48 m. ago The Last of Us: Biggest differences between cult video game and hit HBO TV show

The Last of Us has just started rolling out season two, and it's supposed to follow the original PlayStation video game - but HBO bosses have made some major changes in the plot we've seen so far

Culture

4 h. ago Playing with words: why novelists are becoming video game writers – and vice

While the novel remains a high-status cultural form, video game writing is still seen as a throwaway art – despite some of the biggest names in fiction being involvedI’ve been working in games for a little more than 15 years, and the main thing I’d say about it at this point is that it’s a pretty annoying job to explain at parties. People often say something like, “Oh, I don’t really play games,” which is surely an odd thing to tell a game designer moments after you’ve been introduced; I don’t really eat croissants, but that’s not the first thing I bring up if I meet a patissier.So one of the joys of publishing my first novel last year was the option to sidestep all of that, and say: “Oh, I’m a writer.” I wrote a novel; I’m working on another one; job done, the conversation can move on. Nobody says, “Oh, I don’t really read books,” even though that’s at least as likely to be true. Continue reading...

Culture

17 h. ago Battersea rescue dogs stage 'cutest pitch invasion ever' in front of thousands of fans

The pet pitch invaders are waiting to find new homes after they unleashed themselves onto the screens of football fans tuned in to an online video game stream

Events

21 h. ago Britpop battle between Blur and Oasis revisited in ‘punchy’ new comedy

John Niven’s debut play explores rivalry between the two British bands who vied for the No 1 spot in the charts in 1995It was the great Britpop showdown in the summer of 1995, billed as a contest between cheeky chaps and lairy lads. Thirty years on, a new play is to revisit the fierce rivalry between Blur and Oasis when both British bands put out a new single in the same week and competed to grab the No 1 spot in the charts. Some purchased both releases, many couldn’t care less, but for a few days it was a decision that defined you: whether to spend £2.99 on Oasis’s Roll With It or Blur’s Country House?The Battle is the debut stage play of novelist and screenwriter John Niven who said of the era: “Music was so central to the culture that two pop groups could dominate the entire summer, the evening news and the front page of every newspaper in the country. We’re going to take you back there.” Continue reading...

Events

21 h. ago Meghan Markle blasted as 'cringy' after comparing Prince Harry marriage to popular video game

The Duchess of Sussex , 43, made the comparison as she spoke to her friend, IT Cosmetics CEO Jamie Kern Lima, in her first ever podcast interview released on Monday.

Politics

27 h. ago Watch as Battersea rescue mutts stage pitch invasion in live video game

It’s the cutest pitch invasion in history 🐕

Events

43 h. ago Who are the Seraphites? The scarred cult members in The Last of Us episode three

The religious sect will already be familiar to fans of the video game

Events

46 h. ago Playing to win: are video game movies replacing superhero blockbusters?

The record-breaking box office for A Minecraft Movie has been followed by a rush of announcements for more films based on gamesMargot Robbie and Sydney Sweeney are two of the most in-demand actors in Hollywood. As such, they’ve both logged their time in superhero movies of recent vintage (though Robbie’s turn as Harley Quinn is probably better-known than whatever Sweeney found herself doing in Madame Web). It feels notable, then, that in recent weeks they’ve both been connected to multiple projects based on video games. Robbie’s Lucky Chap plans to produce a movie based on The Sims; Sweeney, meanwhile, will produce OutRun, based on a 30-year-old arcade game, and has also signed to star in a movie based on the more recent hit game Split Fiction. Score a bunch of points for the gamers. Is the dawn of gamer cinema finally here?Regardless of this Hot Lady defection, superhero movies and other comics-based properties will likely stick around for years to come. Marvel still kicks off the ...

Culture

3 d. ago The Last of Us analysed as fans question if Abby dies in the video game

The Last of Us fans want answers about Abby

Events

4 d. ago Tory leader Kemi Badenoch gets financial boost as video game tycoon donates £2million to Conservative Party

The money from Jeremy Elliott, who is better known as Jez San, will give a huge boost to Kemi Badenoch's leadership, just days before challenging local elections.

