Photograph birds and clean up trash

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While he’s spending quarantine in New Zealand, the national news channel has gotten Valve guy Gabe Newell to sit down and pointedly not answer some of his very favorite questions. They did their best to ask about all the games that end with threes, but Newell of course declined to say anything on the subject. He was willing to say that the company has games in development currently and also mentioned that launching Half-Life: Alyx had created the despire within the company to continue creating singleplayer games.

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It was surprising to realize just how sweet and heartwarming Kemco's Blacksmith of the Sand Kingdom could be.

The post Blacksmith of the Sand Kingdom is a Dungeon Crawler with Heart appeared first on Siliconera.

Nearly a decade after it released as a bit of a mess on PS3, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on PS5 can now be played at 60 FPS thanks to the work of one of the game’s console modders.

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Will the true hero of Midgar finally get a chance to re-shine in the Remake-verse?

The post Square Enix Trademarks ‘Ever Crisis’ in Canada and Europe appeared first on Siliconera.

The official launch trailer for Apex Legends Season 8: Mayhem is set to go live tomorrow morning, January 21 at 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET, the Apex Legends Twitter account announced.

The trailer will introduce the brand-new legend Walter "Fuse" Fitzroy, a guy who loves bombs. According to the trailer's description on YouTube, which fans can set a reminder for once it goes live, "not everyone back on Salvo is happy" about Fuse joining the Apex Games. We'll also have the trailer embedded here once it's live, so check back tomorrow morning.

Apex Legends Season 8: Mayhem kicks off on February 2, and Fuse isn't the only new addition to the popular battle royale. Alongside the forthcoming playable hero, Apex Legends players can expect a new weapon and several map changes, which have yet to be announced. These details will likely get mentioned during the Season 8: Mayhem launch trailer tomorrow morning.

Lyubomir Vladimirov, a Bulgarian indie dev, has been on a mission for the past six months or so: Get Elon Musk to approve his use of the SpaceX name and logos in his upcoming survival sim set on Mars. After over 150 tweets at the tech giant, Vladimirov finally got a response on January 13.

In a reply to one of Vladimirov's tweets, Musk replied "you can steal our name/logos and we probably won't sue you."

Predator has arrived in Fortnite and he's brought a number of challenges with him. The hardest one will task you with defeating the intergalactic hunter, but one challenge will have you track down Predator's apartment while wearing the Predator skin. This guide will show you its exact location and how to get there quickly.

These challenges dropped on Wednesday, so be prepared to fight your way to completing them. Everyone in standard battle royale lobbies is trying to do the same challenges.

Where Is Predator's Apartment?

Predator's apartment is located on the far right side of Hunter's Haven, right on the edge of the named location. Here's a map with the apartment's exact location marked:

The magic of AI-powered text to speech continues as Skyrim modders get their hands on an application that generates speech from text based on voice samples from Bethesda games. It’s already inspired a trailer with AI-only voice acting and a new mod that gives Skyrim characters lines to compliment your dragonborn’s naked figure. Oh, the things modders will do.

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Valve co-founder Gabe Newell has this week spoken with New Zealand’s national media outlet TVNZ about his new life in the country since temporarily moving there to escape COVID-19.

A combination of New Zealand’s decisive policies in handling the pandemic and its geographically isolated location has made for a safe-haven in which life now continues as normal while the rest of the world struggles on.

It’s allowed Newell to enjoy his work and hobbies to the extent that his co-workers are apparently now desperate to follow suit.

“But there’s strong interest — after talking to these people who’ve literally been locked in their houses except to go out for groceries for the last nine months — and I’m like, ‘Oh look, here I am at a motorsports race, or here I am at Starship, at the hospital talking to doctors or reviewing optic nerve damage from Covid-19 patients because of my interest in neuroscience,’ and they’re like, ‘Yeah, I’m still at home — can we come to New Zealand now?'”

Apparently, there has actually been some discussion about the possibility of moving staff over to a new HQ in New Zealand, but it’s far from set in stone. What is being considered more seriously, however, is hosting Valve’s prestigious esports events in the country.

Newell called it “a realistic possibility” that is getting more realistic all the time as there’s just nowhere else in the world where live sports events can take place safely.

The much-debated character is not that mysterious if you know Tolkien

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A special livestream with voice actors is upon us! The special broadcast promises Sword Art Online game, anime, and manga news for 2021.

The post New Sword Art Online Game, Anime and Manga News Coming This Month appeared first on Siliconera.

In this 2018 GDC talk, programmer Christina Coffin explains alternative approaches to emitting particles from game environment effects. ...

2020 gifted us many awesome games, alongside the beginning of a new generation of consoles. As part of Twinfinite’s yearly awards, you voted for your Readers’ Choice Game of the Year of 2020, and below you can find all the winners.

Hitman 3 is an incredible conclusion to an amazing franchise and while many players are getting ready to dive in as Agent 47 once more, there are a few things to know first about previous content before getting started. For those looking to import Hitman 1 and Hitman 2 content before diving into the third game, here's what you need to know. 

How to import Hitman and Hitman 2 content

To import the content from previous games, you're going to want to do so before starting Hitman 3. You're also going to want to make sure that you have an active IO account, and you'll need to have owned the previous games (for obvious reasons) to ensure that you go into Hitman 3 with your Hitman 2 profile (we'll go into how Hitman 1 marries into that further down). 

All transfers will require the IO account to be linked to the platform of choice. While Access Passes and Legacy content comes into play, the progression from 2 into 3 must be done via the IO website. 

Another important thing to keep in mind is that there is an ecosystem limit. You will not be able to import Xbox saves over onto PlayStation platforms or vice versa. As long as you are within a consistent ecosystem, you're fine. 

How to Unlock the Predator Skin in Fortnite

• Find the Predator’s Mysterious Pod
• Talk to 3 NPCs – Beef Boss, Remedy, and Dummy
• Collect 3 Health Packs
• Defeat Predator

Where to find the Predator's Pod

Where to Talk to Beef Boss, Remedy, and Dummy

Collect 3 Health Packs

How to Find the Predator in Fortnite

After an initial social media miscommunication, there's an update on the status of Fall Guys and an Xbox Game Pass debut.

The post Fall Guys Isn’t Heading to Xbox Game Pass appeared first on Siliconera.

In today's contest you can win a Blu-ray copy of Tremors from Arrow Video!

Usually I introduce this kind of stuff and try to take it seriously. You can probably find LOTS of evidence to the contrary, but shut up I don't care. I'm a Professional Internet Writer, damn it, DAD! I mean, readers!

Ahem. So today we're giving away Arrow Video's release of Tremors on Blu-ray, and instead of wasting your time telling you what the movie's about (it's a comedy/horror film where giant underground worms terrorize a small Nevada town) I'm going to waste your time telling you about why I chose this movie.

Genshin Impact has one of the most exciting regions that I’ve visited in a video game in years. It’s called Liyue and its geological and agricultural bounty is distinct from other open world games. To the west, a traveller can find gorgeous cliffs of ashy stone and golden amber. In the east, rugged archipelagos mark…

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Hitman 3 is out today. And while it’s pretty different from previous games in the rebooted trilogy, it’s still a lot of fun. If you’re new to the series or coming back from a while away, should you jump right into 3 or start with the earlier games? Personally, I’d say you’d be fine just starting with 3, but if you…

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Marvel is finally having fun with its most confusing couple

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Emma Kidwell is a narrative designer and writer who was recently named one of Forbes 30 under 30 for 2021. This year she had her most recent game, Half, showcased at the Smithsonian Museum of Arts and Sciences. Her upcoming title, I Wish I Were a Robot, will be released in 2021. You can follow her on Twitter @emmakidwell or check out her games on Itch.io.

You don’t need me to tell you how much 2020 sucked. Any grand plans of traveling, working on creative ambitions, or spending more time with friends were crushed and seem like a distant memory. Sure, spending so much time at home may have inspired others to find a new routine and adjust to their new normal-- I’ve worked remotely my entire career so that much wasn’t new for me. But the isolation had me searching for comfort in games, like I’ve done many times in the past. If you’re anything like me, you seek out nostalgic media to regain any sense of normalcy. In addition to going back to much loved games from my past, I also played more new games than I think I have in the last few years combined.

Ed Zitron is the CEO of PR firm EZPR, and he loves to play games to forget about work.

Hello everyone! This is my first top 10 list for Giant Bomb, and this has been an especially peculiar year for gaming for me, in that it was the first I can think of where I didn’t necessarily love ten games, and hated several major releases (Doom Eternal and Spider-Man: Miles Morales). But for the most part, the games I loved I absolutely fell head over heels for.

Dan Teasdale and Panzer are the dynamic duo that make up independent video game development studio No Goblin, creators of Roundabout and 100 ft Robot Golf. Hit them up on Twitter @deliciousbees and @panzerskank, respectively.

Dan: 2020’s over, baby! It’s 2021’s time to shine! Hell yeah, we’re living in the Johnny Mnemonic year!

Panzer: Aw fuck yeah, more Keanu Reeves.

Dan: To celebrate, we’ve put together a Game of the Year crossword puzzle for you to usher in the cyber future. If you want to play, just click on the Online Crossword Experience link below to get teleported to a new page that has a crossword on it.

Dan Ryckert is a guy with a couch and a Twitch channel. Every Sunday, he hosts a podcast about streaming movies and shows with his wife Bianca. He has set two Guinness World Records, got married at a Taco Bell, wrote numerous books, and is currently the #1 Gamer on Cameo. He used to work here.

Soha E is a Diversity & Inclusion leader at Riot Games and sits on the Board of Directors for Dames Making Games. She also streams every Saturday with her friend Kelsey and you can follow her on Twitter. Her avatar is made by @snowswallow_.

There’s a GTAV video that always makes me laugh. Michael flies a blimp toward a replica of the Griffith Observatory as Eddie Murphy’s “Party All The Time” plays on the radio and crashes right into the building. The blimp bursts into flames and screams from innocent bystanders can be heard offscreen. Michael ragdolls to the balcony where a quest marker waits for him, and a cutscene immediately starts where he throws his arms out to greet an NPC with a casual “Davey!”

Jeff Green is a former game journalist and current Partner & Business Development Lead at Minn/Max Consulting. In 2020, he launched and hosted the Branching Narratives podcast on US Gamer. He's @greenspeak on Twitter.

As a Professional Videogame Consultant, it is my job--nay, my calling--to assess a situation and provide analysis. So here is my professional opinion of 2020: It fucking sucked balls. Not that you need me or my expertise to tell you that. But what was also true about 2020 was that for introverted, antisocial dorks like me, who are far happier alone in front of a game than sitting with a forced smile at a party or dinner gathering or anything involving “having conversations,” there was a silver lining. Being stuck at home gave us the perfect opportunity to indulge in our hobbies to our hearts’ content, guilt free. For once we were told to stay inside, that it was better to isolate. We were doing our civic duty by playing Destiny for eight hours in a row!

Rami Ismail is one half of the former team best known as Vlambeer, the developer behind games like Ridiculous Fishing, Luftrausers, and Nuclear Throne. He's on Twitter as @tha_rami.

When I was a kid, I would run away from home every time I needed an injection, which was at least once a year for the vaccination I needed for our annual family trip to my father’s homeland of Egypt. I would scream and plead and fight whoever tried to hold me down whenever I was in the doctor’s office. More than once, the sheer fear summoned some ungodly strength in me that injured whoever was unlucky enough to be involved in the process of keeping me healthy.

Evil Uno wrestles for AEW as a member of the Dark Order. You can follow him on Twitter.

Hello, this is Evil Uno of the Dark Order. I’m a pro wrestler for All Elite Wrestling and now a Twitch streamer. It’s an honor to meet you.

2020, right? What a year. As shitty as 2020 has been, it's been a great year for video games. Last year I would have predicted some of my honorable mentions as being in my top three games of the year. The fact that they're not is a testament to the incredible line-up of games that released in this otherwise awful year. Remember that this list is subjective and there is no particular order to it; I’ve also included games that were released prior to this year. Please refrain from being angry if you’re game didn’t make my list, it probably sucked anyway.

Dante Douglas is a writer & designer who does secret lore things at Riot Games. He is online as @videodante.

Hello Giant Bomb Community. I’m Dante. It’s been a minute. I’m going to talk about video games. I would usually preface this with some words about the year in general. I don’t have those words this year. I’m sorry.

I feel like I’ve been yelling online about everything for the past eight months, so apologies for not being as eloquent now. Here is a link to a document I prepared earlier this year of national bail and mutual aid funds for bailing out protesters and supporting communities in their fights for justice. Consider donating to one, or one in your area, if you can.

Chris Tilton is a composer and he’s written music for a few TV shows (Fringe, Zoo) and video games (SimCity, Assassin’s Creed Unity, Black). This year, Chris welcomed our robot overlords by writing the music for a robot companion called MOXIE, which releases in 2021.

In any other year besides 2020, Broadway Alex would be singing and dancing on Broadway for your amusement. You can follow him on Twitter.

Hey all! Alex Boniello here. Happy to be back to write another Game of the Year list for my favorite games outlet.

You might know me better as Broadway Alex (thanks for that, Dan). But, admittedly, it feels weird to call myself that this year.

Like many other industries, the entertainment industry has been decimated by COVID. Live theater, especially in New York City, has been brutalized on a level that I cannot possibly enumerate. Television sets have been mostly shut down. Live music, too. This has been the hardest year of my life professionally and personally. I have lost jobs to this virus. I have also lost friends. I am sure many of you can relate.

Free game trials have become a trend for Nintendo Switch Online, previously granting subscribers limited-time access to games like Crash Team Racing and Overwatch. Dead Cells opens its doors next, and from January 26 to February 1, Switch players can indulge in one of the generation’s best action roguelikes.

Not only will Dead Cells be available in full during the one-week trial, but a sale will shave 50% off its usual $24.99 asking price across all digital storefronts. That’s good news for Switch players who wind up digging the game but aren’t able to complete it during the free period. 

This month, the slate of new content dropping on Hulu offers a study in contrasts. On one hand, we have Nomadland (Feb. 19), a quiet story about American aimlessness, and one of the most acclaimed films of the past year. On the other, we have Sonic the Hedgehog (Feb. 18), the tale of a hedgehog who can run very fast,…

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The Sonic the Hedgehog movie streaming will be available for Hulu subscribers next month. The service currently offers two Sonic cartoons.

The post Sonic Movie Streaming Will Begin on Hulu in February appeared first on Siliconera.

2020 was a great year for games, and 2021 looks to be potentially even more promising. As part of Twinfinite’s Game of the Year awards, you voted for your Readers’ Choice Most Anticipated Game of 2021, and below you can find all the results.

Readers’ Choice Most Anticipated Game of 2021

5. Elden Ring

FromSoftware’s collaboration with George R. R. Martin has been rather elusive since its reveal, with the developer basically dropping under the radar.

Extra 20% off Select Items | Amazon Warehouse

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Free-to-play publisher Tilting Point has formed a new studio in St Petersburg, Russia, to expand its global network. ...