December 2023

The Game Awards 2023 is tonight and we'll be reporting it live, right here. So if you need a quick summary of everything that's happened, or you simply want to watch it along with us then please do - we've got your back.

Oh, and this year there's bingo. That's right, in an effort to stay awake and keep ourselves entertained, we've come up with a bingo card full of things Geoff Keighley may or may not do during the show. We think you'll like it.

The Game Awards 2023 begins at the ungodly hour of half-past midnight in the UK (0.30am GMT) and is likely to run on way past 3am. But think of all the announcements! I know Geoff Keighley has changed the language away from "world premieres" for the event, which suggests he doesn't have many world premieres, but there's still likely to be lots to talk about. In fact - tease - we know of a few things.

Read more

UPDATE 1.20am UK: The demo has now been confirmed, and you can watch the trailer below!

ORIGINAL STORY 5pm UK: Looks like there is going to be a Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown demo.

This demo was presumably meant to be announced tonight as part of the game awards. Ubisoft previously confirmed it would release a story trailer at the show later today. However, it has leaked, and mention of a demo is featured towards the end of the video's two and a bit minute run.

Read more

Players will be able to play as their captured creatures in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet's DLC, The Indigo Disk.

The second chapter of DLC will include a device called the Synchro Machine that will allow players to sync up with one of their Pokémon and then move around and battle wild Pokémon.

While we've played as Pokémon in spin-off games, this is a first for the main series. It's all part of a new quest to help a certain scientist in the Terarium with her research.

Read more

Baldur's Gate 3 once looked quite different from how it looks today.

According to Baldur's Gate 3 lead character artist Alena Dubrovina, the game's development - at least in terms of its art - started out "pretty bumpy, actually".

"We couldn't figure out the visual look that we wanted because of the very limited skill sets that we had," Dubrovina told GQ. "Within the first year, we probably changed direction three times."

Read more

GTA 6 is already breaking records despite being at least a year away from release.

The first trailer for the game, which Rockstar released ahead of schedule after it leaked on Monday, now holds the record for the most viewed YouTube video in 24 hours which isn't a music video, according to Guinness World Records.

This also makes it the most viewed video game reveal on YouTube, according to the organisation, reaching 90,421,491 views in 24 hours.

Read more

It’s been over two years since it was announced that the 2018 medieval RPG Kingdom Come: Deliverance would be launching on Switch. That silence has finally been broken with the news that the Nintendo port is arriving sometime next year.

The Switch version comes in the form of Kingdom Come: Deliverance - Royal Edition. The port is being handled by Saber Interactive (Warhorse Studios is the original developer) and bundles the base game with all released DLC. It will be available both digitally and physically. There's no new trailer showcasing how the game runs on Switch, but Saber did release a few screenshots of the port. 

This week on the Electronic Wireless Show podcast we give our live* reactions to the new trailer for ">Grand Theft Auto 6, a game that certainly exists! Basically none of the predictions we made two weeks ago came true, but hey, there might still be a bunch of gorillas in it. And what about the fact that it leaked, huh? Is that bad? Should we feel sad for Rockstar? Will it make a difference, really? And why did James drink so much whiskey this weekend?

Read more

It’s no secret that Grand Theft Auto VI takes a lot inspiration from IRL events and people, but one person colloquially called the “Florida Joker” has seemingly taken umbrage with Rockstar Games for possibly copying his whole entire vibe.

Read more...

In Modern Warfare 2019, the reboot of the popular Call of Duty series, a 10-person multiplayer killstreak rewards you with white phosphorus, an odorless, waxy chemical you can drop on the battlefield to kill dozens in one fell swoop. It was a controversial addition to an already controversial game series, which has,…

Read more...

Just when we thought Microsoft’s Activision acquisition was finally set in stone two months ago, it looks like the Federal Trade Commission has made another appeal to block Master Chief and John Call of Duty’s marriage.

Read more...

The Nintendo Live 2024 Tokyo event has been canceled and will not take place in late January 2024. Nintendo announced the event's cancellation while postponing several tournaments related to Splatoon 3 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

The chain of event delays and cancellations began when Nintendo received persistent threats aimed at its employees. The perpetrator later expanded their targets to staff members and the public audience of the upcoming Japanese national finals tournament in Splatoon Koshien 2023, which was about to take place in Tokyo on December 16-17, 2023.

