The Scotch whisky distiller has announced a major change

The Herald understands that former first minister Nicola Sturgeon has made no decisions on whether she will stand for election in 2026.

Two thirds of Celtic fans believe the club should have an independently elected Fan Advisory Board according to new research from the University of Glasgow.

Human rights campaigners are calling on SNP ministers to do all they can to “mitigate” Prevent, the UK Government's controversial anti-terror strategy.

Sir Keir Starmer's beleaguered former chief of staff will no longer take up the position of “envoy to the nations and regions.”

3D Scotland are an innovative, Glasgow-based company who specialise in the design and manufacture of unique chess sets. Their sets have proved extremely popular as Christmas gifts, graduation gifts, fathers’ day gifts and everything in between.

Family business Graham’s Family Dairy has secured a multinational listing

A rural housing project branded as ‘truly transformative’ has been completed

Motorists have been urged to plan ahead with a major bridge due to close for work is carried out.  

The technology will deliver enhanced day-to-day and major incident response capability

Sir Andy Murray will swap Centre Court for the stage next summer as he embarks on a tour discussing his illustrious tennis career.

The site, on the shores of a famous Scottish loch, has been acquired for a luxury lodge development

A new digital-first Gaelic language production will be launched in Scotland after a joint agreement between BBC Alba and BBC Scotland.

Pascal surprises everyone. New challenger Robert appears. Josh makes a triumphant return. Anna Marie leaves to go do important kitten things. Kelley proves she's the best at the Mario's. And Chris still says it's not really an Ys game.

The post RPG Cast – Episode 558: “Never Get on a Boat With Dad” appeared first on RPGamer.

We can't believe we have to say this, but this week Chris tries to understand water vapor. Anna Marie takes a week off to go date some demons. Josh frequents a sex shop to pick up some weapons. Pascal starts vaping in his Xbox. And Robert and Kelley are testing the jiggle physics of sacks in World of Warcraft.

The post RPG Cast – Episode 563: “Isn’t Compile Heart Jail Against the Geneva Convention?” appeared first on RPGamer.

Joshua asks “Am I fighting a house?!” (spoilers: he is). Chris is on the wrong side of 40, and somehow forgets JRPGJuly. Kelley espouses “Exposure: The Cryptocurrency of Artists.” Anna Marie is teaching the whole RPGamer staff how to speedrun FF4: Free Enterprise. Yes, things got a little…weird this week.

The post RPG Cast – Episode 590: “Get Back in the House, Yona!” appeared first on RPGamer.

Kelley's cat tosses a coin to The Witcher. Chris finds out there's just too many pigs. And Josh goes to Reddit, but all he finds is a meme.

The post RPG Cast – Episode 595: “I’m With the PS5, I Don’t Like Your Range Extender” appeared first on RPGamer.

Chris develops a Yakuza game with all Pokémon. Josh is surprised by microtransactions. And Kelley get surprised by a secret mobile game.

The post RPG Cast – Episode 622: “Secret Maple Syrup Agent” appeared first on RPGamer.

Sonic makes Kelley violent so goes on a chili dog fueled rampage. Josh wants a break cause it's been a slow week. Chris plays the market board stocks and loses his freedom.

The post RPG Cast – Episode 626: “Don’t Anger the SRW Fans” appeared first on RPGamer.

Josh doesn't absolutely hate the font. Robert plays Burger Mecha Time. And Chris goes to date some double jointed dragon tanks.

The post RPG Cast – Episode 630: “Deus Gex” appeared first on RPGamer.

Kelley is better at Elden Ring than Chris. Anna Marie shows off her deck. And Chris hates sand. Time to go play with the HD-2D you have at home.

The post RPG Cast – Episode 633: “Your Cat Sharts on the Rainbow Bridge” appeared first on RPGamer.

Kelley thinks like a cat. Chris experiments with broccoli. Josh sells weed with Snoop Dogg. Don't tempt the mouse.

The post RPG Cast – Episode 639: “Can We Just Kill This Guy and Get a New Hero” appeared first on RPGamer.

Phil is not a Privitere, and is NOT playing Pokemon. Anna's little community manager heart flutters, while Kelley learns that it IS a Chain Chomp.

The post RPGCast – Episode 656 : “He Fought a Bridge!” appeared first on RPGamer.

Phil laughs at stupid Diablo IV hardcore deaths. Kelley goes for the all cannon ending. Jason is depressed and wants to play Dirge of Cerberus. Ryan doesn't have enough turn based RPGs in his life. Also, happy 100th birthday to Paw's grandfather!

