February 2020

Atlus has confirmed that certain scenes in Persona 5, which were considered homophobic and offensive by many fans, will be updated and altered in the Western release of Persona 5 Royal.

Speaking to IGN during a Persona 5 Royal preview event, Atlus Communications Manager Ari Advincula explained that dialogue in certain scenes – specifically ones involving Ryuji and two effeminate male characters – would be changed so that those men were no longer shown in a “negative light.”

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“We actually were able to go through some of the lines that players may not have received as well, look at that feedback, and then [update it] for the current generation,” Advincula said, explaining that they’ve changed both the first scene in which you meet these characters as well as the notorious beach scene they are featured in later on.

The dialogue in these scenes has been widely criticized since Persona 5’s Western launch for a variety of reasons. Many fans consider the depiction of these characters to be offensively stereotypical, presenting the most prominent homosexual characters in Persona 5 as extremely sexually aggressive (toward a minor, no less) and intentionally ridiculous with intent of making their “weirdness” the joke – made worse by the fact that your protagonist provides similarly insensitive responses to their actions.

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While Atlus didn’t share exactly how these scenes would be updated in response to these complaints, Advincula said asking if they would be addressed was one of the first things she did when joining the team. “That's really important to me, and I think it's really important to the community as well.”

Persona 5 still hasn’t been announced for the Nintendo Switch, but publisher Atlus says it doesn’t want fans to give up hope just yet.

Rumors have swirled around a potential Persona 5 Switch port for a long time, with a bogus Best Buy listing even popping up in 2019, but that momentum has slowed considerably. So IGN asked Atlus Communications Manager Ari Advincula if it was finally time for fans to give up on hope for a potential port during a Persona 5 Royal preview event earlier this month, to which she responded “I am a strong believer in ‘never ever give up on hope’.”

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The fervor for a port was spurred on by protagonist Joker coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate early last year, but ended up being squelched somewhat when the teased P5S turned out to be Persona 5 Scramble, an entirely new game (and essentially a full-on sequel) coming to Switch. But Advincula says fans making their voices heard is the only way it’ll happen.

“You want what you want,” she explained, “and if you don't let us know it we’re never going to be able to make it.” Advincula said Atlus is listening and does see the desire for Persona 5 on Switch, saying “it’s important to always voice your opinion.”

It seems that both an Overwatch cartoon and Diablo anime are in the works. Neither have been confirmed by Activision Blizzard yet but new evidence from a high-ranking employee makes it pretty likely they are in production.

Nick van Dyck, who is the president of the film and TV division of Activision Blizzard, says he has worked on both of these unannounced projects in his LinkedIn profile.

His profile lists him as being the executive producer of a TV adaptation of Diablo that is "rendered in anime style." Apparently it's in pre-production and will be distributed worldwide through Netflix. This isn't the first time we've heard about a possible Diablo animated series for Netflix.

If it really is coming, then it will probably look to follow in the very successful footsteps of the Netflix Castlevania animated series. Season 3, of which, is due out on March 5 and recently got a bloody, monster-filled trailer.

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Europa Universalis II will always be one of my favourite strategy games, even if I don’t play it any more because its sequels have improved on it so much. Paradox’s epic map-painting series is one of those dependable few whose each progressive entry gets bigger and better than its predecessor, with the annoying bits ironed out, and the best bits amplified. Still, they’re all pretty much the same, topologically speaking: gigantic strategy games, which let you guide a single nation through the entirety of the early modern period (i.e, everything from Knight Time, through to the invention of the top hat).

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Half-Life: Alyx is barely a month out now, scheduled to release on March 23rd. When it was originally announced as a VR-only title, Valve’s own Index VR headset quickly flew off physical shelves and was entirely sold out online by mid-January in all 31 countries where it’s sold. As reported by Road To VR, the Index is still all but sold out globally.

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Amazon Game Studios announced their upcoming 17th century MMO New World late last year. It’s planned for a release this May and at only three months out, it seems like I know a lot less than I’d like to about what on Earth (or Aeternum?) this new open world online game is supposed to be. Amazon released another in a series of developer diaries today talking more about world lore and factions but frankly I still don’t think it tells us much.

