The RIG 600 Pro headset is pretty much the best $100 headset I've ever used. In fact, the unit that I reviewed back in September of 2023 is sitting on my head as I type this. It is now my primary work and PC gaming headset, and I've not had any reason to switch it out or upgrade it. The sound is amazing and the utility of the unit is flawless. Given the fact that it's so comfortable that I wear it all day, every day, the 600 Pro is one of my favorite pieces of tech.

RIG today announced that it has upgraded the unit, and dropped the price by ten bucks, which makes it even more of a no-brainer. The RIG 600 Pro Acid Camo will retail for $89.99 when it releases on November 1st, and it now features earpads supplied by Wicked Cushions, a premium earpad replacement company. The headset will be released with an "Acid Camo" paintjob, with the cushions designed to match.

The headset features an awesome battery and a really cool flexy headband that is virtually unbreakable. If you are looking for a new gaming headset, you could do far worse than this one. The RIG 600 Pro Acid Camo will be available exclusively through GameStop - but I can confidently say that it will be worth the trip. 

Developer Polaris Team, a spin-off of indie developer Variable State, has announced a new Steam Next Fest demo for its co-op PvE sci-fi shooter, Polaris, in addition to dropping a new gameplay trailer. The demo is available now until Tuesday, October 22^nd as a part of the Steam event, with players able to hop-in free of charge to check out the game. Polaris features a fully destructible dynamic environment, which means that buildings can be blown apart, craters can be left in the terrain, and more. Also, apparently you can get behind the wheel of fighter planes, which is dope.

There’s no release date yet for Polaris, but it will be available on PC only at launch, with possible support for Steam Deck coming down the road (pretty please?). You can download the demo now from the game’s Steam page, or check out the rather lengthy gameplay trailer below.

Bandai Namco is gearing up for the release of it's action adventure, called Unknown 9: Awakening, and I personally want to report that there is a female protagonist with super powers after using a portal to another world, and taking down multiple enemies. Haroona is a Quaestor, with a dimension hopping power known as the Fold. With it, she can slow time to dodge bullets, and even take control of enemies to fight others. She can shoot energy at her antagonists and more. It's an action adventure game spamming across lands in 19th century Portugal.

The game is part of a Storyworld, spanning across a comic, a scripted podcast (whut), and a trilogy of novels. I'm not sure you have to know anything about these other entries to play the game, but I'm sure you're already saying the out loud thing, out loud. I mean, if fits the bill of another forespoken hero, using powers, to run across a land, to defeat someone. The game is $49.99 USD, so you know, you don't have to buy it. But at least play it before you dunk on it. I've posted the cinematic trailer, as well as the overview, so you can form your own opinion before it releases on PS4/5 and Xbox One/Series. 

Along with the Powerpuff Girls DLC, it was announced that another Wonder Woman was entering the ring. Nubia has been added to the Free to play Multiversus. Described as a close combat damage dealer, she uses a spear to smack her opponents around. The lasso of truth is to Wonder Woman, as the Spear of understanding is to Nubia. The Assassin class fighter also comes with her variant, the Future State skin. Nubia, for those who don't know, debuted in 1973, but has had huge story arcs in 2021, and 2023. She is currently the Queen of the Amazons, and refers to Diana, as her sister. This is all news to me. 

As you can dive back into the comics she's a part of on the DC Universe Inifinite site, you can play as Nubia starting October 15th. With Nubia also comes the Townsville destroyed stage. Multiversus has still been going strong since it's resurgence. Agent Smith, Beetlejuice, Samurai Jack, The Powerpuff Girls, and now Nubia. I want Static Shock, Black Lightning, and Poison Ivy from the new cartoon, if Warner Bros. is taking requests. If Martian Manhunter is announced, I need all the shape shifting the game can handle. 

The early access demo for Life is Strange: Double Exposure is surprisingly meaty. Downloadable to players that pre-order (and provided to press by Square Enix), the preview build consists of the first two chapters of the five chapter game. Pre-ordering now allows you to play through two fifths of the game before it's eventual October 29 release, which is about 4-6 hours of gametime, depending on how much you like to wander and linger. Like most Square Enix demos, any progress you've made carries right over into the main game.

I recommend this course of action if you are going to play the game, as it gives you a lot to chew on and somewhat rekindles the old "play some and then freak out while you wait to see what happens" dynamic of Life is Strange of yore. It's a hoot.

Representation in this game is REAL, y'all

As I'm going to be reviewing the full release in a few weeks, I don't want to get into the plot and storyline all that much, beyond reiterating what is already known to audiences through Square Enix's press releases. Sometime series heroine Max Caufield is now a photographer-in-residence at Caledon University in Vermont - in the game, she seems to be on the level of a post-graduate instructor, though she does bum around with students and grad students. Mostly, she seems to hang out with Safi, her best friend (and daughter of Caledon U's dean).

Out for the evening with friends, Safi wanders away for a few moments. Wondering where her friend got off to, Max follows her, only to find her dead on a snowy bench. Shots have been fired, and Max finds herself surrounded by an entire campus of suspects. 

