December 2020

When you see that purple amorphous Pokémon blob, don’t you just want to sit on it? Good news, now you can!

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When the first trailer for the live-action Monster Hunter movie debut, some fans might have been surprised by the soldiers and military hardware. For director Paul W.S. Anderson, this was not out of left field. It was, he said, organic.

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Picture it: you're in a neon-lit bar in Cyberpunk 2077, ordering a retro-future drink, when the barman says something that fires your memory. It's not the words, it's the voice, those gravelly tones, that deadpan way of speaking. It's so familiar. Where have you heard it before? Then it lands: Geralt of Rivia! The barman has the same voice as Geralt in the The Witcher video games. And - no, it can't be a coincidence - he's called Gerry?!

It seemed like a cameo opportunity too good to miss. Even Doug Cockle, the English voice of Geralt in The Witcher games, was up for it. "Absolutely!" he told me when we met a few years ago, and I wrote a piece about him.

"I have joked with [CD Projekt Red] about bringing me in as an Easter egg. I've jokingly said, 'You've gotta bring me in as a bartender the player has to interact with for at least one quest. A bartender named Gerry who has some waiting staff, Trisha or Jenny or something like that.'"

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It's another big week for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S, with plenty of news for us to discuss in the latest Eurogamer next-gen news cast!

We run through the latest on Amazon's PS5 delivery troubles, and ask what it's actually doing to make things right for affected customers. We then move on to the ongoing war against next-gen console scalpers - in which the latest battle was won by an unlikely source. How about eBay, which is riddled with misleading listings for a PS5?

And then we have a chat about the first significant update for the Xbox Series X and S, as well as Halo Infinite, which has been the subject of some unfounded rumours this week. Speaking of console exclusives, it turns out people are using the Xbox Series X and S to emulate PlayStation 2 games. Who needs Halo when you've got Silent Hill 2?

After disappearing early on and being almost permanently out of stock ever since, the Limited Edition Animal Crossing Nintendo Switch is back, with preorders now live on the Nintendo Store for people to claim their copy.

The actual consoles themselves will be sent out on 9th December 2020, but considering the high demand Nintendo clearly decided to start preorders now, with limits of 1-2 orders per customer depending on what bundle you buy.

All of these various bundles guarantee you a digital code to download New Horizons and a special model of the Switch, which sports ocean pastel colours and a picture of Tom Nook and his two minions battling for space on two square meters of land. It's certainly a nice midpoint between the starkly-garish Neon Red/Blue Switch and the please-don't-make-me-put-in-effort-grey model, as the Joy-Cons are also a gentle green and blue colour, just to keep the theme going. Aside from that, different bundles will get you a protective carry case for your Switch, three months of online membership so you can visit other friends' islands, or even a copy of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, just in case you want to ruin all those friendships afterwards with some merciless kart racing.

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IGN UK Podcast #568: Early Immortals Impressions

• IGN UK Podcast #567: AC Valhalla and Yorkshire John Lennon
• IGN UK Podcast #566: The Mandalorian and PS5 UK Launch Madness
• IGN UK Podcast #565: Loads More PS5 and Series X/S Chat
• IGN UK Podcast #564: A Birth of a Generation
• IGN UK Podcast #563: PS5 Hands-On and Watch Dogs: Legion

Persona 5 Strikers is releasing in the West on Feb 23rd for Switch/PS4/Steam https://t.co/cDmoq7zxG9 pic.twitter.com/u6YtnOYnYs

Groundwork of Evangelion Digest will feature new, color pages of production illustrations from episodes 1-26 of Neon Genesis Evangelion.

The post Groundwork of Evangelion Digest Will Be Available in Early 2021 appeared first on Siliconera.

This guide will also come with a double-sided poster and 2021 calendar.

The post Genshin Impact Official Guidebook Will Release This Month appeared first on Siliconera.

It’s official — God of War is the latest IP to crossover with Epic Games’ ever-popular Fortnite Battle Royale. A tease earlier this week from PlayStation’s Twitter page had suggested something was in the works, and today fans’ suspicions were confirmed as a new trailer introduced the iconic character for the first time.

His arrival this season is in keeping with the “hunters” theme, which challenges players to “greatest hunters across all Realities.” So far, The Mandalorian and The Child from the popular Disney+ TV series have been revealed, and now Kratos has joined their number too.

There’s no word yet on what sort of special abilities Kratos has, if any. Nor has Epic confirmed whether there will be any unique content for the character beyond the option to use him as a skin.

What we do know is that Kratos is available across all systems and isn’t limited to the PlayStation ecosystem — though PS4 and PS5 players will be able to take advantage of an exclusive gold armor set.

For now, you can check out the new trailer below.

Welcome to Morning Music, Kotaku’s daily hangout for folks who love video games and the cool-ass sounds they make. Today we’re listening to “We Form In Crystals,” an absolute banger of a credits song that is way better than it had any right to be.

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Originally announced for the PlayStation 4, Atelier Ryza 2 is also coming to the PlayStation 5 via a free update. In South Korea, as of writing, it’s not.

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Gaben Claus has gifted the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive community with an early Christmas present. Operation Broken Fang is now live, and brings with it new maps, features, and cosmetics.

