Game Informer

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It's that time of year again. The big releases are in gamer's hands and now is the time to reward the hard-working creators who put them there. Thus comes another edition of The Game Awards, an award show put on by the one and only Geoff Keighley to celebrate the gaming achievements of the year while also offering plenty of surprise looks at what's to come in 2021 and beyond. 

While every year has its highlights, 2020's crop of titles didn't make voting any easier on fans and game journalists the world over. Whether you delighted in the indie-charm and excellence of games such as Hades or Ori and the Will of the Wisps or were blown away by AAA experiences such as Ghost of Tsushima or The Last of Us Part II, the year in games was filled with amazing examples of why this medium is incredibly special.

To celebrate such an occasion, we're going live to watch The 2020 Game Awards with the GI community. Join Ben Reeves, Alex Van Aken, and me as we react to all the awards, performances, and surprises while giving you our "expert" opinions as the show goes on.

Valve is tinkering around with how its storefront operates and compartmentalized its library for users to enjoy. Among the latest tweaks is the inclusion of an Adult-only NSFW games curator section designed to house mature titles that are not intended for younger audiences. 

While a plethora of these game titles are sexual in nature, not every single title included is sex-driven, including a few that are far-reaching into drugs and other more mature themes. That being said, it's an adult section, so expect lots of hentai, tentacles, and the things that memes are made of. 

The new section is broken down into many subcategories including Games With Adult DLC, Realistic 3D Models, H (Sex) Scene In-Game, Furry, Gay & BL (Boys Love), Yuri & GL (Girls Love), Series, Daily Promotion, and more. Games creatively called things like "Men Bang" and "Sexena" (I hope you can tell I'm kidding here, but all in good fun) are available to opt into, though clearly meant for those 18 and older. 

Riot Forge's Ruined King: A League of Legends Story has been delayed. The messaging was updated today in an announcement, with the game falling out of early 2021 to a more broad 2021 window. What does this mean? If you were waiting to prance among the Shadow Isles with your favorite League of Legends characters in turn-based combat, it's probably not going to happen in the first half of the year. Ruined King: A League of Legends Story is expected to launch on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

A message from Riot Forge. pic.twitter.com/CQWnWsHrc8

Nintendo announced on Twitter this morning that a new Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fighter will be unveiled during tonight’s Game Awards. The annual event is as famous for its world premieres as the actual awards, so while it’s not surprising to see Nintendo use the show as a platform for a big announcement, it’s exciting nonetheless. 

A new Super #SmashBrosUltimate fighter will be revealed tonight at #TheGameAwards! Tune in to the show, beginning at 4pm PT, to be ready for the reveal! pic.twitter.com/Lkw9fRrizl

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Which life path should you choose? Do you upgrade your weapons or buy new ones? How should you prioritize mainline missions versus the side quests? Cyberpunk 2077 is a massive open-world experience that can seem daunting when players are first booting up the game. As you traverse the prologue, not only are you tasked with creating an ideal cyberpunk from a massive menu of options, but you'll also have to pick from three different backstories and figure out how you want to invest your skill points. But fear not, that's where your friendly neighborhood Game Informer editors come in.

Join Andrew Reiner, Liana Ruppert, and Kim Wallace as they walk you through the tips and tricks that can ease your experience traversing Night City and help you excel where others who didn't watch this video will struggle. As someone who has yet to play the game myself, I found their guidance on life paths and skill points extremely helpful, so we hope you do too.

If you have questions we didn't answer in this video, be sure to leave them in the comment section below, and we'll try to get to them in future content.

CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 has been in development for the better part of a decade, and its release is right around the corner. However, this isn’t the first time we’ve gotten close to a Cyberpunk’s release ­– the title has had a stunning number of launch dates. Join us as we look back on some of our favorites. 

