Oculus Rift Crystal Cove prototype unveiled with bizarre OLED display

Oculus has unveiled the latest prototype of its Oculus Rift virtual reality headset at CES 2014, known as “Crystal Cove”.

The prototype next-gen virtual reality headset attempts to improve the virtual reality experience by doing away with motion blur that caused some people to feel very poorly.

Previous iterations of the Oculus Rift used traditional LCD screens, but the Crystal Cove prototype has OLED technology which has lower latency so the images respond more quickly to the user’s movements.

Crystal Cove also has a full positional tracking system that uses a camera to track over 24 IR dots located all over the headset. This means you’ll be able to lean and crouch in game, as the camera will see your head moving in the 3D space. Hopefully, this will help motion sickness too.

There’s a rather special OLED screen in the Oculus Rift Crystal Cove prototype that Oculus is calling a “low-persistance-of-vision display”.

“Low persistence is really, really important. It’s probably the most important thing we’re showing”, said Oculus founder, Palmer Luckey to Polygon. “It doesn’t sound really exciting, but it’s incredible the difference low persistence makes. You really have to see it. It’s mind blowing.”

Basically, it utilises the same concept that lets you watch movies filmed at 24fps. Although the images only flash one at a time, your mind is capable of filling in the blanks to create a semi-seamless motion.

Oculus is intentionally reducing the amount of information your eyes see with the Crystal Cove, so your

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Guinness World Records reveals the greatest gaming moments of 2013

Guinness World Records has released its 2014 gaming edition revealing the latest and greatest gaming achievements from the past year.

The latest Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition marks the seventh one in the series that are annually released to celebrate the most dedicated gamers on the planet.  

Standing out amongst the list is Michael Thomasson, recognized as the owner of the largest video game collection in the world.

The 43-year-old video game college teacher from Buffalo, USA, has a whopping 10,607 games at his disposal estimated to be worth around £423,000. 

Even more impressive is the fact that Thomasson had to restart his collection from scratch twice.

Once after selling it off in 1989 to buy a Sega Genesis and again after selling to pay for his wedding in 1998. But after buying two games per day with a $3,000-a-year budget he’s finally made into the big book. 

Another teacher from California has entered dance-gaming history for enduring a massive 49 hours, 3 minutes and 22 seconds on popular dance-simulation game ‘Just-Dance 4’.

Carrie Swidecki, who considers herself an ambassador for ‘exergaming’ says: “I never want to wake up from this dream!  13 years ago I was 210 pounds, and then I discovered how easy it was to exercise using videogames. I lost 75 pounds, went down 10 sizes, set 5 World Records.  I have become an advocate to fight childhood obesity in schools!”

Alongside individual gaming feats, the Gamer’s Edition also includes significant moments in the last 12 months

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Games of January 2014

The 2013 holidays were stuffed with new releases, so if you're looking for a break, now's your chance. Not that January doesn't have anything to offer, mind you. 2014's debut welcomes a number indie ports, next-gen remakes, and a long-awaited KickStarter project from Tim Shafer and the Double Fine Productions team. 


Assuming you aren't already buried under a mountain of untouched games, and have some money left to throw around, let us guide you through the new releases of January 2014.

January 7

Don't Starve: Console Edition

Platform: PS4

EU: TBD 

How long can you hack it in an alternate dimension crawling with mutant spiders, warrior pigs, starving monsters, and other creepy crawlies? Find out in this PS4 port of Klei Entertainment's Don't Starve, a top-down, action adventure game that tests players' ability to survive an unforgiving world where the penalty for death is starting from scratch.

Set in a randomly generated, 2D environment, Don't Starve forces players to forage for food, build shelters, research new survival tools, hunt for food, and mix resources to create more effective (and sometimes stranger) equipment. Exploration and experimentation are key, and players can expect to die often as they dig in to the game's secrets and hidden features. How you play is up to you, but watch that hunger meter and keep your fire going unless you want to be snatched by shadow demons. Did we mention the shadow demons? Yeah, good luck with that. Read our Don't Starve review for more insightful tips.

