Read the full article on GamingOnLinux.
Star Wars: Galactic Racer, Fuse Games' take on offroad speeder rushes in a galaxy far, far, away, sounds more and more up my alley every time I hear about it. That's no different in a freshly published interview with Fuse founder Matt Webster and creative director Kieran Crimmins, which sees the pair chat about boost mechanics which sound a lot like the environmental temperature-sensitive system from PS3 racer Motorstorm: Pacific Rift.
The pair also made some interesting points when asked why they went for a more traditional track racer rather than an open world one with this game, and whether the latter's reached a point where it's a bit of a stale concept.
Developer: Pack-In-Video Publisher: Pack-In-Video Release: 12/22/89 Genre: Action I was never a fan of Knight Rider. I get that KITT was cool but in my opinion that is all the show had going for it. It says...
The post Knight Rider Special appeared first on Classic-Games.net.
Read the full article on GamingOnLinux.
Developer Playground Games is truly listening to fans to make Forza Horizon 6 a great experience. In previous games, notably Forza Horizon 4 and 5, cheating your way to the top was a fairly easy thing to do. The leaderboards in both of those games are full of some very questionable times and records, even for trivial stuff like danger signs. To fix, Forza Horizon 6 will implement day one anti-cheat measures, according to the Forza Horizon 6 UK account (confirmed by some developers on Discord).
CHEATS NEVER PREVAIL!
— Forza Horizon 6 UK
Forza Horizon 6 will have day 1 anti-cheat measures to keep the leaderboards clean!New exploit detection system
Open-world leaderboards reset weekly
All unrealistic scores removed from day 1
Remember the 200 mile danger sign scores from games… pic.twitter.com/LPOoILCwjx(@ForzaHorizon5UK) February 19, 2026
The developers are going aggressive with the anti-cheat measures, and you can’t blame them for it. To ensure that Forza Horizon 6 is fun and fair for everyone involved, there will be a new rigorous exploit detection system in place. All the open-world leaderboards will reset weekly, and any unrealistic scores on the leaderboards will be removed whenever flagged by the system.
You may be thinking, why would anyone even want to cheat in Forza Horizon in the first place? After all, it’s mostly a game about unlocking more cars and exploring the open world. Unfortunately, some people just can’t be helped, as it’s easy fun for them to jump to the top of the leaderboards.
However, it’s worth noting that while these anti-cheat measures are nice, there’s no official word on whether this will stop modded accounts with unrealistic CR, cars, and max levels. There’s a lot of flexibility on PC, and unfortunately, some of it comes in the form of mods that make the game unfair to other players.
It’s also worth noting that this means that Linux support will likely be limited. This obviously also extends to the Steam Deck. Again, no official word on this yet, but robust anti-cheat measures, such as the ones FH6 is incorporating, usually hurt Linux support.
Forza Horizon 6 releases on May 19, 2026, on Xbox Series X|S and on PC via Steam. If you are planning to pre-order it’s worth familiarizing yourself with all of the different editions of the game. Even if you’re planning to play through Xbox Game Pass, it doesn’t hurt to know what the Deluxe or Premium upgrades bring to the table.
Set to take players to a whole new festival, now located amidst the sakura petals and breathtaking sceneries of Japan, Forza Horizon 6 will be arriving on both Xbox and PC on May 19.
But what about us PS5 players? Where will we be able to take the road and see what the next installment has in store? Here’s everything we know about Forza Horizon 6‘s PS5 release, as well as a look at the exact time all versions of the game are expected to become availalbe.
Unfortunately, no news regarding the exact release date of Forza Horizon 6 on PS5 have ben revealed, although the version has already been confirmed to be arriving in 2026. True to that, it’s not out of the realm of possibilities to assume that the release is subject to a 6-month exclusivity to both PC and Xbox, and thus will only be arriving on Sony’s console around November to December 2026. In my opinion, however, I believe we will only have to wait a couple of months.
Even if no official confirmation has been given, it’s safe to assume that, like all Forza Horizon 5 versions, Forza Horizon 6 will become available on May 19, 12 AM local time on all of its starting platforms (Xbox Series X/S and PC). Keep in mind that it was already revealed that those who purchase the game’s Premium Edition ($119.99) will have access to the title four days earlier (on May 15). Apart from the early access, the Premium Edition also offers the following:
If you have already purchased the game’s standard or Deluxe editions on Xbox, you can still get access to all Premium Perks by purchasing the Premium Add-Ons Bundle for $59,99. The same applies to those who have a Game Pass Ultimate subscription. Just keep in mind that, if the subscription runs out, you will still need to buy the base game to play it.
