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One of the best games of 2024 is free on PS Plus in May

One of the best games of 2024 is free on PS Plus in May

Metro30-04-2025

Sony has announced the PS Plus line-up for May, and fans of dinosaurs, Warhammer, and deck builders will be very pleased.
While it's usually possible to predict what the biggest games of the year will be at the AAA level, the best thing about indie titles is they can come out of nowhere and steal the conversation entirely.
That was definitely the case for Balatro, a poker-themed roguelike deck builder created by solo developer LocalThunk, which went onto sell over 5 million copies and secure a Game Of The Year nomination at The Game Awards.
If you haven't yet been ensnared by its addictive qualities, Balatro will be available as one of the free games for PlayStation Plus subscribers in May.
The game will be available to both PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 owners from Tuesday, May 6 for anyone who is subscribed to the PlayStation Plus essential tier. While it's perhaps better suited to handheld devices like the Nintendo Switch and mobiles, it's worth taking for a spin on Sony's console if you haven't yet tried it – especially if you have a PlayStation Portal. More Trending
Other games about to debut include Ark: Survival Ascended, a revamped version of 2017 dinosaur survival sim, Ark: Survival Evolved, in Unreal Engine 5. The game launched in early access in 2023 to a mixed reception, and based on Steam reviews it hasn't changed much since, but it supports up to 70 players online if you fancy some chaos.
The final game on the May line-up is Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun, a retro first person shooter which is a fascinating curiosity – even if it does get repetitive after a while.
All of these games will be available to claim from May 6 to June 2, 2025. It's worth noting you can just add them to your library during this time and download them later, as long as you have a PlayStation Plus subscription.
You still have until May 5 to pick up this month's games, which includes RoboCop: Rogue City, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth – Hacker's Memory.
Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter.
To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here.
For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.
MORE: Titanfall 3 was 'almost finished' before 100 staff were laid off insists leaker
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Games Inbox: Is Mario Kart World better than Mario Kart 8?
Games Inbox: Is Mario Kart World better than Mario Kart 8?

Metro

time2 hours ago

  • Metro

Games Inbox: Is Mario Kart World better than Mario Kart 8?

