A six-point deficit to Arsenal in the Premier League is not quite a state of affairs that calls for Manchester City to throw everything at the cups, but we might be approaching that scenario.
City are certainly strong favourites to reach the League Cup final, taking a 2-0 lead into tonight’s home second leg against holders Newcastle United.
Pep Guardiola’s team will play Arsenal at Wembley on March 22 if they progress, around a month before the teams play at the Etihad in the league. There is also a chance that they could play in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Advertisement
This weekend looks like another significant one in the title race, with Arsenal hosting Sunderland and City travelling to Anfield where they have a grim record. Perhaps the danger to City tonight is Guardiola rotating his team with an eye on that game and being caught out.
Newcastle certainly have the speed and attacking menace to trouble an unstable City defence, but they will have to improve on a dreadful away record. Across the league and the Champions League this season, Newcastle have won just three of 16 matches on the road. They need to win by two goals just to send the tie to extra time.
Eddie Howe lined up with a roving front three of Harvey Barnes, Anthony Gordon and Anthony Elanga against Liverpool at the weekend, and against a City team who like to play the offside trap, prioritising pace could be wise. Alternatively, he could take the view that Yoanne Wissa and Nick Woltemade are fresh as they go in search of goals.
Newcastle hope to have Bruno Guimaraes back in their midfield, but they remain without Tino Livramento and Joelinton.
Advertisement
Will Guardiola take this opportunity to rest Erling Haaland now Omar Marmoush is available again? Haaland has scored just twice in 10 appearances since the turn of the year.
WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT The bull elephant charged at the man, who is in his 60s, grabbing him by its trunk and slamming him to the ground at the Khao Yai National Park
A wild bull elephant has killed a third tourist at a national park in Thailand this week, according to multiple news outlets.
Advertisement
The man, identified as Jirathachai Jiraphatboonyathorn from Muang district of Lop Buri, was exercising metres away from his camp at the Khao Yai National Park with his wife at about 5.30am on Monday February 2 when tragedy struck. He was attacked by the elephant, Agence France-Presse, the Bangkok Post and Khaosod English reported.
Jirathachai, who is in his 60s, encountered Phlai Oiwan, a bull elephant feeding outside his forest boundary. The elephant charged at the man, grabbing him by its trunk and slamming him to the ground and stomped on him according to the Post. He was examined by rescue workers and a doctor, who found that he suffered broken limbs and other injuries, the paper reported.
Wanchai Kaenchantuek, the head of the Khao Yai 4 (Khlong Pla Kang) park protection unit, said he heard the elephant and cries for help. When he rushed to check, he found the victim and alerted the relevant officials, reported The Nation.
The horror attack took place as the other campers watched in horror. Jiraphatboonyathorn’s wife, who was with him at the time of the incident, managed to escape after rangers scared the creature away, national park official Chaiya Huayhongthong told AFP.
Chaiya Huayhongthong told AFP that the officials will meet on Friday to decide what to do with the animal. “We will probably decide to relocate him or change his behaviour,” he told the news agency. The forest officials have ordered an increase in patrolling and monitoring activity, as they urged the tourists to exercise caution.
Advertisement
He is the third reported victim to be killed by the same elephant, according to the reports, though Huayhongthong told AFP that the animal could have killed more people.
More than 220 people, including tourists, have been killed by wild elephants since 2012, Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation said, the AFP reported.
Sir Robert Goodwill, owner of Mowthorpe Garden of Rest, near Terrington, said there has been no evidence of claims Middleton Hunt had been on the land last week.
Footage captured by national animal welfare charity the League Against Cruel Sports appears to show the hunt’s hounds running through the Garden of Rest within the Howardian Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The League has condemned the action of the hunt.
Advertisement
However Sir Robert, a former Conservative MP for Scarborough and Whitby, said if this was the case, there was no sign that they have been in the cemetery.
He said: “None of the families that visit have mentioned it. We do not ban dogs from the cemetery in any case.