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At twelve years young, beat-riding arcade game AudioSurf just got an update out of nowhere. All casual like, Dylan Fitterer has just posted some changes to the game including some new aspect ratio goodness and an update to make corkscrew twists on the roller coaster style tracks feel cooler and more earned.

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Alright vampire lovers, do not despair. Bloodlines 2 got the ol’ pushback but Castlevania has you covered for early 2020. Netflix’s Castlevania is returning for a third season in March with more animated fangs based on Konami’s classic vamp ’em up . That’s the news part. The non-news is that vampires are still hot. You don’t need me to tell you that, you can just watch the trailer.

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Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition developer Bert Beeckman talks about the process of updating the original game and adding new content inspired by new civilizations. ...

Few studios know the challenge of teaching fighting games better better than Mortal Kombat maker NetherRealm, and at GDC next month you'll see how Mortal Kombat 11's revamped tutorial mode was made! ...

Jordanian mobile game publisher Tamatem has netted $3.5 million in Series A funding to increase its presence in the Middle East and North Africa mobile market and expand globally. ...

We were scheduled to get a single free game from Epic this week, a deck-building strategy title called Faeria. But, the tides have shifted, the tables have turned, and now we're getting a giant open-world game in one of the biggest series around.

Assassin's Creed Syndicate has been added as the second free game this week on the Epic Games Store. In my review back in 2015, I praised the way Assassin's Creed Syndicate stitched the gameplay into its narrative, how it elaborated upon Unity's black box assassination system, and how the story was better told through two protagonists rather than just one. I closed the review feeling optimistic about the way Syndicate would lead the direction of future Assassin's Creed; then, Ubisoft promptly took a year off and completely overhauled the franchise with new approaches in Origins and Odyssey.

Instead, Assassin's Creed Odyssey was the last of its kind. If you want to see what it was all about, it'll be free (alongside Faeria) come Thursday February 20. Until then, you have a couple more days to snag this week's freebies, Kingdom Come: Deliverance and Aztez. The Epic Games Store took a cue from Assassin's Creed: Syndicate's protagonists: Two is better than one.

Free Games [Epic Games Store]

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare's battle royale mode has been the worst-kept secret in gaming for many months now. As we get closer to its inevitable launch, more details are leaking out as to what we can expect.

As reported by Video Games Chronicle, Modern Warfare's Warzone mode will launch on March 10 (although, this seems to be an educated guess moreso than hard confirmation). Sources within Activision say that it'll be free-to-play as a standalone mode. Last year's Blackout mode within Black Ops 4 got some extended trial access, but never properly went free-to-play.

Warzone will be the biggest of the major battle royales, as it's said to support 200 players. This means the Warzone playspace will be massive, and it'll feature a lot of areas that are ripped from other multiplayer maps. Here's a leak of the map (also in the gallery below) that shows places like Boneyard and Quarry from this Modern Warfare. It's also mentioned that some locations are homages to maps in previous Modern Warfare games, like Scrapyard and Broadcast (presumably as Lumberyard and TV Stations, respectively).

It's so exciting to see new players and creators dive into Dreams, the just-fully-launched game and art creation suite from LittleBigPlanet's own Media Molecule. There's no shortage of stuff to thumbs-up, but some of it needs to be seen to be believed. That's how I'd sum up Fallout 4: Dreams Edition.

The fan-made game, built entirely within Dreams on a PlayStation 4, recreates the Fallout 4 intro roll and lets you at it. You can explore a few early areas, complete with a functional (but not yet finalized) Pip-Boy and combat system. I smacked a Mirelurk with a hammer, made rude remarks to a roaming Mister Handy, and got in a cheesy duck-behind-cars shootout with an Annihilator Sentry Bot MK II.

The creator of this dream, Robo_Killer_v2, still has a long way to go – it's a self-described work-in-progress with limited playable content – but I am already so impressed. The framework is there.

It's well worth a playthrough if you own Dreams. (Note: you're going to want to enable the game's "higher frame rate" option on PS4 Pro if you haven't already done so.) Otherwise, if you'd just like to see this creation in action, here's a 12-minute playthrough from YouTube user Dreams Have Meanings.

