Dogs love sleeping in their owners’ beds for three heartwarming reasons that has left people emotional to learn – and it’s more than just wanting to being comfortable

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Dogs really are a man’s best friend, and you can usually gauge just how much your four-legged companion adores you by the way it behaves around you as its owner. Our dog friends demonstrate affection in numerous ways, from enthusiastic welcomes and physical displays such as leaning against you or licking, to constantly wanting to be near you and presenting you with their favourite toys.

They may also reveal their devotion through sustained eye contact, tail wagging, and even quietly copying your movements like yawning. But there are additional behaviours your furry friend might exhibit that you may not realise stem from how deeply they care for you and crave your company, including their desire to share your sleeping space.

In a TikTok video, one content creator went on to explain what it could signify if your dog demands to sleep in your bed, and it’s more adorable than you might imagine.

“Dogs love sleeping in their owners bed for these three reasons,” a voice can be heard announcing before getting into the list of explanations.

1. It makes them feel secure

“First of all, you need to understand that for a dog, you are much more than just an owner. You are their anchor, their family, their entire world,” the voice detailed.

Due to this profound connection, they frequently feel protected in your presence and yearn to be beside you during their most vulnerable moments, particularly while sleeping at night.

The voice clarified: “Sleeping close to you gives them a deep sense of security and strengthens the emotional bond they feel.

“It’s their way of saying ‘I love you and I feel safe with you’,” they concluded.

2. It helps keep them warm

“Secondly, dogs love warmth,” the video continued.

Similar to humans, dogs enjoy snuggling into a comfortable and cosy bed to maintain warmth during chillier periods. The experience becomes even more appealing when they can sense your body heat beside them.

“Your presence turns the bed into the perfect cocoon for a restful night. To them, you’re like a living blanket – warming and reassuring at the same time,” they explained.

3. They want to protect you

“The third reason goes a bit deeper,” the video said before it went on to reveal the third reason.

“Finally, all dogs have a built in pack protection instinct. Even when they sleep deeply, they remain alert,” they said.

They continued: “By sharing your bed, they feel like they’re guarding you just as much as you’re caring for them. This protective role is deeply rooted in their nature. And it’s yet another way your bond grows stronger.”

The video’s caption added: “Your dog isn’t just your pet – they see you as family and their whole world. Sleeping next to you gives them security, warmth, and a chance to protect their pack.”

Viewers quickly flooded the comments section with their reactions, with numerous people expressing support for allowing their dogs to share their beds.

“Dogs love sleeping in their owners bed for these three reasons,” one person wrote, while another shared: “I end up on the edge of the bed while my dog is stretched out.”

“I don’t know how anyone could reject a dog sleeping on the bed with them,” one individual expressed.

Yet, another viewer countered: “Never let your dog sleep in your bed at night.”

Ulster Unionist MLA Doug Beattie said that the system for deporting criminals “isn’t as robust as it should be and certainly isn’t transparent”

An Ulster Unionist MLA has hit out at the system in place to deport foreign criminals who are jailed for serious crimes in Northern Ireland.

This comes as Justice Minister Naomi Long revealed that 145 custodial sentences were handed out to 138 foreign prisoners in Northern Ireland in the last five years.

The figures were revealed after Doug Beattie asked the Minister to detail the number of foreign nationals that have received a custodial sentence of one year or more, in the last five years; the number of those who received a custodial sentence of one year or more and were reported by the Northern Ireland Prison Service to the Home Office Foreign National Offenders Returns Command for deportation, on completion of the custodial element of their sentence; and the number that were unable to complete their licence element of their sentence, as monitored by the Probation Board Northern Ireland, because they were deported.

In her response, Justice Minister Naomi Long said: “The Home Office is responsible for any deportation of foreign nationals. The Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) is responsible for holding those in their custody as directed under the warrant of committal issued by the sentencing court.

“The NIPS is responsible for informing the Home Office of all sentenced foreign national offenders within ten working days of sentencing: thereafter, the Home Office investigate the case and all decisions pertaining to the individual’s immigration and deportation status are a matter for them.”

In recent weeks, the system for deporting criminals has come under greater scrutiny following the case of murdered Ballymena man Victor Hamilton in July 2022. Two foreign nationals, Mario Menezes and Michael Hanrahan were each sentenced for withholding information relating to the murder.

