Don’t expect the Steam Deck to be easier to get anytime soon. Valve has posted a notice on the Steam Deck page with a warning that the handheld gaming console “may be out of stock intermittently” in certain regions “due to memory and storage shortages.” The company also reiterated that the more affordable Steam Deck LCD is no longer in production and will no longer be available once stocks run out. Valve started phasing out the LCD console back in December, which means the OLED handhelds are now the only choice for gamers who want to get a Steam Deck. The company’s notice comes after it completely ran out of Steam Deck units a few days ago.
RAM and storage shortages are plaguing tech manufacturers due to massive demand for those components from the artificial intelligence industry. AI companies have been snapping up available memory chips and hard drives for their rapid infrastructure buildouts, leaving everyone else short. In fact, we couldn’t find any deals for RAM last Black Friday, and Samsung global marketing leader Wonjin Lee warned at CES 2026 that memory price hikes are on the horizon.
Valve also had to delay the release of the Steam Machine and the Steam Frame VR headset due to industry-wide memory and storage shortages. It had intended to start shipping those devices in early 2026, but it admitted in its announcement that it has to rethink their launch date and pricing, insinuating that they could be priced higher than the company had planned,
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/valve-admits-steam-deck-availability-is-affected-by-memory-and-storage-shortages-102913993.html?src=rss
Learning Python often starts with the same building blocks: variables, functions, and loops. However, once young people have learnt these essential foundations, they may be eager to grow their skills and start using Python to explore data and create something meaningful to them.
Our free ‘More Python’ project path helps learners move beyond the basics and use data to create impactful projects of their own.
Python as a tool for exploring the world
Python is the most widely used programming language in the world, not just because it’s accessible, but because it’s powerful. It is used to analyse data, build models, create data visualisations, and explore important questions.
For young learners, this means learning Python can become more than a coding exercise. It can be a way to investigate topics they care about, analyse and understand information, and tell powerful stories about real-world issues.
Working with data helps learners see how coding connects to the world around them — and builds confidence along the way.
Why learning with data matters
In our day-to-day lives, data is everywhere: in sports results, maps, and scientific research, to name only a few examples. Learning how to work with data helps young people develop skills that go far beyond programming, including:
Thinking logically and solving problems
Interpreting and questioning information
Making decisions based on evidence
Data also underpins many of the AI systems people use today. For example, large language models, used to build tools such as ChatGPT, are trained on vast amounts of data. Therefore, understanding how data is collected, organised, and used is an important part of AI literacy.
In Python, structures like lists and dictionaries make it possible to organise, analyse, and explore data in creative ways. Using these tools to build projects can help abstract computing concepts start to feel more concrete and meaningful.
What learners create in the ‘More Python’ project path
The ‘More Python’ project path supports learners through three stages: Explore, Design, and Invent. Each stage builds skills while giving learners more ownership over what they create.
In the Explore stage, young people learn new concepts and build confidence in using data and core Python structures, such as lists and dictionaries. Projects include:
Making an interactive chart of Olympic medals
Building a model of the solar system
Creating a frequency graph that learners can analyse to crack a code
These projects help learners develop new skills, while exploring how Python can be used to analyse and explain real-world information.
As learners progress to the Design stage, they start making creative choices about how their projects look and behave. In this stage, they:
Create a project that produces encoded art based on a user’s name
Build an interactive world map that helps users learn interesting facts
Here, Python becomes a creative medium. As well as putting their new skills into practice, learners think about audience, interaction, and presentation to make their projects their own.
In the Invent stage, learners bring everything together. Using the skills they have built, they design and create a data visualisation on a topic they are passionate about. This final project gives learners the freedom to choose their data, shape their idea, and tell a story that matters to them.
By this point, learners are planning and creating their own projects, growing in confidence and independence.
