The Nintendo Switch's weekly Eshop deals have been revealed, and like every week, there is an absolute onslaught of discounts. However, this time around, there is a large number of truly fantastic games on sale. If you're looking for something to play this weekend, then you've got quite the selection to choose from.The biggest Nintendo Switch Eshop discount goes to Mortal Kombat 11, which sees its price drop from $60 USD to $24. Other notable deals include Cuphead for $15, Crypt of the NecroDancer for $4, and Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom for $20. One of my personal favourites, Darkest Dungeon, also goes on sale for $15.The entire SteamWorld franchise also receives discounts, from SteamWorld Dig and SteamWorld Dig 2 to SteamWorld Heist and SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech. If you haven't tried them yet, then I definitely recommend doing so. Each game lends itself to a different genre: Dig and Dig 2 are Metroidvania-style adventures, Heist is a turn-based tactical shooter, and Quest is a deck-building RPG.You can see the full sale on Nintendo's website or on your Nintendo Switch. We've curated a list of the best deals, which you can see below. Prices will vary depending on your region.Nintendo Switch game dealsBlasphemous -- $15 ($25)The Bridge -- $1.49 ($10)Crypt of the Necrodancer -- $4 ($20)Cuphead -- $15 ($20)Darkest Dungeon -- $15 ($25)Evoland Legendary Edition -- $5 ($20)Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle -- $5 ($20)Killer Queen Black -- $10 ($20)Knights and Bikes -- $18 ($20)Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom -- $20 ($40)Mortal Kombat 11 -- $24 ($60)Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas -- $7.49 ($15)Overcooked 2 -- $15 ($25)Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid -- $12 ($20)Serial Cleaner -- $1.49 ($15)SteamWorld Dig -- $2.49 ($10)SteamWorld Dig 2 -- $8 ($20)SteamWorld Heist -- $5 ($20)SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech -- $17.49 ($25)Strikey Sisters -- $6 ($10)To The Moon -- $9.59 ($12)Tumblestone -- $2.24 ($15)Yooka-Laylee -- $13.59 ($40)Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair -- $20.09 ($30) Info from Gamespot.com

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order has been a sales juggernaut for Electronic Arts. The company announced on an earnings call today that Fallen Order sold significantly beyond the company's expectations, and is now expected to sell 10 million copies by March 31.EA was previously modelling sales of 6-8 million copies for that time period. EA CFO Blake Jorgensen said the Respawn-developed game has already reached the high end of the original projection, meaning Fallen Order has likely sold more than 8 million copies already.EA management also said these strong sales for Fallen Order represent a "very strong result for a single-player action game."Similar to other publishers, EA has been criticized for pursuing multiplayer, "live service" games and moving away from single-player experiences. The result for Fallen Order shows that a single-player game can be sales successes.Fallen Order isn't likely to be as profitable as other EA games, however, as the publisher is paying Disney a royalty fee on game sales, but the extent of this is unknown.Fallen Order did perform very well, but it still lags behind the multiplayer games Star Wars: Battlefront and Battlefront II, which have combined to sell 33 million copies.In other EA news, the company announced that it made nearly $1 billion from microtransactions during the last three months of 2019. Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Sells Above Expectations Over 1,500 PC Games Discounted In Huge Lunar New Year Sale New Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Update Unlocks Orange Lightsaber Color For All Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order -- Lucasfilm Was Originally Resistant To The Idea, And Here's Why 2019's Best Games Took Dedication To Love This Fantastic Holiday Games Sale Ends Soon: Save On Control, Red Dead 2, And More Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Is The Cheapest We've Seen It (PS4, Xbox One) Amazon's Huge End-Of-Year Sale Includes PS4, Xbox One, And Switch Games Best Steam Winter Sale 2019 Game Deals: Sekiro, Mortal Kombat 11, Disco Elysium Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Jedi Fallen Order Headline Xbox One's Winter Sale Info from Gamespot.com

I was an avid StarCraft player when Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos first came out in 2002, opting to stick with the sci-fi and skip on the fantasy when it came to my real-time strategy game of choice. But I certainly understand Warcraft's importance and thought the latest Blizzard remaster, Warcraft 3: Reforged, would be a great opportunity to play a classic for the first time. And while, yes, many of the gameplay aspects still hold up well in 2020, it falls well short of being the proper remaster that it was hyped to be.From a technical standpoint, Reforged boasts significant graphical improvements, most noticeable in the detailed character models and redone textures. Below, you can see a side-by-side comparison of an in-game cutscene between the original and Reforged (and I'm very thankful for the portrait overhauls). You're allowed to