Gamespot

After closing its doors on February 14 this year and firing all its staff, HQ trivia is back. The surprise resurrection was announced by company CEO Rus Yusupov on Twitter, and a push notification was sent to users who still have the app installed on their phone.

The response to the announcement has been mixed. While some users are keen for the distraction in a time when we desperately need it, others are still owed money from an app that closed without enough funds to pay its staff severance or cash out its users.

The demise of HQ Trivia was a messy one, with the hosts sending out one last angry, alcohol-fueled broadcast for the app's final show. Between the company co-founder Colin Kroll's sudden passing, the departure of a well-liked host, and conflicts with both staff and investors, HQ Trivia had more than its share of controversies even before the money ran out.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection's release on PC continues, with developer 343 Industries expanding the testing phase for Halo 2 and Halo 2: Anniversary. The developer announced on Twitter that "Ring 1" testing has begun, meaning even more people are now being allowed in to the test, but it's unlikely you'll get in right away.

Ring 1 includes "external partners" that work with 343 Industries. This ring comprises people from across the world who give feedback to the studio, but it's not exactly clear who these people might be. If there are any major issues reported, the developer may decide to bring the game back to Ring 0 (which is for internal studio developers). If it all goes well, the beta--or "flight" in the Halo vernacular--will move on to Ring 2, which includes even more external partners. Ring 3, meanwhile, includes members of the public who have joined the free Halo Insider program. A full explanation of the Ring system is available on the Halo website.

One of the first horror games for PlayStation 5 has received its first trailer. Developer TeamKill Media has released the first trailer for the "cosmic-horror" first-person shooter game Quantum Error.

The trailer looks impressive, but the studio cautioned that the footage was generated in-engine, and is a work-in-progress look at how the game is coming along. As such, it does not represent the final game, so keep that in mind when taking a look at the trailer (via VideoGamesChronicle).

Quantum Error is the second game from TeamKill, following their debut game, Kings of Lorn: The Fall of Ebris. That title was released in 2018 for PS4 and PC.

Microsoft Flight Simulator is looking like, by far, the most detailed and meticulous flight sim ever made, but there will inevitably be a divide between players who want to take it very seriously and players who want to do loops and fly erratically. Now, in a new video, the game's multiplayer features have been revealed--and it looks like Microsoft is planning to cater to all kinds of players.

By default, Microsoft Flight Simulator's live servers will put you in a shared online world with not only other players, but AI replicas of real-world flight paths, meaning that you'll be able to track the flights happening all over the world in real-time while flying yourself. Time and weather conditions will also be synced up with real-world conditions in Live Player mode, which can be entered seamlessly without needing to join or start a lobby.

The game will show off "most, if not all" airplanes that are in the air in the real world at any given time. But players can also choose to create their own conditions if they so desire, or make realism less of a priority.

In most shooters pistols appear as a starter weapon, but Doom Eternal skips players straight to a shotgun instead. It turns out a pistol was once planned, but was ultimately cut out when it didn't fit the flow of the gameplay. The weapon is still in the game, however, and can be accessed with console commands via Cheat Engine.

Console commands for Doom Eternal are available thanks to the work of SunBeam on Fearless Revolution Forums, while the pistol itself was unearthed by user Archangel73337. The full topic is worth a scroll for anyone keen to see what other secrets have been left hidden in the game's code, inaccessible through normal gameplay.

Dave Oshry of New Blood Interactive was the one to post this little tidbit on Twitter.

When NBA 2K16 depicted the tattoos of LeBron James, Kenyon Martin, and Eric Bledsoe on its in-game models, it led to a lawsuit from the original tattoo artists. Tattoo company Solid Oak Sketches filed a lawsuit against Take-Two Interactive and Visual Concepts, claiming the companies didn’t license the tattoo designs owned by Solid Oak.

