for the on-going crackdown on NSFW games on Steam and Itch.io.
United Wizards of the Coast - CWA, a union Magic: The Gathering Arena developers voted in favour of forming earlier this year, has now officially been elected. The union filed an election petition with the US National Labor Relations Board back in April, while also requesting that Wizards of the Coast voluntarily recognise them. The workers claimed in May that the company were dragging their heels on the latter, having missed a deadline.