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As though we didn’t already have several massive new games to get through this month, next week we’re getting a bunch of RPGs thrust upon us, too. Epic Games have revealed their free games for the week starting December 10th are two big Obsidian romps, Pillars Of Eternity – Definitive Edition and Tyranny – Gold Edition.

It just so happens that they’re free on the very same day that Cyberpunk 2077 launches. So, will you go for a new futuristic RPG that’s gonna cost you upwards of £50? Or two known very good fantasy RPGs that are completely free?

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The Prophecy dungeon launched in Destiny 2 back in June, adding another inventive, high-level activity to the game that wasn't one of its six-player raids. But when the Beyond Light expansion was released, a whole slate of Destiny 2 content was removed from the game, with no information as to when (or if) it might return. Prophecy wasn't quite in the same boat as destinations like Mars, Mercury, Titan, Io, and the Leviathan--Bungie always said it would come back after Beyond Light's release--but we didn't know exactly when, until now.

Bungie included an update on Prophecy's return in its latest This Week at Bungie blog post. We now know that Prophecy will be back in the game very soon: December 8. That's the date of the game's next weekly reset, which will see a new patch, Update 3.0.1, that fixes some issues and adds a few extra elements along with Prophecy.

Those extra goodies are the next-generation upgrades that Destiny 2 will receive for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S players. Right now, the game is available on both platforms, but only as the backwards compatible version for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The update coming to Destiny 2 on December 8 upgrades the game for next-gen players, amping up framerates to 60 fps, offering 4k resolutions, and speeding up load times.

BioWare's Casey Hudson (general manager) and Mark Darrah (Dragon Age: Inquisition executive producer) are retiring from the studio to make way for a new wave of creators. Hudson will be replaced by interim general manager Gary McKay (senior director of development operations) and Darrah's role will be filled by Christian Dailey (BioWare Austin studio director).

"It's not an easy decision to make, and big changes like this always come with a certain degree of sadness," Hudson wrote in a farewell post on the BioWare blog. "I will miss being able to work every day with our inspiring developers on the biggest and most exciting projects I can imagine. But I also know that this is a good time for a change, for both myself and BioWare."

Darrah echoed Hudson's sentiment, saying he's confident in BioWare's pedigree as a studio and is certain the Dragon Age series will live on without him spearheading development.

It wasn't two weeks ago that Warner Bros. cinematic adaptation of Mortal Kombat was teetering on the brink of The Pit. Initially, it seemed that the new movie was "indefinitely delayed" due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, then it seemed that it was to be released directly to paid streaming service HBO Max, before WB shot that idea down.

However, it seems that Scorpion and crew will finally have their day. In an industry-shaking piece of news, Warner Bros. Studios has announced that its entire movie slate for 2021 will launch in theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously, allowing audiences to choose where they wish to view the latest blockbusters in the current climate - unlikely to return to normalcy for the foreseeable future.

Mortal Kombat is among a string of major WB releases that will premiere on both the big and the small screen in 2021. Other titles include Denis Villeneuve's Dune, DC Comics' Wonder Woman '84 and The Suicide Squad, the fourth entry in The Matrix franchise and, most importantly, Space Jam: A New Legacy. These and other films will be available for streaming on HBO Max for 30 days from the date of their North American theatrical premiere.

Additionally, fans also got a new look at the Mortal Kombat movie's take on the franchise's iconic dragon logo. Replacing the previously seen (and rather bloody) affair, the new logo has a crisp metallic sheen to it, but remains true to the original artwork. I dig it.

Mortal Kombat will premiere in theaters and on HBO Max in 2021.

Early game prototypes are often full of surprising placeholders - take the giant space Yoda in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, for instance - but one game I really wasn't expecting to find hundreds of rubber ducks in was the Demon's Souls remake.

Collin Harris, a technical artist who worked on the remake, shared a video on Twitter of a hoard of ducks being used to test the game's tech and effects. Ducks appear to explode from the table, and from the mists looms something rather more fowl...

Speaking to GamesRadar, Harris explained the duck model was created by his friend Alex, who was interning at Bluepoint Games. The model eventually made its way into the studio's asset library, and when Harris was looking for a model to carry out test demos, the duck's size and shape meant it fit the bill. "It didn't hurt that it was also a funny juxtaposition to see a bright yellow rubber duck sitting in an incredibly detailed dark fantasy environment," he said.

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It's been five long years since Rocksteady's last big Batman game, but there's a new update for it today.

Download the patch and you'll get access to two slightly bizarre skins for your Dark Knight: the Zur En Arrh Batman, and the Anime Batman.

Both of these were previously unlockable if you fiddled around with WBplay, an online account service set up by publisher Warner Bros. which has now gone the way of the dodo. No tears were lost about that, but it did mean these skins were left in limbo.

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I've had a kickabout with FIFA 21 on PlayStation 5, and while the gameplay is fundamentally the same as on PlayStation 4, there are some significant improvements.

