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Games

Battlefront 2

Loot boxes in video games 'constitute gambling'

The proliferation of "loot box" mechanics in high profile video games, particularly those available to children, is legally questionable and constitutes gambling, according to a Victorian regulator.

Xbox One X offers true 4K gaming on a console

Xbox One X.

Much more powerful, but somehow smaller, than the Xbox One S released last year, the Xbox One X is a marvel of technology and engineering that provides the most technically impressive console gaming experience you can get, especially if you're running a 4K TV.

Hand-drawn shooter is a surreal, superb game

Most bosses are fought on the ground, but occasionally Cuphead takes to the sky in a plane.

Looking and sounding like a coloured Fleischer animation from the 1930s, but playing more like a tough '80s run-and-gun, Cuphead is an inventive, surprising game centred on a number of boss battles that need to be studied and replayed to overcome.

Xbox, Porsche announce 'performance gamewear'

Professional driver Chelsea Angelo, and Porsche junior driver Matt Campbell, in Forza onesies.

To celebrate the launch of racing simulation game Forza Motorsport 7, Xbox Australia is today taking the wraps off limited edition "gamewear" that "offers gamers unparalleled coziness and functionality as they hit the virtual track".

Digging deep in the excellent SteamWorld Dig 2

SWD2

There are few better things in video games than a satisfying upgrade loop. A new axe that chops trees twice as fast as your old axe — or a jetpack that makes you realise you've only experienced a fraction of the game world despite hours of exploration — can be incredibly rewarding, and it's this sensation that Steamworld Dig 2 does better than most.

Hands on with Super Mario Odyssey

If you've always wanted to run around as shirtless Mario — and take pictures for posterity — you're in luck.

It was around the time I was flinging my pirate hat in order to possess a huge piece of meat that I realised Super Mario Odyssey is a bit weird, even by Super Mario standards.

Nidhogg 2 is gross, violent, and undeniably fun

Nidhogg 2's look is gross, but it serves the game and will be more easily accepted in the mainstream.

Nidhogg 2 turned heads for all the wrong reasons when it was revealed this time last year, with the gracefully minimalist pixel graphics of the original sword-fighting party favourite replaced by a gross and chunky style that looks like something from a '90s cartoon.

Unlikely crossover a silly, strategic success

When blended with Mario characters or morphed into Nintendo-inspired enemies, the Rabbids are actually likeable.

It's not every day Nintendo hands the keys to its most famous and bankable franchise to an outside publisher, but when the result is as wacky and fun as Ubisoft's Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, it's enough to make you wish the Japanese gaming giant did it more often.