December 2020

Windows 10 includes a custom volume mixer, which sounds like a great idea on paper—who wouldn’t a way to control the volume of individual apps? It’s incredibly useful when you need to dial back your game audio a bit so you can hear your guildmates on Discord (or the YouTube video you’re listening to in the…

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Last year, Darksiders developers Gunfire Games released Remnant: From The Ashes. It’s a third-person apocalyptic shooter that’s a little bit Dark Souls-y and a little bit roguelite-y, and it’s pretty good. It’s not the sort of thing I expected to get any sort of follow-up, mind you, but lo and behold, Gunfire are launching a prequel today. Named Chronos: Before The Ashes, it’s dumping guns for swords and dropping players into a labyrinth for some good old RPG action.

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Good communication is important in all game development studios, even the smallest ones. Here I explain some of the issues I've had in our team and how we (sort of) solved them. ...

Supercell is ending development on its match puzzler Hay Day Pop less than a year after it launched. ...

Google has spotlighted its favorite Android titles from the past year as part of its Best Games of 2020 awards, and Genshin Impact has taken home the top prize.  ...

The first three Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions DLC characters are Ricardo Espadas, Singprasert Bunnaak, and Stefan Levin.

The post New Captain Tsubasa DLC Characters Include Ricardo Espadas and Stefan Levin appeared first on Siliconera.

Aksys revealed its next three Nintendo Switch otome games. They'll all appear after Code: Realize ~Wintertide Miracles~ next year.

The post Aksys’ Next Switch Otome Games Include Variable Barricade appeared first on Siliconera.

The Goblin Slayer's revenge is actually ending on Christmas Day.

The post Goblin Slayer: The Endless Revenge Is Ending Next Month appeared first on Siliconera.

The new Genshin Impact trailer is here, and it shows exactly what Zhongli’s moveset looks like in-game.

The post Brainstorm Zhongli Builds With His New Genshin Impact Trailer appeared first on Siliconera.

Nintendo keeps adding new rewards to their My Nintendo site. I can't hold them all!

The newest additions are a cute Mario ornament for 800 Platinum Points, as well as a set of three greeting cards (Mario, Peach, Bowser) for 300 Platinum Points. The ornament doesn't look very cheap either and seems fairly robust for something you can get for free (plus shipping).

If you want them but are utterly confused, here's a few tips if you've never ordered from My Nintendo before. If you're looking to get both, order them at the same time. That way, you can combine the shipping costs into one package. This is a great way to grab a bunch of cheaply-costed items like the 300-point Xenoblade sticker sheets.

Also, remember that we have a running guide of how to get quick My Nintendo points. If you want the ornament but have literally started from zero, by signing up and playing a few hours of Fire Emblem Heroes (which is a free download), you'll have enough to cover the 800 platinum.

Spread holiday cheer with new physical rewards featuring Mario and friends [My Nintendo]

Tired: Die Hard is a Christmas movie. Wired: Doom Eternal is a Christmas video game.

Is the logic and thematic connection there? Probably not, but a lot of new people will try Doom Eternal in December. Microsoft has announced that it's joining the Xbox Game Pass for PC roster on December 3. Go play the part of Kris Karnage rather than Kris Kringle.

Doom Eternal will soon be available on all three corners of Xbox Game Pass. It came to Xbox One back in October. It has already been added to the cloud-based game streaming that's part of Game Pass Ultimate. Now, it's making its way to PC as Microsoft had promised.

There's some more granular Doom Eternal news today too. Bethesda and id Software have released the Super Gore Nest master level, a challenge-oriented remix of the game's fifth campaign stage. It has various difficulties and modes, and clearing each one rewards you with a new cosmetic prize. Beat them all and you get the gold combat shotgun skin. There's also a Classic Mode Challenge, where you start with just the shotgun and have to find all your weapons. Clear that mode and get the Classic Green Slayer skin.

Doom Eternal -- New Master Level is Available Now, Coming Soon to Xbox Game Pass for PC [Xbox Wire]

The creativity, patience, and skills utilized in fanarts will never cease to amaze me, as dedicated devotees offer up time and effort to creative projects based on their favorite franchises. Case in point: This delightful Zelda: Breath of the Wild animation, produced by the talented Animist.