The Monday letters page thinks that Sony has become the single format future, as one reader believes Microsoft is wise to delay the Fable reboot. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@ Close rivals I know they're both two quite different games, but this is the internet, so I want to see my favourite things fight. So I ask the question that I don't think I've seen a solid answer for: which is better out of Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart World? I do like World but I feel you have to be surprisingly picky in which game modes you play in order to get the same level of fun out of it as 8. I would say that if you compare content at launch than World wins, because all the Knockout Tour courses are different and there's a certain amount of randomness depending on how you link them together. But there's so many perfect courses in 8, where I literally can't see a flaw. The word perfect is all over the game and that's even before you add the DLC to the competition. So, I think 8 is the best. World might inspire a tenth game that takes the crown, but at the moment I don't feel it's quite there. The other question I've seen come up, with my friends and family, is if the Switch 2 has had as good a launch line-up as the Switch 1. Switch 2 has more games but I'd say Zelda: Breath Of The Wild and Snipperclips wins out over Mario Kart World and… nothing. Rory Money on the table I understand all the negativity around Xbox at the moment, and I do agree with it in terms of the basic facts, but I also feel they're more sensible than a lot of people give them credit for. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. Yes, they do still go on about Halo and Gears Of War as if they're the biggest thing ever, and it's still 2006, but they kind of have to. Those are the company mascots and it's not like they're going to admit they're tired and probably should have a rest. But I do think they're being sensible by delaying Fable and not talking about it too much. Halo and Gears Of War get endless second chances – or at least a lot of them – but Fable has got one chance to knock it out the park, especially given how much Microsoft must've spent on it, since it's been in development so long. Vendar PS: While I'm on the subject, why was there never a Halo vs. Gears of War crossover? Seems like that would've been easy money when both were at their peek. Proven plan I'm a little unclear on how exactly the PlayStation 5 has been so much more profitable than the others. They had to set things up with the PS1, and I guess they were securing their win with the PlayStation 2, then PlayStation 3 was a mini-disaster. But the PlayStation 4 was firing on all cylinders so I guess, since it's not really that different, they had an easier time making the PlayStation 5 and could see all the ways to save money on design and manufacturing with that. I imagine they won't ever tell us but that is such a massive difference between the generations it must make them so confident that they're doing everything right at the moment. Bugnut GC: It's presumably that, yes. You could also argue that by making less games they've saved money and made more profit. Email your comments to: gamecentral@ Slow start I appreciate GC tying up their Nintendo Switch 2 launch coverage with the round-up on Friday. I can definitely see how they lack of review codes must've upset both website and publishers hoping for a bit of free publicity. I doubt Nintendo thought about that side of things for a second. The console wasn't even out yet and already Nintendo was upsetting third parties. If some of them don't bother again then Nintendo will only have itself to blame. I will wait for reviews of Donkey Kong Bananza to make a final decision, but I think I will wait until next year to get a Switch 2. There's absolutely nothing in the launch line-up, other than Mario Kart, for me to be interested in, not even a little indie game or anything. It's very poor and while I understand the business reasons I think it's a disappointing start for long-term fans. Tacle Affordable retro Popped into CeX yesterday and safe to say, I think my money was well spent. After using my £6 store credit voucher it was overall a total of £12, for copies of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, and Kingdom Hearts. What do you say GC? Good haul? Shahzaib Sadiq GC: It's certainly hard to imagine them being cheaper. Unknown author Hot damn, Donkey Kong Bananza looks absolutely smashing. Remember that bit at the end of Super Mario Odyssey, where you briefly possess Bowser and proceed to wreck things up as you escaped with Peach? It's like Nintendo looked at all the frenzied fun that could be had from that exhilarating sequence and took the hulking destruction aspect to the nth degree. Therefore, I'm 80 to 90% certain at this point that the same developers, EPD, are behind the bonanza of joyously malleable, tactile and ambitious ideas seen here. Also, how gorgeous does the fur and facial expressions on the avid ape look? Galvanized Gamer PS: Bit of a long shot this, but what the heck: Inbox magic for Donkey Kong Jungle Beat to receive a ravishing refresh on the Switch 2, boisterous bongo accessories and all. It's time this marvellously manic platformer got the love it deserves! GC: The current rumour is that Bananza is by a new team (there are already around a dozen) within EPD, but Nintendo still hasn't said. Different scales I don't know how the rivalry between PlayStation and Xbox is going to play out, as I think the last two or three years have seen things nobody would've predicted even just five years ago. PlayStation games on PC? Xbox games on PlayStation? They would've locked you up! However, I can only imagine Sony execs hoping and praying that Microsoft do go all in on portable gaming, because if their idea of a good plan is a rebranded ROG Ally, that costs more than £500, I don't know what to tell you. Other than it could be 10 times more popular than the original and still not be a blip to the PSP, let alone anything from Nintendo. Loomis Don't panic! I agree with the Reader's Feature over the weekend, that said success has spoiled Sony. For years everyone sensible had said that without Xbox, or an equivalent, Sony would get lazy and exploitative and that's exactly what's happened. In a way, I can't even blame them. There's no business on earth that would be charitable enough to do anything different, certainly not Nintendo – as we saw in the NES days. If it wasn't for the Switch, and now Switch 2, being wildcards we'd now be in a situation where the fabled one format future actually came true. And it would have bene awful. Imagine Sony as they are now but with even less competition. Absolutely no one else doing similar things and nothing to push them or measure themselves against, and nothing to compare prices with. I don't know what Xbox is going to be like the in the future, given they're basically third party now, but PlayStation fans should hope more than anyone that they pull themselves together. You don't want them to dominate, you don't want anyone to, but that's not exactly been a problem for the last 25 years and I doubt it will be in the future. They don't have to win, they just need to pose a threat to keep Sony on its toes. Nintendo is not going to provide that. The Switch 1 outsold both the PlayStation 4 and 5 and yet we're in the situation we are now because Sony didn't care and didn't change anything as a result of it. If the Xbox had outsold both consoles, you can bet they would've pushed the panic button years ago. Instead, we get the anti-panic button, where they basically tell everyone to put their feet up and do whatever, because it doesn't matter. Melchett Inbox also-rans I can just imagine the call that Nintendo in the UK must've got from Japan on Friday, after that Metroid Prime 4 blunder. As usual there was no secret, it was just a dumb mistake. It's always just a dumb mistake. Fury Just starting playing Stellar Blade on PC and I really like it. That's good for me but it does seem like yet another reason not to buy a PlayStation 5. Don't really understand Sony's plan, even if it benefits me. Symode More Trending Email your comments to: gamecentral@ The small print New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers' letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content. You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader's Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot. You can also leave your comments below and don't forget to follow us on Twitter. MORE: Games Inbox: What is the hardest video of modern times? MORE: Games Inbox: Is the next gen Xbox a console or a PC? MORE: Games Inbox: What is the worst modern video game?