Take the next step with Python
If the young people you support have already learned the basics of Python, ‘More Python’ offers a clear and creative next step. The projects are designed to be accessible, and young people can work through them at their own pace, whether they are learning independently, at a Code Club, or in the classroom.
By working with data, getting creative, and making their own original projects, learners can build confidence and start to see what they can achieve with Python.
Alongside the ‘More Python’ project path, you can access hundreds of free coding projects on our Code Club Projects site. Find more projects to suit your learners’ interests, and support them to build their digital skills through creativity and making.
An anonymous reader shares a report: The European Parliament has disabled AI features on the work devices of lawmakers and their staff over cybersecurity and data protection concerns, according to an internal email seen by POLITICO. The chamber emailed its members on Monday to say it had disabled “built-in artificial intelligence features” on corporate tablets after its IT department assessed it couldn’t guarantee the security of the tools’ data.
“Some of these features use cloud services to carry out tasks that could be handled locally, sending data off the device,” the Parliament’s e-MEP tech support desk said in the email. “As these features continue to evolve and become available on more devices, the full extent of data shared with service providers is still being assessed. Until this is fully clarified, it is considered safer to keep such features disabled.”
The London Cycling Campaign (LCC) has launched a new report, titled Broken Locks, Broken Promises. It excoriates the Metropolitan Police for its lack of action on stolen bicycles in London.
LCC surveyed 1,924 London cyclists, to gauge their experience and attitudes to bike theft. It estimates that a total of 40,000 bikes are stolen annually in London, with 74% of respondents to its latest survey reporting that a member of their family had had a bike stolen. 51% of thefts occurred on-street.
79% of those reporting loss of a bike said the Met Police had taken no action and 69% considered the police response inadequate. Only 2% of stolen bikes are recovered, according to the LCC, one of the lowest percentages of any UK police force.
Earlier this year, we reported that the British Transport Police had reversed its policy in which it stated that it would not investigate theft of cycles left outside a train station for more than two hours. There’s been a call from the Liberal Democrats for the setting of “bait bikes” fitted with a concealed tracker to help identify bike thieves and bring them to justice.
54% of respondents reported using Sold Secure Gold or Diamond-rated locks.
The new report quotes one respondent to the LCC’s survey, who said: “Reported, have the person on CCTV, yet the police did nothing. Not important to them, but it meant the world to me.”
Another respondent reported: “I received a letter from the police that was dated the same day as the theft saying they were closing the investigation due to a lack of evidence. They hadn’t even requested CCTV.”
Then there was the respondent who told the LCC: “I found someone riding my stolen bike, followed them, watched them lock up the bike and leave. Called the police. Two policemen came.
“I had frame number and photo of the bike with distinctive customisations. Even when standing next to my stolen bike they would do nothing. They said we should leave a note for the guy who was riding it to contact the police when he came back.”
LCC claims that many cycle thefts aren’t reported because the police’s response is so poor. Perversely, this enables the police to claim rates of cycle theft are falling in the capital.
Another effect cited by LCC is that victims of theft reduce or abandon their cycling, potentially adding to traffic, pollution and the risk of road traffic accidents.
What to do?
The report calls for more secure parking provision at stations and elsewhere. Transport for London
Rather than just hand-wringing and finger-pointing, LCC makes a range of recommendations for action by the Met Police and the Mayor of London.
Its top three recommendations are:
That the mayor reinstates the cycle theft task force and commits to a 10% annual reduction in cycle theft.
That the Met Police tracks bicycle theft properly and enforces effectively both on the street and online.
That councils, TfL and Network Rail install secure cycle parking at stations and elsewhere.
That bike retailers and online marketplaces teach people about bike security via online and in-shop campaigns.
A petition has been launched to accompany the new report, which calls on the deputy major for policing and crime, and the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police to implement its recommendations. You can sign the petition here.
Continental has added a 35mm width to its Grand Prix 5000 S TR tyre range, riding the trend for ever-wider tyres for road use.