A federal judge has now ruled in favor of the developers, saying that the tattoos make such a minor appearance in the game that copyright can’t be claimed, and that an implied license was granted via the players, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

After a judge refused to dismiss the case initially, James himself testified. "My understanding is that [my] tattoos are a part of my body and my likeness, and I have the right to have my tattoos visible when people or companies depict what I look like. I always thought that I had the right to license what I look like to other people for various merchandise, television appearances, and other types of creative works, like video games," James said, as reported by the Hollywood Reporter.

Cloud Imperium Games, the developer of the ambitious PC space sim Star Citizen, has raised even more money, but this time from investors instead of fans.

The studio has announced (via Kotaku) that the Calder Family Office, Snoot Entertainment, and ITG Investment have all purchased additional shares in Cloud Imperium. In total, Cloud Imperium has raised $17.25 million from these investors in the latest round of funding.

The three companies had already invested in Cloud Imperium before, back in 2018, so they were able to negotiate with the company to buy shares at a discounted price. Exact financial terms of the investment was not disclosed.

Throughout gaming history, most consoles have kept to the same basic rectangular shape (with some notable exceptions). Now, Microsoft is throwing a new form factor in the game with the distinctly fridge-shaped Xbox Series X. In an interview with Eurogamer, key members of the design team revealed why the new Xbox is so different.

To give the shortest answer to this question--it's all about performance, creating an over-powered console without it ending up the size of a regular PC. From the beginning the team knew it would require a different design mindset than any other console. “We knew it was going to be powerful and we knew it was going to require a totally different way of thinking about how to design a console,” principle designer Chris Kujawski said.

The goal for the new console was to double the system’s graphical performance, while keeping it just as quiet as the Xbox One. This technical challenge meant completely rethinking the structure of the machine.

Nier: Automata, one of the most beloved games of this console generation, is going to expand to a wider audience soon. The Become As Gods edition of the game--which includes all of the DLC released for the PS4 version--is joining the subscription service on April 2.

The game is coming to the console version of Xbox Game Pass, so PC users are out of luck. But Xbox One players who have not checked out the critically-acclaimed action title will be able to dig into it very soon.

This news comes alongside the reveal of a Nier remake, Nier Replicant Ver. 1.22474487139, which will be based on the Japanese PS3 version of the game (which is a bit different from the version that was released for PS3 and Xbox 360 in the west).

The new Xbox Series X controller, like its predecessors, will use AA batteries instead of a rechargeable battery that is found in PlayStation's DualShock controllers.

Xbox partner director Jason Ronald told Eurogamer that the Xbox audience is split nearly evenly when it comes their preference between AA batteries versus a built-in rechargeable battery. Sticking with AA batteries for Xbox Series X is an effort to please both camps, as people can still buy a rechargeable battery pack for the controller, Microsoft said.

"What it comes down to is when actually talking to gamers, it's kind of polarizing and there is a strong camp that really want AAs," Ronald said. "So just giving flexibility is the way to please both [sets of] people... You can use a rechargeable battery pack and it works just like it does on the Elite, [but] it is a separate thing."

Following Call of Duty: Modern Warfare before it, Halo 5: Guardians has added a new premium DLC pack that players can purchase to support the ongoing COVID-19 relief effort.

Microsoft has released the "Relief and Recovery" REQ pack for Halo 5, which includes an assortment of rare items that players can use in the game's multiplayer mode. All proceeds from the $10 USD microtransaction will go directly to the charity Global Giving's Coronavirus Relief Fund.

The DLC pack comes with five customization items that are at least ultra-rare, in addition to 10 rare or better boost cards to help you level up faster in multiplayer. The DLC pack will be available through April 30

The long, long wait for Final Fantasy VII Remake on PlayStation 4 has been a little shorter for a few fans. Reports have surfaced of the game breaking street date, and a few early copies making their way into customer's hands amid stores shutting over fears relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Reddit, one user has posted images of their copy of the Deluxe Edition, showing what is available in the slightly-pricier boxed version of the game. Although those images have since been removed by moderators, they clearly showed a copy of the game and the contents of this edition.

