Entertainment

Vance blames Iran war after historic Republican midterm defeat; EU seeks UK funds

Connolly faces criticism over ECHR remarks, while a leaked Brexit draft seeks UK funding for the EU’s Channel Action Plan. Take-Two says GTA Six pre-orders are far exceeding expectations.

In 1967, self-sabotage led to The Kinks’ worst gig, but one year later Ray Davies transformed the night into one of their best songs

• Davies wrote a song about a disastrous 1967 performance.
• Friends watching from the front row made the night more painful.
• The song appeared on The Kinks’ 1968 concept album.

Ray Davies turned a disastrous 1967 Kinks performance into ‘All of My Friends Were There’, a song on the following year’s The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society. It matters because he used a humiliating personal experience to explore regret, fame and the discomfort of being judged…

Stellar Blade studio Shift Up says it won’t be revealing Project Spirits until next year

• Project Spirits’ reveal has moved from 2026 to 2027.
• Shift Up cited major releases around year-end and early next year.
• The game is planned for PC, consoles and mobile.

Shift Up has delayed the reveal of Project Spirits until 2027, although it had originally planned to show the game in 2026. The studio says the project is progressing smoothly and that moving the announcement will help it attract attention amid a busy schedule of major game releases.…

Euro Truck Simulator 2 Iceland and Coaches DLC release countdown: Exact date and time

• Iceland DLC is scheduled for 10 November.
• Coaches DLC follows on 12 November.
• Both require the base game and install through Steam.

Euro Truck Simulator 2 is due to receive two downloadable add-ons, Iceland and Coaches, which bring different kinds of content to the base game. Iceland launches first, followed by Coaches two days later. Iceland is scheduled for Tuesday, 10 November, and Coaches for Thursday, 12 November. Players need…

Born 43 Years Ago Today in the Lone Star State, the ‘Nashville Star’ Runner-up Who’s Been Setting the Country Charts Ablaze Since 2005

• Miranda Lambert turns 43 on 10 November.
• She finished third on Nashville Star before her 2005 breakthrough.
• All 11 studio albums debuted in the country chart’s top 10.

Miranda Lambert, born in Longview, Texas, on 10 November 1983, turns 43 today. She rose to prominence after competing on Nashville Star, where she finished third, and broke through nationally with “Kerosene” in 2005; her career has since made her one of country music’s most decorated artists. The…

“Why Is It Not Fun?” – Doug Bowser Gives A Peek Into Nintendo’s Strategy Sessions

• Nintendo reviews focus on how games make testers feel.
• Shinya Takahashi watched players’ expressions, not their controller inputs.
• Bowser says younger gamers also value easy access to fun and self-expression.

Former Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser has described how the company’s focus on making people smile shapes its game development reviews. He said producer Shinya Takahashi watched testers’ faces and asked directly whether they were having fun, making enjoyment a central part of feedback. Bowser said the…

Big Walk developer House House reveal genAI use in final stretch of development, only revealing it now as “it has become a matter of public interest”

• House House used an LLM to help solve technical problems in *Big Walk*.
• The use touched well under 0.1% of the game’s code.
• The studio says it will introduce an internal AI policy.

House House has disclosed that it used a large language model during the final stretch of developing *Big Walk*, prompting discussion because the game was being considered for the Independent Games Festival. The studio said the tool helped with technical problems and bugs, and that generative AI was…

How to check how many chests you’ve opened in Fortnite Treasure Hunters

• Find chest totals in the Quests tab.
• Tracking stops at 1,000 chests per category.
• More chests mean more attempts, not better odds.

Players can check how many chests they have opened in Fortnite’s Treasure Hunters mini-season through the Quests tab. The tracker helps monitor progress towards bonus goals that award XP, but it does not predict or improve the chance of finding rare loot. There are three chest categories, each…

GTA 6 pre-orders are ‘far above initial expectations’ but NBA 2K27 was ‘below our forecast’, Take-Two says

• GTA 6 pre-orders are well above Take-Two’s initial expectations.
• NBA 2K27 sold over 4 million copies but missed its forecast.
• Take-Two is keeping guidance near $8 billion ahead of GTA 6’s release.

Take-Two says pre-orders for Grand Theft Auto 6 are far above its initial expectations, but it is keeping its financial guidance largely unchanged because the game is close to release. The contrast with NBA 2K27, which fell short of the publisher’s forecast despite a strong launch, highlights the…

GTA 6 preloads open on PS5 and Xbox ahead of 19 November release

• GTA 6 preloads are open on PS5 and Xbox.
• The reported game size is 212GB.
• The game releases on 19 November.

Grand Theft Auto VI preloading has opened on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S ahead of its 19 November release. Players who pre-ordered can install the game in advance, helping them be ready when it unlocks and avoid a last-minute download rush. The reported download size is 212GB,…