January 2021

Today Famitsu published a New Year card from Persona developer Atlus, which included news about 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim and more.

The card reveals that Vanillaware’s critically-acclaimed game has shipped over 300,000 copies within one year of its release.

That’s certainly a great achievement for such a niche production.

The message also mentioned that in addition to Shin Megami Tensei V and Project RE: Fantasy, which are in active development, Atlus is planning a commemorative project to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Persona series in 2021. This echoes previous mentions. It’s worth mentioning that it’s not clearly specified whether this “project” is an actual game or some other kind of plan, as the wording used in Japanese is vague and could indicate either option.

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is now available exclusively for PS4.

It looks like the final chapter of Call of Duty Modern Warfare's Warzone storyline, The War Room, has been released, and with it, a new cutscene detailing the final outcome of the game's nuclear plotline. It's finally time to see how this saga ends; will the operators succeed, or will the situation quite literally go nuclear?

YouTuber Geeky Pastimes was the first to access this scene, but you don't have to be a professional gamer to do so. To access this final scene, you will need to unlock it by gathering every piece of intel currently available in the latest addition to the game. You can only gain one piece of intel per game, so keep that in mind while you are collecting. There are five pieces of intel in total.

The latest installment in Warzone's story brings the finale of the hunt for Victor Zakahev in Verdansk as the countdown on the nuclear missile launch ticks ever lower. Once you have collected all five pieces of intel, return to the main menu and use the missions tab to access the final scene.

2020 has been an extremely unusual year, so hopefully it's a bit of a treat to end it in our usual way - with the top fifty games of the last twelve months, as chosen by you.

What we said: "You can't call it a comeback when you've always been the king."

"It's early days, but this is as good as WoW has been for over ten years," says Kiliko. "So much content, no vicious gating, very alt-friendly, great looking zones. It feels similar to what I thought WoW 2 would be like back in 2010. A joy to see my friends list extremely active again."

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Q: What was 2020’s most delicious sci-fi co-op adventure?

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Nothing for the Northern Hemisphere, sadly

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The weird and wonderful world of indie games

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Super Nintendo World is really starting to come together.

Earlier this month, we got a good look at the park, a quick tease of the Power-Up Band system, and a sneak preview of the Mario Kart-themed ride. Now, thanks to fan footage, we know what the Yoshi ride (the companion for Mario Kart) entails.

In short? It's the "It's a Small World" of the park. Grainy and sometimes wonky footage is starting to pour out from Twitter and elsewhere, and it showcases the cute characters and atmosphere you can expect from "Yoshi's Adventure." Even characters like Baby Yoshi and Kamek show up.

While this might not excite a lot of people out there, as someone who enjoys slow-moving chill rides with my wife and kid: I'm fine with it. Sometimes it's great to just hang out on a ride like this after a long day, and I'm sure tikes of all ages will love it. Yoshi (or Kirby) is the perfect steward for a ride like this.

[Thanks Nick!]

It is my pleasure to bring you the first Destructoid post of 2021. I hope that you all had a safe and joyful evening and that y'all woke up ready to face the new year with all the gusto ya got.

Of course, with the new year comes the desire to re-evaluate yourself, your plans, your goals, and your hobbies. And what better way to start than with the the hobby that brought us all to the Destructoid dance. No, not Jai alai, but video games. 2021 is something a little special, as it is the freshman year of a whole new generation of gaming. PC tech has received a major boost, while the console scene saw the arrival of Sony's PlayStation 5 and Microsoft's Xbox Series X. All in, it's an exciting time to be gaming, and hopefully 2021 will see a flurry of awesome, slick, exciting, or just plain heartwarming games hit the market.

And so, where do you stand with gaming in 2021? Maybe you're hoping to get into a whole new genre? Or perhaps you're thinking of dipping your toe in the competitive arena. Maybe you want to finish a backlog, or even just throw up your arms and write it off altogether, focusing purely on future releases. Of course, you could think that you're gaming too much, and that you actually want to pump the brakes a little in 2021. Just remember there are no rules to this, so whether such resolutions last the whole year, or not even the whole day, it's fine. You're fine.

I hope 2021 brings you much love, luck, and happiness. Be your very best. I know you will.

Sure, it wasn't the most packed launch. There were still some real standouts worth your time! Here are our Xbox Series X Game of the Year 2020 honorees.

The post Siliconera’s Xbox Series X Game of the Year 2020 appeared first on Siliconera.