Square Enix has also posted an update on the game's availability, admitting that it might be harder to get physical copies of the game into people's hands due to the pandemic.

"As we prepare for the release of Final Fantasy VII Remake on April 10, we wanted to keep you updated on how the proactive measures being taken to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus are likely to affect the distribution and retail landscape in western regions at launch," the post reads. "As you will be aware, many countries are limiting entry or closing their national and state borders and restricting the distribution and delivery of non-essential items. Understandably these restrictions are being implemented so that essential items can reach their destination as fast as possible."

To celebrate the 10th anniversary for the original Nier, Square-Enix held a 10-hour livestream which included a concert performance and a chat with the game's creative leads. During that conversation, the surprise announcement was made, via a beautiful, but vague trailer, that the original Nier will be re-released on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, as Nier Replicant ver. 1.22474487139.

That title's a bit of a mouthful, but there's pretty good reason for that. The Replicant part isn't actually new. When the original game was released in the west, it was simply called Nier, and was a stand alone game. In Japan, it was actually two titles: Nier Gestalt, which released on the Xbox 360, was the Western release, in which the protagonist is a middle-aged man in the distant future attempting to cure his daughter of a deadly illness. Nier Replicant, on the other hand, was exclusive to the PS3, and featured a much younger protagonist trying to cure his younger sister instead. As such, this new release is essentially the first time Nier Replicant has ever been released outside Japan.

VR headsets aren't all created equally. We at GameSpot have tested out the newly released Half-Life: Alyx on the four biggest VR headsets: Valve Index, HTC Vive Pro, Oculus Rift, and Oculus Quest.

From a top view, it's no surprise that the Index is the ideal platform to play Alyx on, considering they're both made by Valve. But it's also the most expensive and currently in short supply. The Vive is the next best opinion; it's designed for steam VR, which makes setup with Alyx easy, and you can swap out the subpar Vive controllers with the Index's to take advantage of the finger tracking.

While you may lose some of the more advanced features playing on an Oculus, you're still going to have a good time with Alyx. The only headset we have trouble fully recommending is the Oculus Quest, as the Oculus Link software is still in beta and can have connection issues. But if you already own a Quest and are willing to put up its shortcomings, it's still completely possible to play Alyx on it.

Nintendo's charmingly offbeat life-sim series Animal Crossing made its long-awaited debut on Switch this month with the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The game arrives nearly 20 years after the franchise first premiered on the world stage, and in that time it has grown into one of Nintendo's marquee properties, appearing on almost all of the company's modern consoles and shifting millions of copies worldwide. But while Western fans were introduced to the series with 2002's eponymous Animal Crossing for GameCube, the franchise actually originated on Nintendo's previous home system, the Nintendo 64, and it was initially born out of one of the company's biggest commercial failures.

The very first Animal Crossing game, known in Japan as Dobutsu no Mori (or Animal Forest), was the brainchild of two Nintendo designers: Katsuya Eguchi and Hisashi Nogami. While neither may have the name recognition of Shigeru Miyamoto or Eiji Aonuma, each has had a hand in creating some of Nintendo's most beloved titles. Early in his tenure at the company, Eguchi designed levels for Super Mario Bros. 3 and would later direct Star Fox and Wave Race 64. Nogami, meanwhile, worked as a character designer on Yoshi's Island and Mario Kart 64 (and would eventually go on to produce another breakout Nintendo franchise, Splatoon).

When you start a new island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you'll find an assortment of flowers of one type on your cliffs. As you play, you'll be able to buy more flower seeds and plant a variety of flower species to spruce up your island paradise. All of these flowers will be red, yellow, or white, but there are also quite a few other colors you can get if you learn to garden the Animal Crossing way.

These "hybrid" flowers include black, blue, purple, pink, and orange variations of the flowers you can plant normally. Hybrid flowers aren't just pretty--they can sometimes attract rare bugs you couldn't get otherwise and can also be used as crafting ingredients, so it's a good idea to have at least a few on your island.