Less than a year ago today, the Sonic the Hedgehog movie was not in a good place. Leaks about the project pointed to a Sonic most fans wouldn't recognize and an extremely unfortunate teaser poster only made things worth. When the first trailer officially debuted, it was met with universal scorn from fans over Sonic's design. It got so bad, the director Jeff Fowler -- who I might add is making his feature directing debut with this movie -- promised the studio would redesign Sonic.

After a few million dollars and some extra time in post, we got a new Sonic trailer with a Sonic that actually looked like Sonic. It may have cost a lot of money and the special-effects company responsible for his redesign may not have survived long enough to see the film release, but that move may have saved this project. Because Sonic the Hedgehog is, dare we say...good? In fact, it may be the best video game adaptation to date.

That's just one of the topics on this episode of Podtoid. CJ, Charlotte, Occams, and Dan talk about hostess bars in Yakuza 2 Kiwami, Journey to the Savage Planet, clown porn, Final Fantasy VIII Remastered, and if the PlayStation 5 is worth $500. Then stick around after the show for an all-new Spoilsport covering Sonic the Hedgehog. All that, plus Charlotte says the word 'fluffer,' on Podtoid Episode 433.

Video games in the Alien universe are always a tricky-yet-intriguing proposition. There's a checkered track record. Sometimes they end up like Alien: Isolation; sometimes they end up like Aliens: Colonial Marines.

3D Realms almost got a crack at making its own Aliens game with a Left 4 Dead-like bent. 3D Realms vice president Frederik Schreiber revealed that the developer was working alongside Slipgate Ironworks on a game called Aliens: Hadley's Hope, which is named after the human colony that's the setting for much of the Aliens film.

The elevator pitch for Hadley's Hope pegs it as a "storyworld-driven PvE multiplayer adventure [first-person] shooter [that's] dripping with atmosphere, lore, and suspense." It was supposed to be a teamwork-oriented four-person cooperative shooter where squads would fight through levels of "alien protectors" before eventually culminating in a battle against a queen inside her nest. There were going to be several queens and hives, each with their own settings and preceding levels.

All in all, it sounds a lot like Aliens by way of Left 4 Dead. Swarms of alien grunts are probably akin to hordes of zombies. Each queen hunt seems similar to Left 4 Dead's individual campaigns, especially considering how they're described as "unique settings of levels, each with its own style and challenges." However, Hadley's Hope may have been designed to be continually supported, as the pitch mentions "plans to add new content for years." There would have been dozens of campaigns with queen fight scenarios.

Racing fans can't think about PlayStation 5 without also wondering about the fate of Gran Turismo. What's the next major advancement for this series? What's the biggest priority for Gran Turismo 7?

In a recent interview (as reported by GTPlanet), Polyphony Digital CEO Kazunori Yamauchi made a few forward-looking comments about what Gran Turismo could be like on PlayStation 5 and beyond.

"I think, display resolution-wise, 4K resolution is enough," Yamauchi said.

"Rather than a spatial resolution that you're talking about, I'm more interested in the advancements we can make in terms of the time resolution," he said during a roundtable with Australian media. "In terms of frames per second, rather than staying at 60 fps, I'm more interested in raising it to 120 fps or even 240 fps. I think that's what's going to be changing the experience from here on forward."

It's not a firm commitment or anything, but it's the kind of comment I love to hear as someone who generally cares more about frame rate than visual fidelity. That said, I get the sense that fans are hoping for further refinements and layers to the simulation above all else. GT Sport is super pretty as is.

Obviously, priorities can and will change. I won't be surprised when, one day, after 4K has adequately settled into place, we'll hear that "it's fine, if you're into that sorta thing, but it could be so much better."

Gran Turismo's Future: '4K Resolution is Enough,' But 240fps is the Target [GTPlanet]

Nvidia has partnered with CD Projekt Red to create a ray-tracing-capable GPU that's customized a la the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077. Put your wallet away because Lady Luck has to pick up this tab.

