Rathlin is home to Northern Ireland’s biggest seabird colony, with more than 250,000 birds including puffins, razorbills, guillemots and Manx shearwaters

A “world-first” conservation scheme has successfully eradicated feral ferrets from a Northern Irish island to protect thousands of seabirds.

Rathlin Island, off the north coast of County Antrim, is home to Northern Ireland’s biggest seabird colony, with more than 250,000 birds including puffins, razorbills, guillemots and Manx shearwaters breeding and nesting there each year and providing a major nature tourism draw.

It is also home to a population of corncrakes – a ground-nesting bird which is extinct in the rest of Northern Ireland.

But the birds have been under severe pressure from a population of feral ferrets, which have been on the island since being introduced in the 1980s and which prey on eggs, chicks and even adult birds.

The “LIFE Raft” partnership, led by the RSPB and working closely with the community on the island, has used trapping, camera and thermal drone surveillance and a detection dog called “Woody” to eradicate the animals, a domesticated relative of polecats.

While island eradication programmes have previously targeted the likes of invasive rats on South Georgia and invasive mice on Gough Island, in the Atlantic, to protect native birdlife, the team said it is the first time in the world a scheme has successfully removed ferrets from an inhabited island.

The LIFE Raft scheme is also working to remove brown rats – another threat to ground-nesting birds – from Rathlin Island.

LIFE Raft programme manager Erin McKeown said the “large-scale, ambitious partnership”, which has operated with significant involvement and support from the island’s community of around 150 people, had been years in the making.

Before the eradication there were an estimated 100 ferrets on Rathlin Island, with the potential to do serious damage to bird populations – with evidence of one animal getting into the puffin colony and killing up to 27 birds in a two-day period.

“They put a really high pressure on this place the seabirds have to breed and raise their young,” Ms McKeown said.

They also affected the local community, with ferrets getting into chicken coops on the island.

The project to eradicate them officially started in 2021, and has involved 30 staff and 60 volunteers, working mostly in the autumn and winter to avoid disturbing breeding seabirds and facing cold, wet, icy and stormy conditions.

Five years on, it has been declared a success, with efforts now focused on biosecurity – keeping ferrets and any other non-natural predators off Rathlin.

Already positive signs include Manx shearwaters breeding on the island for the first time in 20 years.

“From a wild bird perspective, this is one of the most robust, critical lifelines we can give our seabirds on our islands across the UK and the island of Ireland,” Ms McKeown told the Press Association.

She said seabirds were declining across the globe, and on Rathlin Island there had been a 74% decrease in the puffin population since 1999.

“If we don’t act now in this way, we could lose some of these island populations.

“This is one of the most urgent things we can do, and we know the benefits will be far-reaching for the community too,” she added.

Joanne Sherwood, RSPB NI director, said: “This is an extraordinary moment for Rathlin, for Northern Ireland, and for conservation globally.

“The successful, world-first eradication of ferrets means that puffins and other seabirds can now nest and raise their young more safely on Rathlin for the first time in generations.

“We are already seeing encouraging signs of recovery, and we expect to see populations rebound in the coming years.”

And she said: “This project is a testament to community and would not have been possible without the incredible support and commitment of the people of Rathlin, who have embraced this vision for their island’s future, ensuring protection of nature and the island’s heritage for generations to come.”

Marina McMullan, chairwoman of Rathlin Development and Community Association, said islanders would be able to raise poultry again, while the programme had provided employment, boosted local trade and brought new skills.

“It will be a delight to see some of those once-familiar birds able to flourish in the fields and cliffs of our island again,” she said.

“It’s much more than the excellent environmental win – it’s been a genuine boost to our community spirit,” she added.

The £4.5 million project received funding from the EU LIFE scheme, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), and the Garfield Weston Foundation.

It was led by RSPB NI, in partnership with the Rathlin Development and Community Association, Causeway Coast and Glens Heritage Trust, DAERA and the Causeway Coast and Glenns Borough Council.

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

Ways to secure National Insurance credits without claiming Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) benefits have been revealed. National Insurance credits may be able to boost your state pension entitlement.

National Insurance credits can fill gaps in your National Insurance record, which determines your state pension entitlement. Usually, these credits are awarded to individuals on certain benefits such as Carer’s Allowance and Child Benefit, ensuring carers don’t forfeit state pension rights whilst looking after family members.