Types Of Flowers

Like with your native island fruit, there will be one type of flower that grows on your cliffs when you start the game; keep in mind that you'll need a ladder to scale the cliffs. You can buy other varieties of flowers (in seed form) from Tommy in Resident Services or at Nook's Cranny when it opens. The flower varieties include:

There are a ton of reasons to use a VPN in today's world. Being able to connect to a private network and hide your true location has a lot of security benefits, but it can also be a great way to access content that's restricted to specific regions from around the web--I even use one to look at other region's prices for GameSpot's deals coverage. And if you're stuck inside during these trying times, you may be looking at another country's available movies and TV shows, wondering how you can watch them. A safe, secure VPN is the answer.

Now, there are a ton of free VPN options out there, but I wouldn't recommend any of them. It can be hard to tell which ones are actually of good quality and even harder to know if any of them are monitoring, using, and/or selling your personal information. My suggestion is to avoid all the free options.

Thankfully, there are a number of affordable and great VPN providers out there, all of which have been tested and verified by us or our sister site CNET. We've selected a handful that we trust and included their best deal, but if you're looking for even more options, be sure to check out CNET's guide to the best VPN service for 2020.

Housing is hard to come by in the MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV, as there's limited space and lots within the game's residential areas. It's why Square Enix also has a condition that if a house hasn't been accessed for 30 days, it'll be marked for automatic demolition--and after 45 days of inactivity, the house will then be removed. However, citing the effects of coronavirus and its impact on people's situations--and by extension, its player base--Square Enix has enacted a temporary freeze on its housing policy.

On the official FFXIV site, Square Enix put out a statement about the change and stated, "Taking into account the world-wide spread of the COVID-19 (also known as 'novel coronavirus') and the economical effects of various cities going into lock-down, we have decided to temporarily suspend automatic housing demolition."

The freeze on housing demolition went into effect immediately. However, if your house had already been marked for demolition prior to the change in policy, you'll need to access your house in order to save it. The freeze will be in effect indefinitely as the FFXIV team said that it will "monitor the situation in the coming days, and inform you all when we have come to a decision that auto-demolition can commence again."

If you thought March already had enough to keep you busy with big games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Doom Eternal, then you're mistaken. April is nearly upon us, and with it comes riveting dose of nostalgia in the form of top-tier classic game remakes, Final Fantasy VII and Resident Evil 3. Another notable standout this month is Microsoft's Gears Tactics, an XCOM-style spin-off of the Gears of War franchise, which comes alongside several other releases both big and small.

To give you a look at what's ahead for PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Switch, we've rounded up all the biggest games of April 2020 below. For a broader look at the titles still to come this year, be sure to check out our list of game release dates in 2020.

Nintendo shared a new trailer for Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition during this week's surprise Nintendo Direct Mini. Along with giving us another look at the upcoming game, the presentation revealed that there will be entirely new story content, and you'll be able to play it right from the beginning.

Nintendo confirmed on Twitter that the new epilogue story in Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition--called Xenoblade Chronicles: Future Connected--will be available from the outset, so you won't first need to clear the main storyline to access it. That's good news if you've previously played the game and want to jump right into the new content, as the main story can take upwards of 100 hours to finish.

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition is slated to launch on May 29. However, as Nintendo noted at the start of the Direct Mini, release dates that were announced during the presentation are subject to change due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Fortnite's Week 6 challenges of Season 2 are now live, and like last week's batch, these are themed around the Meowscles skin. That means that you'll need to do some cat-like things to complete a few of the missions, such as destroying dog houses. If you're not sure where those can be found, we've put together the map and guide below to help you out.

Where Are The Dog House Locations?