swap between the two in the graphics menu, and it's only when you go back to classic mode that you really appreciate the upgrade.You can't undersell the graphical improvement of Reforged when you get up close and personal. Here's where Reforged gets lost: What we saw back at BlizzCon 2018 isn't what we got at launch. Part of the disappointment stems from the initial Reforged reveal and playable demo, which featured in-game cutscenes that were redone to capture a much more cinematic quality--that didn't happen. Blizzard also stated that it was going to rework story elements to align with World of Warcraft's lore, but decided against it, attributing the decision to fan feedback. Even smaller things, like the overhauled UI that would've streamlined its look, were scrapped in Reforged; the UI was also part of the preview build shown at BlizzCon.Accounting for all the things we thought Warcraft 3 Reforged would be, it's easy to feel underwhelmed by the launch product.A larger problem with Reforged is that the classic game has been lumped in with the remaster, existing as one client as part of the new 1.31.1 patch--any issues present in Warcraft 3 apply to both classic and Reforged modes. There have been some improvements made to matchmaking, but competitive ladders are currently not in place with no word on when they'll be implemented. It's also been tough going trying to connect to custom games, though I've had some success getting in on a few neat tower defense matches. And while it doesn't affect me directly, that improved world editor and the wild possibilities in custom maps, such as increased player counts and unlimited unit caps--well, Blizzard assumes control over user-generated content through its new user agreement.I'm also here to enjoy the campaign, and I'm so far captivated by its structure and style, but I continue to encounter insurmountable bugs where cutscenes simply won't play--they'll load, then skip to a mission results screen. Essentially, I'm missing out on key moments in the story, which is one of the highlights of Warcraft 3 and the series as a whole.Warcraft 3's gameplay holds up well in 2020.As a longtime StarCraft player, I can't help but think about how much its remaster helped reinvigorate a classic game. Reforged is of course a different beast because of its use of true 3D graphics and implementation of some actual core gameplay tweaks, and by comparison, the initial vision for Reforged had grander ambitions than the end result. But at its core, the expectation was for Reforged to usher a game several generations old into a new era with modernizations and refinements.At the same time, I have nostalgia for the thrill of the '00s-style RTS, base building, micromanaging, adapting build orders and all. And having missed out on Warcraft 3 all these years, playing Reforged is scratching that itch on its own. It's like a trip back in time, the old feel of a classic RTS with mechanics that are easily noticeable for having influenced what came after it. You can trace the prevalence of the "hero" role in today's competitive games back to Warcraft 3's Hero units, which was a huge factor in distinguishing it from other RTS, and obviously paving the way for MOBAs. In that regard, Warcraft 3 still holds up well both as a worthwhile RTS and a game that retains a sense of mechanical modernity.I don't think it's fair to dismiss the work that was put into Reforged, but it's clear the work isn't quite finished. It's also hard to tell exactly why WarCraft 3 Reforged became a lesser form than what was first promised. Info from Gamespot.com

A major part of Star Trek: Picard's second episode, "Maps and Legends," is a meeting that takes place at his home in La Barre, France. An old friend from Jean-Luc Picard's days on the Stargazer, the ship he served on before the Enterprise, comes to visit--and brings some bad news.Picard's friend Dr. Benayoun doesn't say exactly what's wrong with the captain, but we get a few key hints. It's one of a number of related neurological syndromes but it'll take more tests to find out for sure. And while some are treatable, no matter which disease Picard has, it'll end in his death. It might also already be responsible for things Picard has been experiencing, like his strange dreams of Data and his anger during the interview about the Romulan supernova in Episode 1, "Remembrance."During the conversation, Benayoun tells Picard the issue is related to the parietal lobe of his brain, to which Picard responds that he'd been told years earlier that it could develop a problem. That's actually a reference to the series finale of Star Trek: The Next Generation, "All Good Things." During the final episode of the series, Picard experienced time skips that placed him back at the beginning of his career on the Enterprise, in the present, and far into the future after he had retired from Starfleet. In that future, Picard suffered from a neurological disorder called Irumodic Syndrome, which will slowly rob him of his faculties and the ability to tell reality from fantasy, before finally killing him.Though the time skips were the result of interference from the godlike alien entity known as Q, in the actual present, Picard had himself checked out by the Enterprise's doctor, Beverly Crusher. She found a slight structural abnormality