The folk tale that inspired Dreams on a Pillow tells of a mother who rushes into her home to retrieve her baby before fleeing, only to realise that she has escaped with a pillow instead. In the game, she spends her days trying to make her way to Lebanon after the massacre at Tantura, and the nights dreaming of the Palestine she knew as a child. Putting the pillow down lets her move through the game’s scenarios more freely, but invites nightmares and hallucinations. Abueideh estimates that it will take two years to complete; heartbreakingly, the crowdfunding page contains an assurance that “a clear plan for the completion of the game has been put in place to ensure continuity in the case of Rasheed’s disappearance, injury or demise at the hand of the continuously expanding Israeli aggression in the West Bank”. In the city of Nablus in the West Bank, Rasheed Abueideh owns a nut roastery, where he works to provide for his family. He is also an award-winning game developer. A decade ago, as the 2014 Gaza war raged, he created a harrowing video game called Lilya and the Shadows of War, about a man trying to find safety for his daughter and himself – but as missiles fall around them, it quickly becomes clear that there is no safety. When the game was released in 2016, it was initially rejected by Apple on the grounds of inappropriate content, a decision reversed after a week of outcry. Despite the acclaim and attention that Lilya received, however, Abueideh has not been able to raise funding for his next game through conventional means. The game he envisions, Dreams on a Pillow, is about the 1948 Nakba, told through a folk tale about a mother in the Arab-Israeli war, in which more than half the Palestinian population was displaced. He tells me that his game has been rejected almost 300 times, by publishers and providers of cultural grants, for being too controversial, too much of a risk. “Talking about the Palestinian story was always forbidden,” he says. “Crowdfunding was our only option, but even that would not work for me because all the major crowdfunding platforms do not recognise Palestine,” says Abueideh. The team turned to LaunchGood, a Muslim-focused platform, where it met its funding goal on 7 January.

With Lenovo's announcement at CES 2025 of the Lenovo Legion Go S, we are pleased to share that their "Powered by SteamOS" model is the first handheld officially licensed to ship with Valve's SteamOS. We built this operating system to provide a seamless user experience optimized for gaming, while retaining access to the power and flexibility of a PC. SteamOS is the same operating system we run on Steam Deck, and the team is making updates to ensure it fully supports the Lenovo Legion Go S and provides the same seamless experience customers expect. In addition, the same work that we are doing to support the Lenovo Legion Go S will improve compatibility with other handhelds. Ahead of Legion Go S shipping, we will be shipping a beta of SteamOS which should improve the experience on other handhelds, and users can download and test this themselves. And of course we'll continue adding support and improving the experience with future releases.

I think gamers as a whole, though specifically those in niche communities, need to take a long and hard look at themselves. We should celebrate the volunteers that create wonderful content for us, generally with no financial gain. Instead, commonly, there are communities that criticize and tear down every little thing they can think of. They even went as far as to doxx the poor woman. We need to be better, and we need to hold these kind of toxic trolls accountable. Especially those of us who are men, we have a responsibility to call out other men who mistreat women in the gaming industry, or gaming in general. *Edit: I apologize if I insinuated that all gamers are guilty of this kind of behavior, that was not my intention at all. My sentiment is that many of us do not think about this kind of thing, and less are willing to speak out against their friends. We need to be better about that as a whole. I appreciate you as a person if you are already of this mindset.

https://x.com/itchio/status/1866017758040993829

The first game that comes to mind for me is Civilizations 4. I've probably spent hundreds of hours playing but after getting used to 5 and 6 I have a really hard time going back. Going back and forth between 5 and 6 I need to rethink some strategies but with 4 I feel like I need to rethink everything. I don't know if it's because of the tech tree layout in combination with the civics system, things like unit stacking, or maybe just a bunch of little things but it takes me a while to readjust.

“The only thing missing is the Xbox,” he said, per machine learning translation, “which somehow feels a bit wrong, but that 10GB of shared memory — without years of optimisation experience — is really hard to make work.”