May 30, 2012

Official Ranking: N/A
Can you believe that Cyberpunk almost came out eight years ago? Gotcha! This wasn’t a release date, it was the announcement of Cyberpunk 2077 (but back then it was just called Cyberpunk). I just threw this in here for perspective. Cyberpunk 2077 has had a very long development. Technically 2077 didn't enter full preproduction until after the release of the Witcher III's Blood and Wine expansion, but the point still stands. A lot can happen over the course of eight years. Now sit and think about all the time you've wasted in that time. Now, quickly think about something else so you don't spiral into a self-defeating depression. Need a distraction? How about another release date!

Much like an entertaining Josef Fares rant or a “surprise” Hideo Kojima appearance, celebrity cameos have become a staple of The Game Awards. Host Geoff Keighly has spent the last week name dropping the big stars on Twitter that will be hosting the all-virtual awards show. 

The names range from Hollywood stars to game industry luminaries to sports commentators to even a Muppet. With the big show airing tomorrow night, we’ve compiled a list of every confirmed presenter and musical performer (at the time of writing).  

Presenters

Geoff Keighley has grown The Game Awards so much through the years, effectively making it the Oscars of gaming. The growing lavishness means even more opportunities for exciting new reveals, and according to Keighley, we'll have a solid 12-15 new game reveals during this year's showcase. 

In a recent Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything), Keighley answered a few questions about the showcase kicking off on December 10. Among the questions answered were ones centered around new game releases. With five reveals slated for the pre-show, the producer gave a tentative confirmation of "I think around 12-15 or so?" when talking about main showcase announcements. 

Comment from discussion I’m Geoff Keighley, Producer of the Game Awards. AMA!.

He confirmed later on Twitter that these announcements are specifically about brand new titles that have not been revealed at all, so no bait in switches regarding if this is something previously confirmed and just new information. 

Are you ready to get in there and sling some webs? A new update has rolled out for Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales that allows players to select performance mode with ray tracing. This means you can play the game in 60 FPS with ray tracing, getting all the spiffy lighting benefits that one gaming's biggest next-gen buzzwords provides.  

Just what is ray tracing anyway? We know it makes games look better. According to Wikipedia, ray tracing is a rendering technique for generating an image by tracing the path of light as pixels in an image plane and simulating the effects of its encounters with virtual objects.

Ready to try out the new mode? You can find it by selecting "Performance RT mode" in your options. As one of the headlining games for the PlayStation 5, it's great to see continuing updates roll out for the new titles. However, if you haven't been able to get your hands on a PS5, this update doesn't help much.

Our new update overnight introduced Performance RT mode on PS5. 60fps and ray-tracing! https://t.co/SSRy9vq9Aw

The new generation of gaming is here with the Xbox Series X, but part of Microsoft's ecosystem goes beyond just consoles. The Xbox Cloud Gaming experience puts the power of games into player hands through mobile devices, and now the company is expanding on that service by bringing it to more devices. 

Microsoft's ethos going into this new generation began laying the groundwork mid-Xbox One era and from there, it has grown exponentially. With more ways to connect, enjoy games, and play with others, the company is constantly looking at expansion opportunities while it also works on its ongoing acquisition hauls on the console side as well. 

"As we look at how we define success at the start of a new generation for gaming, we can think of none better than more and more players connecting with their friends and discovering games they love," reads a new blog post with CVP of Microsoft Gaming, Jerret West. "It’s the billions of hours and over 3,800 different games you played in the last month that is the foundation for our success at Xbox."

That growth includes more Xbox Game Pass engagement, with member numbers doubling in count. A few other interesting stats were shared, including: 

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If you're into gigantic monsters and Milla Jovovich, then we've got some good news for you, because the Monster Hunter movie release date has been bumped up for the second time, now dropping next week on December 18. 

The upcoming live-action adaptation was slated for a December 25 launch initially, but has been moved up once more by one week. This was following the news that China blacklisted the film due to a racist joke made known from an exchange seen between two characters. Though the director, and Capcom, have since addressed - and apologized for - the racially-charged incident, it looks like the show (or movie) must go on. 

