Oh, hi again! We’re in the final month of what is arguably one of the most impressive years in gaming in recent memory. So when you find yourself at the end of the week looking to get some gaming in, how can you possibly choose among the embarrassment of riches that’s been released this year alone?
After teasing that it would be releasing a trailer in early December about a month ago, Rockstar confirmed an exact date and time this morning. The trailer for the next be Grand Theft Auto will premiere Tuesday December 5 at 9 a.m. ET.
— Rockstar Games (@RockstarGames) December 1, 2023
Rockstar shared the tweet above without any context, so it's worth noting that it is technically not confirming that this trailer will be for the next Grand Theft Auto. All it says is "Trailer 1" and a date. But, considering its early November tease explicitly read, "We are very excited to let you know that in early December, we will release the first trailer for the next Grand Theft Auto," it's safe to assume that this is what the tweet is referencing.
The art of the tweet also offers the first official tease for the game's tropical setting. It has long been rumored that the next Grand Theft Auto would return to Vice City and a massive leak in September where 90 video related to the game also made that apparent.
Sony Interactive Intertainment announced the winners of the PlayStation Partner Awards 2023 Japan Asia. These awards honor the best-performing PlayStation games that were released in Japan and other Asian countries between October 1, 2022 and September 30, 2023.
The first one on the list is the Users' Choice Award. The following five titles received the highest amount of votes from PlayStation users in Japan and other Asian countries.
The first season for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is set to arrive on 6th December across all platforms.
Activision has laid out an overview with all the things fans can expect to see with season one. This includes five free weapons, four new Multiplayer maps, multiple modes, the next Zombies story mission, the arrival and integration of Call of Duty: Warzone and the new Urzikstan map, an all-new 100+ Tiers of Battle Pass content to earn, BlackCell, and "more".
You can see a little trailer for it all below.
Well folks, the final 31 days of 2023 are upon us. While I expect you’ll likely have picked out your personal game of the year already, there’s still time for some more games to hit physical and virtual shelves, and maybe one of them will be a nice send-off to a wild year of killer games.
The first Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer has a release date: this Tuesday, 5th December at 2pm UK time.
Developer Rockstar announced the news this afternoon, and anticipation is clearly high. Despite only sharing this small update five minutes ago at the time of writing, the studio's post on X (formerly Twitter) is already awash with some very enthusiastic responses.
We knew Rockstar would reveal its first GTA 6 trailer at some point in the coming weeks. Clearly aware fans were eager for any morsel of news about the next game in the studio's hugely successful series, the developer announced last month it would be sharing a trailer in December.
Grand Theft Auto VI’s trailer reveal is just days away. Rockstar Games confirmed it will finally show the much anticipated next game in the hit open-world franchise on December 5, indicating that it’s the first trailer of many.
The story of Ash Ketchum and his loyal Pikachu's story finally ended earlier this year - without them ever giving Misty a single penny towards a new bike. But, since the Pokémon franchise is an unstoppable force, fans already knew a new series was on its way in the form of Pokémon Horizons. Set in Paldea to tie in with the latest mainline series games Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, Horizons follows two new Pokémon Trainers - Liko and Roy - on their journeys. Eurogamer attended a screening of the first four episodes of Pokémon Horizons this week to take a look.
Despite primarily taking place in Paldea, Pokémon Horizons evokes the original anime straight away by beginning in the Kanto region - as Liko has moved to Viridian City in order to attend a Pokémon academy. It's here she meets her first Pokemon partner Sprigatitio, the cat-like Grass-type starter from Gen 9, who meets all of her bonding attempts with the kind of indignation only a cat can possess. School life comes to a halt, however, when members of a mysterious organisation known as The Explorers - the villains of Horizons - arrive to steal the gem pendant her grandmother gifted Liko as a good luck charm.
Thankfully, a group of Trainers known as the Rising Volt Tacklers arrive in time to help Liko escape back to Paldea. Led by Friede and Captain Pikachu, the Volt Tacklers allow her to join their group so she can discover why The Explorers desire her pendant and what secrets it holds. Along the way, Liko ends up encountering Roy - owner of an Ancient Poké Ball and the most unimaginative name in the series. While Roy only made his first appearance in the fourth episode, he is the dual protagonist of the series so I wouldn’t be surprised if he joins the Volt Tacklers too in future episodes.
Yuuya Uchida, the voice actor of Clive Rosfield in Final Fantasy XVI, took to social media. He made a chaotic post regarding Final Fantasy XVI where he teased a rumor about an announcement for the game in December 2023 that could involve the DLC.
