Twitch TV co-founder Emmett Shear believes Sony and Microsoft will have to drastically change their approach to hardware in the future if they hope to survive.

"The problem is, the seven-year upgrade lifecycle doesn’t work in the face of the two-year upgrade cycles for every other hardware platform," Shear told The Guardian. "It’s so intrinsically built into how consoles get manufactured and made and the full business model, that I’d be surprised to see another generation."

According to the Twitch boss, the future of gaming hardware will be akin to set top boxes with an upgrade cycle similar to that of smartphones and tablets. "They’re going to have to change form," he added. "You can already see this on both Xbox and PlayStation where there’s a tighter upgrade loop for both the operating systems and the games."

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A crew of blacksmiths and craftsmen have created a real-life Hylian Shield from The Legend of Zelda.

Featured on the Awe Me YouTube channel, the team - Swordsmith and Machinists Kerry and Matt Stagmer, Engraver/Armourer Ilya Alekseyev, Goldsmith Lauren Schott and Fabricator John Mitchell from Baltimore Knife and Sword - painstakingly recreated Link's infamous shield, complete with embossed trim, Triforce motif and hand-painted design.

To complement the shield, they also created a copy of the original Master Sword, too.

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PS4-exclusive Bloodborne could be coming to PC at some stage, if a retail listing is to be believed.

The listing, live at the time of writing on Amazon France, lists the platform as "Windows 7/8" though it's "currently unavailable".

Amazon France has previous form in accurately leaking game details before publishers are ready to reveal them. To date, its list of scalps include Call of Duty: Black Ops II, the Killzone Trilogy, the European-only Assassin's Creed Anthology, Grand Theft Auto V on PC and a PS4 bundle for The Last of Us: Remastered. All of these turned out to be accurate.

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Everything you’ve been fighting for up to this point is finally in front of you. The third episode of Telltale’s Game of Thrones will decide whether or not you get what you want, and whether or not you need to stop thinking and just start running.

The Sword in the Darkness does an excellent job of mirroring the Game of Thrones HBO series’ tendency to place a high-tension, high-energy episode smack in the middle of a season. Episode Three never lets you catch your breath; each scene features major choices with consequences that ripple out to this chapter's credits--characters will continue to harp on decisions made early in the episode--and hint at larger problems to come in following episodes.

Episode Three upset me in ways the first two episodes haven’t. It made me physically anxious. As someone who has read all the books in A Song of Ice and Fire and generally knows what’s coming in the television series, it’s fabulously disturbing to see Telltale’s characters get kicked around and have no idea how their story ends.

You will let a lot of people down in The Sword in the Darkness. Every plot-hinging choice leaves someone you love out in the cold, debating how much they can trust you. You must choose between family and best friends, mothers and sisters, the lady you’ve sworn to serve and the lord you’ve made a dubious pact with. Friendships and alliances are made at the expense of breaking others. Game of Thrones nails the sentiment that author George R. R. Martin hammers home across A Song of Ice and Fire: you can’t please everyone, and the second you displease someone, you better watch your back.

The Sword in the Darkness brings plot threads that were left free-floating in Episode Two to their high points. Rodrick struggles to stand his ground against the cruel Whitehills while still treading carefully because the youngest Forrester, Ryon, remains the Whitehills’ captive. Half a world away, Asher and Beskha, joined by Malcolm, chase Daenerys Targaryen across the desert, searching for an army of sellswords to bring home to Ironrath. In King’s Landing, on the eve of the royal wedding, Mira must choose between waiting for Margaery Tyrell to have time to help her and seeking out her own, less favorable alliances. Gared, just as he’s settling into life with the Night’s Watch, is thrown a curve ball that proves he can’t escape his past.

It is in this episode that you finally see the fruits of your labor bloom; every big choice you’ve made in Episode One and Two catches up with you. Situations you tried to clean up, like the strange incidents with Mira and the coal boy or negotiating alliances with other northern houses, are proven to be un-cleanable. Everything you’ve worked for can be destroyed in seconds or made worse, depending on the people you side with.