The new tyre joins the existing range, which offered 25mm, 28mm, 30mm and 32mm widths with black or transparent sidewalls.
Conti isn’t the only tyre brand to go wider. In 2024, Pirelli launched a 40mm width for its P Zero Race TLR range, which also includes a 35mm option. It is pitching the increased widths at cobbled races such as Paris-Roubaix, as well as the burgeoning all-road market.
Pirelli added a 40mm-width option for its P Zero Race TLR tyre in 2024. Scott Windsor / Our Media
Switch to Pirelli’s Cinturato tyre and there is a 40mm, 50mm and even a 55mm width.
Other brands with extra-wide road-oriented tyres include WTB, which sells the Exposure tyre in 38mm width and René Herse, whose semi-slick tyres span the all-road/gravel boundary with widths up to 55mm.
Tyres continue to get wider
Many race bikes still don’t offer clearance for tyres much over 35mm. Felix Smith / Our Media
As Simon von Bromley discussed in his post-Roubaix wrap-up on tyre widths last year, road tyres will continue to expand in width for the foreseeable future, both for the pros and for general users.
Mathieu van der Poel won Paris-Roubaix on 32mm tyres in 2024 and 2025, while Tadej Pogačar, who was runner-up in last year’s race, also on 32mm rubber, regularly rides 30mm-width tyres in non-cobbled races.
Simon reckons most amateurs should be riding wider tyres. The issue isn’t the availability of wide tyres, though, as the examples above show. It’s bikes’ tyre clearance. Although this has increased significantly with the switch from rim to disc brakes, it still lags behind the capability of tyre makers to produce ever-wider tyres.
This is particularly true for road race bikes, where the extra length to the chainstays needed to accommodate wider/taller tyres and the associated increased wheelbase can potentially dull the bike’s handling.
The Trek Madone has official clearance of only 32mm. Getty Images
Nevertheless, when we asked Glen Leven, team support manager at Lidl-Trek if the team wanted more clearance, he told us space for tyres up to 38mm or 40mm was on its wish list from Trek for the next-generation Madone.
The appetite for wider tyres was more mixed among 13 pros we polled at last year’s Paris-Roubaix, with many reckoning around 32mm was the sweetspot and one team even switching from 32s to 30s. Many suggested they’d go narrower for non-cobbled races.
The UCI also gets in on the act, with its wheel-plus-tyre diameter regulations, which would be contravened by a 40mm tyre on a 700c rim.
Plus, there’s the additional weight of a wider tyre, which is often beefed up by the tyre maker, with a thicker tread adding to the extra material from the additional width. The increased frontal profile potentially affects the bike’s aerodynamics as well.
Plus new 30mm Continental time trial tyre width
We measured the nominally 28mm Continental GP5000 TT TR tyre on Tadej Pogačar’s Colnago V4Rs at 32.2mm before the 2023 Tour de France Grand Depart. George Scott / Our Media
In addition, Continental has added a 30mm width to its lightweight Grand Prix 5000 TT TR tyre range, which was previously offered only in 25mm and 28mm widths. Again, that’s likely to be a response to the increased clearance offered by the latest generation of time trial/triathlon bike frames.
But pros including Pogačar have used time trial tyres in road races, rather than the slightly heavier road tyres, so the increased width for the TT TR offers a lighter-weight alternative for road racing too, helping to offset the added weight of a wider tyre.
Sales of refurbished PCs are on the up amid shortages of key components, including memory chips, that are making brand new devices more expensive. From a report: Stats compiled by market watcher Context show sales of refurbished PCs via distribution climbed 7 percent in calendar Q4 across five of the biggest European markets — Italy, the UK, Germany, Spain, and France.
Affordability is the primary driver in the secondhand segment, the analyst says, with around 40 percent of sales driven by budget-conscious users shopping in the $235 to $355 price band for laptops. The $355 to $475 tier is also expanding — representing 23 percent of the refurbished market, up from 15 percent a year earlier — indicating some buyers are prepared to spend a bit more for improved specifications.
