Gaming in Ireland. Reviews, Walkthroughs, News

Social media giant X, formerly known as Twitter, has defended its response to recent rioting in Dublin that was in part fuelled by far-right users of the platform. X described as "inaccurate" claims by Ireland's justice minister Helen McEntee that it did not engage with Irish police during the November 23 unrest.

Starting from tomorrow through January 5, 2024, we’re celebrating the holiday season with a month full of activities for our PlayStation community. As part of the PlayStation Plus Season of Play, PlayStation Plus members can redeem free avatars for PS5 and PS4 consoles, join eSports tournaments, earn points on PlayStation Stars, save on PlayStation Gear merchandise, and enter a competition for your chance to win amazing prizes. Activities for those who are not PlayStation Plus members are available as well.

The UK is boosting its ability to keep an eye on space with the new Nyx Alpha telescope. The UK Ministry of Defence recently announced a deal with a small London-based company to set up a ground-based telescope in Cyprus. This project, called Nyx Alpha telescope will be run by SpaceFlux, a British space technology company, and it will help the UK Space Command and the UK Space Agency monitor the increasing number of satellites and debris in space more accurately.

Pre-orders for the Baldur's Gate 3 Deluxe Edition are already being scalped on eBay, reselling for upwards of $299.99. However, fans are being told not to buy from resellers, as Larian reminds everyone that the Deluxe Edition isn't a limited edition.

Xbox Series sales in Europe have dropped considerably compared to last year, while PS5 sales experienced a major boost year-on-year.

Apple's suite of products has several health and fitness features that can save your life. There have been numerous instances of the Apple Watch saving the life of its wearer by alerting them of health abnormalities. But it isn't just the Apple Watch that can become a rescuer in dire circumstances. Perhaps the most crucial of all the features on the iPhone is the Emergency SOS via satellite. Introduced with the iPhone 14 last year, the latest iPhone 15 also comes equipped with this life-saving feature. Know all about the Emergency SOS via satellite feature on the iPhone 15, and how it works.

Resellers on eBay are already listing PlayStation Portals for absurd amounts of money, with one scalper trying to get rid of theirs for $440. Even the listings that are more reasonable than this still have price tags in the $300 to $400 region, a huge increase from the original $199.99 retail price.

In June, YouTube started experimenting with a way to counter ad blockers. This experiment was turned into a global crackdown recently which involved blocking those who use ad-blockers on the video streaming service. Consequently, those who used adblockers faced a ‘It looks like you may be using an ad blocker' message. While this was aimed at stopping the use of adblockers while encouraging users to adopt YouTube Premium, the platform could face repercussions as a complaint has been filed against it for alleged unlawful surveillance.

Diwali is almost here, and while India is all set to enter the festive weekend, the artificial intelligence space is ever so buzzing. In the first incident, Maharashtra Congress asked the state government to intervene and set up a committee to create a legal, regulatory framework to deal with the issue of deepfakes. In another incident, Google is currently in talks to invest capital worth hundreds of millions of dollars into the popular character-based AI chatbot platform Character.AI. This and more in today's AI roundup. Let us take a closer look.

 Apple Inc. is set to challenge the European Union's fresh crackdown on Big Tech's dominance in the first of what is expected to be several appeals against the Digital Markets Act.

Paramount Plus is now available on both Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One consoles in several new markets, including the UK and Ireland.

 Apple Inc. risks having to pay a €13 billion ($14 billion) tax bill to Ireland after an adviser to the European Union's top court said the iPhone maker's victory in an earlier challenge should be thrown out.

From F.W. Murnau’s silent classic Nosferatu to today, the cinematic bloodsucker has been a horror mainstay for over a century. Timelessly versatile in themes, style, and scares, vampire cinema has given film some of its most iconic villains, lushest productions, and entertaining thrills: Universal’s caped count, Blade’s badass daywalker, Twilight’s supernatural romance, and From Dusk Till Dawn’s gonzo genre blending, among countless more. But for every classic and popular vampire tale, there are myriad more worthy of interest that go unknown.

The long-rumoured but unannounced Silent Hill: The Short Message has had its plot details leaked by the Australian government's rating body.

The European data regulator has agreed to extend a ban imposed by non-EU member Norway on "behavioural advertising" on Facebook and Instagram to cover all 30 countries in the European Union and the European Economic Area, it said on Wednesday.

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar the Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology for India has today signed a world-first agreement at the historic British landmark, Bletchley Park. The agreement establishes a shared understanding of the opportunities and risks posed by frontier Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the need for governments to work together to meet the most significant challenges.

