It feels like Genshin Impact‘s 1.2 update just came out last month (because it did) but Mihoyo are already dishing out details on the next update 1.3. The new update will ring in the yearly Lantern Rite festival, a new playable character, and multiple festival activities.
I’m on holiday (‘holiday’) next week, and I’ll be unwinding in part by staring at and spinning the cute wee 3D dioramas of Tiny Lands. Released today, it’s a digital version of that classic activity sheet puzzle: spotting the differences between two near-identical scenes. With your screen split down the middle, the two versions will zoom and spin and rotate in harmony while you check patterns on fish, scrutinise crowds of people, and count rocks. It’s cheap and it’s nice, and that’s enough for me.
PlatinumGames revealed a new teaser site early last year. At that time, the website simply teased the number “4” without any other hints. It currently houses details about the four PlatinumGames announcements that have been made since its launch. Now, a fifth is coming in 2021.
The main image at the top of the site has changed, as it now shows five stars with descriptions floating around the number “4” at the top of the page. The fifth is currently just a string of question marks, while the others range from Wonderful 101 news, to the recently revealed Project G.G.
This new PlatinumGames announcement could be some much anticipated news on Bayonetta 3, Babylon’s Fall, or possibly even a brand-new project.
Bayonetta 3 hasn’t shown up in any major capacity since its reveal in 2017, so fans are clamoring for more at this point. Babylon’s Fall, on the other hand, was mentioned in a short tweet last summer to let fans know that development is “progressing well.”
Whether it’s either of those two games, or something completely new, PlatinumGames isn’t exactly known to disappoint. There isn’t much more to go on at the moment, but we’ll be sure to provide any new information as it becomes available.
Following the release of the F-15 Eagle add-on for Microsoft Flight Simulator, publisher Just Flight and developer DC Designs released a new trailer.
The trailer features the included variants (the F-15C, the F-15D, the F-15E Strike Eagle, and the Israeli F-15I) and liveries in action, and looks quite spectacular.
You can check it out below, and you can read my own review if you want to learn and see more about the aircraft.
On top of that, we learn that DC Design is already addressing two issues included in my review. An update coming next week will bring bug fixes and will make the aircraft capable to fly at Mach 2 at altitude, which is a lot more in line with the real performance of the F-15.
On top of that, the resolution and detail of the cockpit will be improved, while the developer is also working on ironing out the performance issues caused by the HUD.
When ‘80s kid Robdp82 found a relatively rare 1984 Voltron “Castle of Lions” playset in his mother’s attic, he did what any nostalgia-loving computer builder would do—he transformed it into a lovely Voltron-themed custom PC, complete with five color-coded lion SSDs.
Much as audiences might long for Hollywood to change its approach to superhero movies, studios are loathe to let go of the genre’s established hallmarks. So things like glowing MacGuffins and overstuffed’s crossovers are utilized for a variety of reasons—including the simple fact that a lot of people genuinely like…
We got our first bloody taste of Resident Evil Village yesterday courtesy of the Maiden demo, and let me tell you, it does some great things with footsteps.
Struggling retailer GameStop’s stock curiously hit an all time high today. But it’s not because Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo suddenly decided to stop selling their games digitally. And it’s not because a new set of Funko Pops has taken the internet’s imagination by storm.
Founder Jamie Cheng announced the move on Friday
Another Nintendo fan-created LEGO set cometh! And it's not guaranteed to stick. But in the meantime, we can look at it.
Community creator L-DI-EGO crafted this fantastic looking Metroid set, capped off by the centerpiece of Samus' ship. They've cleverly baked in a sort of "stretch goal" scheme to their project as well. Since it debuted, Ridley was revealed as part of the set, with more products to be unveiled at different supporter milestones. Those have swiftly been met!
For those of you who don't know the drill, this set is being previewed by way of a "LEGO Ideas" thinktank, where creators post their own designs for a chance to become official products. They need to garner fan support first and foremost, then the IP holders (as well as LEGO) need to give the final say-so.
With actual Nintendo LEGO kits hitting stores this past year, there's a far bigger chance for projects to actually succeed going forward than before. But Nintendo still has the final say: at the very least, we can admire this in image form. You can find a Q&A breakdown from the creator below that illuminates a few of these aforementioned hurdles.
Metroid: Samus Arans' Gunship [LEGO Ideas]
You know, I recently got to thinking about games that were overlooked in 2020, and whether it was the early-in-the-year release date or the fact that we covered the game quite a bit on Destructoid, I totally forgot about Journey to the Savage Planet. It's a Metroid Prime-lite type of experience – a great one!
After going there and back again with console ports (including Nintendo Switch), Journey to the Savage Planet is coming to Steam on January 28, 2021. It's been a full year since its Epic Games Store debut.
