Video Games

With only days left before Microsoft’s E3 press conference, the company has confirmed to Windows Central that Crackdown 3 has been delayed yet again, this time into February 2019.

After dropping off the radar for a little while, Sony have reminded everyone that that other post-apocalyptic survival title they’ve been working on is still on the go. Days Gone has dropped both a release date and a fresh look at the game, just days out from Sony’s E3 press briefing.

Game Bants is something new we’re trying here on The Iris, a pair of perspectives on the same topic, a conversation and a less formal review style. Our first crack at this style is a chat between games writer Leah Williams and games editor David Smith about the ancticipated MMO expansion, The Elder Scrolls Online:…

The most exciting time of year on the gaming industry calendar is here again. E3 2018 begins at the end of the week and that means the announcement dam is about to break. For Australians, this typically means staying up late or getting up very early for the show’s eagerly-anticipated press briefings. 2018 is no…

“Who’s downloading!?” is a common lament in any gaming household in Australia. The internet is already slow, download sizes are massive and the moment anyone starts downloading something, the speed drops out of the network and access across the whole house bottoms out. NBN chief executive Bill Morrow’s explanation for why NBN Co’s Fixed Wireless…

It’s been a rough first year for Destiny 2. Despite a strong launch, its first two expansion packs — Curse of Osiris and last month’s Warmind — mostly failed to impress the community. Bungie has some work to do if they want to restore player confidence and, if the trailer for the September expac, Forsaken,…

Vampyr feels like a game that I’ve been waiting nearly 15 years for. Somehow, despite the wild 2008 boom of vampire fiction that followed Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight franchise, video game vampires have often been given the short end of the stick. While there are certain shining examples, from the grim western Darkwatch: Curse of the…

The Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection is a wonderful little package, collecting twelve of the best Street Fighter titles in sleekly presented single game format. Twelve Street Fighter titles, you might say? But didn’t they just release Street Fighter V? Well, hold onto your hats folks because the 30th Anniversary Collection doesn’t just collect the…

I have a long history of dissatisfaction with desk chairs. I break them very easily, and its never because I mistreated them. I use them as a day-to-day work prop this is apparently too much to ask because within six-to-nine months, they’re sagging and bent in ways that suggest my 95kg frame is much heavier…

I have bloviated at length on this website about my upbringing as a Sega kid. While the SNES dominated the market, those of us who chose the Sega life knew we had a machine with true gems among its library. The arcade-centric counterpart to the SNES’ far broader appeal, the Mega Drive did its own…

Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition is, surprisingly, the third release of the game, having first appeared on the Wii U in 2014, and later on the Nintendo 3DS in 2016. This time, Hyrule Warriors comes in a complete, shiny package, featuring all DLC from the original game as well as brand new Breath of the Wild…

The classic game that started it all has returned, this time to the next generation of consoles. It’s hard to define just what makes the Dark Souls series so damn good, but upon playing the original 7 years after it’s 2011 release, I couldn’t think of a better way to return to one of the…

After Bethesda appeared to tease a new entry in the Fallout series yesterday, the internet flew into speculation mode. What was it? There’s no way it could be Fallout 5, it’s too soon for that. The general consensus was that Bethesda was going to announce a Switch port of Fallout 4 in the same manner…

Quantic Dream’s newest cinematic, choice-based adventure title Detroit: Become Human hit store shelves this week. Adored by our reviewer and reviled by others, the game was always going to be a polarising one. To capitalise on the hype surrounding the game and its story about humans treating androids as awfully as they treat each other,…

I’m going to assert something here in the intro par, something that I cannot prove but that I have suspected for a while. I think Blizzard is working on, at the very least, a Warcraft 3 remaster and I think Battle for Azeroth is the latest in a series of significant hints that the series’…

Detroit: Become Human is finally upon us. Quantic Dream have had players waiting for over four years for their follow-up to the Beyond: Two Souls. Detroit is, in many ways, the end point of Quantic’s “Kara” tech demo from 2012. It’s disarming, strange, interesting and delves deep into the uncanny valley.