The fun short sees yer boy Link as he travels across a lonely... erm.. study desk atop his trusty steed. As his horse tires, Link fortunately chances upon a large carrot, which gives his ride a little more "horsepower" than he had expected. But enough of my yapping, check out the cute tale below.

So a new Switch firmware update is out, and it's not just "stability!" Like, there are actual features!

Version 11.0.0 adds a few new things into the mix, including automatic cloud save data download, a Switch online app, a "trending games your friends are playing" feature on the user page, a new way to transfer screenshots, a download prioritization feature (finally!), button mapping alterations, and 12 more icons (we'll get to that).

Easier, non-social-media-or-SD-card screenshot transferring is probably the biggest addition. But in natural Nintendo fashion, it's not as simple as say, Xbox or PlayStation make it with their apps. With this process you need to scan a QR code on your Switch, then scan it again to create a URL that allows you to download the picture. Obtuse, but it does work: I just tried it to capture the header image above. You can transfer them directly to your PC via USB, too.

Nintendo also added a few Mario 35th anniversary avatars...which...are a little late given that on March 31, 2021, a lot of what they're celebrating is going away. Nintendo! Why must you do this. It's like rubbing our faces in it!

Ver. 11.0.0 [Nintendo]

As a reminder, Bethesda canned the physical release of Doom Eternal on Switch at this juncture. The same Doom Eternal port that's due out in a few days on the eShop. Now that everything is all set, a Switch eShop page just opened for the game, which showcases a few more bits of key information: namely, the file size.

As stated on the eShop, it's estimated at 17.5GB, base. But Bethesda's site says differently, noting that it's around 18.8GB (TBD), which could account for first-hand information of the day one patch. The first DLC campaign isn't arriving on time on Switch for the launch of the port (it's already available elsewhere), but that will pack even more on, not to mention all of the free updates Bethesda and id provide for Eternal as a whole.

It's getting to the point where even with a larger SD card, I'm constantly deleting games to make space. One of the biggest selling points of the Switch is that physical games do not require users to install the entire thing to the HDD/SSD from the disc: a great way to save a lot of space that Xbox and PlayStation games otherwise take up.

While I completely understand the logistical nightmare of launching a physical product right now, I hope it does enter production eventually.

Doom Eternal [Nintendo]

The big man finally arrives on Dec. 1

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The service emphasizes engagement over gigantic view counts

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Chadwick Boseman’s final performance heads to the platform

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Rest in peace, my private Fire Emblem screenshot Facebook album

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Nintendo's Super Mario 35th anniversary celebration continues this week with a new event in Tetris 99. The online puzzler's 18th Maximus Cup kicks off on December 3, and this time around, players will have a chance to unlock a theme based on the classic SNES collection Super Mario All-Stars.

Like previous Maximus Cups, this week's event is a point-based competition. Players will earn a different amount of points depending on how well they place in a round. If you can amass at least 100 points before the Maximus Cup ends, you'll unlock the Super Mario All-Stars theme for the game. You can get a glimpse at that theme in action below.

Microsoft Flight Simulator will receive free virtual reality support in its next update on December 22. VR support was first announced in July, with developer Asobo originally aiming to time the release of that content with the launch of HP's Reverb G2 headset and support for other devices coming at a later date.

Those plans have changed, as executive producer Martial Bossard confirmed in a Twitch Q&A that VR support will arrive for all PC headsets in Sim Update 2.

"It will be open to all devices," executive producer Martial Bossard said in the stream. "Oculus family, Valve family – every family of headset is going to be supported."

Crash Bandicoot's unlikely career renaissance continues unabated. The former mascot's Twitter account posted an amusing video of Crash and his sister Coco playing Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. This is presumably a reference to the fact that Uncharted developer Naughty Dog first became a household name thanks to the Crash series.

While it's nice to see PlayStation mascots enjoying each other's games, this animation is seeded with unfortunate implications regarding the proximity of these game worlds and their canonicity. Is Nathan Drake simply a fictional video game star in the world of Crash Bandicoot? An Easter Egg in Uncharted 4 allows you to play the original Crash Bandicoot in Nate's house, so it would appear that the reverse is true as well.

