Numskull Designs are proudly announcing new additions to our wide range of Xbox accessories and peripherals to enhance the gaming experience to the next level. Introducing a new Xbox Ceramic Mug, Wallet and Pattern Snapback to the already extensive range of apparel and accessories.

This is the perfect opportunity to gear up your gaming room and your wardrobe with Official Xbox Merchandise!

On the hunt for the perfect drinking vessel to game with? Then gear up and relish your next tasty hot beverage while you play with this awesome mug! Complete with an exclusive ‘Xbox Core’ design, this premium ceramic mug is a must-have for die-hard fans!

•Official Xbox Merchandise -Mug-SRP: £12.99/€14.99

Make your friends green with envy with this awesome Xbox Core wallet! Boasting a multitude of spacious compartments, you can store your coins, notes and cards with ease—or simply keep it aside as a neat gaming collectible! Made of durable premium quality materials, its design echoes that of the next-gen Xbox Series X consoles, with several logos and green designs throughout. Keep this in your pocket and you’ll never leave gaming behind!

•Official Xbox Merchandise -Wallet -SRP: £14.99/€16.99

Add to your arsenal of pro-gamer accessories with this awesome ‘Xbox Core’ snapback. Featuring a slick design with premium rubber ‘XboxCore’ details, this super stylish cap looks good on anyone’s head. Whether you’re wearing it out and about or just playing games at home, this is a must-have accessory for gamers!

•Official Xbox Merchandise -Snapback -SRP: £16.99/€19.99

For more info on the entire range please visit Numskull now!

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NUMSKULL GAMES ANNOUNCES SECOND NUMSKULL PRESENTS SHOWCASE THIS FEBRUARY.

Following the success of the debut Numskull Presents in 2020, Numskull Games airs the second edition of its online video showcase via the Numskull Games YouTube channel on Friday 12 February at 5pm GMT.

A must-watch virtual event for fans of gaming, the next edition will feature exclusive updates on upcoming titles launching this year, such as the highly anticipated Battle Axe and Bladed Fury, as well as exciting new developments on an unannounced game coming to Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Steam.

Giving back to its fans, Numskull Games is also offering some awesome exclusive swag for a few lucky competition winners, including Battle Axe Shadow Boxes and copies of Deadly Premonition Origins signed by series Director, Designer and Writer, SWERY.

“We heard the fan feedback from the first Numskull Presents and I think people will be really pleasantly surprised to see the line-up of titles that Numskull Games are bringing in the early part of 2021. We also have new games to show that will certainly please gamers from a wide span of gaming genres. I am really excited to be a part of this thrilling showcase that the team have put together and I’ll be on our social channels to answer any questions people may have after the show!” – Neil Flynn, PR and Community Manager

To watch the event head to the Numskull Games YouTube channel here.

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GAME MAD YOUNGSTERS SKIP MEALS AND SPEND UP TO TEN HOURS A DAY GLUED TO THEIR CONSOLES

• New study shines a spotlight on the nation’s gaming habits, revealing the lengths gamers go to keep their heads in the game
• Over half of gamers admit to forgetting to eat when gaming – with one in six admitting to going without food for over ten hours
• Four in ten also admit to regularly skipping breakfast and lunch when they are involved in a game 
• Study commissioned to mark the launch of Subway’s Send Out Subs campaign 

New research released today by Subway reveals as many as FOUR IN TEN 16 – 30 year-olds reckon they are OBSESSED with gaming – with one in ten regularly skipping work to complete a level. 

Over half (51 percent) admit to forgetting to eat because they are so immersed in a game whilst nine percent have gone longer than TWELVE hours without eating because they were so preoccupied. 

And lockdown could be to blame, with as many as 95 percent saying that working from home means they are playing more than ever. 

The survey of 1,000 regular gamers, aged between 16 and 30, found that while most play for around four hours on an average day, nearly half (44 percent) have pulled an “all-nighter” and played until morning. 

In fact, a dedicated 5 percent of the gamers polled said they spend up to 10 hours a day on their consoles.

Meanwhile new research from the University of Oxford indicates that those who play video games for a long period of time feel happier than those who don’t, and that gaming can boost wellbeing in a positive way.

In fact, Subway’s study indicated that 39 percent of gamers like to enjoy a game as a way to relax at the end of a long day, while 14 percent admit that they have gained friendships through being part of the close-knit gaming community.

Almost a quarter (23 percent) have refused to answer the front door and 14 percent have cancelled a date because they were stuck into a good game. 