However, there are four methods people can obtain National Insurance credits without claiming any benefits. Some of these aren’t automatically granted, meaning individuals must make their claim or risk losing out.

Training courses

People aged 18 or over who have been enrolled on a government-approved training course by Jo Centre Plus should automatically receive Class 1 National Insurance credits. This only applies if the course doesn’t exceed one year, reports Birmingham Live.

If you’re over 18 and taking part in a government-approved training course that lasts no more than one year without being referred by the Job Centre, you may still qualify for credits but will need to apply. This involves writing to HMRC, specifying the period for which credits are being claimed and demonstrating your eligibility.

Jury service

Those who are not self-employed and have been summoned for jury service may be eligible for National Insurance credits for the duration of their court duty. To secure these Class 1 credits, a written application must be submitted to HMRC.

Partners of armed forces personnel

If you are married to or in a civil partnership with someone serving in the armed forces and have accompanied them on an overseas posting, you may qualify for National Insurance credits.

For those who departed for their assignment after April 6, 2010, and have since returned to the UK, Class 1 credits may be claimed. If your overseas deployment took place after April 6, 1975, you reached state pension age on or after April 6, 2016, and you’re not receiving Class 1 credits, then you may apply for Class 3 credits instead.

Wrongfully convicted

If your conviction was overturned by the Court of Appeal, or Court of Criminal Appeal in Scotland, you can apply for Class 1 credits. You must write to HMRC, providing your National Insurance number along with details explaining your entitlement.

Information on how to apply and where to send applications for these credits can be found on the Gov.uk website.

LONDON (AP) — “Saturday Night Live” has crossed the pond with a mild splash.

A British offshoot of the 51-year-old U.S. comedy institution has debuted to generally positive reviews, defying doomsayers who doubted the show would survive the trans-Atlantic journey.

The format of the first episode of “Saturday Night Live UK” stuck closely to the U.S. original. The 75-minute show opened with a skit showing Prime Minister Keir Starmer seeking help from a Gen Z adviser about how to talk to President Donald Trump, before the proclamation: “Live from London, it’s Saturday night!” Trump posted the skit on his Truth Social platform on Sunday, without comment.

“SNL” veteran Tina Fey was the host, taking questions during her opening monologue from celebrity audience members Michael Cera, Graham Norton and “Bridgerton” star Nicola Coughlan, who jokingly warned Fey that “British people tend to root for the failure of others.”

Certainly, many in Britain had predicted the show would fail, and reviews expressed surprise that it was — largely — pretty funny. The Telegraph newspaper called it “shockingly competent” and “occasionally hilarious.”

There was widespread praise for the cast of largely little-known comics: George Fouracres, Hammed Animashaun, Ayoade Bamgboye, Larry Dean, Celeste Dring, Ania Magliano, Annabel Marlow, Al Nash, Jack Shep, Emma Sidi and Paddy Young.

As in the original, the show featured topical comedy, offbeat sketches, fake commercials and the “Weekend Update” spoof of the news, as well as a guest musical act, the English band Wet Leg. Some of the humor was mildly edgy, including jokes about pedophiles, the Epstein files and disgraced royal Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

Apart from the accents, one difference from the American original was the expletives. British broadcasting rules allowed for a liberal sprinkling of F-words.

Since its debut in 1975 “SNL” has become a pop-culture institution and helped launch the careers of generations of comedians, from Bill Murray to Eddie Murphy and Gilda Radner to Kristen Wiig.

Efforts to replicate its success in other countries, such as France, Japan and Italy, have typically been short-lived, though a version of the show remains on the air in South Korea.

The U.K. offshoot, which has “SNL” creator Lorne Michaels as executive producer, airs on the relatively little-watched channel Sky One and the NOW streaming service. But social media may bring a much bigger audience for clips. Fey’s monologue had more than 730,000 views on YouTube by Sunday afternoon.

The initial run is only eight episodes, and it remains to be seen how the cast fares without Fey’s assured guidance. Future guest hosts include Jamie Dorman and Riz Ahmed.

Nick Hilton in The Independent said the first episode’s sketches included “a handful of hits,” but also moments when it seemed like “tepid cosplay” of the U.S. original.

Charlotte Ivers in The Times of London felt that “the spark is not there yet,” but The Guardian’s Lucy Mangan praised the program’s ambition.