Thus, we find ourselves in an infinite recursion situation. DeviantArt artist KempferZero illustrates the matter well.

PixelJunk Eden 2 hasn't received much attention since it was casually announced during a Nintendo Direct, but now the game appears closer than we realized. According to Nintendo UK, the sequel to Q-Games' 2008 game is coming on December 10.

The release date was dropped on the Nintendo UK site. The Nintendo of America site still lists Eden 2 with a more general "Fall 2020" release date. (Technically, winter begins on December 21 in the northern hemisphere.)

When it was announced, Q-Games said you'd guide your Grimp through stages that will be generated in real-time based on your actions. This is similar to the first game, which had you swinging through stages, but those were pre-made. In fact, one of the criticisms in GameSpot's PixelJunk Eden review was that requiring you to gather five spectra from unchanging stages made the experience repetitive.

It's been almost two weeks since the PlayStation 5 launched in the UK, and many Ubisoft game owners are still unable to upgrade their PS4 copies of Watch Dogs: Legion and Assassin's Creed Valhalla to their respective PS5 versions.

The issue is only affecting those who own physical copies of either game, with the PlayStation Store failing to offer the free upgrade option when inserting a disc--despite the free upgrade path featuring prominently on the front cover of both games. Fan uproar has gradually intensified since the PS5's launch back on November 19, with many taking their complaints to Twitter and Ubisoft's official forums. The company has finally acknowledged the problem publicly for the first time, saying that it's working to resolve the issue via the Ubisoft Support Twitter account.

The PlayStation 2 is the best-selling console of all time, but many of its best games are now much harder to access, partly because of a lack of backwards-compatibility with modern systems, and partly because the system is notoriously difficult to emulate. But as it turns out, Microsoft's new, cheaper system does a pretty good job of it.

As VG247 reports, the Xbox Series S has a feature called "Developer Mode," and when it's active it's possible to run RetroArch emulation on Microsoft's $299 console. From there, it's possible to get PS2 games running on Sony's system. This would be possible on the more powerful Xbox Series X, too.

RetroArch on Xbox isn't perfect--and games are capped at a 2GB limit, meaning that not every PS2 game is playable--but as you can see in the video below from Modern Vintage Gamer, it's possible to play PS2 titles like Metal Gear Solid 2 and Jak & Daxter on the console. The controls even work on an Xbox controller.

Nintendo Switch update 11.0.0 is here, and the latest numbered update makes some big additions. The main one is the addition of a Nintendo Switch Online hub on the main page, but there's plenty of other stuff to dig into.

Halo Infinite has been delayed to 2021, but Microsoft is still rolling ahead with news and previews of the sci-fi FPS. The latest special look at the game comes in the form of an "audio field recordings" video that shows off how the audio team went about capturing various sounds.

Most of the sequences in this video were released earlier, but this is a "supercut" video that puts them all together in one place. In the video, you'll see how the team used everything from an original Xbox to a staffer's little dog and even a wolverine to record sounds for Halo Infinite. It's an impressive video that showcases the creative ways in which the team went about creating unique sounds for Halo Infinite--check it out below.

If you like this video, you might also enjoy this other video showing off how the team captured the weapon and vehicle sounds in Halo Infinite.

The Good Life, the next game from Deadly Premonition director Hidetaka "Swery65" Suehiro, has picked up a publisher. The game, about New York photographer Naomi Hayward and her move to the mysterious town of Rainy Woods, is due to release in Summer 2021.

The Good Life will be published by The Irregular Corporation, the publisher of Murder by Numbers and PC Building Simulator. The game is being developer by Suehiro's White Owls Inc. team, and is the result of a successful Kickstarter campaign.

The new trailer shows off some of the game's major mechanics, including photography and animal transformation--Naomi can turn into a cat or a dog during the adventure. This is, ultimately, a detective adventure, with Naomi digging into the town's secrets. Hopefully she'll uncover some interesting truths.

It looks just a little janky in the trailer, but that's part of the charm of Swery65's work.

The newest patch for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has arrived, and the big-ticket change is a tweak to how fast you'll earn weapon XP.

Across multiplayer and Zombies, Treyarch has increased the earn rates for weapon XP. With the update applied, players should now level up their weapons faster than before, allowing them to unlock new gear and attachments at a quicker pace.

The update also fixes an XP-related problem with the Zombies mode that caused the game to not pay out enough XP in solo matches and later in rounds.

Pokemon Go's big Go Beyond update is now live, which means a new generation of Pokemon are soon making their debut in the mobile game. Niantic is introducing the first wave of Gen 6 Pokemon to Go this week as part of the new Kalos Celebration event, which kicks off tomorrow, December 2, at 8 AM local time.

Throughout the week-long event, a handful of Pokemon originally from the Kalos region will appear in the wild and hatch from eggs, including the Gen 6 starters Chespin, Fennekin, and Froakie. On top of that, players will be able to encounter some Kalos Pokemon in Raids. Among them will be the Psychic type Espurr, which will be appearing throughout the event in one-star Raids.

In addition to increased Pokemon spawns, there will be event-exclusive Field Research and Timed Research tasks to complete during the event. The Kalos Celebration runs until 10 PM local time on December 8. You can read more about the event on the official Pokemon Go website.

During the pandemic, people have turned to video games to pass the time, connect with friends, and just enjoy themselves. New data from The NPD Group has provided a new level of detail on just how popular gaming has become in recent months.

In short, it's up across the board. The number of people in the US who play video games has risen to 79%, total time spent gaming jumped by 26%, and the total amount of money spent on games has increased by 33%. According to the NPD's numbers, four out of every five US consumer has played a video game in the past six months.

This general trend of growth is reflected across platforms, but mobile is a special bright spot, the report said, thanks to its nature as an accessible platform. The popularity of console gaming has also increased, as families look for ways to play together, while others are seeking out consoles to play together with others online.

Activision's Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is finally here, and one part of the military FPS that people are particularly enjoying is the campaign and its story. The Black Ops brand has always had a special flavor to it. It is less serious--remember this?!--and more narratively open-minded than the ripped-from-the-headlines storylines in the other historical and modern Call of Duty games.

With Black Ops Cold War, the game's story plays with history and covers real historical events, but with a healthy amount of conspiracy theories and deniable operations baked in.

With that in mind, we connected with former Australian Security Intelligence Organisation operative David Callan (who has since become a comedian, but more on that later), who told us about his experience as a counterintelligence officer. Callan worked for the ASIO in the '80s and '90s, which was a stormy time for international politics and clandestine operations. Callan shared stories and insight from his time in the service, and he also discussed what he thinks Black Ops Cold War, which is set in early 1980s, gets right about its depiction of the era.

The game industry's version of the Emmys are almost here. The Game Awards will be broadcasted from Hollywood, California on December 10, with other segments happening in different locations. The annual show will take place entirely online due to the pandemic.

Game of the Year nominees include Naughty Dog's The Last of Us Part II, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Doom Eternal, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Ghost of Tsushima, and Hades. Other notable nominees include 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, Half Life: Alyx, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, and many others. You can check out the full list of Game Awards nominees to see what was nominated in each category.

Host Geoff Keighley has said that announcements surrounding the show will be coming all week. Last year's show had plenty of surprises including an appearance by The Muppets and a number of musical performances. We could see something similar this year. We'll keep you updated with what the show will include right here as announcements are revealed.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War marked a return to the incredibly popular Zombies mode after it wasn't included in Modern Warfare. The mode, which is a big part of the Treyarch-developed Call of Duty games, is the reason many players purchase every edition of the yearly franchise.

The new Zombies mode only has one map, though. Treyarch has said that more maps and other additions to the mode are coming, but players already want more. If it's just more content they want, they'll find a wealth of options--and a very active community--in the five-year-old Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, which now features hundreds of player-made maps, skins, and other content.

Treyarch offers official modding tools to Black Ops 3 via the Steam Workshop, so players can create their ideal fight-til-you-die experience. Maps and other new additions include everything from My Little Pony skins to neon-lined diner levels. There are even recreations of movie locations like Shaun of the Dead's Winchester bar and levels from other games like the Skeld in Among Us.