December 2020

Some people, myself included, believe Crash Team Racing is the best non-Nintendo kart racer ever made. Don't believe me? Well, if you’re a Nintendo Switch Online subscriber you can take CTR's enhanced remake, Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled, for a complete test drive thanks to a free game trial starting later this week. 

The free trial makes Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled available to play from December 30 to January 5. The trial gives players access to the game’s full suite of modes, which include its local and online multiplayer. Nintendo ran a similar trial for Overwatch a couple of months back, and it seems like it’s becoming a new initiative to help bolster the value of its online subscription service. 

Known for their Kirby games, HAL Laboratory is apparently cooking up several things in 2021. Someone get Chef Kawasaki in here!

The post HAL Laboratory Teases New Kirby Merch and Original Games in 2021 appeared first on Siliconera.

The new heroine is a childhood friend of Princess Fiona.

The post Dead or Alive Xtreme: Venus Vacation’s Loberia Is a Noble’s Daughter appeared first on Siliconera.

You've already heard from the Destructoid staff regarding our favorite games that came out of the hellscape year 2020, but now it's time for your voice to be heard, Dtoid readers. That's right, it's time for the annual Community Game of the Year vote, and this year we're switching things up a bit.

For 2020, we're implementing a preferential voting mechanic so that you can pick not just one but three nominees for the Game of the Year. The vote is simple: select your top three games in the form provided here, and then when all is said and done on January 4, I'll tally up the votes in a weighted vote.

Your first pick will receive three points, second choice two points, and third choice one point. The game that receives the most cumulative points by the Destructoid community will then be declared the winner. Because of this, any vote that has a single game listed more than once will be invalidated. It's a long list of eligible games in the dropdown menu so I've provided a cumulative list here.

Additionally, for fun, you can tell us what your favorite game from a previous year that you played for the first time in 2020.

Voting will remain open until next Monday, January 4, 2021 at 18:00 Eastern time, with the results to follow sometime that week.

Earlier this year, my neighbors and I all had some weird quarantine-induced scheme where we decided we would all gift each other gaming chairs. The idea was that we’d all be in lockdown working from home, so we might as well upgrade our chairs with some lumbar support. We kept describing this as a “Gift of the Magi”…

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A group of Japanese speedrunners have discovered that the key to getting faster times in all-time RPG classic Dragon Quest III is to literally control the temperature of their Famicom systems with hot plates and ice packs.

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Yes, Bayonetta 3 is still happening according to an update by PlatinumGames' Hideki Kamiya in an interview for Famitsu. The Japanese gaming publication ran its annual end-of-year creator interviews where it sat down with 110 Japanese developers to learn what they’re up to and their development goals for 2021. The piece provides updates on studios big and small including Atlus, Konami, Team Ninja, and, of course, Platinum. 

Hideki Kamiya reaffirms a statement he made earlier this year by once again confirming that Bayonetta 3 is still in development. He acknowledges the fans' concern over the long-awaited project and says that verifications on new systems “have been going great and development is going very well”. By "new systems", Kamiya likely means gameplay systems and not new consoles since Bayonetta 3 is being published by Nintendo as a Switch exclusive. The highly anticipated sequel was announced at The Game Awards in 2017 and we haven’t heard much about it since outside of vague development plans. 

Sega's new Phantasy Star official ARKS Shop offers everything from hand towels to ramen bowls.

The post Phantasy Star Series’ Official ARKS Shop Now Open With New Merchandise appeared first on Siliconera.

Cyberpunk 2077 has received a ton of justified flak for looking less-than-stellar on last-gen hardware. Well, how bad would it look if it ran on the original PlayStation? One cheeky and talented animator created a cool video providing an idea of how Night City would perform on the classic consoles and the results are hilarious. 

The video transports CD Projekt Red’s controversial game back to the 90’s, and it brings its well-documented glitches along for the ride. That includes an NPC suddenly t-posing and floating off into the polygonal ether after V jacks her ride. The kicker, though, is a low-poly Johnny Silverhand stretching his neck like a drugged-out Mr. Fantastic. The video comes courtesy of Anders Lundbjörk, a game developer at Dreamon Studios. Lundbjörk says he made the video using Unity and special shaders to achieve the low resolution and “wobbly look” found in PS1 titles. 