But not Amanda. There's no way Amanda did it.

Longtime fans of the series know that Max has the ability to rewind time - or at least, she used to. She hasn't used the ability in quite a while, as it caused her more trouble than it was worth. But faced with her friend's death, she gives it the old college try, only to find herself inadvertently ripping a hole into a parallel timeline. Here, she finds that Safi is still alive and well, and has no idea of the danger she is in. 

Max can dip back and forth between dimensions at certain geographic locations, and she also has a cool ability to send out a space-warp-bubble "Pulse", allowing her to see phantom representations of what is happening in one universe while she inhabits the other. This leads to a lot of bopping back and forth in order to solve puzzles and investigate the overarching murder. It's a cool dynamic, because she can question people in the dimension where Safi is alive and they have zero idea that she is running circles around them.

This homie runs a secret society. And seems strangely obsessed with Bigfoot. Instant suspect.

The funny thing about the whole experience so far is how blasé Max is when she discovers her now power. She barely even registers a moment of "Oh, this is weird, I expected that other supernatural power, and I got this one instead". She just kinda shrugs and runs with it, totally accustomed to the weirdness. Her life is strange, indeed.

Though original developers Don't Nod have moved onto other properties, Life is Strange: Double Exposure still feels very much a part of the series. Deck Nine Games is handling the development duties this time, and all of that team's experience on the remasters of the original series and the development of the stellar Life is Strange: True Colors has lent itself to the creation of a game that is both beautiful to look at and thematically resonant with the franchise's history. Max is as charming and witty as ever, and the new characters feel very real and vibrant. This game continues to use social media and journaling as a short-hand way to track characters when they are off-screen, which offers handy insight into their values and traits.

I don't think it'll shock anyone to learn that Chapter 2 in the game ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, which has left me anxious to get to the rest of the game. Keep an eye on Gaming Nexus for my full review in the next couple of weeks, but rest assured that I'll keep the spoilers to a minimum. I'm not trying to ruin anyone's fun. Or their existential dread.

On February 14th 2024 Tomb Raider I-III Remastered was released and today we got the announcement that more of Lara Crofts classic adventures will be coming to modern system as Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered will be released exactly one year later in February of 2025. 

The collection will include the following games...

• Tomb Raider: The Last Revelations
• Tomb Raider: Chronicles
• Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness 

Yes you read that correctly, the universally panned Angel of Darkness will be in this collection and you know what? I am fine with that because while the game is rough, I personally enjoyed what they were going for and if they take the time to update it I think this could be the second chance that game needed. 

These games will feature a lot of the additions found in the Remaster that was released earlier this year including both classic and remastered visuals, classic tank controls along with modern controls, trophies, photo mode and quality of life updates including bosses now having health bars. 

Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered will release on February 14th 2025.

They've said that chapter 3 in the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide is going to be a weird one. They're calling it the DM's Toolbox probably because "Miscellany" sounds too random, even if it's accurate. The DM's Toolbox scoops together an odd assortment of so many things that were scattered willy-nilly throughout the previous 5e DM's Guide.

These are oddments for prepping and running games—or they might not come up at all. The topics are so varied that they've resorted to an alphabetical presentation, like the excellent Rules Glossary in the new D&D 2024 Player's Handbook. This grab bag will include page-long topics on things like:

• Alignment
• Chases
• Curses
• Creating new monsters
• Death
• Doors
• Dungeons
• Fear and mental stress
• Firearms
• Hazards
• Mobs
• Name generators
• NPC guidance
• Settlements
• Siege weapons
• Traps

These aren't just glossed-over topics. Look at Chases for instance. There are sub-headers for running chases, ending chases, mapping chases; chases taking place in wilderness versus an urban chase. By their own admission, this is "high-protein content." 

One topic they felt needed more discussion than ever before: death. How to handle character death in a campaign. How to handle death scenes. Do you give the player a moment to process this loss? Does the character come back from the dead? Does the player want them to come back? What if you run into that dreaded three-letter acronym: TPK? That's a Total Party Kill. Also, a lovely piece of art in this section depicts a boatman on a river with several adventurers contemplating the epigraph:

Sometimes death—even the death of an entire party—is just a passage to new adventures.

Action determines alignment; alignment doesn't determine action. As designer Chris Perkins puts it, "I am not Lawful Good therefore I act this way, I act this way therefore I am Lawful Good." Alignment is malleable. They even bring up the example of Bigby (of Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants). Bigby was evil. Then Mordenkainen took Bigby under his wing and now Bigby is no longer evil. Although interviewer Todd Kenreck says Mordenkainen is still a jerk. "That's why I grew my hair back."

Curses are fun for Dungeon Masters but incredibly grating on players. Use that information how you will, you terrible, horrible no good, very bad DMs. All the way from demonic possession to lycanthropy (werewolves). 