“The hunt is very much part of rural life and am more than happy for them to use our land. I am sorry that I wasn’t around to view the wonderful spectacle of the riders and hounds.”
The League Against Cruel Sports chief executive, Emma Slawinksi, has criticised the hunt.
Advertisement
Emma added: “I would urge the public who are sick and tired of the behaviour of hunts to take part in the government’s hunting consultation.
“The time for change is now. We want to see trail hunting banned.”
It was praised by judges for its outstanding storytelling and “commitment to painting a global picture”, including Assad’s role as a key ally of Vladimir Putin.
One judge praised the “strong, knowledgeable journalists who provided nuanced insights” throughout, while another commended its “excellent editorial clarity and insightful, even-handed journalistic analysis”.
Advertisement
Judges also cited how widely it was shared across social media, as well as praise from human rights organisations, Syrian refuges in the UK, and industry peers.
You can watch the programme in full at the top of this page.
MPs discussed making further changes to legislation
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has issued an update following queries about its data sharing practices with local authorities. The update came after policy advocates addressed the Work and Pensions Committee on potential reforms to the DWP benefits system, to ensure people receive the support they’re entitled to.
Advertisement
Fabian Chessell, central government lead at Policy in Practice, made the case for increased data sharing to improve “employment support” for claimants. He criticised the Government’s devolution bill, introduced in July 2025, for having nothing to say about data sharing.
The proposed legislation would empower mayors with new authorities and pave the way for Strategic Authorities in each English region, overseeing areas like housing, skills, and employment support. The bill is currently under scrutiny in the House of Lords.
State Pensioners to face major tax change
Regarding the devolution plans, Mr Chessell said: “If we’re giving them power, we need to give them data.” He also highlighted existing laws that could be tweaked to boost data sharing.
Section 72 of the Welfare and Pensions Reform Act 1999 allows for the “exchange of information” between Government departments and employers concerning a person claiming working-age benefits. According to Mr Chessell, this legislation “creates the gateways for sharing employment data with councils today from DWP and HMRC” and could be amended to facilitate more data sharing.
Advertisement
He urged the committee: “Let’s do the simple thing. There’s a lot of complex questions in front of us, this isn’t one of those.” The DWP was approached for comment.
A spokesperson said: “Millions of people rely on our welfare system every year and it is vital that it can be accessed by all who need it. We already share income and earnings data with local authorities to help ensure people receive the Housing Benefit and council tax support they’re entitled to.
“We’re now exploring ways to expand this data sharing with Local Authorities and Mayoral Strategic Authorities, so they can better connect people with employment support.”
Advertisement
The DWP also said it makes regular efforts to promote awareness of available benefits through initiatives like the Help for Households campaign. If you think you could be missing out on benefits, the Government website offers a benefits calculator tool to check what benefits you may be eligible for.
Darrington Quarries Ltd has applied to North Yorkshire Council to extract sand and gravel from land near the village of Hensall.
The plan would see 90,000 tonnes extracted from the 20-hectare site every year for 14 years.
The site would then be turned back into use for agricultural and nature conservation.
Advertisement
The planning application was deferred by the council’s strategic planning committee at a meeting in December.
The decision was taken after hearing from local resident Richard Kendall, whose home lies next to the proposed quarry site.
He told the committee he did not oppose the application but asked for a number of measures to ensure the development did not affect his quality of life.
The pensioner asked for the proposed location of soil heaps to be moved away from the border with his property to reduce dust.
Advertisement
The resident also said he was worried the heap would block out sunlight.
The application will be considered again by the committee next week, when it is again recommended for approval.
A report for the meeting states that a five-metre-high mound of topsoil would be moved around 20 metres further into the site and away from Mr Kendall’s property.
The resident also asked the quarry owners for help to create a new access from his property onto the A645 by creating a dropped kerb.
Advertisement
But the council said this was not a material planning consideration and should not be given weight in the consideration of the application.
Although the quarry is a standalone site, council officers say it is effectively a continuation of the quarrying operations that are currently being restored at the nearby Hensall Quarry.