Nintendo ultimately decided to postpone the Splatoon Koshien tournament as it prioritizes the safety of visitors to the venue. As the tournament would determine the Japanese representative in the Splatoon 3 World Championship 2024, the company also postponed the world finals tournament that would take place in Nintendo Live 2024 Tokyo.

Now that the Honkai: Star Rail Pelicana Chicken event is on, HoYoVerse shared a trailer showing the launch of the event. This involved footage from one of the Fan Celebration Kickoff events held once the collaboration began last week. 

The Fan Celebration Kickoff was a special occasion that happened at the Buena Park, California and Queens, New York Pelicana locations. People who attended could see official Dan Heng and March 7th cosplayers, get hats, collect some of the exclusive tie-in merchandise, and participate in festivities. The video and announcement didn’t note white exact location was being shown. However, it did show the cosplayers, cardboard Pom Pom hats, acrylic stands, and fans who also showed up wearing costumes based on the various characters.

Here’s the full Honkai: Star Rail event trailer:

Anycolor revealed the third set of Nijisanji Fragrance Vtuber perfumes inspired by Ibrahim, Sukoya Kana, Tsukino Mito, Yumeoi Kakeru, and Leos Vincent. The company will open pre-orders for these perfumes on the Nijisanji Official Store on December 8, 2023. People in Japan will also be able to place pre-orders in physical Animate and Kotobukiya stores on December 15, 2023.

Here is the full list of ingredients used for the third set of Nijisanji VTuber perfumes:

Ibrahim

• Top Note: Orange, Raspberry
• Middle Note: Rose, Heliotrope
• Last Note: Chamomile, Hinoki Cypress

Sukoya Kana

• Top Note: Green Apple, Bergamot
• Middle Note: Rose, Muguet (Lily of the Valley)
• Last Note: White Musk, Vanilla

Ultros is a bizarre and mesmerising Metroidvania-style action game arriving on February 13. Our layman's description wouldn't do the game justice, so here's the official synopsis on its Steam page:

What does all of that even mean? Join Marcus Stewart and Charles Harte as they explore an early slice of Ultros to figure out what the heck is going on while indulging its promising gameplay. 

Head over to Game Informer's YouTube channel for more previews, reviews, and discussions of new and upcoming games. Watch other episodes of New Gameplay Today right here.

The 2023 edition of The Game Awards, hosted by Geoff Keighly, airs tonight starting at 4:30 p.m. P.T./7:30 p.m. E.T. The event is expected to run between 2.5-3 hours, including a 30-minute pre-show. You can catch the big event by watching the video below, and it will also be streaming live on Twitch. Be sure to brush up on all of the nominees before the festivities begin. 

We are now blessed with not one but two annual Day of the Devs indie game showcases, and the latest one lives up to the event’s reputation. A roughly 90-minute stream yesterday highlighted some awesome-looking games from developers around the world, and I want to play all of them right this minute.

Read more...

The Super Mario Bros. Movie has ended its theatrical run, but still thrives on a handful of different streaming services. After making a billion dollars and garnering middling reviews, the greatest gift Mario’s animated romp gave us was the song “Peaches,” sung by Bowser about his unrequited love for Princess Peach.…

Read more...

Capcom and Niantic announced the first major Monster Hunter Now update, called Fulminations in the Frost, and confirmed it will add monsters like Barioth and Zinogre and the Dual Blades and Lance weapons. All of the new content is live in the game.

With the two new Monster Hunter Now weapons, Director Chihiro Kanno explained why the Dual Blades and Lance were chosen. With the Lance, it was more of a balancing situation. It includes Guard and Offensive Guard skills, making it the second weapon in the game that can. With the Dual Blades, their inclusion was due to fan demand. Kanno also noted that it will bring Demon Mode with it. 

As for the new Monster Hunter Now monsters, the inclusion of characters like Barioth and Zinogre were designed to touch on both fan-favorites and wintry themes. Zinogre was the one that was in-demand. Barioth, Cortos, and Wulg were added to help add more “Winter” monsters. As such, they’ll be around between December and March months each year. Banbaro was also noted as a winter-themed character, but Kanno didn’t note if that one will also only appear in that four month “season” as well. Finally, Kanno noted Radobaan was included so the “sleep” status effect could be added.

James Cameron's Avatar hit theaters in 2009 and absolutely demolished box office records. It spawned a sequel (with more on the way), as well as books and a theme park attraction. Now, the franchise is diving into gaming for the first time in 14 years with Ubisoft's Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is a first-person, open world game that takes place on a portion of Pandora not yet seen in the films. Massive Entertainment, a Ubisoft studio, developed it. Ubisoft did the Avatar movie tie-in back in 2009, so the company is working from experience. Not to mention the publisher is no stranger to the open world genre, with several Far Cry titles under their belt. And, to address the possible elephant in the room, there is Far Cry DNA all over Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora.

However, this isn't a bad thing in and of itself. Remember, Far Cry 3 was once called "Skyrim with guns" and yet it revitalized the franchise. Similarly, even the original Avatar movie faced comparisons to Dances with Wolves, then made literally billions of dollars. Not everything has to reinvent the wheel; it's all about execution.

So, is Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora more or less Far Cry with an Avatar paint job? Sort of. But, does it execute it well? Also sort of.

HoYoVerse revealed details about Hanya, one of the four-star characters introduced with the latest banner update for Honkai: Star Rail. In the new trailer, we get to see a showcase of all her skills while using the Oracle Brush as her weapon.

Hanya is a four-star Physical Harmony character who appears in Honkai: Star Rail as a judge in the Ten-Lords Commission. Her Skill, Samsara, deals Physical damage to a single enemy and inflicts Burden on them. Burden will apply a damage boost to any party member attacking the afflicted target and will restore one skill point. Burden can also be applied at the start of battle if Hanya uses her Technique. The effect can only be applied to one target at a time though. In addition, her Ultimate can give an ally a speed and damage boost for a few turns.

Good Smile Company opened pre-orders for its upcoming Pop Up Parade figures of Chun-Li and Juri from Street Fighter 6. Both figures are available to order separately at ¥5,500 / $34.99 each. The pre-order window for both figures will close on January 18, 2024, at noon JST (January 17, 2024, at 10 PM ET).

After previously showing the prototypes at WonHobby G 2023 Autumn in November 2023, the company has published the final sample images for the Chun-Li and Juri figures. Both non-scale figures will stand at around 170mm (~6.69 inches) tall.

Ahead of The Game Awards 2023 Arc System Works announcement, Bandai Namco's Asian branch revealed the next Guilty Gear Strive DLC character is Elphelt. Bandai Namco's leak also noted that she is "available today," with the article publish date being December 8, 2023.

This is one of the most requested characters for the game. Back in November 2023, Arc System Works noted Elphelt was often asked for by fans. She debuted in Guilty Gear Xrd Sign and also appeared in Revelator and Rev 2. Her “sisters” are Ramlethal and Jack-O. In the past, she was known for using guns.

Here is a closer look at some initial gallery images and character art:

When The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom launched in May, it immediately became a cultural phenomenon. In addition to spawning countless viral social media posts about the creations of players, it also quickly became the fastest-selling Legend of Zelda title, as well one of the frontrunners for 2023's Game of the Year award. At the time of its launch, producer Eiji Aonuma and director Hidemaro Fujibayashi didn't know what the community reaction would eventually become.

However, now more than a half year removed from the launch of Tears of the Kingdom, I once again caught up with Aonuma and Fujibayashi to break down some of the more discussed moments of Tears of the Kingdom and speak about the evolution of the series. You can read the full interview below.

Just be warned that there are sporadic spoilers for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom in the interview below.

The Cup Noodle measuring cup set will receive a re-release in Japan following it going out of stock. The set costs 3,993 yen (or about $28) and will return on December 8, 2023.

This special set includes a transparent measuring cup decorated with the Cup Noodle logo and branding, as well as a mini, regular, and big servings of original Cup Noodle flavor, Cup Noodle Curry flavor, and Cup Noodle Seafood flavor each. The set originally appeared in Japan on September 26, 2023, and went out of stock shortly after is release.

The measuring cup itself includes measurements for how much water each of the three different servings need in order to fully cook, and is designed to use the minimum amount of water necessary. The cup is made of heat-resistant glass, it is safe to heat in the microwave, and it includes regular measurements in milliliters.

You can check out the measuring cup in more detail in the video below.

CTW officially launched Black Lagoon: Heaven's Shot on G123, and the first-ever standalone game adaptation for the Black Lagoon franchise is a free-to-play browser game. Pre-registrations for the game opened in September 2023, and it is now available to play in not only Japanese, but also English.

The developer team described Heaven's Shot as a hard-boiled RPG. Players will generally spend Recruit Tickets to gather characters from the franchise. Other than members of the Lagoon Company like Revy and Dutch, they can also team up with characters from other factions, such as the Hooligan Church's Eda, Chang from the Hong Kong Triad, and Hotel Moscow's Balalaika. Every player who finishes the game's tutorial will also be able to have Gretel join them as a four-star-rated character.

The Day Before kicked off 2023 as one of the most wishlisted games on Steam. Now, after endless controversies, the self-proclaimed open-world survival-horror MMO styled after The Last of Us is finally in Steam Early Access, and it’s getting panned. The first players to lay hands on the much-hyped zombie shooter are…

Read more...

Ubisoft will be releasing a demo for Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown ahead of its release in January, a leaked Game Awards trailer has revealed. Posted earlier this evening by PlayStation Brazil's YouTube channel, the trailer has since been taken down, but not quite fast enough to prevent some folks from downloading it and plastering it all over the internet (good spot, VGC). Apparently the demo is coming January 11th - one week before the game's full release on January 18th.

Read more

Kratos is going to Valhalla in a free DLC for God of War Ragnarök that will see the angry dad fight through waves of enemies in a roguelite structure. The update will come to PlayStation 5 and 4 on December 12.

Read more...

Today, at The Game Awards, Exodus was officially announced via a new trailer and an on-stage appearance by actor Matthew McConaughey who stars in the game.

Read more...

God of War Ragnarök is getting a free roguelite Valhalla expansion.

And it's out on 12th December! That's next week!

A trailer for the expansion was shown at The Game Awards. It's a "gift to the community," said host Geoff Keighley.

Read more

Well, this is a nice surprise. 15 years later, we're getting a sequel to physics puzzler World of Goo.

World of Goo 2 was just announced at this year's The Game Awards pre-show with a gameplay trailer showing off some familiar-looking gameplay.

The project is once again being worked on by 2D Boy and Tomorrow Corporation.

Read more

Thrasher is the follow-up to rhythm horror game Thumper, coming out on Quest and PCVR.

Announced at tonight's The Game Awards, it's from the same artist and composer - Brian Gibson - as well as Mike Mandel who worked on Rock Band VR, Fuser and more. It will be out in 2024, with flatscreen versions to follow the initial VR release.

The game is now up on Steam and available to wishlist. Check out a trailer below.

Read more

Daniel Mullins - the creator behind the acclaimed likes of Inscryption and The Hex - is back with a sequel to his celebrated 2016 oddity Pony Island. It's called Pony Island 2: Panda Circus and is coming Steam at some currently undisclosed future point.

The original Pony Island - a genre-shifting delve into a demonically possessed arcade cabinet - was emphatically not about ponies (well, not exactly), and its sequel promises to continue that tradition, offering a "phantasmagorical voyage through time, myth, divinity, and video game".

This time around, you're cast as a young nomad doomed to live out their untimely death within The Earth Prison. The goal, explains Mullins over on Pony Island 2's newly revealed Steam page, is to "escape the lordly deities of the underworld with your soul, and your sanity, intact."

Read more

Developer Motion Twin's hugely acclaimed - and dazzlingly well supported - action-platformer Dead Cells hasn't stop turning heads since its early access debut back in 2017, and it's fair to say interest in what the studio will do next is high; and we finally have an answer courtesy of The Game Awards, which has given a first look at Motion Twin's Windblown, a "lightning-fast combat roguelite" coming to Steam early access in 2024.

Windblown is a "tough but always fair" combat-focused adventure - playable either solo or with up to three friends online - that casts participants as Leapers, warriors charged with protecting their home world, The Ark, from the deadly Vortex and its Sentinel minions.

Specifics remain relatively limited at this early juncture, but its reveal trailer - giving off some deliciously appealing Saturday-morning-cartoon-but-with-gruesome-flesh-rending vibes - points to an experience at least superficially resembling a kind of co-operate Hyper Light Drifter thanks to its rapid-fire dash mechanics.

Read more

Jurassic Park fans got a nice surprise during The Game Awards with the reveal of a new game called Jurassic Park: Survival. The cinematic trailer shows a young woman named Dr. Maya Joshi, an InGen scientist left behind on Isla Nublar in the immediate aftermath of the first film – one day after the park collapses, in fact.

Players explore the open world of Isla Nublar, which teems with a variety of newly escaped dinosaurs in a fully reactive world. Stealth seems to be more emphasized than combat, as players must use their intelligence, skills, and wit to outsmart and avoid John Hammond's prehistoric creations.

Jurassic Park: Survival has no release window, but it's coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. 

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, the latest from Life is Strange developer Don't Nod Entertainment, hits PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC in February. Ahead of its release early next year, the studio released a new cinematic trailer to highlight the game's narrative at The Game Awards 2023. 

While Banishers features intense action-RPG gameplay, it's also a Don't Nod game, which means players can expect a heavy emphasis on storytelling. And tonight's trailer speaks to that. 

Check out the latest Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden cinematic trailer for yourself below: 

"New Eden, 1695: Antea and Red are lovers and Banishers, trained spirit-hunters protecting people from lingering specters," a press release reads. "But when tragedy strikes and Antea herself becomes a ghost, will you honor your Banisher oath or sacrifice the living in a desperate bid to bring your beloved back?" 

Here are some additional Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden screenshots: 

Hideo Kojima, the director behind Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding, and Jordan Peele, the director of movies such as Get Out and Nope, are making a new cloud-based project for Xbox Game Studios called OD Announced tonight during The Game Awards, the project also stars Sophia Lillis (It) and Hunter Schafer (Euphoria).

In typical Kojima fashion, the trailer doesn't illuminate much. We see several characters reading (and sometimes failing to do so) a tongue twister before Lillis' character screams in horror at what they see behind a door. 

Talking onstage, Kojima was joined by Peele to mostly compliment each other's work. However, Kojima stressed OD is, in fact, a game. But it's also a movie. And apparently something unlike much else. Or so he says. Peele said it was "crazy." I lost the plot after a while.

Anyways, check it out for yourself:

OD isn't the only project Kojima is working on. His studio, Kojima Productions, is also developing a sequel to Death Stranding.

Bandai Namco has revealed the title of the new Dragon Ball Budokai Tenkaichi game called Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero during The Game Awards. 

The trailer sees Goku and Vegeta doing the one thing they know how to do: fight each other. The battle escalates to the pair powering up to Super Saiyan Blue, but we also get looks at Freiza and Broly (the new version of him). The game is the next entry in the long dormant Budokai Tenkaichi series and was announced back in March without an official title. 

Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero doesn't have a release date but is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. 

Team Ninja revealed Rise of the Ronin, its PlayStation 5-exclusive action game, during a State of Play last year. The game made an appearance at The Game Awards 2023 to showcase more of its fast-paced action alongside the news that it will hit PS5 on March 22, 2024. 

In the trailer, we see a Ronin take the steps to save a late-Edo period japan from chaos, dark magic, and more. While the trailer focuses on the game's combat, with trademark Souls-like Team Ninja action at play, it also highlights some of its traversal. Players will get to explore Japan on foot, on horse, and by way of glider.

Check it out for yourself below in the new Rise of the Ronin trailer: 

"Japan at the end of the 19th century was characterized by the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate, a period of oppression and stagnation," the trailer's description reads. "Explore the vast world of late-Edo period Japan by horse and glider, while battling foes using a wide range of weapons and equipment – melee weapons like swords and spears, as well as ranged weapons like firearms and thrown weapons." 

Rise of the Ronin hits PS5 exclusively on March 22, 2024. 

Tonight, during The Game Awards, Sega announced it had numerous remakes and new projects in development – including some of its coolest and most unique games.

Announced via a sizzle reel showing off in-development footage, Sega revealed it was working on remakes of Jet Set Radio, Shinobi, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, Crazy Taxi, "and more." No announcement info was given.

Check it out below:

Sega announced it was planning numerous remakes last year (via IGN).