Sometimes when a new console releases, the launch games lineup can be a little….well…..sparse. But for those of you who have their Playstation 5 launch console confirmed, and who also have a current PS Plus subscription, the number of games you’ll be able to play on launch day has now expanded considerably, thanks to the Playstation Plus Collection.

The Playstation Plus Collection will be available to PS Plus subscribers from the day of the launch of the Playstation 5 for no extra charge. At present, the Playstation Plus Collection includes 20 of the most highly rated Playstation 4 games and includes a mix of exclusive and cross-platform games.

More games will be added post-launch to the list, but so far the Collection includes the following games:

• Batman: Arkham Knight
• Battlefield 1
• Bloodborne
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
• Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
• Days Gone
• Detroit: Become Human
• Fallout 4
• Final Fantasy 15
• God of War
• Infamous Second Son
• Monster Hunter World
• Mortal Kombat X
• Persona 5
• Ratchet and Clank
• Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
• The Last Guardian
• The Last of Us Remastered
• Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
• Until Dawn

I know I’m still working my way through a lot of these titles on the PS4, so having the option of also playing them at launch on a fancy new console is certainly fantastic news. Can’t wait to see how they look and play on the PS5!

And boy, are there some absolutely fantastic sales, especially for those gamers who are yet to discover some of the best games released on the system over the last few years. I’ve taken the liberty of highlighting a few of the deals that I believe are complete steals, in terms of the percentage off the game and the quality of the game itself. In no particular order, here they are.

2 for $40

The 2 for $40 seems to be the pricepoint for every sale across every store, at least when it comes to selling games in pairs. Oddly, I’ve never seen 3 for xx or 4 for xx offered, but the 2 for $40 comes up a lot. Most times, the games included at this price point are those games that never really sold at release, or the disappointing ones that looked good but never delivered. Thankfully, however, the games included in Playstation’s 2 for $40 sale are neither. There are some absolute cracking games available, and my picks include:

• The Last of Us: Remastered
• Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection (including Uncharted 1,2 and 3)
• Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
• Yakuza Zero
• Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor

Each of the above games will provide many hours of quality gaming for a fraction of the price you would have paid had you bought them upon release. Ahh, doesn’t it feel good to save?!

For the full list of titles available as part of the 2 for $40 sale, click here.

Price Drops

Sony have greatly reduced the prices of several high quality games, so for those of you who aren’t focused on having a physical copy of the game, there’s certainly some exceptional bargains to be had. There’s a great variety of games available at significant discounts as well, meaning even the most picky of gamers should find something they like. My picks are below:

• God of War: Digital Deluxe Edition $39.95 reduced from $99.95
• Grand Theft Auto V Premium Online Edition $24.95 reduced from $84.95
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider $47.95 reduced from $99.95
• Burnout Paradise Remastered $17.95 reduced from $39.95
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt GOTY Edition $24.95 reduced from $77.95
• Jurassic World Evolution $27.95 reduced from $90.95
• The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim Special Edition $24.95 reduced from $79.95
• Dragon Age Inquisition GOTY Edition $11.95 reduced from $39.95
• Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy $20.95 reduced from $52.95
• Mass Effect Andromeda: Deluxe Recruit Edition $14.95 reduced from $69.95

For the full list of titles on sale, click here.

And for those of you, who, like me, are still sinking hours into your PS3, the Playstation Store is offering Dead Space, Dead Space 2 and Dead Space 3 for $5.38 each. It’s a weird price point, but it’s incredible value for a video game series, which in my humble opinion, was the best horror game trilogy released on the PS3. Other excellent bargains for the PS3 include the Batman: Arkham Collection for $14.83 and Dragon Age Origins for $5.38.

Happy gaming everyone – and if you do pick up any of the above bargains, let me know what you think of them in the comments below!

It sure has been a long time since the last game in the Dragon Age series released (2014 for those who remember – and 4 years is practically an eon in the games industry). But for those of us who look back fondly on Bioware’s medieval fantasy world RPG epic, this week has been a good week, with a new teaser trailer released for Dragon Age 4.

