Every time a new game comes out, everyone waits for the release dates to see who will be getting what first and who will need to wait. While it’s becoming more the norm nowadays to have a release for all the main platforms on the same day, not everyone will do this. GTA V fans with a good PC had to wait quite a while for a PC release for example.

Fortunately while it seemed that MGS5: The Phantom Pain would be one of those games PC owners would need to wait for, but now a post on the Steam Community page lets us know that this will not be the case. The release date has now been moved up two weeks so that it will release at the same time as console versions! Hurrah!

Konami say that the game will come with graphical options that are much improved from Ground Zeroes, to allow control of depth of field and other elements of the display. While Windows 10 is a concern, they’re optimistic that it won’t cripple the game or cause many problems that can’t be quickly fixed.

Check out the full post for more details.

So, it’s been a while since Mojang released the snapshots that precede a full new patch release for the game, but the time has finally come again.

1.9 is called the Combat Update and already we know that a lot of things that will be added to or overhauled this time round have to do with the combat and PvP elements of the game. This snapshot though introduces some very early versions of the things that mostly don’t though.

The two main features of this snapshot are the dual-wielding/dominant left hand feature that many have wanted to see added to the game for some time and the new levitation effect that you get from potions and the new Shulker mob.

Dual-wielding is not yet finished, but already we can tell you that it’s not possible to wield two swords at once. Sorry. It is possible to use a bow though while holding something like a torch in your offhand though, although this could be patched out before 1.9 releases properly. Dual-wielding will mean that mining will also be a bit easier, as you can now use a pick and hold torches to place at the same time. There’s also a few bugs and quirks to be worked out with the dominant left hand feature too, although the b and c versions have at least nixed a few already such as certain actions reverting you back to default righty.

The levitation effect too is still a bit unfinished, but at least we can tell that certain levels of effect applied will make a difference. More levitation effect means a faster rise into the air, while a little effect can actually make it seem like you’re on a low-gravity planet when you descend back down to blocky earth. Of course, if you’ve played on any Minecraft server in the last few years, you’ll know that the game can and often will kick you for ‘cheating’ if it thinks you’re using a cheat to fly in Survival. That used to happen with the levitation too until it was patched out in the b version of the snapshot.

As always, if you want to play with this snapshot remember to backup your worlds just in case. Especially with this one, Mojang admit themselves in their blog that this is a very early Alpha stage snapshot and had a lot of potential to mess things up.

Mojang Blog “Minecraft snapshot 15w31c”: [x]

So Hearthstone’s next big expansion is due to be released sometime this month, and already the hype is growing. Right now in game you can pre-purchase 50 packs of the new card set for a discounted rate of $49.99 / £34.99 / 44,99 Euros.

Also there have been confirmed to be around 130 new cards coming to the game, and a number are being slowly revealed to the public as the days go by many with a bunch of interesting new abilities and effects.

Here are the newer ones that have been revealed since the time I wrote the last article:

Neutral:

Warrior

Rogue

Priest

Druid

Mage

Warlock

In fact, Wrathguard was revealed on a stream while I was in the middle of writing this article. That’s how often we seem to be getting new cards revealed to us right now.

Stay tuned for some more next week. Unless The Grand Tournament is out by then, in which case prepare for a FLOOD of new cards.

Jurassic World is the sequel that no one really saw coming. The last Jurassic Park movie was many years ago, but now is the time when a lot of people who watched the original Jurassic Park film as well as its other sequels have grown up and nostalgia is a big seller right now. So, how does Jurassic World hold up?

The story follows a pair of brothers as they are flown over to the titular Jurassic World park, a big tourist attraction and theme park a bit like a real-life wildlife sanctuary with the dinosaurs on display to the public under varying layers of protection either for the crowds or the sake of the dinosaurs. They have been invited there by their aunt who is high up in the management chain for the park, but is too wrapped up in her work to spend time with the boys; instead placing them in the care of her assistant and giving them special level of access to rides and attractions. The attraction is set on the same island as the original Jurassic Park and from dialogue it seems that some of the same scientists are working on creation of the dinosaurs in the park, still augmented with DNA strands from other animals to allow them to live again.

In the efforts to ramp up attendance to Jurassic World again new species have to be created and introduced as attractions every few years, and this time they have ‘created’ a species of dinosaur – the Indominus Rex. Made with the DNA of several dinosaur species, it was made to be more thrilling and dangerous then any dinosaur before as well as more intelligent. Guess what happens to kick off the movie conflict?

As far as the series goes, this one is a little different. The original Jurassic Park had maybe only a few people running around from the dinosaurs, while this one has had the attraction open for years already and so in a way the stakes are much higher. There’s hundreds, maybe thousands of people in this park and the way that the staff attempt to deal with the escalation of events as they happen is interesting. They have to deal with the situation without losing too much face, because there is a lot invested into the park as an attraction and that’s realistic, although you might be like me thinking that the better option would have been to get people off the island quicker and save face publicly by showing that public safety was a high concern. But maybe that’s just me.

The four main actors in this story are all good, although Chris Pratt in his role steals the movie for me. His character has such an in-depth relationship with the four raptors in the movie, having reared and trained them from hatching and acts as their pack’s alpha while still acknowledging that although they are made to be a tourist attraction they are living things. In fact, his character comes off as the wisest one in the entire movie, warning about what will happen when something as fierce as the I. Rex manages to get loose having been constrained alone for all of its unnatural life. Strangely, the raptors too are high on my list of things I liked about this movie, as they have a lot of personality for CGI animated creatures while still being somewhat believably dinosaur. Got to think that maybe Blue was tainted a bit by whatever they used to make the I. Rex more intelligent, as she seems a little more aware than the other three.

However, while the movie was certainly enjoyable a watch I felt there was a little something missing that would have given it the wow factor for me. I thought about it and I came to the conclusion that what was missing for me was that the danger the park was in never seemed entirely real after the first few big incidents in the movie. We see people attacked all through it up until the last parts of the film set in Jurassic World but the dangerous atmosphere seemed to peak and settle and any deaths weren’t given enough time for them to be as meaningful to me. It was a long while since I last watched Jurassic Park, but I remember that part of the draw from the first movie was that it seemed anyone of our characters could die in any way at any time. Jurassic World just didn’t seem to have that same factor in it, although that could be entirely down to the difference in my own age since the first viewing of each film.

Jurassic World is a very good movie, certainly an awful lot better than you’d expect given the reputation of many-years-after sequels to beloved films that we have nostalgia for. The roles are played well and are believable, there are a few small twists that will take you by surprise, and I would certainly watch it again with the family. It just lets down a little bit in the ‘constant high-stakes danger’ department for me.

7.5/10

Don’t Starve was a good game, made better by the regular updates that added new content and the addition of multiplayer Don’t Starve Together that sees you choosing whether to survive together with your friend or screw them over. After all, you don’t have to outrun the Tallbird – only your friend running with you.

Now Klei have announced that they’re teaming up with Capybara Games, makers of Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery, to bring a new expansion to the game that’ll take Wilson and the other playable characters out over the water: Don’t Starve Shipwrecked.

Details are still a bit thin on the ground, but we do known that it’ll include new seasonal effects, biomes and creatures for you to learn how to survive and co-exist with. Keep your eyes peeled for more news as it’s revealed.