As long as there is Morrowind, there will be mods for it. However, Tamriel Rebuilt is something else; the combination of fan commitment, and now the project has just released another expansion.

Embark Studios, the developer behind new multiplayer FPS The Finals, has responded to the backlash following news that it uses AI for the game’s voices.

After years of collaboration between Five Nights at Freddy's creator Scott Cawthorn and multiple filmmakers—first with Warner Bros, then Blumhouse—the point-and-click horror series has finally become a movie. But possibly not a great one.

Dark Horse Comics is launching a new line of all-ages Star Wars original graphic novels called Hyperspace Stories, which contain standalone tales of some of the best-loved and most well known characters in the Star Wars Galaxy.

Regions play a big part of defining the series, but the games don't always do a perfect job of rendering their settings in a way that makes sense. Earlier titles all featured regions based on areas of Japan, while later entries have taken on a number of other cultural inspirations. Although the prevailing influence of one real-world environment can always be felt in a region, certain elements can feel anatopic in a way that ultimately doesn't make complete sense.

Meta and Google have pulled out of the Web Summit, one of the tech sector's biggest annual events, after the organizer criticized Israel's actions following the Hamas attacks, the companies said on Friday.

By Nathan Edwards, a senior reviews editor who's been testing tech since 2007. Previously at Wirecutter and MaximumPC. Current fixations: keyboards, DIY tech, and the smart home.

If you’re looking forward to Lords of the Fallen, you should definitely give a shot at this new giveaway. CI Games, publishers of Lords of the Fallen, just announced an Alienware giveaway in partnership with Lords of the Fallen. This Souls-like dark fantasy action RPG releases on October 13, but before purchasing it yourself, you could earn it for free, alongside an Alienware laptop!

Sony has announced that PS5 cloud streaming for PlayStation Plus Premium goes live on October 17th in Japan, October 23rd in Europe and October 30th in North America. There will be several titles from the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog to stream, with “hundreds” of PS5 titles to support the same later.

Two months after PlayStation Plus Premium subscribers began receiving invites to a PlayStation 5 cloud streaming beta, Sony has announced the feature will be getting its full launch on on 23rd October in Europe and 30th October in the US.

PlayStation 5 cloud streaming for PlayStation Plus Premium subscribers will launch on October 17 in Japan, October 23 in Europe, and October 30 in North America, allowing users to play PlayStation 5 games without having to download them, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced.

Ravensburger has announced it’ll be rolling out Disney Lorcana to ten more regions later this year, ahead a third set confirmed for early 2024.

In a interview with Total Film, director Ridley Scott shared the reason why he chose Oscar nominee for the leading role in the upcoming action epic. Scott revealed that he became a fan of Mescal’s talent after watching him in BBC’s limited drama Normal People, which served as the Irish actor’s breakout project.

It appears that Virtuos Studios has closed down Calypte, a San Francisco-based subsidiary of the worldwide development services provider that had only been in business since September 2022.

Right now in the world, unions are either rising up or striking to get better deals, wages, and lives for their members, and that’s a good thing despite the industries they’re “hurting.” Unions have long been around to protect the “working man” and to ensure they are safe and well-fed, and if that means striking, then so be it. One of the few industries that doesn’t have an overall union is the video game industry. That’s partially understandable due to game developers and companies’ “spread out” nature. But the company behind Dragon Age Dreadwolf made a pretty clear message to those within a union by firing a bunch of them!

Everyone loves a superhero. And One Punch Man is a superhero like no other, surpassing more than 30 million copies of the Japanese manga and becoming a cultural hit all over the world.

Last year, all 16 of the QA devs at Keywords Studios Edmonton held a unanimous and historic vote to become the first games industry union in Canada. Unfortunately, just over one year later, they were laid off.

All of Keywords Studios’ unionized QA workers were laid off from the studio in late September after Dragon Age: Dreadwolf developer BioWare declined to continue its contract in August.

John Carney plays the hits. Ever since his 2007 breakout indie Once, which catapulted beloved singer-songwriters Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová to massive fame, Carney has made musical dramas his calling card. The Irish writer-director delights in films about people connecting with each other over music, falling in love with song as they learn to love each other and themselves.

Square Enix has clarified the correct pronunciation of Final Fantasy 7 character Cait Sith.