Everything you need to know as Northern Ireland pharmacists warn of medicine shortages | Belfast Live
Need to know
A growing shortage of essential medicines, including aspirin and co-codamol, could last until at least the summer
Pharmacists have warned there is a growing shortage of some essential medicines in Northern Ireland(Image: PA Wire)
Everything you need to know as pharmacists in Northern Ireland have warned of a growing shortage of essential medicines, including aspirin and co-codamol which could last until at least the summer.
Community Pharmacy NI (CPNI) says shortage is likely to last for several months
Pharmacies may be forced to ration supplies of medicines to ensure patients have some supply and do not run out, potentially affecting on average 50 to 100 patients per pharmacy
Pharmacies are trying to source stock for more than 100 common medicine lines that are in short supply
As a result, patients may face delays, receive interim or reduced supplies, or be referred for alternative treatments
CPNI says this will place additional workloads on pharmacies and also increase pressure on GP practices and out-of-hours services
Patients are being strongly advised against self-selecting alternative medicines or altering doses without professional guidance, as this may be clinically inappropriate and, in some cases, harmful.
In Northern Ireland, around 50,000 packs – or five million tablets – of co-codamol are dispensed each month to a population of fewer than two million people
Another shortage is affecting specific low-dose, dissolvable aspirin used primarily as an anti-platelet medicine for patients at risk of stroke or heart attack
The current shortages are being driven by global manufacturing and supply chain constraints
The revelations emerged on Tuesday when representatives from CPNI addressed MLAs at Stormont
Danny Donnelly MLA, who chairs of the All-Party Group on Community Pharmacy, said the warning was “very concerning” and called on the Health Minister to recognise “the severity of this issue” and work “with the local community pharmacy sector to reduce the impact and risks to patients”
Gerard Greene, Chief Executive of Community Pharmacy NI is appealing to the public to be patient with pharmacy teams as they try to source medicines
He said community pharmacies are “operating under sustained and increasing pressure”, adding that “the gap between medicine costs and reimbursement is widening, and pharmacies here are also struggling to pay medicine wholesaler bills and receive sufficient supply of many common medicines to meet patient need.”
The Department of Health said it was “aware of a current supply issue for co-codamol 30/500mg tablets, which is affecting all parts of the United Kingdom”, and recognises this is “concerning for patients and the healthcare professionals”.
A DoH spokesperson added: “The department is working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the health service here to ensure that patients can continue to access appropriate treatments that meet their needs. It is important that people continue to order medicines in advance and in line with their GP practice policy and do not stockpile medicines, as this can put additional strain on the medicine supply chain.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration announced Wednesday that it wants to create a critical minerals trading bloc with its allies and partners, using tariffs to maintain minimum prices and defend against China’s stranglehold on the key elements needed for everything from fighter jets to smartphones.
“We want members to form a trading bloc among allies and partners, one that guarantees American access to American industrial might while also expanding production across the entire zone,” Vance said at the opening of a meeting that Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted with officials from several dozen European, Asian and African nations.
The Republican administration is making bold moves to shore up supplies of critical minerals needed for electric vehicles, missiles and other high-tech products after China choked off their flow in response to President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs last year. While the two global powers reached a truce to pull back on the high import taxes and stepped-up rare earth restrictions, China’s limits remain tighter than they were before Trump took office.
The conference, however, is an indication that the United States is seeking to build relationships when it comes to issues it deems key national security priorities.
While major allies like France and the United Kingdom attended the meeting in Washington, Greenland and Denmark, the NATO ally with oversight of the mineral-rich Arctic island, did not.
A new approach to countering China on critical minerals
Vance said some countries have signed on to the trading bloc, which is designed to ensure stable prices and will provide members access to financing and the critical minerals. Administration officials said the plan will help the West move beyond complaining about the problem of access to critical minerals to actually solving it.
Advertisement
“Everyone here has a role to play, and that’s why we’re so grateful for you coming and being a part of this gathering that I hope will lead to not just more gatherings, but action,” Rubio said.