January 14

Assassin's Creed III: Liberation HD

Platforms: PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC

EU: January 15 

Aveline de Grandpré headlines this Assassin's Creed spin-off, which was first released as a PS Vita title back in October 2012. Now up-rezzed, remodeled, and re-released for download on PSN, Xbox Live, and Steam, Assassin's Creed III: Liberation HD will see the female assassin once again using her skill for stealth and murder to stop a Templar plot in 18th Century New Orleans--this time for console audiences.

Aveline's quest will play like prior Assassin's Creed entries. From Louisiana to Chichen Itza, she will parkour her way through historically-inspired locations while assassinating targets, stalking Templars, and pickpocketing the occasional chump along the way. Her adventures will also see her pairing with Assassin's Creed III's Connor to retrieve an ancient relic and further the Assassin's Creed narrative. Find out what improvements

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10 Scariest Games Ever

1. Amnesia: The Dark Descent

The year is 1839 and you play as Daniel, an amnesiac who wakes in Brennenburg Castle with a letter, from himself, stating he deliberately wiped his own memory and instructing himself to murder Alexander, the Baron of the castle. Daniel only remembers three things: his name, where he lives and that something is hunting him. There is no combat mechanic, so you are forced to hide, and to run. As Daniel spends more time in the dark hiding from monsters, he gradually descends into insanity, seeing and hearing things that aren’t there.

2. Slender

Slender is a free first person survival horror game based around the urban legend of the Slenderman, a tall, faceless, suit wearing individual who makes a habit of abducting children. In the middle of a dark wood, you have to collect 8 cryptic notes explaining the true terror of the Slenderman, before succumbing to his horror. It is a chilling game with incredible atmosphere that greatly succeeds in furthering the terror spread by the urban legend.

3. Cry of Fear

Cry of Fear is a first person survival horror mod of Half Life utilising Valve’s source engine. You play Simon, another amnesiac who wakes in a dark alley in a twisted version of Stockholm. Desperate to find out if he has gone insane, Simon will confront horrific creatures to get to the truth. Although based of the source engine and maintaining Half Life’s stellar combat mechanics, Cry of Fear is a total conversion mod and utilises new tools and abilities, making for a chilling experience.

4. Dead Space

Set in a dark and distant future, mankind has the ability to “crack” planets: literally crack a planet open and harvest its resources. When a religious artefact related to a twisted cult is discovered on the planet Aegis VII, The Ishimura mining ship goes dark. Isaac Clarke, whose girlfriend is stationed aboard The Ishimura, is part of the engineering team sent to uncover what is really going on. What follows is, in our humble opinion, one of the best and most terrifying gaming experiences of the last decade.

5. Manhunt 2

Rockstar London’s psychological horror game follows Daniel Lamb and his escape from Dixmor Asylum for the Criminally Insane. Daniel is an amnesiac and his journey brings him face to face with insane inmates and mysterious, deadly organisations. The gameplay centres on stealth

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How AMD and Nvidia are tackling PC gaming optimization

Over the last few years PC gaming has become significantly more approachable to the everyday gamer, thanks to a combination of more affordable hardware and the availability of discounted digital game libraries through places like Steam and Green Man Gaming.

While the price has gone down for both PC hardware and titles, more recently Nvidia and AMD have tried to alleviate even more gamer headaches with optimization software. To this end, Nvidia opened its GeForce Experience beta to the public in January, and AMD launched its Raptr-powered Gaming Evolved application in September.

On the surface, the two applications almost seem cut from the same cloth. Both simplify the process of downloading new graphics card drivers to a one-click software update. Similarly, the software packages also set all your graphics settings following some basic guidelines that prioritize a faster frame rate or greater visual fidelity.

Continuing the similarities, the pair of apps were developed with the explicit purpose to help fine tune visual settings for less tech savvy gamers. After all, not everyone knows the difference between tessellation (the splitting of polygons) and ambient occlusion (the way light radiates and reflects) to save their overheating GPU as the FPS craters.