Yes, it’s not really all that much to get excited about – definitely heavy on the teaser and light on the trailer – but still, a trailer is better than no trailer. As you can probably tell from the teaser, which you can view below, Dragon Age 4 is veeeery early in development, though Executive Producer Mark Darrah assures fans in a recent blog post to accompany the trailer that the Bioware team “has been hard at work exploring ways to push BioWare’s storytelling to the next level.” And Matthew Goldman, Creative Director, calls the new game “the most epic quest ever!”

Take a look at the trailer below, and for more information from both Mark and Matthew, their blog posts can be found here.

The Checkpoint series kickstarter is aiming to raise $55,000 to fund a 16 episode series which will focus on mental health and video games. The episodes themselves are targeted at everyone and aim to remove the stigma around mental illness by providing evidence-based information surrounding a variety of mental health issues. Utilising real-world stories from game developers and industry insiders who have lived with or experienced mental health issues, as well as interviews with mental health professionals, the kickstarter aims to fully fund a full season (and hopefully a second season) of episodes. Stretch goals include offering podcasts if $60,000 is raised, and added special guests if $80,000 is raised.

There’s only a few days left in the kickstarter, so if you want to contribute to this incredibly important and much needed series, head to this link to pledge some money. As of writing this article, the kickstarter had raised $46,038 of a $55,000 goal. With 5 days to go, the goal is in sight, and it would be a great outcome for this series to be funded.

I’d like to get a little personal here and say that speaking as a psychologist, kickstarters like this one are a very worthwhile and much needed step to reduce the stigma around mental health, and remove the incorrect assumptions that many in our society hold about mental health and mental health issues. It’s past time for us, as a society, to educate ourselves about mental health, and to stop holding outdated and hurtful opinions about what it means to live with, or be affected by, a mental heath issue. Dealing with a mental health issue shouldn’t be something someone goes through alone because of shame or embarrassment, because of the fear of how other people will react if they know about it. Most people will experience a mental health issue at some point in their lives, and that means that most people who you speak to during your day to day life likely either have currently, or have in the past experienced a mental health issue. We need to provide support to others around us who may be doing it tough, and to let others know that experiencing a mental health issue is nothing to be ashamed about, and nothing that should be dealt with alone. By taking steps to educate ourselves about the realities of mental health issues, we are opening up the dialogue around mental health in a positive and constructive way, and we are hopefully contributing to reducing the feeling that those experiencing a mental health issue have to experience it alone.

If you can, and even if you can only give $10, please consider supporting the Checkpoint Series kickstarter. It may only be $10 to you, but to someone experiencing a mental health illness, it may be the difference that makes them feel they’re not alone.

However, if you’ve yet to hear about the aformentioned Horizon Zero Dawn, the action RPG by Guerrilla Games released today, then feast your eyes on the launch trailer for the game, found below.

The game itself, played via the third person, tasks players with stepping into the boots of Aloy, a hunter who utilises a bow (and other ranged and melee weapons as well as traps) to fight off robotic creatures known as “Machines”.  These machines rule the post-apocalyptic world which Aloy inhabits, and as Aloy journeys through the open world, players can discover a variety of tribes all offering unique side quests to be completed in addition to the main story line. Gameplay features include a dynamic day-night cycle, a skill tree which allows players to increase Aloy’s skills in three categories, a crafting system utilising resources found on the remains of conquered foes as well as ranged and melee combat and stealth.

Horizon Zero Dawn was released today in Australia and is available for the Playstation 4.

We’re into the last few weeks before the release of Mass Effect Andromeda, and it’s at this point where I hoard new information about the game like a squirrel hoards acorns prior to a looong winter. Luckily for me, Bioware has dropped new videos regarding Andromeda’s squadmates and they are amazing.

Yes, I’m aware these videos came out a few days ago, but hey – I’m trailer hoarding now, ok? I have to make these trailers last all the way through the lead up to the game’s release. So when Bioware spoils me by releasing multiple videos, I can’t just watch them all at once – I have to savour them across a few days at least.

But if you’re not like me and you’re demolishing these trailers like a superpowered vacuum cleaner sucks up skittles on a tiled floor, here’s the recently released videos for you to adore.