Decisions available to you, as members of House Forrester, always revolve around what is best for the family. But some family members and their allies differ in what they feel is the right course of action. Episode Three brings to the forefront the struggle to keep your family placated and safe, either by listening to them, making empty promises, or acting on your own when you don’t have time to consult them. There’s a moment where Rodrick has to choose between standing up to the Whitehills to defend his little sister Talia, or biting his tongue and taking the abuse because his mother worries what repercussions his actions will have on Ryon’s safety. It’s a powerful moment, being forced to choose between your mother and your sister, showing weakness and allowing your enemy to walk all over you in hopes the danger subsides, or standing tall and showing strength because your baby sister is counting on you. The outcome is awful no matter what, because you’ve let someone down either way, and you always feel horrible.

There aren’t many combat sections in The Sword in the Darkness, as most of the episode is focused on verbally navigating situations and choosing the heinousness of the lies you tell. There is also not much time given to exploring environments, and in each segment when you get to poke around, you’re looking for something within a time limit. Twice I had to search for things--like a piece of paper or an escape route--while enemies were on the approach, leaving little room to look around. It’s a bit disappointing, as it takes away from the world feeling lived-in, with objectives in straight lines rather than allowing some wiggle room.

Once again, the Forresters continue to be the most interesting characters on screen, and their plight is much more interesting than what’s going on with Jon Snow or Margaery. But the way Game of Thrones’ canon characters come into play in Episode Three is great. Their presence seamlessly weaves into and out of the plot, with small things like a brief comment from Cersei Lannister making Margaery question your loyalty. Tyrion, Cersei, Margaery, they’re not just dangerous people to placate with conversation anymore; they are now completely in charge of your fate.

Most of this is witnessed through Mira’s storyline, as she has the most direct contact with them. As of Episode Three, Mira’s story is by far the most intriguing, as she’s playing with fire on a level a little higher than her siblings. Her plot started off slow in the first two episodes, but her struggle is the center of Episode Three, and she’s playing a game as intricate as those currently struggling for Westeros’ crown.

Asher and Beshka’s tale continues to delight, as the two of them play beautifully off each other with their bantering and sibling-like bond. The Ironrath plot, however, is starting to get dull; Rodrick and those left behind in the North continue to beat their heads against the Whitehills to no avail. The events are repetitive: Rodrick or another Forrester stands up to the Whitehill member in charge, the Forresters get slapped around, and the Whitehill in charge is replaced with another Whitehill a little meaner than the last. Each Whitehill makes the same promise to destroy the Forresters if they don't submit to authority, but so far there's only been some light kicking and punching. As of now, the Whitehills don’t feel like a threat as devastating as Ramsay Snow, but I’m unwilling to discount them just yet.

And finally, Gared and his secret about the North Grove have been given more attention and care within the narrative. What was tossed around briefly in the last two episodes is finally in the spotlight and becomes a matter of grave importance very quickly. Just like the series it’s based on, Game of Thrones has taken something small and seemingly minor and ripped off the curtain to reveal it as the most important thing you know.

Game of Thrones’ third episode succeeds in making you feel like the rest of the season is hinging on the decisions you make. It marks the narrative apex so far, the highest dramatic climax, with its barrage of tough choices in rapid succession. You can’t help but feel bad for these characters; it looks like there’s no way for them to win. If you’ve been playing it safe up to this point, deferring to answers that keep the characters safe and relatively benign, you’re in for a rude awakening. Episode Three marks the beginning of the end for neutrality. There are tough decisions to make and no way around them, making this episode true to the Game of Thrones atmosphere at its core.

Everything you’ve been fighting for up to this point is finally in front of you. The third episode of Telltale’s Game of Thrones will decide whether or not you get what you want, and whether or not you need to stop thinking and just start running.

The Sword in the Darkness does an excellent job of mirroring the Game of Thrones HBO series’ tendency to place a high-tension, high-energy episode smack in the middle of a season. Episode Three never lets you catch your breath; each scene features major choices with consequences that ripple out to this chapter's credits--characters will continue to harp on decisions made early in the episode--and hint at larger problems to come in following episodes.

Episode Three upset me in ways the first two episodes haven’t. It made me physically anxious. As someone who has read all the books in A Song of Ice and Fire and generally knows what’s coming in the television series, it’s fabulously disturbing to see Telltale’s characters get kicked around and have no idea how their story ends.