In the social media post made by Uchida, he states the following. It has been translated to English:
It's a chaotic FF16 retweet. I'm still in the middle of playing, and I've been curious about it for a long time. I want to move forward quickly, but I also want to proceed carefully. There are rumors that there will be an announcement in December, so I have to continue. I've like all the works I've been involved in, and I want to cherish them, and I want to get to the end the things that interest me, and I'm so excited!
The original post can be viewed below:
https://twitter.com/yuuya_uchida/status/1728602086831759552
Although no plans concerning any announcement have been revealed by Square Enix at this time, Producer Naoki Yoshida stated in September that there are plans to release DLC for Final Fantasy XVI. Currently, there is no information on what the paid add-on will include.
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Everywhere, the shared world creation metaverse-y thing from former Grand Theft Auto producer Leslie Benzies, will hold its first closed alpha test next week.
Closed Alpha 1: Systems Check will begin on Tuesday 5th December at midday UK time and run through until Monday 18th December. You can sign up for a free account now, via the Everywhere website.
Eurogamer got a glimpse at the hugely-ambitious Everywhere earlier this year, when Benzies assured us it was nothing to do with crypto or NFTs (remember those?) and teased the big budget episodic project MindsEye that will be available within it.
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Sonic Dream Team, the forthcoming mobile game, will put players in an "exhilarating flow state", according to Sega Hardlight studio creative director Dan Rossati.
Interviewed by Touch Arcade, Rossati revealed some fresh details about gameplay and its Apple Arcade exclusivity.
Fans have compared gameplay footage to Sonic Adventure, but when asked about this comparison Rossati stated this is not intended to be a successor.
Let's get ready ready, let's get ready ready, let's get ready to Christmas! Is it just me, or did 2023 seem like it had more games than ever before? But look, don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened - and make the smile extra big, because, as we do basically every year, the RPS staff have worked hard (read: voted and bickered) to bring you our games of the year in beautiful, numerical form. Digitally open a new door each day and enjoy the magnificent The RPS Advent Calendar 2023!
Sorry folks, it looks like a Final Fantasy Tactics remaster isn't in the works.
A remaster of the PlayStation 1 (and later PSP) game is heavily sought after by fans of the series.
However, the game's director Yasumi Matsuno has seemingly squashed any rumours of a revival.
UPDATE 02/12/23: The second season of Halo will premier on 8th February, on Paramount Plus.
A new trailer was released to accompany this news, giving us our first look at what's in store for the next series.
"Master Chief John-117 leads his team of elite Spartans against the alien threat known as the Covenant," the official blurb reads. "As humanity's best hope for winning the war, John-117 discovers his deep connection to a mysterious alien structure that holds the key to humankind's salvation, or its destruction - the Halo."
I don't drive myself, and while that's mostly because I can't afford a car, don't really need one for work and have wibbly environmentalist sensibilities, it's also because the experience of driving, for me, has been thoroughly spoiled by videogames. I mean, just look at this trailer for Ironwood's Vandemeerian vehicle survival roguelike Pacific Drive. How am I supposed to be satisfied with some stupid road after watching that? What's the point of cars if there are no floating cryptid lifeforms, inexplicable walls of energy or lost research facilities involved?
Deathloop leads Amazon's crop of free Games with Prime for December.
The Arkane shooter was first released on PlayStation 5 before arriving on Xbox Game Pass once Bethesda was acquired by Microsoft.
It's one of seven games available for free this month through Amazon Prime, also including previously unreleased Atari arcade shooter Akka Arrh which received major praise in our Eurogamer review.
Ubisoft's Far Cry 6 is heading to Xbox Game Pass this month.
It will be joined by the likes of Rise of the Tomb Raider, Goat Simulator 3 and plenty more throughout December.
First up, Remnant: From the Ashes (Cloud, Console, and PC) and Remnant II (Cloud, PC, Xbox Series X/S) were both added to the service yesterday.
This week I've been re-reading Graeme's wonderful piece on Iain Banks that we published on Tuesday. I've also been thinking about Banks in general, listening to old radio programmes he was on, and wishing that we'd gotten to enjoy his entry on Simon Parkin's podcast, My Perfect Console. That would have been dream broadcasting.
In its place, I realised I had a dim memory of Banks giving an interview to Edge mag about the games he loved, and when I tracked it down I discovered that one of his earliest loves in games was Asteroids. So that's it: Asteroids is our Game of the Week. About time, really. It's a classic. And to keep things topical, play the version on the glorious Atari 50 collection, which is due an end-of-the-year update.