43 percent admit they regularly skip breakfast and lunch. In fact on average they will go FIVE hours without food, if they are involved in a game. 

This is set to be a huge week for Britain’s 30 Million gamers with the launch of two brand new consoles Playstation PS5 and Xbox Series X and a raft of blockbuster games title releases including Assassins Creed Valhalla, Spiderman and Hitman 3.

Amazingly 12 percent admit that they have been dumped by a partner because of their love of gaming, while a further four percent admit they simply do not have time for romance, because their games console comes first. 

And if love is on the back burner, it appears work might be too, with 36 percent saying they think they would be fired if their boss realised how much work time they spend gaming. 

Angie Gosal, Head of Marketing at Subway, commented: “Our new research indicates that we’re clearly a nation of dedicated gamers – from those who play for up to ten hours a day to those who use it to unwind after a long day. More of us are getting into gaming than ever before, and it’s not difficult to see why – research shows we feel connected and happier while playing and enjoy feeling part of the gaming community. It’s a great way to boost wellbeing and relax at home.

“As the nation’s favourite sandwich shop, we want to help gamers ‘power up’ with our #SendOutSubs campaign and deliver sustenance with our delivery partners to reach their gaming goals!”

The survey revealed Glasgow is the gaming capital of the UK, with folk there playing 30 hours a week. This was closely followed by the people of Sheffield and Belfast who play 29 hours a week. Compare that to the time poor people from Leicester who can only spare 22 hours a week. 

Interestingly the data found that female gamers are more likely to cancel a date (14 percent to 13 percent), call in sick to work (9 percent compared to 10 percent) and forget to eat (55 percent to 46 percent) than men. 

Subway customers can use Mobile Order collection via the Subway app or order via delivery services including Just Eat, Uber Eats and Deliveroo. 

Subway have recently launched their festive menu which includes a Pig in Blanket Sub, mince pie cookies and Honeycomb Coffee and Hot Chocolate – available in stores nationwide, subject to availability. 

The post Gamers Can Get a Free Subway Sub This Week! appeared first on The Games Shed | Retro & Modern Gaming.

On the day before most people get their PS5’s in the UK, Sony has pulled off an amazing PR stunt in the centre of London. The stunt sees them taking over the signs of Oxford Street Tube Station, turning them into the famous PlayStation shapes ready for the ps5 launch.

Oxford Street Station is the perfect location for a stunt like this.

• It has massive footfall being in the centre of London
• It has four entrances on each corner between Oxford Street and Regent’s Street – Triangle, square, cross and circle
• It’s right next to the largest Microsoft Store in the country.

But the fun doesn’t stop there, the roundels on the walls of all platforms on the Bakerloo, Victoria and Central lines have been changed as well and the names of several Underground stations have been changed to reflect some of the release PS5 games.

The Oxford changes will remain for 48 hours, across 18 – 19 November, while the other Tube stations alterations will be available until 16 December.

This is a great example of marketing done right, it’s just a shame that it’s at a time where there will be less people in London to actually see it.

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Online retailer Zavvi have just launched their Mario 1985 collection of clothing and merch to celebrate the 35th anniversary of everyone’s favourite video game Italian plumber.

There’s only 7 days to snap up a few bits in the range with others staying on the site longer term.

Click here to view the collection

The collection features t-shirts, sweaters, hoodies, cups and bottles. Whilst not a great deal on offer here, the collector among you might want to make a purchase as they will be in extremely low quantity.

Let us know what you think of the collection – is it to your taste? Are you going to dive into the savings?

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All formats

Week ending 14/11/2020

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Vote Now for the Ultimate Game of 2020

Public voting is live for one week only in the 38th Golden Joystick Awards

Voting is now open in the Ultimate Game of the Year category for this year’s Golden Joystick Awards. The voting shortlist is only open for one week, so the public are encouraged to vote now for their game of 2020. Voting closes at 1pm GMT / 8am EST Friday 20th November.

Winners will be revealed in the new all-digital format Golden Joystick Awards show on Tuesday 24th November. The evening kicks off with the pre-show at 8.30pm GMT / 3.30pm EST with the awards following at 9pm GMT / 4pm EST on Twitch and YouTube.
 

The nominees are:
 

1. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
2. The Last of Us Part II
3. Final Fantasy VII Remake
4. Microsoft Flight Simulator
5. Crusader Kings III
6. Fall Guys
7. Hades
8. Half-Life: Alyx
9. Death Stranding (PC)
10. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
11. Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
12. Demon’s Souls (PS5)
13. Ghost of Tsushima
14. Ori and the Will of the Wisps
15. Factorio
16. Spelunky 2
17. F1 2020
18. Yakuza: Like a Dragon
19. DOOM Eternal
20. Genshin Impact

The Golden Joystick Awards are the world’s biggest public-voted games awards. Every year millions of fans show their support by voting for the games, developers, publishers and personalities who have entertained and thrilled them the most over the last 12 months.
 

