Rogue-like is a genre comprised of games characterized with randomized levels, and permadeath. But how many people have played Rogue itself, the game that spawned an entire genre? I’d wager not that many in recent times. So along comes Epyx Rogue, a version of the original game, well the graphical version by Epyx anyway(the original was ASCII graphics). In it, you play a rogue who travels through the Dungeons of Doom looking for an amulet. There are two modes, a standard which allows saving, and Iron Rogue mode that doesn’t. Either way, the game is merciless, and obtuse, it is an eighties game after all. Still, I prefer Iron Rogue as that’s really how the game is meant to be played.

Most of what you’ll be doing in Epyx Rogue is walking around levels, picking up items, and fighting monsters by walking into them. The rest of actions are all listed on the screen, or via the action wheel. Still, things can get overly complicated. Take drinking a potion. Press R, Press Y, then press A on the potion screen. Then when it asks you to selection a potion, you use the letter wheel to select the appropriate letter corresponding to an item. If you’re lucky, it’ll be a good effect. If not, you’ll die. Everything is done manually, including equipping weapons and armor. Like I said, Epyx Rogue is an eighties DOS game transplanted to modern controllers. Fortunately, there is an extensive instruction manual in-game to help you understand things.

New to Epyx Rogue is one of three soundtracks: Dungeon Ambience, Dark Music and Epic Music. I choose the ambience, but any of three are fine(or none). There is also a few visual options(like CRT or Soft). As for longevity, Epyx Rogue is Rogue, you’ll be at this for awhile, especially when you die on Iron Rogue mode. Now the score: Epyx Rogue gets a Must Play verdict with a nine back-end score. Why? It’s Rogue, its a classic that spawned a genre. Yes, its extremely difficult, unfair even at times, but that’s kind of the point. You play this because you are glutton for punishment and will continually come back asking for more. And if you’re a fan of rogue-likes and don’t like Rogue, are you really a fan?

Overall: Epyx Rogue is a faithful translation of the classic eighties DOS game that spawned an entire genre, warts and all. A must for Rogue-like fans.

Verdict: Must Play

eShop Page

P.S. Try Dungeon Arsenal for a rogue-like card-based dungeon crawler.

The post Epyx Rogue Switch Review appeared first on The Game Slush Pile.

Netflix shows rarely get a second season, so mercurial is the streamer with its big-budget gambles. So it’s a rare treat to learn that not only is Squid Game’s second season now set to hit screens of all sizes this holiday season, but a third (and final) season will be released in 2025.

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UPDATE: GAME has called claims of it ending in-store physical game sales "categorically not true" in a statement to Eurogamer. The retailer assured it would continue to support the physical games market, and keep selling boxed games and hardware.

Our original story follows below...

For years, GAME was my go-to store for buying video games. I would run in every time I passed by as a kid, and getting to peruse it for new and old titles was always so exciting, even more so when my parents agreed to buy one for me. Now, though, games will be the one thing GAME won't be stocking on its shelves.

According to Gfinity, which spoke with sources familiar with the UK retailer's plans, GAME plans to end sales of physical video games as well as hardware in store. You'll still be able to pre-order physical copies of new releases (so my Sonic X Shadow Generations pre-order thankfully isn't going to be cancelled), but anyone who wanders in going forward won't be able to just grab a boxed copy of upcoming releases like Star Wars Outlaws or the new Mario & Luigi and take it straight home to play. This could mean an end to midnight console launches as well if GAME isn't planning to stock new hardware like the Nintendo Switch 2.

As disappointing as this news will be for some people, this was perhaps a long time coming. Earlier this year, GAME opted to no longer accept trade-ins, and thus stopped selling pre-owned games as well. It's also spent the last several years becoming a more general toy store, in part due to declining interest in physical media. In a 2023 interview with GamesIndustry.biz, managing director Nick Arran said, "We wanted a new proposition that attracted new customers. ... Our main industry is in decline so we need to plug that gap, but also for the future to bring in these new customers, and get them off of online retailers."