Eifel Free Roam is coming to Assetto Corsa EVO later this year as part of the Early Access Program, introducing a new way to explore one of the most famous driving regions in the world.
The mode features a highly detailed recreation of the German Eifel region surrounding the Nürburgring, blending flowing country roads, dense forests, elevation changes, wildlife and iconic stretches of tarmac into a wide open driving experience. Whether players are cruising, navigating traffic or simply exploring, the road network is built to suit every type of car. A specific release date has not been announced.
Your ultimate companion for sports gaming. Access in-depth coverage, thoughtful discussion, and a community built around the games—and sports—you love.
Your ultimate sports gaming companion.
The area was originally planned for Early Access in summer 2025, continuing to grow over time, eventually spanning 1,600 square kilometers. The entire region is being laser scanned and recreated using new terrain technology developed by KUNOS with the open world launching in stages alongside additional features and content.
Beyond driving, players will be able to interact with local businesses, rent vehicles and upgrade cars using aftermarket parts. Real world businesses can also take part with car rental companies, auto parts stores and other automotive related brands able to appear directly within the game world.
.
Read the full article on GamingOnLinux.
When you play Forza Horizon 5, it’s not just a racing game. You experience a sun-drenched Mexico where you can endlessly explore, while every mile is celebrating car culture. For me, the game is perfect because I have spent countless hours obsessively building my dream garage in Forza Horizon 4. However, the game is not a rehash of familiar roads. There is a special electric feeling that keeps you wanting more.
Of course, Forza Horizon 5 is primarily about racing, but the main focus of the game is exploration. The map has humid jungles, arid deserts, sleepy villages, and wild coasts, and every inch of this virtual Mexico is begging you to drive. If you are like me, you will take every opportunity to drive off-road. In the past Horizon titles, when the standard was to buy cheap PS4 games, it always felt that the fastest way to earn points was to stick to the main roads. Here? Not even close. Smash a patch of cacti, throw your car into a riverbed, and charge down a mountain. The more reckless, the better. There is something amazing about skidding to a stop in a dusty cloud, yanking a barn door open, and finding an old car that is just waiting to be restored.
There’s something deeply intoxicating about cruising down a sun-drenched highway, the horizon shimmering with the promise of the unknown. Whether you’re drifting through a dense jungle, tearing through arid desert plains, or weaving through cobblestone streets of colorful villages, the world feels alive and personal. It’s not just a map—it’s an experience.
The team at Playground Games has designed a Mexico in Forza Horizon 5 that is not only personalized but also vast; a Mexico that has postcard views and a Mexico that has little treasures begging you to stop and appreciate. Every little detail is accounted for, like when you speed through a tropical storm and sunlight reflects off your car and paint, and you appreciate the sunlight. They are extremely chaotic but comforting; a good reminder that natural machines are just as important as the storms and the other machines you are controlling.
Having stored numerous cars and having built a dream car garage in Forza Horizon 4, I Forza Horizon 5 fulfilled my needs in ways I didn't know I needed. I could spend hours in Forza Horizon Vista in the car observation mode just to check the car and interior details. The detailing down to the aggressive lines of the Lambo Huracan and the rich and shiny leather of the Jaguar E-Type is impressive. Some players who buy PS5 racing games enjoy making shifts to their customization settings. Customization is incredibly satisfying. There is nothing quite like the feeling of tuning the handling of a Ford GT to match your every nerve and command.
While the interaction with the simulated car is satisfying, it also experiences the most refined and improved car interaction. The driving experience has improved with a greater connection to the road and the vehicle being driven. There is a single spot for every driving experience that can be achieved by a driver, whether the driver is a casual driver or more serious.
The new Horizon Arcade mode replaces the structured Forzathon Live events and offers a more organic and untamed multiplayer experience. It’s not flawless—some events in Forza Horizon 4 are more memorable—but the variety is enough to keep things interesting. There are plenty of high-speed sprints to salt flats and plenty of designed technical tracks to urban centers of the country.
However, the finest thing about Forza Horizon 5 is the Mexican culture it represents. Most certainly, the main story missions, even when they are somewhat cheesy to partake in, narrate deeper stories about the culture. One of the more memorable moments involved a barn find of a venerable Volkswagen Beetle, forked in a race, that the finder restored to its former glory. There was personal history in the story beyond the car, and plenty of rich culture and people.
