Bobfoc

In fairness, the combat in the original wasn't the best around, but the rest did a lot of the heavy lifting.

Forest also seem to be about to bring in 18-year-old Rodrigo Ribeiro from Sporting on loan, which is probably a Mendes signing. When Nuno was at Wolves, Forest were also working quite closely with Mendes, but they were getting all the worst players he could flog. I hope they can bring in some sensible signings without overspending again, especially with the FFP penalty looming. Sam Johnstone on loan has also been mentioned.

There's also an extended gameplay stream on now. I saw a whole section of combat and it looked really repetitive.

Don't worry. Those who bought the early access version have been gifted £16 worth of in-game currency as compensation. You know, because paying £100 for a game means you still don't get all the content now.

You're far from the only person who thinks that. I've seen people who have avoided buying games altogether for that reason and opting for a different platform.

It seems to be getting positive reviews all round. One of the complaints I've seen is that it's easier than the original, but that isn't a problem for me at all.

It turns out that the Visions of Mana listing was an error and it isn't coming to Game Pass after all.

No sites have been given review codes ahead of release, which, aside from the Doom reboot in 2016, is normally not a great sign.

A State of Play showcase will take place on Wednesday. Stellar Blade and Rise of Ronin are the only two confirmed participants so far, but the show will last around 40 minutes and include "more than 15 games heading to PS5 and PSVR2". Death Stranding 2 seems likely as the subtitle was apparently leaked a few days ago, and a prominent leaker mentioned a multiplayer FPS called Concord.

BBC might like a Blackburn/Newcastle match for the Alan Shearer factor.

My main memories of his performances were in Hang Tough, which he was statistically very good at (thanks to @Chris2K). Viper, however, has been beaten easily twice in Gauntlet and lost in three seconds in Duel. He's been a complete jobber Gladiator so far.

It's quite hard to buy Viper as a villain because we've only seen him get beaten easily. Wolf used to win most of the time, which made it more special when a contender beat him.

Maidstone are two wins away from Wembley.

I'd say it's the biggest since Lincoln's run to the quarter-finals.

They've done it. Bring on a massive Premier League away day now.

Medvedev won in the end. Great comeback. It will either be third time lucky for Medvedev or Sinner becoming Italy's first male singles Grand Slam winner.

Sinner beat Djokovic and will play either Medvedev or Zverev. A new winner is guaranteed.

The original series used to take hours to film, so that's probably an accurate observation. Someone I went to school with went to a Gladiators taping in the 90s and said that spectators were advised to bring books and suchlike along with them to keep them occupied during all the downtime. As for Skytrak, it hasn't been on yet. I remember thinking it was like watching a slow, upside-down Slalextric set, but in a much better way than that sounds.

And Nick Aldis.

I'd be more interested in the Wrestlemania showcase if they just used obscure midcard matches. Give me Hillbilly Jim vs. Uncle Elmer and The Bushwhackers vs. The Beverly Brothers.

Ivory Coast just got thrashed by Equatorial Guinea and could well be going out.

I think VCARBs are what Fortnite players on the Atkins Diet try to avoid.

They're bringing back guest referee matches. I don't know why they were gone in the first place.

Visions of Mana has been confirmed as a day one Game Pass entry.

I know it's an event from the original series, but Gauntlet has never done much for me. There evidently isn't much the Gladiators can do when they're standing still to stop a contender running at full speed, especially with the little arm pads. It's not really a great way for them to demonstrate their skills.