43 h. ago Scientists warn Enhanced Games athletes of heart attack risks and having libidos ‘killed off’

Researchers hit out at organisers’ claims of athlete safetyPaper also points to ‘evidence of psychiatric conditions’Enhanced Games competitors run the risk of their libido being “killed off” as well as a greater chance of heart attacks and psychiatric issues by taking performance enhanced drugs, leading experts have warned.Prof Ian Broadley, whose research has been supported by the World Anti-Doping Agency, and his colleague Martin Chandler, a research fellow who specialises in PEDs, also told the Guardian that organisers’ claims that banned drugs can be made safer if taken under medical supervision are “incorrect and misleading”. Continue reading...

Events

49 h. ago Makeup artists reveal the nine most iconic red lipsticks of all time

In a recent interview with the iconic makeup artist François Nars (more of which later), he told me “nothing transforms more instantly than a tube of red lipstick. Even with just a white T-shirt and jeans, red lips make you look and feel extraordinary.” And he is right, of course.

Politics

50 h. ago ‘Shakespeare would be writing for games today’: Cannes’ first video game Lili is a retelling of Macbeth

Translocating the Scottish play to Iran with help from the RSC, iNK Stories’ version focuses on a Lady Macbeth contending with an oppressive surveillance state The Cannes film festival isn’t typically associated with video games, but this year it’s playing host to an unusual collaboration. Lili is a co-production between the New York-based game studio iNK Stories (creator of 1979 Revolution: Black Friday, about a photojournalist in Iran) and the Royal Shakespeare Company, and it’s been turning heads with its eye-catching translocation of Macbeth to modern-day Iran.“It’s been such an incredible coup to have it as the first video game experience at Cannes,” says iNK Stories co-founder Vassiliki Khonsari. “People have gone in saying, I’m not familiar playing games, so I may just try it out for five minutes. [ ] But then once they’re in, there is this growing sense of empowerment that people from the film world are feeling.” Continue reading...

Politics

55 h. ago Haliburton and Pacers stun Knicks with wild comeback in Game 1 of East finals

Indiana rally for 138-135 OT win over New York in Game 1Pacers tie it on Halburton’s jumper at end of regulationThe ghosts of Reggie Miller were alive and well at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night – and Tyrese Haliburton once again played the role of Garden villain to perfection.Haliburton tied the game with a wild jumper at the buzzer in regulation, then helped Indiana complete an unprecedented 14-point comeback in the final reel to beat the New York Knicks 138-135 in overtime in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. Continue reading...

Sport

55 h. ago Haliburton and Pacers stun Knicks with epic comeback in Game 1 of East finals

Indiana rally for 138-135 OT win over New York in Game 1Pacers tie game on Halburton’s shot at end of regulationNew York suffer historic collapse in spite of Brunson’s 43The ghosts of Reggie Miller were alive and well at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night – and Tyrese Haliburton once again played the role of Garden villain to perfection.Haliburton helped Indiana complete an unprecedented 14-point comeback in the final reel, tying the game with a wild jumper at the buzzer in regulation, to beat the New York Knicks 138-135 in overtime in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. The Pacers now hold a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven-games series for a trip to the NBA finals after pulling off one of the most improbable finishes in playoff history. Continue reading...

Sport

69 h. ago Is the Nintendo Switch the best console of its generation – or just the most meaningful to me?

For years, the Switch has been a companion through life’s changes , gaming milestones and a lifeline to fun in chaotic timesThe lifespan of a games console has extended a lot since I was a child. In the 1990s, this kind of technology would be out of date after just a couple of years. There would be some tantalising new machine out before you knew it, everybody competing to be on the cutting edge: the Game Boy and Sega Genesis/Mega Drive in 1989 were followed by the Game Gear in 1990 and the Super NES in 1991. Five years was a long life for a gaming machine.Now, it’s more like 10. The Nintendo Switch 2 will be released in a couple of weeks, more than eight years since I first picked an original Switch up off its dock and marvelled at the instant transition to portable play. Games consoles often feel like they mark off particular eras in my life: the Nintendo 64 was the defining console of my childhood, the PlayStation 2 of my adolescence, and the Xbox 360 of the first years of my car...

Politics

3 d. ago Hollywood actors’ union files unfair labor charge against Fortnite maker amid ongoing strike

Union claims Epic Games replaced actors’ work by using AI to generate Darth Vader’s voice without noticeHollywood’s actors’ union filed an unfair labor practice charge against Epic Games on Monday, alleging the company replaced actors’ work by using artificial intelligence to generate Darth Vader’s voice in Fortnite without notice.The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists said Llama Productions, a subsidiary of the gaming giant, “failed and refused to bargain in good faith with the union” in the last six months. The company made unilateral changes to the terms and conditions of employment “without providing notice to the union or the opportunity to bargain” by using AI-generated voices to replace bargaining unit work, Sag-Aftra said. Epic Games did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago Upcoming games 2025: 27 of the biggest games to look forward to this year after GTA VI's delay

With Grand Theft Auto 6 now coming out next May, here are 27 games which you’ll be able to play in 2025.