Feel free to make any and all variations of “Cyberpunk already looks like that on my PS4/Xbox One!” jokes in the comments below.

The clock is ticking on the Guilty Gear Strive Anji Mito debut! Check out the link here, along with additional info on characters.

The post Guilty Gear Strive Anji Mito Trailer Will Debut Just Before the New Year appeared first on Siliconera.

Editor's note: Take a breath. We're almost there. 2020's been quite the year, and it's very nearly over. Across the festive break, members of the Eurogamer team and our contributors will be running down their personal top five games of 2020, before we announce our game of the year - and before, of course, we hand over to you for the annual Reader's Top 50. Thanks for being with us this year, and see you on the other side.

Can you hear that? It's the sound of video game composers, audio engineers and voice actors having an absolute blast. My favourite games of 2020 all have parts that are wonderful and parts that don't quite work, but they all have one thing in common: they sound awesome.

Let's start with Call of Duty: Warzone, which I spent much of the first half of 2020 playing almost exclusively. This isn't one for memorable music, but it is one for memorable sound. Infinity Ward did a cracking job with the sound of Modern Warfare and Warzone's weapons. They thunder from the middle of the screen! Sniper rifles boom and crack realistically, echoing across the Verdansk expanse. It's the zip of fire that races past your head, coming from the rooftop over the hill somewhere. And the footsteps. Oh god, the footsteps. At one point, when I was playing Warzone pretty much every night, I could hear the footsteps as I drifted off to sleep, above me or below me, getting louder or quieter. Warzone is one of the best-sounding shooters I've ever played. Solid copy, IW.

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Q: What happens when Luke Skywalker eats calamari that’s been left out of the fridge for three days?

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In a surprising but wholly welcome piece of news, fighting game maestro Arc System Works will team with fellow developers Eighting and Neople to create a one-on-one fighter set within the universe of Dungeon Fighter Online.

The tentatively titled DNF Duel was revealed just a few days ago at the Dungeon & Fighter Universe Festival, held in Korea by DFO publisher Nexon. While details are extremely short, DNF Duel will be a 2D anime affair much akin to titles such as Guilty Gear and Granblue Fantasy: Versus, and will no doubt feature warriors pulled from DFO's huge roster of heroes and villains.

While no platforms nor a release date were revealed, having the pedigree of Arc System Works and Eighting in its corner certainly sets DNF Duel in good stead. A short teaser trailer, which you can check out below, already shows a ton of promise.

Editor's note: Take a breath. We're almost there. 2020's been quite the year, and it's very nearly over. Across the festive break, members of the Eurogamer team and our contributors will be running down their personal top five games of 2020, before we announce our game of the year - and before, of course, we hand over to you for the annual Reader's Top 50. Thanks for being with us this year, and see you on the other side.

I never used to be particularly outdoorsy, but the passing of years seems to have graced me with an irrepressible itch for a sweeping vista and a curiosity for distant climes. No surprise then that Flight Simulator has been my safety valve in 2020, offering a welcome escape from the waning thrills and increasingly claustrophobic over-familiarity of my immediate locale.

The joy and genius of Flight Simulator 2020 is in its wonderful accessibility, meaning it's not just a game for aviation lovers, it's a game for those that love travel and discovery too. And its breathtaking digital Earth hasn't just sated my niggling wanderlust this year, it's stirred my curiosity, encouraging hours of blissful revery among the clouds, seeking out fresh geographical wonders, and giving me a whole new appreciation for the majesty of our world.

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As Christmas comes to an end and January sets in like a long, frosty headache, you might be looking for a way to escape reality - figuratively speaking, that is. If you've got the means to pay for it, a VR headset can be a great antidote to the lockdown blues.

Right now at Amazon UK, the PSVR Mega Pack is £22 off. Not a mind-blowing discount, but decent, especially considering that the bundle was only released a month ago.

For £277 you can get the headset, camera adapter, and four free games: ASTRO Bot Rescue Mission, Everybody's Golf, Moss, Blood and Truth, and PlayStation Worlds. The immersive tech is compatible with both PS4 and PS5. The offer will be live until late afternoon today, around 15:45, and can arrive as soon as tomorrow if you've got Amazon Prime.

