Internet

With the world practically in lockdown, many of us have found ourselves working and learning from home on possibly unsecure networks. Cybercriminals and scammers are taking advantage of this situation and targeting devices left vulnerable to cyber attacks.

The easiest way to protect yourself online while at home would be to download a strong antivirus solution, like Norton’s AntiVirus Plus or the company’s 360 range of solutions.

However, a Norton subscription isn’t always cheap, and you could find yourself out of pocket each year by a couple of hundred dollars, depending on which product you opt for. You’re in luck, though, as Norton has just kicked off its Easter sale in Australia and New Zealand, with up to 60% off its entire 2020 antivirus solution line-up.

In Australia, the basic solution – Norton AntiVirus Plus – is now available with a very significant 57% discount, while if you happen to be in New Zealand, you’ll be able to save a whopping 60%. These offers are available only for a limited time, so protect your devices for less by getting an antivirus package by April 17.

Why choose Norton

We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Norton’s antivirus solutions to you: the company has a long and clean history of protecting users online. Even it’s basic solution, the AntiVirus Plus, is more than enough for most users, ranking very high in our picks of the best antivirus packages available today.

That said, Norton is definitely one of the more expensive options out there, but these deep discounts make sure you’re getting the best value for your money.

• Looking for more solutions? We’ve picked some of the best antivirus offers available.

Amazon Prime Day 2020 is looming once again, and it's the event that will get people looking to the big savings ahead of Black Friday 2020. However, due to the effect of the coronavirus pandemic, it looks like the Prime Day date could be moved this year.

When it does land, we're expecting to see another raft of discounts for Amazon's own-brand Echo speakers and smart displays, Fire Sticks for the TV and Fire tablets, and a widening of savings on its smart home wares – like the Ring camera.

Last year we saw some savings that weren't even beaten on Black Friday later in the year, and even found a few bargains on Apple products like the Apple Watch, or Garmin fitness trackers too.

If you're not aware, Prime Day is the time to get some big savings at the online retailer, with thousands of products discounted over the period – provided you're signed up to Amazon Prime.

• See the best selling Amazon own-brand devices right now
• See the best TV deals on Amazon
• This is the top-selling fitness equipment on Amazon to help with self-isolation

Last year Prime members were snapping up products throughout the 48-hour event with over 175 million items sold. 

That's more than Amazon sold on Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined. That's a massive increase from an already impressive 100 million products sold during the previous Prime Day sale, which was admittedly a shorter event at 36 hours – but it shows the sales period is becoming recognized as a key time to save money.

When is Amazon Prime Day 2020?

'So, when is Prime Day 2020 going to be?' is the currently-key question on the lips of every consumer looking to save money on Amazon's own products this year – according to Reuters, Amazon Prime Day is now going to be in August at the earliest.

This moves it from its traditional July timeslot, and although the brand hasn't confirmed the date for this year it's never been pushed back beyond that month in a bid to improve sales during that time – and it's previously worked well.

Depending on the impact of the virus, Amazon Prime Day 2020 will now be a little later in the year – which will have an impact on the savings offered, although how that will manifest is currently unclear.

It could see shoppers offered even wilder discounts to clear the stocks, or it could mean that third party sellers don't have the same savings in place as we move closer to Black Friday.

How long will Prime Day 2020 last?

Well, it's hard to say with any degree of certainty, and in light of the recent rumours of Prime Day 2020 moving back in the year it could be even longer than expected.

Prime Day a few years ago was only that, a day, but in 2018 it moved to 36 hours, and last year was a full two days.

We're fully expecting Amazon to move to a Prime Week any year now, and with a rumoured $100 million worth of devices that will need to be shifted thanks to the delay, it could well be this year.

We can't see Amazon reducing the amount of time Prime Day lasts for, so expect Prime Day 2020 to last at least 48 hours this year, if not longer.

What is Amazon Prime Day 2020?

Amazon Prime Day is a summer sales event on Amazon websites around the world where members of Amazon Prime get exclusive discounts on a wide range of items. 

It's not just Amazon-branded items either (although they're among the most-bought every year), lots of other manufacturers and third-party merchants save their best deals for Prime Day too, knowing millions of extra shoppers will be hitting the online store.

Why does Amazon have Prime Day? It's presented as a neat "thank you" to its paying members, but one that involves giving Amazon more money and shifting a lot of product at the same time.

