E3 2016 - One of the best pre-E3 trailers I've seen so far is Polyphony Digital's second one for the PlayStation exclusive Gran Turismo Sport. It clocks in at four minutes and twenty-two seconds, the detail of each car is breathtaking, and the energy of the trailer itself is amped way up. But it's going to take more than a beautifully produced trailer to sell me on the final product which releases this November.

I have no doubt that Polyphony Digital has risen up to the challenge issued by Turn 10 and Forza Motorsport 6 (and for that matter, Project Cars). The graphical bar seems to be set ridiculously high now, especially judging by the detail present in each car during replay footage, and the utterly gorgeous photos taken in "Scapes," Gran Turismo Sport's new Photo Mode.

This new GT Sport trailer exudes emotion, it draws out our adrenalin with some top notch live commentary, it tugs on our heart strings by showing a community of racers bonding over one thing: The Real Driving Simulator. In short, this trailer has SOUL. Unfortunately, soul is something the past 2 Gran Turismo games have lacked.

Dear Brendan and the rest of the talented leadership at Oculus: You are the reason I love virtual reality. The Rift is the reason I now get paid to write about virtual reality for this very website. I bought an Oculus Rift DK2 after my mind was substantially blown by your product at CES 2014. I'm not covering Rift games and software with hardware I received for free from a PR contact; I rushed to your website and pre-ordered the consumer version in January like everyone else.

Please believe me when I say I'm a devoted fan. The nature of my profession also makes me one of your harshest critics. Let's not mince words: my career hinges on the proliferation and acceptance of virtual reality, a wondrous, world-altering computing platform you were once the proud flag-bearer for. Oculus understandably has a massive influence on the mass adoption of virtual reality, so your continued success is crucial to me. More importantly, I want your product and your business to flourish because I want to experience things that game developers haven't even dreamed up yet. Things that the visionaries of tomorrow will create, given the right platform and a large enough audience. You can call that selfish. You'd be 100% right.

But right now it's time for some tough love because so many things have changed over the last 3 months, and speaking on behalf of your fans, your critics, and your developers, it's time to usher in some dramatic change.

E3 2016 - Halo Wars 2 is getting a substantial open beta test during E3, and we've dug up more leaked details and screenshots on the upcoming RTS.

The Halo Wars 2 beta test will last for a full week from Monday, June 13 to Monday, June 20, according to leaked Xbox Store listings. Xbox LIVE Gold will be required to play the beta, which will feature 4-6 player online multiplayer action. The listing didn't say anything about Windows 10 PCs being included in the beta, but remember Halo Wars 2 is coming to both Xbox and PC, so it's possible.

A huge batch of screenshots (scroll down for more) for the tactical warfare sequel were dumped on Reddit, revealing a ton of familiar vehicles and squads and a few new ones. Interestingly enough, the screenshots didn't show off any of the crazy-looking Brute forces that are depicted in Halo Wars 2's leaked key art.

If you downloaded Fallout 4 for free, Microsoft has yanked your license--but they've also gifted you Xbox Store credit.

Just a few days ago, Fallout 4 and all of its DLC was marked as free on the Xbox One marketplace. Thousands of gamers took advantage of this pricing error on Microsoft's part, and were able to jump into the game for a bit. Of course Microsoft quickly resolved the situation, fixing the price and pulling all game licenses from players who didn't pay. In a rather stunning effort of goodwill and generosity, Redmond has given everyone who took advantage of the pricing error $10 in Xbox Store credit--just enough to change your GamerTag for free.

"Our pricing error on Fallout 4 has been fixed and your free download will no longer work. For the inconvenience we will deposit $10 by the end of June in your Microsoft Account. This expires one year from the time it was deposited," reads the message Microsoft gave to Xbox LIVE users.

E3 2016 - EA has just shown off a quick Titanfall 2 teaser clip ahead of Sunday's huge EA Play showcase, and we deliver a quick recap to get you primed for the reveal.

Although we haven't officially seen Respawn's Titanfall 2 in action just yet, the sequel is shaping up to be quite impressive. The newest teaser clip is just 12 seconds long and doesn't give us too much, but we know quite a bit about Titanfall 2 thanks to recent leaks.