Fursan al-Aqsa: The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, released in 2022, lets gamers play as the fictional character “Ahmad al-Falastini,” a young Palestinian student, as he takes revenge on Israeli soldiers who tortured him and killed his family. An updated version of the game called Operation al-Aqsa Flood, the name Hamas uses for its October 7, 2023 attack, was released on Steam earlier this month. Nijm, who identifies as a Muslim Brazilian, said that his game was intended to be a political protest and was not affiliated with any specific Palestinian group. “I tried to show that we Palestinians have rights to resist against Israeli occupation and the genocide we clearly see [on] a daily basis on the news. But I also like to always stay ‘under the thin red line’ between freedom of speech and ‘terrorist propaganda,’” Nijm told Al Jazeera. Operation al-Aqsa Flood’s cut scene was intended to be provocative and “to ‘trigger’ Zionists”, Nim said, but the gameplay itself is more toned down, with players immediately failing if they shoot unarmed civilians. “I do not blame Valve nor Steam; the blame is on the UK government and authorities that are pissed off by a video game. On their flawed logic, the most recent Call of Duty Black Ops 6 should be banned, as well,” he said. “As you play as an American soldier and go to Iraq to kill Iraqi people. What I can say is that we see clearly the double standards.”


I bought over a dozen promotional games, with high discounts on several old games, Cities: Skylines-90% for only $2.99; Darkest Dungeon-92% for only $1.99. Also bought a promising HoMM-like new game, Pennon and Battle. 

NGL, I've been waiting for this. Yeah, yeah, proprietary expansion, too expensive, but on the Xbox, you won't (currently) do better.

Big news for VF fans. Yes, both of us. In all seriousness, this is probably my favourite 3D fighter and I'm eager to see how it comes out!

Seriously, the city is so big and detailed that I feel like Cyberpunk 2077 only scratched the surface of it. Night City is the heart of Cyberpunk and moving to a whole new location would be a huge bummer to me. Ideally it would take place maybe 10 years after 2077 and maybe another bomb went off or something and turned a big chunk of downtown into a wasteland and now Pacifica/Dogtown is the new hot area. Supplement this by making part of the story take place on the moon and/or the Crystal Palace and allowing you to travel back and forth like in Witcher 3 and I think that will feel plenty fresh for a whole new game + a couple of expansions.

I have an RTX 3060 that I bought about two years ago. Until recently I only had a 1080p 75Hz monitor, so I could play pretty much anything on max settings. Then I decided to treat myself to a 1440p 180Hz monitor, which has been amazing. Obviously this is a lot more GPU intensive, so I have had to turn down some settings. Then I decided to try out FSR. I'm on Linux and gaming mostly through Proton, so it was as easy as adding a launch command. Holy crap. Elden ring (admittedly not a very intensive game) went from a choppy 50 fps on high settings and medium ray tracing, to a smooth 60 fps on maxed out settings and high ray tracing with FSR Quality. And I can't even tell the difference from the upscaling! I'm super impressed and can't wait to try out FSR 2 and DLSS now!

I was a Sega and PlayStation fanboy growing up so I completely missed out on the Halo series. I finally pick up the Master Chief Collection on Steam. I'm only interested in the story and I probably won't touch the multiplayer. What order should I play it in as someone who knows absolutely nothing about Halo? Release date order or chronologically?

Hello folks, I have access to multiple codes for GOG games with Prime gaming. I already own some of those games on other platforms, so I share it with you ! Please tell me in the comments or with a message which game(s) you are interested in. I'll try to keep the post updated. Games : - ~~[Close to the sun](https://www.gog.com/en/game/close_to_the_sun)~~ UNAVAILABLE - ~~[Overcooked (1) - Gourmet Edition](https://www.gog.com/en/game/overcooked_gourmet_edition)~~ UNAVAILABLE - ~~[Overcooked 2](https://www.gog.com/fr/game/overcooked_2)~~ UNAVAILABLE - ~~[The Outer Worlds](https://www.gog.com/fr/game/the_outer_worlds)~~ UNAVAILABLE - ~~[A Plague Tale: Innocence](https://www.gog.com/fr/game/a_plague_tale_innocence)~~ UNAVAILABLE - ~~[Scorn](https://www.gog.com/fr/game/scorn)~~ UNAVAILABLE Have a nice day <3