Brits warned over summer party gadget that can fry your phone and BREAK your camera – it can even damage your eyesight
Brits warned over summer party gadget that can fry your phone and BREAK your camera – it can even damage your eyesight

The Sun

time20 hours ago

  • The Sun

Brits warned over summer party gadget that can fry your phone and BREAK your camera – it can even damage your eyesight

PARTYGOERS have been warned over a popular dancefloor gadget that could 'ruin' their smartphone cameras this summer. Laser lights are a common feature at weddings, concerts and festivals. 5 5 But poor management of them can break your pricey smartphone. "I was at a party last night and the DJ had a laser light of some kind, whilst filming a friend... I noticed the image went all grainy and [a] pinkish/purplish colour," one Reddit user said. "I immediately stopped recording and quit/restarted the camera app, hoping it was a glitch but the image was still the same. "I then tried restarting my phone and also tried another camera app but the camera seems to have been ruined." The Reddit poster, u_JohnnieWalker-, says they own an iPhone 14 Pro, and shared images of what their camera looked like after the laser shined on it. Everything through the lens is fuzzy and awash with colourful hues. It might seem artsy and fun, if the issue wasn't permanent. Party lasers can fry camera sensors in smartphones because they are intense beams of light that can heat up the sensor. While it is uncommon, this can happen. They don't just damage smartphone camera sensors either, but traditional photography cameras too. Apple interview with Greg Joz Joswiak on new artificial intelligence, screening, hold assist, carplay, liquid glass and ios updates Sony urges customers to not directly expose their cameras to laser beams. "They may damage the image sensor and cause the camera to malfunction," the camera maker writes in a support page on its website. "If you're in an environment with a laser display, whether indoor or outdoor, with direct or indirect exposure (bouncing laser beams of a reflective object), the damage to the camera CMOS sensor is still severe. "This damage can also occur if your camera is off but not covered by the lens cap." Party lasers are not typically pointed into crowds, or at eye level, out of precaution. While the concentrated beams of light can damage cameras, they can also cause permanent eye damage when exposed for a long period. 5 LiDAR sensors found in newer cars can also cause the same invisible, but permanent damage. These sensors, which can detect objects and estimate distances, are used in automated driving and some safety features. A video that went viral on Reddit in April, from u/Jeguetelli, showed a Volvo EX90's LiDAR system ruining the smartphone filming it. Colourful specks start appearing on the screen, as the LiDAR sensor appears to be "frying" the camera in real-time. In both instances, the colourful specks and hue the camera adopts after laser damage will be there forever - unless you take your device to the repair shop. LiDAR sensors work by shooting a constant stream of infrared lasers out into the world, which a computer uses to 3D reconstruct the car's surroundings, including any nearby objects. While humans can't see these laser beams, camera sensors are very sensitive to them. iPhone tricks to try today Here are some of the best... Typing cursor – When typing, hold down the space bar to turn your keyboard into a trackpad, letting you move around words and sentences more easily Close all Safari tabs – To do this in one go, simply hold the overlapped squares in the bottom right-hand corner, and press close all tabs Delete lots of photos quickly – Hold down on a photo and then drag your finger diagonally in Photos to select lots of images at once, then hit delete Convert currency quickly – Swipe down from the top of your Home screen, then tap in the bar and type a currency (like €200) and it will automatically covert to your local currency Check if you're due a battery upgrade – Batteries inside smartphones degrade over time. Just go to Settings > Battery > Battery Health, and check out the Maximum Capacity reading. Generally a battery is considered worn when you're down to 80% capacity. If you're below, you can buy a battery swap from Apple Move apps around faster – Hold an app until it starts wiggling, then (while still holding) tap other apps, causing them to stack so you can move them around easier

