Dan Houser, who co-founded Rockstar Games and was the lead writer on multiple Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption games, has finally revealed what his new studio is working on. If you were expecting a video game…well, you’ll have to keep waiting.
It’s hard to completely scrub something off the internet, and Ubisoft is finding that out the hard way after accidentally leaking a remaster of its 2003 action-adventure game Beyond Good & Evil to some lucky Ubisoft+ subscribers.
Reader, if you don’t mind a quick look into my personal neurosis, let me tell you that when I’m really looking forward to something, I get a great deal of anxiety about possibly dying before I get to experience it. I’ve felt this about video games, movies, albums, concerts, and pretty much anything else worth being…
Troubled developers Creative Assembly will double-down on their strength in making offline real-time strategy games, following their failed attempt to break into the competitive shooter market with extraction FPS Hyenas.
It’s official: a new Beyond Good & Evil game is coming out. No, wait, come back: we really mean it this time. While Beyond Good & Evil 2 is still a no-show for the foreseeable, Ubisoft has confirmed that the original game will see a remaster next year for its 20th anniversary. And unlike BGE2, we know we’ll almost definitely be able to play it in the next 12 months, let alone the next decade, because some people are already playing it.
I try to follow up any piece of bad news with something jolly, and what jollier a piece of news than the early access release of Wizordum, in which YOU'RE A WOZIRD, I mean a WIZORD(UM). It's a first-person spellcaster from Slovenia-based Emberheart Games, which takes hefty inspiration from Heretic, Hexen and Ultima Underworld, though it's far more colourful than I remember any of those games being. Check out the trailer.
Square Enix shared new Final Fantasy VII Remake concept art of Cloud wearing a dress for the Wall Market infiltration mission. This time, the concept art shared focuses on designs drawn during the early stages of development.
The post shared on the FFVII Remake social media account also mentioned that various other designs for the dresses were considered as well. One of them included a pure-white dress with a ribbon on the neck, and another option was described as a chic black dress.
The dresses shown in the new concept art are reminiscent of the original purple dress and red waist ribbon that Cloud wears in the original Final Fantasy VII.
You can take a better look at the Final Fantasy VII Remake early development concept art of Cloud wearing a dress here:
Steve Fox is the latest character to appear in a character reveal trailer for Tekken 8. The British boxer’s showcase is the latest of Bandai Namco’s weekly trailer releases ahead of the game’s launch on January 26, 2024.
The new trailer gives Steve the title of Counter-Punching Paragon. He faces off against King before a fight against Hwoarang follows a special intro between the two of them. His new Rage Art features him throwing a flurry of punches and ending on a powerful knockout punch. Steve has been a staple of the Tekken series since Tekken 4 and is notable due to his exclusive focus on punch moves.
Steve Fox was previously confirmed for Tekken 8 during the Gamescom 2023 conference. He featured in a general trailer alongside characters such as Yoshimitsu, Dragunov, Kuma and Shaheen. Leo, who also featured, was the previous character to be revealed.
Here is the full list of Tekken 8 characters with full trailers to date:
Naruto X Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections is a wild, frantic fighter with an absurd amount of playable characters to try out. If you’re just looking to be a ninja and smack some folks around with neat powers, this game will keep you busy for ages. As a more nuanced, thoughtful fighter, it feels more lacking, though. Combining that with a story mode that seems to gloss over a ton of good fights and you have a game that makes for a great diversion when you want to goof off, but that’s it.
As someone who’s never interacted with Naruto in any way before, this game is a bit of a strange experience. Suddenly being given access to 130 different fighters from across years of manga and anime was utterly overwhelming, and unfortunately, the game does not do a good job of paring that down into anything comprehensible. Flipping through the characters is the first thing I do with any fighter, trying them all to see who sticks. With so many characters to try, I found myself flitting aimlessly through the characters. I never realized that having too many characters could be a problem until now.
Nintendo revealed initial details on a special Frosty Fest Splatfest event for Splatoon 3. The announcement confirmed a winter-themed competition, new gear and festive looks for the cast.
The Splatoon 3 Frosty Fest will feature both Splatsville and Inkpolis covered in Christmas and winter decorations during a new Splatfest event. The theme and date of the Splatfest have yet to be revealed. However, the previous Frosty Fest that took place in Splatoon 2 was based on the theme of family or friends, so the theme this time around could end up being similar.