The post RPG Cast – Episode 680: “Warning: Spicy Sausage” appeared first on RPGamer.

Kelley's cat decided Christmas was over. Chris is scared to return to Vana'diel and hates Norrath, but is strangely interested in hanging out with river hobbits in Middle Earth. Meanwhile, Phil tries to recruit everyone into his multilevel Monster Hunter scheme.

The post RPG Cast – Episode 705: “Trip the Gold Digger” appeared first on RPGamer.

Chris proclaims that WoW isn't a battery drainer, it's the Warlord of Draenor. Kelley has a soda-fresh Steamdeck. Josh discovers the fifth horseman of the apocalypse: politics. Robert wraps himself in a towel and puts himself in the oven.

The post RPG Cast – Episode 735: “Dodge Dragonero” appeared first on RPGamer.

More than a billion passengers flew with budget airlines last year, helping lift total passengers to 3.7 billion.

Tigerair has been forced to suddenly halt services to Bali after Jakarta unexpectedly cancelled a flight agreement.

More than 170 Australian travellers remained stranded in Bali last night following the Indonesian ban on Tiger­air.

Publisher Xbox Game Studios and developer The Coalition have announced John DiMaggio, the voice actor for Marcus Fenix, and Carlos Ferro, the voice actor for Dom Santiago, will reprise their roles for the prequel Gears of War: E-Day.

"On today's 18th anniversary of Gears of War, we're proud to share that John DiMaggio and Carlos Ferro are reprising their roles as the iconic voices of Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago in Gears of War: E-Day," announced the developer.

Gears of War: E-Day is in development for the Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Xbox Game Pass.

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.

Full Article - https://www.vgchartz.com/article/463012/marcus-and-dom-voice-actors-to-return-for-gears-of-war-e-day/

Nintendo and The Pokémon Company in September filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Palworld developer Pocketpair. 

At the time Nintendo did not share which patents Palworld infringed on, however, Pocketpair has now revealed what patents Nintendo are claiming were infringed on.

"As announced on September 19, 2024, The Pokémon Company and Nintendo Co Ltd (hereinafter referred to as the Plaintiffs) have filed a patent infringement lawsuit against us," said Pocketpair. "We have received inquiries from various media outlets regarding the status of the lawsuit, and we would like to report the details and current status of this case as follows.

"The Plaintiffs claim that Palworld, released by us on January 19, 2024, infringes upon the following three patents held by the Plaintiffs, and are seeking an injunction against the game and compensation for a portion of the damages incurred between the date of registration of the patents and the date of filing of this lawsuit."

Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are each seeking an injunction and damages of five million yen plus late payment damages.

Pocketpair added, "We will continue to assert our position in this case through future legal proceedings. Please note that we will refrain from responding individually to inquiries regarding this case. If any matters arise that require public notice, we will announce them on our website, etc."

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.

Full Article - https://www.vgchartz.com/article/463022/nintendo-and-the-pokemon-company-seeking-injunction-and-damages-from-pocketpair/

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 has remained in first place on the Australian charts, according to IGEA for the week ending November 3, 2024.

There were three new releases in the top 10 this week with Dragon Age: The Veilguard debuting in second place, Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered in fourth place, and Life Is Strange: Double Exposure in ninth place.

Hogwarts Legacy is up one spot to third place, EA Sports FC 25 remained in fifth place, and Super Mario Party Jamboree dropped from second to sixth place.

Red Dead Redemption is in seventh place, NBA 2K25 is in eight place, and Battlefield 2042 rounds out the top 10.

Here are the top 10 best-selling titles in Australia for the week:

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
2. Dragon Age: The Veilguard - NEW
3. Hogwarts Legacy
4. Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered - NEW
5. EA Sports FC 25 
6. Super Mario Party Jamboree
7. Red Dead Redemption
8. NBA 2K25
9. Life Is Strange: Double Exposure - NEW
10. Battlefield 2042

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.

Full Article - https://www.vgchartz.com/article/463028/dragon-age-the-veilguard-debuts-in-2nd-on-the-australian-charts/

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 has remained in first place on the New Zealand charts, according to IGEA for the week ending November 3, 2024.

There were two new releases in the top 10 this week with Dragon Age: The Veilguard debuting in second place and Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered in fourth place.

Hogwarts Legacy is down one spot to third place, Grand Theft Auto V is up three spots to fifth place, and NBA 2K25 climbed from ninth to sixth place.

