If you're just discovering PlayStation 5 a few years after its debut, you've arrived at a great time. Sony's in-house studios have produced some of their best work in this generation, exploiting the technical prowess of the console while crafting vast narratives and interesting characters. Meanwhile, both major third-party studios and tiny indie developers have exploited the machine and its innovative controller to astounding effect. Sony's luscious 3D platformer sees the eponymous space robot stranded on a distant planet with his hundreds of adorable companions. All the parts of his mothership are guarded by a colourful array of bosses, and you must put it back together.

Welcome to Pushing Buttons, the Guardian's gaming newsletter. If you'd like to receive it in your inbox every week, just pop your email in below – and check your inbox (and spam) for the confirmation email. There's only one thing I was going to be talking about in this week's Pushing Buttons, isn't there? Since Microsoft very inconsiderately announced the biggest acquisition in gaming history just after last week's edition went out, the entire games industry has been in a flap. The $69bn deal to buy Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Overwatch publisher Activision Blizzard absolutely dwarfs the $7.5bn that the house of Xbox paid for Zenimax/Bethesda in 2020, which already had me feeling slightly uneasy about the amount of cash being thrown around by giant corporations (see also Tencent, whose run of acquisitions shows no sign of slowing down.)

You can attribute much of the PlayStation 4's amazing run of the last seven years to its exclusive titles. While Nintendo remains the most prolific producer of high quality exclusive console games, Sony amassed considerable might during the PlayStation 4′s run, acquiring acclaimed studios that would go on to produce titles that would sweep awards shows. It's why Microsoft has invested in its own studios, including last year's atomic announcement that Xbox now owns Bethesda Game Studios, the creators of the "Elder Scrolls" series. Gene Park: "Bloodborne" was a game so good, it helped me completely get over my last, serious and long-term relationship. It was early 2015, and there were going to be some big changes in our lives. I was looking to move out of Hawaii, while she wanted to expand her local business's footprint. Our relationship was already on the rocks before "Bloodborne" released, and we'd already had some legendary battles and arguments between us, you know, the kind that end in screaming matches and tearful apologies.

The video game "The Last of Us Part II" is already proven to be a hit for the Sony PlayStation 4. But for some gamers, the much-hyped release means more – the cinematic thriller breaks new ground with features that make it easier for disabled players to play along. As video game consoles have evolved, developers have been able to design games that are more accessible."Gears And tech hardware such as Microsoft's Xbox Adaptive Controller, released in 2018, has also made games easier to play for those with a disability. Game developers have also begun soliciting the advice of disabled gamers to make their titles more accessible for the 46 million or so gamers in the U.S. alone who are disabled, according to researchers at the AbleGamers charity, a non-profit that advocates for and assists gamers who are disabled. "The Last of Us Part II," released last month ($59.99, "I can say they definitely raised the bar," said AbleGamers founder and executive director Mark Barlet. Sony-owned studio that created the game and others such as the Uncharted series, set out to address issues faced by the disabled. In 2016's "Uncharted 4: A Thief's End," the designers made it easier to make moves on a controller for those with motion limitations. A year later, the studio invited disability advocate and game consultant Brandon Cole, who is blind, to speak to developers there as development on "The Last of Us Part II' was beginning.

Artificial intelligence poses a threat to a lot of jobs out there, but Promethean AI thinks it can help game artists do their jobs better through automation of the tasks that are either too boring or repetitive. Andrew Maximov, former technical art director at Naughty Dog, worked as a lead artist on games such as the Uncharted series, where task of building out virtual landscapes required hundreds of artists and could be overwhelming at times. So he started the Los Angeles company to use AI to assist artists in the processing of building virtual worlds. "We are addressing a big need in the market where the cost keeps growing exponentially," Maximov said in an interview with GamesBeat. "If you project with the next generation, we cannot sustain that. In this generation, it went from $40 million to $100 million to make a game. It could become $200 mil. Then you need to sell 7 million copies to remain profitable. Above: Uncharted 4: A Thief's End is stunning. Promethean AI's applications programming interface (API) is a toolset powered by patent-pending technology. It helps artists solve the problem of filling out vast spaces without being to formulaic or repetitive. Promethean AI suggests ideas for things like desks or lamps when you're filling out an apartment in a high-rise. Maximov said it takes away the mundane and non-creative work so that artists and developers can focus on what's important. "The main goal behind Promethean is to take the creative intent in your head and turn it into actionable 3D content without the manual hassle," Maximov said. "You have all these creative ideas and you want to see them materialize as fast as possible.

The start of a new year is a good time for reflection, and as we head into 2018 I think it's time to take on a big one: How much do a game's graphics actually matter? Around the time of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 launch I remember a lot of discussion about whether we needed new, more powerful consoles. That was four years ago and even then the conversation was old. And as a PC gamer primarily, I can understand the counterpoints--there's a thrill to good-looking games, to those "Can it run Crysis?" But 2017 marked the confluence of two opposing trends coming to a head, and as such is a uniquely appropriate moment to resurface the discussion. On the one hand, you had the industry's giants resorting to underhanded monetization tactics (mostly loot boxes) to ostensibly offset the ballooning costs of development.

There's a big reason why the PlayStation 4 is the best-selling console: It has a smattering of games that you can't play anywhere else. Think: blockbusters like Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Horizon: Zero Dawn and Bloodborne. But even if Indiana Jones simulators and massive open worlds where you hunt down robo-dinosaurs aren't your thing, there are still plenty of exclusives to pick from. Whether it's the best baseball video game franchise, a choose-your-own-adventure horror or an engrossing social simulator/JRPG hybrid, there's a lot to play on Sony's latest console. And then there are games from massive third-party publishers like Activision and Ubisoft, along with quirky indie offerings to round out the selection.

You can tell that Uncharted: The Lost Legacy started as more of an expansion than a standalone game. Rather than spanning the globe like previous Uncharted games, it all takes place in one part of India. And you get to play as a woman, who are so often relegated to DLC in these big franchises such as BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea or smaller spin-off games such as Assassin's Creed III: Liberation. Even in Naughty Dog's own The Last of Us: Left Behind, we only got to play as Ellie after we'd met her through the eyes of generic video game man Joel. But The Lost Legacy expanded during development, and although Uncharted 4 season pass holders won't have to pay for it, it's now a full-length by-the-numbers Uncharted game led by two women – the Indian-Australian Chloe Frazer and the black South African Nadine Ross.

At last year's Bafta Game Awards, the developer of Her Story, Sam Barlow, famously so struggled with his three awards that he carried them around in a champagne bucket. This year, indie developer Playdead went one better by winning four for their dystopian puzzle platformer Inside: Artistic Achievement, Game Design, Narrative, and Original Property. After their previous game, Limbo, won none from four in 2011, the team at Playdead were delighted to take home so many this year: "We kind of expected to continue the clean slate, so we're very happy." Inside just missed out on the award for Best Game which went to Uncharted 4, continuing a tradition of big-budget titles walking away with the top prize (Fallout 4 in 2016 and Destiny in 2015). It was the second Best Game win in five years for Uncharted 4's developer Naughty Dog after The Last of Us won in 2013.

Uncharted 4 has won the best game at this year's Bafta Games Awards. Developers from its studio, Naughty Dog, said it was "unexpected" that the action adventure title had won, having missed out on the other seven categories it had been nominated for. Chaotic restaurant kitchen game Overcooked took the prize for best British game and family title. The puzzle-platformer Inside had four wins, the most of any game at the London ceremony. It took original property, artistic achievement, game design and narrative.