New gear for Frosty Fest was also shown off by Nintendo. It involves all new headgear with a masquerade theme. These include the Golden Gala Masque, Octopearl Crown, Coral Wreath and Dapperdasher Hat. These will be available in the same way the Splatoween outfits were released. Players will need to access the News section of their Switch and launch the game from there, then retrieve their gear from the Lobby terminal.
It’s not just the players getting dressed up for the event. Both Deep Cut and the Squid Sisters will be changing their looks during the weekend. Deep Cut will be following the new gear’s masquerade theme, with all three sporting masks, gowns and top hats. In the Inkopolis DLC expansion, Callie and Marie will be wearing more subdued snow themed outfits.
Jusant is all about climbing a mountain, and Don’t Nod’s superb execution of this premise has propelled this small, meditative adventure to stand among the year’s finest titles. In my review, I wrote that the game’s “ingenious climbing system, beautiful art direction, and intriguing world-building, inching toward the top is worth the effort.” That effort can be attributed to Don’t Nod honing in on the game’s central mechanic, climbing, and building a fascinating world and lore around it. I spoke to the game’s lead designer, Sofiane Saheb, and art director, Edouard Caplain, to better understand how Don’t Nod spent over three years bringing Jusant to life.
Caplain states Jusant’s development began after Don’t Nod finished work on Life is Strange 2. After releasing another narrative-heavy experience with heavy, often depressing themes, the small team was eager to tackle something more lighthearted, smaller, and, most of all, different from the studio’s usual output. Don’t Nod turned to a few games for inspiration, the primary title being Journey. The 2012 adventure’s whimsical, enigmatic vibe and singular focus – walking to a mountain – provided a great example of the atmosphere and scope the studio aimed to achieve.
We found out last August that Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was set to hit theaters on December 20, 2024, but a new teaser gave us another glimpse at its newest star: Shadow the Hedgehog.
I say “another” because Shadow briefly appears during Sonic the Hedgehog 2’s mid-credits scene, setting him up as presumably the antagonist of the third film. While we still don’t know his exact role or who will voice him, today’s image, posted above, provides a good look at Shadow below the neck (does he have a neck?), namely his signature air shoes.
Off and RUNNING. #SonicMovie3
— Sonic the Hedgehog (@SonicMovie) November 29, 2023
Only in theatres December 20, 2024 pic.twitter.com/BUIlurNIC0
Production on Sonic the Hedgehog 3 had stalled due to the SAG-AFTRA strikes, and today’s update confirms work has resumed following the strike's suspension. Jeff Fowler remains in the director’s chair, and the returning cast includes Ben Schwartz (Sonic), Colleen O'Shaughnessey (Tails), Idris Elba (Knuckles), and James Marsden (Tom Wachowski).
Thanksgiving is over, which means Christmas will be here soon. To get you ready for the snowy season, Sony’s December update offers a selection of lowkey games via PlayStation Plus.
Ahead of next month’s Grand Theft Auto VI trailer, three classic GTA games from the PlayStation 2 era are coming to Netflix’s mobile library in December. These might not be the versions fans actually want ported to more platforms, though, even if some visual improvements seem to have been made.
TimeSplitters studio Free Radical could be closed before Christmas, megacorp owner Embracer has reportedly told staff, as dozens of staff at the UK studio are said to be looking for new roles.
Cult of the Lamb devs Massive Monster seem to be staying true to their promise to bring a ‘sex update’ to the cutesy cultist roguelite next year, after their promise to satisfy thirsty fans ended up exploding more quickly than expected.
HoYoVerse has released a new Genshin Impact behind-the-scenes video, this time covering the making of the La Vaguelette story teaser as well as the general design of Furina herself. Previous behind-the-scenes videos have covered the music of the Fontaine region or the design of the character Yun Jin.
Furina is a 5-star Hydro Sword user in Genshin Impact who was featured in La Vaguelette, a story teaser released shortly after she became available in the game. The "Making of" video begins with HoYoVerse explaining their initial design influences for Furina and how the team wanted to represent the two sides of her personality.
Design elements such as her formal coat and frills are meant to emphasize the noble airs she puts on, while her shorts allow for mobility and show her more playful side. The video also describes HoYoVerse's choice to shift from a more operatic singing style to something more musical-esque when designing the songs for Furina.
You can watch the full video below, but beware of spoilers for the Fontaine storyline:
HoYoverse has announced that the next new event coming to Honkai: Star Rail will be called Stellar Shadowseeker, and it will feature Tracks of Destiny as a possible reward. The event will begin on December 1, 2023, and end on December 11, 2023.
Stellar Shadowseeker will be another photography event featuring March 7th, who has found several of her photos obscured by shadows. Players will need to work out what the shadow is obscuring the image and then take a new photo of the subject.