“It did not fail. And in the coming weeks, let’s hope, it can build toward real success,” she wrote.

Having started with just seven cuisines in the UK 20 years ago – Italian and pizza, Indian, burgers, Chinese, kebabs, fish and chips, and chicken – Just Eat said it has now expanded to offer more than 100 options on its platform, with additions including Bangladeshi, Brazilian, Greek and Nepalese food.

Parents have said new screening tests for Spinal muscular atrophy are a “game-changer”.

Scotland has become the first part of the UK to screen babies for a rare condition that causes progressive muscle wastage in a move parents have described as a “game-changer”.

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) can result in muscle weakness, breathing and swallowing issues and a loss of mobility in children. If caught early, the most devastating effects of the condition can be avoided.

On average, three to four babies a year are born with SMA in Scotland. All parents will now be offered SMA screening for their newborns through the existing blood spot test which is taken around day four after birth.

Tony and Carrie Pearson’s daughter Grayce was around six months old when she stopped being able to move her legs and began losing her strength. After several referrals, doctors in 2024 confirmed it was SMA type two. Since then, the parents have been campaigning for a national screening programme.

Carrie told the Press Association: “We wish it came out sooner, obviously, but we are grateful now that every other child isn’t going to go through all those issues. They’re going to get treatment sooner and be able to meet their milestones, and all families aren’t going to have to go through that anxiety and stress that we did, and other families went through.”

She said it was “only logical that the rest of the UK falls behind” Scotland before adding: “Can you really put a price on a child’s life?”

Tony said the pilot is “history being made in Scotland”. He went on: “It’s £4 to test a baby for SMA. Is a child’s life worth £4? Definitely.” He said he hoped the rest of the UK would follow Scotland, adding: “It’s a gamechanger.”

Dr Sarah Smith, director of the screening laboratory in Glasgow where all the tests will be conducted, said the aim of the pilot was to reveal whether a baby has SMA before they showed any symptoms and before any muscle wastage took place. The lab, next to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, already screens for 10 disorders and the new scheme would add SMA to that list.

Dr Smith said: “It will mean these babies are picked up pre-symptomatically. With SMA, unfortunately, once the symptoms are present, you can’t easily reverse them. Our aim is to stop the symptoms from actually happening in the first place.

“So, we’ll be able to pick up the baby as having SMA pre-symptomatically, and we’ll be able to put them on treatment, and then hopefully they won’t present with some of the symptoms that this disease can have, so they’ll have a much better quality of life.”

Giles Lomax, chief executive officer of SMA UK and the father of twins living with SMA, said the project was a “huge moment for the SMA community”, who he said have been campaigning for newborn screening for a decade.

He added: “With all three treatments now routinely available through NHS Scotland alongside newborn screening, the future for anyone diagnosed with SMA is very different compared to their peers who were diagnosed symptomatically. These babies will now have the opportunity to grow up without lifelong health care needs and the complexity and challenges of living with SMA.”

The two-year scheme is being funded by the Scottish Government, which will provide £95,000, and the pharmaceutical company Novartis, which will provide £435,000.

Health Secretary Neil Gray said: “SMA can have devastating implications for babies and their families, and this investment demonstrates our commitment to early detection through our screening programme. I thank SMA UK and local campaigners who have worked so hard to highlight this issue, and Novartis for its funding. By detecting SMA before symptoms develop, screening could allow earlier treatment which could be life-changing and help secure the best possible care and support for babies and families.”

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Lola McEvoy raised an urgent question in parliament last week after hearing how residents in Darlington had been impacted by Royal Mail service failures.

The MP raised examples of people who have contacted her about cases that have been raised, including someone’s application to join the Royal Navy.

The application included important personal documents, and, despite using Royal Mail’s tracking system, the application was lost.

Lola McEvoy raising the urgent question in parliament (Image: PARLIAMENT TV)

Ms McEvoy also raised an example of another resident who was due to get compensation from Royal Mail following a late delivery, only for the cheque to bounce.

Raising an urgent question, the Darlington MP said: “I would like to put on the record that, despite testimony to the contrary, it is Darlington’s postal workers who are the best in the country.

“They deliver their service to the best of their abilities, and they also provide a social service; their visit is often the only one that residents get. I want to draw the Minister’s attention to two quite shocking cases that constituents have brought to me.