Vance said that for too long, China has used the tactic of unloading materials at cheap prices to undermine potential competitors, then ratcheting up prices later after keeping new mines from being built in other countries.
Prices within the preferential trade zone will remain consistent over time, the vice president said.
“Our goal within that zone is to create diverse centers of production, stable investment conditions and supply chains that are immune to the kind of external disruptions that we’ve already talked about,” he said.
Advertisement
To make the new trading group work, it will be important to have ways to keep countries from buying cheap Chinese materials on the side and to encourage companies from getting the critical minerals they need from China, said Ian Lange, an economics professor who focuses on rare earths at the Colorado School of Mines.
“Let’s just say it’s standard economics or standard behavior. If I can cheat and get away with it, I will,” he said.
At least for defense contractors, Lange said the Pentagon can enforce where those companies get their critical minerals, but it may be harder with electric vehicle makers and other manufacturers.
US turns to a strategic stockpile and investments
Trump this week also announced Project Vault, a plan for a strategic U.S. stockpile of rare earth elements to be funded with a $10 billion loan from the U.S. Export-Import Bank and nearly $1.67 billion in private capital.
Advertisement
In addition, the government recently made its fourth direct investment in an American critical minerals producer, extending $1.6 billion to USA Rare Earth in exchange for stock and a repayment deal. The Pentagon has shelled out nearly $5 billion over the past year to spur mining.
The administration has prioritized the moves because China controls 70% of the world’s rare earths mining and 90% of the processing. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by phone Wednesday, including about trade. A social media post from Trump did not specifically mention critical minerals.
Heidi Crebo-Rediker, a senior fellow in the Center for Geoeconomic Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the meeting was “the most ambitious multilateral gathering of the Trump administration.”
“The rocks are where the rocks are, so when it comes to securing supply chains for both defense and commercial industries, we need trusted partners,” she said.
Advertisement
Japan’s minister of state for foreign affairs, Iwao Horii, said Tokyo was fully on board with the U.S. initiative and would work with as many countries as possible to ensure its success.
“Critical minerals and (their) stable supply is indispensable to the sustainable development of the global economy,” he said.
Agreements and legislation move forward
The European Union and Japan together as well as Mexico announced agreements to work with the United States to develop coordinated trade policies and price floors to support the development of a critical minerals supply chain outside of China. The countries said they would develop an agreement about what steps they will take and explore ways to expand the effort to include additional like-minded nations.
Also Wednesday, the Republican-controlled House approved a bill to accelerate mining on federal land despite objections from Democrats and conservation groups that it amounted to a blank check to foreign-owned mining corporations.
Advertisement
The bill, which next heads to the Senate, would codify Trump’s executive orders to boost domestic mining and processing of minerals important to energy, defense and other applications.
___
Associated Press writer Matthew Daly contributed to this report.
Mikel Arteta makes 11 changes from the defeat against Manchester United, with Kai Havertz making his first start for a year. He will be playing in a more withdrawn role with Gyokeres up front.
ATLANTA (AP) — Officials in Georgia’s Fulton County said Wednesday they have asked a federal court to order the FBI to return ballots and other documents from the 2020 election that it seized last week, escalating a voting battle as President Donald Trump says he wants to “take over” elections from Democratic-run areas with the November midterms on the horizon.
The FBI had searched a warehouse near Atlanta where those records were stored, a move taken after Trump’s persistent demands for retribution over claims, without evidence, that fraud cost him victory in Georgia. Trump’s election comment came in an interview Monday with a conservative podcaster and the Republican president reaffirmed his position in Oval Office remarks the next day, citing f raud allegations that numerous audits, investigations and courts have debunked.
Officials in heavily Democratic Fulton County referenced those statements in announcing their legal action at a time of increasing anxiety over Trump’s plans for the fall elections that will determine control of Congress.
“This case is not only about Fulton County,” said the county chairman, Robb Pitts. “This is about elections across Georgia and across the nation.”
