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Every Friday
GamesRadar+
Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.
Every Thursday
GTA 6 O'clock
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
Every Friday
Knowledge
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Every Thursday
The Setup
Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
Every Wednesday
Switch 2 Spotlight
Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.
Every Saturday
The Watchlist
Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.
Once a month
SFX
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
Peripherals
Why developers thought they would rock:
Sometimes a normal controller just won’t cut it. There’s no better way to be immersed in a game than specifically designed plastic fun gear. Guitar Hero, DDR, and hell, even Duck Hunt proved that if you have a replica of some instrument to interact with, then the gap between gamer and joy is easily bridged.
Why they suck:
It’s hard to look cool when your apartment/dorm/bedroom is filled with Fisher-Price game accessories. To non-gamers, it looks like you collect toy replicas based on fantasies you had when you were six; like being a rock god or driving a car. It would be sad if it weren’t so damn accurate today - just replace make-believe with Rock Band.
In fact, we wonder why your tragic mess replicates mundane activities. For every Gibson guitar or GunCon, there’s a DDR dance mat, steering wheel or fishing controller set to embarrass your parents. We dare you to get laid with even a regular controller protruding from your TV, let alone those USB conga drums lying in day-old Panda Express boxes.
If you’re not ten years-old or at least a young parent, do yourself a favor and hide that shit in the closet.
Bullet time
Why developers thought it would rock:
You know the drill - fill a meter, slow down time and leap through the air annihilating as many baddies as possible before the meter expires. When Max Payne did it in 2001, it was fresh, exciting and made you feel like a badass against crazy-impossible odds.
Why it sucks:
You can’t play a game nowadays without slowing time to pull off some outlandish feat of agility, strength or steady aim. What was once an exciting new feature has become the new double-jump - a gameplay mechanic that developers rely on like a crutch. Rather than designing blood-pumping fair fights, games are now structured to highlight how aggressive enemies are. There’s no possible way you’re gonna ice thirty armed superguards with dual Uzis, unless you cheat your way through like some sort of temporal magician.
Moreover time-slowing seems like the only way to make old franchises seem relevant and hip (WWE SmackDown!, Spyro the Dragon, Tony Hawk, Burnout) or new titles feel distressingly old and outdated riding the extreme wave (TimeShift, Stranglehold, Resistance: Fall of Man). Remember, slow-motion shit is still shit.