Economics

4 d. ago Sydney Sweeney tipped for video game role with team from Deadpool & Wolverine

Video games and movies are getting closer and closer together, but a new report has suggested Hollywood star Sydney Sweeney will star in an adaptation of this year's Split Fiction

Events

5 d. ago Until Dawn review – efficient, if unscary, video game horror

A solidly made adaptation of the Playstation hit sees a group of twentysomethings stuck in a gory death loopA week after the release of Ryan Coogler’s unusual, artfully crafted horror Sinners, we are now back to the industry’s genre norm with Until Dawn, a schlocky video game adaptation that has far less on its mind. Such a drastic drop in IQ and ambition means there’s no serious comparison to be made here and this weekend there’ll be no real competition at the box office (Sinners is likely to remain on top) so such contrast does ultimately allow the film to stay within its own, sillier space, a deep-fried donut for dessert after a filet mignon entree.On its own, lower-stakes terms, Until Dawn is a passable, if rather unfrightening frightener, made with some skill and enlivened by a strong troupe of young actors, enough to notch it slightly above the piss-poor standard but not quite enough to really justify its existence. The game it’s based on has been described by the director Dav...

Events

5 d. ago UK restricts export of video game controllers to Russia amid use to pilot drones

Some 150 new trade sanctions against Russia have been introduced by the UK, aimed at choking off the Kremlin’s war effort.

Events

7 d. ago Jennifer Aniston reveals true feelings about surprise The Last Of Us cameo after Pedro Pascal dating rumors

Based on a popular video game, the HBO series stars Game Of Thrones alumni Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsay in a brutal post-apocalyptic dystopia.

Politics

7 d. ago How devastating Last Of Us death is different to game after heartbreaking episode

Pedro Pascal's much-loved Joel has met a grisly end in the TV version of The Last Of Us, but it was done a little differently in the video game the show is based on

Events

8 d. ago ‘The Red Wedding times a million’ – The Last of Us’s most shocking moment was a masterpiece

It was the biggest open secret in TV history – but even though millions knew it was coming, that death still stunned beyond belief. Now, can it really achieve the impossible and make us root for the killer?This article contains spoilers for the The Last of Us season two. Please do not read unless you have seen the first two episodes.When is a twist not a twist? This is a question many people will be asking after this week’s brutal episode of The Last of Us. Titled Through the Valley, it demonstrated more clearly than ever that the show has two types of viewer: those who primarily know it as a television series and were stunned beyond belief by the violent, unheralded death of Pedro Pascal’s Joel at the hands of Kaitlyn Dever’s vengeful Abby; and those who have played the video game on which it is based. Continue reading...

Events

8 d. ago Every James Bond Video Game 2025: Here are all 24 games in the official 007 gaming universe

Gamers have been stepping into the shoes of the British superspy for well over 40 years.

Politics

9 d. ago The Last of Us fans say they’re ‘robbed’ after ‘missing’ video game scene from season two

The second episode of season two didn’t follow its source material to the letter

Events

9 d. ago How The Last of Us season two’s major death differs from the video game

‘The Last of Us’ has just delivered one of the most shocking deaths in modern TV history, but how did they change it from the game?

Events

1 week ago ‘When medieval times return, I’ll be ready’: Bella Ramsey on friendship, fashion and The Last of Us

The young actor’s life has been transformed since they landed the lead role in what turned out to be a TV phenomenon. As the much-anticipated second season begins, they discuss growing up in the glare of fameBella Ramsey self-recorded their audition tape for The Last of Us at their parents’ home in Leicestershire and sent it off more in hope than expectation. Ramsey, who was 17 at the time, had never played the post-apocalyptic zombie video game on which the new TV series was based, but knew it was a big deal: released in 2013, it had sold more than 20m copies. It would later emerge that Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, the show’s creators, looked seriously at more than 100 actors for the role of Ellie, the sassy and quirky but also complicated and vicious American protagonist of The Last of Us. “Yeah, I’ve been told,” says Ramsey with a wry smile.When Ramsey got the first callback from Mazin and Druckmann, they joined the Zoom from their childhood bedroom. “I’ve gotten very used to ...

Events