Games to watch in 2021 for Nintendo Switch, PS5, Stadia, Xbox Series X, and PC

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Kick the year off with Robert Downey Jr.’s Sherlock Holmes

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I’ve been bouncing between Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Cyberpunk 2077 recently, and something has stood out during that time: These two games have broken from genre tradition by introducing children into their open worlds. I’m so used to seeing entire cities devoid of young people that the first time I saw one walking around the streets of Night City it stopped me dead in my tracks. What the heck are you doing here, anyway? And then I made the mistake of talking to the kid. Yuck.

While their appearance was a surprise, their voice acting wasn’t. Like just about all games before it, Cyberpunk 2077’s kids speak with what I can only call a very specific voice quality. Almost without exception, young people sound like a voice actor scrunching up her pipes and doing her best to carve a few decades off her age. And I can’t think of a time where it wasn’t awful to listen to.

I understand that it’s probably impossible to cast and record young people for extensive roles – and that employment law probably makes the process a logistical nightmare. Young characters who have gotten a lot of screen time in games, such as The Walking Dead’s Clementine and Sarah and Ellie from The Last of Us, were voiced by actors who were older than their characters, and they did phenomenal work. But those aren’t the types of characters I’m talking about.

Games at the end of a console generation are supposed to demonstrate the outgoing systems’ true power – the culmination of developers’ years of practice and technical expertise. But I guess sometimes that doesn’t work out, and studios just need to push whatever they have out the door so they can start working on better things. That was clearly the case in 2020, which gave us a truly disappointing barrage of mediocre titles. Of course, that doesn’t stop some people from wrongly saying they are great – which is why I’m here to correctly call out the worst so-called “best” games of the year.

Daniel Dumile, the musician and producer best known as the masked MC MF DOOM, is dead. According to an Instagram post signed by his wife, Jasmine, Dumile died on October 31. The post reads:

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2020 is over, which is great, even if it doesn’t mean everything terrible about this year is now in our collective rearview mirror. Video games played a bigger role in many of our lives than they have in years past, which made picking Kotaku’s top games pretty tricky. But, as always, here are our favorite 12 games of…

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Arc System Works has seen in the new year by dropping a new trailer for fist-flying sequel Guilty Gear Strive, which launches on PS4, PS5 and PC this April. As teased several months back, tise hard-rocking clip sees the return of handsome fan-flinger Anji Mito.

Debuting in 2000's Guilty Gear X, Anji Mito is a man of somewhat divided loyalties, having found himself on both sides of the moral compass during his time in the GG franchise. Combining energetic dancing with speedy attacks from his ancient and mystical fans - The Zessen - Anji Mito is both unpredictable and tough to pin down in battle, presenting a threat to his opponent from anywhere on the battlefield.

You can check yer boy out in the new video below, trouble never looked so good.

Are you sick of free Pikachus yet? Too bad!

Despite the fact that we've had an entire string of free Pikachus recently, The Pokemon Company is trotting out their main mascot yet again for another Pokemon Sword and Shield promo. This time, it's a KIBO Pikachu, which sports the wish, swift, thunderbolt, and celebrate abilities; and comes with a comet shard item.

So what is all of this for? It's actually a promo from the 2021 "Space Sunrise" stream, which ran via the International Space Station right before the New Year in Japan: for some reason, Pokemon were also featured.

Don't question it! Get your free rat. Head to the mystery gift section (receive from internet) of the game to claim it. You have until January 15, end of day.

Pokemon [Twitter via Serebii.net]

Nordic countries already received a sizable share of payware Microsoft Flight Simulator airports, but this time it’s Finland’s turn to shine with Helsinki-Vantaa (EFHK).

The add-on has just been released by JustSim and can be found for about $22 plus VAT on SimMarket.

It comes with its own installer so getting things ready is fairly straightforward, and you’ll be ready to visit Finland’s capital in no time at all.

Helsinki-Vantaa sees a lot of airline traffic and is the home of Finnair, so it’s a great base of operation in the Nordic countries if you fancy flying Boeings and Airbusses.

If you’d like to see what the airport looks like in detail, you can check out the in-depth flyover video below, showing Helsinki-Vantaa under every angle, lighting, and weather condition. The second video showcases an ILS approach to runway 15 with low visibility.

Looking to get into streaming? Or do you want to start a YouTube channel? In this episode of Shout! Esports, Jess Brohard walks you through how to start creating gaming content in 2021. Are you curious about how to talk to your audience or address viewers when you're new to streaming or need some comforting advice for what to do when no one is watching? This video has you covered.