There will be a total of 14 photos to decode, with two being pictures released each day of the event until they are all available. Players will need a Trailblaze level of at least 21 to participate but can earn rewards, including Tracks of Destiny, which is used to level up skills, as well as Stellar Jades, Credits, and Exp materials.
You can find the official announcement on the HoYolab page or in the tweet below:
Atlus shared new details of the Hermit Social Link in the upcoming Persona 3 Reload. The Social Link received an updated character portrait inspired by early titles in the Shin Megami Tensei series.
In the original Persona 3, the Hermit Arcana Social Link is established with a fellow player of an MMORPG that the main character can play during his free time. The online handle of the character is Maya in the English version of Persona 3, and she give the main character the handle of Tatsuya.
Both names are a reference to the protagonists of the Persona 2 duology, Maya Amano and Tatsuya Suou. The new P3R character portrait for the Social Link is reminiscent of the official art of the Heroine from the first Shin Megami Tensei, albeit in a stylized green and blocky fashion.
You can check out the new Persona 3 Reload character portrait for the Hermit Social Link in the clip below.
Idea Factory International announced it picked up the Switch otome fan disc Cupid Parasite: Sweet & Spicy Darling and will release the visual novel in 2024. Physical and digital copies will be available, with IFI directly selling a limited edition.
As a reminder, the original Cupid Parasitefollows Cupid as she descends to earth to work as a matchmaker and bridal advisor. She’s tasked with somehow getting the most unsalvageable and marry-able men, nicknamed the Parasite 5, partners. Naturally, said men are actually the romance options for her. In addition to returning character stories for Allan, Gill, Peter, Raul, Ryuki, and Shelby, it introduces a new one for an original character named Merenice Levin. This follow-up continues the story started in original routes for returning cast members.
There are few details about the limited edition of the Switch otome follow-up to Cupid Parasite. The price and contents weren’t revealed. All we know is the US and European IFI storefronts will carry it and include a trading card with it.
Atlus has announced a collaboration between it and RED° Tokyo Tower commemorating Persona 3 Reload. The event will take place on December 22, 2023, and run through January 28, 2024.
A new key visual for the event is available on Atlus’s Personal Channel website. It shows Minato and Aigis posing next to the Tokyo Tower. The Tokyo Tower has a pale green illumination thanks to it being the Dark Hour, and you can also see the UI design for the Dark Hour in the top right. A clock motif and butterflies appear next to Minato and Aigis.
As a note, Red Tokyo Tower is also holding a collaboration event with Persona 5 Tactica. This will end on December 21, 2023, so the Persona 3 Reload event at RED° Tokyo Tower will occur immediately after. During the event, you have the chance to purchase collaboration tickets, which will not only let you enter RED° Tokyo Tower but will also get you exclusive items such as postcards.
There will be a digital tapestry you can look at and original and official goods. You’ll also be able to order drinks from a collaboration menu and get limited coasters. Finally, if you visit Club 333, you can watch clips from Persona 3 Reload.
Sanrio has released a limited plush calendar to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Hello Kitty. It’s readily available in stores around Japan and costs 2530 JPY ($17.20).
The Hello Kitty plush calendar will start from January 2024 and it is fairly small. At 90 mm x 150 mm x 80 mm, it fits perfectly on a desk or a table. As for what it looks like, it’s a Hello Kitty doll holding a yellow sleeve that you can use to hold the calendar cards.
Each card has the month and dates, as well as Sanrio characters. Every month, you swap out the monthly card in the plush, and even after 2024, you can likely use the calendar to hold other pieces of paper or cards.
Warner Bros Japan and Wit Studio will announce some more information on the upcoming Suicide Squad Isekai anime. The companies plan on holding a reveal stream on December 1, 2023, and you can watch it via Warner Bros Anime Japan’s YouTube channel. [Thanks, Dengeki Online!]
The reveal stream will only last about ten minutes and will start at 7:00 PM in Japan. That means it would be 2:00 AM PT/5:00 AM ET on December 1, 2023. Takehito Koyasu will narrate the stream. Koyasu is a prominent voice actor in the industry. Some famous roles include Toji from Jujutsu Kaisen, Jade from Tales of the Abyss, and Dio Brando/DIO from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.
McDonald’s has revealed the full key visuals for its collaboration with Fate/Grand Order. For the holiday season in Japan, you’ll have the chance to win exclusive Fate/Grand Order prizes if you put your receipt into the lottery.