You need to either sign up for a trial or be an existing member of Amazon Prime, paying for the privilege of free, swift delivery (although that's currently being slowed down to make space for the essential items people are ordering, with the sign at the top of the site saying 'Delivery times for some items may take longer than normal') and is paid for monthly or yearly.

And it's no coincidence the best deals are found on Amazon's items. Buy a Kindle and you're going to keep buying ebooks from Amazon. 

Buy a Fire TV Stick you're going to watch Prime Video (a great perk of membership) and maybe pay for the odd rental. Buy an Echo smart speaker and you're into the Alexa family and helping Amazon fight off competition from rival Google's Home devices.

What made Prime Day 2019 special?

Like we mentioned earlier, this year's Prime Day sale was the largest shopping event in Amazon history. Prime members worldwide saved more than a billion dollars throughout the two-day sale. 

It was also the longest sale in history, lasting a record 48hours – which was 12 hours more than the previous year. Never to outdo itself, Amazon surprised everyone and started large parts of the sale a day earlier on the Sunday, unofficially making it a 60-hour event.

Amazon celebrated this year's sale event with a first-time concert exclusively for Prime members. The Amazon concert was headlined by a certain Taylor Swift and was available to stream on Prime Music or Prime Video, part of a promotion to not only get customers excited for the two-day sale but to also increase Prime membership signups.

Amazon reported that it welcomed more new Prime members on July 15 than any previous day, the 48-hour event marking the biggest days ever for member signups.

What were Prime Day's best-selling Devices?

Millions of Alexa-enabled devices were purchased during Prime Day 2019, marking it the biggest event ever for Amazon devices.

The top-selling device deals worldwide were the Echo Dot, Fire TV Stick, and 4K Fire TV stick. It was also a big day for Fire Tablets, and Alexa devices with screens were also popular this year, with products like the Echo Show and Echo Show 5.

The Ring and Blink devices were showed strongly this year with double the amount purchased compared to last year and with first-time discounts on the Blink XT2 home security kit. 

Customers also purchased hundreds of thousands of Amazon kids’ devices this Prime Day, such as Echo Dot Kids Edition, Fire 7 Kids Edition tablet, and Fire HD 8 Kids Edition tablet.

What products sold the most on Prime Day?

Amazon devices weren't the only popular items during the Prime Day event. The retail giant reported that Prime members bought more than 100,000 lunchboxes, 100,000 laptops, 200,000 TVs, 300,000 headphones, 350,000 luxury beauty products, 400,000 pet products, 650,000 household cleaning supplies, and more than 1 million toys.

A surprisingly popular item last year, Prime members purchased more than 200,000 LifeStraw Personal Water Filters at this year's sale event, making it a top-seller in the US for the 2nd year in a row. 

Other Prime Day best-sellers included the Instant Pot DUO60, the 23andMe Health + Ancestry kit, and Crest 3D White Professional Effects Whitestrips Kits.

Around the world on Prime Day, best-sellers included the Nintendo Switch, iRobot Roomba, Sony PlayStation Classic Console, and the JBL Bluetooth Speaker to name a few. 

Some interesting non-tech best-sellers included a Dove exfoliating scrub, Coca-Cola Zero soft drink, Finish Powerbowl dishwater tablets, and Ariel laundry detergent.

The best Amazon Prime Day deals of 2019

Before we look forward to Amazon Prime Day 2020, we've listed the best deals from this year's sale below. While nearly all the items are no longer on sale for the prices we saw during the July sales period, you can see what sort of bargains to expect in 2020.

You can also get a sense of what deals will be around for Black Friday. While Amazon's own devices are usually saved for Prime Day, you'll still see all-time-low prices on several other items throughout the site.

What did Amazon's rivals do on Prime Day?

Prime Day wasn't just a success for Amazon – other online retailers joined in on the shopping holiday with their own mid-summer sale. According to Retail Dive, large retailers (those with one billion dollars or more in annual revenue) rose 64% compared to an average Monday, which is up from last year's 54%.

This year Walmart tried to compete with the tech giant, promoting their own summer sale that lasted all week rather than just 48-hours. Named 'The Big Save Sale,' Walmart discounted several popular items throughout their site and price matched many of Amazon's top deals. Walmart also discounted Google Home devices, which aren't available on Amazon's website. Walmart's sale also had a slight advantage over Prime Day because unlike Amazon, the deals were available to everyone with no membership required.