So bring on those palicoes and gigantic monsters, because the film staring Milla Jovovich, Tony Jaa, Ron Perlman, TI Harris, Diego Boneta, and Megan Good is coming soon. 

Remember that big Halo Infinite delay announcement? Halo Infinite now has a release window, targeting fall 2021. After a campaign demo failed to live up to what audience expectations for the next generation of Halo could be, inspiring plenty of memes and raising some eyebrows, the team at 343 has gone into overdrive mode working on the Halo Infinite experience. Today, a post on the official website drops some important details about the game, the process, and what's changed. We'll tackle a few of those points in a moment, but the real important information is the date. Fall 2021. 

While that may seem far away now, that's still quite a speed run for a game development team to get the game ready for launch. While the demo highlighted gameplay, some felt that the art assets and graphics did not live up to next-gen standards. And the Halo (and wider gaming) community was definitely not quiet about sharing their opinions about it.

Ooblets’ combination of monster collecting and farming simulation has charmed the pants off of players since it launched in Early Access on PC (via the Epic Store) and Xbox One over the summer. Now that we’ve entered the chillier months, developer Glumberland responded in kind by introducing update v0.5, AKA the Coldyrain update, which brings snowy weather and winter-themed items to Badgetown.

The Ooblets v0.5 ❄️Coldyrain Update❄️ is LIVE now!!

New snowy weather, plant heaters, meltilizer, snowplops, and a brand new friend... pic.twitter.com/cb9gMEurka

— Ooblets (@ooblets) December 8, 2020

New items include snow plops, meltilizers, and plant heaters. We don’t know what the first two items entail, but the video demonstrates how plant heaters revitalize the now frozen crops. The best addition, though, is the introduction of Wuddlin, a new Ooblet that kind of resembles a penguin crossed with Gizmo from Gremlins. Wuddlin only appears when it snows, so players will want to check out Ooblets sooner than later to catch one. That’s because Glumberland says Coldyrain will only last from now until late January. After that, the frequency of snow days will drop and occur randomly throughout the year. 

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time originally released in 2003 for PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, and PC. Kyle Hilliard considered it to be an essential game because of its tight parkour controls, flashy combat, and time-bending mechanics/narrative. A remake was announced in September during a Ubisoft press conference with Ubisoft Pune and Mumbai slated to head the game's development. Unfortunately, the remake has been delayed - however, you won't have to wait long as the release has only been pushed back two months. 

A message from The Sands of Time dev team was posted to Twitter today stating, "we wanted to let you know that we are taking additional time to work on the game...we believe that this is the right call to ensure we will deliver a game you will enjoy."

An update from the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake dev team: pic.twitter.com/zKCoJPkzmM

Respawn Entertainment’s Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond brings the long-dormant shooter franchise into VR and it looks promising so far. However, interested players are going to want to clear out quite a bit of hard drive space on their PCs to make room for the beefy game. How much space, you ask? How does over 300 GB sound? 

According to Polygon, Medal of Honor requires 340 GB of free space to download and unpack assets. After that, the game itself will occupy 177 GB of hard-drive space. For those worried that Medal of Honor will balloon in size over time the way Call of Duty games do, Respawn assures players that future updates won’t be nearly as large. 

The minimum system specs are as follows:

Spider-Man 2 (2004) featured Doctor Octopus' first live-action appearance. Aldred Molina starred as the nefarious scientist opposite Spider-Man hall-of-famer Tobey Maguire. Today, Variety is reporting that Alfred Molina will be reprising his role as Doc Ock in the upcoming Spider-Man 3 film. Of course, this time he'll be butting heads with Tom Holland. 

Alfred Molina isn't the only actor from previous Spider-Man installments to join Spider-Man 3's star-studded cast. Jamie Foxx is also retuning to play Electro, a role he filled in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 alongside Andrew Garfield as the titular web-slinger. Many of the main cast from Spider-Man: Far From Home will be returning including Zendaya as MJ and Marissa Tomei as Aunt May. Finally, Benedict Cumberbatch, or Doctor Strange, is set to appear in the film as a mentor/father-figure to Peter Parker.