“One constituent, despite using the tracking system, has had their application form to join the Royal Navy go awry, which is obviously causing huge delays.

“Another constituent successfully gained compensation from Royal Mail for a late delivery, but the cheque, which was sent in the post, bounced.

“I would like the Minister to allay some of our fears about crucial public services, and the postal communications from our Departments and arm’s length bodies.”

In response to Ms McEvoy’s question, Blair McDougall MP, Minister for Small Business and Economic Transformation, agreed to continue to pressurise Royal Mail, directly and through their regulator Ofcom, to improve the service in Darlington.

Darlington is not the only town in the region to be affected by poor Royal Mail service.

Residents in Spennymoor said they are living in a ‘nightmare’ as people are missing hospital appointments due to delays in their mail.

Residents in Spennymoor have also raised issues with the Royal Mail service (Image: PA MEDIA)

Lisa, 50, who lives in Middlestone Moor, near Spennymoor, says deliveries in her neighbourhood have become increasingly unreliable, with some households receiving post as infrequently as once every two weeks.

She claimed the issue has already led to people missing important hospital appointments.

Lisa emphasised that while residents appreciate the efforts of postal workers, she believes staffing levels are not sufficient to meet demand across the area.

Earlier this week, a Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We know how important it is that customers receive their mail on time, particularly when it includes items such as medical letters.

“We always aim to deliver all mail as expected and recent figures show around 92 per cent of letters arrive on time, but we recognise performance is not yet where it needs to be in all areas.

“Where there are local issues, these are typically caused by temporary resourcing pressures, and we focus on restoring normal service as quickly as possible.”

The postal service has been approached for further comment.

Three defendants failed to respond to summons and were convicted and sentenced in their absence at Harrogate Magistrates Court.

Jordan Grace, 35, of Allerthorpe, York, was convicted of failure to inform police who was driving his car when it was allegedly committing a motoring offence.

He was banned from driving for six months and ordered to pay a £660 fine, £90 prosecution costs and a £264 statutory surcharge.

Ian Jackson, 58, of North Drive, Sherburn-in-Elmet, was convicted of using a car without insurance and driving without wearing a seat belt, both committed on the B1222 near Sherburn-in-Elmet.

He was banned from driving for six months and ordered to pay a £660 fine, £90 prosecution costs and £264 statutory surcharge.

Nathan Dalton Wright, 24, of Fairfield Avenue, Carlton near Selby, was convicted in his absence of driving a car without insurance and without a licence.

He was fined £660, ordered to pay £120 prosecution costs and a £264 statutory surcharge and given eight penalty points.

Ben Allen, 40, of Station Road, Scalby, Scarborough, was convicted at Harrogate Magistrates Court in his absence of speeding on the A174 at Hinderwell near Saltburn.

At an adjourned hearing, magistrates heard because of the number of penalty points already on his licence, he should be banned from driving but decided that would cause him exceptional hardship after hearing it would adversely affect his two businesses and his health.

They gave him three penalty points, fined him £220, ordered him to pay £120 prosecution costs and a £88 statutory surcharge.

One driver was sentenced at York Magistrates Court.

Wycliff Charabira Nyarota, 59, of The Waterfront, Selby, pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention and failure to stop after an accident in which a person was injured on the A19 at Crockey Hill, south of York. 

He was banned from driving for six months, fined £450 and ordered to pay £85 prosecution costs and a £180 statutory surcharge.

WARNING: DISTRESSING CONENTJude Law’s daughter, 11, was left in floods of tears after being grilled by a member of Chappell Roan’s ‘security team’ but her mum, Catherine Harding, has now spoken out about the incident

The mother of an 11-year-old girl who was left in floods of tears after being grilled by a member of Chappell Roan’s ‘security team’ has broken her silence.

Catherine Harding, the mother of the girl who was allegedly berated by a security guard after sneaking a peak at Chappell Roan during breakfast at a São Paulo hotel, has now shared her side of the incident.

She said: “I know that Chappell has responded saying that it wasn’t her security and that she didn’t do it. So, 100%, this security guard was not a security guard of the hotel. That’s what I can say. He looks after artists.