Michael Hanrahan was released back into the community on license only to be returned to prison on breach of his license, and Mario Menezes was not returned to prison following sentencing due to time served.

Ulster Unionist Justice Spokesperson Doug Beattie, MC MLA, commented: “The case surrounding the murder of Victor Hamilton in Ballymena has raised several concerns. This stems from the sentences handed out to two foreign nationals that should, under Home Office rules, have been deported as they were sentenced to one year or more. In one case, the individual was sentenced to six years for the manslaughter of Victor, served three years, then should have been deported. However, this individual was released into the community on license only to be returned to prison on breach of that license. “A second individual involved in the murder of Victor Hamilton was given a two-year sentence, a year to be served in prison. However, due to time served, he was released on sentence by the judge and released back into the community. At no stage was the family of Victor informed of what was happening with either man by anyone within the criminal justice system. “It is clear that the Home Office, through the Foreign National Offender Returns Command, is responsible for deportation orders of foreign nationals. Yet they must be triggered by the Northern Ireland Prison Service, and it seems the system isn’t as robust as it should be and certainly isn’t transparent. These figures provided by the Justice Department should create a realisation that for every case there is a victim, and these victims need to be kept better informed.”

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Most of the policies it looked at covered personal possessions away from the home with cover limits in the thousands of pounds, rather than hundreds and all included certain gadgets such as mobile phones, laptops and tablets. Most also covered cash, although with lower limits than for other possessions.

Glenn Hoddle slammed Arsenal captain Bukayo Saka’s reaction to the disappointing Premier League draw with Wolves.

Arsenal blew a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Premier League basement boys Wolves, who had just nine points from 26 games before the game.

Saka, captaining the Gunners in the absence of the injured Martin Odegaard, fired Arsenal ahead inside five minutes with a glancing header from Declan Rice’s cross.

Despite not being anywhere near their best, Arsenal doubled their lead after half-time through Piero Hincapie and looked to be cruising towards another win.

Three points would have taken Arsenal seven clear of second-placed Manchester City but Wolves produced an unlikely comeback.

Hugo Bueno gave the relegation-doomed side hope with a superb strike on the hour mark before Tom Edozie’s injury-time strike earned Wolves just their 10th point of the season.

Saka faced up to the media after Arsenal’s desperately disappointing draw, admitting the Arsenal dressing room was ‘very flat’.

‘It’s very flat,’ he told Sky Sports. ‘I’m very disappointed with the result and especially how we played in the second half, it’s far from the level that we’ve set this season.

‘It’s time for us to reflect on the few performances and just fix the issues immediately so we can get back to winning games and going on a run and build momentum because we’ve lost that a bit right now.’

Asked whether he and his teammates were ‘feeling the pressure’ as Arsenal chase a first Premier League title in 22 years, Saka added: ‘No, I don’t think about all of that.

‘I just think we need to just get back to our level, just do the basics right. And we’ve got more than enough quality in this team to win games, especially the games where we’ve been dropping points recently.

‘We just need to fix that and that’s all our focus is right now.’

Arsenal legend Martin Keown said he ‘couldn’t disagree with anything’ Saka said during his post-match interview.

‘I can’t disagree with anything that he’s saying but what he’s also saying is they’re not giving up,’ Keown said on Premier League Productions.

‘I think he will be giving more in his next performances because they have to stand up.’

But Tottenham legend Hoddle criticised Saka’s interview, saying: ‘That’s interesting, that, because he was the skipper tonight.

‘For me, he was very honest, very honest there saying they need to do better… blah blah blah. But his demeanour for me wasn’t right.

‘Your demeanour needs to be a little bit more up, he was very flat, very flat.’

Discussing the game as a whole and Arsenal’s wobbling title charge, Hoddle added: ‘I look at Arsenal against Brentford and Wolves and I just feel they’re starting to doubt themselves.

‘A few months ago they weren’t doing that, they were authoritative and were saying, “we’re Arsenal and we’re going to win the title”.

‘But they’re doubting themselves and now they’re under pressure and it’s all about the mentality, they need to be strong and together to come again.

‘It’s not a crossroads for Arsenal but they need to start again, go again. They’ve got to go again but there’s a doubt in their minds now, there’s definitely a doubt and they’ve got a huge couple of games ahead for them.

‘Unless they get a result at the weekend they will be in trouble.’

Arsenal’s next assignment is a huge north London derby against Tottenham, who sacked Thomas Frank following their last game.