Maybe Molina got this role because his performance was so great before, or maybe it's just a nice nod to Spider-fans. But there's also a chance that the upcoming movie could involve the intersection of several Spider-verses, collecting villains and heroes from the different film sequences over the years – a theory supported by both Molina's reappearance as Doc Ock, and Foxx's reappearance as Electro from yet another Spider-man continuity.  

We may be sheltering in place until this pandemic ends, but that doesn't mean we have to abandon our holiday spirit. Since we're locked away in our homes, there's no better time than now to throw on a holiday sweater.

Many of us wear these "beautiful" garments to one holiday party a year, and then retire them to the darkest corners of our closets. Since no one can see us wearing them this year, we can enjoy these wonderful creations all season long.

Just be careful of mirrors. You'll see your reflection, and may give yourself a heart attack from fright.

If you're looking for new sweaters for your collection, I scoured the internet for the best of the best and rounded them up for you below. I would actually wear a few of these out into public.

Majora's Mask from Anime Ape

Spyro the Dragon from Numskull

The Prime 1 Studio Showcase that premiered last Saturday revealed a bevy of fantastic large- and small-form collectibles. Perhaps one of the most impressive statues shown was Ghost of Tsushima's Jin Sakai (you can see the statue at the 59:00 mark in the link above). The legendary samurai can be seen standing atop a mound of rubble and stone steps; yellow leaves falling around him - just as they do in-game. There's even a fox by Jin's left foot, likely prepared to lead him to a nearby shrine. Prime 1 Studio has a reputation for making incredibly detailed work and this new Ghost of Tsushima statue definitely lives up to the hype.

『Ghost of Tsushima』より境井仁のスタチューが登場！

【PRIME 1 STUDIO PHASE I SHOWCASE】配信中！https://t.co/yOfqT8K7WN#PRIME1SHOWCASE #GhostofTsusima #ゴーストオブツシマ pic.twitter.com/Rz3CbOwQsV

Cross platform play has been an oft-requested feature for Destiny 2 but, unfortunately, 2020 won’t be the year that guardians on different platforms can squad up and knock out some raids. Bungie confirmed yesterday that cross-play won’t arrive until 2021. 

In a developer blog post, Bungie shared a list of planned updates for next year. Cross-play sits among them, but there’s no exact window on when players can expect it. We’ll just have to wait and hope that the feature arrives sooner than later. 

Other things to expect next year include the return of the Vault of Glass Raid, DDOS protection for all console players, and the Fallen S.A.B.E.R. and Devil’s Lair strikes. Additionally, Bungie is expanding Legendary and Master Lost Sector rotation to include Lost Sectors on the Moon along with three new pieces of Exotic armor.  

Yesterday, I compiled a few helpful tips for those that may suffer from photosensitive epilepsy that were still hoping to check out CD Projekt RED's upcoming adventure Cyberpunk 2077. Despite the article not being an attack on the studio, instead trying to help anyone who wished to dive into Night City a chance to do just that, a large group of the internet seemed to take offense to the safety tips provided. The article in question came to be as a result of a grand mal seizure that occurred earlier this week due to an ongoing occurrence in the game that resembles something designed to trigger a neurological episode. Instead of taking offense alongside those more vocal, the studio updated a more visible warning on its website (a warning not seen in the game itself) with a promise to find a "more permanent solution" to make the RPG more accessible to all. 

The polish studio took to Twitter with a short message attached to a retweet of our initial story, saying "Thank you for bringing this up. We're working on a separate warning in the game, aside from the one that exists in the EULA. Regarding a more permanent solution, dev team is currently exploring that and will be implementing it as soon as possible." 