There are three key visuals in total. The first one, which McDonald’s teased on November 28, 2023, shows the Santa versions of Artoria Alter and Nightingale in front of a table full of food. The next one shows Karna and Quetzacoatl, with Karna holding two bags of McDonald’s and Quetzacoatl holding a fountain drink.
Finally, the last key visual shows Altera, Jeanne d’Arc Lily, and Martha looking excited around some food. Contrary to fan expectations, McDonald’s uploaded teaser image did not reveal a new Santa Servant for 2023. In total, 10,030 customers will be able to obtain prizes. McDonald’s has prepared 30 framed prints and 10,000 McDonald’s gift cards.
You’ll get the chance to get either a printed frame or a McDonald’s gift card for one of the key visuals. Those who win the McDonald’s gift cards will get two, making a total of 1000 JPY they can spend at McDonald’s. To participate in the lottery, you must purchase a value meal and use either a physical or digital receipt.
The Pokemon Center in Japan will release a new series of Pokemon toys. The name of the series “1, 2, and... Poof!” is a reference to the text that appears when you make a Pokemon forget a move. [Thanks, Hobby Watch!]
There are ten variations of “1, 2, and... Poof!” Pokemon toys in total. They cost 990 JPY ($6.75) each. These are only available in the Japan store, as the toys do not appear on the USA version of the Pokemon Center website. The Pokemon that are part of the series are:
A winter update will land in Monster Hunter Now next week, on Thursday 7th December.
Monster Hunter Snow, as I'm now calling it, will see its in-game world blanketed in a wintry landscape as it launches a new season - Filminations in the Frost - and unleashes a menagerie of new monsters.
Zinogre, Banbaro, Barioth and Radobaan will all be introduced, alongside the smaller Cortos and Wulg. The Monster Hunter Now team has also taken player feedback on board to bring in a couple of much-requested weapons, too: the lance and dual blades.
Kotobukiya revealed Uhura as the latest entry into the Bishoujo Star Trek statue series. The figure was first teased back in July during San Diego Comic Con 2023, but has now been officially revealed with a release planned for late summer 2024.
Guaranteed pre-orders in Japan will run through to January 30, 2024. After January 2024, there will be a limited amount of pre-orders available. Once the figure sells out, no more pre-orders will be accepted. Bishoujo Uhura will cost ¥17,600 (~$120 USD) in Japan when purchased from Kotobukiya's online store and $130 in North America when purchased from Sideshow.
The FFVII Ever Crisis PC release date is set for next week on Steam. Square Enix announced via the English and Japanese social media accounts that it will launch on December 7, 2023.
This move comes about a month after the game’s Steam page went live. That showed up on November 19, 2023. That page still doesn’t show the new release date yet. However, in case people missed it, it does note people will get gifts like 3,000 Blue Crystals, a five-star weapon guaranteed draw ticket, 30 draw tickets, a gear voucher, a Zweihander five-star sword, an Apology in Hell five-star scythe, and two Jumpstart Item Sets.
The announcement only confirmed the game will appear that day. It didn’t offer any details about the version that will appear then. For example, it didn’t note if the seasonal Christmas event that includes a Santa costume for Tifa or a Gingerbread Cactaur boss fight will be present at launch. That will run throughout December 2023.
Netflix has announced it'll be adding Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City, and San Andreas - in their Definite Edition guises - to its gaming catalogue on 14th December.
The news follows reports earlier this year that Netflix had been in talks with Rockstar to license a GTA game as part of an attempt to introduce "higher-end" titles to its mobile-focused gaming catalogue - which primarily offers a mix of casual games and acclaimed indies at present, including the likes of Dead Cells, Kentucky Route Zero, and Shovel Knight: Pocket Dungeon.
At the time, the Wall Street Journal reported Netflix believed a more significant gaming presence would help it attract new subscribers and retain existing ones by giving them something to engage with between seasons of their favourite shows.
Absurd Ventures, the studio established by Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser earlier this year, has revealed its first two projects: a graphic novel and audio drama, both launching in 2024.
When Absurd Ventures was unveiled back in June, its promotional material made it clear Houser and company were aiming to do more than just make games - with the studio saying it was focused on "building narrative worlds, creating characters, and writing stories for a diverse variety of genres" spanning the likes of live-action, animation, games and other interactive content, books, graphic novels, scripted podcasts, and more.
And true to its word, Absurd Ventures has now unveiled its first two "universes": American Caper and A better Paradise. While the studio says "additional stories" from both are in development for “a wide range of formats and platforms", American Caper will debut as a graphic novel and A Better Paradise will begin as an audio drama.