Red Dead Redemption is in seventh place, Borderlands 3 is in eight place, Battlefield 2042 is in ninth place, and EA Sports FC 25 rounds out the top 10.

Here are the top 10 best-selling titles in New Zealand for the week:

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
2. Dragon Age: The Veilguard - NEW
3. Hogwarts Legacy
4. Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered - NEW
5. Grand Theft Auto V
6. NBA 2K25
7. Red Dead Redemption
8. Borderlands 3
9. Battlefield 2042
10. EA Sports FC 25 

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.

Full Article - https://www.vgchartz.com/article/463029/dragon-age-the-veilguard-debuts-in-2nd-on-the-new-zealand-charts/

ublisher Bethesda Softworks and developer MachineGames have released a gameplay deep dive video for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle that is nearly 15 minutes in length.

"From locations and puzzles to gear and combat, MachineGames Audio Director, Pete Ward, takes us on a whirlwind journey through the world of The Great Circle," reads the description to the video. "Get ready for launch with this look at Indy’s grand adventure."

View the gameplay deep dive below:

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will launch for the Xbox Series X|S, PC via Steam and Microsoft Store, and Xbox Game Pass on December 9.

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.

Full Article - https://www.vgchartz.com/article/463033/indiana-jones-and-the-great-circle-gets-gameplay-deep-dive/

Publisher Xbox Game Studios and developer Compulsion Games have released a 30-minute long documentary on for South of Midnight titled "Weaving Hazel's Journey."

The video share a behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming third-person action-adventure game. It explores the development and world building, as well as providing a look at new gameplay.

View the documentary below:

South of Midnight will launch for the Xbox Series X|S, PC via Steam and Microsoft Store, and Xbox Game Pass in 2025.

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.

Full Article - https://www.vgchartz.com/article/463044/south-of-midnight-gets-30-minute-weaving-hazels-journey-documentary/

Liam Payne, a former member of the boy band One Direction, was found dead in a hotel courtyard in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Wednesday evening, according to CNN and La Nacion, both of which cited local police.

The singer died after an apparent fall from the balcony of his third-floor hotel room. Argentinian authorities told Good Morning America that Payne had been staying at the hotel CasaSur in the upscale neighborhood of Palermo.

He was 31.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Journalists at CNN, including some of the network’s biggest personalities, are living in fear of “inevitable” layoffs and pay cuts as its new CEO looks to shore up finances amid declining ratings.

That’s according to The Ankler, which reported Wednesday that 77-year-old Chris Wallace—whose already been relegated to a weekend program—is among the network’s most well-known names whose future is in limbo.

Wallace’s $8.5 million contract, signed by the ex-CNN boss Jeff Zucker to recruit him away from Fox News three years ago, is reportedly up and he was spotted in CEO Mark Thompson’s office on Tuesday.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Liam Payne was seemingly having a “lovely day in Argentina” just hours before his death on Wednesday, according to what appear to be a series of final posts made to his Snapchat account.

The former One Direction member was found dead in the courtyard of a Buenos Aires hotel, having apparently plunged 13 to 14 meters from his balcony, according to local police. A cause of death has not officially been determined, and it was unclear whether the fall was accidental or intentional.

On his Snapchat Story, however, it would have appeared to any fan that Payne was having a relaxing vacation. In since-deleted posts in the hours before his death, he posted a front-facing video in which he told followers, “It’s a lovely day here in Argentina. This is the breakfast table. Just enjoying coffee and breakfast even though it’s 1 p.m.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

A hotel worker called 911 to request urgent assistance before musician Liam Payne fell to his death from the third floor of the building in Buenos Aires on Wednesday.

The 31-year-old British singer and former member of the boy band One Direction died after he “jumped from the balcony of his room,” Buenos Aires Security Ministry Communications Director Pablo Policicchio told the Associated Press. He added that police had been called to the Casa Sur Hotel in the Argentine capital after receiving an emergency call shortly after 5 p.m. local time about an “aggressive man who could be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.”

A transcript of a 911 call published by the BBC shows a worker at the hotel telling the operator that they have “a guest who is high on drugs and who is trashing the room” and the staff therefore “need someone to come.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Stationeers and Icarus developers RocketWerkz are making a spiritual successor to beloved space sim Kerbal Space Program, which is currently titled "Kitten Space Agency" in a flagrant display of adherence to wholesome internet trends. It's based on an actual Kerbal Space Program 2 pitch the studio threw at Take-Two subsidiary Private Division back in the day. RocketWerkz CEO and original DayZ creator Dean Hall has hired several former KSP and KSP2 developers to work on the game, and is describing it on social media as a "KSP killer".