Lutris founder Mathieu Comandon released Lutris 0.5.20 today as the latest stable version of this popular and open-source game management software for GNU/Linux distributions.
The music industry’s long romance with an ever-expanding catalog of songs appears to be souring, as streaming platforms and rights holders confront a daily deluge that now includes 60,000 wholly AI-generated tracks uploaded to Deezer alone — roughly 39% of the French service’s daily intake, a statistic the company shared during Grammys week last month.
Streaming services now host 253 million songs, according to Luminate’s most recent annual report, after adding 51 million tracks over the course of 2025 at an average pace of 106,000 uploads a day. Spotify has already responded by requiring songs to hit at least 1,000 plays in the previous 12 months to qualify for royalties, and Luminate reported that 88% of tracks received 1,000 or fewer plays in 2025.
The distribution layer is in flux too: Universal Music Group is trying to acquire Downtown Music, owner of DIY distributor CD Baby, TuneCore’s head recently stepped down without a planned replacement, and DistroKid is reportedly up for sale.
The Gentoo Linux project last year announced plans to move their code hosting to Codeberg rather than GitHub. Gentoo’s desire to move away from GitHub was motivated by Microsoft’s Copilot training on GitHub repositories. Those plans are turning into action now with the main Gentoo project up on Codeberg and honoring pull requests…
Samsung has all but confirmed that its upcoming Galaxy S26 will feature a built-in privacy display, releasing an ad that demonstrates a “Zero-peeking privacy” toggle capable of blacking out on-screen content for anyone peering over the user’s shoulder.
The underlying technology is reportedly Samsung Display’s Flex Magic Pixel OLED panel, first shown at MWC 2024, which adjusts viewing angles on a pixel-by-pixel basis — and leaker Ice Universe has shared a video of the feature selectively hiding content in banking and messaging apps using AI. Samsung’s Unpacked event is scheduled for February 25th.
MAAP and fashion label Perks and Mini (P.A.M) has released its fourth capsule collection, which encourages you to “push beyond the familiar until the earth morphs with alien vitality”.
The ‘Outer Terrestrial Space Travel’ collection is said to bring P.A.M’s “signature psy-activated graphic language and free-wheeling aesthetic” to MAAP’s high-performance cycling kit and “alt-cycling ethos”.
MAAP and P.A.M first collaborated in 2021, with a more casual collection released in early 2022. That was followed later in the year by the trippy Club Ciclistico Amatiorale capsule, which was said to be “at the intersection of earth meets urban sunshine sonnets”.
The fourth PAAM collection is for “those in pursuit of cosmic elevation” and “outer terrestrial” adventures. But here on the earth, you can buy a range of on- and off-bike clothing.
MAAP’s Pro Air Jersey 3.0 is available in Violet Cosmos or Black and Glow Lime, while its Team Bib Evo Cargo shorts are decorated with reflective MAAP x P.A.M graphics. The collection also contains MAAP’s new Wind Jacket and its Air Mesh LS Tee.
For when you’re not riding, MAAP has put out a hoodie and casual shorts, alongside two T-shirts in the same colours as the special-edition cycling jersey. There are also caps, socks, musettes and water bottles available.
Alongside P.A.M, MAAP has teamed up with other fashion and sports brands in recent years. In 2022, it released an Alt_Road collection with New York’s outerwear brand The Arrivals and last year it collaborated with Hoka.
The MAAP x P.A.M Pro Air Jersey 3.0. MAAP
The collection includes casual clothing, such as this T-shirt. MAAP
MAAP’s Air Mesh LS Tee. MAAP
The drop includes MAAP’s new Wind Jacket in green. MAAP
Apple continues to double down on its Formula 1 programming, following up on the box office success of its blockbuster movie by adding a dedicated channel for the racing league to the Apple TV app. This section of the streaming service hints at some of what may be coming when the F1 season begins with the kickoff event in Australia next month. The F1 channel has placeholders for practices, qualifying and the grand prix as well as a weekend warm-up show.