Advertisement
In a sign of that broader concern, U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said this week that he once doubted Trump would intervene in the midterms but now “the notional idea that he will ask his loyalists to do something inappropriate, beyond the Constitution, scares the heck out of me.”
The White House has scoffed at such fears, noting that Trump did not intervene in the 2025 off-year elections despite some Democratic predictions he would. But the president’s party usually loses ground in midterm elections and Trump has already tried to tilt the fall races in his direction.
During an interview with NBC News that aired Wednesday, the president said he will trust Republican losses in the midterms “if the results are honest.” It’s a strategy Trump has regularly used ahead of elections, suggesting that a loss would only be due to some type of fraud.
Democratic election officials plan for interference in the midterms
Democratic state election officials have reacted to Trump’s statements, the seizure of the Georgia election materials and his aggressive deployment of federal officers into Democratic-leaning cities by planning for a wide range of possible scenarios this fall. That includes how they would respond if Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were stationed outside polling places.
Advertisement
They also have raised concerns about U.S. Department of Justice lawsuits, mostly targeting Democratic states, seeking detailed voter data that includes dates of birth and partial Social Security numbers. Secretaries of state have raised concerns that the administration is building a database it can use to potentially disenfranchise voters in future elections.
Trump and his allies have long fixated on Fulton County, Georgia’s most populous, since he narrowly lost the state to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020. In the weeks after that election, Trump called Georgia’s secretary of state, Republican Brad Raffensperger, urged him to help “find” the 11,780 ballots that would enable Trump to be declared the Georgia winner of the state and raised the prospect of a “criminal offense” if the official failed to comply.
Raffensperger did not change the vote tally, and Biden won Georgia’s 16 electoral votes. Days later, rioters swarmed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and tried to prevent the official certification of Biden’s victory. When Trump returned to the presidency in January 2025, he pardoned more than 1,000 charged in that siege.
“The president himself and his allies, they refuse to accept the fact that they lost,” Pitts said. “And even if he had won Georgia, he would still have lost the presidency.”
Advertisement
Pitts defended the county’s election practices and said Fulton has conducted 17 elections since 2020 without any issues.
‘The results will be the same,’ says Georgia election official
A warrant cover sheet provided to the county includes a list of items that the agents were seeking related to the 2020 general election: all ballots, tabulator tapes from the scanners that tally the votes, electronic ballot images created when the ballots were counted and then recounted, and all voter rolls.
The FBI drove away with hundreds of boxes of ballots and other documents. County officials say they were not told why the federal government wanted the documents.
The county is also asking the court to unseal the sworn statement from a law enforcement agent that was presented to the judge who approved the search warrant.
Advertisement
The Justice Department declined to comment on the county’s motion.
“What they’re doing with the ballots that they have now, we don’t know, but if they’re counted fairly and honestly, the results will be the same,” Pitts said.
Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s director of national intelligence, was at the Fulton search last week, and Democrats in Congress have questioned the propriety of her presence because the search was a law enforcement, not intelligence, action.
In a letter to top Democrats on the House and Senate Intelligence committees Monday, Gabbard said Trump asked her to be there “under my broad statutory authority to coordinate, integrate, and analyze intelligence related to election security.”
Advertisement
During the NBC News interview, Trump said he didn’t know why Gabbard was in Fulton County, but suggested without providing evidence that other countries were meddling in elections: “A lot of the cheating, it’s international cheating.”
Trump pushes for federal control of elections
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that the president’s “take over” remarks, which included a vague reference to “15 places” that should be targeted, were a reference to the SAVE Act, legislation that would tighten proof of citizenship requirements. Republicans want to bring it up for a vote in Congress.
But in his remarks that day, Trump did not cite the proposal. Instead, he claimed that Democratic-controlled places such as Atlanta, which falls mainly in Fulton County, have “horrible corruption on elections. And the federal government should not allow that.”
The Constitution vests states with the ability to administer elections. Congress can add rules for federal races. One of Trump’s earliest second-term actions was an executive order that tried to rewrite voting rules nationwide. Judges have largely blocked it because it violates the Constitution.