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“I don’t know if it was her personal security guard, but he was with her. So that’s all I know. Did she send him to do it? Again, I don’t know. Look, I would like to hope not, but at the same time, I think that you have a responsibility when you are a celebrity to make sure, I guess, that the people that work for you and that act on your behalf are acting on your behalf. So, would he do that if he didn’t have her authority to do so? I don’t know if he does; then obviously that’s a big problem because then he’s representing her in a way that she doesn’t want to be represented.

“So I think that’s really important for her to notice and realize that’s not correct… Literally, we were staying in the same hotel. we were at breakfast. And we noticed a girl walk past with long red hair, very curly. And I said to my daughter, ‘Oh, do you think that’s Chappell Roan?’ and she looked and she said, ‘Oh my God, Mum, do you think it’s her?’ And so she said, ‘I’m gonna go and have a look outside,’ and she was sat just outside in the garden area which we were also free to go into; the door was open. And so I went back to the table to sit and eat, and my daughter walked through the door. She didn’t have her phone, she didn’t try to take a picture, she didn’t approach her.

“She literally didn’t do anything; she just looked at her and smiled, and she came back and she actually said to me, ‘Mum, I don’t know if it’s her.’ Because obviously she looks like—you know, with her costumes and everything—she looks a little bit different. So my daughter said, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m not—I’m not sure if it was her. I think it was her, Mum. It really, really looks like her, but I don’t know; maybe it’s her sister.’

“She said, ‘Maybe it’s her sister,’ and I said, ‘Oh, I don’t know, darling,’ and that was it. We continued our breakfast. “From that, then came the security guard who, as I said—as my husband said—had a very aggressive tone. And I feel like was—if she did not send him… I mean, even if she did send him or she didn’t send him, I don’t know.

“For me, I feel like it really overstepped a boundary because he is quite an intimidating—he is very large. So for him to come over to a table with just a woman and her daughter eating breakfast to kind of like berate and scold us and say that he was going to complain, and tell me that I should be teaching my daughter to be better and that she’s badly educated and we should respect people’s privacy and we should not harass people and all of these other things.

“And I did try and explain to him the situation—that she’s a child and she was just very excited to see an artist and singer that she admires—and can he not understand that was all she was doing? I explained to him also that my husband is also very well-known and that we’re very—she’s very used to being around people that are well-known and she would never cross someone’s boundaries or overstep a mark. She very much knows the limits; not to ever, you know, be rude or make anyone feel… she understands; she understands very well.

“And I tried to explain this to him, and then he just kept saying, ‘Well, if you—if—if that’s the case, then you should know better. You should know how it is. You should know how it is, so you should teach your—you should teach her to be better. You shouldn’t allow her to be like this.’ And I was—I was shocked. And I did actually say to him at the time, I said, ‘Well, if this is the case that she doesn’t even want people to look at her, she is very welcome to eat breakfast in her room because this here is a public area and I am a paying guest as well as her.

“So if I want to walk past someone’s table and look at them, I have every right to do so. I am not approaching her. I’m not doing anything to make her feel intimidated or nothing—like this 11-year-old child.’ …

“We came all the way to Sao Paulo to watch the show. It was my daughter’s birthday present; she actually asked for tickets to come for her birthday present, which is a little bit ruined because we didn’t go to the show last night, but it’s how it is. But yeah. Anyways, it’s how it is. We’ll say no more on it. That’s it. I hope that maybe if it wasn’t her that she learns to not allow the people that work for her to treat people like this.”

Now, the Femininomenon hitmaker has taken to social media to share her side of the story. “I’m just going to tell my half of the story of what happened today with a mother and child who were involved with a security guard who is not my personal security,” Chappell said on Instagram.

In 2023, EU funding to charities and community groups in Northern Ireland from its European Social Fund was ended because of Brexit

The UK Government is “still not listening to the warnings” from the voluntary sector about the impact of replacing EU funding schemes in Northern Ireland, MPs have said.

In a report, the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee also warned that more support is needed for small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) to encourage economic growth in the region.

In 2023, EU funding to charities and community groups in Northern Ireland from its European Social Fund (ESF) was ended because of Brexit.

It was replaced by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), which will in turn be replaced by the Local Growth Fund.

That new fund has a 70/30 capital-to-revenue split, resulting in funding cuts to the voluntary and community sector and prompting the Executive to write to Communities Secretary Steve Reed calling for a more favourable resource allocation.

Monday’s report from the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee follows an inquiry launched to understand how economic growth in Northern Ireland could be enhanced by UK Government economic initiatives.

Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi MP, chair of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, said “one of the keys to economic growth is tackling economic inactivity”.

“We are frustrated that the Government is still not listening to the warnings from across the voluntary and community sectors about the impact the funding make-up of the new, local growth fund will have on the ability to help people into and stay in work,” she said.

“It’s imperative that the UK Government recognises the clear need for current spending to fund employment support services and either reverses the 70/30 capital-revenue split or support the sector to find the funds elsewhere.”

The report also urged the Government to work more closely with the Stormont Executive on economic issues and says that the multiple bodies providing support in different ways may be confusing,

The committee recommends establishing “a completely overarching one-stop shop for SMEs to help them invest and grow and take advantage of East-West and North-South trading opportunities”.

The report concludes that Northern Ireland’s productivity and skills challenges are long-standing and well known, and criticises the Executive for failing to grip these problems, as well as chronic issues with inadequate infrastructure and delayed planning decisions.

Ms Antoniazzi said Northern Ireland’s economy “has performed well in recent times but there are still challenges holding it back”.

“The many central and devolved government economic missions, strategies and support bodies can be bewildering to businesses, while a lack of investment in skills and infrastructure is having a detrimental effect on growth, particularly beyond Belfast.

“Economic development is the responsibility of Stormont, and the Executive has been under-performing itself in this area for too long.

“But the UK Government cannot afford to ignore these obstacles, given its core mission of kickstarting economic growth right across the UK.”

A UK Government spokesperson said the Local Growth Fund “will support the delivery of long-term infrastructure to boost economic growth across the UK”.

“Northern Ireland will receive £45.5 million in each of the next three years, on top of its record £19.3 billion annual funding settlement,” they said.

“For economic inactivity programme funding, the UK Government and the Northern Ireland Executive are working together to try and find a way forward that provides organisations with the clarity they need to plan for this year.

“We continue to work with the Executive and the sector to reach the best outcome possible by the time the Local Growth Fund begins delivery on 1 April.”

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

The Monday letters page is keen to find out what happens after Resident Evil Requiem, as one reader has no sympathy for Crimson Desert players.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Marathon effort
The thing that gets me about this weekend-only Marathon business is how Bungie have less than zero respect for people’s time. We’ve all been saying that about games for a while now but level-grinding to unlock something you can only play for eight days a month is crazy too me.

Never mind what you’re supposed to do if you happen to work over the weekend (I often have to come in on a Saturday) but I guess that just makes the ones that do get to play it even cooler, right?

As if the ugly graphics weren’t putting enough people off, this actually kills any though I had of ever giving it a try. I don’t know whether the game is going to be successful or not – it seems to be doing okay but not great – but when I play a video game it’s not so it can become a second job for me.
Zeiss

Marketing spend
Is it only me that gets constant adverts for World Of Warcraft’s new expansion, every time I go on YouTube? I have no interest in the game, I’ve never played it or visited a website about it, and I’ve certainly never watched a video on it, but I get spammed with ads for it constantly.

The weird thing is I get very few other ads about games, despite that being one of my favourite things. Fortnite is about the only other thing I get a lot, which probably says a lot about how much these companies are spending on advertising compared to everyone else.

I’m a big Resi fan and have been watching a ton of videos about it lately, but I never saw a single ad for Resident Evil Requiem. That doesn’t seem to have affected its sales but I wonder what would’ve happened if it had been shown everywhere?
Logan

Risk and no reward
I’ll be honest, I don’t think I’ve got any sympathy for anyone that pre-ordered Crimson Desert and is now regretting (or, more likely, pretending to anyone that will listen that it’s good, actually). A too-good-to-be-true game from a developer with no experience in the genre, or anything much except one MMO, should send those alarm bells ringing straight away.

If you’ve got £55 just lying around, that you can afford to gamble on a game being good, based on virtually nothing, then I don’t think you can really complain about anything. I’ll wait until the game is cheap… and then spend the money on something else, because it sounds awful.
Spency

Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Single option
I don’t think the PlayStation 5 still beating the Switch 2 in sales is too much of a surprise. Nobody is going to buy an Xbox Series X/S at the moment so if you want triple-A games then the PlayStation 5 is the only option.