This game is best played in (online-only) co-op, but if you're looking for a solo trip, you won't be disappointed. The platforming, swinging, and jet-boosting traversal is a lot of fun, and I particularly like the sense of progression as you power up your suit. It has plenty of tricky optional collectibles, too.
Savage Planet doesn't outshine Metroid Prime, but it conjures up many of those fond memories, and with Metroid Prime 4 continuing to take its sweet time, there's a real need for this sort of game.
Don't just take it from me – our readers like it too. I still need to play the Hot Garbage DLC sometime.
I always appreciate the advanced heads-up Microsoft gives for the Games with Gold lineups. Whether you're in the habit of grabbing games on sale or you like to plan out your schedule, it's just nice to know.
Here's the (pretty good!) list for February 2021:
So we've got an Xbox Game Studios heavy-hitter (that is worth checking out again if you have an Xbox Series X), a classic remake, a very "360 era" Capcom title, a heartfelt Brazilian metroidvania, and a backward-compatible original Xbox game that was recently put back in the spotlight.
I've somehow never played Emperor's Tomb despite my best intentions, but knowing that MachineGames is taking a crack at Indiana Jones makes me want to check it out. I have plenty of time.
Vicarious Visions has had quite the trajectory as a studio, but things just took a turn for the worse for fans of the acclaimed Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 remakes.
As reported today by GamesIndustry.biz, Vicarious Visions has been reassigned "from the Activision side of the business to the Blizzard side," as the outlet puts it. The roughly 200-person team will be "fully dedicated to existing Blizzard games and initiatives" and "provide long-term support."
Studio head Jen Oneal is moving up as a Blizzard executive VP of development, and her vacancy will be filled by Vicarious Visions COO Simon Ebejer, according to GamesIndustry.biz.
Many of us had hoped to see this team take the lead on even more remakes – frankly, THPS 1 + 2 was so good, I would've played an all-new Pro Skater from these devs, to say nothing of a hypothetical THPS 3 + 4 remake – but from a wide view, yeah, Vicarious Visions has a long history of supporting other studios. Still, shifting all of them over to Blizzard after back-to-back success stories sure does sting.
Vicarious Visions merged into Blizzard [GamesIndustry.biz]
Vicarious Visions has moved from the Activision side of the company to the Blizzard side moving forward, reports Gameindustry.biz. This shift also places the studio head, Jen Oneal, on the Blizzard leadership team where she will report to Blizzard president J. Allen Brack.
Vicarious Visions has a wealth of work on Activision titles under its belt, most recently the Tony Hawk game resurrection in the form of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2, which was well received.
"Forget the weird peripherals, bad sequels, and questionable ports that defined Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater in the series’ later years," says Game Informer's Brian Shea in our review. "Instead, remember the glory days of the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, because that’s where you’re going with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2. By returning to the first two games in the franchise and modernizing them with changes large and small, developer Vicarious Visions reminds us why we fell in love with this series in the first place." Over the years, Vicarious Visions has been involved with myriad Activision properties, including the Skylanders and Guitar Hero franchises. The list of games Vicarious has touched is huge, but also includes Call of Duty, Destiny, and Crash Bandicoot. Whew!
Activision has announced that Vicarious Visions, the studio behind last year's acclaimed Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 remake, is being merged into the Blizzard side of its business.
Vicarious Visions has been developing games for over three decades ago now, having been founded in 1990, and was acquired by Activision in 2005. It's worked on a huge number of big name franchises in that time, including Tony Hawk, Crash Bandicoot, Guitar Hero, Spider-Man, Destiny 2, Skylanders, and Call of Duty.
The newly announced merger, as reported by GamesIndustry.biz, will refocus Vicarious Visions' 200-strong team of employees to become "fully dedicated to existing Blizzard games and initiatives", effective from today.
You can now catch Demon Slayer on Netflix. You know, in case you didn't already watch it on a service like Crunchyroll or Funimation.
The post Time for the Demon Slayer Netflix Debut appeared first on Siliconera.
CD Projekt Red have released patch 1.1 for Cyberpunk 2077, the first of several updates and fixes that they have planned throughout 2021. Patch 1.1 is largely focused on stability, CDPR say, which they will continue to improve in the following planned patch 1.2.
World Of Darkness ’em up Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood is just around the corner, so the developers over at Cyanide Studio have begun releasing some videos to show off a closer look at how it plays. Today’s developer diary gets into your werewolf’s rage resource but I’ve gotta say that what really caught my eye was the wolf stealth bits.
Jackbox Games is looking for a Senior Gameplay Engineer to join our team in Chicago! (Though currently, we are all working from home.) ...
Digital sales made up a whopping 91 percent of Focus Home Interactive's â¬103.6 million (~$126.1 million) revenue during the first half of its 2020/21 year, up 7 percent from the preceding six month period. ...