Events

3 d. ago Win a game show, become a US citizen? We’ve entered the realm of the truly depraved | Dave Schilling

Pizza-making contests and a ‘gold rush challenge’ are among possible events in a pitch the Trump administration is reportedly consideringI guess Republicans really love game shows. Just a few days after Fox aired its “isn’t Trump wild” guessing game, What Did I Miss, it was revealed that the TV producer Rob Worsoff has pitched the United States Department of Homeland Security on a series premise he calls The American, which would give immigrants a chance to compete in a series of challenges for the prize of US citizenship. The actual process of winning citizenship is obviously too boring to film. Filling out an N-400 form? Snore. A written exam? I’d rather watch a dog eat grass. Skip all that and give us an obstacle course instead.People have stupid ideas all the time. My child thought it would be fun to squeeze lemon juice in his hot chocolate. He took one sip, almost barfed on the table, then begged me to order him another, lemon-less beverage. Stupid ideas are great, because most...

Politics

4 d. ago David Squires on moving scenes and mind games as Crystal Palace win the FA Cup

Our cartoonist on the joy, emotion and overthinking that made the Wembley final captivating for onceBuy a copy of a cartoon in our Print ShopDavid’s new book, Chaos in the Box: buy it now Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Deliver at All Costs review – madcap driving game goes nowhere fast

PC, Xbox, PS5 (version played); Studio Far Out Games/Konami Digital EntertainmentThis 1950s-set game offers a gorgeous, fully destroyable map but makes baffling decisions on how to use itDeliver at All Costs casts you as a delivery driver in the late 1950s, and it looks fantastic in motion. Almost everything on the map can be destroyed, and there is immediate fun to be had from causing merry mayhem with your truck, clattering through deckchairs on the beach or driving straight through the middle of a diner and watching it collapse spectacularly behind you. But there is a void at the heart of this game where the core hook should have been.We get a glimpse of its potential during a mission that sees you racing to catch up with a rival’s delivery truck before it can reach its destination. The aim is to manoeuvre alongside, and hold down a button so the crane on the back of your own truck can sneakily lift the package off their vehicle and on to yours. All the while, rival trucks are at...

Politics

4 d. ago Riccardo Calafiori has no 'regret' over Arsenal transfer after frustrating injury issues

Calafiori has started just six games in 2025 after string of injury setbacks

Sport

5 d. ago The moment that 'ended' Jack Grealish's Man City career: £100m man is told he has to leave

Grealish has found himself further down the pecking order this season, with the 39-cap England international having started just seven Premier League games - and only once in 2025.

Economics

5 d. ago MLB suspends Phillies closer José Alvarado 80 games after drug test

Alvarado tested positive for external testosteroneReliever is suspended for postseason, can return later this summerPhiladelphia Phillies closer José Alvarado was suspended for 80 games on Sunday after a positive test for external testosterone under Major League Baseball’s drug-testing program.Alvarado, among the hardest-throwing relievers, became the second player suspended this year under the big league testing program after Atlanta outfielder Jurickson Profar. Continue reading...

Events

7 d. ago Eurovision 2025 drinking game: 15 rules to make the song contest experience a little more fun

It's Eurovision time again and as much as we love it, it sure is a long night. This drinking game will keep you giggly enough to watch the whole show and still appreciate the sparkly outfits - but be sure to drink responsibly

Culture

7 d. ago Fortnite unavailable on iPhones globally after Apple rejects App Store release

Latest twist in a contest between iPhone maker and Epic Games over payments for hit game on Apple devicesEpic Games says Fortnite is now unavailable on iPhones and iPads globally because Apple blocked a bid to release the popular video game in the App Store in the US and Europe.“Apple has blocked our Fortnite submission so we cannot release to the US App Store or to the Epic Games Store for iOS in the European Union,” the X account for Fortnite posted early Friday – claiming that Apple’s move would now prevent the game’s iOS availability around the world. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago Farm Simulator: 16bit Edition review – the simple joy of ploughing your own furrow

Strictly Limited/Giants Software; Mega Drive It may be seem horrendously old-fashioned, but the seemingly dull repetition of working your wheat fields has a nostalgic pull like a combine harvesterWhen I got my first job in games journalism 30 years ago, I arrived just too late to review games for my favourite ever console: the Sega Mega Drive. Although a few titles were still being released for the machine in 1995, the games magazine world had moved on and all anyone wanted to read about were the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn. It was a bitter blow.Fast-forward to 2025 and a resurgent interest in producing new games for vintage home computers and consoles has led to Farming Simulator: 16bit Edition – a Mega Drive instalment in the hugely successful agricultural sim series. The passion project of Renzo Thönen, lead level designer and co-owner of Farming Simulation studio Giants Software, the game has been written using an open-source Mega Drive development kit, and manufactured in ...

Politics

9 d. ago Our 22 favourite Nintendo Switch games of all time to play before Switch 2 arrives

With Nintendo Switch 2 on the horizon, we've gone back over the last eight years of releases to pick out what we think are the best Switch games you can buy right now

Politics

9 d. ago PS Plus Extra and Premium May lineup confirmed with horror hit, shooters and anime galore

PS5 gamers have a whole host of games to check out this month on PlayStation Plus, with Sony revealing Five Nights at Freddy's, Sand Land, and Stalker coming to the service

Events

9 d. ago PS Plus Extra and Premium May 2025 games confirmed – Sand Land leads dry and dusty update

Sand Land and Soul Hackers 2 join PS Plus in the latest drop for Extra and Premium subscribers, giving players a heap of new titles to work through.

Politics