Speaking after the Wolves draw, Gunners boss Mikel Arteta said: ‘Incredibly disappointed that we gave two points away. I think we need to fault ourselves and give credit to Wolves.

‘But what we done in the second half was nowhere near our standards that we have to play in order to win a game in the Premier League.

‘There are certain things, certain basics that today we are very far from our level, and when you don’t perform you can get punished, and we got punished and we have to accept the hits because that can happen when you are on top.

‘Certain basics we have to do we did them so poorly one after the other. And then you have no dominance, no control in the game.’

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The six accessible supported bungalows form a new residential scheme in Ryhope, Sunderland, for people with physical and learning disabilities.

Taking its name from the church that once stood on the site, the development is now known as St Cuthbert’s Close.

The six accessible supported bungalows form a new residential scheme in Sunderland for people with physical and learning disabilities. (Image: Sunderland City Council)

The properties have been built as part of Sunderland City Council’s ongoing efforts to increase supported, accessible housing across the city.

Kevin Johnston, Cabinet Member for Housing, Regeneration and Business at Sunderland City Council, said: “I’m delighted to see work complete on these six new bungalows, delivering more accessible properties for those who need them in the city and making use of assistive technologies to enhance independence and improve quality of life.

“This is all about enabling our residents to live as independently as possible and supporting them to live in comfortable homes that meet their needs.”

The bungalows are designed to be accessible throughout. (Image: Sunderland City Council)

The scheme is supported by £660,000 in funding from Homes England.

It forms part of a wider council-led strategy to expand specialist accommodation for vulnerable residents, including disabled individuals.

Each unit is equipped with 5G infrastructure to support future assistive technology tailored to residents’ needs.

One of the new kitchens (Image: Sunderland City Council)

St Cuthbert’s Close includes three two-bedroom and three three-bedroom bungalows, following similar developments in Washington and Hylton Road.

Matthew Wright, Manager – Affordable Housing Delivery, at Homes England, said: “As the Government’s housing and regeneration agency, increasing the supply of quality affordable homes remains one of our key objectives and we are committed to supporting ambitious housebuilders of all sizes to build those homes and communities.

“This investment through the Affordable Homes Programme does just that, enabling Sunderland City Council to build much needed new homes the people of Sunderland can be proud of.”

The development has been built by North East based T Manners and Sons

Derek Collinson, Contracts Manager at T Manners and Sons, said: “Delivering these bungalows has required close collaboration and a strong focus on accessibility to ensure every home meets the needs of future residents.”

It will utilise the new virtual production facility Studio Ulster in Belfast

A new film production is getting underway across Northern Ireland.

After another bumper year for the Northern Irish film and TV industry in 2025, things are showing no signs of slowing down as a number of big movies and shows are already filming across the country.

The latest production underway is No Way Off, a new survival thriller starring Hamnet and House Of Guiness star David Wilmot, and Outlander’s Andrew Gower and Academy Award-nominee Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm).

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Sharing a first look image, Northern Ireland Screen said: “Set over the course of one Christmas Eve night, the film follows exhausted single mother Nadya and her young child who fall asleep on the bus home.

“They wake hours later to find themselves abducted by the driver; and as the bus heads into the wilderness, the ride becomes a fight for survival testing everything Nadya has.”

The film is being shot on location in Northern Ireland and at the new virtual production facility Studio Ulster in Belfast.

Filming marks a return to Northern Ireland for actress Maria Bakalova who recently shot American science fiction survival thriller Override alongside Frank Grillo in Belfast.

No Way Off is written by Gaby Hull, and produced by Matthew James Wilkinson of the UK’s Stigma Films, and Jamie Harvey.

Laura Rister is executive producer through her company Esme Grace, which is financing the film alongside Head Gear Films, Northern Ireland Screen, OnSight and Altitude. Head Gear Films packaged the project, with Phil Hunt, Compton Ross and Charlie Kemball as executive producers.

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On Wednesday, the Metropolitan Police said “initial inquiries into these specific allegations have begun” regarding protection officers after concerns from one unnamed officer that some turned a “blind eye” to Andrew’s visits to Epstein’s island, Little St James, in the US Virgin Islands.

The tenth season of Cambridgeshire crime drama Grantchester comes to an end tonight

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The tenth series of Grantchester has been captivating ITV audiences in recent weeks, but it’s due to conclude tonight (Thursday, February 19).