Dog houses aren't exactly prominent fixtures, so you may have some trouble tracking them down. Fortunately, there are quite a few of them scattered around the map, so it shouldn't be too difficult to find three and complete this challenge. Many can be found by houses in big residential areas like Pleasant Park and Holly Hedges, so you'll definitely want to narrow your search to places like that. To make it easier, we've marked down some areas where you can reliably find dog houses on the map below.

In Animal Crossing: New Leaf, you could travel to a tropical island and find a variety of different fish, bugs, and fruit. This island was always the same, permanently in summer year-round. The Mystery Tour in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is an extension of this feature, with a variety of deserted islands to visit (but within your own hemisphere and season).

Mystery Tour islands are much smaller than your main island, but they're great for meeting new villagers, gathering extra resources, and even making tons of money if you're lucky. We've rounded up our best tips for deserted-island hopping as well as all the types of Mystery Tour islands we've found so far.

For more Animal Crossing guides, be sure to check out our guide hub, which links out to our various features explaining and answering some of the game's biggest subjects. Otherwise, read our Animal Crossing: New Horizons review in progress.

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord is launching on Steam Early Access on March 30, a day earlier than expected. The sequel, developed by TaleWorlds Entertainment, has been eight years in the making.

On top of releasing a day early, Mount & Blade II will also be available for 10% off during the first two weeks of sale. Anyone who owns a previous title in the series will be eligible for an additional 10% off in select digital stores, too. The reason for this? The coronavirus, of course. "It might seem like a pretty ideal time to release a game (after all, everyone is at home right!?)," the studio said in a blog post. "But we know that the current situation has placed a lot of people in a difficult position when it comes to balancing their finances and risking their health," so it decided to introduce some discounts.

TaleWorlds has recently been working on the game remotely, but that hasn't slowed down development. "We have tried to make the best of a bad situation and thankfully, with the help of our IT team, have been able to continue work on the project from home. This has come with its own challenges of course, but we are still very grateful and lucky to work in an industry where it is possible to work remotely, which we know isn't the case for many of you."

Gearbox has been steadily raising overall power level of Borderlands 3 with events that offer more generous drops and level cap increases. Still, you may be missing out on some high-level gear, so the developer--just after the release of the Lovecraft-themed Guns, Love, and Tentacles DLC--has made it easier than ever to get great loot for a limited time. Until April 2, you can just buy it.

A "Door Busters Mini Event" in the game adds legendary weapons and items to vending machines. That applies across all types of gear, so you can get legendary mods and shields from med vending machines, and legendary grenades from ammo vendors, in addition to legendary guns.

Some legendary items are one-of-a-kind collectibles with special properties, which you can usually tell if the name of the gear makes some kind of reference to another piece of Borderlands lore or even other video games. Others are just super-charged versions of epic or rare guns with stronger stats or more modifiers. Note that some special legendaries are locked to story missions, and as a result probably can't be found in vending machines. As usual for vending machines, the gear offered will be roughly matched to your current level, so the higher your stats the better loot you can buy.

Predator: Hunting Grounds will have an open beta this weekend, across both PS4 and PC. The asymmetrical multiplayer title will also support cross-play during the weekend, giving you a chance to play with a wider pool of players during its test.

Predator: Hunting Grounds borrows ideas from developer Illfonic Games' previous multiplayer title, Friday The 13th. Four players assume the roles of four different human classes, ranging from a standard assault class to a sneaky scout and supportive medic. You'll have to fight against a range of AI enemies and complete objectives to escape the tropical horror, while a fifth player assumes the role of the iconic Predator to hunt you down.

Players can attempt to take down the Predator or complete objectives fast enough to escape, while the Predator needs to use sophisticated weapons to pick off other players without being caught in a trap. Predator players will have three distinct configurations to choose from, each with their own tools and weapons that inform your method of hunting.

I love almost everything about Doom Eternal, including those tough Marauders that some people have a disdain for. But there's an optional aspect of the game that is thrust upon you from the start and can negatively impact the experience--those pesky tutorial messages.