in Picard's parietal lobe, which she said could lead to Irumodic Syndrome or some other neurological disease--or nothing at all. It seems that while Q's vision of the future didn't come to pass exactly as Picard saw it on TNG, some parts of it might have been true.So what does that mean for Picard? In "All Good Things," Picard's former crewmates began to doubt his assertion that he was experiencing time skips and worried that he'd lost touch with reality. Having experienced that and knowing the importance of the mission he's trying to undertake to find Soji, he's probably going to hold back that information from any comrades that accompany him. Surely, that'll create conflicts later on, especially if the disease progresses.Of course, Picard's vivid dreams of Data also seem like they're more than just the random interactions of a neurological disorder. He dreamed of Data immediately before Dahj found him, and it was a dream that reminded Picard of the painting Data made for him, titled, "Daughter." So while Picard's developing disease could be a major problem, it also seems possible that there's more going on with what he's sensing than we yet know.There's another potential wrinkle involved, too: Picard's assimilation by the Borg. Though he has fully recovered from his experiences as Locutus of Borg, his name as a Borg drone when he was captured by the Collective in Star Trek: The Next Generation, it's possible there are still lingering effects. Since the Borg Cube known as the Artifact is playing a major role in the show, and we know that former Borg drones Hugh (from TNG) and Seven of Nine (from Star Trek: Voyager) are set to show up later in the season, it stands to reason that there may yet be more effects from Picard's time with the Borg than he has realized. At the very least, we know a lot of the psychological scars persist, as Picard struggled to deal with his assimilation in both TNG and in the sequel movie Star Trek: First Contact.Regardless, the issue with Picard's parietal lobe is surely going to have an impact on the mission going forward--even if it just serves to make Picard more cavalier with his life, since he knows he's going to die soon anyway. But it seems very possible that the legendary captain may find himself struggling to lead before long, which would be a huge problem for anyone who decides to follow him.Disclosure: ViacomCBS is GameSpot's parent company. Info from Gamespot.com

With its latest patch for Destiny 2, Update 2.7.1, Bungie accidentally created more problems than it solved. The patch added a bug to the game that caused players to lose some of their upgrade materials and currencies--a big problem, especially because the issue cost players their Bright Dust, a currency they can earn in-game to buy premium items from Destiny 2's microtransaction store, Eververse.In response, Bungie took down its Destiny 2 servers for most of the day on Tuesday after the patch was released, and rolled back the game to before Update 2.7.1 was implemented. The developer detailed the rollback on its This Week At Bungie blog, where it explained that this is the first time it has ever had to roll the game back to an earlier state. Destiny 2 News And Guides Destiny 2 Patch Notes: Wormgod's Caress And Winter's Guile Perk Bugs Get Squashed Destiny 2 Bastion Exotic Quest Guide: How To Get The New Fusion Rifle Solved! Destiny 2 Corridors Of Time Bastion Secret Quest Guide "Earlier this week, when we deployed 2.7.1, we discovered an issue causing players to lose various currencies. Our team immediately took action and brought the game down for maintenance while we worked to discover the source of the issue. We did this to minimize any further impact to players. We ended up doing the first-ever character rollback in Destiny’s history to ensure that no one lost any of their hard-earned materials. We’re sorry for any inconvenience caused by the unexpected maintenance and appreciated everyone’s patience while we worked to get the game back online.""Fix the timeline" is, of course, a joke about Destiny 2's current content season, the Season of Dawn, which is all about using time travel to undo events and save the legendary Guardian Saint-14 from death. The rollback undid the bug and restored everyone's materials and currencies, and Destiny 2 is functioning normally now. But the rollback means we'll have to wait for a later patch that fixes some of the issues in 2.7.1, including some exploits for the Wormgod's Caress and Winter's Guile Exotics, which Bungie has disabled in the meantime.The weekly update on Tuesday, February 4 will introduce the Season of Dawn's next piece of content, the Empyrean Foundation. Data-mining suggests it'll be the first stage in returning the Trials of Osiris to Destiny for the first time since 2018 (back when a similar version was known as the Trials of the Nine). In the meantime, use our Bastion guide to get Destiny 2's latest Exotic, and check out our Corridors of Time guide to find out what you missed with the game's recent puzzle--which required a big swathe of the community to solved and might have changed how Destiny 2 tells its story.Info from Gamespot.com