Arran also vowed GAME would be the "last man standing selling physical video games," adding, "We see our place in the market as proving that there is a place for physical, whether that be the collector's editions, which we see as the vinyl of video games, or the gifter who doesn't want to wrap up a download code for Christmas." Although he admitted that he had to be realistic: "We have a business to run and the expectation is this will decline. So we need to fill that gap."

Even so, the retailer's shift away from traditional video games has, according to Gfinity, upset a number of GAME staff. Combined with a string of low-level layoffs back in April, with it reported that staff would be offered zero hour contracts, it's suggested there's very little faith in the brand nowadays. Who even knows if GAME primarily being a toy shop will keep its doors open for the foreseeable future.

Ultimately, this is another worrying blow to the physical games market, and it's not the only one either. As spotted by Lost in Cult marketing director Ryan Brown on Twitter, the website for online UK retailer Hit, which has been one of my go-to sites for new video game releases, suddenly shut down over the weekend with no warning. I can confirm the website is down at the time of writing, only bringing up a 404 Not Found notice.

One Reddit user was able to get in contact with Hit, which confirmed it had "ceased to trade," but promised the business would be reorganised and return at some point. However, it's been suggested Hit had been struggling financially beforehand, making the odds of its supposed comeback quite unlikely. This one's a real shame since Hit's prices were cheaper than most competitors. All in all, the future of physical games distribution is looking bleaker than ever.

The post UK retailer GAME says it isn’t ending physical game and hardware sales in-store [Update] appeared first on Destructoid.

Alright, this one is going to get a bit convoluted, so stay with me here. There seems to be something going on in the foreign foodstuffs and restaurant industries lately when it comes to trademarking otherwise common phrases for niche foods in a way that pisses off other providers that operate in those same niche markets. An example of that recently came to be in the form of a “chili crunch” trademark granted to David Chang, after which he blasted out a bunch of cease and desists notices. Chang eventually apologized and promised to not enforce his trademark any longer, though that came only after some rather severe public backlash.

And now we have an interesting and somewhat similar situation out of the UK. Dishoom is an Indian restaurant chain that is seeking to revoke a trademark granted to another restaurateur, Tariq Aziz. That trademark is for “Ruby Murray” in the restaurant industry. Dishoom appears to be at least slightly misguided in its petition, in that it claimed that Aziz was not using the mark in commerce. He absolutely is, having a restaurant named Ruby Murray in London.

The restaurant group’s lawyers want the term to be revoked as a trademarked phrase because they believe it has never been used for commercial purposes.

A spokesperson for Dishoom said: ‘A third party has a trademark registration for Ruby Murray and we don’t believe that they have ever used it.

However, Aziz reportedly refused the application, claiming that he is using the name for a food premises in Islington and does not want the trademark to be revoked.

He said: ‘We have a premises in Islington, north London, called Ruby Murray. It’s closed for refurbishment at the moment, but will reopen soon’.

That certainly appears to be true, unless this website for the Ruby Murray restaurant in London is somehow wholly made up, which I doubt. If that really is the sole reason that Dishoom is seeking to invalidate the trademark, it seems unlikely to work.

Which doesn’t mean that canceling the mark isn’t something that shouldn’t absolutely be considered. Why? Well, it has to do with how the name Ruby Murray became associated with Indian food to begin with.

See, Ruby Murray is the name of a British musician from the 1950s. She was wildly popular at that time throughout the UK and elsewhere. And, in keeping with one of my favorite parts of British slang, where you refer to one thing by the name of a completely different thing that rhymes with the original thing, Ruby Murray’s name became a slang term in the 60s for Indian curry.

So, what Aziz actually did was to trademark a common, generic slang term for a common ingredient in Indian food that was also the name of a very famous person. That would seem to raise all kinds of potential problems for the mark and I would argue it never should have been granted. Its obviously considered a generic term, or you would have thought Murray’s heirs or estate would have challenged the mark themselves.

We’ll see if Aziz truly wants to defend this trademark, as he has until July 15th to state so. It would be better if this all went away and everyone just got back to making awesome Indian food.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Pokémon cards and crime are intimately intertwined at this point, as the collectible cards are often wrapped up in robberies and scams due to their high resale value. Some of the stories surrounding Pokémon card sales have reached tragic ends, and the entire subculture of scalping, stealing, and reselling these pieces…

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Cops hate being watched, no matter where they’re located.