Each car has a personality, like a McLaren 720S that begs to be driven at top speed, or a Baja Bug that is unstoppable in the dunes. Customization is unbelievable. I have spent—actual hours—doing liveries, tweaking suspension, and adjusting power-to-weight ratio. While the design tools are complex, the designers made them user-friendly to the point where they can save you from getting frustrated. My favorite moment? Creating a custom paint job for a classic Mustang and then watching it shine while I jumped off a ramp going 120 mph.
Collecting cars is not as simple as racing through the campaign. You can collect the rare cars, but it will take some work. You can enter the auctions where people are able to sell the cars they no longer want. While this isn’t new to the series, it has a better flow here. You can have the thrill of sniping a rare car at the last moment, then flipping the car for a profit.
Word of advice: Most players who buy PS5 games already have mission-earned cars, so their value drops quickly. If making money is your goal, go after cars that are rare and in demand. You shouldn’t miss the thrill of a great deal either. Like the adrenaline rush I get from racing, finding a great deal, like a Porsche 959 in great condition for a small percentage of the real price, is a racing thrill unlike any other.
While the Forza Horizon series is spectacular, this one definitely has flaws. The Horizon Challenges can feel somewhat monotonous, and while the game provides you with what seems like an excessive amount of events to pick from, I found myself wishing for a little more organized flow. There are only so many times one can sprint from point A to point B and not feel bored.
While connecting with your pals is simple, it can feel painstaking when a whole party is trying to compete in coop races and their game progress doesn’t match up. However, the feeling of unity when you and your buddies are driving all over and conquering the land definitely redeems it.
There is no need to reinvent the wheel on Forza Horizon 5, and it simply doesn’t need to. If you have even a casual interest in racing or cars, the open-world gameplay, authentic car culture, and attention to detail in craftsmanship will make it a game you simply have to experience. Playing Forza Horizon 5 on PS5 is amazing. The light and chrome of the supercars and the dust of the off-road trucks are in sync with the changing weather. I find myself stopping mid-race to take in the stunning scenery, be it the neon festival or the waterfall.
I love the original Wipeout games in a way that probably isn’t healthy. 1996's Wipeout 2097 was literally the first PlayStation game I ever played, and I played it to death. As a life-long electronic music fan, this was less a video game and more a way of life, a manifesto in digital form. It was speed, attitude, sound and sweat all fused into a Red Bull-charged fever dream.
When Wipeout 3 arrived in 1999, I can clearly remember the hype. For anyone whose interests were at the crossroads of gaming and club music, this was a cultural event, forever linked with Sasha’s hugely influential Xpander EP. I remember descending the staircase into Sydney’s legendary Central Station Records, seeing Wipeout 3 running on TVs in the store, and playing the opening race while drinking my first ever can of Red Bull. As an icon of underground culture, Wipeout was a bridge between the worlds of gaming and music.
After picking up Wipeout 3: Special Edition during a trip to Asia in 2000, I sunk 100+ hours into it. I unlocked everything, chased those gold medals, and only hit a wall at the highest speed classes. I never loved the later entries like Fusion, Pulse or HD as much. Even though the Wipeout Omega Collection on PS4 was excellent, it never captured that gritty magic of Wipeout 3, with the floaty handling and angular, industrial courses that felt like rainy, moody glimpses of the future.
A lot of it came down to the raw gameplay, too; I've always loved the turbo boost mechanic of Wipeout 3 (sacrificing shields for speed) over the barrel roll boosts of the later games. And while Wipeout 2097 kicked off the hysteria and was a much larger commercial success, true fans know that Wipeout 3: Special Edition was the refinement of the original formula into something close to perfection.
So when I tell you that 2018's BallisticNG is a lovingly crafted homage to classic Wipeout, I’m saying it with deep affection and slightly unreasonable levels of nostalgia and expectation.
While BallisticNG accurately captures the vibe, handling, art style, and track philosophy of Wipeout 3, it also folds in modern flourishes that broaden the experience. Some new-era weapons are included, like the machine-gun cannons, and the mode variety is enormous, vastly outstripping the 90's series' offerings. The huge single-player campaign features a deep variety of events with ever-increasing difficulty, moving far beyond the standard combat racing formula.
The most interesting inclusions are two distinct physics modes that lean toward both the classic and modern. The base handling, called 2159, is rooted in that classic floaty feel, with pitch control being a big part of the dance. Keep the nose up by holding back as you air-brake through tight corners and land on ramps, then push the nose down on straights to squeeze out extra speed. Then there's 2280 mode, which leans more towards the Wipeout HD/Fury feel, bringing the camera closer to the vehicle and generally being more forgiving in the corners.
BallisticNG’s 1.4 update in May 2025 was centred on the expanded 2280 mode, bringing redesigned menus, quality-of-life improvements, and beefed-up modding tools. I still prefer the classic 2159 feel because I was raised on the original trilogy, but I’m genuinely glad 2280 exists. It opens the door for a whole new wave of players who grew up with the modern Wipeout titles.
BallisticNG’s developers are a tiny, independent, remote team called Neognosis, whose name feels like a cheeky nod to Psygnosis (later Studio Liverpool), the legendary British studio behind the original Wipeout series. Their wider presence is pretty low-key, but the core of Neognosis appears to be two key people: Adam Chivers as lead developer and Aidan Lee handling support and Linux/Mac porting.
As far as public info shows, their only publicly released game so far is BallisticNG, but they’ve backed it up with custom tools and strong mod support, so it feels alive and evolving rather than a one-and-done. In 2025, Steam reviews keep flowing, and the game's Discord is still very active. That long-term care is a big part of why BallisticNG comes across as a passion project that grew into a genuinely polished and community-adored indie success story.
Nowhere is this love and reverence for the source material more evident than the absurd amount of content on offer in the stellar campaign. For starters, there are modes galore: Racing, Team Racing, Tournaments, Time Trials, Speed Laps, Eliminator, Knockout, Survival, Upsurge, Rush Hour, and Stunt modes are all here, with Custom Race options too if you want to get tweaking. You also get two-player split-screen, online play, and even VR compatibility, which, looking at the upcoming Steam Frame, could be very interesting.
All these expansions are included in the base game too, with no extra DLC to buy. Everything comes bundled, which helps the whole package feel huge. It expands the world and adds even more event variety, with over 50 courses available once you factor in mirror modes and other variants.
Along with the staggering amount on offer, the excellent course design deserves its own spotlight. These are hands-down some of the greatest anti-gravity racing tracks ever made. You’ll be racing through everything from busy sci-fi mega-cities and seaside industrial zones to snowy mountain circuits, cavernous canyons, huge smoggy factories, glistening speedways, and ancient forests. For an indie project, the range and artistry are truly impressive.
It’s the kind of game that makes you quietly furious Sony isn’t doing more with the Wipeout franchise, because a small dev team just walked up and built a whole parallel universe for the genre.
I’m more of an offline-mode person these days, and BallisticNG is perfect for that. In my region, I haven’t had much luck finding online matches, and as a Mac user, my mod compatibility is limited. So I’ve been living inside the single-player campaign, which is massive. And here's where the “Dark Souls of racing games” label stops being a joke and starts feeling like a warning.
BallisticNG starts pleasantly enough. You get into a rhythm. You start thinking, “Okay, I’m still good at this, I still have it.” And then about halfway through the campaign, the game calmly removes the floor and lets you fall. Suddenly, you’re staring at a level of difficulty that feels almost pathological. It shifts from exhilarating to intimidating in a heartbeat, like the game quietly deciding it’s done being friendly.
One bad corner and suddenly you drop from first to eighth, with the entire pack flashing past your eyes. I can see how this could be discouraging if you’re not fully locked into the anti-gravity mindset, but I also get why the game is built this way. There’s a certain purity to it. The challenge is the point, and mastery is the reward.
At its best, BallisticNG creates that intense patience-and-focus loop where every failed run teaches you something tangible. You warm up. You lock in. You sharpen your line. You learn the track’s secret language. You stop fighting the ever-increasing speed and start dancing with it. Much like a Souls game, there are no compromises here. You just have to put in the time and rise to the challenge.
The original Wipeout series' soundtrack was a landmark in video games, being among the first video games to license underground music artists and make full use of Sony’s new CD-ROM technology in the original PlayStation.
The in-game soundtrack for BallisticNG is certainly strong, but to really fall into the trance, I’ve found the perfect move is building a custom playlist of classic and modern electronic music (think The Prodigy, Underworld, Paul Van Dyk, Sasha, Metrik, Fred V & Grafix) and playing it alongside the game's stellar sound effects on a high-end pair of headphones. This is the fuel you'll need to lock in, find flow, and push through the tougher tiers.