Read more

Part of the fun of Dragon Age's fantasy is that it's inconsistent - or at least, inconsistent by the standards of fantasy RPGs, which often break down into a million neatly organised and interlocking codex entries. It all rides on who you speak to. The humans believe one thing about the origins and workings of Thedas, the elves another, the qunari something else entirely. These differences are the basis for many factional disagreements and thus, many core series plot developments. According to former lead writer David Gaider, however, there's an "uber-plot" behind it all that may one day be resolved and bring the series to a close, assuming BioWare continue to refer to his original (and closely guarded) narrative documents.

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The Steam Deck is something of a talisman for gaming on Linux, its popularity and penguin-powered SteamOS having almost singlehandedly dragged it past MacOS as the second-most-used operating system among Steam users. Sadly, this also means the Valve handheld is the primary casualty when developers decide to stop bothering with Linux support, as Respawn Entertainment have decided to do for Apex Legends.

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Some extremely fresh vintage workwear that I bought for entirely practical reasons aside, I’m not exactly a fashion person. I have nobody to impress most days but my cat, and the only item of clothing she appears to have an opinion on is my Oodie, which is very comfortable for both of us and also smells like a chicken shop, which I imagine is more pleasant for her than me.

This aside, I found myself taking a whole bunch of Dragon Age: The Veilguard screenshots as I played just to capture the RPG’s various outfits. They are ridiculous. Incredibly intricate and detailed, as well as being obscenely impractical for the most part. I do not like any of them in the sense I would wear them, but I like all of them in the sense that they display artists allowed to run free like caffeinated weasels and indulge their every whim.

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There’s plenty that you could justifiably expect from a Bioware RPG: chats with mates, opportunities to get those mates horribly killed, surviving mates turning to the side then walking offscreen. But I don’t think anyone expected Dragon Age: The Veilguard to be, at least on a purely technical level, one of the smoothest-performing, settings-rich AAA PC releases of the year so far.

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Like a plague doctor delicately administering another handful of leeches, Ice Pick Lodge have shared a bit more about the recently announced Pathologic 3, explaining how their plans for the cult epidemic-battling series have progressed since the release of Pathologic 2.

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The Elder Scrolls: Legends, the free-to-play card game set in Bethesda's fantasy world, has been removed from sale on Steam. Its servers will shut down for good on January 30th, 2025, after which it will no longer be playable. The closure comes five years after the game was last updated.

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BioWare currently has no plans for Dragon Age: The Veilguard expansions, according to reports. Instead the studio will support the fantasy RPG with smaller updates and otherwise turn their full attention towards Mass Effect 5.

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One of my lesser quality tests for an RPG is whether the shopkeepers complain at you for not buying anything. Grumpy shopkeepers, good RPG. This most specific of litmus tests has served me well, although I must admit that I’d happily upgrade it to ‘shopkeepers you can attack’, would that not disqualify 99% of games. But not turn based dungeon crawler Thysiastery, it turns out. This “dungeon crawler RPG featuring traditional roguelike and turn-based gameplay” apparently trusts you enough to let you recklessly batter its friendly wandering lizard merchants. You’d be a monster for it, of course, but it’s nice to have options.

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The mystery surrounding Deadlock, Valve’s work-in-progress MOBA shooter, has largely evaporated. Its freely extendable invite system is about as effective at controlling player headcount as a disinterested football steward, meaning pretty much anyone with a clued-in Steam friend can get in and start poking around its secrets. And yet, being a lane-pushing wizard fighter in the Dota 2 vein, it’s already a vast tangle of interplaying abilities, items, strats, and often unspoken rules, of the kind that even experienced gankists will take hundreds of hours to learn. It’s been too much for poor Brendy, at any rate.

Still, Brendy is but one man. What if we had but four men, working in tandem to crush lanes and flatten Patrons just as Gabe intended? To find out if Deadlock is indeed more comprehensible as a team sport, Graham, Ed, Ollie, and James joined forces, promptly getting fucked up yet emerging from the warlock hospital with a deeper understanding of its workings. Or, at least, if anyone would keep playing.

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While we're getting a Gears Of War prequel in Gears Of War: E-Day, this does mean that Gears Of War 6 is yet to be a thing. In a recent episode of IGN's Podcast Unlocked, former Gears Of War director and current Diablo 4 lead Rod Fergusson revealed what his plans were for Gears 6 when he left. In short, he was going to take the game to space. Righto.

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