PlayStations, personal stereos, third-level education and traffic — John Giles’ big four inhibitors of sporting talent.

This year, if you hear bells at Christmas maybe you should stop subscribing to so many YouTube channels? Or perhaps those are alarm bells you hear, as you panic-buy a gamer gift? If you are still hunting for a gaming present, we’ve got you covered. Below are some last-minute suggestions.

The Crew 2 racing game has two big selling points. The first is that you have the entire North American continent to traverse. The second is that, at any point, you can change your vehicle from a land-based to water-based to a flying machine, at the touch of a button.

Bowser, ruler of the Koopas, gazed into the mirror. Where once he had seen a king, now he saw only tears. Thus, heavy with shame, Bowser set off for the castle of Princess Peach, the only creature he had ever wept for.

PlayStation’s virtual reality headset will go on sale in October priced at about €400, Sony has announced.

The standard one-year warranty on 10 PlayStations bought for the entertainment of children hospitalised with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is in danger of expiring before the ward for which they were purchased even opens.

Jubilant Greeks celebrated their democracy last night as they voted overwhelmingly against austerity; Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis announced his resignation today after the No vote; An appeal has been issued for experienced divers to join searches for the last victim of last week’s wave tragedy off West Cork. Here’s this morning’s irishexaminer.com catch-up.

A 14-year-old boy from Austria who downloaded bomb-making plans onto his PlayStation has been sentenced to a two-year jail term after pleading guilty to terrorism charges.

A prisoner who is so disruptive prison officers have to wear riot gear to deal with him has been given a PlayStation and a fish tank in a bid to pacify him, a prison officers’ conference has heard.

Workers earning under €70,000 will have their USC cut in the next budget, Club owner defends two way mirror in ladies toilet, and Ryanair have lost millions as a result of transaction fraud. These are some of the latest and most read news on irishexaminer.com this lunchtime.

Spotify and Sony’s new partnership has officially launched the new Playstation Music app that will enable users to stream songs through their consoles while playing video games.

PlayStation maker Sony has laid down a challenge to rival Microsoft by introducing a television streaming box that will allow users to play games on a TV that is not connected to a console.

Zombie action adventure The Last Of Us survived strong competition to win out at the British Academy Games Awards.

Teens addicted to violent video games will be stunted emotionally and far less likely to be able to tell the difference between right and wrong in later life, a study has claimed.