My favourite Banks book is probably Complicity, and one of the things I love about Complicity is that it's the first novel I read where characters talk and think about video games. Umberto Eco has a wonderful section in Foucault's Pendulum about pinball, and Salman Rushdie and Martin Amis would talk about Super Mario and Defender to anyone who would hear them (Amis wrote a weird and lovely non-fiction book about games too, obv). But Complicity is a bit like reading The Great Gatsby and seeing characters in a novel talk about advertising hoardings and movie magazines. It's the moment that literature turns its attention to a new part of the contemporary scene.
Pacific Drive is set to rev up its engines and pull out of the driveway on 22nd February, across PlayStation 5 and PC (via Steam and Epic Game Store).
The driving survival game was initially set to release this year, but developer Ironwood Studios made the decision to delay its launch in order to prioritise the team's health and wellbeing.
"It's so exciting to know that in a few short months, you'll all be out on your own adventures in the Olympic Exclusion Zone," the developer said while annoucing Pacific Drive's new release date. "For those of you who have been waiting for this news, we thank you for your patience and sticking with us! Everyone at Ironwood has been working hard to finish the game and it’s been a long road (pun intended) to get here."
Homeworld 3 will launch on 8th March 2024, developer Blackbird Interactive and publisher Gearbox have now confirmed, two decades after its predecessor.
The long-in-the-works real-time strategy follow-up was previously set to launch in February 2024, following a significant delay from the first half of 2023.
Originally announced in August 2019, the space combat threequel looks ambitious. When our Bertie took a look last year he dubbed it as having tremendous scale, and being "a space RTS for the James Webb era".
Resident Evil 4's VR mode will be released next week: 8th December.
The free DLC will be available for all PlayStation 5 owners, as the full game will be playable in VR for PSVR2.
In addition, a free demo for the mode will be available on the same day, allowing players to check out the beginning of the game and the shooting range to get a feel for the controls.
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn, previously described by Ed as "an exciting action-RPG mix of Elden Ring and God Of War" has a new trailer - and cat-lovers, you are in for a treat, because this game has a cat called Enki which you can use as a magic grappling hook and a handy source of lightning for your groundpounds. Enki has big cute ears and a beaver's tail, and I wouldn't be surprised if he's related to one of those awful, many-limbed gods Flintlock's protagonist Nor Vanek is trying to slay.
I'm sorry, it's my first time writing about Flintlock, and I realise the "OMG it has a cat!" ship has probably long since sailed. Only hang on, Ed thinks Enki is a squirrel, while Graham thinks it's a dog. Which of us is correct? Developer A44 Games describe Enki as "fox-like", further muddying the waters. There's only one thing for it: you'll have to watch the video and decide for yourself.
Family Guy's portly Peter Griffin and Metal Gear Solid star Solid Snake are set to star in Fortnite as part of the game's next season, according to marketing for the game now visible on Xbox consoles.
Fortnite Chapter 5: Season 1 is expected to kick off on Sunday, after this weekend's climactic Big Bang live event that's set to cap off Fortnite's hugely-successful OG season.
Epic Games' battle royale is then expected to reboot itself with an all-new Island when it returns online, and a fresh battle pass for Chapter 5: Season 1 that features a tiger-human hybrid, Snake and the long-awaited Peter Griffin.
Xbox is "actively working" on launching a mobile store that will compete with the likes of Apple and Google.
Speaking in Sao Paulo during the CCXP comics and entertainment convention, Xbox head Phil Spencer said the move into the mobile market is an "important part" of the company's strategy (thanks, Bloomberg).
"[It's] something we are actively working on today not only alone, but talking to other partners who'd also like to see more choice for how they can monetise on the phone," Spencer said.
Saying that Lethal Company’s graphics are quirky would be putting it mildly. But for those who are not fans of pixelated, blurred, jagged edges, there is a way to play comfortably. Here is how to improve Lethal Company graphics using mods.
We can all agree on one thing: Lethal Company’s graphics aren’t the best. Lethal Company’s developer, Zeekerss, has left players with no options to adjust their graphics settings in-game besides brightness level. You could even fool a friend or two by saying it’s a game from 15 years ago that got re-released recently.
Baldur's Gate 3 has received a major new update, Patch 5, which adds a fresh epilogue plus additional game modes.
The epilogue is accessible to players prior to the final fight and takes place six months later, as players say their final goodbyes to the party.