Other retailers that joined in on the sale event included Macy's, Best Buy, Target, and Home Depot. eBay even promoted a competing "Crash Sale" that would take place if Amazon's site crashed as it did during Prime Day 2018. While Amazon's website didn't crash, it did experience technical difficulties which led to eBay unlocking new deals.

Did anything go wrong on Prime Day 2019?

While Amazon's site didn't crash during Prime Day 2019, it did experience some technical issues. For the 2nd year in a row Prime members had problems checking out during the early hours of Amazon's sale.

Several customers complained that they received an "Add to Cart Failed" message when trying to check out. This occurred when Amazon Prime Day officially launched on Monday, and the issues seemed to be fixed later on that day.

When Prime Day launched 12 hours before the official start time, the TechRadar team also had problems with Amazon's own device deals.The sale price was listed on the item, but once you added the device to your cart, the discounted price would disappear. 

This issue seemed to work itself out, but it's still an annoyance that Amazon was still experiencing issues when last year's crash made headlines around the world.

Looking for a cheap smartphone deal? Sprint is currently offering a $300 prepaid Mastercard when you bring your phone and number to Sprint. This phone deal applies to newer devices like the iPhone 11 and Galaxy S20, or you can save on older model phones like the iPhone XR and Galaxy S10e.

Starting now through April 9, if you bring in an eligible device or buy a new phone and sign up for a Sprint Unlimited plan, you'll receive a $300 prepaid Mastercard in the mail. If you bring your own phone, you can buy a SIM kit, or use a Sprint SIM card and then activate your device online. The prepaid Mastercard will then be shipped within 90 days after registration.

This is a fantastic offer if you were thinking of switching to Sprint or looking to save on a brand new phone. As we mentioned above, Sprint's spring sale ends on April 9, so you should take advantage now before it's too late.

• Shop all Sprint smartphones here

See more of the best Sprint plans that are currently available.

Amazon’s mid-year shopping holiday Amazon Prime Day has reportedly been postponed until at least August, according to internal documents acquired by Reuters.

The deals bonanza has become an annual tradition, typically in July, wherein Amazon drops prices on plenty of goods for a day, though discounts during Amazon Prime Day 2019 lingered for days after its July 15 launch date. While the deals are only for Amazon Prime members, free trials allow anyone to access the discounts.

Though the Reuters report didn’t specify a cause, the delay is most likely due to the coronavirus outbreak, which has driven people indoors and led to such an increase in online shopping that Amazon Prime deliveries may be delayed. Overwhelmed shipping infrastructure could have made Amazon Prime Day orders much harder to fulfill.

The other explanation, of course, is that Amazon delayed the holiday out of respect for the crisis itself. Massive unemployment would have driven down sales anyway, but the spread of coronavirus through the coming months would be a poor time to hype shoppers up for a deals holiday.

In any case, the delay could potentially cost Amazon $100 million in unsold devices it was making ready for the deals holiday that it could have to discount, per the documents acquired by Reuters. 

Via CNET

Few video game missions loom as large as No Russian from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The most remarkable thing about it is probably how much the entire game has been remembered for that one, rather short level, in a five-hour campaign designed to be blitzed through while players got the hang of Call of Duty’s mechanics – and prepared themselves for the true battlefield of online play.

Why was it so unforgettable? The fourth mission in the 2009 game, No Russian puts you in the shoes of a CIA agent, attempting to gain the trust of Russian terrorists by… optionally helping them gun down crowds of fleeing civilians in a Moscow airport.

Asking or allowing players to mow down civilians along with the ‘bad guys’ was – to put it mildly – divisive. While the game certainly sold well, there was a sour taste to that success for many – and the mission was removed entirely from the game for release in Russia.

It was quite a big change in tone from the previous Modern Warfare game only two years previously, which had – along with a slower, more thoughtful approach to combat – a bit more restraint than the Hollywood blockbusters that MW2 was geared towards imitating.

• How to download and play Call of Duty: Warzone

MW2 was a game with bigger action set-pieces, higher dramatic stakes, far more improbable situations, and a final-level speedboat chase that felt straight out of a James Bond movie. Not to mention No Russian, a mission that dedicates eight minutes to the murder of civilians to which you cannot intervene, ostensibly for your entertainment.

