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Just as I think the PlayStation Access team can't surprise me anymore with their Friday "Rob's Ramblings", they do. I score 6/7 for this one.

1. It's just a game!

Why are you getting so upset, it's just a game!" How many times have you heard those words? I've heard it many, many times. Don't people know the word "just" is belittling the greatest entertainment industry in the world? Non-gamers don't get how immersive video games can be. For me, the Mass Effect series is a good example. The game made me laugh, cry, love, regret, angry, and the list goes on. Bring in the online component of playing with a group of people, like a guild in World of Warcraft, or playing competitively, and you add a whole other dimension. It's never "just a game."

2. Who gets to be player one?

This one is all about being used to how you mapped the controls. So you visit a friend, you want to play some games, and you argue over who must be player two. The only times I got into an argument over this point, was when we played Time Crises at the Arcade. For some reason, I could only perform if I played with the gun on the left side. If I was forced to play on the right side, it was game over after the second stage. If I played on the left side, we finished the game in one sitting.

3. Inverted or Non-inverted?

Gosh, how I hated it when my partner changed the mouse to inverted. Why does anyone play inverted?! We all know inverted is just stupid, right? I love playing space simulators, and even that I can't handle inverted. And it's always such a mission to stop the game, go out, settings, blah blah blah.

4. Which is the best Final Fantasy?

"Fourteen main entries with a fifteenth on the way. Plus countless sequels, spin-offs and of course, remakes. Rob ran the question on Twitter and within the hour he had over 100 passionate responses. Pretty much every entry was named. I am not a Final Fantasy fan, so I skip at least this argument.

5. Why don't you go outside?

"Why don't you go outside?" is probably the one we've all heard the most. Don't people know screenshots look even better than the real thing ;)? They also don't understand that once we get into a good game, everything else disappears. I do understand the argument from a parents point of view. If a kid sits in front of a game every free moment he or she has, it can become problematic. Just remember parents, timing is everything.

6. Who gets the loot?

Any massively, multiplayer, online, role-playing gamers out there? You've been through this one, right? I remember years ago when I played my very first World of Warcraft dungeon how confusing I found this one. And when I played my very first raid it was a repeat. I was so scared I "need" on something I shouldn't, and so on. According to PlayStation Access, there are three types of "looters."
  • The greedy gobbler
  • The passive-aggressor
  • The compulsive refuser

7. Just one more game

And we all score on this one. I remember back in the day when we just started playing Team Fortress 2. We regularly played through the night, up until it was almost time to go to work. Or when I got into serious World of Warcraft raiding, and the boss just don't wanna go down, and you strategise, and you try this, then that...just one more time. And boom it's 4 am the next morning. Or you're so close to leveling up, oh the  things we say to justify playing another map, or beating a boss, or winning a round. 
How much do you score? I bet most gamers get almost 7/7. 

Button-mapping won't be exclusive to the $150 Xbox One Elite controller that ships later this month. Microsoft's Mike Ybarra confirmed today on Twitter that the feature is coming to all Xbox One controllers sometime down the road through an update, though it's not immediately clear when that will happen.



Asked why controller button reconfiguration is only available for the Elite controller, Ybarra said (via Polygon), "It's coming for all controllers soon."

He did not provide a specific timetable for when it will be available. It's also likely that the feature will roll out first for Preview Program members before its public debut.

Button-mapping lets users assign functions to various buttons to their liking, beyond the developer-set control options. The Xbox One won't be the first new-generation console to support button-mapping, as the March 2015 PlayStation 4 update added a custom button assignment feature for the DualShock 4.

The $150 Xbox One Elite controller launches on October 27, the same day that Halo 5: Guardians is released. In addition to button-mapping, the first-of-its-kind Xbox controller features interchangeable rear paddles and hair trigger locks. It also lets you adjust the trigger minimum and maximum values, as well as thumbstick sensitivity. Read more about it and check out some images here.

Among the new features in NBA 2K16 is the ability to design your own team, including its jerseys and court. These can be original creations or those inspired by other things, such as this design themed around Fallout.




As shared on Reddit by user Typical_Redditor_459, the Vault-Tec Dwellers sport white and yellow jerseys at home, with an image of the Vault Boy holding up three fingers on the front. The away jerseys are blue and yellow and have a Vault 101 symbol on the front. The court sports that same symbol at midcourt, with a version of Fallout's "war never changes" motto (in this case, "the game never changes") written on the baseline.