While the two apps are much the same in nature and purpose, that's where their commonalities end. We recently spoke with Nvidia and Raptr, the online gaming partner that powers AMD's Gaming Evolved app, to uncover how each are figuring out PC optimization and what they might have in store for the gaming masses in the future.

The numbers game

Raptr is a 7-year old game tracking service that helps users keep tabs on how long they've been playing games. Beyond clocking hours it's also an online community site that ties together users' Xbox, PlayStation Network, and PC gaming accounts for those achievement/trophy obsessed.

Raptr CEO Dennis Fong explained that although the optimization piece is new to his company's offerings, it's not actually that much further than what Raptr was already doing. The company itself tracks over 2,000 computer games with more than 20 million users. It also uses technology that can tell whether gamers were playing a single or multiplayer title, what games they've installed and what hardware makes up their rigs.

In a micro-sized version of the Raptr service, AMD's Gaming Evolved pulls crowdsourced data from a user base edging over one million.

"The way we designed the system

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Turtle Beach PX22 review

Pros

-Excellent sound for the price

-Solid noise isolation and mic

-Comfortable

-Great value

Cons

-Could be more robust

Key Features: Stereo gaming headset; Noise isolating; Inline controller; PC and console compatible

Manufacturer: Turtle Beach

Turtle Beach PX22 review

What is the Turtle Beach PX22?

The Turtle Beach PX22 is a noise-isolating wired stereo gaming headset that comes with both USB and analog connectors. At £69.99 it’s a mid-range set with a surprising amount of features including an inline amp and controller that lets you adjust volume, bass, treble and mic volume on the fly as well as providing the ability to take calls while gaming.

It’s compatible with PC, PS3, Xbox 360 but also the PS4 and Xbox One.

Turtle Beach PX22: Design and Comfort

The PX22 is a well-built headset made of black plastic with soft fabric covered headband and ear cups. The top is made of a soft faux-leather material stitched with light-blue thread and has the company name – Turtle Beach – emblazoned on it. It's a good look and the detailing makes it look like a more expensive product.

The fabric is both comfortable and breathes well, which means you can wear the Turtle Beach PX22 for hours without getting sweaty ears. It clasps the head firmly enough to keep the headset in place, but not so strongly as to cause discomfort.

At 231g the Turtle Beach PX22 is also lighter than most of the competition, something that bodes well for long gaming sessions and if you want to travel. 

The headset is connected to the volume controller using a 1m cord with a 3.5mm jack meaning the PX22 is versatile enough to use as a pair of headphones too. There’s another 3m of cable coming out of the controller meaning you have plenty to spare when using it with a console.

The PX22 has clearly been designed with maximum comfort in mind and it succeeds in that regard well enough. It doesn’t feel quite as robust as some of the headsets we’ve tested, but that's one of the reasons it can keep the weight down. We’ve spent many hours using them and rarely need to remove them to give our ears a breather.

Sound quality is just as important as comfort, though, and Turtle Beach has done a storming job in that area too.

Turtle Beach PX22: Sound quality

Turtle Beach has been delivering quality sound

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Watch Dogs: release date, gameplay, news

What is Watch Dogs?

Watch Dogs is a brand new IP from Ubisoft, the creators of games like Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag and Splinter Cell: Blacklist.

Most likely turning out to be a cross between a high-tech GTA 5 and an Assassin’s Creed game, Watch Dogs is set in Chicago in the not-too-distant future.

The game was originally intended to be an Xbox One and PS4 launch title, but was pushed back to 2014 because it wasn’t quite as perfect as Ubisoft wanted.

Now we have to wait until Spring to get our hands on Watch Dogs, but until then we can console ourselves with all the news and gameplay footage we have so far. 

Watch Dogs Hands-on from E3 2013

Ubisoft had an extended demo of Watch Dogs available to see behind closed doors at E3 2013, and we were lucky enough to be one of the few to be granted access.