In the United States, we’ve seen several arrests and prosecutions of journalists and citizens for daring to record public officials performing their public duties. The case law isn’t completely settled in the United States, but in most parts of the country, it’s understood the First Amendment covers these activities.

That fact hasn’t stopped cops and prosecutors from pursuing everything from obstruction charges to alleged violations of state wiretapping laws against people who hold cops accountable simply by documenting the things they do.

There’s no First Amendment in the UK. But that doesn’t mean UK law enforcement officers are free to arrest people who do nothing more than document their actions. Given this lack of built-in protection, it’s extremely surprising to see UK prosecutors admit they’re in the wrong when it comes to shielding cops from accountability efforts that don’t involve government employees.

A journalist who did nothing more than try to document a criminal investigation taking place in full view of the public has received an apology of sorts from the UK government, as Steven Morris reports for The Guardian.

The Crown Prosecution Service has admitted it was wrong to press on with a case against a news photographer arrested as he tried to lawfully take pictures at a crime scene.

Judge Walters at Swansea crown court described the case against Dimitris Legakis, which was dropped on the eve of his trial, as “disturbing” and said it seemed “the high point” of the prosecution was that a police officer “took offence” against someone whose job was to take photographs.

The journalist did nothing more than show up at the scene of a car fire last year. He attempted to document the police response, only to get arrested by UK police officers, apparently because he was the only one in the crowd operating a camera. That this later turned out to be a murder investigation (allegedly a man beat his wife to death with a hammer before setting fire to the car with her in it) doesn’t really matter. At that point, it was just a normal police response to a potentially dangerous situation.

At some point during the police response, an “altercation” between some members of the crowd began. For whatever reason, officers decided to single out the journalist as the problem. He was arrested “with considerable force” and detained for 15 hours, supposedly for assaulting a first responder and “obstructing” a police officer, despite the fact no obstruction or assault was captured by any cameras operated by responding officers. The lack of evidence was admitted by the prosecution prior to its dropping of the charges.

The trial was due to start on Tuesday but at a hearing on Monday prosecution barrister Alycia Carpanini said no evidence would be offered in the case. The barrister said it had also been decided that it was not in the public interest to pursue the obstructing a constable matter, a summary-only offence.

Asked by Judge Geraint Walters why the decision to offer no evidence had been taken on the eve of the trial, the barrister said the original statement taken from the police officer “does not coincide” with what he later said in his victim personal statement, and she said the alleged assault itself was not captured on bodycam. The judge said having read the papers in the case it seemed to him “the high point of the prosecution case” was that somebody employed as a photographer was taking pictures and a police officer “took offence” to it.

When faced with taking this case to trial, the CPS finally admitted it had no evidence. But it took a court calling this out as a bullshit “contempt of cop” prosecution for that to happen.

And while there’s a very rare apology here, it comes couched in exculpatory language that suggests the CPS was completely in the right until it was forced to admit it was completely in the wrong.

A spokeswoman said: “We take assaults on emergency workers incredibly seriously. In all cases, including those resulting from police charge, we have a duty to continually review the evidence. In a review prior to the recent hearing, we decided that there was no longer sufficient evidence to continue with the prosecution and it should be stopped. We acknowledge this should have been done sooner.”

Maybe the CPS should divert some of its resources to investigating police officers who cook up bogus charges for the sole purpose of deterring public accountability. And, very definitely, the agency employing the officers who arrested the journalist and concocted a host of criminal charges should act quickly to punish the officers involved in this potential miscarriage of justice. It shouldn’t take 15 hours of detention and the run-up to a criminal case to finally have the truth come out. Because if that’s what it takes for the government to finally admit it’s in the wrong, the harm has already been done and the chilling effect on public accountability remains intact.

That being said, it’s still a step ahead of the status quo here in the United States. Even when governments pay out settlements to people whose rights have been violated, the payments are almost always attached to legal verbiage in which the government refuses to admit any wrongdoing. At least in the case above, the government acknowledged it was at fault. And that’s something, even if the lack of consequences means CPS and the cops that provide it with cases to prosecute are free to make the same “mistakes” over and over again.