Whenever you first encounter a new enemy type in Eternal, you're immediately presented with a pop-up notification explaining virtually everything you need to know about them, including weaknesses and how to most effectively deal with them. This doesn't happen after being killed by such an enemy (although the loading screens do default to enemy-specific tips depending on how you died), but before you've even had the opportunity to fire a shot, let alone begin to examine their behavior or prod for weak spots.

Part of the joy with Doom Eternal is the speed with which everything happens, and--as discussed in our review--the mindfulness with which you make decisions. You need to carefully consider what your most urgent resource needs are and how to best deal with whatever foe is in front of you, and it would be fun to mix in the occasional puzzle of figuring out the best way to tackle a new enemy type. Given most of these first-time encounters happen in a one-on-one fight where little else is happening, it wouldn't necessarily be too overwhelming.

The free-to-play first-person shooter Warface--which originally came out in 2013 for PC and 2014 for Xbox 360--has reached one million players a month after launching on Nintendo Switch, publisher My.Games announced.

Developers Allods Team and Crytek shared some interesting in-game statistics alongside this announcement. These include players completing nearly 500,000 PvP matches, and PvE missions and co-op Special Operations being the Switch's most popular modes. Further, total playtime on the Switch has surpassed 83,000 days since launch. Earlier this year, My.Games' head of global publishing Alexey Izotov said a lack of shooters could benefit Warface--and this new player milestone seems to corroborate this.

In addition to this announcement, Allods Team confirmed plans to release Warface's next big update on all three platforms--PlayStation 4, Switch, and Xbox One--simultaneously. While what this update will contain remains unknown for now, the studio said it will arrive sometime this summer.

In the ongoing trend of events being postponed due to the global spread of COVID-19, Summer Games Done Quick is being postponed from June until August, with all previous submissions being voided this April.

Citing the threat of the virus, Games Done Quick organizers have made the decision to move the charity speedrunning event to later in the year, with a tentative start date of August 16. The event, should it take place, will continue through August 23. Organizers note that they are continually assessing the situation and monitoring updates from the WHO and CDC, which could impact the event further still.

As a result of the change of dates, all submissions for Summer Games Done Quick are being redone. Participants will need to save their entry data before it is wiped on April 26, with new submissions opening on the same day and remaining open until May 9. Hosts and volunteers will also need to reapply to note their availability for the new dates. The new list of games at the event will be posted on June 6, with a schedule following on June 15.

Publisher Devolver Digital has announced that My Friend Pedro is heading to PlayStation 4 next week on April 2. The side-scrolling shooter was originally released last year on both PC and Nintendo Switch.

The PS4 version will include extra Code Yellow content, which adds 14 full-throttle game modifiers and some highly requested features, such as an in-game timer for speedrunners, a hidden HUD option, and plenty more.

Developed by DeadToast Entertainment, My Friend Pedro is a balletic action game revolving around a guy who's friends with a sentient banana. It's use of split aiming, slow-motion, and stylish combos bring to mind the early Hong Kong action thrillers of director John Woo, where inventiveness and flair are just as important as simply staying alive. You can even kill guys by ricocheting bullets off a frying pan.

The weekend is here in Destiny 2, and that means that in addition to this week's Iron Banner, we've also got the Trials of Osiris, and a visit from Exotics vendor Xur. Gear up for your Power-enabled PvP exploits with the Agent of the Nine's inventory of rare weapons and ammo. Here's everything he's offering and where to find him.

Xur is in the EDZ on Earth this week, in the Winding Cove area. His weapon offering is The Huckleberry. Hunters can grab The Sixth Coyote chest armor from Xur, while Titans can snag the Crest of Alpha Lupi chest armor, and Warlocks can purchase the Skull of Dire Ahamkara helmet.

Xur Location

From the Winding Cove transmat zone, head north to the edge of the area, where you'll find a big cliff. Look for a cave opening or scale the cliff up to a crashed Fallen dropship. You'll find Xur hanging out on the edge of the cliff beside the ship.