Although it announced the five-year deal to host F1 broadcasts in the US back in October, we still haven’t heard many specifics on how Apple’s presentation of the race events will work. The channel has a section labeled “Event Schedule: Sky Sports,” which suggests that Apple will show the commentary from Sky rather than providing its own hosts; ESPN took that approach during its tenure with the F1 broadcast rights. In addition to the forward-looking streams, Apple TV also has some videos with highlights from the 2025 season and a recap of the rule changes for 2026.
If you’re looking to follow Formula 1 in the 2026 season, some races will be available to watch for free. However, a F1 TV Premium streaming package is now part of an Apple TV subscription, so that’s likely to be the preferred ticket for serious fans. F1TV grants access to all the zooming around you could want as well as to behind-the-scenes content like driver cams and live team radios.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/theres-a-dedicated-channel-for-formula-1-in-the-apple-tv-app-now-230904295.html?src=rss
Rode is rolling out a firmware update for its Wireless Pro and Wireless Go (third-gen) microphones to add a feature called Direct Connect, which was already available for the Wireless Micro. This allows the mics to pair with iPhones and iPads via Bluetooth without the need for a receiver. All you’ll need is the Rode Capture app.
Rode said it’s able to offer Direct Connect for Wireless Pro and Wireless Go without compromising “the broadcast-quality audio both wireless systems are known for.” The feature still supports the option to record from two transmitters in either merged (whereby the audio blends into a single stereo track) or split (which keeps the recordings on separate channels to allow for more options in post-production) modes.
Not having to worry about setting up a physical receiver to link these mics to iOS devices could help streamline things quite a bit for creators. And I can always get behind companies adding handy features to existing products without pushing customers to buy new models. That’s good for the environment, your wallet — assuming you already have one of these mics — and probably the company’s reputation. An all-around positive update.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/more-rode-mics-can-now-connect-directly-to-iphones-and-ipads-230000533.html?src=rss
A long-in-development feature for AMD EPYC Zen 5 server platforms now merged for the Linux 7.0 kernel is ACPI PRMT-based address translation for the Compute Express Link (CXL) subsystem…
Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile will be no more this spring. According to Activision, servers will be taken offline for this mobile battle royale game on April 17, 2026. The shooter will remain available for current players until that date. This mobile port of the CoD battle royale mode has been on its way to a finale for the past year, with the game studio sharing in May 2025 that the title would be delisted and would not receive new content.
For any people who still want to play the military shooter on their phones, there a mobile version of the main game remains available. Call of Duty: Mobile even offers a battle royale experience, so you can get pretty close to having Warzone if you still want it. “Player passion and feedback continue to shape the future of the Call of Duty franchise, and we look forward to delivering meaningful seasonal content and updates to Call of Duty: Mobile,” Activision said in announcingWarzone‘s mobile shutdown. Call of Duty: Warzone is still free to play on Xbox, Battle.net, Playstation and Steam.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/call-of-duty-warzone-mobile-will-go-offline-on-april-17-222240967.html?src=rss
Western Digital’s entire hard drive manufacturing capacity for calendar year 2026 is now fully spoken for, CEO Irving Tan disclosed during the company’s second-quarter earnings call, a stark sign of how aggressively hyperscalers are locking down storage supply to feed their AI infrastructure buildouts.
The company has firm purchase orders from its top seven customers and has signed long-term agreements stretching into 2027 and 2028 that cover both exabyte volumes and pricing. Cloud revenue now accounts for 89% of Western Digital’s total, according to the company’s VP of Investor Relations, while consumer revenue has shrunk to just 5%.
Now available in its 1.0 version, The Pirate: Republic of Nassau is greater than the sum of its parts, offering a myriad of options to fulfill the pirate fantasy.