During the Electronic Arts earnings call today, management shared an update on the company's stance on supporting the Nintendo Switch. So far, EA has only released 5 games on Switch, including FIFA 18, FIFA 19, FIFA 20, Unravel Two, and Fe. But looking ahead, can fans expect more releases on Switch.EA CFO Blake Jorgensen said EA has been "very pleased" with "how well Nintendo has done with the Switch." Nintendo just recently announced that the Switch has passed 52.48 million units sold, which is a very strong start for the system that launched in 2017.The executive said EA is "always" discussing ideas with Nintendo for future game support. "As the platform grows, our interest in developing for it grows," Jorgsensen said.Jorgensen went on to say that EA has been cautious thus far with supporting the Switch because the platform's best-selling games are made by Nintendo. That being said, with more than 52 million consoles sold, it seems the Switch has reached a critical mass for EA.The executive teased, "You will hear some more things" in the future about EA's plans to support the Switch.For more on EA's earnings report today, check out the stories below.Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Sells Above ExpectationsEA Made Almost $1 Billion From Microtransactions Last QuarterInfo from Gamespot.com

Bungie is currently advertising for a new position is an "Incubation Art Director," one who would oversee art direction on a new IP. The job description outlines a game that sounds very different from previous Bungie titles, like Destiny 2 and Halo."Are you on a mission to create games that bond players together into deeply invested communities?," the description opens. So far, so Destiny, but things change in the next lines. "Would you like to work on something comedic with lighthearted and whimsical characters?" Bungie's games haven't, historically, been particularly funny or whimsical."As the Incubation Art Director, you will define the look of a new Bungie IP and work on all aspects of art to guide a prototype on the path to production," the description continues. "Most importantly, you will work with a fun, dedicated, and passionate cross-discipline team devoted to making a new franchise at Bungie."A year ago, Bungie split from publisher Activision, and has more control over its own future, and what it will develop, than it has since before the release of the original Halo in 2001. This job is asking for a candidate with serious credentials, too-- they must have "At least 5 years of game art production experience, including experience in an art leadership role," as well as a "Proven track record of delivering clear and consistent visual feedback that elevates other artists’ work."It's not too much of a surprise to see Bungie expanding beyond Destiny--back in June 2018, a partnership with Chinese company NetEase saw Bungie being given $100 million to develop a non-Destiny game.Around the time of the Activision split, analysts predicted that Destiny 3 would come in 2020. Bungie has not clarified whether they will continue to expand Destiny 2 or if they're working on a third game in the series yet.Info from Gamespot.com

Before The Mandalorian, there was another Star Wars TV series planned. Footage of Star Wars Underground, a show that was in development all the way back in 2010, has surfaced online. The footage shows a very different show from the one many people enjoyed in 2019.The show was to be set in the lower levels of Coruscant, a planet that plays a major part in the Star Wars prequels. It was set after Order 66, and the test footage below was produced by VFX specialists Stargate Studios. The show was eventually delayed and then cancelled due to the high production costs and the eventual sale of Lucasfilm to Disney. According to a comment from the uploader, a two-episode arc would have involved Darth Vader coming to Coruscant to "personally quell a rebellion".It certainly looks a little ropey in places, and it's a bit hard to follow, but it's worth remembering that "test footage" is different from a pilot--this footage was meant to nail down the look and tone of the show, so we can excuse the bad gun fight at the end.The test footage here is followed by a short "making of" film, which shows how everything was shot on a single green screen stage--similar to how many parts of the prequels were shot.The footage, as it turns out, is from Stargate Studios' Vimeo, and was first uploaded nine years ago--we can only assume that it was set to private or unlisted until now.Mileage may vary on how good or bad this looks to you, but in any case, the show never came to pass. Posted alongside the video is a lengthy document charting the history of Star Wars Underworld, collecting every tangentially related quote and interview, along with photos. It's worth a look if you're a Star Wars fanatic.The Mandalorian will return for a second season in Fall 2020, exclusively on Disney Plus.Info from Gamespot.com