This was still a game focused on the modern realities of military conflict, but one that took ‘realities’ to mean accurate facsimiles of weapons and camo designs rather than believable gameplay – something that’s still quite characteristic of the Call of Duty franchise – and ended up being caught awkwardly between its dual-missions of realism and entertainment.

This was over a decade ago, of course, and much has been said on the uneasy reception of No Russian already. However, when news around a remaster of the Modern Warfare 2 campaign started to leak, the question on our lips was this: will No Russian be included?

The answer was a definitive yes. No Russian is still playable in the remastered game, which retails for $19.99 / £19.99 / AU$35,95, and is now exclusively available on PS4 – with a PC and Xbox One release coming in a few weeks time. You can watch the official announcement trailer below (though there's no footage from the No Russian mission shown).

Unsurprisingly, the remaster won’t be released at all in Russia – but re-releasing the game with No Russian anywhere, especially after the intense media scrutiny and industry soul-searching that the controversial mission provoked, is a choice worth interrogating.

In the game, your commanding officer warns you in advance that the mission "will cost you a piece of yourself" – but is it worth it? We’ve brought together our thoughts on whether or not the No Russian mission should have been included in the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Remaster – and which side we came down on in the end.

The case for No Russian

While No Russian was controversial back in 2009, you could argue that it doesn’t serve anyone to brush over this part of Call of Duty’s history. We can learn a lot from looking at the past from a modern perspective, and the remastered No Russian enters a different gaming landscape than it did originally.

The mission also still comes with the same trigger warnings and safeguards as it did in the original game. Players are warned of “disturbing content which may offend some players”, with the option to skip the mission entirely. Achievements aren’t tied to the mission, either, meaning that those wanting every single game trophy on Xbox One won’t be hindered from their 100% goal for having taken issue with the level.

Our Senior Editor of Home Tech, Gerald Lynch, stresses that you don't have to fire a single bullet in the mission, which feels important: "That you're the arbiter of whether you take part or not is on you – its failing is that you aren't given the opportunity to intervene in any way (unless you consider beating the game and taking down the end villain a form of correcting vengeance)."

There’s the entertainment argument to consider, too. 

Modern Warfare 2 is a video game, and the story is pretty overblown already (you even go to space). The Russians aren’t the only villains, either, with (spoilers ahead) the military general who guides most of your missions becoming the big bad before the end of the game is out. How seriously should anything in Modern Warfare 2 be taken?

The case against No Russian

Obviously, Modern Warfare 2 is a piece of entertainment, but – because of that – it’s in a place to move, surprise, or horrify us. And its creators need to be willing to take responsibility for all and any of those emotional responses.

The campaign is short, at around five hours of gameplay, but it’s not like cutting this eight-minute mission – possibly replacing it with 10 seconds of voiceover exposition to explain what happened – would have dented that quantity much either. Why not just take it out and avoid the extra dev work?

TechRadar’s Gaming Writer, Vic Hood, says that, “It still feels like it’s there to shock. The game could have functioned without [the mission]… and the fact you can skip it proves that.”

It’s also impossible not to consider No Russian in the context of 2019’s Modern Warfare reboot, which included a mission including (and named after) the infamous Highway of Death, a stretch of road between Kuwait and Iraq where vehicles carrying retreating Iraqi civilians and refugees were indiscriminately fired upon by US-led forces. In Call of Duty’s rewrite, however, Russian-led forces were leading the attack.

There’s an uneasy alliance between Call of Duty’s output and US military forces, with the franchise’s writing team working with Pentagon advisers to pen their stories. While you obviously couldn’t call Infinity Ward complicit in any actual warfare, its lax attitude when representing real-life atrocities is… concerning, to say the least.

Gerald Lynch argues that "war crimes are very real, and shocking, and that in a game that does strive to have some form of realism attached, depicting one (fictional or otherwise) that we're all too often allowed to shy away from and be shielded from is actually a brave inclusion." It's a shame, though, that this inclusion wasn't handled more responsibly.

Takeaway

When we reached out to Activision for comment, we were reassured that the safeguards of the original 2009 game remained in place, which was a start. The publisher wouldn’t be drawn on any internal conversations regarding the mission’s inclusion, however – or whether not including it was ever on the table.