Does it sound mundane that there's a section on Doors? One of the most common occurrences in any D&D game is...you come to a locked door. Or you have to find a secret door. Doors are such a ubiquitous item in D&D that they deserve their own section. Glass, wood, metal, stone—doors of every make and model. 

For a game called Dungeons & Dragons, it does seem appropriate that at least some of this DM's Toolbox chapter would be dedicated to, of course, dungeons. "Quirks" is one of the charts that will help bring a dungeon environment to life:

• Why, when, and who built this dungeon? 
• What shape is it in?
• What might be in there?

Dungeons have more variety than their name would hint at. A dungeon could be inside of a dead beast. It could be made by giants. It could be built atop the clouds, in the sewers, by dwarves, in a volcano, floating on a sea. Chris Perkins once teleported his players into a dungeon inside of an extinction-level comet heading straight for a planet. 

Here's an exciting new addition: Fireball Fungus.

Fireball Fungus is a small, inanimate mushroom that can grow anywhere. Fungi are found in abundance. Its luminous orange cap sheds light. It can withstand a certain amount of damage, but when you drop it to zero, it decimates, as if a fireball explodes in its place. 

Having three or four of those together can even set off a chain reaction. Good stuff for those pesky high-level adventurers that you can't seem to damage much anymore. The DM's Guide wants to arm Dungeon Masters with more than just monsters.

Chris Perkins builds a random settlement while he's just sitting there. Surely it's easier than what I was trying to pull together in the old 5e DM's Guide. In their example, the town's defining feature is [roll the dice] a Sprawling Cemetery. The town's claim to fame is [roll dice again] spellcasters. Necromancers in a cemetery town? "This is their IKEA," Todd Kenreck says. What current calamity is befalling the town: Monsters infest the settlement. Local leaders: An illegitimate leader causing civil unrest. The tavern: The Witch & Satyr. That shop over there is a: Mason. "Probably building tombstones."

This chapter alone has so many fun things in it. Maybe the DM's Guide won't be that book everyone ignores anymore. D&D Beyond posted a comprehensive list of what's new in the D&D 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide. The book launches November 12.

Blamcon's getting closer and closer to releasing their light gun kits and I'm itching to get my hands on one to see how well they do against my Gun4IR light guns. As one who owns a few 3D printers and dabbles in some wiring work when I was making a few arcade builds, this is a video that's got me excited.

Chris over at Blamcon has put out a video today showing off how to build the Vyper light gun they will be selling from start to finish. You can order it completely assembled, but for those of us who want to save some money by printing out parts and buying the electronics kit, this is for you.

The video goes into good detail on the features of the Vyper such as the buttons available, joystick, sights, and a rail system. There's even a removable stock if you want to rest the gun up against your body. I like the GX16 single cable connection coming from the bottom of the gun and it allows you to swap out guns easily with a strong connection that won't easily fall off.

The 3D print does have a lot of supports so you'll need to spend some time doing some post processing after printing them out. One tip that might help is using a PLA interface layer if you're printing it in PETG or vice versa if you have an AMS. I've been doing that with my prints that use support material and it makes it way simple to remove.

All told, Chris does a great job at walking through what you need to do to assembly a Vyper kit. It's easy to follow and if you want to try to build one yourself, the video will help immensely. You can see more about the Vyper kit in detail from their website and hopefully, we can start ordering parts soon.

2K seems to be teasing on their social media pages that WWE 2K24 will be getting additional content that was not originally part of the games season pass. On their social media pages they have been teasing the date "10-16-24" and it has something to do with Bray Wyatt and The Fiend. 

2K posted a new entrance for The Fiend and it seems that The Fiend will be getting a new model based off the "Immortal Fiend" outfit that we saw in the "Becoming Immortal" documentary that was released on the WWE Network. Sadly, Bray passed away before he ever got the chance to wear it on television. 

2K also posted entrances for a new "Elite" Bray Wyatt entrance which is one of the action figure characters and an entrance for Uncle Howdy so it seems they will be part of this pack as well. 

No details on if this will cost anything or how it will be released, either via paid DLC or if they will be "persona" cards in My Faction. Whatever it is, it's coming next week on October 16th.

Danish developer Invisible Walls, the team behind First Class Trouble and Aporia: Beyond the Valley, has announced its next project, a slapstick competitive multiplayer game called Neighbors: Suburban Warfare. The PvP title fulfills a dark fantasy we’ve all had at one point or another – the desire to tear up our neighbor’s stuff. Set in the town of Heartsville, Neighbors: Suburban Warfare lets you choose one of eight characters – each with unique abilities – to wreck other players’ houses using household items and traps. Grab a frying pan, golf club, or the vacuum cleaner and get to wrecking, or perhaps set a trap with a baseball pitching machine to keep those pesky neighbors off your lawn. As you level up, you will unlock perks and hobbies for each character, introducing new options for home defense (offense?).

This looks like a total blast, and if I can muster my neighbors here at Gaming Nexus, this will be an episode of “Gaming Nexus Plays” in the future. Check out the announcement teaser below: