This week has seen some fantastic advancements in gaming. Here's our top 3 picks of the week. 1. Pokemon GO has finally been released in select countries to critical praise! In the mobile game you can become a real life Pokemon trainer. The app sees Pokemon tied to regions, meaning you will have to get up and explore to catch em all! The pokemon can be found in thousand of unique real world locations, but don't worry! The Dev team have promised you won't find any rare Pokemon inside a volcano or in the middle of a busy road. 2. Red Dead Redemption has been opened up for backward compatibility play. Red Dead is a fan fave and was one of the most requested games to be brought back along with early call of duty games and Skyrim. The game is available to download and some of the critically acclaimed expansions are free of charge. 3. The eagerly anticipated and often delayed No Man's Sky has finally and officially been completed by Hello Games. The game takes place inside an entire procedurally generated Universe, allowing you to explore literally trillions of planets and leave your own mark for every other player to explore alongside with you. If you discover a planet, you get to name it. The game will launch for PC and PS4 in August. We all hope the delays were worth it. We'll see you all next week!

Phil Spencer of Microsoft has confirmed that Microsoft games will be coming to Steam once again. This comes in partnership with the new Microsoft “ Play Anywhere” scheme which involves buying a game once and being able to play cross platform. The app stores on windows computers have proven to not be the most popular platforms for buying and playing games. Most gamers are often confused as to where to get games from, as the Microsoft app store isn’t a very intuitive place to find a game and just expect releases to appear on Steam, or perhaps Origin. Phil Spencer talked about this in detail; "I look at Steam today, it's on an incredible growth trajectory. It's a massive force in gaming; a positive force. I think it will be bigger a year from now than it is today. And five years later it will still be bigger again," Outlined Spencer. "I look at Valve as an important independent software vendor for us on Windows. They are a critical part of gaming's success on Windows. I don't think Valve's hurt by not having our first-party games in their store right now. They're doing incredibly well. We will ship games on Steam again." He discussed how the Microsoft stores haven’t been as successful as they would have hoped. However, they hope to work on the popularity of their store and don’t promise all games to be released on steam. He said “I think they're doing fine without Quantum Break in their store,”. You could expect the big games such as Halo and Gears to appear on Steam, as it would make sense from a business point of view to get their biggest games on the biggest platforms where they would gain the most popularity and exposure, and in turn, sales. Are you pleased about Microsoft games coming to Steam? What previous Microsoft Studios games would you like to see?

EA’s conference started with a bubbly presenter laying out the plans for the conference. But you’re here for the games. TITANFALL 2: The game presented its crystal clear graphics which aims to deliver a robust experience. The game has 6 unique Titan’s with depth and a deep progression system. One of the biggest shocks of the conference is the announcement of a Single Player mode, which the first installment was lacking. We were presented with a breath-taking array of visuals in a single player trailer which highlighted the relationship between Titan and Pilot. The game will be released on XboxOne, PS4 and PC. The game is set for release October 28th 2016. MADDEN 2017: Nothing much to say about this game. It has beautiful graphics as expected. Madden will feature balanced game play, new Franchise modes, and up to date commentary teams. The game aims to take competition to the next level. This game was presented with EA sponsored gaming events. There are three stages which allow most gamers to engage in pro tournaments from their homes. MASS EFFECT: ANDROMEDA: How far will we go? In the game you are part of an expedition helping humanity find a new home. You travel millions of miles into the Andromeda. This is a galaxy where you are the alien. They’re building on the amazing stories and game play, and now they’re allowing their imagination to run wild, with a new cast of memorable characters. The game runs on the new Frostbite engine. The concept art and models shown during the conference is among some of the most beautiful ever seen. The animations and face capture really seem to push gaming to its limits. They’ve created a Universe we will lose ourselves in. FE: A personal narrative about a relationship with nature. It’s a story about how the world is connected, but constantly under thread. You play as a young cub, with no knowledge of your life, where you came from, or who you are. There is a language of strange and beautiful music, each unique to a song sung by each creature and plant. Each song will open up new parts of the forest. Every step helps you discover who you are. The enemy is “the silence”. Grotesque creatures who want to destroy all life. The game sets the stage, but sets you out on your experience. Your discoveries are your own. The game is one of the most unique IP’s I have ever seen. This game represents the true magic of gaming. It has been created by a Swedish studio called Zoink who are supported by the EA Originals program.