You will let a lot of people down in The Sword in the Darkness. Every plot-hinging choice leaves someone you love out in the cold, debating how much they can trust you. You must choose between family and best friends, mothers and sisters, the lady you’ve sworn to serve and the lord you’ve made a dubious pact with. Friendships and alliances are made at the expense of breaking others. Game of Thrones nails the sentiment that author George R. R. Martin hammers home across A Song of Ice and Fire: you can’t please everyone, and the second you displease someone, you better watch your back.

The Sword in the Darkness brings plot threads that were left free-floating in Episode Two to their high points. Rodrick struggles to stand his ground against the cruel Whitehills while still treading carefully because the youngest Forrester, Ryon, remains the Whitehills’ captive. Half a world away, Asher and Beskha, joined by Malcolm, chase Daenerys Targaryen across the desert, searching for an army of sellswords to bring home to Ironrath. In King’s Landing, on the eve of the royal wedding, Mira must choose between waiting for Margaery Tyrell to have time to help her and seeking out her own, less favorable alliances. Gared, just as he’s settling into life with the Night’s Watch, is thrown a curve ball that proves he can’t escape his past.

It is in this episode that you finally see the fruits of your labor bloom; every big choice you’ve made in Episode One and Two catches up with you. Situations you tried to clean up, like the strange incidents with Mira and the coal boy or negotiating alliances with other northern houses, are proven to be un-cleanable. Everything you’ve worked for can be destroyed in seconds or made worse, depending on the people you side with.

Decisions available to you, as members of House Forrester, always revolve around what is best for the family. But some family members and their allies differ in what they feel is the right course of action. Episode Three brings to the forefront the struggle to keep your family placated and safe, either by listening to them, making empty promises, or acting on your own when you don’t have time to consult them. There’s a moment where Rodrick has to choose between standing up to the Whitehills to defend his little sister Talia, or biting his tongue and taking the abuse because his mother worries what repercussions his actions will have on Ryon’s safety. It’s a powerful moment, being forced to choose between your mother and your sister, showing weakness and allowing your enemy to walk all over you in hopes the danger subsides, or standing tall and showing strength because your baby sister is counting on you. The outcome is awful no matter what, because you’ve let someone down either way, and you always feel horrible.

There aren’t many combat sections in The Sword in the Darkness, as most of the episode is focused on verbally navigating situations and choosing the heinousness of the lies you tell. There is also not much time given to exploring environments, and in each segment when you get to poke around, you’re looking for something within a time limit. Twice I had to search for things--like a piece of paper or an escape route--while enemies were on the approach, leaving little room to look around. It’s a bit disappointing, as it takes away from the world feeling lived-in, with objectives in straight lines rather than allowing some wiggle room.

Once again, the Forresters continue to be the most interesting characters on screen, and their plight is much more interesting than what’s going on with Jon Snow or Margaery. But the way Game of Thrones’ canon characters come into play in Episode Three is great. Their presence seamlessly weaves into and out of the plot, with small things like a brief comment from Cersei Lannister making Margaery question your loyalty. Tyrion, Cersei, Margaery, they’re not just dangerous people to placate with conversation anymore; they are now completely in charge of your fate.

Most of this is witnessed through Mira’s storyline, as she has the most direct contact with them. As of Episode Three, Mira’s story is by far the most intriguing, as she’s playing with fire on a level a little higher than her siblings. Her plot started off slow in the first two episodes, but her struggle is the center of Episode Three, and she’s playing a game as intricate as those currently struggling for Westeros’ crown.

Asher and Beshka’s tale continues to delight, as the two of them play beautifully off each other with their bantering and sibling-like bond. The Ironrath plot, however, is starting to get dull; Rodrick and those left behind in the North continue to beat their heads against the Whitehills to no avail. The events are repetitive: Rodrick or another Forrester stands up to the Whitehill member in charge, the Forresters get slapped around, and the Whitehill in charge is replaced with another Whitehill a little meaner than the last. Each Whitehill makes the same promise to destroy the Forresters if they don't submit to authority, but so far there's only been some light kicking and punching. As of now, the Whitehills don’t feel like a threat as devastating as Ramsay Snow, but I’m unwilling to discount them just yet.