Our conclusion here is that the Call of Duty team should know better. They should have known better back in 2009, and uncritically remastering No Russian for 2020 doesn’t show a developer that’s learnt its lessons.

Last year’s Modern Warfare (2019) is certainly more culpable for its mishandling of military history, but Modern Warfare 2’s record isn’t clean either – and revisiting or restoring history requires a lot more thought than a splash of paint for modern consoles.

• Read our full thoughts on Modern Warfare (2019)

Ok, so Halloween isn't for a while yet, but that's no reason to miss out on the best horror games out there.

There's a glut of scary movies to make you jump out of your seats – just check the list in our best horror movies guide – but games can go that extra distance by making those scares truly interactive and immersive.

When you're the one holding the controller and making the choices that could mean life or death, every moment is tense and significant. It's a lot harder to laugh at on-screen characters making stupid and clichéd decisions when you're the one making them.

Horror games have matured, going beyond simple gore and jump scares. Though these elements still play an important role in the genre, game developers' approach to horror has more nuance than ever. 

What follows is our choice of the best horror games that you can play on PC and consoles today, from recent AAA games to older PC classics. So go ahead and scare yourselves silly.

Until Dawn

We've all watched a teen slasher movie at some point (it's hard to escape them) but it's a genre that's surprisingly uncommon in the gaming world. Probably because it'd be so hard to get it right.

Fortunately, Until Dawn is a game that succeeds in combining slasher movie tropes with the video game format.

This PS4 exclusive game follows a group of teenagers going on a trip to a remote cabin in the mountains where, shockingly, there's a frightening presence interested in picking them off one by one. 

It's up to you to make decisions for the characters in the game which means whether or not they live or die is entirely down to you. Make the wrong decision and your favorite could meet a very grizzly end. Until Dawn is a great horror game because, although it'll genuinely scare you, you get a sense it's having a lot of fun doing it. 

Platforms: PS4

The Evil Within 2

The Evil Within series comes from the mind behind Resident Evil, Shinji Mikami – and if that doesn't give you reason enough to pick it up, we're not sure what will. This is a third-person survival horror that'll pull you into a nightmarish world populated by grotesque and frightening enemies. 

A sequel, The Evil Within 2, screamed onto shelves in 2017 in time for Halloween, with lead Sebastian Castanellos once again taking on dark powers beyond his understanding in the warped reality of STEM.

In some ways it's regular horror fare: a seemingly idyllic town, dark supernatural forces, and a lost little girl to up the ante. But the way it blends classic horror stalking with more modern action elements – with a real sense of powerlessness to fuel the ongoing terror –  make this a must-play for fans of the genre.

Platforms: PS4, Xbox One and PC

Dead By Daylight

Dead By Daylight stands out in this list by being a horror multiplayer experience: one where a single player takes on the role of a savage serial killer while four others flee for their lives.

It's a thrilling twist on usual PvP combat, with a host of original characters each with their own advantages in play as either a Survivor or Killer. There are plenty of tricks and strategies to execute in each map, with a character progression system that should keep you coming back.

For the horror junkies out there, you can also unlock or download characters from Saw, A Nightmare on Elm Street, or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC

• Grab Dead by Daylight from the PlayStation Store

The Persistence

Few mediums are as perfectly suited to horror as VR. The full-body immersion and restrictive viewing angles mean you're never quite sure what's around you, and make jump scares or surreal monsters all that more affecting.

The Persistence is a smart VR horror rogue-like set in a monster-ridden spaceship. Your vessel has been pulled into the orbit of a black hole, and its interference is constantly jumbling up the layout of the ship, using procedurally generated levels to ensure you never know what's going to be around each corner.

To top it all off, every time you die you're transferred into a new clone of yourself – which would be handy if the other clones weren't turning into massive misshapen monsters looking to murder you. An innovative take on VR gaming that isn't afraid to, you know, make you afraid.

Platforms: PS4 (PSVR)

• Grab The Persistence from the PlayStation Store

Little Nightmares

Little Nightmares is a great example of a game that manages to inspire fear and disgust without using traditional blood and gore.

The game puts you in control of a young girl called Six and has you navigate a a frightening world that's far too big for her, populated by a wide array of giant and grotesque creatures.

You don't have to fight these creatures, you just have to sneak around world and hide to get past them in what is absolutely a platforming puzzle game. 

