Destructoid

[It's the last night to enter, so get on it, chuckleheads!]

In today's contest you can win a copy of Cyberpunk 2077 and this neat Johnny Silverhand statue from fun.com!

I saw something the other day that it's been over 3,000 days since Cyberpunk 2077 was announced. The wait is finally over! Fans of the cybernetic dystopian genre are finally getting their hands on the series, and now you can, too!

We're giving away a copy of the game (your choice for platform) and this awesome Johnny Silverhand statue, courtesy of our friends at fun.com!

Ubisoft caught a lot of flak for a time-saving microtransaction in Assassin's Creed Odyssey that permanently increased your XP rate by 50 percent. The problem is that a lot of people felt as though Odyssey's grind was specifically tailored to encourage the purchase of the XP-booster. When Assassin's Creed Valhalla launched, it did so without that same $10 microtransaction. It seemed as though Ubisoft was quick to avoid catching that heat all over again.

For 36 days. That's how long Ubisoft could resist. With yesterday's 1.1.0 patch, Valhalla got those same time-saving microtransactions that Odyssey launched with. As Game Informer reports, Ubisoft says "As more and more post-launch content becomes available, we want to give the option to players to advance their progression. Utilities allow players who lack the time to fully explore the world of Assassin's Creed Valhalla to be able to acquire the game's best gear, as well as other items, by accelerating their progress. For instance, these players can purchase maps that uncover some interesting locations in the world, but would still have to visit and play them to get their rewards."

Here's the thing: This is especially unnecessary in Valhalla. The game doles out skill points with regular frequency, and none of the skills are particularly effective. They all just kinda add up until eventually you're more powerful because the number next to your name is bigger. I genuinely can't imagine buying this XP boost would help you beat Valhalla faster.

Ummmm, yeahhhhhhh...

If you haven't sworn off using GOG, there's some shekels to be saved in its winter sale. Something tells me CD Projekt will see lower conversion and revenue than usual with this sales event.

I have a feeling that listing what's discounted is probably just a waste of my time in this particular instance. If you're actually interested, GOG's front page has all the deals. Also, Prison Architect is free for three days.

I wonder if anyone at CD Projekt has smashed the "Break in Case of Emergency" glass yet.

And just like that, double-dipping with Hades on Nintendo Switch is a matter of when, not if. In an update released this afternoon, Supergiant Games added cross-save support for PC and Switch players.

Here's the overview for the Nintendo Switch version, as outlined by the developer:

• Click 'Cross-Saves' in the main menu, then connect your Steam or Epic Games Account.
• Pause and quit to upload save data.
• More specifics about the cross-save process are in the Help & Info section.

Supergiant also offered a quick word of warning before anyone rushes in haphazardly: "Please be sure that your progress is in different save slots between PC and Switch! Instructions on how to move your PC saves to a different slot are in the Help & Info section on Switch (you just rename the save file)."

Also important to note for completionists: "if you transfer progress from the Switch to PC, you'll get any relevant achievements once you start the game! For example, if you reached the true ending already on Switch, you'll get the achievement for having done that."

Ghosts are people too. Or, more accurately, ghosts were people too. They need a helpful hand every now and then just like the rest of us.

Give ghosts all the help they need in the new slice-of-life game Cozy Grove from developer Spry Fox (who made Alphabear). Cozy Grove is about exploring a haunted island and performing tasks for the local ghosts, eventually restoring color and joy. There's a prominent crafting angle, probably by collecting a lot of resources to eventually make items the ghosts need.

It sounds like the perfect thing to kill a little time with each day, much like Animal Crossing or Stardew Valley. Spry Fox says Cozy Grove has a campaign that reaches beyond 40 hours, and is "designed to span months of playtime."

Cozy Grove comes to PC (Steam and Epic), PS4, Switch, and Xbox One sometime in the first half of next year. Until then, the ghosts will have to live in misery just like the rest of us. There is no escape.

For the past three years, I've posted the nominees for Destructoid's annual Best Remaster/Remake award of the given year. While it's fair to suggest that the category is hardly considered a "leading" topic in the annual GOTY discourse, it's not without its charm, having seen some solid winners in its past.

2020 is a little different. 2020 was a year where the general run of up-scaled and re-tweaked classics was replaced by a selection of varied, creative, and both conceptually and critically adored re-imaginings of some of the industry's most fondly-remembered titles. The year saw the return of several PlayStation paragons, a selection of tightly-held PC favorites, and one of the greatest PS3 titles of all-time. All of these titles paid respect to the past, while using today's technology and contemporary design culture to offer modern experiences to both new audiences and those of us with older souls.

As such, this year's Remaster/Remake category not only features a selection of truly excellent titles, but it is actually one of the premier – and most hotly contested – awards of this 2020's Game of the Year discourse. I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks.