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Sony dropped a new montage video hyping upcoming first- and third-party games coming to PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4. The video confirms release windows and platforms for each game shown, as well as how long timed exclusives will remain such before releasing on other consoles. One of those games is Square Enix’s Project Athia, which had been unveiled at the June PlayStation showcase. According to Sony's video, the mysterious RPG will be exclusive to the system for two years. The game currently has no release window. 

The video also reiterates which games will be cross-platform and which will be PlayStation 5 exclusive. Some of this new was already out there, but Sony makes it plain as day to erase any remaining confusion. 

Here are the confirmed platforms and exclusivity times for upcoming third-party titles: 

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Monster Sanctuary is out today on PlayStation, Xbox (and Game Pass!), Switch, and PC. What is it? Well, it's a cozy little creature collector where you assemble a team of monsters, battle them, collect gear, and learn new skills! The world is full of different interactions that you can unlock with creature abilities, and you can level up and grind your team to new heights to your heart's content.

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Oh, there's PVP too or something in case you feel like showing off your mad skills. So what are we going to do? We're going to play it, of course! On another exciting episode of New Gameplay Today Live, join Dan Tack on his first experience with the game. Let's learn together as we explore this magical world full of fun critters and dangerous enemies!

Ready to join in the fun? We're going live at 2 PM CT, so come on by and enjoy the show!

With Hitman 3 launching on January 20, Agent 47's next assassination attempt is right around the corner. Today, developer and publisher IO Interactive is giving you an intimate look at Agent 47's tools of assassination in a new three-minute gameplay trailer.

The footage shows off the immense scale of some of the environments, with Agent 47 standing on the spire of a skyscraper and a high mansion balcony he uses to take care of a target. We also see his new camera in action to hack a door lock, but more importantly, we see how he mixes up cocktails.

As players make progress and take down specific targets, new tools and gadgets will unlock in the new Mastery Tracks, which feature 20 tiers per level. Your play style will be tracked and rated.

IO Interactive is calling Hitman 3 the "dramatic conclusion to the World of Assassination trilogy," and it looks like a hell of a send of with Agent 47 traversing the globe to locations like Dubai, Dartmoor, and Chongqing. You can see the trailer below:

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On February 20, 2021, Niantic is inviting trainers to a new daylong event called Pokémon Go Tour: Kanto, which celebrates the 1996 Japanese release of the Game Boy titles Pokémon Red & Green. Much like 2020's Pokémon Go Fest, you can enter this event from anywhere in the world – you just need to purchase a virtual ticket to get in. But what ticket will you choose? The Red Version or Green Version?

Niantic is selling two different tickets to the same event, as a way to mimic the original games' each having version-exclusive Pokémon. That means, if you buy the Red ticket, you'll have the chance catch Pokémon that a trainer with the Green ticket won't be able to, and vice versa. The tickets cost $11.99 each. Trainers can only purchase one ticket. You can't get both Red and Green to get all of the event Pokémon.

Niantic clearly wants players to trade Pokémon to try and collect them all. Most trainers may have them all already, as the only Pokémon that will be at the event will be from the Kanto region, which just happens to be the original 150 Pokémon. All of them will have shiny forms, including Mew.

You won't be able to catch Mew at the event, however. When trainers begin playing, they'll be asked to complete a Special Research event that delivers an unannounced reward. When that task is complete, another Special Research mission will unlock, this one Niantic says can be "completed over a long period of time." At the end of this challenge, you'll run into shiny Mew.

Tickets to the Kanto tour are available now within the Pokémon Go app.

Blizzard has announced that the latest World of Warcraft expansion, Shadowlands, is the fastest-selling PC game... ever! If you're interested in checking out the Azerothian afterlife, take a look at our review here.  Blizzard stated that more than 3.7 million copies have sold as of the first day of launch. This milestone beats the previous fastest-selling PC game, also a Blizzard game, Diablo III, which sold 3.5 million copies as of its first day.

As I said in my review, one of the major draws of the expansion is Torghast, which lets players take the traditional WoW dungeon experience and tackle it in a completely different way, solo or with friends, with the run changing every time. It's similar in fashion to a roguelike game in that it resets every run and you obtain a different set of powers and face different challenges every time you go in.