Hardware and peripheral maker Razer have made a name for themselves in the gaming PC market in the last decade, giving competitors like Alienware a run for money with high-end hardware and sleek exterior design. Another year means a product refresh and the 2018 Razer Blade is here. At 15.6″ and 0.66″, it’s Razer’s thinnest…

It doesn’t take long for a laptop, even one in the gaming tier, to start feeling long in the tooth. On the PC, there’s no upper limit on the hardware required for optimal gaming performance, and this is often to the laptop’s detriment. Razer’s Core series has been trying to find a workaround for that…

There are certain games that fall into a category I like to call “My Dad Would Love This.” Games in this category typically revolve around war or military history, maintain some degree of simulation and are full to bursting with digital recreations of real world military hardware. Now, after eight years of ongoing development, World…

If you’re a researcher, it must be fun when PR comes to you with a dopey pitch. I’m sure the Centre for Disease Management and Public Safety at Melbourne University had a great time with Xbox ANZ’s pitch for a study to promote State of Decay 2. Its focus: “How would cities in Australia and New…

Shadow of War‘s latest expansion, The Desolation of Mordor cuts right to the chase. “Baranor is mortal and carries no Ring of Power. If he does, his story is over. Be careful.” Tackling Shadow of War without Talion’s impressive array of Celebrimbor-backed super powers is an interesting spin on the game’s existing format, pivoting into…

Destiny 2‘s first expansion, Curse of Osiris, wasn’t a complete disaster but it sure as hell wasn’t a good move either. Already losing players to battle royale juggernauts of PUBG and Fortnite, Osiris cost the game a lot of momentum after a strong launch. A good chunk of content and activities were placed behind Osiris’ paywall and…

There is an easy way to tell if State of Decay 2 is going to be your thing or not. How do you react when you realise a game feels like bloody hard work? Do you dig in or do you check out? If you tend to dig in, then chances are you’ll find loads…

After being delayed earlier in the year, The Crew 2‘s release date now creeps ever closer which means its time to start those good, good server stress tests. That means a chance to play a little bit of the game early starting on May 31 when The Crew 2‘s closed beta officially opens. Signups for…

A couple of days ago there was a rumour go around that Microsoft was planning to announce a controller for players with disabilities and limited mobility. Conventional controllers have long been a problem for players with the motor faculties required to deal with all those buttons. For them, and happily, the wait for a first-party…

Let me tell you a story of a man destined for greatness. A barbarian, brutally carving his way through a desolate and dangerous land, where only the strongest will survive. These were the days of high adventure! However, I’m not sure where Conan Exiles fits into this mould. Bringing many elements to the table, it’s…

JBL’s BAR line of soundbars has been due for a refresh for a little while now, and they’ve known it. Good news, the new wave arrives in Australia soon. Here’s what you can expect to see and hear when they hit store shelves.

Last week, Walmart Canada inadvertently spilled the beans on what appeared to be a number of high profile (and mostly still unconfirmed) E3 announcements. Among them was Rage 2, a sequel to id Software’s oddball post-apocalyptic shooter from 2010. Rather than go dark until E3, Bethesda spent a few days teasing an announcement and then…

Esports fans: Gfinity Esports Australia are hosting the FIFA 18 Global Series Qualifier tonight and you’re not gonna want to miss it. Four Aussie players are in the mix, all fighting to preserve their spot on the road the 2018 FIFA eWorld Cup.

We love it when esoteric Australiana finds its way into our entertainment. Take World of Tanks for example. After unleashing the AC1 Cruiser MK1 Sentinel into the game back in 2016, Wargaming now turns to another Australian tank — the Centurion Mk. V, the shuddering workhorse deployed in the Vietnam War. And you can play…