The British crime drama first aired in 2014 and centred on Anglican vicar Sidney Chambers (James Norton), who probed a series of enigmatic misdeeds in his quaint Cambridgeshire village. Sidney embarked on his detective escapades alongside Detective Inspector Geordie Keating (Robson Green).

Over the years, Geordie has teamed up with several vicars, including Reverend Will Davenport (Tom Brittney), and most recently, Alphy Kottaram (Rishi Nair).

Geordie and Alphy launched into several new investigations when the show made its return to ITV for its tenth series last month. In addition to cracking cases, there have also been some poignant revelations, including Alphy tearfully reading a letter penned by his mother when she put him up for adoption, reports the Mirror.

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These heart-wrenching scenes moved viewers to tears, with one individual posting on X (formerly Twitter): “What another brilliant, heartbreaking and heartwarming episode of #Grantchester. Top performances from all the cast. I’m absolutely broken.”

Another chimed in: “I’m in absolute bits. Absolutely broke me,” whilst others have lauded the cast’s compelling performances.

One viewer praised: “Once again, Robson Green knocking it out of the park tonight,” whilst another commented: “Honestly #Grantchester is up there with the best on TV with great performances. I have no idea why @ITV @itvstudios @masterpiecepbs are ending it.”

Grantchester has captivated audiences each week and will undoubtedly leave a significant void when the final episode broadcasts at 9pm this evening. Ahead of the last series airing next year, ITV executives have revealed what will replace Grantchester in the Thursday evening slot.

The opening instalment of True Crime Presents’ second series, Murder on a Knife’s Edge, is scheduled to commence at 9pm on Thursday, 26 February.

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It will focus on the case of Wayne Coventry, who pursued romance following 18 years with his childhood sweetheart, but the 37-year-old father-of-three became embroiled in a destructive relationship, and was tragically killed in October 2019.

The debut series of True Crime Presents aired last year, delivering compelling and perceptive contributions from victims and witnesses about a series of devastating murders.

The original ten episodes examined numerous harrowing cases, including the deaths of EastEnders actress Gemma McCluskie and 17-year-old Shafilea Ahmed.

Since its release, the show has been lauded by fans. One IMDb user commented: “Quite a decent documentary series. Experts and witnesses given an in-depth analysis on five different murders… The stories are all engaging, some you may know quite well, while others may be new to you.”

Murder on a Knife’s Edge: True Crime Presents premieres at 9pm on Thursday, February 26 on ITV1, while Grantchester is available to stream on ITVX

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With Metal Gear Solid 4 finally leaving the PlayStation 3, GameCentral names the other games that should follow suit and get a proper re-release.

During the recent State of Play, Konami announced the long awaited follow up to its Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1. The second volume includes re-releases of PlayStation Portable game Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, the little-known Game Boy Color spin-off Metal Gear: Ghost Babel and, most importantly, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots.

That last one is significant because Metal Gear Solid 4 only ever released for the PlayStation 3, in 2008, and has otherwise been unavailable ever since. As the finale to the entire Metal Gear Solid saga (at least chronologically), fans have demanded a re-release for years and come August, their patience will be rewarded.

But this has us thinking what other PlayStation 3 exclusives could do with a re-release, especially ones from Sony itself, many of which are already in danger of being forgotten.

Sony does have a sizable list of PlayStation 3 games available through its PlayStation Plus service, but only via cloud streaming, which isn’t ideal if you don’t have an optimal internet connection. It also doesn’t include all the games below and is only rarely updated.

God Of War: Ascension

It’s going to be a long time until those God Of War remakes come out and while fans do have Metroidvania prequel Sons Of Sparta to whet their appetites, it’s not exactly a traditional God Of War experience.

A God Of War: Ascension re-release would be a smart follow-up since it’s chronologically the next game after Sons Of Sparta and sets up the original trilogy, with a decently interesting story about Kratos’ attempt to free himself from his bond with god of war Ares, after he was tricked into killing his family.

It’s also just a very solid action game and though its gory violence can be tasteless, it’s one of the best-looking PlayStation 3 games, having launched towards the end of its lifecycle.

inFamous 1 and 2

Sucker Punch is unlikely to ever go back to inFamous when samurai games Ghost Of Tsushima and Ghost Of Yōtei have been far more financially successful, but it wouldn’t hurt to make the original PlayStation 3 games more readily available, alongside the PlayStation 4 sequels.

There are admittedly better superhero games out there, but the first two inFamous games are still enjoyable to play and double as supervillain power fantasies if you’re tired of goody-two-shoes heroes like Spider-Man.

Protagonist Cole McGrath is too much of a boring grump for our liking, although not necessarily any worse than the unfunny and overly enthusiastic Delsin from inFamous: Second Son.

Killzone Trilogy

Guerrilla Games is far too busy pumping out new Horizon games (including the new multiplayer spin-off) to ever revisit Killzone. That only makes it more surprising that only PlayStation 4 entry Shadow Fall and the PlayStation Portable spin-off are on PlayStation Plus.

Re-releasing the Killzone Trilogy compilation from 2012 would prevent the original PlayStation 2 game from being left out. That said, it is the weakest of the bunch and one you could probably skip in favour of its two PlayStation 3 sequels.

Killzone 2 is most fan’s favourite and it’s the only one that has something close to a memorable character, in villain Colonel Radec. The one downside is that any re-releases would obviously lack the online multiplayer.

MotorStorm Apocalypse

If Gran Turismo is like a sophisticated, professional race car driver, who can land sponsorships and cut a winning smile for photo opps, MotorStorm is its grungy cousin, that isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty.

For a series that is now all but forgotten there are an awful lot of entries, with MotorStorm Apocalypse being the best of the bunch. We’d take MotorStorm: RC as well, which launched for the PlayStation Vita and is the best Micro Machines game never made.

At the very least, a MotorStorm re-release would be a nice throwback, since developer Evolution Studios is long gone, having joined Codemasters in 2016, who themselves aren’t in a good place nowadays.

Puppeteer

Even if they weren’t always successful, you could count on Japan Studio to craft some memorable and unique video games, which is why it was so tragic to see Sony gut the studio in 2021.

Of all its PlayStation 3 releases, Puppeteer was one of their best, if only for its phenomenally whimsical puppet show presentation. The combat wasn’t particularly impressive, but it had plenty of interesting gimmicks to make up for it, such as the magic scissors that let you fly as long as you had something to cut through.

It might have fared better if Sony had held it back for the PlayStation 4 (maybe even as a launch title) as it’s arguably the most forgotten, but highest quality, game on this list.

Ratchet & Clank Future trilogy

Considering its status as one of the main PlayStation franchises – one that has lasted since the days of the PlayStation 2 – it’s surprising Sony hasn’t made more of an effort to make the older Ratchet & Clank games readily available, beyond cloud streaming.

When it comes to the first three games, most fans would probably prefer the original PlayStation 2 versions than their PlayStation 3 remasters, but the Future trilogy of games made specifically for the PlayStation 3 still hold up well and, tonally, would be a hit with newer fans who joined the series with Rift Apart.

Playing Tools Of Destruction, Quest For Booty, and A Crack In Time back-to-back would risk being exhausting, given how similarly they look and play, but they have some amusingly unique weapons and solid platforming. New fans would also appreciate the interconnecting storyline, with some plot threads continued in Rift Apart.

Siren: Blood Curse

The tonal opposite of the aforementioned Puppeteer, Japan Studio’s Forbidden Siren series has quite the pedigree, having been directed by Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama long before he set up his own studio and released the far inferior Slitterhead.

Unlike that game, the Forbidden Siren series is pure horror through and through. All three entries are of similar quality so, frankly, all of them deserve a second lease at life, and stand to thrive thanks to how popular survival horror games are at the moment.

Since this is a list about PlayStation 3 games, we must highlight Siren: Blood Curse, which is essentially a reimagining of the original game, but with a reworked story structure and gameplay improvements from the second game.

SOCOM 4 U.S. Navy SEALs

SOCOM always seemed like a good fit for Sony’s live service games obsession, given it was a series of tactical shooters and one of the company’s first attempts at running online multiplayer.

The series saw two entries on PlayStation 3, but if one were to come back, it’d have to be SOCOM 4 U.S. Navy SEALs as the other – SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs: Confrontation – was a purely online game and Sony’s not going to establish new servers for a nearly 20-year-old title.

Multiplayer was a big part of SOCOM, but SOCOM 4 at least has an enjoyablesingle-player campaign, that should appeal to those nostalgic for the older Call Of Duty campaigns.