And finally, Gared and his secret about the North Grove have been given more attention and care within the narrative. What was tossed around briefly in the last two episodes is finally in the spotlight and becomes a matter of grave importance very quickly. Just like the series it’s based on, Game of Thrones has taken something small and seemingly minor and ripped off the curtain to reveal it as the most important thing you know.

Game of Thrones’ third episode succeeds in making you feel like the rest of the season is hinging on the decisions you make. It marks the narrative apex so far, the highest dramatic climax, with its barrage of tough choices in rapid succession. You can’t help but feel bad for these characters; it looks like there’s no way for them to win. If you’ve been playing it safe up to this point, deferring to answers that keep the characters safe and relatively benign, you’re in for a rude awakening. Episode Three marks the beginning of the end for neutrality. There are tough decisions to make and no way around them, making this episode true to the Game of Thrones atmosphere at its core.

Swedish studio Starbreeze has today confirmed it is extending its Payday 2 collaboration with 505 Games parent company Digital Bros for an additional 24-month period, commencing April 1, 2015.

Digital Bros will acquire 2.67% of Starbreeze stock, which will fund another two years of further development for Payday 2 and its expansions on PC and next-gen consoles.

“We’ve said that we’ll never stop making Payday and the board is extremely happy to see where the franchise is today,” said Starbreeze chairman Michael Hjorth in a statement. “The strategic partnership with 505 Games continues to strengthen us and the Payday investment alone doubles down on our previous spend. We will yet again see the Payday franchise being expanded with more heists, weapons, characters and even new game modes such as driving cars.”

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As famed gun merchant and narrator Marcus Kincaid would say, Borderlands is about stories: tales of villains and antiheroes, of weapons and treasure, and of course, of mysterious vaults safeguarding fantastic riches…or unspeakable horror. So the legends go, at least. But one tale in particular has stood among the rest. It is about a man named Jack, who rose from the position of programmer in a weapons manufacturer, to self-declared dictator of a hostile arid planet known as Pandora. It is his story that is the focus of Borderlands: The Handsome Collection, a console-only package including the series’ most recent cooperative first-person releases, complete with updated graphics and enough additional content to sink Wam Bam Island.

It’s a convincing package, as The Handsome Collection consists of both Borderlands 2 and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. The upgrade is warranted if you own a current system and only played the originals, or if you have yet to delve into the massive amount of add-ons for either game. It’s too bad however, that Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel comes up short, in both mission design and presentation.

Though I find it unfortunate that the original Borderlands isn’t included, it’s not like The Handsome Collection is wanting for content. There is a ton to see and do here, with Borderlands 2 encompassing the lion’s share of what’s stamped on the disk. Together with The Pre-Sequel, the games come paired with numerous add-on packs that include side campaigns, challenge arenas, character skins, upgraded level caps, and four additional vault hunters--two for each game. The amount of extras is incredible, especially considering that both games are lengthy on their own, coming in at several dozen hours each. And that's not even counting true vault hunter mode, which allows you to replay the campaigns at a higher difficulty for a chance at rarer loot. The included season pass for Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel means that not only do you have access to content currently available, but also future add-ons, including Claptastic Voyage, the first campaign add-on for The Pre-Sequel which launches the same day as The Handsome Collection.

If you have yet to experience the side missions in either game, it’s imperative to note that some of the DLC takes place canonically after the events of their main campaigns. So keep that in mind if you want to avoid any unnecessary spoilers. In addition, if you have already played either of the two games, The Handsome Collections allows you to transfer your save files from the older consoles within the same console family (Xbox 360 to Xbox One, PS3 to PS4).

Borderlands 2 does little to change the classic Borderlands formula of shooting and looting, bringing more evolution than revolution. The game reintroduces Pandora as a more engaging world, bringing in nastier enemies as well as a host of lovable characters, most of them sane enough to lend some help or provide small quests, but eccentric enough to make you wonder if their harsh lifestyles warped their minds. The writing is given a fresh kick, bringing vigor to the vault hunters and Pandora’s citizens with fantastic and often hilarious dialogue, which effortlessly has you swaying from grins to belly laughs and back again. Though the characters are chattier, there is a downside: Conversations tend to bleed into each other, and you often miss what’s being said. However, you usually get the gist of what’s going on from updates to your mission status. The blistering combat is the one thing that remains mostly the same, and it is still tight and satisfying, with multiple enemy variants and imposing, memorable boss battles.