At a certain point, something magical happens. After repeated plays, you memorise a course so deeply that the speed melts away. You anticipate each corner. You feel the air-brake timing deep in your bones. The game demands near-flawless execution for gold and platinum, and that can be brutal. But if you love the vibe, the style, the music, and the combat racing chaos, these are hours well spent.
BallisticNG is a ridiculous package. It's a love letter to PS1-era Wipeout with modern flourishes, a huge range of modes, loads of tracks, expansions, split-screen, VR, modding and multiplayer. It's got an active, passionate community. But it’s also unapologetically demanding and merciless. You simply have to put in the time, or get left in the dust.
So yes, BallisticNG is the Dark Souls of racing games. Not because it’s grim or punishing for the sake of it, but because it respects your potential to improve. It’s a game that asks you to commit, and if you do, it rewards you with some of the purest anti-gravity racing highs you can get. If you’re a Wipeout fan and you haven’t played it yet, you genuinely need to fix that.
Following the parliamentary debate of the Stop Killing Games campaign's petition to the UK government last year, a group of Green Party members have announced plans to propose an amendment to the party's policy which would "compel" its MPs to support the campaign.
A preliminary employment tribunal hearing has seen the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) request that a judge grant interim relief to the 31 UK-based GTA 6 developers fired by Rockstar, reportedly following discussion of changes to Rockstar's company Slack policies by staff on Discord. The union, which filed legal claims against the company over the dismissals last year, continue to assert that they were a form of union busting. Rockstar, meanwhile, have released a fresh statement claiming that the root of this is simply stopping info about GTA 6 from leaking.
You know what I might have most about games? There's no universal way to play them. You buy a DVD, you buy a DVD player, and aside from maybe a region lock issue you're as good as gold. If I buy Snowboard Kids for the N64, and I don't have one of those, well, I'm up a particular creek. That has meant that many a game over the years has been stuck to particular platforms, one of the most surprising being Jet Set Radio Future, to this day a game that's still only available on the original Xbox, and the Xbox 360 through backwards compatibility. But! Thanks to some techy wizards, that might change in the near future.
GTA 5 voice actor Ned Luke - aka Michael de Santa - got swatted for the eighth time over Xmas. I don’t mean that somebody belted him on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper. I mean that somebody put in a hoax call to emergency services in a bid to have armed police sent to his house. The latest incident happened this December while Luke was streaming GTA Online with Rob Wiethoff, the voice of John Marston in Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead Redemption 2. YouTuber IceBladeNinja has the whole clip for you to watch below.
When I looked back on 2025 to assemble my advent calendar votes, I was surprised how many of them were smaller titles, especially in a year that saw both a new Silent Hill and Doom hitting the shelves. But then I remembered this year the Steam algorithm's whispered in my ear like the Green Goblin Mask to Norman Osborn, guiding me to lovely indie gems (and telling me to squash that Spider-Man).
2025 had video games. 2026 will have video games. GTA 6 might be one of those video games. However, it’s currently only pencilled in for console next year. Not that I considered writing about it in this sort of article two years running, just for a laugh. That’d be hackish and beneath the level I hold myself to. Well, by about three millimeters.
To successfully deliver presents to every child on Earth within a single Christmas eve, Santa Claus would need to travel in the region of half the speed of light – enough to vaporise the flesh and disintegrate the sleighs of mere mortals. He’d therefore appreciate the sheer go-fastness of the roguelite running game that’s blasting out of door #3.
It’s Haste!
Over the weekend, Grand Theft Auto 6’s legions of fan weather-watchers spotted a portfolio reel created by former Rockstar animator Benjamin Chue that includes what appears to be some WIP stuff from GTA 6. Assuming the leak is legitimate, this isn’t nearly an eruption on the scale of the 2022 GTA 6 leaks: it contains a couple of extremely non-final animations from the forthcoming open world game.
One is of deuteragonist Lucia Caminos jumping out of a pick-up truck, which seems like a thing she’d do, though official GTA 6 trailers suggest she’d do it with a lot more bum jiggle than this. Another is of a placeholder baldy man – let’s christen him something appropriately generic, like Jean-Luc Picard – undocking a bike from a public bicycle hire station. Yes, GTA 6 has Boris Bikes.