Our first impressions in our hands-on Watch Dogs review were that the architectural detail of Chicago is very realistic and the weather effects are particularly impressive.

“If we have any reservations, it’s that a lot of the game mechanics echo those in the Assassin’s Creed games, though with more emphasis on hacking, surveillance and GTA-style driving, and less on the parkour stuff.”

Watch Dogs News: What we know so far

Sony identifies Watch Dogs as a defining next-generation title

Speaking to TrustedReviews, Sony Computer Entertainment Managing Director Fergal Gara said Watch Dogs could be a defining game for next-generation consoles.

"[Watch Dogs could] define next-gen gaming really push some boundaries. A title like Watch Dogs, the anticipation is so high around it; pre-orders are already very significant and very strong for PS4."

Sony has a highly optimistic outlook for Watch Dogs, but the company was still disappointed it couldn’t be release as a launch title for the PS4 and Xbox One.

"It is a slight disappointment [that Watch Dogs has been delayed]. The timing isn’t as we had hoped. We have said we are for the players and we would rather they have a great game slightly later than a good game early."

The PS4 creator also believes that Watch Dogs could be the first in a hugely successful next-gen franchise.

"It would be a terrible shame if a game like that – which could go several rounds, Watchdogs 1, 2, 3 and could define next-gen gaming

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This is why Google needs so many Robots

Why does Google need robots? Because it already rules your pocket. The mobile market, except for the slow rise of wearables, is saturated. There are millions of handsets around the world, each one connected to the Internet and most are running either Android or iOS. Except for incremental updates to the form, there will be few innovations coming out of the mobile space in the next decade.

Then there’s Glass. These devices bring the web to the real world by making us the carriers. Google is already in front of us on our small screens but Glass makes us a captive audience. By depending on Google’s data for our daily interactions, mapping, and restaurant recommendations – not to mention the digitization of our every move – we become some of the best Google consumers in history. But that’s still not enough.

Google is limited by, for lack of a better word, meat. We are poor explorers and poor data gatherers. We tend to follow the same paths every day and, like ants, we rarely stray far from the nest. Google is a data company and needs far more data than humans alone can gather. Robots, then will be the driver for a number of impressive feats in the next few decades including space exploration, improved mapping techniques, and massive changes in the manufacturing workspace.

Robots like

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How Oculus Plans To Be Riding High When The Virtual Reality Wave Breaks

A company that was conceived less than a year ago today announced its Series B round of funding late last night, with a massive raise of $75 million to add to its existing $16 million Series A and $2.4 million in Kickstarter crowdfunding dollars. That company is Oculus Rift: A virtual reality headset dreamt up by Gaikai veteran Brendan Iribe and a team of other startup vets. With nearly $100 million invested, expectations are huge, but the company is ready to meet those expectations, Iribe tells TechCrunch, and exceed them with a vision of the future that blurs the line between the virtual and the real.

Why So Much Money, So Fast

The Rift has already managed to sell over 42,000 units prior to its consumer launch, via development kits that are admittedly rough around the edges, according to Iribe. That’s impressive enough, but it’s not what’s selling investors like Marc Andreessen and game industry legends like John Carmack on the Rift – that’s the experience provided by the next-generation prototype, which is functionally the same as what we’ll see from the first consumer device, Iribe says, but which has been used by only a few hundred people at most as of right now.

Once the new prototype was perfected, Iribe got in touch with Marc Andreessen and Chris Dixon, to say that they’d achieved what they’d set out to do and asked how soon they could come in to see it. The combination of the prototype demonstration, and former id founder and Doom creator John Carmack explaining his vision of where he sees the entire Oculus project headed “pretty much convinced them on the spot,” Iribe tells me. Dixon and Andreessen join the fairly limited group of outside VCs with ownership stake in Oculus VR, and Iribe says that the partners and funding were chosen specifically with the intent that they should help them get to through the initial V1 consumer launch without having to go find more money elsewhere.

“The point of the first raise was to build out the technology,” Iribe says, explaining what the money has been spent on so far. “We actually thought it would take us a bit longer to get to the point of where we’re at now.”