Animal Crossing: New Horizons releases for Switch on March 20, and if you're looking to grab a Switch specifically for it, you're in luck. Nintendo has announced a new Animal Crossing themed Switch, which will feature custom Joy-Cons, a uniquely colored and textured Switch unit, and the best official dock we've seen yet. See at Best Buy The Animal Crossing Switch will be available on March 13, which is a week before the game's launch. It's probably the best limited edition Switch we've seen so far.A #NintendoSwitch system inspired by #AnimalCrossing: New Horizons is on the way! With unique Joy-Con controllers, a custom design on the back, and a special Nintendo Switch dock, it’s the perfect way to start your island life. Available 3/13 for $299.99.https://t.co/MC5dJ11F3U pic.twitter.com/VigTPi4NDB — Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) January 31, 2020The dock features Tom Nook and his nephews, and it's very cute. It's unclear whether the dock or Joy-Cons will be sold seperately.The images we've seen of the Switch also confirm that it's the new model with better battery life, as it sports the HAC-001(01) serial number. That means you'll be able to explore your Animal Crossing island on the go for longer.A unique carry case and screen protector are also coming, for those of us who can't bring ourselves to buy a whole new Switch.The #NintendoSwitch #AnimalCrossing: New Horizons Aloha Edition Carrying Case & Screen Protector will also be available for purchase on 3/13! pic.twitter.com/NOyviTGmPt — Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) January 31, 2020The console will retail for $300, which is the standard price of the system--the game is not included with it.If you're excited for Animal Crossing: New Horizons, check out our preorder guide to make sure you get the best deal on day one.Info from Gamespot.com

With the final piece of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge slotting into place now that Rise Of The Resistance is finally open on Disneyland and Disney World's Batuu, we can now start shifting our focus to the next big project on the horizon: Disneyland's Avenger's Campus, the new land in California Adventure, themed around Marvel Studios characters and franchises. Last year's D23 Expo gave us some up-close and personal looks at what we can expect from the new park area, including a preview of the new Spider-Man themed ride and Ant-Man and The Wasp themed eatery--but now, with the opening of Avengers Campus just months away, the nitty-gritty details are starting to be fleshed out.And, unsurprisingly, given the sort of characters and stories the MCU tends to deal with, they're getting pretty weird.The official Disney Parks blog has announced that Avengers Campus will feature a life-sized animatronic Spider-Man that will periodically hurl itself in a fashion that only a spider can over the rooftops of Avengers Campus's many Marvel-themed buildings. And if you're having a hard time figuring out exactly what that might entail, they also posted an official clip of the animatronic in action. An even better look at what can be expected can be found in this clip of the Disney+ original series, Imagineering Story, which features the Imagineers testing the Spidey-Bot by literally hurling it through the air like a Cirque Du Soleil acrobat. Nothing says "what could possibly go wrong" like watching a very heavy, very expensive animatronic be launched however many feet into the air to perform stunts over a crowded theme park. But all potential dangers (and/or inevitable Westworld-style robot uprisings) aside, we're pretty excited to see exactly what this not-so-little webhead can do when the land finally opens.Avenger's Campus is coming to Disneyland in Anaheim in the summer of 2020.Info from Gamespot.com

For over a year, rumors have swirled that Nintendo is planning to release an upgraded "Pro" model of the Nintendo Switch, but in a presentation live-tweeted by Tokyo-based David Gibson, Nintendo Japan president Shuntaro Furukawa shot down reports suggesting that Nintendo will release a new hardware revision in 2020.According to Gibson, Furukawa said clearly that the company has "no intention" of releasing new hardware in 2020, meaning that a Pro model of Switch is not being planned for release this year.1) have two types of hardware for different lifestyles - Switch/LITE* new customers from LITE, existing buying LITE* in 2019 Switch was similar to 2018 Switch, incremental is LITE* Benefits of LITE not communicated enough* No intention by end of the year to release new hw — David Gibson (@gibbogame) January 31, 2020The Switch Lite released in 2019, and Furukawa suggested that the benefits of the system were not communicated as clearly as they could be. For now, it sounds like Nintendo is planning on sticking with the two available models.Furukawa also suggested that the system is entering the middle of its life cycle, and while the impending launches of new consoles will change the landscape somewhat, Nintendo has different "lifestyle and customer" targets. They will be looking to extend the Switch's life cycle beyond what they have previously achieved. Nintendo previously indicated it intends the Switch's lifecycle to extend beyond the traditional five to six-year window.FY2020 - how think about, given PS5/xCloud/5G devices?threats?* Position - yes environment change, new devices* Lifecycle and customer targets are different* What is important - can we maintain momentum for Switch?P1 — David Gibson (@gibbogame) January 31, 2020P2* For software - continue to launch, extend the lifecycle* in 4th year, think its the beginning of the mid stage of the cycle for Switch — David Gibson (@gibbogame) January 31, 2020With the Switch aiming for a long life cycle, it's possible that we will see further revisions down the track. There is a precedent for this as the Nintendo DSi iterated on the success of the Nintendo DS and made the system slightly more powerful, back in 2009. The Nintendo Switch is gearing up for a huge 2020-- here are our most anticipated games for the year.Info from Gamespot.com

