Bobfoc

I realise it's a matter of market forces, but I'd still be annoyed if I'd dedicated years to a sport and ascended to the top of my weight class, only for two idiots on Youtube to make way more money than me to fight. It would be like Louis Tomlinson getting paid Messi-level wages when he signed for Doncaster Rovers.

Racking my brains, I think this might be the first time an Activision-published game has been part of the Instant Game Collection. It wouldn't surprise my if, at some point, Destiny 2 became free-to-play, with the expansions continuing to be behind a paywall. The base game typically goes for less than £10 anyway, and this is clearly a move to attract some new players for the upcoming DLC.

September's Playstation Plus offerings contain some big names: Destiny 2 (PS4) God of War III: Remastered (PS4) Knowledge is Power (PS Plus Bonus – PlayLink) Here They Lie (PS Plus Bonus – PS VR required) Another World – 20th Anniversary Edition (PS3 + PS4/PS Vita) QUBE Director’s Cut (PS3 + PS4) Foul Play (PS Vita + PS4) Sparkle 2 (PS Vita)

Watching him just run right through people was something memorable. It's a real shame what happened to him later on. Senna and Schumacher were definite stand-outs. Both also used questionable tactics at times. Still, for Senna, this lap at Donington in 1993 was sensational: The Williams cars at the time were generally lapping at over a second a lap faster than Senna's McLaren, and yet Senna still reeled them in with a series of skilled overtakes in the rain.

Pretty easy. http://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2016/11/17/how-to-create-a-psn-account-different-region/#/slide/1

That would be my answer too. As much of a tosspot as the man can be, the things he does on the table are unlike anything I've seen. The fact that he can do it all with either hand and often without seeming to care is amazing. His 147 break compiled in 5 minutes, 20 seconds was truly remarkable. The fluency and sheer nonchalance with which he cleared up epitomised the natural talent he has.

With the HD re-releases now available, I finished Shenmue for the first time, having only played bits of it before. It's often said that it's a "love it or hate it" game, which makes me feel a little awkward because I'm somewhere in the middle. The controls, as everyone says, are bad, but they're not quite as frustrating as the stiffer tank controls in games like Resident Evil. I got used to them fairly quickly and only had a few times when I felt overly inhibited. The dialogue and voice acting is also wooden, but, again, not to the extent that I wanted to stop playing, and I managed to become reasonably engaged with the characters and plot. My main takeaway from the game is that it puts forward some interesting ideas, but doesn't always present them in a particularly elegant way. Giving the player the chance to train moves to increase their efficacy in battle sounds nice, but it amounts to nothing more than throwing punches and kicks at nothing in a car park. Similarly, putting an emphasis on exploring and engaging with the local area has a charm to it, but out-and-out forcing the player to do it by putting mandatory waiting times between story development is more than a little crude. So, yes, it's a bad game, but, as an experience, it has its appeal. Normally, I'd reject that sort of setup out of hand, but there's a quaintness about it, stemming from the fact that it's largely one man's artistic vision, that makes it memorable. Most of all, it's the game world itself that's the star of the show. I've often felt that I'd prefer a small, living map to work with in a game than a massive, sprawling sandbox full of nothing, and the former is very much in Shenmue's wheelhouse. Getting familiar with the districts, the townspeople and the mini-activities was pleasant in a way that trekking across miles of mountain ranges to liberate the twenty-third watch tower never is, and it's that level of homeliness that helps me see why the series is so special to a small group of people. Honestly, I can't in good conscience give it a universal recommendation, but I wouldn't scoff at it either. When it's inevitably on sale as part of a Humble Bundle or whatnot, I'd suggest giving it a whirl. I wouldn't be surprised if most people hated it, but there'll always be a few out there to take to its quirks.

The most enduring memories I have of any of these games are based around the season/career/story modes. Smackdown 2's mode, ridiculous load times and all, entertained me for months, and the branching story paths of Shut Your Mouth and Here Comes The Pain successfully built upon that foundation. I even liked Just Bring It's series of very short stories. My interest steadily waned as they brought in voice acting because it greatly restricted the capacity for branching paths and customisation, but even that looks great compared to the grindathon they put out now.

What happened to League Three?

I think that's what a lot of people expected to happen when 2k purchased the WWE licence. Ultimately, it seems they decided that they could sustain a reliable income with a minimal amount of effort, and so the series continues to retain its shortcomings over several entries.

I don't suppose this is EWB's cup of tea, but I saw Simple Minds, The Pretenders and KT Tunstall with my sister in Newark of all places yesterday. It was better than I thought it would be. They were all solid live acts, and not too loud either. Am I setting myself up for mockery here?

Well, last year's Switch version was pretty much the full FM Touch experience, so I've read. I don't see why this year's edition should be any more stripped down.

It's Youtube only. The EWB vs. Premier League showdown is a different event.

Well, we talk about 2k, but it's still been Yuke's handling the development since the very beginning of the Smackdown franchise. I think a lot of people wanted a new developer when 2k bought the rights to the series, but that didn't happen. As far as 2k is concerned, the series maintains fairly similar sales figures each year, so I can't imagine the company is particularly bothered about enforcing sweeping changes. If anything, it's more focused on trying to cram its microtransaction rubbish into the games, much like it did with the NBA 2k series.

Kevin Nolan has been sacked by Notts County. My feelings are mixed because he helped get the club back on track after John Sheridan's disastrous run, but the club's run towards the end of last season and the beginning of this one was indicative of a worrying nosedive in form. Tactically, he's not quite had the flexibility to put things right again. He reminds me a lot of Shaun Derry, who was a great short-term appointment who saved the club from relegation, but who didn't have success when trying to build a long-term project.

There ought to be a way of choosing a partner from a list of wrestlers in a similar position on the card. It's another one of those things that's baffling in its absence.

What's he been saying about it? If it's a full hour of him discussing it, I can understand the annoyance, but if it's a quick five-minute overview, it seems fair game, given how lucrative it'll be for an amateur fight.

In other Switch port news, The Walking Dead: Season One is coming to the system - at a price of $25. There's something very wrong when you're charging more for a game than when it originally came out over six years ago.

This probably won't appeal to many people because a lot of us already own some of these games, but there's a 50-game charity bundle available at Green Man Gaming right now. There's a lot of good stuff in there, and I think it would be great for people looking to get into PC gaming for the first time. Unfortunately, the UK and Europe are getting shafted on the exchange rate as it's 50 dollars/pounds/euros.

There's the handheld factor to take into account, I suppose. I've picked up Skyrim and LA Noire on Switch, despite having played them before, and I really enjoyed being able to play them on a portable system.