For example, FIFA 21 benefits greatly from the PS5's Activities feature. Here, from the PS5 home screen, you can press a button to jump straight into the various modes within Ultimate Team without having to go through the main FIFA 21 menu first. Brilliantly, FIFA 21 next-gen ditches the annoying language selection when you boot up the game - something that has been a staple of FIFA for years. You have to log into EA's servers - there's no avoiding that - but I was able to go from the PS5 home screen to matchmaking a Division Rivals game in 20 seconds, which is remarkable. It really is quite the thing.

And once you've got a match, the game itself loads really fast - so fast in fact that there's not enough time to check out your opponent's team, which flashes on-screen just before kick-off. This is a good thing, I guess! But it is handy to know what you're up against before you start a match. Perhaps the PS5 is running too fast for its own good here.

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It's Friday, it's almost Christmas, and I've been watching Pikachu scamper around my screen for the last 15 minutes. Must not drift off to sleep.

"Pikachu by the Patio" is the latest ASMR video from the Pokémon Company, which previously brought you classics of the genre such as "Charmander's Fireside Slumber" and "Squirtle's Day at the Beach".

This time, it's the turn of Pokémon's main mascot to titilate your earholes. Listen as he scuttles about, watch as he snores his own name while sleeping, and don't think too much about the real person behind the mic who had to record all of this dialogue themselves.

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Sega will deliver more new information about Initial D The Arcade in a livestream.

The post Initial D The Arcade Livestream Set for Next Week appeared first on Siliconera.

You can now get Mobile Suit Gundam smart audio glasses in Japan. Blue E.F.S.F. and red Zeon models are available.

The post Gundam Smart Audio Glasses Let You Communicate Instantly appeared first on Siliconera.

The Kin'emon DLC trailer demonstrates his blazing Foxfire techniques in action.

The post One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 Fires Up a Trailer for the Kin’emon DLC Character appeared first on Siliconera.

Kyle ... are you out there ...

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Raihan is ready to strike a pose! A new figma pairs him with his usual partner, Duraludon. Take a look at this latest Pokemon figure.

The post Get Ready to Take Selfies With the Pokemon Raihan Figma appeared first on Siliconera.

Yostar will reveal a new Azur Lane event with a Japanese Christmas live stream set to air on December 21, 2020.

The post Azur Lane Japanese Christmas Livestream Set for December 21, 2020 appeared first on Siliconera.

The PlayStation 5 has had one of the strongest console launches in recent memory, and a big reason for this is its launch lineup. Bluepoint Games’ remake of FromSoftware’s classic, Demon’s Souls, has made the strongest case for owning a PS5 at launch. With players looking to put their shiny new console to the test, more eyes are on Demon’s Souls than ever before.

For many PS5 owners, Demon’s Souls may be their first foray into Souls games. If and when all demon’s have been vanquished and the Old One is lulled back to its slumber, where do players go next? The experience Souls player may suggest that second playthrough, which is all well and good. However, if players are looking for the next step in their Souls journey, we have some recommendations.

Call of Duty’s transition to a shared eco-system model between its popular free-to-play Warzone battle royale mode and the recently launched premium mainline entry Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has proved a giant success for Activision. The publisher has today announced that the franchise has surpassed $3 billion in net bookings over the past 12 months, an “all-time high” for Call of Duty.

Activision goes on to describe Call of Duty’s momentum as “strong,” with year-to-date increases include net bookings up over 80% and units sold through up over 40% year over year.

The franchise has been played by over 200 million players this year according to Activision’s own internal estimations (includes mobile), with 85 million of those playing Warzone.

Byron Beede, executive vice president and general manager, Call of Duty, Activision said in a statement included with today’s press release:

“The momentum over the last year across the Call of Duty ecosystem from free-to-play Warzone as well as post-launch support of Modern Warfare,
and now to Black Ops Cold War has been incredible.

This is the next great chapter in Black Ops with an amazing campaign, an all-new zombies experience and of course, high-octane multiplayer. Launch is only the beginning. We are focused on building a continuous pipeline featuring a tremendous amount of free, post-launch content and events across the franchise.”

Earlier this week we learned that Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War was the UK’s best-selling game for another week running.

Twenty-twenty hasn’t been good for much, but it has been given us bountiful free time— time you hopefully used to finally make good on that statement “Oh, I’d love to watch that but I don’t have time.” Well, in 2020 you did. As a result, many of us revisited and once again fell in love with old favorites, or finally…

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HP Pavilion Desktop Computer | $350 | Staples

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Developers can now enroll for the App Store Small Business Program, which will halve iOS platform fees to 15 percent from 30 percent for smaller creators. ...

Pain points are often the understated killer of many games, and we're going to discuss how to spot them and some common mistakes for developers to avoid. ...

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2020 was a great year for multiplayer games, whether you want to relax and hangout with your friends or get extremely not relaxed with some friends. Our next pick for one of our favourite games of the year: the latter.

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It’s been two years since Dragon Quest XI: Echoes Of An Elusive Age first came to PC, and today its shiny new Definitive Edition arrives. This version of the game allows you to turn on a “retro” mode to play the 3D JRPG as a 16-bit 2D game instead. I feel like downgrading the graphics is the opposite to what a “Definitive Edition” should do, but it sounds fun throwback nonetheless.

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