Pokemon Go developer Niantic has had to cancel a number of this month's events due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but the Psychic Spectacular is going on as planned. The event is now underway, and it makes it easier to find Psychic Pokemon--and a new Shiny--for a limited time.

Until 10 PM local time on March 30, Psychic-type monsters such as Wobbuffet, Girafarig, Bronzor, and others will appear more frequently in the wild. You'll also have your first chance to find a Shiny Baltoy, as well as two new Gen 5 Psychic Pokemon: Solosis and Gothita. The former will be more common during the day, while the latter will appear at night.

Bandai Namco's team-based competitive action game Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker has added a brand-new DLC character on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One--and it's available right now.

Hokage Naruto from the Boruto series is Shinobi Striker's 20th add-on character and the ninth piece of content in the game's Season Pass 2. This grown-up version of Naruto can be acquired as an individual purchase for $4 USD or by picking up Shinobi Striker's second Season Pass, which retails for $30 USD on all digital storefronts. You can check out Hokage Naruto's reveal trailer below.

Hokage Naruto isn't the only DLC character you get for grabbing Shinobi Striker's Season Pass 2. In addition to him, the second Season Pass comes bundled with eight more characters, including Zabuza Momochi, Eight Tails Jinchuriki Killer Bee, grown-up Sasuke Uchiha from Boruto, Might Guy, and more. Of course, each character can be purchased individually for $4 USD.

New Releases normally covers the biggest video games launching each week, but thanks to Persona 5 Royal, this episode is looking a little farther ahead. It's an action-packed episode with the likes of Ninja Theory's Bleeding Edge, the anime-styled One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4, and the Nintendo Switch port of Saints Row 4: Re-Elected. And after more than a decade, Valve is finally returning to City 17 with Half-Life: Alyx.

Half-Life: Alyx -- March 23

Available on: PC

Yes, we're finally getting another Half-Life game, and as the name implies, you play as Alyx Vance, filling in the story between Half-Life 1 and 2. Alyx is a VR game, letting you physically reach out and manipulate objects, fire guns, and solve puzzles. The game is compatible with most PC VR headsets, and if you own a Valve Index, you'll get a copy for free.

Over the past couple of weeks, a bunch of publishers have been giving away free games to help keep people occupied while social distancing. While most of the current freebies are for PC, there are a handful of great mobile games up for grabs, too, including one of the very best puzzle games in recent years: Monument Valley 2. Normally selling for $5, Monument Valley 2 is completely free right now on iOS and Android. Developer Ustwo Games announced the promotion with an adorable video clip and message to fans on Twitter.

A sequel to the 2014 breakout hit, Monument Valley 2 has a wealth of excellent maze puzzles that play with your senses thanks to optical illusions and seemingly insurmountable obstacles. It also has a greater emphasis on narrative than its predecessor. In Monument Valley 2, you control Ro and her young child on a journey about personal growth and the sacred bond between mother and daughter.

GameStop has announced plans to close more than 300 stores in 2020, though the retailer was careful to note that this is part of an ongoing plan and not a response to recent trends. Chief financial officer Jim Bell announced the closures during the company's latest fiscal earnings call.

Specifically, Bell said that the closures this year will be roughly similar to the closures in 2019, when it closed roughly 320 store locations on net. GameStop currently operates roughly 5,500 stores around the world.

"In fiscal 2020, we will continue in our efforts to de-densify our store base, focused on maximizing product productivity of the entire fleet," Bell said, via Gamasutra. "[We] anticipate store closures to be equal to or more than 320 net closures we saw in fiscal 2019 on a global basis. Importantly, we want to emphasize that these store closures are a very specific and proactive part of our de-densification plan and they are not related to recent business trends."

Resident Evil 3 Remake is coming with an asynchronous multiplayer mode, Resident Evil Resistance. A final open beta was planned for this week before next week's full launch, but the beta has been delayed on Steam and PS4 due to apparent issues.

