Key Note Gaming

I thought I was only going to play five or six hours of ARC Raiders on launch day before sitting down to write this initial review in progress, but after just a handful of matches, I suddenly couldn’t pull myself away – and before I realized it, I’d been playing for 10 hours. This is without question the most hooked I’ve found myself on an extraction shooter (and I’ve played a lot of them), with clean and tense gunplay, a progression system that’s been incredibly satisfying so far, and a loot game that has me sweating over what to put in my backpack and what to leave behind. I’ve still got loads more to do and see before I can draw any final conclusions, but what I have played has made an incredibly good first impression. ARC Raiders follows the usual extraction shooter formula of dropping you into a zone to take down NPC enemies and scramble for loot, all while looking over your shoulder for rival crews who would love nothing more than to crack you open like a meat pinata and take...

Not only does November bring cooler weather, but it also offers an entirely new batch of PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, and PC games to entertain us. We're on the tail end of the big games of the fall, but the year isn't done with us yet. This month we get big releases like Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, Kirby Air Riders, and perhaps most importantly, Terminator 2D: No Fate. Read on to see release dates for all the biggest games and expansions coming out this month and beyond. Let's have a look. If you're the preordering type, you can click the links for the platform of your choice to see the game at Amazon (if available). November 2025 - Video Game Release Dates Tavern Keeper - November 3 - (PC) Age of Empires IV - November 4 - (PS5) Europa Universalis V - November 4 - (PC) Football Manager 26 - November 4 - (PS5, Xbox, PC, Mobile) Satisfactory - November 4 - (PS5, Xbox) Biped 2 - November 5 - (PS5,...

Battlefield 6 players are trading theories about Easter Eggs and future updates after one fan discovered a mysterious hidden room in the firing range. Speculation about EA and Battlefield Studios’ secret room began after Reddit user Mobile_Cyberdemon_as shared footage of their character clipping into a previously undiscovered, hidden area. The unlit space is tucked behind the cramped weapon testing room, with only a sealed door — which features a red “keep door closed” sign — hinting at its existence. Hidden room in the shooting range by u/Mobile_Cyberdemon_as in Battlefield After a few minutes of trying (and lots of awkward crouching) on PlayStation 5, we were able to recreate the moment seen in the clip and confirm the hidden Battlefield 6 room exists. We can also confirm this mysterious hiding spot is, unfortunately, pretty boring, as it only features little more than a workbench and an empty gun rack. It’s easy enough to see areas like this and assume they are simply un...

Pokemon Legends: Z-A is getting an update that will make rewards from Ranked Battles, specifically a desirable set of Mega Stones, much easier to obtain. In an official news post , The Pokemon Company revealed that at the start of Season 2 of its online Ranked Battle mode, players will be able to receive Greninjite at Rank Y, and Delphoxite at Rank S. Previously, in Season 1, players had to achieve Rank K to receive Greninjite (Delphoxite was not yet available). This is a pretty big deal, as the difficulty of obtaining these Mega Stones has been a point of criticism from the community ever since they were first announced as rewards. The trio of original Kalos starter Pokemon: Fennekin, Froakie, and Chespin, are available fairly early on in Pokemon Legends: Z-A, and all three of them have new Mega Evolutions. However, those Mega Evolutions can only be unlocked via the items obtained as rewards from online Ranked Battles, and aren't available in the story campaign at all. This wa...

Back in 2020, Blaze Entertainment made a splash in the retro gaming market with the introduction of the cartridge-based Evercade platform . Ever since, the platform has grown to include a variety of handhelds , consoles , and bartop arcades , along with more than 650 games across 78 – and counting – cartridges. In late 2023, the company created the new brand HyperMegaTech to release a series of simpler GameBoy-like handhelds with built-in games, which also happen to accept Evercade cartridges. As with the growing number of other Evercade-compatible devices and cartridges, the Super Pocket series is already up to a half-dozen variations. Although the Super Pocket series may not have the best screen size and resolution, or the most ideal controls for every game, it's still a value-packed portable companion, filling a completely different market than a handheld gaming PC . However, depending upon your gaming preferences, certain models may prove better values than others. HyperM...

A new Pokémon TCG deal as appeared in the wild, this time it's the Mega Evolution-themed Mega Latias ex Box at market via Amazon. That means $37.30 for two Mega Evolution, one Destined Rivals and One Journey Together boosters alongside a very playable promo Mega Latias ex card and not-so playable jumbo card. Pokémon TCG: Mega Latias ex Box The Best Pokémon Cards you could pull from Mega Latias ex Box It's really awesome to think about the chase cards you have a chance of pulling in this ex box, but that chance is usually quite slim. If I have a chase card I'm after and I don't have packs to rip off-hand, I usually check out TCGPlayer for the best price and sort myself out that way. Considering booster boxes for any set are going near or over $200 right now, you'd be suprised at how much money you'll save over opening booster packs. Here's the top ten Pokémon card you can pull right now from mega Evolution, Destined Rivals and Journey Together, their v...

Capcom has opened preorders for Resident Evil Requiem and in doing so confirmed the various editions of the game and their bonuses. Preorders come with the Apocalypse costume for playable character Grace. It rekindles memories of 2004 movie Resident Evil: Apocalypse, starring Milla Jovovich as Alice. The deluxe edition, meanwhile, includes five costumes, one of which is Lady Dimitrescu for Grace, and two screen filters, one of which is Apocalypse. You also get four weapon skins, two charms, a custom sound pack (Raccoon City Classic), and additional in-game files (Letters from 1998). Lady Dimitrescu is of course the star of 2021's Resident Evil Village, a character who broke out from the confines of the franchise to become a genuine mainstream hit in the run up to the game's launch. The gigantic vampiric monster, played by American theatre actress Maggie Robertson, ended up fronting Capcom's Resident Evil Village marketing campaign, such was the excitement online abo...

Battlefield 6 Season 1 is here, and players have already turned their attention to one major issue: Blackwell Fields. The California sun-soaked fields of EA and Battlefield Studios’ first new post-launch map are home to an army of oil pumpjacks, smoky hills, and an orange tint that blankets every scrap of metal and radio tower. It also happens to be what some believe is “ hands down the worst map in the game ” if not “ the worst map in BF history .” This week's Season 1 launch was meant to be the first in a long line of exciting moments for Battlefield players. Instead, it’s kicked off seasonal updates on a sour note, as fans flock to criticize Blackwell Fields as a wasteland that suffers from a lack of cover for infantry and vehicles alike. “I can't count the amount of times I spawn on this map and instantly have direct vision of the enemies capturing points,” one dissatisfied Battlefield 6 player said. “You get shot at from every angle on this map, there's never ...

RuneScape developer Jagex is considering removing one of the game's least popular, yet most pervasive, layers of microtransactions. But instead of just making the decision itself, it's letting its entire playerbase vote on whether or not to ditch them entirely. Oh, and the vote is definitely rigged. But it's...rigged in the players' favor? Currently, the modern version of RuneScape (also known as RuneScape 3) features a number of different types of microtransactions, including a major feature called Treasure Hunter. Very basically, Treasure Hunter allows players to obtain keys in various ways, which are used to open treasure chests and receive items of varying rarity. Though it is possible to obtain small numbers of keys without spending money, far more are obtainable for players who spend money on the game. Over time, this has led to players complaining that Treasure Hunter is essentially a pay-to-win mechanic, since players can obtain items that give them large am...

After a few long sessions since yesterday’s surprise launch of Battlefield REDSEC, the free-to-play battle royale spin-off of Battlefield 6 , it’s clearly coming after other grounded-ish military battle royales like PUBG and Call of Duty: Warzone . Hiding a fun mission structure within its streamlined familiarity — as well as an entire non-BR game mode — I’ve had the most fun when its map, called Fort Lyndon, is used to push the boundary beyond the requisite ever-shrinking storm. I still need some more time in the fray to nail down a final opinion, especially since most of the random squadmates I’ve matched up with in the main BR modes haven’t exactly been playing as a team. But for now, the squad-based, elimination-driven, free-for-all Gauntlet mode has impressed me more than the battle royale option itself. With destructible environments, the ultimate buzzword ( levelution ), powerful vehicles that can alter the tide of battle or serve as fun chokepoints, and a baked-in squad sys...

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi is once again championing the infamous "yellow paint" to guide players, saying "there is definitely a need" for it. Using yellow paint on ledges and walls to indicates a traversable area in a video game has been a hot topic among players ever since its rise in popularity in the likes of Uncharted on PlayStation 3 . Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth uses this tactic too, with players sharing their thoughts on it and leaving Hamaguchi himself surprised about the debate it stirred at the time. In a new interview with GamesRadar+ , Hamaguchi said he understood there are some people who don't want or need the yellow paint, but insisted that it was necessary. "I get there is a debate about that, whether that fits with that world or not, whether some people want it, some people don't," Hamaguchi said. "I think as a game, there is definitely a need for that kind of thing in a lot of ways. I think obviousl...

Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding developer Hideo Kojima says he was "surprised" to read that the creators of The Matrix wanted him to develop a game based on the franchise, insisting: "no one ever told me such a conversation had taken place." Yesterday, IGN reported that The Wachowskis, the writers and directors behind the Matrix movies, once asked Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima to design a Matrix video game, but publisher Konami reportedly turned it down . "The Wachowskis were big fans of Kojima," Konami Digital Entertainment VP of licensing, Christopher Bergstresser, said. "So Kazumi Kitaue, Kojima, Aki Saito (who still works with Kojima), and I were at the Konami HQ, and we got a call from the Wachowskis, who wanted to come in and meet with Kojima. So they did! "The two of them came in with their concept artist, and effectively they said to Kojima, ‘We really want you to do the Matrix game. Can you do that?’ Aki translated this int...

It's hard to imagine what first-person shooters would be like today, if they were to exist at all, without the original DOOM , released back on December 10, 1993, for MS-DOS. A lone super soldier, the legendary Doom Guy, fending off the hordes of demons from hell is one of the defining images of PC gaming, and the series continues to shock and amaze fans to this day with every new gory entry. Now, Modiphius Entertainment is bringing DOOM to the tabletop with the upcoming Doom Arena Board Game, now on Kickstarter , and I had a chance to get some time with a prototype to see just how well I could rip and tear in my dining room. While Doom Arena isn't the first cardboard adaptation of the series, this latest rendition is a bloodbath contest between one player controlling Doom Guy and the other controlling the demons. Taking place in – you guessed it, an arena – the two players maneuver their plastic forces around the hexagon grid-based warzone, competing to see who can dish ou...

Harry Potter is one of those franchises that has now infiltrated pretty much every medium. There are endless Harry Potter gifts for every type of fan out there, but if your specific interest is in puzzles, there's some serious variety available to you. Just a quick search for "Harry Potter puzzles" will drown you in options from various brands that can take a while to sort through. TL;DR – These Are the Best Harry Potter Puzzles As a fan of both Harry Potter and puzzles, I have taken it upon myself to help you find the right Potter puzzle for you. Below I've gathered some of my favorite adult jigsaw puzzles with a Harry Potter theme, as well as some great options for kids. I've also included an awesome model kit that makes for an exciting 3D puzzling experience. Marauder's Map Puzzle The Marauder's Map is one of the most recognizable items from Harry Potter lore. From Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, this puzzle looks like the full map fro...