Daniel Dawkins, Content Director, Games and Film at GamesRadar+ said:
 

“We’re thrilled to announce the biggest Ultimate Game of the Year vote in Golden Joystick Awards history. These 20 incredible titles reflect gaming’s broad diversity of genres and the once-in-a-generation launch of new gaming consoles. The Golden Joystick Awards are held in such special regard because they attract millions of votes from gamers worldwide. In 2020 more than ever, we want our nominees list to reflect the joy that gaming has brought us – the thrill of competition, community and adventure that takes us from our everyday lives – and give everyone a chance to support their favourite games. We’d like to extend our gratitude to everyone in the industry who has worked so hard to create and launch games in such a challenging year – and we’re sure people worldwide feel the same.”
 

Voting opens today and closes on November 20th 2020. For more information visit www.goldenjoysticks.com or follow The Golden Joysticks Awards on Twitter and Facebook.

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Boom Shakka Lakka! Insert Coin, the Ultimate Midway Games Documentary, Releases November 25 as Part of Alamo Drafthouse On Demand

Today, Cargo Film & Releasing — a global film sales and distribution agency — is pleased to announce the upcoming digital release of Insert Coin, a documentary focused on the history of Midway Games, a ragtag team of game developers with a simple punk-rock design mantra: “there are no rules.” Director Joshua Tsui’s Insert Coin takes viewers on a raucous ride with the studio’s iconoclastic designers led by Eugene Jarvis as they introduced the world to industry-defining games such as NARC, Mortal Kombat and NBA Jam that earned over a billion dollars at the arcade and remain pop culture touchstones to this day!

Insert Coin releases on November 25, 2020, as part of Alamo Drafthouse’s Alamo On Demand Digital Release and in independent cinemas nationwide.

Insert Coin is the authoritative insider Joshua Tsui’s love letter to Midway Games, where he worked on the Mortal Kombat franchise (and whose face was used for character Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat IV). A graduate of Columbia’s film school, Joshua also led efforts to introduce digitized video technology to an industry previously dominated by hand-drawn pixels.
 
Insert Coin features interviews with past Midway team members including Eugene Jarvis (Defender and Robotron: 2084), Mark Turmell (SmashTV, NBA Jam, NFL Blitz), John Tobias (co-creator Mortal Kombat series), George Petro (NARC, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Revolution X), and others. Also prominently featured are industry insiders Carly Kocurek (Coin-Operated Americans) and novelist and screenwriter Ernest Cline (Ready Player One, Armada). Insert Coin showcases the history of one of the most unique groups of game creators of the arcade and early console era.
 
“We’re thrilled to work with Joshua Tsui and his team to finally bring Insert Coin to fans,” said David Piperni, Founder of Cargo Film & Releasing. “Midway is so core to gaming’s DNA, and this documentary reminds us all of those great gaming moments from the past, right down to the sounds of Scorpion’s ‘Get over Here!’ to the ‘Boom Shakka Lakka’ of NBA Jam!”
 
“Insert Coin is the culmination of my work in and passion for the gaming industry blended with my love for visual storytelling,” added Joshua Tsui, Insert Coin’s director. “It truly is my love letter to the early days of Midway and how it influenced the transition from classic coin-operated games to ushering in a new generation of console gaming. I hope fans of video games, and especially of Midway, will love watching Insert Coin as much as we enjoyed making it!”
 
In the ‘80s and ‘90s, Midway Games took the world by storm with games such as Mortal Kombat, NBA Jam, Rampage, SmashTV and countless others. Led by Eugene Jarvis, an acclaimed game designer in his own right, the studio dominated the market with hit after hit. Insert Coin looks at both the rise and fall of Midway Games and everything in-between — from the creative personalities who brought Scorpion and Sub-Zero into the cultural zeitgeist to the games that introduced the iconic characters. Midway affected the culture – not just of gaming – but of public consciousness as a whole. Featuring interviews with the team behind some of Midway Games’ biggest hits, along with games industry personalities, Insert Coin is the definitive look at one of the most important contributors to gaming history. 
 
More info about Insert Coin is available on Facebook and the official website.