But Little Nightmares is a great horror game in that it perfectly creates a feeling of helplessness while making it clear that you're capable of escaping. It takes familiar and domestic areas of the home that should be comforting and turns them on their head by making them repulsive and unsafe. 

Platforms: PC, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PS4

The Dead Space series

Dead Space, published by EA and developed by Visceral Games, is among the contemporary classic horror games. The story, first set on an abandoned space vessel (duh), takes terrifying twists and turns – most of which involving zombified aliens waiting around said turns.

Following the formula established by Ridley Scott's classic 'Alien' certainly helped – besides, the first Alien game to pull it off didn't release for another few years.

All in all, Dead Space was one of the pioneering horror games of the modern era, inspiring a renaissance in the genre that hasn't yet died down. That comes down to some simple tenants: a compelling story, believable visuals and proper pacing.

And while we recommend the first game for the purest horror experience, you're bound to get a kick out of its two mainline sequels too.

Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3 and PC

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

Resident Evil 7 was a breath of fresh air for an increasingly stale series, bringing in a modern understanding of both horror movies and games while managing to retain that very distinct Resident Evil feel. 

By moving the perspective from third to first person it also made the fear feel closer and more immediate, while leading the way to include a genuinely frightening VR experience to the game. 

With a great story and tight gameplay, Resident Evil 7 was the addition to the horror series we all wanted and feared we wouldn't get. The success of the game, along with the recent remakes of earlier titles in the series, is enough to make us think Capcom will be giving us scares for a good while yet.

Platforms: PC, Xbox One and PS4 – or PlayStation VR

Resident Evil 3

Following up on the huge success of Resident Evil 7 and its remake of Resident Evil 2, Capcom remade Resident Evil 3 and completely nailed it. 

With its fast pace, action, excellent graphics and, of course, terrifying zombies the Resident Evil 3 remake is one of the best horror games on the market and one you absolutely shouldn't miss. 

In our Resident Evil 3 review we gave the game an impressive 4.5 stars, saying "Capcom proves once again that, when it comes to modern horror, it's the master. Resident Evil 3 is testament to the fact that a good horror game needs to be more than just scary, offering skilful urban level design, stunning visuals, a formidable foe – and lots and lots of zombies."

Platforms: PC, Xbox One and PS4

Slender: The Eight Pages

Released in mid-2012, Slender is based around long pauses followed by sudden movements that are totally unexpected. In other words: jump scares. 

Slender is essentially a horror movie in video game form. It's a bit cheap, but boy does it work.

Your mission is simple: Don't get killed, collect the eight pieces of a book, and run. The 'thing' pursuing you – directly inspired by the popular Slender Man meme – is a faceless, eerily lanky man in a pinstriped suit.

Basically, he's the perfect horror game villain.

The game relies heavily around the player having virtually no resources beyond a flashlight and the ability to jog. Naturally, both of which are limited for obvious reasons, making escape all the more difficult.

Overall, Slender is a fun, not-so-clever horror game that is guaranteed to scare you senseless nevertheless.

Platforms: PC

• Download Slender: The Eight Pages now

Alien: Isolation

Of the countless games to use this precious creative license over the years, developer Creative Assembly is the first to actually create a game that lives up to it. The game takes place 15 years following the events of the 1979 Ridley Scott film, putting players into the space boots of Ellen Ripley's daughter, Amanda Ripley.

Taking on a first-person perspective and squaring you off with a single xenomorph hunting you across a vast space station in darkness, Isolation nails what it felt like watching the film for the first time. The vibe is so much of what makes an amazing horror game, and Isolation feels as if you're playing through the movie.

Throw in the excruciatingly-clever artificial intelligence afforded to the alien, along with an absolutely gripping virtual reality experiment, and you have the trappings of a modern horror classic.

Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, Xbox One, PS4 and PC

Outlast series

Outlast and Outlast 2, developed by Red Barrels Studio, are now must-plays in the horror genre. Both games put players in control of investigative journalists but while the first is set in an asylum for the insane, the sequel takes place in the much more open location of a dilapidated rural part of Northern Arizona. 

What helps make the Outlast games, well, last is that they follow a cardinal rule of horror games: don't empower your players too much, otherwise it's no longer a horror game.

Offering a refreshing break from zombies and aliens, Outlast and its sequel are fine games to play if you want a longer – and arguably scarier – break from your average gun-toting jump scare-fest.