Sons of the Forest is leaving early access. It will be getting its beefier version 1.0 release next year, on 22nd February.
In addition, developer Endnight Games has announced that Shawn Ashmore - whom you will likely recognise from Remedy's Quantum Break and, more recently, Alan Wake 2 - has joined the cast. He will be voicing Timmy.
Timmy, for those unaware, is the son of Eric LeBlanc, protagonist of the first game (which was simply known as The Forest). Endnight Games has said his role in the story will be expanded when version 1.0 goes live next year.
Capcom will sell Dragon's Dogma 2 for $70 on PC (via Steam), PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S when the long-awaited sequel arrives next March.
It marks the first time Capcom will sell the base version of a new game for that higher price point. This year's Resident Evil 4 Remake was sold for $10 less (and while a remake, it was substantially different). Street Fighter 6 was also sold at for less, as was dino hunter Exoprimal.
Capcom had been one of the few publishers not to embrace the $70 price point up until now, but the move comes as no surprise.
If you have a spare £150 in your pocket or you're feeling very demanding this Christmas, there are now Yorkshire Tea controllers - for both PlayStation 5 and Xbox.
The total-tea bizare creations are officially licensed by the cuppa creator, and put together by "controller designer extraordinare" POPeART.
Yorkshire Tea says it spotted the concept, liked it, saw it had social media oomph and some keen prospective purchasers, and decided to give it the green light. And now you can buy it yourself - albeit for £150.
Toho Movie has uploaded a trailer for the 27th Detective Conan movie, Hyaku-man Dollar no Michishirube. It'll come out on April 12, 2024 in Japan.
You can watch the trailer here:
The title for the movie can loosely translate to “Million-Dollar Guiding Star.” The trailer is half a minute long. It looks like a major event in the movie will focus on Hattori fighting Kaitou Kid, and he expresses surprise when he sees Kid’s face without his monocle. According to Weekly Shonen Sunday, the story will involve Kaitou Kid stealing a "jewel" in Hakodate. There might also be a confession scene between Heiji and Kazuha.
More new Danganronpa character merchandise will appear in Japan. Amnibus announced that it is working with Spike Chunsoft, Animate, and the illustrator Sakusya2 to produce items featuring new artwork based on the Danganronpa series characters. The lineup will feature Makoto Naegi, Kyoko Kirigiri, Junko Enoshima, Hajime Hinata, Nagito Komaeda, Chiaki Nanami, Kaede Akamatsu, Kokichi Oma, and Shuichi Saihara.
The Danganronpa x Sakusya2 Animate Fair has launched with a pre-order campaign on the Animate Online Shop that runs until December 17, 2023. For every 1,100 yen of purchases, people will receive one of the following film roll-styled cards at random.
A new Gudaguda event, "Full Speed Ahead! Kawanakajima in 24 Hours: Gudaguda Super Goryokaku - The Killer Sign is M51," started in the Japanese version of Fate/Grand Order. Until December 19, 2023, players will have the chance to get Saika Magoichi, who will be the new welfare Servant from beating the story.
During the event, Gudaguda Servants will receive a bonus when you use them in event battles. There are two versions—one short and one long—of the commercial, with Wit Studio the animation company for it.
It’s that time of year again. Today, November 29, Spotify users all over are sharing their year-end “Wrapped” recaps, which try to sum up your past year of musical taste by giving stats and rankings on your most-listened-to artists and songs, alongside a sleek graphic to share on all your socials. I look forward to it…
Xbox chief financial officer Tim Stuart has said Microsoft wants to get Game Pass and its first-party titles on "every screen that can play games" - including Switch and PlayStation - in what he calls "a bit of a change of strategy".
This isn't the first time Microsoft has talked about getting Xbox Game Pass on all platforms, of course; Xbox boss Phil Spencer has referenced the strategy on multiple occasions, calling it a "long term goal" for the company back in 2019.
One year on from that comment, however, it seemed as if Spencer had admitted defeat in getting Game Pass on competing consoles, saying, "The other competitive platforms really aren't interested in having a full Xbox experience on their hardware. But for us, we want to be where gamers want to be and that's the path that we're on."
The Apple App Store Award winners for 2023 were announced, and Honkai: Star Rail, Lies of P, and Hello Kitty Island Adventure were all honored. They were three of six games named on the list.
Here are the five titles that all ended up being named as various App Store Award winners. In the case of Unpacking and Finding Hannah, both were among the Cultural Impact honorees for the nature of the content they provided.