Other than the allure of gathering the best loot around, Borderlands 2 also keeps your interest high as you’re challenged to create the most powerful vault hunter possible. Experience points are doled out following kills and completed missions, and with each level gained you are given a skill point to develop new or existing abilities in your vault hunter’s skill tree. Some of these skills favor supporting solo or cooperative play, while others passively enhance base stats such as critical hit damage or health recharge rate. You also have several skills that improve your vault hunter’s action skill, his or her signature move. Completing challenges as you move through the game awards you with badass tokens, which you spend on giving your characters--all of them at once--small attribute boosts.

More importantly, not only to the plot of Borderlands 2 but to the collection in general, the game is the first to introduce the violent and sarcastic villain--and Hyperion CEO--Handsome Jack. It’s clear from the game’s explosive onset: Jack is one seriously bad guy. But he also commands one of the game’s most memorable roles. His mockery of the vault hunters, though incredibly amusing, is tinged with darkness. Yes, you will chuckle at his antics--one in particular related to a diamond horse he lovingly names Butt Stallion still gets me. Yet that laughter becomes a nervous chuckle as Jack details a time he pulled out a man’s eyeballs with a spoon as his family watched in horror. Jack is all too obliged to flex the military arm of Hyperion, sending waves of robot attackers to take you and your fellow vault hunters down for good.

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel's story takes place between the first two games, but builds itself on top of the groundwork laid out by Borderlands 2, yet with a fresh, gravity-defying twist. The game takes you on a brief tour of the ominous Hyperion space station before sending you to Pandora’s cold, fractured moon of Elpis. The oxygen-free environments provide a different challenge to overcome. Your survival relies on Oz Kits, which provide not only a supply of precious oxygen, but act as a jet booster to lift you high into the air and allow you to return to the ground in a thunderous butt slam. The decreased gravity completely changes how you approach combat, allowing both you and your enemies to battle from both the ground and floating through the air. It requires you to remain cognizant of not only what’s in front of you, but also on dangers above and below. The updated combat is enthralling; It’s familiar enough to naturally dive into, while the high-flying escapades prevent it from growing stale.

With The Handsome Collection, I looked forward to the chance of experiencing The Pre-Sequel’s campaign once more. After all, the game weaves the humorous tale of Jack’s rise from a Hyperion programmer to its nefarious head honcho. But even though I once more savored the feeling of lazily swimming through vacuum, popping the heads of enemy scavs, I realized I wasn’t enjoying my return visit to Elpis. When I reviewed The Pre-Sequel late last year, one of my critiques involved mission pacing, and how some quests became tiresome ventures. Indeed, several missions are either overly lengthy, or feature moments of too little inactivity. When compounded by a drop in speed due to the weaker gravity, the sense of urgency is damaged.

I hesitate calling the The Handsome Collection "remastered," regardless of how often the word is printed on the game box. (That number is three.) It hasn’t received the sort of intense graphical overhaul as, say, Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster, and it’s not as if the games required it. Borderlands 2, the older of the two games, was released in 2012, hardly long enough ago to cultivate even a modest patina to be scrubbed clean. Instead, it’s far more honest to say that the games have been unshackled, released from the technological restraints of the aged Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. In other words, what The Handsome Collection offers is nothing that hasn’t been seen on a high-end PC.

But that doesn’t mean the visuals are not deserving of your attention. The aesthetics for both games, The Pre-Sequel in particular, are marvelous in The Handsome Collection. Borderlands’ traditional cel-shaded design is crisp, with bright colors that burst with life. You can almost feel the heat rising from one of Pandora’s many deserts, and my return to the lovely tropical-flavored Wam Bam Island was made even more spectacular thanks to the sharper graphics. And I dare you not to stand in awe of Elpis’ twinkling, starry canopy, or the multi-colored mists slowly rising from its ocean of ice-cold methane.