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We are living, we are constantly told, through unprecedented times. Years like 2020 are the kind of years that make me think things like “woah, we are living through history, like, all the time“, like a stoned 20-year-old gap year dude coming to self awareness for the first time in his life.

In Mesmer you get to be the history maker, in an old-world, European-esque city that is ruled over by a corrupt monarchy. Leading a revolution and storming the castle is, as it turns out, quite difficult, and requires a complex balancing act.

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From Tolstoy to Tolkien, sometimes it's good to go back and sample the classics. You know, for educational purposes. And when it comes to gaming, it doesn't get much more classic then Doom. Though it spawned in the early days of home console history, the series has proved enduring, with the most recent instalment coming out just this year.

Right now, Steam and Microsoft are both offering the original 1993 title for just £1.19. The port comes with the spooky Thy Flesh Consumed expansion pack, plus 4-player deathmatch and co-op. The multiplayer options are all local, which is a shame in these locked down times, but you can at least rope your flatmate / spouse / offspring in for some demon killing fun.

The port is available for PlayStation and Switch, though it's still full price on those storefronts. You can also get the crazily huge DOOM Franchise bundle for £35 on Steam, which includes all the classic games as well as the current bloodsoaked reboots. If you fancy a proper trip down memory lane, Doom Classic Complete (including Doom II and the severely misnamed Final Doom) is down from a tenner to £2.99.

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Viewers are turning to streaming entertainment more than ever thanks to the global pandemic, and the plethora of services can serve as a much-needed escape. At the start of each month, most streamers do a little shuffle, adding new movies and taking some away, and io9 is here to help with your decision making.

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Azur Lane publisher Yostar is about to reopen the servers to a brand new event, and they released a new trailer to showcase its shipgirls.

The new event is titled “Inverted Orthant” and it focuses on the Iron Blood, bringing plenty of new shipgirls to the fleet. We also get to see the gorgeous New Year skins that will be released at the same time.

On top of that, following the video released in September to celebrate the game’s third anniversary in Japan, we get a new commercial starring Japanese superstar musician Takanori Nishikawa, which you may know as T.M.Revolution.

Once more, he rocks the Enterprise cosplay that went viral among the fanbase earlier this year, with a bit of additional Sailormoon transformation flair.

You can check both videos out below.

Cyberpunk 2077 is back in the spotlight after the debut of its brilliant anime spin-off, Edgerunners. The show stands apart for its superb quality of production and excellent storyline, which has seemingly reinvigorated interested in the cyberpunk genre amongst video game enthusiasts. If you’re hungry for more similar content after having watched the show then here are some recommendations.

Ghost in the Shell

If we’re talking Japanese cyberpunk then Ghost in the Shell has to be the ultimate expression of the genre, and it’s a must-watch for Edgerunners fans. The 1995 movie is brilliantly written and does a great job of capturing the gritty “high tech, low life” ambiance that’s so quintessentially cyberpunk.

A modern action story reflects modern humanity

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miHoYo announced another Zhongli buff for Genshin Impact, and this one will make his Elemental Skill's Jade Shield more helpful.

The post Zhongli Buffs Will Make His Jade Shield Weaken Enemies appeared first on Siliconera.

Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass subscription is about as close to “Netflix for games” as you can get. And just like Netflix, there are ways to get the most bang for your buck. Here are some tips for wringing everything you can out of a Game Pass subscription.

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Lin Qi, the billionaire founder of China-based League of Angels developer Yoozoo Games, died on Christmas, several days after being admitted to the hospital. Shanghai police are now investigating the 39-year-old’s death as a possible poisoning, according to the Associated Press.

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The Acer Nitro 5 and a Crane & Canopy winter sale lead Tuesday’s best deals.

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Arc System Works has announced that it will release the trailer for Anji Mito - the latest character to join the roster of upcoming fighter Guilty Gear Strive - late on December 31. There's nothing quite like making a timely entrance.

The handsome and hot-blooded fan-fighter debuted within the Guilty Gear franchise in 2000 entry Guilty Gear X, one of the few remaining humans of Japanese descent, Anji travels the globe in a dogged quest to find "That Man," keeping one step ahead of his opponents via his artistic and flamboyant fighting style, which combines acrobatic dancing with vicious attacks from his enchanted fans, a mythical artifact known as "Zessen."