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UK Games Industry Calls on Parents to Get Ahead this Christmas by Engaging Family Controls on new Next-Gen Consoles

Parents and carers should visit AskAboutGames for helpful guides on setting up consoles and using family controls to manage spending and time in game

The UK Interactive Entertainment Association (Ukie) has today launched the Get Set Go! campaign, providing parents and carers with helpful set-up guides that will ensure families are well-prepared for the big day this holiday season.

Backed by the UK games industry and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Get Set Go! is a continuation of the Get Smart About P.L.A.Y. campaign which launched earlier this year to promote the importance of using family controls to set parameters around play and discussing your child’s playing habits with them.

The new campaign encourages parents and carers to GET their next-gen console ready before wrapping it up as a gift, SET family controls that work for their families and GO and have fun, safe in the knowledge that you have the controls in place to stay in charge.

Setting up new video game devices early, before they’re wrapped, ensures families can plug in and play without needing to worry about making  accounts and downloading large updates. This is also the perfect time to install family controls.

Guides and tutorials on how to set the new consoles up, and deploy the family controls are available at AskAboutGames.com, where parents can also find a host of helpful guides covering the range of games platforms out there, and guides to the biggest new releases for the family.

“We want every child to be safe online, so it is brilliant that UKIE’s Get, Set, Go! campaign will give parents and carers both the tools they need to protect children and the confidence to gift games and consoles this Christmas,” commented Creative Industries Minister Caroline Dinenage.

“Video game consoles take time and require care to set up properly, and Christmas Day doesn’t provide the ideal setting for doing all that,” commented Emma Kenny, one of the UK’s leading TV psychologists.

“Children are excited and impatient, so when the only thing standing between them and playing is a download bar… well you don’t need a psychologist to tell you that’s going to cause stress for the whole family. That’s why the video game industry is encouraging parents to set up new consoles and get them ready to play before wrapping them up for Christmas.”

The campaign will be supported by a new weekly podcast series. Hosted by tech journalist Will Guyatt, the series will cover everything families need to know about the new consoles, the must-have games launching with them, what parents and carers need to do before wrapping up a console and much more.

BAFTA-winning studio Sports Interactive will also be supporting the campaign by running Get Set Go! ads in Football Manager 2021, courtesy of bidstack, and over 50 publishers and studios will be amplifying the GetSetGo! messaging through their social channels.

“The launch of video game consoles and buying a new one at Christmas is always exciting for families, but we know that parents and carers can find it hard to get great advice on the best ways to play,” said Dr Jo Twist OBE, CEO of Ukie.

“Get Set Go! aims to give parents and carers across the UK the confidence to set-up new devices, as well existing consoles, in the way that works for them, ensuring everyone has safe and sensible fun playing games this Christmas.”

In addition to advice on AskAboutGames.com, there are lists of games for families on each of the new consoles on the Family Video Game Database www.taminggaming.com. This provides information on age ratings, numbers of players and in-game purchases to help parents and carers make an informed choice.
For more information on the Get Set Go! Campaign visit AskAboutGames.com.

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Plus Spin to Win prizes and more!

The celebration has well and truly begun over at Fanatical as the leading digital retailer kicks off its 25th Anniversary Sale, sponsored by Intel®.

The event, which is celebrating 25 years of gaming for Fanatical’s parent company, Focus Multimedia, will see thousands of Steam and PC game deals launch throughout the week from November 2nd. Some of the many unmissable deals from day one of the event include Resident Evil 3 (-55%), Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Gold Edition (-76%), Watch Dogs 2 Gold Edition (-80%), Metro Exodus Gold Edition (-66%) and Kingdom Come Deliverance: Royal Edition (-40%).

There’s also Baldur’s Gate: The Complete Saga (-66%), Civilization VI Platinum Edition (-60%), The Jackbox Party Pack 7 (-15%), Northgard (-76%), and Monster Hunter World: Iceborne – Master Edition (-34%). Plus, if you spend $5 or more during the 25th Anniversary event, you’ll get the chance to Spin to Win with spending sprees, coupons, free games, and gaming equipment up for grabs.

Aside from the Spin to Win, Fanatical is giving some of you the chance to win some awesome gaming prizes worth over $2,500 – including a suave gaming chair from noblechairs, a cloud gaming setup from Shadow, HyperX gaming accessories, a $100 spending spree with Insert Coin, and a 12-month spending spree on the Fanatical Store!

Every game that you purchase in Fanatical bundles or across the Fanatical Store, is officially licensed and rewards the hard-working developers and publishers who tirelessly devote their time and effort to making your favorite games.

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