The long awaited sequel to the highly acclaimed Civilization 5 has been revealed today! You can watch the reveal trailer here RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 21, 2016 Sid Meier’s Civilization VI is the next entry in the award-winning Civilization franchise, which has sold in nearly 33 million units worldwide, including more than 8 million units of Civilization V. Originally created by legendary game designer Sid Meier, Civilization is a turn-based strategy game in which you attempt to build an empire to stand the test of time. Become Ruler of the World by establishing and leading a civilization from the Stone Age to the Information Age. Wage war, conduct diplomacy, advance your culture, and go head-to-head with history’s greatest leaders as you attempt to build the greatest civilization the world has ever known. Civilization VI offers new ways to engage with your world: cities now physically expand across the map, active research in technology and culture unlocks new potential, and competing leaders will pursue their own agendas based on their historical traits as you race for one of five ways to achieve victory in the game. FEATURES EXPANSIVE EMPIRES: See the marvels of your empire spread across the map like never before. Each city spans multiple tiles so you can custom build your cities to take full advantage of the local terrain. ACTIVE RESEARCH: Unlock boosts that speed your civilization’s progress through history. To advance more quickly, use your units to actively explore, develop your environment, and discover new cultures. DYNAMIC DIPLOMACY: Interactions with other civilizations change over the course of the game, from primitive first interactions where conflict is a fact of life, to late game alliances and negotiations. COMBINED ARMS: Expanding on the “one unit per tile” design, support units can now be embedded with other units, like anti-tank support with infantry, or a warrior with settlers. Similar units can also be combined to form powerful “Corps” units. ENHANCED MULTIPLAYER: In addition to traditional multiplayer modes, cooperate and compete with your friends in a wide variety of situations all designed to be easily completed in a single session. A CIV FOR ALL PLAYERS: Civilization VI provides veteran players new ways to build and tune their civilization for the greatest chance of success. New tutorial systems introduce new players to the underlying concepts so they can easily get started.

Battlefield 1 has just been announced for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. The game takes place within a divergent timeline of WW1, involving automatic and bolt weapons, clavary combat, tank combat, air combat, and special combat which we all love and crave for! The reveal trailer was completely mind-blowing and shows how a game doesn't have to be futuristic to be good! You can watch the still love steam here; https://www.twitch.tv/battlefield Stay tuned for more news and highlights.

It has been reported that YouTube are working on a paid subscription service (Something similar to HBO) where customers can pay monthly to have cable TV channels streamed directly to them. This means our predictions of YouTube taking over normal household TV's might soon become a reality as Online streaming is much cheaper than regular cable. The project which will be undertaken by YouTube is rumored to start as early as 2017 (Next year!) YouTube have rumored partnerships with all the major media companies, such as everyone under the Comcast umbrella (NBC, Viacom, Fox, and CBS) but the contracts are yet to be finalized. YouTube already has a premium payment service known as YouTube Red which allows viewers to watch without advertisements, but this new feature will bring the most popular and current TV shows to your PC or Laptop seamlessly. Who else is excited?

As we theorised last week with the leak, it's official, INFINITE WARFARE IS THE NEXT CALL OF DUTY INSTALMENT. The trailer has JUST dropped and the game looks incredible. The trailer was smashed onto YouTube via the official Call of Duty page The day of release is the 4th of November. The game is being developed by one of our all time favourites, Infinity Ward, who created the original games as well as Ghosts. A lot of people are going to be divided about the shown Single Player gameplay, but we think the space battles and general mechanics look AWESOME! The graphics are also pretty sweet. CEO of Activision stated - "Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is a bold, new vision from the studio that created the original Call of Duty and Modern Warfare, and an adventure on an insanely epic scale that only Call of Duty could deliver. And Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered is one of the most beloved games of all-time, reborn for a new generation." This gives us a glaring hope for the next Call of Duty and we hope it can do what the previous CoD's missed.