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The Phantom Thieves of Persona 5 fame are ready to embark on a new adventure with Persona 5 Strikers. Using a combination of the hack-and-slash gameplay of the Dynasty Warriors franchise and the turn-based combat of the Persona series, Persona 5 Strikers tells a unique tale set six months after the events of Persona 5.

Persona 5 Strikers sets Joker, Ann, Ryuji, Mona, and the rest of the Phantom Thieves out on a road trip across Japan. While on a summer vacation with their group of friends, a distorted reality emerges, prompting the powerful team of corruption fighters to investigate the mysteries popping up in cities all over the country. Players can expect to expand beyond Tokyo to visit six different cities, featuring regional recipes you can cook before jumping into action against the Shadows within various Metaverse dungeons. Atlus says Persona 5 Strikers has a deep story campaign that players can enjoy whether they are new to the franchise or longtime fans.

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Starting today and running through December 13, five percent of every purchase of Ori and the Will of the Wisps on Switch will go to Rainforest Trust, a charitable organization that helps protect tropical forests around the world. The physical release of Ori and the Will of the Wisps hit retail shelves today, and can also be purchased from Nintendo's eShop or as a collector's edition from iam8bit.

Developer Moon Studios, iam8bit, and distributor Skybound Games are also pledging $25,000 to Rainforest Trust. In a press release, iam8bit's Jon M. Gibson and Amanda White said "As we’ve worked with Moon Studios to publish the Ori series on Nintendo Switch, we’ve been struck by their dedication to expressing nature as a living, breathing entity worthy of protection. Following their lead, we wanted to do our part to preserve nature, and are excited to work with the wonderful and dedicated people at Rainforest Trust to do just that.”

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Gamers were introduced to developer Cococumber’s Echo Generation during Xbox’s Summer Games Fest, the pre-show for Xbox Games Showcase. The voxel-art RPG takes the “charming kids embark on a supernatural adventure” vibe of EarthBound and Stranger Things and combines it with classic role-playing trappings. In collaboration with The Game Awards, interested players can take the game for a spin with a limited-time demo that will be available on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC, and runs from tomorrow, December 8, to December 15.

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The Game Awards 2020 is set to air this Thursday, December 10 at 6:00 PM CST. While we know that 2020 was a remarkable year in the world of video games, we don't yet know how journalists and fans will vote. Will The Last of Us Part II walk away with all of the awards? Will Hades be crowned game of the year? Could Yakuza: Like a Dragon be snubbed altogether? In this Game Informer podcast extra, Liana Ruppert, Marcus Stewart, Blake Hester, Alex Stadnik, and Ben Reeves try their best to predict the big winners as well as forecast some of the new game announcements. 

The Animal Crossing: New Horizons December update has quite a few new features for players to enjoy before ringing in the new year. For those looking forward to what this holiday season has to offer when it comes to that island experience, Nintendo has shared a new video detailing exactly what fans can expect to see. 

A new month means new bugs and fish to capture and sell or garnish that museum with. With the new update, the Pond Smelt can be found in rivers alongside Lobsters for divers and the Dung Beetle later this month.

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While that's cool and all, we all know what gets us the most excited: events. December brings in the Toy Day event, bringing in that holiday cheer and allowing players to decorate their islands with new DIY recipes, festive additions, and new flair to get the entire town into that holiday spirit. 

Over the years, accessibility has been garnering more and more attention in the gaming space, and for good reason. While many studios have been making an incredible effort to make games more accessible to all, there is always more work to be done in entertainment; not just games. After playing Cyberpunk 2077 for the past week and a half (our full review can be seen here), there is an epileptic warning I'd like to offer to those Samurai heading into Night City. Enjoy your time, but here is a heads up to do so safely if you're vulnerable to epileptic triggers. 

