Author: David Smith

David Smith is the former games and technology editor at The AU Review. He has previously written for PC World Australia. You can find him on Twitter at @RhunWords.

Video Games Review: StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void (PC, 2015)

When you think of video game genres that have their home on the PC, there’s only a few that spring readily to mind. In the 90’s and early 2000’s, real time strategy ruled the PC platform but in recent years it has all but died out, killed off by the very monster it created, the…

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Video Games Interview: Blizzard’s Kristopher Howl talks StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void

In the days prior to BlizzCon 2015, we got to the chance to chat briefly with Kristopher Howl, senior level designer on Blizzard’s StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void about the game’s campaign, new units and the new modes that will make it easier than ever for new players to jump into the game’s notoriously competitive multiplayer.

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Nintendo Direct returns! Cloud Strife comes to Smash Bros, Female Link and Zelda U news!

Nintendo took a break from their regular Nintendo Direct announcement livestreams following the death of company president Satoru Iwata earlier this year. The broadcasts have returned with Nintendo of America President/loveable dork Reggie Fils-Aime at the helm, and man did they have some cool stuff to talk about.

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Video Games Review: Call of Duty: Black Ops III (PS4, 2015)

In many ways, Call of Duty: Black Ops III has to deal with the same design problems that Advanced Warfare, and even Ghosts, had to deal with. What can you do to keep a franchise that ruled the roost in one hardware generation fresh and interesting while still providing new ideas and features that move…

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Games Review: Screencheat (PC, 2014)

For people who were lucky enough to own an N64 back in the day, Screencheat is a true nostalgia bomb. Pulling inspiration from some true classics, it’s everything you forgot you loved about games of that era, with truly original point of difference. It’s also some of the most pure multiplayer fun I’ve had in…

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The New Xbox One Experience arrives tomorrow

Love it or hate it, your current Xbox One user interface is going away tomorrow. It’s being replaced with the Windows 10-inspired New Xbox One Experience, notable for the introduction of Xbox 360 backwards compatibility.

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Video Games Review: Rise of the Tomb Raider (Xbox One, 2015)

Crystal Dynamics breathed new life into the aging Tomb Raider series with their acclaimed 2013 self-titled reboot. Its sequel, Rise of the Tomb Raider, sees a hardier, more prepared Lara Croft venturing into Siberia to find an artefact said to hold the key to immortality. But does Rise of the Tomb Raider, like it’s heroine,…

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Video Games Review: Fallout 4 (PS4, Xbox One, 2015)

Friends and adventurers, the promised time is at hand. Vault 111 is opening and the Commonwealth awaits. War. War never changes.

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Video Games Review: Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (Xbox One, 2015)

With many fans of the series still wary after last year’s disastrous Assassin’s Creed Unity, Ubisoft are aware that they need to stick the landing with Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. The good news is that Syndicate, though it has problems of its own, is never weighed down by them and constitutes a welcome return to form.

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Video Games Review: Need for Speed (PS4, 2015)

The Need for Speed franchise has been a lot of things to a lot of different audiences over the years. But with such a large back catalogue comes bloat and mis-steps as the well of new ideas goes dry. With the back-to-basics reboot Need for Speed, the series is given the chance to head in some…

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Games Review: Trials Fusion (Xbox One, 2014)

A few years ago when I played Far Cry 3 (co-incidentally, another Ubisoft title), Vaas, the game’s villain posed me a question: “Did I ever tell you what the definition of insanity is? It’s doing the same thing over and over again and expecting shit to change.” That’s kind of what it feels like to…

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Blizzard’s Overwatch now coming to PS4 and Xbox One, releases “Spring 2016”

In huge news for Blizzard fans, the developer’s team-shooter Overwatch will come to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in tandem with its release on PC.

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BlizzCon 2015: Overwatch gets final character trailers, will not be free-to-play

Blizzard have revealed two new retail editions for their upcoming shooter Overwatch during the game’s panel at the BlizzCon fan convention. They also dropped a trailer that reveals the game’s final three playable characters.

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BlizzCon 2015: World of Warcraft: Legion arrives mid-2016

The sixth expansion for Blizzard’s enduring MMORPG World of Warcraft, called Legion, will arrive “summer 2016”. The announcement came during the BlizzCon 2015 opening ceremonies today.