For example, the sequel will feature a a "ton" of new operator abilities like a grappling hook that can be "extensively used" to perform devastating combos. Oh, and titans will have swords and possibly other melee weapons to play around with this time. We also know Titanfall 2 will have more space in its multiplayer maps, offering a bigger playground for dynamic combat sequences. Player count has also been boosted to accommodate the expansive maps.

A skilled DIY tecchie makes a working controller out of a potato--and you can too.

Gamers have done some amazing things over the years--we've seen hardcore players like gbbearzly smash Dark Souls bosses with Rock Band guitars, drums, and even his own voice--and even awesome inventions like a tiny SNES console that fits in your pocket, or a retro-themed GameBoy. But now it's time for potato controllers!

YouTuber BOOM exploits the natural electrical conductivity of a potato to rig up a makeshift controller out of potato slices to play Skyrim. And yes, it really works. Sure it doesn't work too well, but it definitely works. Each potato slice is hooked up to a Makey Makey logic board via simple wires, essentially creating corresponding buttons on a controller. BOOM has even created a step-by-step tutorial so you can make your own custom spud controller.

E3 2016 - CD Projekt RED is set to show off a standalone Gwent card game at E3 2016.

Gwent is one of the best things about The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The simple-yet-infinitely-complex card game is arguably one of (if not the) most entertaining mini-games of all time, and even gives Final Fantasy VIII's epic Triple Triad a run for its money. Now it looks like CD Projekt RED is taking the epic Witcher past-time to the next level with its own game--but it won't be a physical trading card game, just a video game.

According to Nerd Leaks, the Polish developer has trademarked "Gwent: The Card Game" and an official logo, pretty much ensuring we'll see an E3 reveal. Remember that CD Projekt RED teased a new "experimental game" for 2016, and the Gwent card game is almost assuredly it. I expect to see the Gwent game released on mobiles devices, consoles, and PC, all with online cross-play, but hopefully CDPR won't take the freemium F2P microtransaction approach with the game.

Amazon is planning to launch a standalone music streaming subscription service late this summer or early autumn, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The service will cost $9.99 per month and will offer a competitive catalogue.

The online shopping giant already offers a limited streaming music service to its Prime customers, and recently offered a monthly fee Prime option, so a full catalogue standalone service based on the subscription model would be a natural leap. With the success of Spotify and Apple Music (which collectively serve about 43 million subscribers and many more non-subscribers), it makes even more sense.

Although Amazon would enter the game a bit late, it has the clout and financial power to significantly alleviate that disadvantage.

A newly published video on YouTube by a developer known as Felix shows footage of a rhythm game prototype for the HTC Vive, and it reminds me a lot of one of my favorite Nintendo DS rhythm games, Elite Beat Agents.

I've always loved rhythm games, and playing the genre in virtual reality can also double as rather intense exercise (see: Audioshield). What's really interesting about the admittedly early gameplay mechanics here is that, depending on how the various phrases and dots are positioned in 3D space, movement could not just be sequenced to fit the music, but also to choreograph dances.

Granted, the pesky HTC Vive cable might put a damper on that, but it hasn't stopped me from lighting up my carpet playing something like Holopoint, which requires some fast foot work.

Earlier this week, Blizzard made it known Overwatch's McCree was due for a nerf and D.Va was due for a buff. Turns out the team is looking at the French femme fatale Widowmaker as well.

A forum post asking if the developer is considering toning her down reads, "In both pub matches and competitive play, she is by far the most dominant hero in the game. Multiple factors like too high bodyshot damage, shots that recharge too quickly, SMG that is almost as powerful as S:76's Pulse Rifle, an extremely powerful ultimate that is not clearly announced to the enemy team, etc."

Blizzard game director Jeff Kaplan then responds, "Widowmaker is on our radar. We are discussing her. We have some internal experiments going to see if we can keep her viable while lowering the frustration threshold a little bit. Right now, this is just exploration. If something more comes of it, we'll let you know."