Tokyo Jungle

Although it’s not entirely a first party game, since it was a joint project between Japan Studio and a little-known studio called Crispy’s, Tokyo Jungle is still seen as one of Sony’s cult classics from the PlayStation 3 days.

Its premise is certainly novel, being set in a post-apocalyptic Tokyo devoid of human life. Rather than some grizzled wanderer, you play as a wide variety of different animals – from Pomeranians and chickens to lions and even dinosaurs – and struggle to survive as long as you can.

Tokyo Jungle makes the most of this premise and what it lacks in graphical flair, it makes up for with an entertaining gameplay loop, some interesting survival mechanics, and a tongue-in-cheek tone that keeps it from being too morose.

White Knight Chronicles 1 and 2

We wouldn’t blame you for not remembering this, but Sony really wanted White Knight Chronicles to take off and pushed it hard as one of the PlayStation 3’s big exclusives. Obviously, that didn’t work, but it was still a competently made action role-player with some neat ideas.

Like Tokyo Jungle, this was another Japan Studio joint project, although the main developer was Level-5, better known nowadays as the studio responsible for Professor Layton and the Yokai Watch series.

White Knight Chronicles 2 also did the Mass Effect thing where you could carry over your character from the first game, along with all your money and equipment, creating a welcome sense of continuity. Not only were there two games but also a PSP spin-off, and yet the franchise never made it out of the PlayStation 3 generation.

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The Thursday letters page is unsurprised God Of War: Sons Of Sparta was unremarkable, as one reader is enamoured by fan remakes of Pokémon Red/Blue.

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

Console apocalypse
So, um… all this stuff about memory and electronic components getting bought up by AI companies seems pretty bad, right? Like, really, really, bad? This guy talking about potentially a decade of problems presumably knows what he’s talking about, given his position, and that is going to be a nightmare for gaming. Never mind smartphones and everything else.

Do we even know if Sony and Nintendo are safe? They’re not gigantic companies like Microsoft and electronics is pretty much all they do beyond games. Maybe all three will go third party at the same time! I’m not really sure what companies he’s hinting at that could go under, as I’m not sure who counts as a smaller business, but it’s clearly not good news, no matter what happens.

There’s so much going wrong with the games industry, and the world in general, at the moment and yet it seems like it could still get much worse and very quickly. In the worse case scenario you’re talking about consoles, and gaming PCs, being impossible to manufacture for several years.

Whether that would last for a whole decade I don’t know but that’s an industry ending problem. I hope you’re all into retro games, because that might be all we have soon!
Oz

Monkey paw
So I guess one of the big victims of these memory shortage problems is going to be all those PC handheld gaming devices from companies I’ve never heard of. If even Steam Deck has only sold a few million I hate to think what some of these others are pushing. Even the Xbox Ally one, which I have literally not heard mentioned again even once since it came out.

That’s going to affect the rumoured Xbox portable and the PlayStation one too, to the point where they might just cancel them completely, because I imagine they involve a lot of custom chips – even more than if it was just a home console.

I’m sure no one but them knows the full details but this is all very bad news and yet… if you didn’t want there to be a next generation so soon your prayers have been answered. But you know the problem with being careful what you wish for, since now the PlayStation 6 might not arrive until 2036!
Korbie

Next in line
Like a lot of readers I’m looking forward to hearing abut the third Final Fantasy 7 remake game but I’m also wondering what might get the remake treatment after that is all finished up with. Do they even consider Final Fantasy 7 Remake to be a success is the first big question and I’m not sure what the answer is, other than there’s a good chance it might be ‘not really’.

They definitely seemed to have cooled on the idea of a Final Fantasy 9 remake, as there were rumours like crazy around that for a while. That was only meant to be a lower budget remake too, so that might be an indication they’ve already had it with triple-A remakes.

For me the obvious choices for Final Fantasy are 6 or 10, although personally I’d prefer 12. Final Fantasy 6 would require a completely new game, so I don’t think that will get the treatment. 10 is going to be a big job too, so I’m not honestly sure any of them will get remakes.

I’d love Chrono Trigger, but I think that’s the same problem as Final Fantasy 6, and so I think maybe the most likely is Kingdom Hearts, especially with a new game coming up to promote. Or maybe the answer is none of them. If a big budget Final Fantasy 7 remake only sells okay, what chance does anything else have?
Ochreblue

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Fan suggestion
I agree that this year is Game Freak’s big chance to turn around Pokémon in terms of the quality of the games and the technology behind them. I don’t know how likely it is, but if they don’t try this time I’m not sure they ever will.