Like the federal government, CD Projekt Red dropped a major update at 5 p.m. on a Friday. The first major patch for Cyberpunk 2077 is officially out, nine days after the developer apologized for the state of the game’s console release and promised a major patch within ten days. Patch 1.1 addresses a slate of issues,…
VFX artist Hoolopee, who previously created wonderful demake videos for Halo Infinite and Death Stranding, today unleashed on the world this horrific 3D animation of Morshu from Philips CD-i abomination Link: The Faces of Evil.
Video games have a dad problem. My colleagues broached the topic a few months ago on an episode of Kotaku Splitscreen, where they dished on some of the worst dads in video game history. (What’s up, Kratos and Joel?) Now I’d like to nominate another member to the hall of fame of bad dads: Zeus, from Immortals Fenyx…
The update promises ‘various stability improvements’ for all platforms
Bubble expected to burst, but not before Redditors hand investors their heads
Alex Navarro is an editor for Giant Bomb, and doesn't especially feel like writing a jokey bio this year. He's @alex_navarro on Twitter.
Brad Shoemaker hates discussing himself and would rather let the below list do the talking.
This year was shit.
What else can you say? 2020 was a crucible of such endless misery--fear and isolation, anger and injustice, loss of a magnitude that's impossible to reckon with--that the words above are all I could come up with. Without looking back, I imagine I've used the intro space in my last few top 10 lists to make a series of increasingly nervous "boy, what a year" jokes, but there's nothing to joke about anymore. Just a trail of wreckage and sorrow that's going to take a long time to repair.
Vinny Caravella is starting to think they may never stop making video games. He's not sure if that means he might also never stop trying to order them in lists. He currently works at Giant Bomb from his basement surrounded by his collection of toys.
Jeff Gerstmann saw a dude skitching along the side of a minivan while he was going up the 5 this summer and it was the illest thing he's ever seen. You can send him questions for "Jeff Gerstmann Presents Jar Time 2021" by PM'ing the account "Jeff" on this very website.
Ya know, it's pretty funny that the Macintosh Plus single that released at the very end of 2019 asked the world (well, it asked the artist, at least) to go outside not long before we kinda had to stop going outside so much.
A lot has happened since then.
Before I get into my ten favorite games of the year, here's some other stuff about my year that was.
Jan Ochoa is a Video Producer at Giant Bomb Dot Com. In the year 2020 he has become a professional Bloodborne-ist, professional pretend DJ, and a professional studio packer. He has played a couple games this year.
I remember thinking that this year we'd do a bunch of dumb stuff in the studio and a lot more dumber things in the Giant Bomb Test Kitchen. But then the pandemic hit and threw all those plans out the window.
It took a while to settle into the rhythm of working from home and we were going in HARD with the streaming. I always enjoyed doing the occasional Quick Look, chiming in occasionally on the Bombcast, and random appearance on UPF, but now suddenly I had to fill a significant chunk of the schedule solo. I learned a lot from streaming on my own for the site and I liked it a bunch! Perhaps you should check out me playing through Bloodborne for the first time!
2020! The year when video cards were announced...but were then impossible to find! Someone named HotGirlVideos69 became the shadow queen behind game news leaks! The biggest release of the year somehow became Schrodinger's game, both on sale and not at the same time! What a year for events, which were eventful all year long. I am now done with my introductory paragraph and would like to discuss other things before returning to the subject of games.
Oh, Jawsie. My sweet, Jawsie. It’s been such am honor watching you grow from just a pup to the murderous killing machine intent on extracting revenge on your mother’s killer that you are today. We challenged and beat the apex predators from the bayou to the open ocean. We’ve chomped entire beaches full of people until the sand was stained red with blood. Heck, I was there for all your mutations; your early bone stage, the shadow phase, and the awkward bio-electric years. It was all good fun and you helped make this year bearable for a bit.
Chompfully yours,
Jason.
There's never been a better time to play video games.
This is a sentiment that hop scotches back and forth over the line of irony. 2020, for better or worse (mostly worse... almost entirely worse) was a year that had many of us in front of our screens all day every day. It should make sense, then, that this was a great year for video games.
Well it was, and it wasn't. A byproduct of being home all day made it really hard to focus and play one game unless it really gripped me. I found myself often confused between checking in on 2020's hottest games, swapping between old SNES games and putting like 100 hours into Overwatch for some reason?? There's tons of 2020 releases I need to put more time into next year, but the games from this year that I stuck with I loved totally.
I'm going to keep this short, because I discussed the hell out of these games and why I love them in the podcasts you can listen to.
Also, as a personal note, today is my last day as a Giant Bomb staffer. I'm extremely grateful for all the kind words I've received about my departure. Thanks for putting up with me <3.
Anyways, here's 10 video games I really loved this year. Honorable mentions include Paper Mario: The Origami King, ScourgeBringer, Bugsnax, Spellbreak, and Good Sudoku.