One commenter on Reddit asked if it would be possible to make the vault number on the jersey the player's number, to which the creator said, "Yeah actually I could do that pretty easily. I would just need to find a vault door outline without the 101 in the center. Then you can turn on the player number for the front of the jersey and position it in the center of the vault door. That is a really cool idea."

In response to another comment pointing out that they could have done a Tunnel Snake-themed theme, the creator astutely noted that the tunnel snakes rule.

NBA 2K16 launched earlier this week, while Fallout 4 is slated for release on November 10. Not unlike 2K16, Fallout 4 offers more ways than ever before for players to create things--specifically, their own bases.

Xbox maker scoops up Havok from Intel for an undisclosed sum.





Havok, whose digital effects and game-physics middleware is used in franchises like Halo, Destiny, Dark Souls, Elder Scrolls,Call of Duty, and Assassin's Creed, has been purchased by Microsoft. The company was previously owned by chip-maker Intel, which bought it in 2007 for $110 million.


Terms of Microsoft's acquisition of Havok from Intel today were not disclosed.

In a statement, Microsoft said Havok's tools will complement the company's existing ones, such as DirectX 12, Visual Studio, and Microsoft Azure.


"Microsoft's acquisition of Havok continues our tradition of empowering developers by providing them with the tools to unleash their creativity to the world," Microsoft said. "We will continue to innovate for the benefit of development partners. Part of this innovation will include building the most complete cloud service, which we've just started to show through games like Crackdown 3."

It added: "Havok shares Microsoft's vision for empowering people to create worlds and experiences that have never been seen before, and we look forward to sharing more of this vision in the near future."

Havok's technology will continue to be licensed to run on competing platforms, such as those from Sony and Nintendo, a Microsoft representative confirmed to GameSpot.

What do you make of Microsoft buying Havok? Let us know in the comments below.
The netbusters and wonder goals to make even the hardiest goalkeepers cry.

Welcome, football fans, and thank you for joining us for our round-up of the best of the best goals we've seen so far on EA's latest and greatest footie sim, FIFA 16. We've got audacious long-rangers, acrobatic flourishes and silky skills, all with the promise to make you go, "How the blazers did they do that?!" Let us know if we've missed any and be sure to tell us which is your fave out of the following bunch. Right, we're off to try to score from the halfway line without punting the ball into the car park, enjoy...



The corner you won't try at home




© FalloutFTW


If you were playing football and one of your team-mates decided to kick the ball nearly back to the halfway line straight from a corner, you'd probably say "What you doing?" and put your hands on your hips. Not Cristiano Ronaldo. He's a glass-half-full kinda guy, who instead chooses to meet the corner kick from 25 yards out by turning sideways in mid-air and volleying the ball just under the crossbar (the goalie should have done better, to be fair). To celebrate one of the greatest goals of all time, the commentator musters enough excitement to deliver the sure-to-become immortal line, "and we've got a goal."

The ball's glued to his feet!



© EA SPORTS FIFA


Goal number one is our pick of the bunch of this mini compilation. Real Madrid Castilla midfielder Martin Ødegaard, playing here for Norway, picks up the loose ball about 30 yards out, fakes a shot and snakes past the oncoming defender, does that back-heel-flick-over-the-head thing that you used to be able to do as long as nobody was watching and smashes it goal-wards. Nice.

A bicycle made for GOALS!



© VideoDunyasi 2015


This is something a little bit special. Alex Morgan, a forward in the USA women’s team, receives the ball outside the area, with her back to goal. She then proceeds to juggle the balls three times, then leap to the cruising height of a 747 and bicycle kick it into the top corner, rounding off her hat-trick against the formidable Germans. She celebrates with a cartwheel. USA! USA! USA!

HE HITS THE SCORPION



© TJW 0405


A video called "My first scorpion on Fifa 16!!!!! Crazy fifa 16 goal, best goal ever!!!!" promises much, but does it deliver? Well, yes it did, or it simply would not be here. The scorpion in question, a potentially paralysing acrobatic manoeuvre if tried by the average bear, is performed by Neymar, from about 30 yards out. The lad holding the controller shouts "I DID IT! I DID IT! I HIT THE SCORPION!" while the Brazilian striker cartwheels and flips through the air. Glorious and deserving of more than its 192 views.