A handful of Cyberpunk 2077 canary yellow RTX 2080 Ti graphics cards were made by Nvidia for a giveaway. Here's a short video that show what they look like:

Panzer Dragoon came out in 1995 on the Sega Saturn, and almost immediately made history. Not only did it cement the Saturn as a console to remember for all time, but it also helped welcome rail shooters into the home setting. 25 years later, it's being introduced to a new era.

Although it's been known for forever, the Panzer Dragoon remake is coming at some point this year ("winter") to PC and Switch. You can also add Stadia to that list. Announced directly by Google, Panzer Dragoon will headline a new collective of games coming to Stadia: a list that also includes Lost Words: Beyond the Page, The Serious Sam Collection, Spitlings and Stacks on Stacks on Stacks. Everything other than Serious Sam and Panzer Dragoon are coming to Stadia "first." In other words, as a timed exclusive.

Google also reminds us that Doom Eternal, Get Packed, Orcs Must Die! 3 and Baldur's Gate, among "many more games," are coming to Stadia this year. Me? I'm just happy Panzer Dragoon is available on one more platform.

New games coming to Stadia! [Stadia]

In case you missed it, Devil May Cry 3 on Switch will have three significant enhancements:

• The ability to Style Swap
• The ability to weapon swap (in a more advanced way)
• Full local co-op for Bloody Palace

That list bit is really important, as it's a major step-up from similar action games like Bayonetta 2, which are hampered to online-only co-op modes. Now Dante and Vergil can get their co-op on similar to the limited form in the original edition, which was restricted to just one boss battle and the Doppelganger form.

So, Mega Man [Rockman] X DiVE is coming very soon.

Billed as an all-star return of sorts, the mobile game (Android, iOS) is a deep dive into the world of the Mega Man X series, with all sorts of "remember this" paraphernalia and fan service (a playable Vile comes to mind immediately).

Pre-registration is available for every region, though there is a strict list of areas where it's playable now: Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia. If you do pre-register, you'll get the playable Alia character.

Mega Man X DiVE is out on March 4. Closed beta tests were held late last year, and the game seems fully ready to launch without any further delays.

Pre-register [Capcom] [Thanks Rick!]

I can already feel it. Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is going to be ridiculously fun while it lasts. It's the video game equivalent of an obstacle course game show, something I wish we saw far more often.

The competition is online-enabled, so you'll start off facing ninety-nine other players in round-based elimination challenges – some free-for-alls, some team-based – until only one blob is left standing at the bitter end. It's also got that "silly physics mayhem" factor (see: Human: Fall Flat) going for it.

Devolver Digital and developer Mediatonic released the first in a series of behind-the-scenes videos today. Part one has a two-pronged purpose: exploring the quirky game show roots of Fall Guys, and announcing a new date. After a delay, it's looking like a summer 2020 release on PlayStation 4 and PC.

"Our goal was to make Fall Guys the 'greatest game show ever' with clear inspirations from Takeshi's Castle and the lesser-known It's A Knockout," said Mediatonic communications manager Haley Uyrus.

"Both game shows put their contestants in such unusual and sometimes ridiculous scenarios that any advantages obtained through skill would often be mitigated by the bizarre variables of the obstacle courses and bumbling paths of the other contestants. We want players to feel both like they are totally in control while at the same time accepting that there are forces well beyond their control that could just ruin their well-laid plans."

Destiny 2 has been having a rough few weeks. It's not like Bungie didn't bounce back, but it's been rough nonetheless.

Several weeks ago, a potentially catastrophic bug wiped out a lot of data following a very casual afternoon reset-time hotfix. It caused a game-wide panic and Bungie had to take down Destiny 2 for the entire afternoon and evening to fix it. After they identified the problem, accounts were rolled back before the bug. Crisis averted.

Then last week, a potentially catastrophic bug wiped out a lot of data following a very casual afternoon reset-time hotfix. It caused a game-wide panic and Bungie had to take down Destiny 2 for the entire afternoon and evening to fix it. After they identified the problem, accounts were rolled back before the bug. Crisis averted. 