Platforms: Xbox One, PS4 and PC

Left 4 Dead 2

While Left 4 Dead came first, the second version saw Valve nail the vision of its original creators, Turtle Rock Studios. Set in a world overrun by zombies, the game follows four characters in their mission to survive through several cooperative and competitive online modes, which – in conjunction with mods on PC – makes for a veritable ton of replayability.

Our friends at PC Gamer have ranked it among their top FPS games of all time. We're pretty certain that most PC players would agree with that.

The game was originally banned in Australia due to its graphic content: a de facto seal of approval, if you will. The ban has since been lifted, and so lovers of hardcore horror games are sure to rejoice in its gross, lengthy scenes of devastation and destruction worldwide.

Platforms: Xbox 360 and PC

Five Nights at Freddy's

Five Nights at Freddy's is – undoubtedly – a different kind of horror game. With a premise seeing players “surviving” a night in a kid-themed pizza parlor, it's unlike almost anything else in the genre.

However, it's a surprisingly fun game to play, once you can get past the terrifying visage of an animatronic teddy bear guitarist come to life in the dead of night. Generally, players combat these twisted, possessed figures with security cameras – what? Poltergeists don't like leaving evidence.

The game is the work of Scott Cawthon, an independent developer, who released it in 2014. Since then, there have been three more direct sequels, all of which have received positive reviews. Talk about staying power.

Platforms: PC, iOS and Android.

SOMA

SOMA, released in 2015 by Amnesia developer Frictional Games, is a thoughtful – and thought-provoking – game that could easily be considered an interactive film. Are you sensing a theme here at all?

The game contains neither zombies nor aliens, but instead a shift between 2015 and 2104, when humans have been wiped out by a comet and what's left of humanity must fight to survive underwater in an abandoned research facility gone rogue.

While SOMA may not be as outright scary as, say, Amnesia, it is still a fantastic game, thanks to its brooding atmosphere, surprisingly fresh subject matter (for horror games) and incredible audio design.

Platforms: PS4 and PC

Amnesia series

Amnesia is one of the best survival horror series of all time, with the first game in the series, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, proving to be one of the most terrifying games we've ever played.

 Imagine, if you will, that you’re being chased by a monster and have no means of defending yourself. All you can do is run for your life, and at best, slam a few doors in its face to slow it down. Perhaps you can barricade yourself in if you’ve got the right tools, but essentially you know that if you’re caught, you’re dead. That’s the terrifying gist of Amnesia: The Dark Descent, a game which also saps away at your player’s sanity if they’re exposed to darkness for too long. Good thing there’s plenty of light to shield you from the darkness, then. Oh wait… there isn’t.

Although the original game, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, first released for PC back in 2010 – you can pick up the whole collection for current-gen consoles. The Amnesia Collection is made up of Amnesia: The Dark Descent, its Amnesia: Justine expansion and the sequel, A Machine for Pigs.

• Grab Amnesia: Collection from the PlayStation Store

Resident Evil 2 Remake

Resident Evil 2 Remake is exactly what it says on the tin: it's a remake of the classic '90s horror Resident Evil 2. If you played the original, and didn't think it could get any better, then get ready to be proved wrong.

Resident Evil 2 Remake elevates the grandeur of the original game into a masterful modern survival horror experience. This wonderful remake is the epitome of mature modern horror, offering puzzles, zombies, heart-pumping action and a finely detailed environment that demands exploration.

And with a second playthrough available, offering a different character experience, it'll keep you terrified for hours.

• New games 2020: the biggest games coming to console and PC

If you've been trying to book a Tesco home delivery slot for a while now, you're not alone. Tesco has been inundated with demand for its food delivery service over the past few weeks as more shoppers stay home. 

With such a high volume of orders, Tesco is urging those who are able to shop in its physical stores, which have been overhauled with protective measures against the spread of COVID-19. That means if you're not high risk, elderly, or self-isolating, you should still be heading down to your local store to pick up your groceries. 

However, if you do need a Tesco delivery, there are a number of ways to improve your chances of getting one. Here, we'll be running through the best ways to try and get a grocery delivery from Tesco, as well as just how Tesco's Click & Collect service can work for you. 