Super Bowl 54 is upon us. The big game takes place at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida this Sunday, February 2. The San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs are set to do battle in a game that is projected to be an action-packed affair with a lot of excitement.The game kicks off at at 3:30 PM PT / 6:30 PM ET on Sunday, February 2. You can watch the game on traditional linear TV on Fox or through the streaming site fuboTV, which offers a free trial. The service streams to PC, mobile phones, Google Chromecast, and more.Outside of the football we're expecting trailers for the biggest upcoming movies and advertisements for all kinds of products. It's rumored that Marvel will air a new Black Widow trailer during the big game, while a trailer for Fast 9 is also expected.Super Bowl 54 will have numerous trailers for products. We've already seen a lot of ads, including a recreation of The Shining featuring Bryan Cranston, who gives his wife Mountain Dew instead of trying to murder her. Mr. Peanut is also expected to have some kind of showing during the big game. Check out GameSpot's roundup of all the big trailers released so far.Demi Lovato is singing the national anthem at Super Bowl 54, while Shakira and Jennifer Lopez will perform the halftime show.Here at GameSpot we ran multiple simulations of Super Bowl 54 with Madden 20, and you can check out the results in the video above. EA's own simulation predicted that the Chiefs will beat the 49ers 35-31, with Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes winning the MVP award.For lots more on Super Bowl 54, check out GameSpot sister site CBSSports.com.Info from Gamespot.com

The Google Stadia has had a bit of a rough launch, with only one exclusive (Tequila Works' Gylt) and middling reviews from critics. Now, as one owner has pointed out on Reddit, it's been 40 days since a new game was announced for the service--and when questioned on this, Google has responded.Google has provided a statement to Gamesindustry.biz about its silence on upcoming releases, and has said that much of this falls on publishers who are gearing up to make their own announcements.Google has previously said that there are 120 games coming to Stadia in 2020, including at least 10 exclusives in the first half of the year, and in its statement they say that they won't be announcing all of them directly. "Of course, not all 120 titles will be announced by the Stadia team," the statement reads, "As we leave it up to the publishers to make the announcement about their IP/games, and which platforms it will appear on--just as we will do with the exclusive content coming to Stadia."Google says that there are many reasons why publishers might want to hold off on announcing Stadia games, and that more news is coming. "We continue to work closely with our publishing and developing partners and are here to support them in all areas. We are excited to share more about some of the exclusive games coming to Stadia soon."According to Android Police, only 17 games in total are known to be coming to Stadia beyond what's already available. These include some big titles like Marvel's Avengers, Cyberpunk 2077, Doom Eternal, Watch Dogs: Legion, Baldur's Gate III and Destroy All Humans. Still, it's a low number.Earlier in January, Gylt creative director Raul Rubio praised Stadia for being very easy to develop for. Google also recently bought Typhoon Studios, the developer of Journey to the Savage Planet. That game, which was published by 505 Games, has not been announced for Stadia as of yet. Stadia also has its own first-party studio that is working on games, although none have been announced yet.Info from Gamespot.com

In the southwesternmost corner of the overworld map sits a building that houses a slot machine. You've seen this sort of mild gambling den in any Zelda game; pull the lever, match three heart pieces and you win. Here, though, row upon row of slots are being played, their skeletal victims under permanent house arrest by the one-armed bandits. The building is, in fact, a bank. Betting on the slots requires you to purchase shares in various enterprises, all of which are owned by the bank that is manipulating the odds; the financial system is a casino and the capitalist always wins. This isn't your typical Zelda clone.Lenna's Inception is a top-down action-adventure that is--ahem--very heavily inspired by the Legend of Zelda. Mechanically it is extremely similar to Link's early adventures, but thematically and through a couple of mechanical surprises it finds its own voice. The result is a playful and inventive homage to a classic series of games that manages to distinguish itself from its inspirations.The setup immediately departs from Zelda tradition, with schoolteacher Lenna roped into saving the world after the prophesied hero--and clear Link analogue--succumbs to an unexpected demise in the tutorial dungeon. Elsewhere, an evil banker has imprisoned the prince of the land, archangels are signalling the