A common trigger for epileptics in media are rapid blinking lights, specifically of the red and white variety. As someone that does have seizures myself due to an injury from my time when I was active duty, the past few years have been a massive learning experience for me when navigating some of my favorite and most anticipated games. I no longer can enjoy titles like Dead Space freely like I used to, which opened up an entirely new world of development that I was previously blind to. Since seizures have become my new norm, I often make sure to pay special attention to certain design choices that can be harmful to those sensitive to neurological traps so that I can decide for myself if something is safe to play, decide if there is a way to work around those obstacles, and try to offer some navigational tools for others that may be facing the same roadblock. 

The Game Awards kick off next week and with it comes the celebration of our favorite titles of the year as well as a few surprises for fans to enjoy. Geoff Keighley has been dropping teaser after teaser, including the confirmation that we'll be getting a new look at Dragon Age 4 from BioWare following an extensive concept art reveal earlier this year. 

While we don't know what the reveal will be; a new trailer, an update from the studio itself following the news of Mark Darrah and Casey Hudson's departure, or more concept art — we do, at least, know that something is on the way. 

Don't miss a special look at the next DRAGON AGE from @bioware during #TheGameAwards next Thursday. pic.twitter.com/zPKHWroH7i

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Activision has dropped the cinematic trailer for recently delayed Season 1 of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s multiplayer. The trailer teases that Rebirth Island, which had previously been leaked by dataminers, will likely appear in the game. 

Stitch, a new operative with a long-standing grudge for Russell Adler, takes center stage in the trailer. The video sees Stitch plotting and luring Adler and his team to the Mall at the Pines, a location that had also been leaked online last week. He holds up a photo of Rebirth Island (also known as Vozrozhdeniya Island), a location that appeared in the original Call of Duty: Black Ops, and states he was in charge of developing the biochemical weapon Nova-6 there until Mason and the Americans foiled plans of its release. Stitch was then captured and tortured by Adler for information before being sentenced to the Gulag, where he found his “true calling”. 

Last week's Xbox Series X trailer featured a heavy betrayal Master Chief faced from an adorable puppers, now with a new one directed by Taika Waititi, Master Chief is no more — instead, transforming into Meowster Chief. And you know what? I'm here for it. 

Called Lucid Odyssey, Waititi drew inspiration from YouTuber MoonLiteWolf's dreams to put this concept together, which explains the more "out there" concepts regarding the sci-fi nature of the latest commercial. As a huge cat person, seeing Master Chief as a cute kitty while, for some reason, being a DJ was just the amount of weirdness that struck a chord. 

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As someone that had a dream where I was somehow married to Master Chief and we were on the run with our child ÙÃ-1496 (what?) from a horde of zombies with neural implants, I can't really criticize any concept. Luckily, this concept doesn't really need and critique; it's creative, it's cohesive, and it's a genuinely enjoyable video that doesn't take up too much of anyone's time. 

This won't be the last dream sequence either, Microsoft has confirmed that the series will continue with more dream-esque commercials with celebrities, content creators, and more. 

Scott PIlgrim vs The World: The Game - Complete Edition is coming January 14th, Ubisoft announced today. The game, first announced during the Ubisoft Forward event in September, originally had a vague 2020 launch window.  

The Complete Edition resurrects the fan-favorite brawler, which launched in 2010 and is based on the popular Scott Pilgrim graphic novel series (and bolstered the live-action film released the same year). The game draws heavily from classic beat em’ ups like River City Ransom, with up to four players controlling Scott, his girlfriend Ramona Flowers, and his buds Kim Pine and Stephen Stills. Players go around punching all manner of wacky enemies to take down Ramona’s seven evil exes, all while being inundated with a boatload of comic and video game references.  

Getting a PlayStation 5 is hard for those that missed out on the pre-order spurts or don't have an army of bots at their disposal, but it looks like it's even hard for those that managed to get a successful order in. Among a slew of mishaps (including mine being stolen right off of my porch at no fault to Sony), one eBay buyer didn't receive the shiny new system they ordered — instead, they received a brick of concrete. 