In July 2025, I wrote an impressions piece of The Pirate: Republic of Nassau for UploadVR. Initially impressed with what was on offer, the potential for more content, including melee combat and multiplayer, led me to believe it had a promising future. Having just debuted its 1.0 version, I returned to this pirate fantasy in hopes of seeing if my prediction was correct. Better than the sum of its parts, I can confidently say it was.
The Facts
What is it?: An open-world 18th-century pirate VR game. Platforms: Quest (Reviewed on Quest 3) Release Date: Out Now Developer/Publisher: Home Net Games Price: $19.99
To not repeat myself, I will briefly touch upon what I expounded on in my initial thoughts and focus on what is brand new. The Pirate: Republic of Nassau is light on narrative, instead opting to give players a slew of activities to fund your newly founded pirate republic on Nassau during the golden age of piracy. Equipped with nothing more than a sloop and a skeleton crew, the sole objective is to grow your empire by recruiting historical pirates such as Blackbeard and Anne Bonny by defeating them in naval battle first.
Diving for treasure offers gorgeous underwater vistas.
Your initial vessel being rather unfit against these legends, the only sensible choice is to improve your ship with hard-earned gold. Nassau itself will generate money as you build the town, but in the modest beginning, doing lowly work is the way to go. Looting crates from fallen ships, treasure diving, and clashing at sea against rival ships, among the novel options, is the only path forward. With your work cut out for you, it is effortless for time to slip by once you get a hold of the game’s mechanics.
Not many changes in this 1.0 version positively impact the moment-to-moment gameplay, but improvements do exist. In the Early Access version, you could only fast travel from one port to another from the map in your cabin. This removed any wonder because the only way to discover new ports was by paying either the Merchant’s Guild or at the tavern to hear rumors from far-off places. Now, there is an option to visually move your small ship through the map and discover uncharted territories in the process. New ports in the Caribbean mean new vendors, merchants, and quests, and finding out about them in no particular order instills a sense of free will when playing.
The clearest improvement over the initial release is the crisper visuals, especially inside the cabin. Whereas it formerly looked blurry and unfocused, now the cabin looks pristine in comparison. As the place where players strategize and choose where to embark upon next, it’s a logical rework. Other areas, such as the ship’s deck, nearby islands when sailing, and the new explorable areas on foot, still show muddy textures.
Looking at castaways with the spyglass from afar aids in the immersion.
A handy spyglass lying on your right-hand side when aboard the ship goes further into feeling like a captain. Having to close one eye when looking at an enemy ship at a distance evokes Jack Sparrow’s films. Amidst all the quality-of-life changes, the highlight is the time boost, bar none. The ability to sail faster is a game changer. When the wind was against the sails before this helpful mechanic, the vessel would grind to a halt. Now, turning on fast forward with the click of a button speeds things up when needing to sail to a lighthouse or catch crates of sugar or in naval battle, significantly improving the experience.
A game like The Pirate: Republic of Nassau should be judged by its full package, not each element individually. That is why sea shanties seem like an inconspicuous addition that would fade into the background if the tunes were not as catchy as they are. Developer Home Net Games is no stranger to pirate-themed games, with The Pirate: Caribbean Hunt dating back ten years. This experience is evidenced in the musical choices. Wildly fun rhymes of tall tales sung by gravelly voices sound right at home by ringing a bell on your ship’s deck or when visiting taverns.
One of my most eagerly anticipated features, cave exploration, added damp, pitch-black areas hidden deep within some islands. Accessible through hearing rumors in taverns, this is a refreshing change-up to standing in your ship all the time, as no ports can be explored on foot. I would appreciate seeing that in a future update, as the developer pledged to continue supporting this pirate simulator. But I digress.
0:00
/0:24
Engaging in naval combat while the crew sings their heart out fits the scene perfectly.