The Switch 2 is a great console but it’s not going to be the first choice for anyone but families and hardcore Nintendo fans. That is still a lot of people, but I think there’s always going to be more wanting to play the best-looking versions of the latest games.

Resident Evil Requiem on the Switch 2 looks good but it’s still not as great as the PlayStation 5 version. But it’s not just graphics. Nintendo’s online services are still very limited compared to Sony and Microsoft. Who wants to play EA Sports FC on Switch 2? And you still can’t play Call Of Duty, despite all Xbox’s talk.

If you’re into games even just a bit you can’t make do with just a Switch 2, so your only options are a PlayStation 5 or a PC.
Kimble

Pokémon Endgame
Loved the Reader’s Feature about Pokémon Pokopia. I’m what I guess you’d call a lapsed fan and haven’t really been into the series properly since the DS days. I took a chance on Pokopia, after all the good reviews, and I’ve been loving it.

I almost got teary eyed at the end, especially when I realised there was tons of stuff I could still do, and that’s before getting into the Minecraft stuff or Animal Crossing style home improvement. Really excellent game and all the better because it was a surprise. More of this please, Nintendo!
Colin

Future fashion
Nice Reader’s Feature about what the next mainline Resident Evil should be, although I doubt even Capcom knows yet, as the success of Requiem probably caught them a bit off guard. If the rumours are right, we’ve got remakes of Code: Veronica and Resident Evil 1 coming first, so it’s obviously a long way off.

I’m more than up for those but Resident Evil 1 again seems like the perfect time for another soft reboot, with Resident Evil 10 following after that. As to what it will be I think there’s two main problems: do you change the characters and do you change the gameplay?

Considering how popular Grace seems to be I think there’s no doubt that Capcom can still make fun new characters, without having to rely on the old ones. In terms of gameplay though, Requiem was pretty traditional really and people loved that. Probably a lot more than if it had been open world or co-op or whatever.

So as much as we can predict anything at the moment, I think you’ve just got to look at what’s successful now, before they start making the new game. If people had hated Requiem and were demanding something new then that’s probably what Capcom would’ve done, but that’s not how it is right now.

Games taking longer to make is bad in so many ways but one that I think not a lot of people mention is that you start making them based on current trends and then by the time it’s finished who knows what will be popular. That probably explains a lot of live service games.
Cubby

How they do it
Just wanted to say that I really appreciate the behind the scenes videos in Resident Evil Requiem. I guess I already knew that’s how they did the tech but it’s really nice to see a fairly long segment broken down like that.

Although I wonder how long until time-consuming and expensive things like that are just faked with AI, because it’s ‘good enough’. Crazy to think that 30 years ago the same franchise had tank controls and characters that looked like something out of Minecraft. Happy birthday Resi!
Winston

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Front loaded
That’s me finished Resident Evil Requiem on all three difficulties. It’s safe to say it is superb, with amazing graphics, fun gameplay, and a pitch perfect tone.

I still can’t help feeling it could have been even better though. To my surprise, as a big fan of Resident Evil 4, my favourite sections of the game were Grace’s. They’re really tense and atmospheric, with the Rhodes Hill Care Centre making for a wonderful setting. Having zombies with personalities works brilliantly and I wish they had doubled down on the idea with even more variety.

The second half of the game has more generic and returning enemies from the series, which seem a bit uninspired compared to those in the first half. There is too much fan service in general towards the end, especially with the bosses, and I would have preferred to see more original ground broken. I’m not convinced we even needed to return to Raccoon City at all, I’d have preferred to stick around Rhodes Hill with perhaps more institutions/buildings nearby to explore.

It’ll be really interesting to see what direction they take for the next game. I know they experimented with open world for this one and I think that might be the way to go to reinvent the series again. Can’t wait to see!
Ryan O’D
PS: My favourites are:

1. Resident Evil 4 remake
2. Resident Evil 2 remake
3. Resident Evil 1 remake
4. Resident Evil Requiem
5. Resident Evil 7

GC: We think it’s fair to say most, if not all, Resident Evil games are better in the first half than the second.

Inbox also-rans
This business about the EU Switch 2 model made me realise how happy I am that region locking is a thing of the past. What a dumb idea that was.
Focus

Crimson Desert might be a bad game but I tell you one thing, it’s made me really keen on playing a new The Witcher, just from looking at the videos. Hopefully the rumours of new DLC this year are true.
Kryzer

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