How to get a Tesco home delivery slot

Tesco recently announced a vast expansion of its fleet of delivery vans and drivers, following a hiring surge over the past week. That means there are now more Tesco food delivery slots available than ever before: 780,000, to be precise, up from 660,000 to weeks ago. 

That doesn't mean it's a free for all out there, though. Tesco is prioritising the elderly and vulnerable in its booking system, so if you have been deemed high risk, you'll want to head over to Gov.uk to register yourself as a clinically vulnerable person. 

Tesco is using this register to make sure its most vulnerable customers are seen to, which means you'll have a far easier time booking a home delivery slot if you're on the list. 

If you are self-isolating but not vulnerable or elderly, your best bet is to keep trying. Tesco home delivery slots are updated daily, so there's no need to give up after one attempt.  

• Look for a Tesco delivery slot now

How does Tesco Click & Collect work?

If you don't qualify for prioritisation in Tesco's home delivery service, you can still order your food through their Click & Collect service. Simply select your groceries with Tesco Online and select Click & Collect before you checkout. 

There are far more slots available for this service than home delivery, and potentially safer than shopping instore right now, plus you won't need to queue. 

• Look for a Tesco delivery slot now
• Want to order your shop online? We've compared the best online grocery delivery services

If you're a fan of affordable fitness trackers you'll likely be interested to hear that a new one might be hitting the market soon, because the anticipated Xiaomi Mi Band 5 could be unveiled later today (April 3).

This is because Mijia, Xiaomi's smart home brand (which includes wearables) is set to host an event in China later today, according to its Weibo page.

Mijia doesn't state exactly what's being shown off, but refers to 'our new friends in wearables' (roughly translated), which suggests there will be new wearable devices announced.

• These are the best cheap fitness trackers
• And these are the best fitness trackers overall
• Check out our Honor Band 5 review 

The Xiaomi Mi Band 5 has been anticipated ever since the Mi Band 4 graced shelves, as that was a pretty popular and very affordable fitness tracker that we gave a near-perfect score to. A few tweaks, which the Mi Band 5 could bring, could make it a perfect running companion.

Another wearable could be shown off too, as Xiaomi launched the Mi Watch in late 2019 and this could also get a successor, although we're still waiting for that device to even launch outside of China.

Beyond that, Xiaomi has been making strides into smart home appliances, and perhaps we'll see more of these at this event, like a new smart home speaker, an expansion of its lighting range, or other smart devices.

If Mijia does launch anything major, or anything that will be available outside China (like the Mi Band 5 probably will be), we'll let you know, so stay tuned for that.

• Xiaomi Mi Band 5 may be able to buy your morning coffee, unlike predecessors

Via GSMArena

Apple is said to unveil the successor to the iPhone SE in the coming days. A new listing spotted on its website puts the launch date and naming conundrums to rest.

Apple has been long-rumored to refresh its iPhone SE, a side series that hasn’t been updated since 2016. For 2020, it is expected to follow the design of the iPhone 8 but with updated internals and cameras. It was originally supposed to launch in March, but that didn’t happen due to the global coronavirus pandemic. However, a closer look at Apple’s website not only confirms the design but also suggests that the launch isn’t too far. 

Under the accessories section on Apple’s website, there’s a listing for a “Belkin InvisiGlass Ultra Screen Protection.” Interestingly, it is mentioned to be compatible with the iPhone 7, the iPhone 8, and a newly added “iPhone SE.” While it may have been prematurely updated, this pretty much confirms that it will have the same design and dimensions as the iPhone 7 and 8, and might simply be called the iPhone SE, just like the last time. It isn’t entirely surprising as Apple is notoriously famous for having the same name for its most iconic products over generations. 

According to 9to5Mac, the iPhone SE 2020 will be available for pre-ordering as early as this week, starting April 3, with deliveries commencing in the following weeks. A launch event will not take place, and the new phone will be directly listed on the website. Colors options are said to include White, Black, and (PRODUCT) Red, while storage configurations will be 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB. The base model will have a starting price of $399. Keep in mind that the timelines could change due to several factors currently at play.

The new iPhone SE is expected the same chassis as that of the iPhone 8 but to be powered by the latest A13 processor. Even the cameras are expected to receive a significant upgrade, using the same primary sensor as that of the iPhone 11 series. Lastly, it is likely to bring back the Touch ID.

• iPhone 9 might launch tomorrow, according to new rumor