Original veteran developers of one of the most beloved games of all time; DOOM, are reaching out for support. John Romero and Adrian Carmack are lookg for around $700,000 ( which converts to£480,000) on Kickstarter to make a game called BLACKROOM! The game is described as paying homage to the original Doom games, being "visceral, varied and violent". Romero and Carmack were two of the founders of iD, the developers behind the new and upcoming DOOM game. They had a hand in creating Wolfenstein, Quake and many other classic games we can all remember playing before graphics were realistic and 60 FPS was the norm. The Kickstarter outlines that the virtual setting of the game will take the player through many environments. This includes Victorian mansions, wild west towns, and also Pirate ships! Boost items in game allow you to "hack" into these environments for extra fun, which keeps in line with the "virtual" setting of the game. The game will also ship with tools to create your own maps and weapons on launch, adding an extra layer to the game. The game will be released in late 2018 for both Windows and Mac computers You can back them on Kickstarter here.

A PlayStation store leak has given validity to a leak over the past week on Reddit which showed the cover art of the new CoD game, titled; "Infinity warfare". Not only is this big news for CoD fans that our beloved Infinity Ward will be making the next game, but the game may also come with a HD remaster of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Modern Warfare was one of the most popular CoD games and is what launched the Franchise into every household in the world. The PlayStation store leak was the where the title reveal came from. November 4, 2016. Last night, the game’s name was displayed in the PS Store before being taken down. We're actually approaching the time of year when Activision announce the newest Call of Duty, so these leaks are more than likely true! How many of you would love to see Modern Warfare remastered?

We've all had the harrowing experience of locking our phones or quickly checking a Facebook message or notification to suddenly hear dramatic silence coming (or not) from our headphones. This is because we were listening to a YouTube video, which for iPhones does not currently support out of app use. However with a simple trick and a pair of headphones with a control pad (the little white volume up and down/play button) you can get the sound from the YouTube video open in the app to play. Simple exit the app or lock your phone and press the play button on your headphones. This causes the sound of the video to play through the earphones and you become free to listen to endless music without apps such as Soundcloud and Spotify which often charge money for the same lossless services. As a warning, the auto play feature does not operate, so once a video ends so does the sound and you will have to repeat the trick.But this is a cool hidden, or maybe accidental feature which may solve some of your musical consumptions desires.

With the ever expanding Universe of online games for gamers to sink their teeth into a trend has been on the rise ever since online gaming was popularised. The trend is split screening. Thanks to games such as rocket league we are seeing a steady return of the classic "pull up some chairs and have a few games with your mates" style of gaming. Rocket League is an indie game which involved playing fun and high octane games of football, with fast and brutal cars as your player. Despite actual footie games like FIFA being played by 2 players on one screen, the return of split-screen is a welcoming trend for lots of gamers who feel like a sense of community had been lost. Gears of War 4 will boast a fluid split screen system as well, much like the original games. More games are being released with split-screen features such as Plants and Zombies 2, a fan favourite and one which is taking a new shooter form as you and your friends can fight waves of bad guys together. Another first person shooter "Battleborn" is being shipped with the intention of being played split-screen with friends. Call of Duty also is once again trying to push retro game types into the mix as they are emphasising the ability to split-screen for future titles.

The reveal comes in tandem with Mark Zuckerberg who is helping Samsung push into the VR market as anyone who pre-order the brand new, and very shiny Samsung Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge phone will also receive a free headset for the device. The event which was held in Barcelona revealed the device to have a 13cm screen with the Edge having a 14cm screen. Both of the handhelds are completely waterproof, and this was showcased in during the event. A welcoming piece of technology if you ask me. The main attraction of the event was Facebook’s announcement of a partnership with Samsung to further push technology to its outer reaches. Facebook founder Zuckerberg said "Today, thanks to this partnership between Samsung and Facebook, this is now possible and that day is here and it wouldn't be possible to deliver this experience in this scale and at this price without Samsung's experience and excellence in hardware and systems." The phones supposedly have better app integration, as well as having an improved micro-SD port for a larger storage capacity. Samsung's mobile phone chief, Koh Diong Jin called the new hardware "challenging, collaborating and improving". However the S7 doesn’t stand out amongst other high-end smart phones, despite the waterproof feature. It will be interesting to see how it preforms on release.