Community round-up XV

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Overwatch is here, guys!

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​by Sam Sant

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@SlamShotSam

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Community sessions on the Xbox One version have been rampant, so be sure to join us if you're up for a game. James put together a second gameplay video that'll give you an idea of what - and who - to expect.  

Check out the first part if you like what you saw.

Timmeh found himself irritated by his own voice after watching, to the point he wanted to punch himself in the face. I empathised as it seems to be pretty universal, whilst James pointed out that he isn't "that" annoying. The fact James elected not to comment at all on my voice speaks louder volumes... 

Keeping things Overwatch for a little longer, you might remember that last week a Dark Souls III boss simply handed Plasma wing a win whilst having more than half health left. It no doubt felt bad after brutalising him and threw a bone his way. Now Overwatch seems to have caught the bug, awarding him the coveted "Play of the Game" for what was actually an abysmal display. 

I don't even...

​Rob's working on our review, so expect official verdict on Overwatch soon. Until then, you can peruse his preview for more on the game. 

Still with us, Rodent? It's safe to venture out of your corner now. 

Emily got her eyebrows waxed for the first time this week - don't worry, she usually uses tweezers and hasn't spent her life working on a monobrow - it apparently felt like it took skin off along with the hair...

"The things we women do to avoid looking like Groucho Marx, really, you should all be massively grateful."

It's a little generous to credit all women - believe me, many don't bother. The horrors I've beholden do at least make me grateful, so you get a thank you on behalf of all men from me.

Whilst I don't envy Emily the experience, I envy Confused Johnny and his "Back, Crack and Sack" even less. Whilst Johnny asserts (most likely correctly) that the pain caused by said procedure would eclipse the former, James frankly has the right approach: ​

"As a male I don't feel in any way qualified to comment on the concept of pain - not least because I know what's good for me."

This one will go far.

Anyway, let's get back to gaming. The Rumours and Speculation forum thread has naturally been full of musings as E3 further encroaches. This week, potential new Xbox consoles have been on the agenda: it's been reported that we'll see an Xbox One 40% smaller than the original console, lacking a disk drive and with 2TB of storage built-in announced at next month's expo. Confused Johnny would've opted for this model from launch as he's a totally digital consumer, but others are less interested, likely because the digital value proposition just doesn't add up yet (that's my excuse, anyway).

Most of the interest went towards the purported "Scorpio", a supposed significant technical upgrade that would also see Oculus Rift support come to Xbox One. Liam, Heavyarms_Kai and Chris were somewhat opposed to the idea of a mid-generation upgrade, as the whole point of a console is surely that it's a fixed platform that'll last a significant number of years. Liam also raised valid concerns that games on the original console might suffer as a result of developers pouring resources into the Scorpio version.

Bezza doesn't see it as a bad thing, stating that the last generation was way too long and a return to shorter cycles would be welcome in his eyes. He argues that Xbox One could be true to its name and function as an optionally upgradable system, removing the need for another and making it the one Xbox to persist. Whilst people seem opposed to this idea, how many buy revisions of phones every year? A console upgrade would undoubtedly cost less. 

Confused Johnny and Timmeh are onboard so long as the technical specifications are right and the asking price isn't too ridiculous. As ever, I'm open to upgrading, but with the console said to be releasing in late 2017 I can't help - perhaps controversially - feeling it's being left a little late. By then I, and many others, will have already upgraded their PS4 (if the Neo rumours pan out, as they likely will) and have invested in PlayStation VR. If Microsoft are to launch their equivalent a year removed, it's going to be a much less new and exciting prospect.

​Hopefully all will become clear soon, but for now we transition to the concrete. Chris shared a clip of him being a sneaky bugger in Rainbow Six: Siege on Wednesday night. Most impressive is how the opposition fail to notice him picking them off for an entire round, but to their credit they learn and don't let it happen again when Chris tries for a repeat performance.

No more taking people for behind I'm afraid, chum.

Before I leave you with this week's jukebox entry, allow me to take a moment to introduce the forum's new top poster. That serves to illustrate just how much staff enjoy engaging with the community, though if Rodent was into Overwatch and not feeling left out of the current discussions he'd likely still be up there.  

It's me!

After dipping a toe into Platinum's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan - keep your eyes peeled for Rob's review - the somewhat mundane soundtrack has me yearning for the retro classics the series previously produced. Check out the evolution of the boss fight theme below. 

When those tunes kick in, you know it's about to go down!

​Why not get involved by liking us on Facebook, following us on Twitter and having your say in the forums. You might even feature in a future round-up as a result.