Déjà vu, right? Well, it looks like Bungie has identified the issue and is aiming to not have it happen again.

In a huge blog detailing the incidents, Bungie breaks down how inventory management works server-side, and how back in October the publisher "spun up additional servers" to help with the CPU load of the Shadowkeep expansion. What happened is as follows: "one issue was that a small percentage (less than 1 percent) of these servers would crash on start-up due to the volume of servers overwhelming one of the backing databases. Our workaround for this was to simply manually restart the crashed servers each time we detected this issue, and this appeared to address the problem without any discernible side effects for players."

[Update: The SNES Switch controllers are back in stock in North America this morning. Good luck!]

In an ideal world, everyone who wanted a Super Nintendo controller for Switch would be able to buy one, and we'd have access to hundreds of SNES games with our Nintendo Switch Online subscriptions.

In reality, the SNES-style Switch gamepads have been hard to pin down even for tuned-in fans. If you missed the initial batch, it's been a frustrating exercise full of speculation and false-starts. And as for the games, Nintendo continues to take its time adding more SNES titles to the Switch Online library.

Things aren't going great, in other words, but there's a bit of hope.

While the Super Nintendo controllers are still out of stock, here's the latest update as of January 30, 2020: "This item is currently unavailable. Please check back for more news in February 2020."

I think people would be a lot more patient if they knew they stood a real chance of getting their order placed next time around. For now, though, a vague "come back soon" window is all we can rely on.

If you're open to other options, there's always 8bitdo's SN30 Pro and SN30 Pro+.

Super Mario 64 is one of my go-tos. I just pop that original cartridge in and Chewie...I'm home.

While nostalgia is definitely a powerful force, I actually believe Mario 64 still holds up. Its worlds, while defined by technical limitations at the time, feel perfectly stuffed without resorting to modern day open world bloat. The "one at a time" objectives are suited for pick-up-and-play sessions or long form speedruns. The sound direction is completely joy-filled. It's just an all-around classic.

That's probably why so many modders keep chasing it. That list includes Kaze Emanuar, who recently released a "Super Mario Sunshine 64" minihack out into the world. The gist: it re-captures the magic of Mario Sunshine (a more divisive entry) inside of the engine of Mario 64. If you're interested in the mod itself, it's listed in the description for the YouTube video.

For everyone else, you can watch the short debut video below or watch a lengthier 30-minute developer commentary.

After a surprise launch, a lot of people seem to be warming up to Pokemon Home. It has its limitations (and even hacks to iron out), but for the most part the interface is clean and a lot of Pokemon Bank transfers have gone smoothly. Now that folks are really acclimating to it and have moved everything over, it seems like some users are uncovering special perks: like this new mystery gift.

According to Serebii, players have allegedly been given a special Magearna for their efforts, though it seems like the offer is bugged for some. Well, that, or it could be a hoax. There's a lot of metadata to search through with Pokemon Home, so it's possible that Nintendo is being cautious about hacks and false positives. Rest assured, more people will probably force the issue once a larger number of players finish out that National 'Dex.

If you happen to receive your gift, feel free to confirm it to Destructoid so we can suss this out and why some people are getting one and some aren't. As a reminder, downloading Home will also provide you with gifts by default, and 35 new creatures can be transferred into Sword and Shield.

Serebii.net [Twitter]

The "should Nintendo support a growing Super Smash Bros. pro scene" argument has been raging for some time now. Over a decade actually, if you bring it all the way back to the release and success of Melee.

In recent years though pros are starting to spread to it more and more, including one of the top contenders right now: Juan "Hungrybox" DeBiedma. Just last month he says sounding off on how he wishes Nintendo supported the pro scene directly, and he used a fresh Smash Summit 9 win this past weekend to give his plea another go.

In the following video shared from his personal YouTube channel, Hungrybox states, "if anyone from Nintendo corporate is watching right now, and sees the excitement these sets can get and everything that goes with it. Give Melee a chance. Even if it's just Ultimate, support the Smash scene in general."

Hungrybox continues, noting "we do it all grassroots," and that "Nintendo, you are the only one who isn't putting money in the scene." He goes on to call it a "shot in the dark," but cites Capcom and Epic Games (with Fortnite) as companies that support their own games with tournaments.