If you enjoyed this week's show, be sure to check out the previous episode wherein Jess Brohard teaches you how to set up a Twitch stream.

“I want the world to know, that Billboard is a lie. You can buy No. 1s on Billboard,” is how rapper troll 6ix9ine kicked off an Instagram video he posted in May of this year. His purpose was to allege that he had been cheated out of reaching the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100, the most trusted weekly tally of the…

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35 years on, Princess Peach’s lot is somehow still primarily about being kidnapped and rescued. But is there hope on the horizon? And might it have taken the introduction of—gasp—a second female regular into the cast to bring in the changes?

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Amazon Echo devices and Society6 posters lead Friday’s best deals.

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When there's a "bank error" in your favor in games, you take it!

AI glitches are an interesting phenomenon, as they can be silly or game-breaking at the drop of a hat. But in this case, I'll allow it. It may even be thematic! After all, Guardians are just machines.

Redditor Rubyllite99 managed to elude death through a very simple strategy: the Bugs Bunny method. Move off camera just enough and it's like you disappeared! They managed to survive with no real hearts or gear to speak of, pulling off this pro move.

I love how the Guardian just gives up, too. Most of the time they'll continue to aggro the player and seek them out. Nope! It's time to head home, their watch is done.

The controller! The first-party games! It's a console launch, all right. But three titles stood above the rest: our PS5 Game of the Year 2020 finalists!

The post Siliconera’s PS5 Game of the Year 2020 appeared first on Siliconera.

Today Famitsu published a New Year card from Koei Tecmo, and it included a rather interesting tease.

The developer and publisher from Yokohama mentions that in 2021 it’ll announce new games that will make the fans think “finally!”

Do keep in mind that the choice of image above doesn’t signify any additional detail provided by Koei Tecmo or insider information. You can most definitely interpret it as my personal wishful thinking. I’m sure I wouldn’t be the only one thinking “finally!”

Hopefully the actual announcements will not disappoint fans that have been waiting for the return of the series for a long time, but history will tell. We can only wait and see.

This isn’t the first time Koei Tecmo teases its announcements for 2021. Individual developers for specific franchises made vague mentions of their plans at the end of last year.

Among games that have already been announced, we’re waiting for more information about Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires, while the Nioh series will gets ports to PC and PS5 as well.

Of course, western fans of the Gust brand are still waiting for the release of Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy, which will come at the end of January.

Pathfinder received his very own Stories From the Outlands episode titled “Fight Night” just a few days ago. Now, Respawn is using a few of the themes in Pathfinder’s origin story to create a new Fight Night event in Apex Legends Season 7.

The Fight Night event will kick off at 8pm PT on Jan. 5, just as the Holo-Day Bash winter event comes to a close. If you’re looking to earn all of those winter cosmetics, be sure to do it before the event ends on Jan. 4.

Fight Night will be bringing the following new features to Apex Legends when it goes live:

Today Famitsu published a New Year card from Idea Factory & Compile Heart, creators of the Hyperdimension Neptunia series.

The card mentions that the Neptunia franchise will enter a new stage in 2021 following the 10th anniversary celebrations. We can expect a surprising development in the spring, and the developers encourage fans to look forward to it.

Compile Heart just released Neptunia ReVerse for PS5 in Japan and will launch it via Idea Factory International in 2021. Yet, that’s not exactly much of an innovation for the series, since it’s a remake of a remaster.

Western fans are also waiting for Neptunia Virtual Stars for PS4 and PC, which is also coming in 2021.

If you’re interested in Neptunia ReVerse, here’s an official description.

“Gamindustri – A distant world comprised of four nations, each under the divine protection of a Goddess.

Planeptune: Land of Purple Progress, ruled by Neptune
Lastation: Land of Black Regality, ruled by Noire
Lowee: Land of White Serenity, ruled by Blanc
Leanbox: Land of Green Pastures, ruled by Vert

Locked in the Console War, the four Goddesses vie for domination of the planet until Neptune is cast down and stripped of her power.

Now Neptune must fight to restore her place, but could a being known as Arfoire threaten the very world the Goddesses have sworn to protect?”

And here’s what we know of Neptunia Virtual Stars, which is a spin-off.

WandaVision! WandaVision! WANDAVISION!