These are the nominees for Destructoid's Best Remaster/Remake of 2020:

We're seeing PS5 upgrades pop up in unlikely places, and that's exactly how I'd categorize Terminator: Resistance. Teyon's "for the fans"-at-best Terminator shooter is getting an enhanced edition in 2021.

More than just a visually-boosted 4K60 re-release with added DualSense support and faster load times, Terminator: Resistance Enhanced will also have a new Infiltrator mode ("players can get under the skin of a T-800 series Infiltrator unit and strike out against Resistance forces") and balance changes.

The PS5 edition is launching on March 26 as a free upgrade for PS4 owners of Terminator: Resistance.

What's more, the PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game are getting a balance/difficulty update in Q1 2021 – and the PS5 and PC versions are planning to add a paid story expansion in summer 2021.

No word on any Xbox Series X/S enhancements, but yeah, I'm surprised. Prime bargain-bin fodder.

@Reef_Games [Twitter]

Idea Factory International has announced that Neptunia Virtual Stars will be arriving on PC via Steam, alongside its PS4 edition, when the action-adventure RPG wings its way westward sometime in 2021 on PC and PS4.

Originally released in Japan this past summer, Neptunia Virtual Stars (or VVVtunia) sees our favorite CPUs enter a brand new virtual realm, where they encounter, and then team up with V-idols MEWTRAL in a last-ditch effort to fend of the imposing might of the Antis invaders, who are bringing chaos to the planet Emote. Video games.

Neptune Virtual Stars features a cast of series regulars such as Nep-Nep, Vert, Blanc, and Noire, but also crosses over with legendary "real-life" V-idols who you may know from streaming brands such as Hololive, ReVdol!, Horror Academian, and upd8. Is "Korone" one of those?.. I'm so old, I'm so, so old.

In a wildly unnecessary turn of events today, the PC horror game Devotion won't be sold on GOG after all – despite the fact that developer Red Candle Games only just announced the release this morning.

Earlier today, it was announced that the game Devotion is coming to GOG. After receiving many messages from gamers, we have decided not to list the game in our store.

— GOG.COM (@GOGcom) December 16, 2020

In a statement posted to Twitter, GOG cited "many messages from gamers" as the reason it "decided not to list the game in our store." It's another bad look for GOG's owner, CD Projekt. (It's been a week.)

There's no denying that Devotion has had a bumpy road – it was pulled from Steam soon after its original launch in February 2019 due to backlash over an unfavorable reference to Chinese president Xi Jinping – but GOG's justification for supporting Devotion only to reverse its decision is something else.

It's one thing to choose to avoid carrying a game on your digital storefront, but to say you're going to help revive it only to immediately flip-flop on the same day? Talk about being your own worst enemy.

GOG hasn't released a more in-depth explanation yet. I'm curious to see if one will ever come.

As for Red Candle Games, the studio is "busy working" on its next video game.

It honestly didn't make a lot of sense to engage in mobile gaming this year. After all, the appeal of gaming on your iPhone or Android device ties into the fact you can play wherever you are. At the office, on the train, in the waiting room, anywhere you didn't have direct access to a console or PC.

But for most of 2020, people stayed in one place. The lockdowns and self-quarantines kept a lot of people away from work, off mass transit, and out of all the public places we normally enjoy. There was really no reason to settle for mobile games when you were never far from your preferred gaming device. Of course, not everyone considers playing mobile games as "settling," and this year, many titles proved to be worth your time and money.

This was the year that Apple Arcade blossomed into a worthwhile service with a phenomenal batch of apps that proved themselves worthy of the $5 subscription price. It was also the year the bar was raised for free-to-play gacha games. We may not have covered as many mobile titles this year as we have in the past, but that doesn't mean we weren't playing them.

Even as someone with Prime Gaming, I routinely forget that 1) it exists and 2) I have it. But every so often, the Amazon Prime perk pays off and I get something I've been meaning to play for no extra cost.

Beyond that unwieldy list of Prime Gaming freebies Chris posted the other week, there are a few other noteworthy inclusions for December: a Winter Warmer bundle for Fall Guys, the alright 3D platformer Yooka-Laylee, and the much-improved side-scrolling sequel, Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair.

The Fall Guys care package includes the cozy Winter Warmer costume and three coveted Crowns – don't spend 'em all in one place, pal! Redeeming the bundle is self-explanatory, but getting the goods into your PC or PS4 copy of Fall Guys after you redeem them is slightly more complicated. In the game, you'll need to head into the Settings menu, pick "Profile," and use the "Link Amazon Account" option.

You probably aren't stoked to play Yooka-Laylee via a separate app on PC, but the price is right. One other holiday bonus – Overcooked, if you somehow still need it – will be claimable on December 24.

