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Using technology sufficiently advanced to seem like magic, it realises a child- like vision of what a game should be: it lets you fly literally anywhere on the entire Earth. We're blown away by it, and we think you will be too. Ke Twiter orienting “This month Putaplaneonthecove of anintemationlgames ‘magazneand noone iytar) LU} ee Soppedh ee OBI VALENTINE WANKGING EDITOR robinaletineBtaturent.com The PC Gamer team a iS ANDY KELLY JAMES DAVENPORT HARRY SHEPHERD Specalistin Specialist in tin TRerenetsmiten ——_Retnbireniews Rote toc snot, _engthr people wt as ripe 2rd todotngames Jeti fapine Uke, Decades. ‘Thismonth Thismonth {real ayes els 2 aycl0dheusct —— Saresbringran nine oacodgit isis” gpmpakicewthoat | aris Seoyeu gues omportctate senunajnotabe sloteteatheson dont have. ncentwerdof pnt 4 GENTE HoUDAY 2019 IPC GAMER! #325 HOLIDAY 2019 anwaengr at ek MY 10086 ehe1212378 0888 | Ema egemerepegnrercom omungamescom, facebookcom youtube.com spegemermagiaine | /ecuarre seamingWe build the world’s most advanced PCs. Experience a new level of performance with an award-winning Digital Storm PC. Cee a eee eee ana Pree a ae eee tae Fo ae Bi teencniretectin i=)Sale | #325 SUBSCRIBE TO I 7 a > ee \ Check out our Monitor 18 THETOP STORY AHearthstoneprooverestimateshis rll tacking sil. 0 SPECIALREPORT What paychlogiealimaactdoes Fortrwioraveonkds? 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REPORT Gir sorkinew battoreyalemode, MODSPOTLIGHT Beatarmerorasimein Slay the Spire. 96 DIARY Thefralpartot Hitman Lotto MUSTPLAY James bareshisgamingsoul Hardware 102 GROUP TEST. Thebest metherboardsarcun. TECH of ranotubes; SUYER’S GUIDE Builsyourperfect PC. GTAONLINE BORDERLANDS 3 Pee Skxyearson romitsoriginal Theiconiclootershooterretums launch wechattotneteamat | amdaswiringstermot Rocistaraboutthepest present, | cortroversy.Dossitrseabove,cr | Therightmotherboardcanbethe andfutureofatruemultiplayer | wallowinpoojekesandust Iynchpnofyourbul—butwaichis phenemenan, Sigitly-ioo-ldreferences? thebestonetor you? HOUDAY 2019 GEERNIGA 7CHECKMATE na little less than a year, the l Dota Auto Chess mod's ‘even making surprise cameos in other games’ tournaments. Hearthstone pro Linh Seikot Neuyen was playing a Grandmasters match against Elias Bozzztor wsin September and, during the course of the battle, made some eatastrophie errors that ultimately cost him the match, surprising the viewers ‘watching and his opponent. 5 CARNE oun 2019 Viewers could see that Nguyen vas distracted, and he wasn't watching the screen. Instead he kept looking down at his lap. He was so busy doing something else that he ‘was the last person to realize he'd lost. And it turns out that ‘something cbse was playing, Auto Chess “THE EXPECTATION IS THAT PLAYERS SHOULD BE ENTIRELY PRESENT” I VE pro caught playing Auto Chess during a Grandmasters battle 1 was obvious he was paying ‘more attention to whatever was on his lap, and he came clean about what he found so engrossing in a snon Twitter At the same tournament qualifier. “Trying to play in two tournaments simultaneously might have been a told move, bt his ick of professionalism also drew a lot of criticism. Hearthstone Grandmasters is meant to represent the very best of Hearthstone, so theres an expectation that competitors will be committed— ‘or a least not playing an entizely different game during alive match,NEW STEAM LIBRARY ROCKSTAR LAUNCHER Valve has betaaunched Rockstar hasits own ‘ Steam’s new brary 'nice bespoke launcher. The tosee mycalection Be precered narreinsutve Luncher nas eloud ‘way. andllike the sparkly glowyouget | saves, automatic updates, anda shop around rare achievements. mak ‘matching Steam prices~but why? 76 Rockstar Games LEFT Hearthstoneie onthesimple, corse side coes-butit ot that senpe ABOVE: Nawyen twa the last torelioe thathedmades hugemmistate ‘Nguyen did make an apology, but it was mostly for nat being zood enough to win both matches “I really thought I had enough practice, that I could handle playing both games without paying too much attention to Anio Chess” he wrote on Twitter, “Unfortunately it took too much attention though, which didn't end up well in lly punished for this and regret ‘evaluate the situation correctly LESSON LEARNED? Neuyen actually informed Blizzard that he was competing: in the Auto Chess qualifies, but not that he was going to be playing in both matches simukancously. Blizzard's Drew Higbee clarified that it wasn't acceptable, but was aso the result ofa miscommunication, “We didn'einzend for him to play direetly over a Grandmaster event, and mistakenly understood that Seiko ‘would play the Hearthstone matches and wore this around the other tournament he was participating in,” Highee said. “The expectation is that players should be entirely present for their Grandmasters Matches, That being said, we acknowledge and apologize that our response to Seiko obviously engendered confusion and our ation will be more clear in [Neuyen ultimately chose to drop out of the Auto Chess qualifier, giving ‘up on his shot atthe $1,000,000 prize. Like an sports Tearus, it seems he flew to clase to the sun, Fraser Brown, Luke Winkie BANDERSNATCH Black Mitra’ interactive I exttyhas won an Emmy, and BB it doesnt stright ith me. it 7 "PE feels like Bandersnatch disquisa pretty basic adventure game as aTVepisode.m RV HOLIDAY 2019 AGENT 9FORTNITE EFFECT It's all kids want to play. But what's F ‘kids, Fortniteis still the game of the ‘moment. Not that this comes as any surprise, since it has everything going for it. It's free, its immediate, tension-filled, complex, rewarding, and every season adds ‘events and new features to explore. It’s a good game! And like every game kids love, many parents are terrified by it A vist to the UK parenting forum Mumsnet immediately surfaces threads such as, “Does Fortnite turn ‘your kid into an arschole oo” and “"P'#@ing Fortnite ruining our lives". They describe their kids “turning into ‘monsters while playing, and achieving lower grades. As a parent to one tween and an early teen, Iean't help but ‘understand their concerns. 'm not quite so angry or fearful, but Pve found Fortnie has introduced new tension into my household, and it’s made me realize that ry attitude to my kids playing games like its a lot less Ihissez-faire than T ever thought it would be. 1's useful, however, to remember that today’s games are very diferent to the ones we probably grew up with “They're no longer tied to the living room TV or office ‘computer, which naturally limited the time we could spend playing. Fortnive can be played anywhere there's an internet connection, and its also endless, designed to hold its players in indefinite reward loops, and does everything 10 (CAEN HOLIDAY 2019 NITE doing to them? it can to soll Battle Passes, costumes, and whatever else. And, being nnuliplayer it potentially exposes kids to the ‘worst of online behavior Twonder what al this is doing to kids. The truth, however, i that psychologists don really know. “have not seen any research looking at the effects of playing those kinds of games” says research psychologist Dr Rachel Kowert, who is research director of Take This, charity that promotes mental health for gamers and the industay She's come across research around the design of Toot boxes, which has generally found that they have the same psychological effects as gambling. “And there's research about instant gratification, and games really play (on, Oh, you could have that if you just buy this one thing But I haven't seen any research on whether it has some kind of psychological effect on players themselves” ‘After all,loot boxes are only one reflection ofthe power modern games have over your kids’ time and attention, For Kourash Dini, a psychiatrist and author of Video Game Play and Addiction: A Guide for Parents, games are among many other digital services that hammer notifications to their users. Fortnite’s notifications for invites and friend requests are also reminders that their friends are playing without them, keeping the game close, ‘even when its not running, I's this aspect of Fortite ‘which has provided many flashpoints in my household. nat age shou shld plsyngsgame the Frnt Ine rates Boards FeBland SR deem? andl, respective. met forts feictonsof| Witenes But Parents shou Bsoconsier thes biiesto Understand when Sgamesseaire {othem, hen tompulionto ploy stoking bret rom Pleasure, nd tien to walk ay om tncarertabe Seca stustons.