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Limbitless Solutions’ arms have interchangeable parts called "sleeves." The newest sleeve design from @ubisoft @assassinscreed can fit an existing Limbitless #bionic arm. This sleeve inspires Bionic kids and adults to discover their inner #strength like Kassandra. #AssassinsCreed pic.twitter.com/K1ZfkMlXsO

Don the golden wolf suit and fight some horrors!

The post Catch the Legendary Tokusatsu Series Garo on Youtube appeared first on Siliconera.

A 100% definitive list, obviously

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I could talk for hours about Team Ninja.

The studio that built its house on Dead or Alive but really made its name with 2004's Ninja Gaiden is one of the most fascinating action developers around. Ninja Gaiden (Black) is still an absolute classic, and its legacy coasted them through some tougher times. They even managed to snag a contract to develop Metroid: Other M, and helped Omega Force with Hyrule Warriors! They've accomplished a lot over the two decades and change they've been around.

But regardless of their prior accomplishments, I see 2017 as a turning point for Team Ninja. Nioh really knocked it out of the park, and showed us what this crew can really do; properly shedding them of the baggage of Tomonobu Itagaki. According to the studio, that Nioh journey is done, but they have a lot more in store for us soon enough.

Speaking to Famitsu, Team Ninja producer Fumihiko Yasuda states that the "development of the Nioh series will reach a resting point" after "seven long years of development." As a note, they're presumably counting the time between developing Nioh to the release of the final DLC for Nioh 2, and/or the upcoming remaster bundle.

I'll be sad to see it go, but if they want to hang it up, they've done right by the series. That said, 4Gamer also had the chance to chat with Team Ninja, and there are allegedly exciting things in store for 2021. Yasuda tells the outlet that they are "preparing to announce several new titles" from the studio this year, and to "look forward to them."

I've seen bath bombs shaped like Pokeballs with Pokemon surprises inside of them, but this is next level!

Redditor miscellaneousmao shared this kitchen creation with the world: a hot chocolate bomb. As hinted, it's actually a little ball that dissolves when a hot beverage is poured over it that opens up to "bomb" the hot chocolate mixture and let a little creature rise to the top.

So how do they do it? Well, according to the creator, the Pokeballs are made out of white chocolate and candy melts, with a side of homemade hot chocolate mix and marshmallows. You can find more bombs on their Instagram account, miscellaneousmao.

If you want to smile (and feel hungry at the same time), just sift through all of their incredible candy creations. The amount of Pokemon (and Nintendo) crafts they have on display is impressive. Who doesn't want to smile after living through 2020?!

Hot Chocolate Bomb [Reddit]

Today publisher Top Hat Studios released a statement on Twitter regarding demands for censorship of the cyberpunk horror game Sense – 不祥的预感: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story.

The game, developed by Suzaku, has already been released for PC via Steam (where it’s currently 25% off) and it’s about to launch on Switch on January 7. PS4 and PS Vita versions are also coming soon, and an Xbox One launch is planned on top of those.

Apparently, the upcoming console launch has sparked comments from some demanding censorship of the developer’s art style.

Top Hat Studios’ statement “categorically refuses” the option of censoring the game, pledging that it will be released as-is. The publisher also reiterates its principles based on not tampering with a creator’s artistic expression.

You can read the full message below.

Microsoft Flight Simulator fans just got a new way to explore the south-western tip of the Iberian Peninsula with Faro Airport.

The new add-on has been released by TropicalSim, and is currently available on SimMarket for roughly $27 including VAT.

It’s certainly a welcome add-on for those who want to enrich Portugal, and below you can check out a gallery of screenshots and an official feature list.

In the first Replay episode of the year, the Game Informer crew plays through the second installment in Valve's iconic zombie series, Left 4 Dead 2. Join Andrew Reiner, Liana Ruppert, Kim Wallace, and myself for an FPS romp through the game's first campaign, during which we navigate a hotel that's engulfed in flames, zombie-infested city streets, and the scariest shopping mall you could ever conceive. 

Are you feeling excited about zombie shooters again? Be sure to check out our coverage of Back 4 Blood, the spiritual successor to L4D from the team at Turtle Rock Studios, where we discuss our impressions of the game so far and show it off on a recent episode of New Gameplay Today Live.

It all comes down to this! We've awarded system-specific awards. Now it's time for our overall picks! Here's Siliconera's Game of the Year 2020.

The post Siliconera’s Overall Game of the Year 2020 appeared first on Siliconera.

Of course, that backup plan is also a spoiler, so you’ve been warned

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