Advertisement
Trump contended that states were “agents of the federal government to count the votes. If they can’t count the votes legally and honestly, then somebody else should take over.”
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said Wednesday said he supported the SAVE Act but not Trump’s desire for a federal takeover. “Nationalizing elections and picking 15 states seems a little off strategy,” Tillis told reporters.
___
Associated Press video journalist Nathan Ellgren in Washington contributed to this report.
The Thursday letters page tries to predict the contents of today’s Nintendo Partner Showcase, as one reader thinks the next gen Xbox console is doomed.
Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk
Worrying times We’ve had a lot of talk back and forth about Nintendo recently and, to be honest, I felt people were being a bit silly claiming they’d made serious mistakes. But to hear Nintendo themselves say the Switch 2 has underperformed in the West is a bit of a shock. They seem to be talking about profit more than sales, but their whole business has been based on relatively low budget hardware and software that is hugely profitable.
You change that and suddenly the whole foundation of the company is at risk. I’m surprised they didn’t realise this, but then obviously they couldn’t have predicted the RAM shortages and tariffs. Even so, they’ve stuck their neck out further than they usually do and they’re in danger of having it cut off.
Advertisement
Well, maybe not that much danger but I’m more worried about them now than I was during the Wii U era, even though the Switch 2 has sold tons and the Wii U was a disaster right out the gate. It was recoverable though, which is exactly what happened. I really don’t see what Nintendo does next to get back to its old position, especially when they refuse to announce any decently exciting games. Acheron
Improper Direct It’s hard to know what to say when you realise that when there is finally a ‘proper’ Nintendo Direct it’s going to be the fifth one of the year. Maybe even the sixth if they slip an Indie World one in before it. Are they trolling or is their line-up for the year just really behind? As usual with Nintendo, we’ll never know for sure.
Expert, exclusive gaming analysis
Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning.
Advertisement
So what’s going to be announced on Thursday’s Partner Showcase? I have a nasty feeling it’s not going to be much we haven’t heard of before. There’s an awful lot of third party games, like Elden Ring, that have been announced but haven’t got a release date yet, or we haven’t seen running on Switch 2.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t need to sit through 15 minutes of Elden Ring with its unique Master Sword item, or whatever they add to it. Nor do I need to see any more of 007 First Light or whatever else they have. Here’s hoping there’ll be some welcome surprises but the golden rule with these showcase is to expect nothing and never be disappointed. Corden
Console-esque Whatever the next gen Xbox is next year, or whenever, I’ll bet it’s not really a console as we’ve come to think of them. It’s not going to be a new format, that only runs the games made for it, because nobody but Microsoft is ever going to want to make them.
Advertisement
It’s just going to be a PC, with as much AI nonsense installed on it as Microsoft can cram onto the hard drive, or in the cloud or however they pitch it. They’ve already said it’s going to be hyper expensive and that combined with it not actually being a console is going to be a disaster, I believe.
They would’ve been better off sticking with their portable idea because at least in that case there’s not really a clear leader for PC handhelds. Steam Deck is number one but it could easily be improved on it’s not that much more successful than its rivals. Zeiss
Phoning it in RE: Lurgie. The Fallout TV show has been fine. Entertaining enough to me, at least. I’ve seen some diehards moaning about aspects of the show, but it hasn’t affected me. I’m not a lore buff, so I don’t care about any changes brought in by the showrunners. Only thing is, I hope they have an ending planned and not, like Westworld, it just limps along until it’s cancelled. Bobwallett PS: Whilst I appreciate Walton Goggins making an appearance in Fallout 76, his performance kinda reminds me of Krusty’s recording session.
Advertisement
Inflation problems I see they have the new Monster Hunter Stories 3 amiibo in stock to pre-order on Nintendo Store UK. They look amazing and very colourful, but very expensive compared to the price of amiibo which came out during the Switch 1’s lifetime. They also have the Super Mario Bros. Wonder amiibo available to pre-order.
