“Ladies and gentlemen, this is proof! ANYTHING can happen in the World Wrestling Federation!” - Jerry “The King” Lawler No truer words have ever been spoken in the history of pro wrestling. WWF’s Attitude Era was a time when the company decided to do amazing things. There were no rules: wrestlers got injured on the mat and outside the arena by being thrown from the top of 30ft steel cages, being powerbombed through multiple tables and getting suplexed through breakaway glass that didn’t always break. The writers were having a field day creating the storylines that would become legend and also, the machine was still called the Federation. It was the place where Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Undertaker, Triple H, The Rock, Mankind, Degeneration X, and so many others would create the electricity that still powers a fandom to this day. It's no surprise that sites covering the entire Attitude Era are still running, especially now that so many fans feel the WWE has put marketing ahead of mayhem. It was during this time that this game - THE wrestling game - was released. WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role was the first wrestling game I had ever played outside of an arcade and I hit the jackpot in a huge way. This was the first wrestling game that allowed this much freedom in character creation. It was like Skyrim for wrestling fans, and design I did. My character would be called Apocalypse - The Undertaker in every way but name - and he was an extension of my long-held dream of one day entering the squared circle. I made him a power/technical wrestler, though I could have chosen speed, or roughneck as well. Based on five chosen character traits from any of 226 possible choices - including alliances, proficiencies, weaknesses, former occupations and nicknames - I was allotted the points that would go into making my fighting machine. It was an interesting moment, getting to decide what finishing move I’d chose. Then I looked at the damage bars and started to feel my inner nitpicker rise. How is a The Rock’s People’s Elbow - a protracted dance into an elbow drop - more damaging than an elevated powerbomb? How does dancing a jigg over your now clearly embarrassed opponent and then falling on them, release more destructive force than being thrown on your head from seven feet up? So… People’s Elbow it is then. Having created my character, I entered the Season and so began my road to wrestling glory! Right, here we go! Monday Night RAW! Why the hell am I not on the roster? *sheepishly scans the manual* Ah, I have to find myself (very zen) in the rankings and enter my name under the belt I’m going to go for. Right. Surely this could’ve been a part of the setup? But its fine. I’m still gonna wrestle! Back to the Season… RAW! Cool! Seriously, where am I? I scroll through the list of matches and, nope, no me. Oh well, at least I can skip through the matches. What follows is me repeatedly saying Skip Match, then seeing headshots of the wrestlers of those matches appear with powerbars showing how their match is going. This can last up to 30 seconds a time. Just as I’m reaching for the reset button, wait! I’m starting some kak with Hardcore Holly? Okay, a backstage fight, let’s wrestle! 30 seconds later, I realised I’m rubbish at fighting. My character looks good, but oi, the beating. And I’m losing to Bob Holly. Bob ‘Spark Plug’ Holly! Bob ‘Please Take Me Seriously Now That I’ve Called Myself Hardcore’ Holly! I finally get the upper hand, I get him into position for my finisher and… and what? Not working?! Oh right, there are no ring ropes to bounce off of. Nice, The Rock. Ruiner of Moments, The Rock! Stupid finishing move. Making a mental note to chose a Stone Cold Stunner, I stand there awkwardly for a moment and then do a normal elbow drop instead. The game decides it's had enough and cuts away to the actual wrestling matches. Thank you. Way to build my confidence. I decide I best get some practice in before embarking on the road to Wrestlemania. The Exhibition section allows you to try out any and all of the types of matches you’ll encounter. You can have your own Royal Rumble, Battle Royal (yes, it was here before The Culling and PUBG), King of The Ring Tournament, weapons matches, and on and on it goes. I started off with something simple, and I quit match; I learned that no matter how long you tap dance on someone’s ribcage, there’s no referee so no one let me out until I quit… I then made a second mental note to add a submission move to my abilities… Or at least learn where my submission moves are. I really liked the Slobber Knocker match, where you see how many opponents you can defeat before time runs out. A great workout too, my thumbs haven’t looked this good in years. After many moons of play, not only had I earned the WWF Heavyweight Title (Smell that, Rock), I had made it to the end of career year one and Wrestlemania. The lights, the music, the glory. I arrived as the champion and I left the same way: standing on the top rope, hands raised, a crowd cheering me on. After the cheering subsided, I saw there was still a ton of content I hadn’t unlocked. A little Googling told me that all the content would be available if I made it through my fifth career year and won my match at Wrestlemania… I quit! PROS: Intricate character design. Playing the storylines of The Attitude Era. Four player Multiplayer. Iconic wrestlers you can use right away. Those intro videos. Fighting. Anywhere. Tables and Ladders and Chairs, Oh My! Yukes! choosing content over repetitive commentary. NITPICKING: Why no playable Big Show? Loading Screens… For everything. Stupid, over-powered, only-works-in-the-ring People’s Elbow. So many matches to skip, so little time. I can understand why this game got the accolades it received: "The best-selling combat sports game on a single format (PlayStation) with 3.2 million copies sold. 90/100 on Metacritic." It also had a few sad moments. It marked the last time Chyna appeared in a WWF game or in the federation, with her leaving for good a few months after its release. For me, if anything, its a great snapshot of when dreams were more tangible and heroes weren’t rated PG. Whatever The Rock was cooking, it smelled of nostalgia. And it was good.