Player gets bored of moving, shoots from halfway



© Tobias Schleipfer


We've all had a go at shooting from the halfway line, usually managing to get the ball to the edge of the box in exchange for a broken toe. But Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal is made of stronger stuff, seen here dribbling casually into the centre circle, before swinging his presumably titanium right leg at the poor ball, launching it into space. It then breaks back into the Earth's atmosphere, falls towards the goal at the speed of sound and thumps into the net. "I don't even go that far for my holidays," the commentator says, which is probably an overstatement.

Welsh wonder goal



© UniqueRiggers


Now this is a lot of free kicks. So many free kicks you'll probably have to save some for later. If you don't want to stomach them all we've gone and picked out what we think is the best, and also saved you from some truly terrible music. Our story begins at 51 seconds, when Welshman Gareth Bale stands in a 30-yard-from-goal left-wing position that should really only give him the right to cross from. But he has another idea. That idea: mega goal. Also check out 1:38 to see a chap called Pappa celebrate scoring with a ridiculous amount of back flips.

The obligatory Messi one



© Oliver Hernandez


"Fifa 16 Messi Super Goal" you say? We'll be the judge of… WHAT THE… HOW THE DEVIL DID HE DO THAT?! Yep, it's that good. Before the commentators have even finished their "it's an honour to be here" platitudes, while half the crowd are still queueing to buy a pie, Messi has dribbled the ball to the halfway line and then pretty much toe punted it over the keeper. "That's efficiency for you," the commentator opts to say – which while technically true, this does undersell things a tad.

It shouldn't be possible!



© ItsMorgz


Seriously, what is with the music on goal videos? Anyway, this goal is a treat. Wearing a number two shirt, a football man called Naldo is standing near the corner of the box waiting to take a free kick. He has no business shooting from this angle, but he blooming well does, side-footing what appears to be a giant ball bearing into the corner. He celebrates by punching himself, presumably because he can hear the music too.

Skills to pay the bills



© GAAAYAY


Another one here that's been described by the uploader as insane, this time actioned by Frank Ribéry and not Yannick Bolasie as stated in the title. After a dizzying amount of trickery on the edge of the box, he pulls a shot out of nowhere that would have taken the net's head off, had the net been human and not just a load of string. Commentary gold for this one includes "And it's in for the goal", "How far out was he?!" – about 20 yards – and "to find the right hand corner, that defies belief."



THE HIGHS

Samuel Roberts: Batman returns
Arkham Knight returns to PC at the end of October, a mere four months after its original release date! To be fair, post-interim patch it’s running reasonably well on PC, although getting a consistent 60fps at 1080p with my 780 on high settings seems out of the question. It’s going to be interesting to see how it reviews with a few months passing since the console version—I think some reviewers were too forgiving towards the dreadful Batmobile stealth sections, for example, which threatened to ruin large chunks of the game and made this overall a less well-structured experience than City or Asylum was.
Where it makes up for that is sidequest design, which is mostly excellent, and the experience of being Batman in an open world that looks this good. I’m particularly excited about getting into the DLC, which has so far not been released on PC at all—driving the Tumbler from the Nolan films around that city is going to feel amazing.
Tom Senior: Meta critic
Prepare your chin for stroking, because the latest release from The Stanley Parable's Davey Wreden is the chin-strokiest game of the week, month, and perhaps year. In The Beginner’s Guide Wreden's cheery narration guides you through a series of prototype games created by an invented designer called "Coda". The prototypes are primitive, but Wreden's explanations give meaning to the recurring motifs that keep popping throughout Coda's body of work.
It's a primarily a character study, but it's also a game about the power of criticism. The critic, Wreden in this case, curates Coda's work for you, giving meaning to Coda's odd use of lamp posts and door puzzles, and spinning an otherwise impenetrable series of Source experiments into something rich and emotionally affecting. Is it the meaning that Coda intended? Considering the fact that Coda is Wreden's creation, how does it scan as an autobiographical work about the loneliness of the creative process? Hmmm!
The Flame in the Flood Slide
Chris Livingston: The game in the flood
Last week I griped a bit about The Flame in the Flood, a stylish survival roguelite in Early Access that ultimately felt too difficult. The issue I had wasn't that the world was a perilous place, but that the peril didn't seem to care if I'd only been in the world for just a few seconds. I found that the moment I started my journey I was already facing dangers, mostly wolves, that I'd simply not been given the chance to prepare for.
It appears others felt the same way, and developer The Molasses Flood was listening to their players. They issued a patch that, among other things, keeps wolves from spawning at the first few locations the player visits. I played a game post-patch, and I think it's greatly improved the experience. There are still plenty of risks and dangers, but now you can at least spend a little time preparing and exploring before being shredded by wolves. I even lived long enough to die of sepsis! Hooray! The Flame in the Flood was so unforgiving before the patch that I consider that a genuine improvement, and it's always great to see developers listening to their playerbase and considering changes based on the feedback they receive.
Tyler Wilde: Building games
People are making cool stuff, in and out of games. Last month we showed you a Portal-themed bedroom, and this week we got a look at a Canadian man’s very own Vault-Tec door. Even more impressive, someone is recreating Pokemon Red in Minecraft. I boggle at the process, but I’m sure it makes sense to Minecraft experts.
I have no grand thoughts about any of this, just that it’s great how creative and motivated gamers can be. We even beat Dark Souls via Twitch chat, which is probably the most productive thing to ever happen in Twitch chat.
Rocket League Slide
Andy Kelly: The joy of carball
I’m late to the party here, but whatever. Cool people turn up to parties late, then drink all your beer. I pre-ordered Valve’s new Steam controller and got a free copy of Rocket League, so I thought I’d give it a go. I don’t have much interest in cars or football, so I didn’t think I’d be into a game featuring both. But I was a damn fool to think that, ‘cause I’m already hooked, and I plan to spend this weekend playing the heck out of it.
Since finishing Else Heart.Break() and Metal Gear Solid V—two big, lengthy open-world games—I’ve been looking for a palate cleanser, and I think this is it. It’s refreshing to have a game I can just dip into for a short period of time. The games I love, which are mainly RPGs and open-world games, are such incredible time-sinks that every time I sit down to play them, I know I need to be there for at least an hour. But Rocket League seems like something I can just stick on whenever I have a spare moment for instant, immediate fun.
James Davenport: PewDieHi, world!
Last night, Stephen Colbert interviewed PewDiePie on The Late Show and didn’t condescend. The unfortunate expectation when anyone outside the influence of video games talks about video games is that they’re going to mistreat the subject with septuagenarian lawnchair bleating, i.e., These video game kids need to get outside (but off my lawn), dagnabit!
Instead, Colbert poked fun at the absurdity of both sides and the gap in understanding, but without tossing moral weight one way or the other. Instead of dwelling on moot points, PewDiePie taught Colbert some Swedish swear words. The interview as a whole wasn’t revelatory or particularly funny, but it sure was a relief to see Let’s Play culture respected instead of lampooned in the spotlight