The open beta was planned to go live on all three platforms--PC, PS4, and Xbox One--as of Thursday evening in North America. The Xbox One version is currently up and running, but the Steam and PS4 versions are missing in action. An announcement posted to the Japanese site says the test is being postponed on Steam and PS4 due to an unspecified problem.

"We are very sorry for those who are looking forward to it and for those who have been waiting for the resumption, but we will postpone the open beta test on PlayStation 4 to investigate the cause," a note reads (via Google Translate). "Also, the open beta test for the Steam version, which was scheduled to start on March 28, will be postponed as well."

The Resident Evil 3 remake is just one week away, and Capcom has released a new trailer focused on protagonist Jill Valentine. The zombie-slaying action hero faces some deadly enemies, including the relentless Nemesis.

Primarily covering an early area of Resident Evil 3, the new trailer sees Jill Valentine joining forces with Carlos Oliveira as Raccoon City comes under attack. After restoring power to the subway system, Jill makes her way to the traffic control system and runs into Nemesis. His terrifying elongated teeth are intimidating, but the laser-guided rocket launcher his shoulder is even scarier.

Just like Leon and Claire discovered in Resident Evil 2, Jill soon learns of Umbrella Corporation's true and nefarious intentions. The world would never be the same after the Raccoon City Incident spread its experimental virus and turned people into mutated zombies, and Resident Evil 3 shows how the city crumbled.

Resident Evil 3 Remake takes the foundation from the recent RE2 treatment and applies it to the classic third game, including the ever-present threat of Nemesis. But why stop at one Nemesis? Why not multiple Nemeses? What if the game were absolutely crawling with them?

Modder FluffyQuack has answered that question with a mod for the RE3 Remake demo (via PC Gamer), which turns every enemy into a Nemesis. As it turns out, one Nemesis is better for delivering scares, because a litter of them ends up seeming kind of silly and bumbling. Too many Nemesis spoil the ambiance somewhat, as the many hapless Nemeses lumber around and bump into one another.

The Resident Evil 2 Remake was similarly known for a wacky mod community, with mods that turned the threatening Mr. X into Thomas the Tank Engine or the horrible goose. One mod even tagged in Geralt, known for his monster-slaying abilities, to deal with Racoon City's zombie problem.

Despite the coronavirus (COVID-19) affecting its projected profits, Sony still expects the PS5 to launch this holiday season.

Speaking with Bloomberg, a Sony spokesperson said there won't be, as Bloomberg puts it, a "notable impact on the launch" of PlayStation 5 later this year. Other facets of the company's business are expecting slashed profits. Compared to its financial forecast back in February, Sony's profits are likely to be about $370 million lower.

It's possible upcoming first-party PS4 games could be affected by the pandemic, as Sony's Chinese manufacturing centers were shut down for weeks as the outbreak was being managed. At this point, there are no announced delays, with The Last of Us Part 2 arriving in May and Ghost of Tsushima releasing in June.

Buy two, get one free sales on games have become a regular occurrence at Target, and the retailer is kicking off another one this Sunday, March 29. Target's latest B2G1 free game sale will include popular AAA games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. While we won't know for sure if Amazon will match Target's sale until the promotion begins, Amazon almost always joins in on the buy two, get one free fun.

However, Target's ad contradicts itself. The promotion shows new games like Doom Eternal, Persona 5 Royal, and Resident Evil 3 Remake--the latter two of the three don't even release until after the sale starts. But the fine print claims that the sale "excludes pre-order and new-release video games." It's quite the conundrum since those games are the most prominently featured titles on the ad page. Though Target has included certain new release and upcoming games in these promotions in the past (such as Nioh 2), for now we have to assume that the layout of the ad is misleading.

So far, Target has only revealed a small sample of the hundreds of games that will be featured in the promotion. We've listed the eligible games we know about below and will update this article with the best deals once the promotion is live. Target's B2G1 free sale runs from March 29 through April 4.