Larian boasts that this ending features some of the most complex writing in the game, tying up player choices from a giant tree of permutations.
Hello! Welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we've found ourselves playing over the last few days. This time: fencing, cameras, and Mario.
If you fancy catching up on some of the older editions of What We've Been Playing, here's our archive.
As a Mario and Squaresoft fan in Europe, this has been a long time coming. Yes, I know Super Mario RPG was released on the Wii here, but I've been desperate to play this game for at least two decades. And it was worth the wait.
Fallout 76 continues to grow. On December 5, 2023, alongside the Atlantic City - Boardwalk Paradise, the game will receive Season 15: The Big Score.
Over the course of Season 15 you'll be able to earn S.C.O.R.E. by completing in-game challenges,unlocking new cosmetic items and furnishings for your C.A.M.P..
New Honour Mode and Custom Mode difficulty settings? Okay. Finally able to get Orin’s cool-looking armor? Yawn. It’s now easier to recruit Minthara? Tell me something I care about. Larian Studios just released Patch 5 for Baldur’s Gate 3, and sure, it comes with all these awesome new improvements and additions, but you know what the biggest feature is? Being able to kiss your romantic interest of choice.
Prior to Patch 5, the kissing scenes between the player character and the Baldur’s Gate 3 party members were mediocre at best. Some scenes don’t even show the characters’ lips touching, and it’s pretty immersion-breaking, to say the least. With the release of Patch 5, however, it’s clear that Larian knows what’s important to the fans, and they have delivered.
Bringing L.A. Comic Con 2023 From the Scene to Your Screen Read More »
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The final season of Destiny 2 is here, and it is being overshadowed by yet another huge marketing blunder on Bungie’s part. So, together, let’s discover how Destiny 2’s new seasonal bundles aren’t earning Bungie any good will.
Not long ago, Bungie laid off around 8% of their workforce, including the legendary composer Michael Salvatori. The news shocked the gaming industry and put a bad taste into many of Destiny 2’s current and would-be players. From that point on, Bungie needed to win us, the players, back—to earn our trust again where it’s been broken many times before.
To celebrate the upcoming new year, the Pokemon Center Online released Pokemon Year of the Dragon merchandise that features Rayquaza, Horsea, and Pikachu. These ceramic Pokemon figures and ornaments are crafted in collaboration with Yakushigama, best known as a ceramic ware brand produced by Chugai Toen.
The Rayquaza and Pikachu ceramic figurine comes with a pedestal and gold folding screen. Rayquaza is shown holding a small Pikachu in their arms while resting atop clouds. The Rayquaza and Pikachu figurine costs ¥2,860 (~$18 USD) and is currently sold out on the Pokemon Center Online website. The website notes that this latest item in their Pokemon merchandise line is not a bell, so it is not recommended to be shaken.
Homeworld 3 will launch on March 8th 2024, completing a development journey that began with crowdfunding back in 2019. To give some insight into that journey, developers Blackbird are going to release a documentary this December, a clip from which you'll find below.
Dwarf Fortress is best known as a colony sim, but the wonderfully detailed fantasy world's it generates can be played in different ways. Adventure mode is a procedurally generated RPG campaign in which you control just a single character, and it's now on its way to Kitfox's DF-with-graphics Steam release in April 2024.
I don’t have a lot of complaints about Baldur’s Gate 3, but the original ending is probably my biggest issue with Larian Studios’ excellent RPG. Though I was content with the ways the story concluded, its rushed execution left me wanting more, which was even more readily apparent when I tried the game’s “evil” ending…
Good Smile Company opened up pre-orders for another Nendoroid based on an Amnesia: Memories otome game love interest, and it involves both Toma and his cage. The character will appear with items inspired by his route in 2024.
In Japan, the Toma Nendoroid will arrive in July 2024 and cost ¥6,800. It will show up in North America in Q4 2024 for $42.99. Buying from either Good Smile Company storefront nets people an acrylic stand of the character.
Here’s how that bonus looks:
The internet is starting to fill up with AI-generated junk, and more and more people are now worried that the worst parts of the games they play might be AI-generated too. Fans of Naruto X Boruto Ultimate Ninja and Silent Hill Ascension recently accused both of using AI. The developers promised that wasn’t the case.…
14 years after Gran Turismo on the PlayStation Portable launched, someone discovered previously undocumented cheat codes in the portable racing game. It’s a good reminder that there are likely thousands of undiscovered secrets, cheats, and Easter eggs lurking in video games.