>“The future of gaming handhelds is coming to CES ‘25 and you have a front row seat!” the email in my inbox exclaims. Let me translate: it looks like Lenovo just tacitly confirmed it will announce its first SteamOS handheld in Las Vegas on or before January 7th, 2025. We’re expecting it to be the Steam button equipped Legion Go S that leaker Evan Blass revealed last week.

Wow, such a great game and such a different genre too. Essentially an interactive computer interface. I did not really expected to engage with it as much as I did because of how the narrative is about an impartial investigator destroying people's privacy and reading everything about their lives. But Orwell: Keeping an Eye on You (2016) managed to surprise me, not only was it well written and beautifully playing with Orwellian themes, it also was an engaging gameplay experience. I completed the game in about 8h 25m so it is a short game but the control that I felt I had in my hands to make the story go where I wanted by deciding what piece of information I wanted to submit felt just the right amount of narrative tightness and player freedom. I can already tell it has so many little variations in it's ending that you could come and play it again after you have moved on and get something completed differently. Also, it manages to talk about privacy and information and data that is perhaps even more relevant than it was back in 2016. Very similar to Hypnospace Outlaw another game where you are an "online enforcer" but with of course very different themes, this one is a lot serious than Hypnospace Outlaw. I do have some complaints about the game, the major being that the computer interface and it's very aspects didn't feel as interactive and engaging as to compliment an increasingly complex story. They sort of remain the same static mechanics (you click something, it does the same thing that has happened before regardless of it's thematic value) that they were introduced as. This removes a sense of compelling intrigue in the gameplay itself and really starts to wear down on you if you try to finish it in one sitting. Overrall, a recommended 7.5/10 Do give this game a try if you're looking at your library for something different and as it requires a lot of reading, be a little patient with it in the beginning. This was given free on epic games before so I assume most gamers already have it

I have always thought that graphics don't do as much at making a game beautiful as it's art style. The visual medium that video games employ allow them to show us anything literally so why stick with a realistic render of everyday people when it's so easily forgettable? Games that have a more realized, distinctive look to them always have more staying power in our hearts, particularly older games. The game Gris is one such example, it rendered me speechless when I started playing it, made me laugh with amazement at how it's world moved, looked and breathe as though something like a different reality. There is so much construction in Gris, so many meticulous careful design choices that it's amazing it even plays as smoothly as it does. This is a video game about the exploration of grief, every level and scenario and cutscene is speaking in a intriguing metaphor of death, life and utterness of destruction and loss. However, Gris never forgets it's video game roots and this is what impresses me the most about it. From the first button you press to the last walk-off moment, every level and puzzle is designed with an expert knowledge of how metroidvania games execute exploration. What I mean by that is that the developers very clearly have thought of how the camera angle affects what path we take, the sound cues to inform you of an action without telling you outright, the visual cues and then the level design itself that is so nonlinear in it layout but still ends up to the exact point from where you continue forward. It never feels like you're going along a straight line, it feels like you're discovering your own path forward, as if the game world is opening itself up to you and maintaining that illusion showcases the thought and effort put into each of Gris's amazing looking levels. I don't want to talk about the story a whole lot because of how abstract it is, there are no dialogues, not even screen texts beyond explaining the button prompts and new powers. There is a lot to think about and a lot of visuals and music that you experience as you play through it that talking about it feels like diminishing the effects of it. What I can talk about is that, it is short and of course I really liked the gameplay specially the later stages because of the amount of control you get as you unlock more powers in the game. The puzzles become really alive and though they are never difficult to figure out they still have that satisfying "a-ha!" feeling to them when you figure out what to do. Exploration is always rewarded with collectables and there is an in-game achievements section as well to encourage replayability and a chapter select after the game ends. Overall, 8.5/10 Gris is a short but memorable experience about death, loss and ultimately acceptance and while it never gets to be dark and harrowing in terms of visuals, it still makes you feel plenty of sadness. Highly highly recommended and it's on Game Pass.