AC Syndicate crafting
THE LOWS
Tom Senior: A crafty diversion
For ages the Assassin’s Creed games have expanded laterally. Each iteration adds an extra layer of game to distract us from the familiar parkour systems and dodgy combat. Sometimes the distractions are great, like the high seas piracy of Black Flag. Sometimes you get a flaccid tower defense minigame. Last year Unity added loads of armour with RPG stats. Now Syndicate is adding detailed crafting systems. Is this what Assassin’s Creed fans are asking for? Are these new systems fun, or are they bloat that helps the latest entry differentiate itself from the last, giving the series the illusion of evolution where there is none?
It’s hardly the designers’ fault. If Ubi have to push out an Assassin’s Creed game every year, sometimes two. Their environments are gorgeous, the stories enjoyably silly, but I yearn for the AC that pushes the series on to greater heights. It doesn’t feel like Syndicate will be the one to do it.
James Davenport: Mod huntThe Witcher 3 might be one of the best RPGs I’ve ever played. After spending 60 or so hours with it, I was ready to be done, but CD Projekt is still plugging away on exciting expansions for the game. With the imminent release of Hearts of Stone, which I thinkshould be pretty cool, I reinstalled The Witcher 3 on my PC and, as I do when returning to games after a long absence, I looked to the modding community for ways to spruce up my comeback. My search was somewhat disheartening. While modders are undoubtedly doing what they can, the majority are UI tweaks and a few subtle FX mods.
I’m not sure what I expected, given that CD Projekt scaled back on mod support from the release of the robust REDkit for The Witcher 2. Skyrim might have ruined me, forever elevating my expectations for mod support in open world games, and PC games in general. Returning to Skyrim year after year is welcomed with a font of new surprises, from small script tweaks to total conversions. As it stands in The Witcher 3, mod support is severely limited. So long as CD Projekt supports the game as it has been, it’ll be harder to complain, but four years from now, which PC games will be remembered more fondly? Incredible but unchanging experiences or those that give players the reins?
Rainbow Six Siege Slide
Samuel Roberts: No campaign for Siege
For those who once considered the campaign to be part of the appeal behind the Rainbow Six series, I imagine the (unsurprising) news that Siege won’t have a major single-player element outside of bots will be kind of disappointing.
I saw this coming, to be honest—and I’m personally fine with it, since Siege has clearly positioned itself as a competitive shooter from day one, but it does make me wonder if the days of a significant single-player element in multiplayer-focused games are numbered. There’s also the matter of price to consider. The assumption is that you always want to play online, which may or may not be correct—and do you think Siege will be worth paying $60/£50 for with just the multiplayer element? CS: GO is just $15/£12, after all. 
Chris Livingston: Going Viral
My elderly German neighbor came over the other day to ask (well, demand) that I help her with a virus on her laptop. She was on the phone with tech support, and said she couldn't understand his accent, which I found ironic considering I often couldn't understand hers. I went into her house where I found her laptop shrieking, in a computerized voice, "YOUR COMPUTER IS INFECTED! YOUR DATA IS AT RISK! DO NOT USE THIS COMPUTER UNTIL THE VIRUS HAS BEEN REMOVED!" over and over again.
I shut it off and the tech support guy began walking me through the steps to restart it in safe mode and allow him remote access so he could remove the virus. I was following his instructions when a tiny bell went off in my head. I put him on hold, and asked my neighbor who exactly it was I was talking to. "Tech support," she said. I asked where she'd gotten their number. "On the screen," she told me. Yeah. The window that had popped up telling her that she had a virus had also given her a tech support number to call to fix the virus. How considerate!
I asked the man a bunch of questions about his tech support firm, and how his number had gotten on her screen when she'd never used their service or heard of his firm. I politely listened to his ridiculous replies, then informed him that he was a piece of human garbage for preying on the elderly, and hung up. Then I spent a good forty minutes explaining to my neighbor what a scam is, what malware is, and how if it was a real tech support number she would have been on hold for eleven hours before getting help. She seemed to eventually understand, and her nephew (well, let's hope he's her nephew and not a scammer wearing a nephew disguise) has taken the laptop away to be cleansed with fire.
Undertale Slide
Tyler Wilde: What did I ever do to video games?
Undertale hurt my feelings. I don’t mean that it made me sad because the story is sad, I mean that I felt manipulated and then judged for something I never wanted to do. Undertale is a big meanie.
As always, someone has to do a low that’s actually a high, so here it is. Between Undertale and The Beginner’s Guide this week, I’ve had some great, upsetting experiences I’m not used to having in games. Undertale breaks the fourth wall, ignoring game conventions with a wink, but for more than just to freak me out Metal Gear style. It made me feel bad. The Beginner’s Guide, meanwhile, has no fourth wall to act as a barrier between me and its anxiety and depression.
And then along came a freaking game about a lost dog. The last time I cried was watching Toy Story 3 in 2010 and I’m not about to break this streak, video games.
Andy Kelly: It’s good to talk
After over a year away, I’ve returned to Guild Wars 2. I find it to be a weirdly peaceful game, and running around completing heart quests is super relaxing. I don’t bother with PVP or dungeons: I’m all about the PVE. Of all the MMOs I’ve played, GW2 feels the most social. When a world event triggers, it’s cool to see everyone in the area run towards it, working together to complete the objective. But outside of those moments, people just keep to themselves.
I’ve always hated this in MMOs. You’re running around doing quests, and you bump into another player. You say hello, and you get nothing back. They’re lost in their own little worlds, playing it like it’s a single-player RPG. I always try and interact with people in MMOs, and I’ve met some nice people, but mostly everyone’s just really anti-social. Why don’t people wanna talk? Do I smell? Oh well. I’ll keep trying anyway. If you see a giant white cat running around in Guild Wars 2 trying and failing to talk to people, come say hello. I’ve got fangs, but I don’t bite.
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