The caverns themselves—apparently full of treasure—leave much to be desired, only truly displaying corridor after corridor of skeleton bones, rats, and sparse gold pouches. Random small spiders hanging from stalactites creep up in surprising ways, so that at least excites in an otherwise uneventful incursion. For those with arachnophobia, these can also be entirely removed in the settings. Another option to make the cave double the size in hopes of finding more loot is also an option.
Feeling isolated is a strong emotion recreated in these tunnels. Always holding a torch to guide you in the dark severely increases the eerie atmosphere. Bats, the hollow echoes, and water dropping do their best to convince the mind that you are in fact spelunking. Because the only true danger faced exploring these desolate caves is falling to your death, it ends up being a rather introspective activity.
A second land-based foray is exploring jungles to exact revenge on another pirate captain who stole from you. Set in the middle of the day, the suspiciously hallway-shaped islands focus more on melee combat as there is not much in the way of exploration. The ability to crouch and try to be stealthy in the process of approaching enemy camps is an option, with twigs littered around that can reveal your location to enemies and ruin the surprise.
Once getting rid of said foes, it does not feel particularly rewarding to explore every nook and cranny, because there is not much to see. Occasional gold pouches will be left by corpses or left near campsites, but other types of items like cannonballs, planks, or oil are nowhere to be seen. This makes the exploration limiting, resulting in a very straightforward experience that is only salvageable by the combat, which in and of itself is a mixed bag.
0:00
/0:23
This combat demonstration speaks for itself.
The combat feels undercooked, with collisions being a notable hit or miss. Armed to the teeth with a sword, a hatchet, bombs that explode on contact with campfires, and three daggers on your chest, no foe stands a chance. That said, while fighting the pirate captain, who naturally donned the flashier clothes, his attacks did not register from my perspective when gesturing my sword swings, so a baffling “You lost. Try Again?” message was deflating. A video game that tries to do too much might end up not doing everything well, and that seems to be the case here.
Ultimately, as a diversion taking away from the commerce and naval combat, it serves as a nice complement, but not the main course. On my second try with the boss, I threw a hatchet at his head before he could get close, and he collapsed right then and there. I earned a good bit of gold coins from a chest nearby in that incursion that would have taken me longer otherwise. At least that was satisfying.
Comfort
The Pirate: Republic of Nassau is a bit unsatisfactory when it comes to comfort. Other than the expected smooth or snap turning, there’s the ability to turn off or on hand commands to signal your crew to raise the sails and to use hand motion to rotate when swimming. New options like Auto-Aim and Auto-Fire are welcome for naval combat, but since Early Access there is no option to teleport instead of artificial stick-based locomotion. This is most noticeable with the new on-foot explorable levels.
Another lacking feature related to those walkable areas is that there is no option to toggle instead of holding down the button to grab items. When holding a torch while spelunking or carrying both swords when fighting, this can become cumbersome the longer the time played.
The final new mode is multiplayer. PvE, PvP, and Port Attack are the possible sessions prospective players can choose. Deciding how many players—or bots—can enter, the tier of both your and your enemy’s ship, and if Auto Aim should be allowed or not are some variables to fiddle with. Playing the entire campaign with friends sounded like a more enticing idea, but it certainly would be a lot more complex than the currently available skirmishes at sea.
Sailing to unknown lands on the map is a welcome addition.
There is no one defining aspect of The Pirate: Republic of Nassau that stands out above the rest. It is every element working in tandem that makes it a worthwhile golden age of piracy fantasy. A veritable time sink, the pleasant hands-on activities to expand your criminal empire, from wreck diving to engaging in spontaneous naval combat, hark back to the best moments of Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag. The newly added tasks, such as exploring gloomy caves and fighting buccaneers, while not spectacular, add a sense of variety to easily spend several hours in. The result is a worthwhile endeavor that those intrigued by the pirate’s life should sail away.
UploadVR uses a 5-Star rating system for our game reviews – you can read a breakdown of each star rating in our review guidelines.