Although most people imagine some kind of amazing high-tech open world I prefer the idea of something closer to the HD-2D style, that’s a mix between modern and retro graphics. There have been a lot of fan mock-ups with this idea over the years and while I don’t think any of them are perfect I’d rather go with something like this but keep it more of a top-down view.

Unless Nintendo is going to spend GTA 6 style money on it I don’t think there’s any point making Pokémon 3D. It’s got to be stylised and it’s got to be more like the wonder of the original Game Boy games. We might get that for a future remake but I’m afraid the next mainline game will just be another low-tech, janky knock-off.
Taylor Moon

You can dig it
Great Reader’s Feature about A Game About Digging a Hole at the weekend. I instinctively knew I would get some form of enjoyment out of it. Digging, collecting ore, selling it, upgrading equipment, and digging deeper? Absolutely all over it for £3.64.

Spaced out on Tramadol for a back issue last night, played for over two hours and it was an almost religious experience. Well not quite, but highly recommended to all other readers, especially for the price.
Whiskeyjack11

Fighting multiverse
RE: Lee Dappa. The closest you’ll get to playing all versions of Street Fighter 2 in one place, as one game, is not on the 30th anniversary collection of Street Fighter 2 but actually on the 35th anniversary collection labelled as Capcom Fighting Collection.

This release features Hyper Street Fighter 2: The Anniversary Edition. You can choose fighters from all versions of the Street Fighter 2 editions in one package.

Choosing World Warrior Ken from the original will give him extra strength, no super move, and he will be a palette swap of Ryu. Choosing Ken from Street Fighter 2 Turbo: Hyper Fighting will give him his longer range dragon uppercut and air whirlwind kick and still no super move.

Choosing Street Fighter 2 Turbo’s Ken will give him his flaming dragon punch but less damage, and thus more reliant on combos. But he will have his super move to use and the power bar for it at the bottom of the screen. This would apply to all characters across the games so you can have World Warrior E. Honda vs. Street Fighter 2 Turbo’s version of Blanka, for instance.
Nick The Greek

Online ban
I always wondered why companies don’t just lock a game out until the day it’s released, to avoid all these leaks you always get. It’s literally every game but they never seem to care. But surely it could just work like pre-loading, where you have the game but you’re not allowed to start playing it until the right time.

I guess you could buy the disc and then purposefully keep the console offline, and get around it that way, but who wants that much trouble? And besides, most games don’t seem to work without a day one patch anyway. At the very least a timer would cut the problem down, but the companies don’t even seem to try.
Flint

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What it looks like
I know they say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover but God Of War: Sons Of Sparta was an out of the blue shadow drop, it had what looked like terrible graphics, and it immediately looked inferior to about a 100 other Metroidvanias you could get instead. And as a bonus it was by some developer I’d never heard of, who’s biggest game was a Five Nights At Freddy’s spin-off.

I feel you have to be very optimistic given all that, to the point where I could probably sell you some magic beans. It’s not a question of whether it’s rubbish or not but if you want to spend a fair amount of money and a lot of time beating it, and I definitely don’t want to. Talk is cheap but time is not and at the moment I haven’t time for 10/10 blockbusters, let alone deeply average Metroidvanias.

I feel there’s plenty of interesting things an indie dev could’ve done with a low budget God Of War game and a 2D Metroidvania with Young Kratos seems like the absolute least exciting option. You could’ve had a game where you played as one of the Valkyries, you could have had a literal god game where you’re populating Midgar with humans, you could’ve had an archery thing with Arteus, heck you could’ve had a sledding simulator and it still would’ve been more interesting that what we got.

I know it was the safe option, but when the best option was probably not making a spin-off at all there’s no point going for the boring and obvious choice.
Campbell

Inbox also-rans
So Highguard has outlasted Concord, but by the sound of it it’ll be lucky see the weekend, so it’s really only going to beat it by a matter of days.
Goops

I really hate that Microsoft switched the buttons round on their controller compared to Nintendo’s. Why do so silly a thing and make it so difficult to switch (no pun intended) between the two consoles. I can never remember which is which way round.
Mobert

GC: They were copying Sega, who they were very cosy with in the initial years of the Xbox.

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