Unrivalled success has ruined PS5 and the PlayStation brand - Reader's Feature
Unrivalled success has ruined PS5 and the PlayStation brand - Reader's Feature

Metro

timea day ago

  • Metro

Unrivalled success has ruined PS5 and the PlayStation brand - Reader's Feature

A reader is convinced that the runaway profits of the PS5 have convinced Sony that doing as little as possible is the most reliable route to success. There's a popular meme that's lasted quite a few years now, that's usually applied to China and states simply: 'Does Nothing. Wins.' I don't want to get into the sphere of global politics but it's pretty clear what it means, in that China's influence continues to grow simply as a result of letting the US make mistakes, while it sensibly stays out of it all. I think you can probably see where I'm going with this, but replace China with Sony and the US with Microsoft and I think you've got a pretty good summary of the current video game generation. I've been thinking about the comparison for a while now, but it seemed even more obvious this week, when Xbox blundered its way through another vague and unconvincing hardware annoucement, while Sony did absolutely nothing… except reveal that the PlayStation 5 has been more profitable than all the other PlayStation consoles combined. If we discount the PlayStation 3 (which is the only one not to make a profit) I think I can say with some certainty that nobody is ever going to count the PlayStation 5 as their favourite Sony console. It's increase in power has been almost entirely unproven and the promises about it were pretty sketchy anyway. It's also had far less first party games than the PlayStation 4, despite that being the peak of Sony's internal development – the sort of thing you might have expected them to build on for their next console. Add in the disaster that has been their attitude towards live service games and you'd imagine that they are being badly punished for their inactivity, not to mention their unwillingness to discuss any of this in public. Instead, doing nothing has worked out incredibly well for them. Not discussing things in public, which is always a risk, is going great so why bother doing anything else? The lesson the PlayStation 5 seems to have taught is that the less you do the more profit you make. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. This is because Sony now makes so much money from PS Plus and microtransactions that it literally doesn't have to bother with anything else. With Xbox no longer being a serious rival in terms of hardware, most people play AAA games on a PlayStation 5 and so all those skins and cosmetics and other rubbish from super mainstream games like Call Of Duty and EA Sports FC are being bought on PlayStation 5s, with Sony getting a cut of all of it. The majority of Sony's profits are not coming from anything to do with the things core or hardcore gamers like, it's all casuals wanting to play multiplayer games online, while wasting hundreds on microtransactions and complaining that all other games are too expensive. Sony doesn't need to engage with less casual fans because they already making money hand over fist. In fact, ignoring fans seems to make more (much more) money than even offering the odd olive branch. You want to know why Sony is so obsessed by live service games? Particularly online shooters. It's because they need PS Plus for you to play them and they're easy to fill with cosmetics you pay for with microtransactions. They're the opposite of single-player games, which is why we're not getting more of those and yet Concord's failure barely seemed to phase them. Sony has not stopped making proper games entirely. Ghost Of Yōtei is out this year and clearly they can afford the odd prestige single-player game to show off with and win awards. That sort of thing helps make the PlayStation 5 look more appealing, but with no competition in terms of high end consoles there's barely any choice anyway – it's PlayStation 5 or Switch 2 now and I think it's pretty obvious what the average COD and FIFA player is going to go for. More Trending It's all pretty bleak and depressing really. Good games will continue to be made – this year has been great so far – but not by Sony, or at least not more than once a year or so. The PlayStation 5 has been ruined by its success and, just as everyone predicted, a single format future, with no serious competition, has made Sony complacent and lazy. Unfortunately, the future is now and it's not very good. By reader Ashton Marley The reader's features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro. You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. Just contact us at gamecentral@ or use our Submit Stuff page and you won't need to send an email. MORE: Playing Gex again is a reminder of a simpler time for gaming - Reader's Feature MORE: Video games are great for my mental and physical wellbeing - Reader's Feature MORE: I'm going to say it: Mario Kart World is not as good as it should be – Reader's Feature

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