But it didn’t take that long. The new Oculus Rift prototype should be virtually identical in terms of experience to the version that ships to consumers.

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Spotify review

Pros

-Vibrant social features

-Excellent features

-320kbps streaming

-Exclusive content

Cons

-Clunky web player

-Poor search

-Messy organisation

In Europe at least, Spotify's success has been unparalleled. The service has become a by word for music streaming, and its star has risen fast, taking the subscription music model into the mainstream.

For a few years the lack of competition meant that Spotify's life was relatively easy, and its biggest worries were turning its free users into paid-up Spotify Premium subscribers.

However, things now aren't so simple. The likes of Google Play Music All Access, Napster, Deezer, Xbox Music, Nokia Music and now even Beats Audio muscling in on Spotify's action means life has never been tougher.

But does Spotify still have the advantage over its rivals? Or is the incumbent lagging behind the new pretenders on the streaming scene? Let's take a look.

                                            Create, share and subscribe to playlists

The catalogue

Spotify's 20 million-track catalogue was once the envy of the streaming word, and it still edges the competition.

But line up the main players of Napster and Google Play Music All Access and compare song for song, and you won't find much difference. The selection offered by streaming services is frankly awesome, but Spotify's super strong brand does give it the edge.

In the latest update to the service, it was revealed that Spotify had secured exclusive rights to the catalogue of long-time digital dodgers Led Zepplin. The company also won rights to Metallica and Pink Floyd ahead of its rivals, and shows that being the big player has huge benefits.

Being the big brand also works against them, too. In 2013 Thom Yorke famously pulled his solo work from the service citing poor returns for small bands and artists – but Erazer and Atoms for Peace are still available via Google Play.

It's a tough call but Spotify's catalogue, coupled with its power to win high profile exclusives certainly gives it an advantage over its rivals. But with the line-ups of its rivals looking strong, there's more to a service that just the selection.

                                 The desktop app works well but needs better search features

Desktop app

The premise of

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Valve SteamOS is available for download

And just like that, Valve's SteamOS is upon us.

Valve's new operating system has headed into the wild, available for consumers and OEMs alike to download and take for a ride.

But be warned - Valve advised earlier this week that for now only the most dedicated Linux users should download SteamOS, which is still in beta. The rest of us are best left waiting till 2014 to access a more finished version.

Valve isn't joking either; a SteamOS FAQ warns both the system's install methods "will erase everything on the machine," meaning only the truly committed should saddle up.

Several reports indicate there are currently issues downloading SteamOS, potentially do to a rush of eager users. If you feel competent and confident enough to give the system a spin, you can download the 960MB installer by following the link provided by Steam Database or through the instructions in the FAQ.

What we know about SteamOS

The release of SteamOS falls on the same day Valve's Steam Machine prototypes are making their way to 300 beta testers, who via email instructions can go about installing the software.

Designed to

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Fallout 4 release date, news, rumours

Despite the revelation that the Survivor 2299 site was a huge fake, and the creator admitting "I'm a douche", the Fallout 4 rumours are still doing the rounds.

Bethesda hasn’t even announced it is working on a follow-up to Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas yet, but the “Survivor 2299” site has certainly got people talking and now new information has emerged suggesting development is in full force.

There aren’t any official details as yet, but until we know more, we’re collating all the news in one place.

Fallout 4: Release Date

Although there’s no word yet from Bethesda, we expect Fallout 4 will be a next-gen Xbox One and PS4 title launching the tail end of 2014 or early 2015.

Of course, this is just speculation on our part, as there's been no official confirmation the game is even in development yet.

Fallout 4: News

Casting documents leak, reveal a Boston setting

After the Survivor 2299 teaser site turned out to be a huge hoax, we expected all the Fallout 4 rumours to die down.

However, that hasn't quite been the case. Kotaku managed to get hold of, and authenticate, some casting documents that not only confirm Fallout 4 is in production, but also that it will be set in Boston.