First up, we have a new Pathfinder team briefing trailer narrated by none other than Lieutenant Cora Harper, a Spaceborn human who’s an Operations Specialist and Biotic Commando who favours her shotgun and biotic charge ability to put the hurt on anyone who gets in her way. The video also introduces Liam Kosta, a crisis response specialist with civilian tactical training, who’s the team’s idealist, as well as S.A.M, who’s…well…I don’t want to spoil it. Take a look at the video below.

Also released recently was a video all about Christine Lakin, the voice of Peebee, Mass Effect Andromeda’s spirited Asari. In the below video, Christine provides a little more insight into Peebee as a character.

Mass Effect Andromeda releases March 21 in North America, with the European release following on March 23.

Bioware, if you’re reading this, I’d just love more trailers. Please.

Please?

Whilst the patch won’t cost you any bottlecaps as its free, it will cost you in download size, because the patch itself is 58GB. Yes, you read that correctly – 58GB.

It’ll provide you with glorious high resolution textures for all your wasteland adventures, but it’ll likely cost you a bunch of time waiting for it to download and install (depending on your internet speed, of course). And there’s another issue to be aware of – you’ll need to have a more powerful PC than what the base version of Fallout 4 required in order to run the patch. According to Bethesda, if you want to enjoy the new 58GB patch in all its high resolution goodness, these are the specs you’ll need:

• Windows 7/8/10 (64-bit OS required)
• Intel Core i7-5820K or better
• GTX 1080 8GB/AMD Radeon RX 490 8GB
• 8GB+ Ram

For those who have a console, there’s good news and bad news: Playstation 4 Pro owners will soon be receiving a patch that adds enhanced lighting and graphics. Xbox One and Playstation 4 owners – there’s no word on whether there will be patches for these versions of the game.

Boo.

Guess I’ll just have to continue enjoying the base, un-spiffy version of Fallout 4’s graphics. Oh Super Mutant Meat Sacks, let me count your unpolished pixels.

The trailer, whilst revealing some jaw droppingly gorgeous settings, focused mainly on the characters you’ll meet in the game, specifically your squadmates. Bioware’s official website promises that each teammate will have their own talents and personalities, and from what’s been shown in the trailer, this definitely looks to be the case.

Your two starting squadmates, Cora and Liam, each have their own specialties, with Cora training with the Asari Matriarchs and Liam seeing some action in the Milky Way as a security specialist. They’ll join Alec, Scott and Sara Ryder as the main Pathfinder team, and will be with you as you visit the Nexus for the first time. The trailer also showcases other squadmates Peebee, Drack and Vetra, as well as Kallo Jath, everyone’s favourite salarian pilot.

Mass Effect Andromeda releases March 21 in North America, with the European release following on March 23.

Mark those dates in your diaries, take the week off work, and enjoy the trailer below.

Oh Mass Effect. It is SO GOOD to have you back.

Within the new trailer, we get a sneak peak at the new augmentations that Jensen has access to (because he always had them, he just didn’t know about them, of course), as well as a few new locations, and Jensen’s kinda dingy but still nifty apartment. The trailer also showcases the focus on choice in the game, and how the player’s choice of how to approach a situation can change the experience with characters in game.

Check out the trailer below and mark August 23rd into your release diaries. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided will release for PS4, Xbox One and PC. The season pass for the game will be available the same day as its release.

The MMO itself allows players the choice of creating either a Super Hero or Villain, with their own skill set and powers. Each player character, depending on choice of good vs evil, will have their own mentor (think Batman for super hero or Joker for super villain) and the character customisation options are extremely impressive. Given the game’s age, however, you may find coming up with a superhero/villain name that isn’t already taken quite difficult.

In addition to creating your own character and exploring the game world in PvE, players can also fight as any of 40 available DC comics characters in PvP game modes. The roster is quite impressive, and includes such heavy hitters as Superman, Green Arrow, Batman, Wonder Woman and Harley Quinn to name but a few.

As with any old-ish game, the MMO updates frequently with new content, and movies and tv shows such as Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and Legends of Tomorrow have seen their own new content included in the game. Further updates of content relating to Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls are scheduled for release this year, so the game is keeping itself rather fresh despite its age.

For those wanting to know more, take a look at the announcement trailer below.