If you've played any of the Final Fantasy 7 games, you'll more than likely be aware of the Cait Sith debate. Due to the way the name is spelt and how the original Final Fantasy 7 featured no voice acting, arguments have raged for quite a while over how Cait Sith's name is pronounced. Most of us have it in our heads that the name is pronounced "Kate Sith", but there has always been a section of fans convinced it should be pronounced "Ket Shee" due to the character's background.

Intel is set to begin high-volume manufacturing of its Intel 4 node with bleeding edge extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) in Ireland from Friday the 29th of September. It will host a ceremony at its Fab 34 facility near Leixlip, Ireland at 12:45pm Irish Standard Time. Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger will be in attendance.

We're nearly into The Spooky Month, otherwise known as October, otherwise known as the month with all the games. There's a lot of stuff on the horizon to be excited about, but what are we playing in the meantime? Time to find out.

SAG-AFTRA union members have voted yes to authorize a video game strike. It did so with a 98.72% vote in favor of authorizing a strike on the Interactive Media Agreement that covers its members' work in the games industry. In total, 34,687 members cast ballots, which represents 27.47% of eligible voters, SAG-AFTRA writes in a press release. 

SAG-AFTRA members have approved a strike authorization vote to enable the union to strike against game companies if deemed necessary.

Members of the major SAG-AFTRA acting union have overwhelmingly voted in favour of authorising a potential video game strike.

SAG-AFTRA members have voted in favour of the union authorising a strike for video game actors and performers.

Members of SAG-AFTRA, the labour union for American actors, have voted overwhelmingly in favour of potential video game strike action.

We're thrilled to announce the return of GamesBeat Next, hosted in San Francisco this October, where we will explore the theme of «Playing the Edge.» Apply to speak here and learn more about sponsorship opportunities here. At the event, we will also announce 25 top game startups as the 2024 Game Changers. Apply or nominate today!

I remember Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary special well. Mostly, I remember how many bits with Paul McGann, Sylvester McCoy, Colin Baker, Peter Davison, and the rest of the returning Doctor actors just didn’t land for me. I hopped on with Christopher Eccleston! I didn’t know these Doctors! They were just some guys the show expected me to care about!

If you're looking to start a new manager Career Mode in EA Sports FC 24 and don't know where to start — who can blame you?

Starfield was comfortably No.1 across Europe during its launch week, GSD data shows.

Following the conclusion of ‘s first and likely only season on August 29, 2023, viewers are anxious to know whether or not there will be a second season for the show and if they will ever see more of Timothy Olyphant’s U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens.

Irish regulators on Friday handed out a 345-million-euro ($369-million) fine to TikTok over data breaches, part of a battle between the European Union and big tech firms on issues from tax avoidance and hate speech to data privacy and monopolistic practices.

After a couple of days of furious game developer reactions, game engine company Unity have backtracked a teensy bit on their plan to charge developers who meet certain revenue and copies-sold thresholds a "runtime fee" for every installation of their game.

Asteroids that pass Earth at close proximity present a potential threat of collision with Earth. In fact, there have been several close calls with asteroids recently. In February, a 2 feet wide rock broke into pieces about 33 kilometers above the Earth's surface. On July 6, a meteor crashed, bounced off a roof, and hit a woman in the chest who was sipping coffee on her terrace in the village of Alsace in Eastern France. Now, another meteor and its impact crater was reportedly spotted by a dog walker on Portmarnock Beach in Ireland.

Even when you’re dealing with some of the best developers and publishers in the gaming space, they’re not immune to having things go wrong. After all, even when making a “simple” video game, they can’t test for everything, and they can’t plan for certain reactions from fans based on what they see and experience. When it comes to Bethesda, they’re known for creating sprawling landscapes for gamers to travel across, quests that can pop up from nowhere, and very tactical combat. However, as its newest game, Starfield, reinforces, they seem to have a problem with getting certain accents to sound accurate.

Yesterday (Tuesday, September 12), it was announced that the game engine Unity will soon begin charging developers a monthly fee based on the number of installs their games have, in a move that has left many indie studios upset and frustrated.

Longtime fans of Bethesda's work will know that the developer has a strange weak spot when it comes to Irish accents. Fallout 3 had Colin Moriarty, a shady tavern owner whose accent was about as cartoonishly Irish as you could possibly get. Fallout 4 had Cait, a rough and rowdy cage fighter whose accent was extremely controversial at the time, with some going so far as to say that it completely ruined her character.

Starfield players are criticizing the game's questionable Irish accents.