There has been a long-standing disparity between the quality of Switch Online in Japan and the rest of the world.

Sure, it's mostly subtle. For a while, Japan typically got an extra NES game each month with their subscription. They also periodically get free trials of games with that very same subscription: like this new offer that's debuting in Japan first. Shared this morning on the official Nintendo Twitter account, Dead Cells is now free-to-play for Switch Online subscribers for a limited time.

This is part of the Issei Trial system (which also hosted games like Captain Toad), and will run from February 24 through 18:00 JST on March 1. There is no hour limit on this trial, Nintendo says, and saved data can be transferred to the full version of the game. Dead Cells is also 30% off during this run (now 1,736 yen).

Now, the free Dead Cells move is also calculated. The expansion just launched: so the idea is likely to get people hooked on what is ostensibly a great game, then buy in fully. Smart!

Nintendo [Twitter]

Ah, a shortage of a Nintendo product: it almost feels like the default mode, doesn't it?

While the Switch and the Switch Lite (and all their colors and SKUs) have been relatively easy to procure in most parts of the world as of late, Bloomberg is reporting that there could be a "global shortage" of Switch units by as early as April. Right now the hardware is already hard to come by in Japan (on top of all of the waits and lotteries of the past few years), but it's getting worse.

Bloomberg notes the "limited component supply" from China, which is impacting a partner factory in Vietnam, according to sources. Given how much the Switch is selling they expect the current stock to carry them through April, at which point the shortage could begin if things don't shape up in the area. Nintendo is giving their standard corporate answer, stating, "we do not see any major impact on the shipment to the U.S. currently, but we will remain vigilant and take steps if necessary."

But in a follow-up, they admit things could go wrong: "It’s possible the supply would be affected by the virus if it becomes more widespread and prolonged." Bloomberg reminds us that the US is roughly 43% of Nintendo's business, followed by Europe at 27% and Japan at 21% (the latter is still relatively high, especially given the mobile boom in recent years).

Nintendo Is Likely to Suffer Global Switch Shortages From Virus [Bloomberg]

Boy howdy, we've come a very, very long way since that infamously fantastical Rainbow Six Siege demo was first previewed at E3 2014. Since then, Ubisoft's tactical shooter has certainly prospered, as a fairly blah launch has since evolved into one of the most enjoyed multiplayer titles in gaming. This weekend is a perfect example of this, as the best Siege players in the world compete at The Six Invitational tournament in Montreal, in front of an audience of thousands, with many more watching online.

Now entering its fifth year, Rainbow Six Siege is at an important crossroads. 12 months from now, we'll have entered an entirely new generation of gaming, with consoles like the PS5 and the Xbox Series X vying for our attention and wallets. This generation will bring with it a host of new IPs and sequels, all eager to unleash the potential of the powerful new technology on offer.

Ubisoft, however, stated long ago that there are no plans for a Siege sequel. Instead, the development team are will work to simply transition the current game onto the new platforms, taking with it the operators, maps, weapons, gadgets and - hopefully - some 55 million registered players. This pivot to next gen begins now, in 2020, with Siege's incoming content. So let's look at what Years 5 & 6 have in store for Ash, Thermite, Mozzie, Caveira and the rest of the flashbang fanatics.

Among the Rainbow Six Siege community, there is perhaps no operator more quirkily beloved than Alexsander Senaviev - better known to the Siege faithful as Lord Tachanka. Having been present in Siege since launch, the Russian Spetsnaz operator has become something of a meme character, recognised for his lumbering form, unwieldly head armour and devastatingly powerful mounted machine gun.

But sadly for Tachanka, this internet infamy has not translated into a high pick-rate. In a game such as Siege, where speed, mobility, and adaptation are of the essence, standing rooted to one spot in order to fire his trusty turret has left poor Tachanka at the bottom of the popularity pile, only really busted out for The Lolz. It seems that while players certainly enjoy the idea of Tachanka, nobody really wants to rely on the guy in the thick of the fight.