end times, glitched-out pixels are spreading across the world, and somewhere a mysterious fridge is on the blink. This is weird Millennial Zelda, touched by creepypasta yet restrained enough to not go full internet meme.My opening paragraph was a little misleading. In my game the bank was to be found in the southwest corner, but in your game--or indeed my subsequent games--it may not be. Lenna's Inception generates its maps procedurally, shuffling the contents of its world to ensure a new route through the quest each time you start a new game and to allow players to share "seeds" of maps they particularly enjoyed. There's a daily challenge seed, too, further encouraging the sense of a shared experience.Experiments with the map generation revealed that it's not just the overworld being reconfigured. All but one of the dungeons you enter are unique to your playthrough, from the overall layout to the design of individual rooms, from the critical-path boss dungeons to the small secret lairs you might find hidden away behind a bush or a rock. Further still, the key items you collect along the way are shuffled to the extent that one playthrough might hand you the bomb item immediately while the next might make you wait for it until near the very end.In itself this doesn't necessarily have any bearing on the quality of the level design, though in general the suspicion is always that a compromise must have been made somewhere, that a procedural level could never be as good as one that was hand-crafted. The trade-off seems acceptable here: We forgo one painstakingly intricate design for the prospect of near-endless hopefully good variations. Certainly the overworld I played through (seed “ystreath” if you want to try it yourself) felt consistent and well-designed--no jarring sections that felt obviously untouched by a human hand. It had a mazelike quality that demanded exploration and was crammed with teases of just-out-of-reach areas I'd have to note to return to later and that in any other non-procedural game I'd credit to smart design.Dungeon design is mostly solid, with an emphasis on having the right item to allow you to bypass obstacles and finding the various coloured keys to open their respective doors. Save for the final dungeon, they all lack the light puzzle elements you would find in a typical Zelda dungeon, and are poorer for it. The last dungeon, however, takes full advantage of the environment-altering ability of a late-game item to push puzzle design to the fore. Perhaps not coincidentally, it's the only hand-crafted dungeon in the game. Where the procedural generation truly detracts is in the little side dungeons that throw you into a handful of random rooms, lock the doors until you've killed all the monsters, and then reward you with a health or weapon upgrade. They're not terrible in isolation, but they are all essentially the same and wear out their welcome long before you've acquired all the pick-ups they house.As you find new items--such as a spring that enables you to bounce over gaps or a cigarette lighter that lets you melt ice--you can unlock new regions of the map or return to previous areas to find secrets in classic Zelda fashion, a facet of the genre that is as inherently compelling here as it so often is, even if the execution is slightly off. The random order in which items are acquired does have a tendency to flatten out the experience. Some items have multiple uses, lending a degree of redundancy that diminishes the impact of obtaining a new piece of gear. Still, it's rewarding to nab a new ability and start mulling over all the possibilities, the new places you can now explore. It's a high that never diminishes.Perhaps as a consequence of the non-linear item progression, fighting regular enemies doesn't require you to use items other than your sword. They can be damaged by several of your items--the lighter sets things on fire and does useful damage over time while the bow, hammer, axe and bombs can all be effective--but there isn't a single enemy that, for example, must be staggered with the hammer before taking damage from your sword. With little variation it's sufficient to mash the attack button in order to survive any non-boss encounter.Bosses themselves are smartly designed even if they hew closely to the Zelda archetype. The rule of threes applies here, as each boss requires you to perform the same set of steps three times in order to beat it. And each one demands the use of a certain ability you've picked up, though the precise execution tends to not be telegraphed. Quite a few of the bosses had me puzzling things out for several attempts before the eureka moment hit and I knew exactly what I had to do. Fortunately in such instances, death isn't a hassle and you find yourself respawning in the chamber before the boss room.The procedural aspects of Lenna's Inception lay a solid foundation upon which to build. On top you'll find a handful of NPC quests to follow, some of which test your lateral thinking as you chuckle along with the mischievous sense of humour of the writing. Moments of oddness abound. I found what the game described as a "urine potion" before cheerfully informing me that I would have to drink it to discover what effect it had. My first follower companion was a chicken that would relentlessly peck enemies to death. My last was a librarian who could hurl books with pinpoint accuracy. At one point I donned a growth tunic and ran around as a giant Lenna until she couldn't fit through the door to escape the dungeon. Surprises like these are scattered throughout the entire game and are never less than a joy to discover. There's even an option to play the entire game with either 8-bit or 32-bit graphics.Lenna's Inception is a lighthearted Zelda-style adventure fuelled by levity and a taste for the bizarre. At its heart, though, it's a testament to the powers of procedural generation. On balance it gains more than it loses, delivering an endlessly rearrangeable, replayable quest that suffers only slightly from the lack of a guiding human touch.Info from Gamespot.com