With Apex Legends kicking off in full stride, we are already at Respawn Entertainment's fingertips, patiently awaiting new content to be introduced. Well, there are already a handful of people digging through data for clues and giving us things to look forward to. The latest leak suggests a whole new mode and characters coming to the game. According to RealApexLeaks, there are two new legends and a mode coming to the game. The first legend is named Octance, utilising a Stim Injection ability that probably increases movement speed. The second character is known as Watson, who comes equipped with a Tesla Trap. This is probably another trap character, similar to Caustic, but with electricity. The Survival Mode, on the other hand, reveals little-to-no information about itself. We will have to wait and see what this mode has on offer, but it sounds like a solo-based Battle Royale mode, given the game's nature. Apex Legends is now available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

A little over two months ago, a retailer leaked The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt as a Nintendo Switch release, causing many fans to speculate over whether the critically acclaimed RPG would be heading to Nintendo's console. Developer CD Projekt Red did not comment on the matter, though a new report has surfaced that may give us a bit more to speculate about. A recent job listing at CD Projekt Red for a Head of Software Engineering at GOG Galaxy (GOG Galaxy being CD Projekt Red's game distribution platform) asks applicants to "imagine that game developers can connect players across GOG.com, Steam, Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch." That last part is particularly interesting as previous CD Projekt Red titles have not found their way to Nintendo Switch yet, though we hardly doubt that Cyberpunk 2077 will be receiving that treatment. Naturally, this led fans to theorize that they're secretly gearing up for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt to release on the Switch. While it might be a tremendous undertaking, the chances are pretty slim as the game was taxing enough on PC's at the time. Considering the gargantuan amount of content in the form of the game's expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood & Wine, many are questioning whether a port would even be possible. CD Projekt Red has not commented on the matter, though if this job listing is to be believed, then it could be a possibility in the future. However, some have even pointed out that this could just be a port of Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales, a far less demanding game that would actually suit Nintendo's console pretty well.

Developer CD Projekt Red has been quite open about their upcoming RPG, Cyberpunk 2077. From releasing a full 48-minute gameplay walkthrough of the alpha build, to the constant stream of news regarding its open world and weapon systems. However, since we got a glimpse of how companions work in the extensive gameplay demo in the form of Jackie, a bulky hired gun (and presumed friend of main protagonist, V), we were left wondering if Jackie would be the only companion in the game. CD Projekt Red quickly cleared that up, responding to a fans question on Twitter asking if there will be female sidekicks. The developer stated the following: Jackie is one of companions that will just tag along during some missions. And he is just one of the few. To answer your question- there won't be female version of Jackie, but for sure there will be female companions that will show up during your playthrough.— Cyberpunk 2077 (@CyberpunkGame) February 11, 2019 It's good to know that we will have the chance to have a female companion tag along with us, though it seems Jackie will also be involved in a few mandatory missions - possibly in the opening leg of the game to get new players accustomed to the companion system. The devs did say that Cyberpunk 2077 will have romance options too, but it's still unclear if we'll be able to romance our companions apart from having them as an extra gun. Cyberpunk 2077 is currently in development, though no release date has been confirmed so far.