JOE Gaming Weekly – The new Gran Turismo revs the series up a gear

It has been almost a decade since the last Gran Turismo game!

Welcome to JOE Gaming Weekly, your weekly round-up of all things gaming. Or, specifically, the one big game you should play this week, the one big piece of gaming news you need to know about, and the one big deal available to purchase this week. So, off we go! MUST PLAY OF THE WEEK Gran Turismo 7 It has been almost a full decade since the last full entry in the Gran Turismo franchise - although we did get the decent-but-not-great Gran Turismo Sport in 2017 - and once again, the racing game is pushing the envelope in terms of graphical prowess, technical capabilities and pure adrenaline highs. The game features at least 420 cars and 90 tracks to play them on (we're sure more will become unlocked as the weeks and months go on), the early word is this the best the Gran Turismo games have been since their PS2 heyday. While there will be plenty here for fans of the GT series to get stuck into, it also realises it is marketing to a whole new generation of gamers, setting itself up with plenty of online races and deep career campaigns to appeal to all types of gamers. Gran Turismo 7 is available on the PS5 and PS4 from Friday, 4 March. BIG NEWS OF THE WEEK There is a Game of Thrones easter egg hidden in Elden Ring While we're sure the next few weeks, months and probably years will likely be filled with revelations of things hidden within the world of Elden Ring, but it certainly didn't get players long to find a direct link to Game Of Thrones. Unsurprisingly, given that Elden Ring was co-created by GOT-author George R. R. Martin, the reference to the hit show isn't exactly subtle, and actually appears fairly early in the game: a giant sword, made of other swords, that looks a lot like that iconic throne from the show. Given that Elden Ring has recently been given the third-highest critical score in gaming history, we expect more and more people to find this incredible weapon (and, most likely, even more GOT weaponry) before too long. https://twitter.com/LD_kun/status/1497894817027674114?s=20&t=ZqxgImbwPtjelGt_pzV9xg DEAL OF THE WEEK Among Us One of those games, along with Fall Guys, that blew up during the lockdown as it allowed people to play with others online and maintain a sense of connection and community, despite the fact that it's actually about secrecy and murder. The concept is very simple: you're on board a spaceship with other cartoony astronauts, but one of you is secretly an evil alien, out to kill the rest without being caught by the other astronauts. Or, YOU are the evil alien, and you've to do your best to kill your crew mates as surreptitiously as possible. Among Us is available on the PS Store right now marked down to just €3.19 (yes, less than €4!) until Wednesday, 16 March. Clips via PlayStation