The casting call is for a game project codenamed "Institute" and the documents make reference to character names and locations.

Fallout 4 will seemingly use the classic introduction from Fallout 1, 2 and 3: "War. War never changes". Another script fragment describes a mission in which a character called Preston Garvey asks you to find a fusion core from a museum in the Commonwealth.

Another mission is set in the Institute, which is tipped to be Fallout 4's version of MIT.

Bethesda filed a Fallout 4 trademark in Europe

The Fallout 3 developer has filed a trademark for Fallout 4 ahead of a rumoured announcement at VGX in December.

With the trademark extending to merchandise, digital media and other products outside the game, it suggest Bethesda is gearing up for a huge Fallout 4 launch early next year.

Bethesda filed a Fallout 4 trademark in Europe

The Fallout 3 developer has filed a trademark for Fallout 4 ahead of a rumoured announcement at VGX in December.

With the trademark extending to merchandise, digital media and other products outside the game, it suggest Bethesda is gearing up for a huge Fallout 4 launch early next year. 

Fallout 4: The "Survivor 2299" teaser site

Okay, okay. We admit it. You got us.

Unfortunately, it has been revealed that the Survivor 2299 website was nothing more than a rather elaborate hoax, created as an attempt to get Bethesda to announce Fallout 4.

A fan named 'DCHoaxer' admitted he was behind the site, much to the annoyance of Fallout 4 fans.

"I wanted to force Bethesda to reveal something during VGx on 12/11, and bring /r/Fallout community together (for at least three weeks)," said DCHoaxer on Reddit.

Of course, this didn't work and

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GTA 5 for PC: Rumours and release date

Grand Theft Auto 5 will likely come to PC gamers in 2014. We take a look at the top 10 things we'd like to see in GTA 5 for the PC

Grand Theft Auto 5 is unquestionably one of the best games of this year, but right now it's only available on Xbox 360 and PS3. If past history is anything to go by, it's likely GTA 5 on PC will see release next year. With that in mind, we present T3's wishlist for what we'd like to see when Grand Theft Auto lands on PCs.

1. Smoother launch for GTA Online

Lost characters. Lost cars. Missing money. Changed genders. Crashes. Lost content. The launch of GTA Online contained more than its fair share of bugs. We’re hoping that Rockstar Games has ironed them all out ahead of the game’s release on PC and that history doesn’t repeat itself. If it does, it make take more than a stimulus package to quell the fan base.

2. Content creation

There have already been a couple of videos leaked showing off content creation tools in GTA Online. From the look of them, however, the content creation seems limited to designing races and deathmatch contests. Since the Heist missions were some of the biggest highlights in the game’s campaign, the ability to replicate them or design new ones in the Online mode would be brilliant. And speaking of content creation…

3. Mods

Dragons causing havoc. An elephant riding a bicycle. Doc Brown’s DeLorean tearing through the streets. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Gravity Guns. These were just a few of the things players glimpsed in Grand Theft Auto 4 thanks to the game’s awesome modding community. We’d like to see just as many crazy sights in GTA 5 – and it’s heartening to see that some players have already started creating them.

4. Social Events

Last month Rockstar Games held its first ever Social Club event in GTA Online, throwing beach parties, tossing out weapons packs and allowing players to interact with the game’s developers. We’d love to see a lot more of these types of events, with more mission packs and Heists planned as their centrepieces.

5. Tagging and turf

The last time we were in Los Santos – in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – we were able to mark our territory by tagging up parts of the environments. Since players are able to form crews in GTA 5 Online,

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Best games to buy for Christmas

Looking for something to get a loved one, a friend or even yourself this Christmas? How about a video game to go along with that new console or PC? There's certainly a stack of excellent choices that have been released recently, for all the major machines.

Pocket-lint has reviewed many of them and those we haven't for time reasons we've still been playing like mad to ensure that this guide features the best games available for purchase in stores. We've split them into genres too, so if you know the gameplay preference of the person you're buying for, you should be able to find a suggestion or two in the easiest way possible.