I particularly like the Mario elephant character going down a green pipe! I will be picking up some of them in future to add to my collection. Andrew J. PS: On a different subject what is GameCentral’s opinion on the game The Stone of Madness for PlayStation 5? as I am thinking of picking it up on physical.
GC: We haven’t played it, we’re afraid. You’re right about the amiibo though. Those Ratha ones look great, but the price is well outside the impulse purchase range they used to be.
Advertisement
Customer service Even in the early 2000s, as a 21-year-old gamer, I remember being trolled for liking Nintendo/Pokémon by a certain member of staff (if anyone’s from Wolverhampton).
Years later, I had an issue with ‘Dave’ in 2020, regarding returning a still-sealed GAME in the Merry Hill store.
Besides those idiots, GAME’s trade-in/cash was always lower than GameStation’s. All GAME had was the Reward Points and once I spent those, I never really went back.
GAME got jealous of GameStation, bought them and then shut them down.
Advertisement
Then they never have any new releases in store on launch day, which meant a wasted journey so I’m personally glad they’re going/gone.
As regards the high street, it’ll be Smyths or Argos for me, regarding brand new, or CeX or eBay for second-hand. LeeDappa
GTApocalypse I’d like to echo a reader’s concern from last month, where he worried what will happen to the rest of the games industry once GTA 6 comes out. Whether you’re interested in the game or not, it’s fascinating to see how massive the hype is for it, but it’s going to leave such a crater I don’t think many people are going to be buying or playing else for months.
That’s a bigger problem when it comes out at Christmas than in May and it’s particularly bad news for Call Of Duty, which has had a really bad couple of years. But how long will GTA 6 be the only game in town? Months and months into 2027 I’m sure. And what will be the first big game to dare go up against it and break the chain? Whatever it is, good luck to the developer. Crumpton
Advertisement
Don’t miss Gaming news! Add us as a Preferred Source
As a loyal GameCentral reader, we want to make sure you never miss our articles when searching for gaming stories. We have all the latest video games news, reviews, previews, and interviews, with a vibrant community of highly engaged readers.
Click here and tick Metro.co.uk to ensure you see stories from us first in Google Search.
GameCentral has been delivering unique games news and reviews for over a decade
It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad world As some people have kind of touched on already, I think a lot of the problems with the games industry at the moment don’t have anything much to do with publishers but the wider business world which is, not to put too finer point on it, nuts right now.
Advertisement
The reason RAM is expensive isn’t because it’s hard to get the raw materials or even because of Trump’s tariffs, it’s because it’s all being used for AI. And when that bubble bursts – and I believe it will this year – suddenly it’s all going to become dirt cheap. Which may sound a good thing but the wider effects on the economy, of companies finally admitting AI is almost worthless, is going to be horrendous. So that’s something to look forward to.
We’re in a situation where the Switch 2 has become the fast-selling console ever and yet it’s still seen as underperforming. What was it supposed to do? Become the fast-selling console in multiple dimensions at once?
Nothing has made sense since Covid, as far as I’m concerned, but the last couple of years, with the rise of AI, has been full on lunacy. The reason stocks are down for video game companies? Because investors think Google’s Project Gemini is going to make video game development redundant. As if you’re going to type in a prompt and get God Of War out the other end.
For a sensible, financially conservative company like Nintendo all of this must be especially infuriating, but they’ve just got to ride out like the rest of us, and hope that sanity returns at some point soon. Ashton Marley
Advertisement
Inbox also-rans I have to admit, even I thought that Fallout website reveal was going to be the Fallout 3 remaster. Kind of funny that it wasn’t. Maybe they’ll go for an April launch, so that it’s exactly the same as Oblivion? Ken
Was that another case of Inbox magic, with the reader talking about GTA 6 Trailer 3 being around the time of Summer Game Fest and then the next day we get Take-Two talking about just that! Didn’t realise the magic works even on Rockstar. Whaler9
The small print New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.
Advertisement
You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.
You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.