After missing the console's launch, HBO Max is now on PlayStation 5 in the United States.

This really shouldn't be a big deal – it's one of many streaming apps – but given how elusive HBO Max can be on certain platforms and devices (like Roku), it's a sigh-of-relief news story for a lot of us hoping to go hard on movies in 2021. (Speaking of: here's a list of supported apps on PS5, if you need it.)

If you're unable to install HBO Max on your PS5, try restarting it – that should do the trick.

@PlayStation [Twitter]

In case you haven't been following along with Hearthstone, the last few weeks or so have been a doozy.

Blizzard completely overhauled the game's reward system, much to the chagrin of most of the playerbase. After some Reddit sleuths discovered that the game was actually being more stingy, the development team vowed to fix things with a future patch. That patch just dropped this week.

The short of it? You need 37,000 less XP to finish the entire seasonal rewards track, which is a significant drop considering that weekly quests reward you with anywhere from 2000-3000 XP, with XP boosters from the premium track. Arena quests have also been eliminated (good), and many XP-providing quests have been nerfed so that they're easier to finish. Also, there's 50 more gold per level from levels 27 to 30 (to help shore up the gold economy that was lacking). I'm sure the community will have further notes and this isn't the last we've seen of the rewards track saga.

As for actual content, the new Book of Heroes Garrosh quest is on the way on December 16, followed by Uther on January 5. Right now Jaina and Rexxar are available, and there's room for six more heroes (for now) after the Garrosh and Uther enter the fray. Several cards and one hero power have been reworked for standard and duels play as well, which you can find more info on here.

Capcom has released another duo of trailers looking at the deadly weaponry of its upcoming Nintendo Switch release Monster Hunter Rise. While previous videos have focused on more up-close-and-personal beast slayers such as the Dual Blade and the Lance, today's videos are for those who prefer to attack their prey from behind the sofa - namely Bowgun users. We see you.

The first video features the Heavy Bowgun which, as the name suggests, is a powerful tool capable of deliberate and steady shots, inflicting heavy-duty damage at a relatively modest weight. The Heavy Bowgun can be kitted out with Wyvernheart and Wyvernsnipe ammo, allowing for damage to be dealt at both mid and long ranges.

It's time for the third season of Fallout 76 to begin, and we have patch notes to mark the occasion.

This week on the official Fallout 76 blog, Bethesda laid down their plans for the "final update of the year," preceding the upcoming quality of life patch in early 2021, as well as the subsequent Brotherhood of Steel storyline content. While season three is the big thing in version 1.5.1.3, new "Core Vault" objects can help spruce up your C.A.M.P. through the completion of a very easy Home Expansion quest, and a bunch more bugs have been fixed. You can find the full patch notes below.

Having scanned over each and every patch, it's kind of crazy just how many bugs are still in the game, or are being added with subsequent updates. The biggest hit this week was regarding combat challenge fixes; as six enemy types were previously not counting toward challenge completion progress. I can't imagine how maddening it must be to not understand why any given aspect of the game doesn't work after all this time.

These are the sort of things a lot of people can brush off in a single-player game, but the "games as a service" approach has really put this one in a corner. Direct rewards are tied to mechanics like this, which can drive people to the Atomic Shop (in-game and real-money transactions). While Fallout 76 has markedly improved before my own eyes, I hope Bethesda learns from this experience and doesn't try to force this sort of model into a game that can't handle it again.

Oh yeah, Diablo IV!

I don't know what I occasionally forget this one exists, though it's probably because I'm so used to there not being a Diablo game in active development. There was a 12-year gap between Diablo II and III, and now, it looks like it might be at least a decade after Diablo III until Diablo IV is out. Who knows at this point? It's kind of in the Overwatch 2 column of "when it's finished."

To that end, Blizzard is working on eventually finishing it, and here's some proof, compliments of a new "quarterly update." The gist of it includes more info on itemization, and how Blizzard wants to "strengthen class identity," "support deeper customization," and is aiming for a depth level "between Diablo II and III." The team wants "years of things to discover and countless ways to build a class." More like Diablo II? Sure, that's going to get some people to perk up.

Blizzard is also working on shoring up skill trees, by "increasing the clustering of related skill nodes, so players don't have to go across the tree to find skill upgrades for their builds." The whole respec issue (the set-in-stone style of Diablo II versus the zero-penalty III) is still a tough thing to figure out, but Blizzard is going to put a cost on it this time. So while you can do it an unlimited amount of times, "it won't be free." Diving further into it: "as your character grows, the effort and cost required to respec will grow too. In the end-game, changing your build will require a significant investment, to appropriately match the time and effort you’ve put into defining your character." This sounds like something that's going to ruffle feathers at launch and will probably be tweaked.

In a lovely bit of news that seemed to glide under the radar yesterday, developer Distractionware announced that its excellent adventure title Dicey Dungeons is now available to download on Nintendo Switch via the eShop, priced at around $15.

Dicey Dungeons is a deck-building roguelike title, designed by Terry Cavanagh of VVVVVV and Super Hexagon fame. Players step into the cuboid body of one of six adventurers, who have been transformed into a six-sided die by the mischievous Lady Luck. From there, the heroes venture deep into labyrinthine dungeons, battling monsters, bagging loot, and upgrading skills and abilities.

While many titles on the market promise such thrills, Dicey Dungeons stands apart with its stylish and colorful visuals, wry sense of humor, excellent soundtrack, and unique "game show" aesthetic. Released to positive praise across the board, Dicey Dungeons is considered a notable entry in the pantheon of roguelikes, as well as a great jumping-off point for those new to the genre.

Dicey Dungeons is available now on PC, Nintendo Switch, and iOS and Android devices.

This weekend saw Ubisoft UK hold its first UK Black Game Pros Mixer event, in which an extensive panel of some of the UK gaming industry's most successful Black professionals held a video forum to discuss opportunities and share advice for those looking to get started in the gaming industry, be it as a coder, designer, artist, or even an esports specialist.

As part of the event, Ubisoft announced a new initiative: the Ubisoft Scholarship for Black Game Students. This program will offer two Black students currently studying for roles within the gaming industry financial and educational support in their schooling. The chosen candidates will each receive £11,250 toward tuition fees, as well as living expenses at Newcastle University's School of Computing.

"A lack of diverse workforces in the science and technology sectors is a challenge," said School of Computing head Prof. John Fitzgerald. "This Ubisoft scholarship is another step forward in attracting the best students from underrepresented backgrounds to Newcastle and we commend our partners at Ubisoft for taking action. In the School of Computing we are all committed to making this initiative a huge success, and ensuring it has a wide-ranging impact on the lives of the students who will benefit from it."

Doom and Doom II will never die.

I can confirm this, as I recently finished the sequel on Switch for the billionth time. It's one of the few games where it's kind of a given that it's going to be re-released over and over, especially if a bunch of old school lost levels from id Software and the community are proliferated throughout time. That's the sort of gaming history you don't want to lose on an errant floppy disc in a cardboard box somewhere.

To that end, Bethesda has granted access to Doom Zero: a free 32-level-strong DLC for folks who own Doom or Doom II. Described as DLC that "isn't low-calorie" (you could have gone a little more hardcore there!), it features "new enemies, bosses, sounds, music, and sprites." Yet, it's still very much 

This is all possible because of the Doomworld forums mod that was released in 2019 on PC: a solo effort by modder Christopher Golden. You can find out how that whole saga came about here, 

Doom Zero [Slayer's Club]

If you are one of the many Smash Bros. fans who cannot wait to see Final Fantasy VII antagonist Sephiroth in action, then your wait is almost over. Nintendo has announced that the gameplay breakdown for the One-Winged Angel will be released tomorrow (something we already knew); but now we have the additional info that it will run a meaty 35 minutes in length.

Hosted by the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate producer himself, the curiously titled "Mr. Sakurai presents Sephiroth" stream will feature over a half-hour of looooong sword action, showcasing Sephiroth's attacks, abilities, and Final Smash skills. More importantly, it might feature more of Sakurai's amusing dry wit and self-deprecating humor, which is what we actually tune in for. You can check out the stream over Nintendo's official Youtube channel.

Confirmed via a dramatic trailer at last week's Games Awards event, Sephiroth is the third Square Enix character to join Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's massive roster, alongside his FFVII rival Cloud Strife and Dragon Quest's Hero. It will be interesting to see what the reprehensible prick will bring to the SSBU meta, besides washboard abs and wistful angst.

SmashBrosJP [Twitter]

[Update: As expected, the Kojima Productions anniversary updates didn't amount to much. The studio released a wallpaper for its mascot "Ludens," and announced a line of branded clothing. Additionally, head honcho Hideo released a video, (which you can check out below), thanking fans for their loyalty. Kojima Productions is currently in pre-production stages on its next project.]

Believe it or don't, it has been five full years since Hideo Kojima launched his self-founded studio Kojima Productions. Originally established as a subsidiary of Konami, Kojima Studios has since branched out as an independent studio, releasing its first non-Konami venture, Death Stranding, just over one year ago.

As part of the studio's anniversary celebrations, Kojima Productions has teased that it will share several "exciting updates" tomorrow, December 16, at 14:00 JST / 21:00 PT / 00:00 ET. Now, don't lose your drawers just yet, these are "updates," so I wouldn't expect a full-fledged title reveal or anything similar. But it will be interesting to see what Hideo and co. have been up to in this particularly challenging year. We will, of course, keep you notified of any developments.

Is there a German word to describe a person who has stopped playing a live-service game but still keeps tabs on the outfits for no particular reason? That's where I'm at with Overwatch. I can't let go.

Today's Winter Wonderland 2020 event is adding eight new skins (three of which will be doled out in weekly challenges), and 4v4 Freezethaw Elimination, a mode in which eliminated players become frozen. It's basically a tug-of-war to de-thaw your teammates and fully wipe the opposing team, and if you aren't into it, there's also Yeti Hunt, Snowball Deathmatch, and Mei's Snowball Offensive.

Onto the new-for-2020 skins, starting with the challenge skins that require nine wins a piece:

Elf Junkrat (Weekly Challenge 1 from Dec. 15 to Dec. 22)

Gingerbread Ana (Weekly Challenge 2 from Dec. 22 to Dec. 29)

Frosty Roadhog (Weekly Challenge 3 from Dec. 29 to Jan. 5)

How are you at pitching? When you're a big-brained business type, you don't need to sell things. You just need to sell ideas. And they don't even have to be good ideas! You just have to make them sound good.

Go ahead and pitch Microsoft on the wildest Space Jam game you can think of. If they like your pitch enough, it'll get turned into a real game and added to Xbox Game Pass.

All of this is a promotion for the LeBron James-starring Space Jam: A New Legacy movie that's due out next year. Microsoft's hosting a contest where two pitches for arcade games will go through development and released. All you have to do is pick one of the 16 pre-selected images that best depicts your idea, and then explain it in 500 words or fewer.

Did your mind instantly go to erotic visual novel? Mine neither. But if you can make your Space Jam-themed erotic visual novel sound intriguing enough, Microsoft will probably definitely fund it. Or, maybe pitch a grand strategy 4X game where Bugs Bunny is some kind of emperor. How about a walking simulator where you examine authentic NBA gameplay (traveling joke!). Let's talk, Microsoft. I got ideas for days.

Anyway, two winners get their game made and put on Xbox Game Pass, along with a prize package that consists of: an official credit, LeBron-signed merch, Space Jam and Nike merch, a personalized Xbox Series S (spring for an X, Microsoft!), a private screening of the film, and a virtual Microsoft coding workshop for their local community.

I've settled on my pitch: It's about a 5'9" games blogger who gets drafted into the NBA even though he's in his 30s and doesn't have much of a jump shot. It'll be a rhythm-based shmup.

Want to Help Design the Xbox Space Jam: A New Legacy Arcade-Style Video Game? [Xbox]

Hopoo Games is growing, and so is Risk of Rain 2. In a developer blog post today, the team announced three new members – doubling the core crew size – and gave release windows for the 2021 schedule.

As was already announced, Risk of Rain 2 will still get one more big update and ongoing support, but otherwise, it's shifting to a paid expansion model to release "meaningful" new content that will "give RoR2 fans a reason to come back and support the game." That's what I want to hear for a roguelike.

The next step – the Anniversary update – is aiming for March 2021. It'll include cut content "like the Grandparent boss," new items and a new Survivor, profile stats, and improvements across the board.

Much later, in Q4 2021, the first paid expansion – "around two to three content updates in size" – will come out to "refresh the game for long-term fans." An alternate final stage and final boss, another mode, new Elites, new music, and more Survivors, common foes, stages, and items are on the docket.

Another promising move: better support for modders, which is a gift that will keep on giving. "We're also keeping an eye on our ever-growing modding community, and are making some internal changes (like moving away from fixed enum indices for content and more towards scriptable objects, investigating an engine upgrade) to work toward an easier and more sustainable modding environment for RoR2."

The new faces at Hopoo Games are programmer Ben Schofield (who's focusing on gameplay), Javid "Snonepe" (who's on animation), and Nick Bizzozero (who's working to keep Risk of Rain 2 an "engaging and visually slick experience" and previously cracked me up with the actually-fun Yo! Noid 2).

With the new console updates already in the bag, I've been playing a lot of Fornite with my wife. The Xbox Series X and PS5 versions run very smoothly for the sessions that I don't feel like playing on PC, and those ports just got a lot better today.

As of this afternoon, version 15.10 added in 120FPS support for both console families. Ally you need to do is enable it, and the game will convert to 1440p on Series X and PS5, and 1080p on Series S. That's it: it's enabled for all modes, not just PVP like Destiny 2. To be clear, these are legit Series X/S and PS5 versions of the game, not older versions that just happen to work.

The other big piece of news today is the addition of a limited-run "The Spy Within" mode, which is literally just Among Us, Fortnite style. You'll start on either the side of the "agents" (eight people) or the "spies," (two people). The latter will attempt to take out the former without being noticed, while the agents try and complete tasks and vote out alleged spies. It's going to be a yelly-Twitch-fest.

It's also, neatly, a community-created endeavor with Epic crediting DolphinDom, KKSlider, Bunni, Wert, Blanky, jstKamui, MackJack, Ritual, and Snownymous. A new twist will be cycled in and out of the playlist "every few days."

Assassin's Creed Valhalla just got its second major patch this morning, another much-needed Band-Aid as Ubisoft marches toward making this game function as intended. It really highlighted how long this is going to take.

As expected, the update 1.1.0 patch notes are all over the place. There's a bunch of general stuff like optimization and performance stability. There's broad-reaching gameplay tweaks like adjusting enemy power levels. As far as new content, this update also paved the way for an upcoming Yule Festival, which hasn't been detailed yet.

Most important, there are fixes for a ton of quests that were bugged. Ubisoft seems to be prioritizing the quests that affect actual progression while backburnering World Events that won't actually prevent people from continuing to play the game. Just like the first patch, there are approximately 100 different issues that are addressed. Check out the patch notes to see if your specific problem was tackled.

How long will it take until Assassin's Creed Valhalla is in a perfectly acceptable state for the majority of players? A long time. On the game's forums, the mega-thread of known issues seems to be growing faster than bugs are being moved to resolved. In the Player Support sub-forum, people are posting their new bugs with a new thread popping up approximately every minute. There's obviously a ton of overlap with the same problems being reported multiple times, but it's crystal clear that so many people have so many issues that they need fixed.

2020 was a weird – and for many people, at times frustrating – year for PC gaming.

That sentiment goes for plenty of people who tried to secure a PS5 or Xbox Series X/S at launch, and it definitely also goes for PC gamers. You might've been ready to upgrade your GPU while the going is good, but for many would-be customers, it was just one annoying close call after another. Whether you were hunting down a 3070, a 6800, or seemingly any piece of sought-after tech in this cooped-up "at least we still have gaming!" nightmare of a year, you weren't alone – the bots were out in full force.

That's not to say there weren't great PC games to check out in 2020 (in between our old favorites that are still going strong with regular updates), but the out-of-stock woes did overshadow things a bit.

I can't complain, though. For all of the frustration surrounding future-proofing purchases, this year also brought pleasant surprises like Gears Tactics, mind-bending out-of-the-box strategizing in Spelunky 2, a veritable VR masterclass in Half-Life: Alyx, and the long-awaited end of the road in Kentucky Route Zero.

Telenet Japan's classic adventure Valis is the latest in a long line of retro franchises considering lacing up the boots one more time. The action-adventure series, which will see its 35 anniversary in 2021, has just received a shiny new website in Japan, complete with the potential teasing of a brand new entry.

Originally launching on the PC-88 and MSX home computers in 1986, Valis: The Fantasm Soldier, told the story of a modern-age schoolgirl - Yuko Asou - who is designated by fate to protect three spiritual realms from invading monsters. Shocked by this dimension-hopping revelation, young Yuko nevertheless picks up the legendary sword "Valis" and heads into battle against the demon lord, Rogles.

While Valis itself is fairly clunky and rudimentary, it has been praised for its surprisingly layered story, use of cinematic cut-scenes, and great, old-school soundtrack. Valis would be followed by no less than five sequels in the ensuing years - appearing on PC, Famicom, Mega Drive, and FM-77 - before finally an unfortunate comeback as hentai series Valis X in 2006.

Still, with Valis' 35th anniversary on the horizon, a swanky new website, and the current trend of long, forgotten game series making a comeback, there is a strong possibility that Yuko might be donning the armor and taking it to nightmare-inducing monsters once again - proving, as if proof was ever needed, that you can't keep a good gal down.

Super Valis IV will be joining the SNES: Nintendo Switch Online app on December 18.

Valis: 35th anniversary website launched [Gematsu]

It's a little sadist of Team Meat to make the masochists wait an extra month. But, I guess the masochists will appreciate that punishment.

During last week's Game Awards, we found out that Super Meat Boy Forever is launching on the Epic Games Store on December 23. It spurred us to email PR and ask about timing of the console versions. We got a big ol' "We're not talking about [that] right now." With this morning's announcement that Super Meat Boy Forever will be a Switch exclusive at launch, the vague non-answer made a lot more sense.

Other platforms won't have to wait too long to jump in the grinder. PlayStation and Xbox versions of Super Meat Boy Forever are expected about one month later. That presumably means either late January or early February.

I, for one, am fine waiting another month. My reflexes go into hibernation at the end of the year. I just want to wrap up December with the least stressful games you can imagine. Then, once the new year hits, I'm back to peak performance. In fact, I might just wait until summer. Super Meat Boy Forever feels like it has big June vibes (or maybe my Vibe-O-Meter isn't calibrated correctly).

You've heard of game delays. Now let me introduce you to subscription service delays.

In terms of sheer bulk, access to the whole EA Play library is a pretty good reason to subscribe to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. That partnership was announced earlier this year. EA was just hitching its wagon to Game Pass Ultimate, making all of its subscription service offerings available to Ultimate subscribers.

It's already implemented on consoles, but PC is behind schedule for some reason. Today, the two sides needed to announce that EA Play for PC won't be coming to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate until sometime in 2021. There's no word about the cause of the delay apart from "We need more time."

A lot of EA's best stuff is on EA Play, and that's certainly valuable for people who subscribe to Ultimate. The website lists about 60 PC games, with stuff like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and the Dead Space games standing out. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers on PC will find out all about that next year.

Update on EA Play: Coming to Xbox Game Pass for PC in 2021 [Xbox Wire]

Looking back on 2020, I'm having a hard time fathoming that Dreams and Spider-Man: Miles Morales – to say nothing of the PS5 in general – all came out in the same year. It's been a long one. Too long.

Even if there is a new console on the market (if you can beat the scalper bots), the PlayStation 4 had a fantastic "final" year, though I hesitate to even call it that; it's not going anywhere. As someone who luckily did manage to get a hold of a PlayStation 5 at launch, I have to say, I'm truly splitting my time – I'm just as likely to boot up a PS4 title on this beefy boy than an honest-to-goodness PS5 game.

In some cases, like Ghost of Tsushima hitting 60fps, these games run substantially better on the new hardware. I hope that continues. I get the distinct feeling that even as true only-on-PS5 exclusives ramp up throughout 2021, I'll still be revisiting the PS4 hall of fame. That, to me, is a sign of staying power.

The PlayStation 4 was (and still is!) a hell of a machine, and this year's lineup brought it.

From the creative whimsy of Dreams, to the effortless flow of Miles Morales, to the harrowing terror of Last of Us Part II, and everything in between, PlayStation fans weren't short on memorable experiences.

The time has come for Wizards of the Coast to pull back the curtain on Magic: The Gathering's next viking-themed set: Kaldheim.

Billed as the most metal set yet, Wizards is kicking off preview/spoiler season on January 7 at 9AM PT, at which point we'll start to see the flavor and mechanics of the set come together. After that, it arrives on Magic: Arena and Magic Online (yep, that's still around!) on January 28, which marks the official launch of the set. From there it'll be available in pre-release form on January 29 (physical cards) and fully on February 5.

For now Wizards has given us a preview of some of the art, and it's pretty glorious: truth be told the art for the presumed land cards/environments are lovely! Wizards is also leaning hard into the metal aspect for the set's promotional materials, including a very stylized poster and collector booster set pack art. You can see all of that in the gallery below.

As a reminder; Throne of Eldraine, Theros: Beyond Death, Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths, Core Set 2021, and Zendikar Rising are still in standard. When Kaldeim hits, standard play is going to get even more complicated as deckbuilders will be able to draw from a huge pool. 

I'm looking forward to a hopeful shakeup beyond Gruul Adventures and Dimir Control decks! And on a personal level, some more staple mono-Red cards.

Kaldheim [Wizards of the Coast]

Capcom has released a selection of trailers looking at the intricate and ornate weaponry that will feature in its upcoming Nintendo Switch adventure Monster Hunter Rise. Each death-dealer in the hunter's arsenal has a style and personality befitting of its bearer. Choose wisely, as these tools are the only thing standing between you and your humongous prey.

For those who like to stay in the thick of the fight, but just out of harm's way, The Lance is here for all your mid-range poking needs. A mostly defensive weapon, the lance allows for guard-stepping, slick evasive maneuvers, and medium to long-distance striking.

Playing World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, I was constantly in awe of the scenery. I mean, just look at the screenshots I took for my review!

Each zone was mesmerizing in its own way. Bastion was a literal city in the clouds and the aesthetics reflected its undying hope. Maldraxxus was dark and dreary, but ready for war at a moment's notice: the lush greens were evocative of the envy of some of its denizens. Ardenweald is breathtaking (just like you!) and has slowly become one of my favorite zones to roam around in. And Revendreth: it's vampire burg, enough said. That gothic architecture is kissy fingers perfect.

Blizzard knows that they knocked it out of the park when it comes to Shadowlands' art, so they've set up a huge deep dive on Artstation for everyone to take a gander at. This is basically a free "art book" online, compliments of Jeff Parrott, senior art manager on World of Warcraft.

In it, they take us all on a journey throughout all of the zones I mentioned above, as well as a number of character and weapon designs. It's extremely expansive! I'm talking over 100 pieces of art, with individual breakdowns of which artist worked on each piece. I especially love seeing how the concept art measures up to the in-game reality.

For reference, Blizzard is calling this "part one," so there's more to come. Having seen most of what Shadowlands has to offer these past few weeks, I can attest to that! There's so much more to explore.

Tonight will see Activision's blockbuster shooter Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War receive its exciting Season One content drop. Developer Treyarch has added one final update to the title earlier this morning, which is now available to download on all platforms.

There are no patch notes - with details likely coming alongside the Season One premiere - but dedicated CoD community member Drift0r has already started to pick away at the details, listing numerous weapon re-balances, (thank heavens I already maxed out the AUG), as well as the foreboding arrival of the H.A.R.P. scorestreak - a recon plane that shows enemy positioning and direction. The troublesome flak jacket has also received a small nerf.

Today, Nintendo held yet another Indie World Showcase, to "ring in the holidays," as the publisher put it.

Although their big first-party push is done for the year, their indie side isn't, and for 15 whole minutes, we got a look at what other publishers have in store for the Switch. Yes, just the Switch. That's how Nintendo rolls these days! The 3DS and Wii U are dead, and there isn't a whole lot of new mobile development focus in 2020.

Behold! All of the news from today's Indie World Showcase, down to the menial dates and "console exclusive" windows and everything. As usual, they bookended the big stuff: the highlights are Spelunky 1 and 2 hitting Switch in the summer of 2021, and Among Us coming out today.

No Hollow Knight: Silksong news eh?

So as of...about five minutes ago, Spelunky 2 was only slated for PC and PS4.

But now, as part of today's Indie World Showcase, developer Derek Yu has revealed that both the original and the sequel will be available on the Switch together. Yu confirms that it's arriving in 2021, with both local and online multiplayer.

Later on in the broadcast, Nintendo confirms a "summer 2021" window for both titles.

This is probably one of the coolest things I've seen all year, and a bright gaming spot in an otherwise rough 2020.

As Modern Vintage Gamer has pointed out, it is possible to run the system link feature across four generations of Xbox. As in, the original Xbox console, the Xbox 360, the Xbox One, and the Series X/S. That's 19 years of backward compatibility with features like local multiplayer on top of already running the game.

Modern Vintage Gamer goes over the entire process in the video below, using Crimsons Skies' system link to connect all four generations. Back in my day you used to have to make your own 50-foot crossover CAT-5 cable to play Halo between two consoles (yes, I crimped it myself and everything).

Having run many multiplayer LAN parties before (you haven't lived until you've played Mario Kart Double Dash to its true potential), this is an amazing achievement, and would make the logistics of those get-togethers so much easier. I've commended Microsoft again and again for sticking to backward compatibility and game preservation, and now I'm doing it again today.

Bravo.

Gears for Breakfast, the studio behind beloved adventure A Hat in Time, has revealed the brand new title Here Comes Niko!, currently in development at indie studio Frog Vibes.

As the announcement trailer details below, Here Comes Niko! sees the titular kid arrive in a new locale as part of an "Professional Friend" internship, before they immediately set about micro-managing the lives of the island's inhabitants, while sprucing up the landscape itself. We get to see Niko growing plants, gathering fruit, solving dilemmas, playing games, exercising, painting, and just generally working hard at enjoying their new world, all while making a bevy of anthropomorphic pals. What a glorious way to live.

With noticeable vibes of several popular titles - including Paper Mario, Animal Crossing, and Harvest Moon - and described as a "cozy 3D platformer for tired people", Here Comes Niko! looks set to become a sweet obsession to keep your fingers busy during lazy afternoons. Available for wish-listing right now on Steam, (with a Nintendo Switch edition also in the works), I'm definitely looking forward to hearing more about this cute title in the coming months.

GTA Online continues to live on after its 2013 debut, as Rockstar continues to pump resources into this money-maker.

At this point it's tough to say when GTA VI should actually come out from a financial perspective; as it would behoove Rockstar to avoid oversaturating their own online market and have people jump ship if the main squeeze is still healthy. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me to see GTA VI's online component arrive much later.

Either way, today, GTA Online players feast. The free Cayo Perico Heist update is out, but it's more than just a heist. Rockstar is calling it the "biggest update ever," with a substantial geographical landmass increase, alongside of a new club, extra music and DJ performances, and more vehicles, clothing, and weapons. 

The most significant part of the update for me? Rockstar says that this is the "first heist that's playable completely solo from start to finish," on top of the open-ended nature of the event. So even if you're pressed for time and don't want to wait for Mark to show up 20 minutes late to every online session (Mark!), you can just run it on your own schedule.

Oh and one more thing: if you log in between December 18 and December 20, you'll get a free Dinka Veto Classic go-kart.

Cayo Perico Heist [Rockstar]