Kingdom Hearts 3 Re:Mind's title doesn't lie. It's more of an addendum to Kingdom Hearts 3 than a meaningful addition. In some ways, it's fitting that a franchise as labyrinthine as Kingdom Hearts received such a strange expansion. Re:Mind is a brief but laborious retread of events we already experienced last year, dressed up with new details that only make the already maddeningly elaborate story all the more obtuse. The DLC also brings back Replica Data bosses, which provide a ridiculous challenge that requires inordinate level grinding. [Editor's note: This review contains spoilers for the ending boss and area in Kingdom Hearts 3.]Kingdom Hearts 3 ended with Sora going off on his own to search for Kairi. Re:Mind takes you on that quest in typical Kingdom Hearts fashion: neither simply nor cleanly. It runs synchronously with the events at the Keyblade Graveyard, meaning you actually have to replay the climax again from the Keyblade Graveyard maze all the way to the showdown with Xehanort. Though the explanation for how this is possible is very silly, Re:Mind is essentially a director's cut.As a reminder, the Keyblade Graveyard doesn't really feature any exploration. It's a series of boss fights separated by lengthy cutscenes. Luxord still hides behind a playing card taunting Sora, and cutscenes stop the action in similar spots. Some of the dialogue and cutscenes are reworked while others are new, but the biggest difference is the option to play as Riku, Roxas, Kairi, or Aqua in several fights. Unfortunately, playing as these characters actually makes the slick and stylish combat less fun. All of them feel like weaker versions of Sora with limited movesets, and it also doesn't help that the Keyblade Graveyard itself is the blandest world in Kingdom Hearts 3, devoid of the colorful and pleasant trappings of the Disney worlds that made the majority of original campaign hum.Even the new content that's spliced into the repeated events largely fails to make the journey worthwhile. Scala ad Caelum opens up to reveal a new section before you square off against Xehanort. Though the area is fairly big, it's desolate and exists only as a space to complete a rather banal fetch quest. It's filler content in a story filled with recycled fights. There's a fan service sequence that's actually pretty enjoyable, however. Without spoiling it, it's the type of scene that will make fans fondly remember the decades-long journey that brought us to this point. It's a brief event that doesn't make up for five hours of deja vu, but it still stands out.For die-hard fans, the Limit Cut Episode that unlocks after watching the same closing cutscene from the base game is the meat of the package. Those who played Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix will be familiar with the mode, which sees Sora in a computer simulation fighting data versions of Organization XIII members like Xigbar, Ansem, and Xehanort. It even features cameos from the long-lost Final Fantasy characters.Unfortunately, the barrier for entry is extraordinarily high, because Limit Cut bosses are exponentially more challenging than any of the fights in the base game. If you didn't grind near or all the way to the level 99 cap in the main campaign--and there was no need to--Limit Cut will probably feel like an insurmountable challenge. I'm still working my way through the bosses, and I seriously doubt that I'll ever actually beat them all. The ocean that exists between the difficulty of the base game and the data bosses is jarring.It's of course impossible to separate the DLC from the game it builds off of, and Kingdom Hearts 3's best moments came in the Disney and Pixar worlds--the individual stories of friendship and love and good conquering evil that could almost be appreciated as self-contained short stories. Re:Mind seeks to tell a very specific story, but along the way it becomes blindingly clear that Kingdom Hearts' strengths lie in its pieces and parts, not its convoluted sum that threads through and disrupts the franchise's magical moments.Even as a longtime fan of the series who adored Kingdom Hearts 3, it's hard to muster up any sort of enthusiasm for Re:Mind. What's more, Re:Mind made me understand Kingdom Hearts 3's story even less, which is a testament to how bonkers it really is. It's not all that surprising this happened; after all, it's Kingdom Hearts. Nevertheless, Re:Mind is an incredibly peculiar expansion that simultaneously falls flat and partially obscures the brilliance of Kingdom Hearts 3.Info from Gamespot.com