Sadly, those gorgeous lunar vistas do come with a cost. The Handsome Collection boasts a video output of 1080p running at 60 frames per second, and that holds mainly true for Borderlands 2, which mostly performs at a buttery smooth pace. But if Borderlands 2 is analogous to creamy butter, then The Pre-Sequel is more akin to the peanut variety—the chunky kind. You won’t notice the frame drops so long as you’re within smaller, enclosed spaces. Walking outside grants you a far clearer understanding, as if the game is softly applying brakes. In larger, detailed areas, as well as during intense battles, performance hits are common enough to become distracting, able to pull you out of the mood time and time again. The problem is exacerbated when running The Pre-Sequel in split-screen multiplayer, with slowdown occurring at nearly every interval. Normally, the game is set to run at 30 FPS for up to four screens, but I was lucky to get that on most occasions. I only ran it with the game split between two players; I’d hate to see what happens when it’s doubled.

In the spirit of fairness, Borderlands 2 isn’t completely in the clear, itself. Frame rate noticeably drops during moments of heavy combat; however, it isn’t comparable to the turbulence found in The Pre-Sequel. It’s a fleeting, almost unexpected thing, sticking around only long enough to make you think “Oh?” before vanishing completely. In my first 10 hours into Borderlands 2, the frames dipped only a few times, which did not harm my overall enjoyment to the extent that The Pre-Sequel could muster.

The Handsome Collection is still a great compilation, allowing you to witness not only Jack’s tale, but play a major role in shaping the history of Pandora itself, along with its lonely moon.

The audio remains the same quality, though it’s hardly lacking by any definition. Both games star extravagant weaponry, all of which can be easily distinguished by your ears alone: sniper rifles and shotguns shatter the calm Pandoran air, while laser guns pop and sizzle over Elpis’ cragged lunar surface. Most of the voiceover work is fantastic, with a special nod going toward Dameon Clarke as the sassy Handsome Jack himself. The Western-inspired soundtrack of Borderlands 2, with music composed of wind flutes and the soft plucks of acoustic guitars, is as delightful as I remember. Sitting on the opposite end of the spectrum is The Pre-Sequel’s album of synthesized digital tunes, which doesn’t quite stand out as readily, but keeps well to the game’s overall futuristic tone.

Let’s be clear: You don’t have to be Handsome Jack’s number-one fan to appreciate Borderlands: The Handsome Collection. But even if you’re not, you will still find an impressive archive, chock full of dozens upon dozens of hours of laughter and exciting combat. Even considering issues presented by Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, The Handsome Collection is still a great compilation, allowing you to witness not only Jack’s tale, but play a major role in shaping the history of Pandora itself, along with its lonely moon. And that is a story that Marcus may gladly tell again someday.

Nintendo is rolling out the latest system software release for New Nintendo 3DS XL, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo 3DS XL and Nintendo 2DS today, introducing an amiibos settings menu on the older 3DS handhelds.

Already available the New 3DS, the amiibo settings menu has been added to the HOME Menu on 3DS, 3DS XL, and 2DS systems. It will alllow users to register the owner and the nickname of the amiibo as well as manage the data written to the figurine. The older systems still require a peripheral device to support amiibos which is expected to launch sometime this year.

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It’s commonly accepted among developers that games should start off easy. Ease the player into it, let them figure out the world, then slowly ramp up the difficulty. This is what we call Good Game Design.

From Software has lifted a stoic middle finger to Good Game Design in its latest gristly offering, Bloodborne. Your introduction to the gothic-soaked city of Yharnam is like starting a horror movie at the end; there’s a lot of pain, a lot of blood, and no reprieve.

Some background on my relationship with From Software games: I’m not very good at them. It isn’t so much a matter of skill exactly - although their seemingly-impenetrable confidence suggests From fans are just generally better at video games than I am - it’s a matter of patience. I gave up on both Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls after around 6 hours of play because I found them too frustrating; I vowed to go back with a cooler head, but never did.

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In November 2013 a small publisher working with a Melbourne, Australia-based developer released a cricket game so categorically terrible it’s gone on to be regarded by many as one of the worst games ever made. It’s subterranean Metacritic user score of just 0.7 places it below some of the very worst gaming has to offer; it’s more despised than the likes of even famously appalling shlock like Ride to Hell: Retribution, Rambo: The Video Game, and Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust.

In fact, it was so unprecedentedly bad it was actually yanked from Steam a mere four days after it was released, with the publisher issuing full refunds and a public apology.

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