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BlizzCon 2015: Heroes of the Storm gets new heroes, Arena mode

Blizzard have revealed a number of new goodies for their free-to-play MOBA/brawler Heroes of the Storm, including new Heroes and a brand new Arena mode.

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BlizzCon 2015: New Hearthstone expansion, League of Explorers, drops next week

Blizzard have announced the newest adventure expansion for for their free-to-play online CCG Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. Called League of Explorers, it’s a single-player campaign that will send players into “ancient temples fulled with relics, treasures and traps.”

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PAX AUS 2015: Our highlights and lowlights from this year’s convention

This year’s PAX AUS convention felt like it was trading on the lessons learned from its two previous events. The problems found at the 2013 and 2014 shows were fewer, while a handful of new ones sprang up to take its place. To that end, we’ve put together a short list of what we thought…

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Video Games Review: Just Dance 2016 (Xbox One, 2015)

If you’ve played one Just Dance title, you’ve kind of played them all. That’s the vibe I got from Just Dance 2016, despite its many attempts to keep the formula fresh with new modes and a suite of new songs. For the faithful, that may be enough. For everyone else, it may be a different…

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Gearbox’s Battleborn has been delayed into May 2016

Gearbox’s forthcoming MOBA-inspired shooter Battleborn will miss it’s February 9 release date, slipping to May 3, according to publisher 2K Games.

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BlizzCon 2015 is this weekend! Here’s what’s on and where you can see it

Blizzard’s annual fan convention BlizzCon kicks off this Saturday, November 7, and will bring all the usual goodies that fans of the developer crave – panels, tourneys and previews. Hit the jump to see what’s on where and you can watch it all online.

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PAX AUS 2015: Scott Ludlam says the government isn’t working hard enough to support local devs

Greens senator Scott Ludlam had some very choice words for the Australian government on the Boss Level panel at PAXAus on Saturday, saying in no uncertain terms that they are not doing enough to support the local games industry.

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Video Games Review: Shovel Knight (PS4, 2015)

There’s been a resurgence in games that trade in the nostalgia surrounding the 8-bit NES-era in the last few years. Where many of the games that seek to capitalise in the look and feel of those games, they rarely capture what really made them special. Shovel Knight isn’t one of those games. Shovel Knight doesn’t…

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Tech Review: Sonos Play:5 (2015)

Sonos has long been the go-to device for in-home music streaming. The company’s whole mantra is built on filling every room in the home with music but takes that concept and makes actually setting that up very easy. The problem with is that great sound, at least in this case, comes with a hefty price…

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PAX AUS 2015: Day 2 in brief

With our legs a little sore, we headed back to the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on Saturday for PAX Aus Day 2.

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PAX Aus 2015: Day One in-brief

So what the hell did we get up to on the first day of PAX Aus 2015?

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Video Games Review: Halo 5: Guardians (Xbox One, 2015)

Halo 5: Guardians feels like it has more crosses to bear than is entirely reasonable. 343 Industries still have a lot to prove to fans of the series – Halo 4 was a critical darling but its online player base vanished almost overnight and it can’t be denied that the multiplayer component in last year’s…

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Our picks for what to do and where to be at PAX AUS 2015

The most important three days on the Australian gaming community calendar are here again at last. Now in it’s third year, PAX Australia has become the nation’s premiere festival for every corner of the gaming hobby. From tabletop to virtual reality, if you love games then PAX loves you. If you’re having trouble deciding what…

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Paris Games Week 2015: Tekken 7 is coming to PS4 (with VR support?!)

Sony have announced that Tekken 7 will make its way to the PlayStation 4. Series producer Katsuhiro Harada announced the game during Sony’s Paris Games Week media conference this morning.

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Street Fighter V launches February 16 on PS4, Dhalsim confirmed

Fighting game fans, we have a release date. Street Fighter V will release on February 16 in the US and Europe. The announcement came during Sony’s Paris Games Week press briefing.

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Paris Games Week 2015: New Star Wars Battlefront trailer knows what you want to see

If you were one of the nine million people who played the Star Wars Battlefront beta, you know it was only a sliver of the content available in the full game. With its November 17 release date now firmly in sight, EA have dropped one more trailer during Sony’s Paris Games Week presser to keep you…

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