But, in Year 5, this could all be about to change. At this weekend's Six Invitational tournament, the Siege team revealed that Lord Tachanka will be one of the first roster members to be overhauled as part of the incoming "Operator Rework" project. And it looks like the time for joking is over. No-one's laughing anymore...

...Tachanka's machine gun will no longer be a mounted weapon.

"How do you even review Dreams?"

It's a question I've asked, and been asked. Even now, as I try to stall so the right words might spill out of my subconscious and capture some of its playful magic, I'm grappling with possible answers. It's such a wide-ranging artistic experience. What we get out of it will drastically differ from person to person.

You might flex your creative muscles in animation, a discipline I'm convinced I'll never excel at, much less wrap my head around. I'm far more likely to stick with something in my comfort zone, like sculpting. Or I could wake up one day and decide "Hey, painting would be a pleasant change of pace." Your old buddy you never talk to anymore but always see online may very well be a secret music-making wizard.

The art-creating possibilities feel endless, but not in an overwhelming way. If there's one lesson Media Molecule wants us all to latch onto, it's that we're more capable than we give ourselves credit.

Ubisoft's tactical shooter Rainbow Six Siege is about to embark on its fifth year of operation in 2020, bringing with it new mechanics, modes, quality-of-life tweaks, and new door-smashing, head-popping operators. This week, at the Six Invitational tournament in Montreal, the Rainbow Six dev team officially unveiled year five's first season: Void Edge, starring two particularly unusual operators: Iana and Oryx

There is a moment in Code Shifter where one of the characters is asked to play through the game-within-a-game to test it for bugs and difficulty. She eagerly agrees at first, but when the scene jumps back to her a bit later, she's had enough of it, grown tired of the experience, and just wants to move on to other things.

That about sums up my experience with Code Shifter.

I don't know when I put down Dead Cells, but I did, and I've been meaning to get back into it ever since.

The roguelike action-platformer has seen continuous support for years now, to the point where it's easy to lose track of what's coming and what's going, but there's been one constant: it still has best-in-class flow. The Bad Seed – the first paid DLC level pack for Dead Cells – is an ideal point of re-entry.

You don't have to be at the top of your game to enjoy these two new levels and gnarly-looking boss.

So the Sonic the Hedgehog film debuted this weekend, and you know what? I wasn't nearly as bad as the original Gangsta's Paradise-booming, monstrosity-laden trailer had us believe.

It was a coherent, cute (emphasis on the re-designed model) family film: which is pretty much all I expect out of something Sonic related. But naturally there might be even more money to be made (especially if it keeps performing close to these box office estimates), and there's a bit of sequel table-setting.

Read on if you have no interest in seeing Sonic but are the least-bit curious as to what series tie-in Sega and Paramount have up their sleeves.

Spoilers:

As a white person, I've watched more than 10,000 hours of HGTV. Whether I'm screaming at some spoiled college student on House Hunters International or rolling my eyes every time a designer recommends subway tile, the channel is my go-to whenever I want to shut my brain completely off and sink deep into my chair, sunken place-style, as I watch Lakefront Bargain Hunt. These are shows where I foolishly believe I can design it better, and soon I'll have the chance to prove just how incorrect that thought is when House Flipper comes to consoles.

Originally released in 2018, House Flipper is a first-person home renovation game where players are tasked with turning a stinker into a stunner. Going by the announcement trailer, it's unclear if the Garden Flipper or Apocalypse Flipper DLC packs will be included in this port. 

Unfortunately, Podtoid tapes early in the morning on Sunday (for me). So I can't make this post all about how happy I am Parasite made history last night because we just don't talk about it on the show. Instead, I'm focusing on what we do talk about on the show: Mortal Kombat 11. With the EVO 2020 line-up announced, the best-selling fighter will have to sit this year out. But could that be for the better?

That's just one of the topics CJ, Chris, Dan, and Charlotte talk about on this episode of Podtoid. In addition to the MK snub, the crew touches on Tales from the Borderlands, Code Shifter, and the shift in tone for Rainbow Six: Siege. All that, plus how not to give a fake name to cops, on Podtoid Episode 432.