Anji Mito's trailer will premiere December 31 at 16:00 PT / 19:00 ET / 01:00 BST. Guilty Gear Strive launches on PS4, PS5, and PC in April 2021.

Just recently, Nintendo shared more info on Super Nintendo World via a physical walking tour with the father of Mario: Shigeru Miyamoto. It was amazing! Go watch it.

Back? Well you may have noticed that at some point in the video, Nintendo teased the Power-Up Bands (which are basically a form of Magic Bands from Disney parks), and some form of Switch functionality. Well, thanks to a new landing site, we now know a bit more on how that will all work.

According to the site, amiibo will correspond to the character on the band itself. So the above red band with the red "M" for Mario will become a "Mario amiibo." Other bands match up to Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Toad, and Yoshi. The bands are used directly with the Switch NFC point on the Joy-Con or the Pro Controller, but "are not compatible with the 3DS or Wii U."

Of course, the bands will also work in the park as a scorekeeping mechanism of sorts, which interacts with various "activities." I wonder how they'll play out in the US version of the park with long lines.

Power-Up Band [Nintendo]

Founded in 2009, the award-winning interactive entertainment company Yoozoo Games has developed popular MMO titles like the League of Angels series as well as the Game of Thrones Winter Is Coming mobile game. Unfortunately, Lin Qi, the 39-year-old CEO of Yoozoo Games and producer on an upcoming Netlflix series from the creators of Game of Thrones, died on Christmas Day. According to CNN, Yoozoo Games' board issued a statement saying, "The directors, supervisors, senior management and all employees of the company express their deep condolences on the passing of Mr. Lin Qi."

Moreover, the police investigating Lin Qi's death suspect that the billionaire was poisoned. A colleague of Lin Qi, named Xu, was arrested in Shanghai with the police confirming that Xu was "suspected of committing a major crime." Two days before his death, Yoozoo Games released a statement informing fans that Lin Qi had been admitted to the hospital following a period of "physical discomfort," but that he had stabilized and was recovering. The details surrounding Lin Qi's death as well as Xu have been scarce to say the least. Despite Xu's arrest, however, the investigation is still ongoing. 

[Source: CNN]

The Niiice Episode! | Final Checkpoint Podcast Ep. 69 Read More »

Four will come to theaters, with two coming exclusively to HBO Max

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Which historical character reigns supreme?

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The next Yashahime episode won't appear this weekend, as people will have to wait a bit for the next subbed and dubbed episodes.

The post Next Yashahime Episode Will Be Slightly Delayed appeared first on Siliconera.

Read an excerpt of the upcoming YA thriller

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Who knew that Apex Legends was the perfect setting for a robot-noir

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Today Bandai Namco announced that more news about the upcoming Idolmaster game The Idolmaster: Starlit Season is coming soon.

The news will be delivered via a livestream happening on January 17 on the series’ YouTube channel. The celebrations will start at 7:00 pm Japan time, which translates into 10:00 am GMT, 11:00 am CET, 5:00 am EST, or 2:00 am PST.

The producers of the game and a quartet of voice actresses will be in attendance.

You can check out the embed of the livestream below, if you want to follow along. Of course, we’ll also post all the relevant news as soon as it’s available.

The Idolmaster: Starlit Season was initially announced nearly a year ago, back in January 2020. It has recently been delayed to 2021 in Japan, and it’ll come for PS4 and PC.

No western release has been announced for the moment, even if the launch on PC could possibly facilitate a localization. At the moment, we simply don’t know.

Every now and then, Respawn releases animated shorts that provide new info on the various characters participating in the Apex Games. Today’s Stories From the Outlands is called “Fight Night,” and it focuses on Pathfinder’s life before becoming an Apex Legend.

These Outlands videos are usually full of previously unknown lore. They tend to show aspects of the Legends that we wouldn’t otherwise see in the game.

Fight Night lives up to those expectations, as it shows Pathfinder waiting tables in a restaurant before he joined up with the other Apex Legends.

He was searching for his purpose, and in a surprising turn of events, he gets clues as to what he was built for while being interrogated by Victor Maldera – a detective who is searching for Caustic.

Check out the video below to see Pathfinder’s Stories From the Outlands episode for yourself: