Author: News Room

The more things change in Control Resonant, the more of it retains the best traits of its predecessor, Control. An endearing new protagonist, Dylan Faden, joins several of the memorable allies that assisted his older sister, Jesse, in her 2019 adventure. Every new high-flying melee battle is complemented by the same fascinatingly bizarre stories centered around supernatural mundane objects, interdimensional entities, and the FBC’s strange bureaucracy that made the first game such a fun world to unravel. And like the game before it, Control Resonant’s storytelling highs are sometimes dampened by some design headaches. But even when Control Resonant stumbles…

The Sonic the Hedgehog franchise turned 35 years old this past summer, and to mark the occasion, iam8bit is hosting a special 35 Years of Speed: The Sonic Art Exhibit across Seattle and Los Angeles this month. While the Seattle edition occurred earlier this month, it arrives in Los Angeles at ARK/8 this weekend. To mark the occasion, we sat down with longtime character artist and director for the Sonic series, Kazuyuki Hoshino, to discuss the exhibit and Sonic’s evolution over the years.The event, set to take place in Los Angeles this weekend, features original art from more than 30…

I played roughly 45 minutes of Final Fantasy VII Revelation during Gamescom 2026 back in August, and though the remake series’ prior two entries kept my excitement alive, I walked away from that demo disappointed. Set during Revelation’s fourth chapter, it was overwhelming, aimless, and lacking the moments that made Final Fantasy VII Remake and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth so thrilling, all while doubling down on the latter’s worst aspect: an overwhelming amount of content. I’m all for open-world games stuffed to the brim with things to do, especially in an economy where being a gamer is more expensive than…

I got hands-on with Final Fantasy VII Revelation at Tokyo Game Show last week, playing about 25 minutes of the game’s first chapter. You can read more about my experience during that preview here, including what’s happening narratively and my thoughts on the game’s FITS system, but I also spoke with Revelation director Naoki Hamaguchi about the PlayStation 5 Pro’s graphics settings available in this build. Before hopping into the game, I paged through the visual settings and noticed “Quality,” “Performance – Sharp,” and “Performance – Soft.”  It’s clear Quality mode aims for the highest resolution and might run at…

One of the bigger additions to Square Enix’s Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy in the upcoming finale, Revelation, is the FITS system. This Function-Integrated Tactical Suitwear system allows players to spec Cloud and friends into four different “types,” which are basically jobs. There’s Warrior, Knight, Black Mage, and Summoner. The feature adds additional customization to Revelation’s already feature-packed combat (which also adds two new party members with Cid Highwind and Vincent Valentine), but it also changes how a party member is dressed. After going hands-on with Final Fantasy VII Revelation’s first chapter during Tokyo Game Show last week – read…

Earlier this year, Xbox performed a massive wave of layoffs, eliminating 1,600 roles and sharing that more cuts would come soon. Today, those cuts have come: Xbox has announced it is laying off 268 roles across its first-party studios, XGS management, and central functions layer. Halo Studios in particular has been significantly impacted, and today’s announcement states that Activision will take over development for the next Halo title.The news broke via an Xbox Wire post called “Continuing Our Reset,” by Xbox executive vice president and chief content officer Matt Booty. It makes three major points. First, it lays out the…

Many doctors undertake professional education work alongside their main clinical careers. Teaching medical students, supervising trainees, examining candidates, delivering lectures and contributing to professional education can all form part of an experienced doctor’s working life. These activities may be occasional rather than regular, which can make their financial administration easy to overlook. For doctors who receive payments for teaching or examining alongside NHS employment, maintaining accurate records throughout the tax year can help make Self Assessment more straightforward. When Teaching Becomes Part of a Doctor’s Professional Life A doctor may begin teaching informally as part of an NHS role before…

It’s been a few months since Bungie ceased active development of Destiny 2, bringing the game’s nine-year lifecycle to an abrupt end and angering many players in the process. Bungie has heard and responded to this outcry by obliging one of the biggest fan requests for Destiny 2. The studio is also sharing plans to evolve its well-received but tepidly performing extraction shooter, Marathon. In a developer video and studio blog post, Bungie studio heads Poria Torkan and Josh Deane acknowledge the fanbase’s resentment and plans to earn back player trust. Bungie has been creating games for over 30 years and we…

Valor Mortis is the next game from One More Level, the studio behind the Ghostrunner series. As a massive fan of those two cyberpunk parkour-action games, I’ve had my eye on Valor Mortis, the team’s first-person take on the Soulslike formula, since its reveal last August. When I played it last year, I was shocked by how well OML’s trademark first-person action translates into a slower, more deliberate Soulslike, given that the best action games in this sub-genre are typically played from a third-person perspective. Now, I’ve put more than 15 hours into a preview build of Valor Mortis, playing…

Much like the franchise itself, for years Silent Hill existed as an opaque figure embedded in fog, with only crackling radio static confirming its existence. Konami wasn’t sure what to do with it beyond Pyramid Head cameos in kart racers and Bomberman party games. But, like a repressed memory that suddenly manifests as a monster compelling you to address your unresolved trauma, Silent Hill is back, and Townfall, the third Silent Hill game in as many years, continues the impressive return-to-form streak. Simon Ordell’s journey through the Scottish town of St. Amelia in 1996 is not without its shortcomings, but…