Starfield players raising their eyebrows at the game's questionable Irish accents.

Microsoft is set to launch its abusive-voice reporting feature for Xbox consoles. Announced in July, it lets gamers submit inappropriate remarks heard while playing multiplayer titles. The system captures a 60-second clip saved to the console; you then have 24 hours to complete the report. The feature arrives this week in the September update for Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One. However, it’s initially limited to the “select English-language markets” of the US, UK, Canada, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

Microsoft has detailed Xbox’s September system update, which is rolling out this week.

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

Starfield may not be fully launching until tomorrow (September 6), but that hasn't stopped one particular speedrunner from completing the game's main story in an impressively short amount of time. 

SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents a number of voice actors and performers plying their trade in the game industry, has called for strike action.

Get ready for the upcoming Apple event on September 12. Themed 'Wonderlust,' the spotlight will shine on the much-anticipated iPhone 15 series during the event. Apple will be launching 4 models, and the iPhone 15 Pro Max is set to steal the show. Unlike last year's iPhone 14 Pro Max model, the iPhone 15 Pro Max promises exclusive Apple-first features that will make it the top choice for iPhone fans.

It's been almost a year since Apple introduced the iPhone 14, which brought a special feature called "Emergency SOS via Satellite." This nifty feature lets people call for help in places without regular cell phone signals. Now, thanks to a partnership between Globalstar, Apple's satellite provider, and Elon Musk's SpaceX, this emergency service might soon cover more areas.

SAG-AFTRA, the union for US actors, is moving towards a potential strike against video game publishers, it’s announced.

Whether you're a fan of amassing giant hordes of goblins, arranging your battle lines of World War 2 tanks just so, or exploring the far reaches of space, there's a strategy game for you. And for the next week, a bunch of them are on sale during the Steam Strategy Fest, which ends on September 4. 

Intel has expressed confidence in its "Intel 4" process node which will be utilized in the upcoming Meteor Lake CPUs due for launch in September.

NVIDIA has teamed up with Remedy Entertainment to give away a unique and rare Alan Wake II-inspired GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card.

The infinite darkness of space is a canvas upon which humans frequently paint our fears. Aliens, monsters, gods all occupy space “up there” as we yearn to figure out our own sense of place “down here.” Fort Solis, a third-person linear narrative thriller, tries to tap into the tension that space is meant to evoke.

11.6 million console and PC games were sold in July across Europe, up 34% over the same period in 2022.

Nintendo has removed a loophole used to buy cheaper games on the eShop, restricting users' ability to change their location. This officially stops many Switch owners from buying their games on the Argentinian eShop, which after currency conversion, often worked out significantly cheaper.

Jennifer Lawrence's R-rated comedy “No Hard Feelings” and the more family friendly animated movie “The Monkey King” from director Stephen Chow are among the new television, movies, music and games headed to a device near you

A Baldur's Gate 3developer has revealed that one of the game's prominent NPCs is actually based on her own grandmother. This article contains some spoilers for Act one of Baldur's Gate 3.

Actor has shared a few details on his failed Superman audition.

You're either a subtitles person or you're not. But increasingly, people are. Preply followed up(Opens in a new window) on its subtitle-use survey of Americans from 2022(Opens in a new window) and found a 5% rise, to 58%, in how many people use captioning more than they used to.

Presented by Modulate

Today was a big day for businesses that are either working heavily with artificial intelligence or are looking to get into this space. Walt Disney has created a new task force that will study AI and find out all the different ways it can be used in its businesses in the entertainment industry. In other news. Spotify is finally expanding its experimental feature of an AI DJ to 50 different countries, after keeping it in limited access for almost three months. This and more in today's AI roundup. Let us take a closer look.

Every year at Gen Con, fans choose the best tabletop RPGs and other products in show. There are several categories, with Ennie Award winners being picked based on excellence in art direction, design mechanics, writing, and more.

Free League Publishing won big in this year’s Ennie Awards, Gen Con’s biggest awards program. The Swedish publisher pulled in Gold awards for three of its marquee tabletop role-playing game lines, including Vaesen, Blade Runner, and Ruins of Symbaroum. Meanwhile the Ennies also showered praise on journalist Linda Codega for their work in covering Dungeons & Dragons’s OGL fiasco in January. The Gold award for best game went to Fabula Ultima — Core Rulebook.

Social media giant Meta on Tuesday said it intends to ask EU-based users to give their consent before allowing targeted advertising on its networks including Facebook, bowing to pressure from European regulators.