So, without further ado, these are the best PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, 3DS and PC games for Christmas 2013.

Best adventure games

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360, PC, Wii U

Ubisoft has adopted a pirate theme for the latest in its hugely successful series and the game benefits greatly from basing a lot of the action around the developer's excellent ship battle engine.

That doesn't mean the normal free-running and fighting shenanigans have been toned down. In fact, they seem more fluid than ever before and some of the scenery around the 18th century West Indies backdrop is simply stunning to just wander around for hours on end. The next-generation versions certainly look sharper and more defined than their current-gen counterparts, especially in 1080p on the

PS4, but the game is identical so nobody misses out.

Batman: Arkham Origins

PS3, Xbox 360, PC, Wii U

The third in the Arkham trilogy might not have the wow factor of the previous two, but it is a solid adventure for those who want some more Batman action.

This time it focuses on the period when Batman first emerged on the scene and has you face some villains for what turns out to be his first encounters. Including the Joker. The Gotham City open world landscape is huge and there are plenty of side missions and collectables to keep you engrossed in the single-player campaign. Multiplayer is great fun too.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

Nintendo 3DS

A new Zelda game is a big event round these parts and A Link Between Worlds does not disappoint. Not only has it got everything that makes the Nintendo RPG franchise great and good, but a new gameplay mechanic adds some brilliant puzzle moments.

Link can transform into a 2D picture and therefore blend into a wall. Not only can this help you avoid wandering foes, but you can wall across gaps in the landscape that you otherwise could not have traversed. The 3DS is still a major force in gaming, even if most turn off the 3D effect itself.

Best horror games

The Last of Us

PS3

It's hard to think of what else to say about The Last of Us that hasn't been said before. Quite possibly it is the greatest feat in storytelling in this generation of consoles, if ever.

The game will not be for everyone, certainly not for the squeamish or easily scared, but the zombie road story has heartwarming and touching moments as well as those that invoke sheer terror. The right combination of stealth, puzzle and third-person combat is complemented by some truly stunning vistas of a dilapidated America. Brilliant.

Beyond Two Souls

PS3

David Cage's Quantic Dream studio is a master at film-like visuals and scripting, and there is little doubt that Beyond: Two Souls is the best looking game on the PS3 to date.

Some might be less enthusiastic about the on rails interaction. It plays more like a movie you have a part in, rather than an actual game, but it is well worth the ride. Surprisingly, there are some genuinely scary moments, which is why it's listed under "Horror" here.

Dead Rising 3

Xbox One

Perhaps not a horror game in the sense of genuine shocks, Dead Rising 3 certainly would put the willies up those who are freaked up by zombies. There are thousands of them in Capcom's superb third game.

Using the Xbox One's power

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Best tablets 2013

The best tablets available to buy today

You're looking to buy a new tablet but are confused by all the options out there? If you're looking for the best tablets of 2013, then you've come to the right place. Here we will guide you through the hottest tablets from 7-inches and up, to help you reach a decision on buying the right device for you. 

Our list of top tablets covers all operating systems, sizes and price points, so you'll be armed with everything you need when choosing to buy. We'll be regularly updating this feature with the latest and greatest tablets we review, so you can see where the smart money is heading.

Run this question through your head: "Which tablet is best for me?" Think about size first and foremost, what you'll be using the device for and, therefore, how powerful it'll need to be. Is build quality your most important factor, or can you settle for a plasticky finish at a more attractive price point? Each question will impact which tablet best suits your needs.

The tablets market is vast and not all of it is brand, brand new. Refreshes are always on the horizon, but many tablets from back in 2012 remain strong in today's market. We’ll be regularly updating this feature with the latest and greatest tablets that we review - not just the current top 12 that we have listed - but only those we've reviewed and have passed our tests. That way you can see where your money is best spent.

Let us know what you think is the best tablet in the comments below - you may have personal preference or advice for others and we love to hear it.

12. Microsoft Surface Pro 2

The aptly named Surface Pro 2 is a lot like its predecessor but with

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