I've played this game since only a couple of years after release, but on other people's systems. I used to see people use Samus' grapple as a recovery mechanism not just grabbing but my play style got too ingrained for me to really learn new tricks and I considered this too hard and never took advantage of it. I want to learn it now and it seems like it should be simple but something's wrong and I can't figure out what. I throw hook towards a vertical surface, it seems to 'latch on' but I can't figure out how to reel in after that. The hook just extends as samus falls until cancels out and she dies. I thought maybe I should be pushing the stick in the direction of the grapple hook, but it doesn't work, I tried holding other buttons after the latch on animation begins but nothing. I'm using an Xbox series X controller with Dolphin on Mac OS. Am I just too stupid to figure this out, or is it a glitch to do with this configuration? EDIT: Oh wait, nevermind. Even though I thought I wasn't, I was unconsciously holding the grab button after the throw. As it turns out if you don't do that, and you press A after the latch on, it works.

I wanted to get myself a BigScreen VR for Christmas. In order to get one, you need to do a 3d depth face scan using an IOS device that has privacy settings and content blockers set to as permissive as possible. Except even after doing that it doesn’t work. The solution literally listed on the customer support site was to either try someone else’s IOS device, or to fucking drive to an Apple Store and hope they let u plug ur email into their germy, who knows what software’s running on it, demo iPhones and hope it successfully runs their shitty WebKit app. Couldn’t get the face scan working, definitely not gonna plug my email into a demo iPhone, and I’m pretty sure I don’t live near an Apple Store anyways. BigScreen can get fucked, stick with Steam Index VR

I’m in my late 30s now and over the past 6ish months, I have been gaming a lot less or I find myself gaming but not enjoying it. I used to always have a game I wanted to play or revisit, but it seems that nothing is really catching my interest. I’m mostly a retro gamer so I was always happy to revisit old titles. But now I get bored of them quickly.

Happy Volts caters to the mentally ill residents of Bullworth, as stated by its sign ("Home for the Mentally Unwell") which may include the Townies Otto Tyler, Leon and Clint (aka Henry), who Jimmy helps return to the asylum. During the course of the game, the English teacher Mr. Galloway, and Greaser leader Johnny Vincent are admitted into the asylum, only to escape with help from Jimmy. And during the missions, Fenwick can also be seen on grounds. It is also rumored that Gary Smith was admitted into the asylum. The building is divided into three blocks A, B, and C, Block B being reserved for patients who have violent tendencies. At first glance it may seem that only A and B block can be accessed, as only those two have the icon indicating that the door can be opened. However, the door to C Block can be broken down through punches, jumping against it, or weapons. Blocks A and B are in active use, but C Block is run down and decrepit. There is a mortuary located inside C block, along with what appears to be operating tables and a X-ray viewer depicting x-rays of humans with physical defects. If Jimmy regularly visits Block C he may encounter a door marked with EMPLOYEES ONLY with a green arrow under it, which is normally locked. If Jimmy opens this door, he will enter a fenced-off area. He will not be able to return to the building, and will have to wait till 2 am. Alternatively, Jimmy can use a weapon to hit an orderly though the fence, then he will be busted through the wall and then brought to Blue Skies Industrial Park police station. (Jimmy must be close up to the fence otherwise the orderlies won't spot him.) During free roam, not a single patient is seen in the cells, though they can be heard screaming. The asylum is patrolled by the Orderlies, who wear white uniforms and look for trespassers. This interior is the most interactable in the entire game. If Jimmy wears the Black Ninja Outfit or Orderly Uniform he can explore the asylum without getting in trouble for trespassing.