As reported by Fox 13, one Orem, Utah buyer purchased a new PlayStation 5 for this holiday system, only to receive a hunk of concrete instead. The buyer purchased the PS5 from a scalper for $878. While that may sound high, it's a lot lower than a lot of the prices scalpers are asking for, which ranges well above $1,000. 

The buyer told police that he didn't expect anything to be amiss when the package arrived, he only noticed something was wrong when he opened up the "system" purchased. Luckily, it looks like he'll be able to get a full refund for what he bought vs. what he got, but it does serve as a warning for those buying from scalpers on sites like eBay. 

Cyberpunk 2077’s launch is just a few days away, and we’ve now played the game and explored Night City to our heart’s content. During our journey, we spotted a familiar face: Hideo Kojima! As previously revealed, the creative visionary behind Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding has a cameo in the game, but he’s a bit hidden. Don’t want to miss him? Here’s where you can find him.

Hideo Kojima shows up a few hours into the main story, but he’s not directly a part of any scenes. Instead, you find him simply by exploring. We stumbled upon the famed  director when we first headed to Konpecki Plaza, which occurs when V is about to embark on their first legendary mission entitled "The Heist." Your partner Jackie wants to go straight up to your hotel room as he's saddled with heavy luggage, but you can tell him you’re going to explore for a bit and will meet him later.  Do this for your chance to spot Kojima. 

From the lobby, walk to the back of the hotel to find a bar and restaurant; you’ll see a hostess standing right in front of it. As you walk through the entrance, head straight back and to the far left where you’ll find Kojima sitting in a booth surrounded by a few people. If you hit the actual bar, you’ve gone too far.

Our review of Cyberpunk 2077 was conducted using the PC version of the game, as the console versions were not (and are still not) available for testing. Cyberpunk 2077 launches on December 10 for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4, yet developer and publisher CD Projekt Red only made the PC version available for the review. This doesn't mean you should be concerned, but if you are looking for impressions of the console versions, we don't have them yet, but will do our best to bring you them as quickly as we can once we get hands-on time.

For PC players, I can say Cyberpunk 2077 is a monster of a game with a great backdrop to explore. It's rich in story and depth, allowing you to fully soak in Night City while developing your character in powerful ways. In my review, I gave Cyberpunk 2077 a score of 9 out of 10 and said it "can be dark and disturbing at times (frighteningly so), but the majority of its content is fascinating and loaded with depth through the various RPG systems and lore. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Night City, and Johnny Silverhand is a great partner to see the sights with. Cyberpunk 2077 doesn’t overstay its welcome with its critical-path story, but also invites players to jack in and stay for hundreds of hours of unique content should they want to. It didn't blow me away like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, but is still a hell of an opening to what will hopefully be a new series."

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From what we've seen of Dragon Age 4, especially with the extensive concept art shared earlier this year and the ending of Inquisition's Trespasser DLC, and the associating comics with Mage Killer and Blue Wraith, the next phase of the story will focus heavily on Antiva and Tevinter. With the most recent concept art revealing what looks to be Dragon Age Origins' Zevran making a return with his silver-laden armor, and the most recent short seen on Dragon Age Day, it's no wonder why all eyes are on what's next for our favorite ex-crow. For those hoping for a reunion with our smooth-talking elf, the voice actor behind the charismatic character is rallying fans with his excitement to potentially be involved. 

Jon Curry has an amazing voice (I'm pretty sure it's required by law to have a voice kink if you're a BioWare fan) and he is more than down to reprise his role as the ex-crow with a silver tongue. The call to elf-loving arms began when Curry teased a new project on Dragon Age game on Twitter, saying "Just found out I'm going to be voicing an awesome new character soon. Stay tuned! Super exciting."

Immediately, fans responded with Zevran questions, to which he replied "I sure wish they'd bring Zevran back!! Can someone start a letter-writing campaign? Wow, how old fashioned was that statement???"