Pokemon Go is kicking off the new year with a variety of events this month, including the return of the Legendary Pokemon Heatran. Before it arrives, however, you still have a little time left to catch the current Legendary, Virizion, but you'll need to act fast as it leaves the game on January 7.Until then, you can encounter Virizion in five-star Raids. As usual, you'll first need to team up with other players and battle the Legendary Pokemon before you can earn a chance to catch it. Virizion is a dual Grass/Fighting type, which makes it especially vulnerable to Flying Pokemon like Zapdos and Lugia. Fire, Ice, Poison, Psychic, and Fairy types also have an advantage over Virizion.Once Virizion leaves Raids, the aforementioned Heatran will take its place until February 4. Heatran was previously available in Pokemon Go, but this time around, you'll have your first chance to capture its Shiny form. You can read more details on the official Pokemon Go website.In the meantime, Pokemon Go's Hatchathon event returns for another year from January 2-16. During that time, you'll be able to hatch party hat-wearing versions of Pichu and Wurmple, while party hat Pikachu, Raticate, and Wobbuffet will appear in the wild and Raids. You'll also earn extra Stardust, Rare Candies, and other rewards like the Unova Stone when you walk certain distances.On top of that, a new Research Breakthrough reward is available this month. Each time you achieve a Research Breakthrough in January, you'll encounter a Lapras that knows Ice Shard or Ice Beam, making this the first time you can get the Pokemon with those moves since 2018.Finally, January 2020's Community Day is set for Sunday, January 19, although Niantic has not yet revealed this month's featured Pokemon. You can catch up on more Pokemon Go news below. Pokemon Go News Pokemon Go: New Legendary, Virizion, Now Available Pokemon Go's First Community Day Of 2020 Dated Pokemon Go Adding New Buddy Adventure Feature Pokemon Go December 2019 Field Research Task List New Pokemon Go Event Makes It Much Easier To Get Evolution Items Info from Gamespot.com

The Epic Games Store is ringing in 2020 by giving away three free PC games until January 9 at 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET. The freebies represent the end of Epic's 12 Days of Free Games promotion that actually ended up lasting a full two weeks. To claim the free games, you just need to have a free Epic account.Two of the free games come from the Darksiders series. If you haven't played the post-apocalyptic action series that pits angels against demons, now's your chance to start from the beginning of the saga. Darksiders Warmastered Edition and Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition are remastered versions of the first two games in the series. Both games offer quality hack and slash gameplay and awesome atmospheres. Darksiders received an 8/10 in GameSpot's original 2010 review, and Darksiders II earned an 8.5/10 in GameSpot's original 2012 review.If you like what you play, you can move onto 2018's Darksiders 3 and the recently-released Darksiders Genesis, which introduces more role-playing mechanics and a new top-down perspective. Quite a departure from Darksiders, Steep is a 2016 extreme sports sim from Ubisoft. Though focused on snowboarding and skiing, Steep also has paragliding, sledding, base jumping, and wingsuit flying. Steep earned a 7/10 in GameSpot's review. Critic Leif Johnson praised the open world mountain and the game's overall variety while lamenting the lack of objective rewards beyond cosmetics. Get Darksiders, Darksiders II, and Steep free at Epic Info from Gamespot.com

2020 is here, and with the new year, Sony has announced the first month of free PS4 games for PlayStation Plus subscribers. They become available on January 6, so be sure to snag Titanfall 2 and Monster Energy Supercross before then.Starting January 6, PS Plus users can claim Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection and Goat Simulator. They're free until February 3, and you'll have access to both of them for as long as you're subscribed to PlayStation Plus. Once they become available, you can claim them through the links below.GameSpot's Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection review scored the game an 8/10, thanks in part to its more stable frame rate and the "masterful pacing of Uncharted 2 and 3.""Uncharted: Drake's Fortune was a fine game in 2007, but its wrinkles are deeper now, its age more apparent," critic Mike Mahardy wrote. "With Uncharted 2 and 3, though, Naughty Dog transcended Drake's own small beginnings. The Nathan Drake Collection is a firsthand account of Naughty Dog's growth as a storyteller, and this collection is the best way to relive that history, and witness its transformation up close."Goat Simulator, on the other hand, is a hilarious romp through multiple open worlds that each offer ample opportunity for goat shenanigans. There's no denying it's a weird game, but if you're the kind of person who likes to mess around, inadvertently cause explosions, and stick your goat tongue to things to see what happens, then Goat Simulator is absolutely worth trying when it goes free with PlayStation Plus.PS Plus free games for January 2020Available January 6 - February 3Uncharted: The Nathan Drake CollectionGoat Simulator Best Deals This Week 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 Buy Is Practically Begging People To Buy Starlink: Battle For Atlas Free Game Available For 48 Hours In GOG's Winter Sale Finale Steam Winter Sale 2019: Best Games Under $10 Info from Gamespot.com

The holidays may be over, but that doesn't mean the sales have to be. The Epic Games Store agrees and has kicked off an encore sale, featuring a selection of the PC games that were on sale during its holiday specials, including Red Dead Redemption 2, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and Control--the latter is one of GameSpot's best games of 2019.The best part about the encore sale is that if you still have a $10 holiday coupon, you can use it on any game that is $14.99 or more. Every Epic Games Store user should still have one, as the holiday sale would grant you another every time you used it on an eligible game. However, unlike the holiday sale, you won't earn any additional coupons--it's one and done in the encore sale. That means you can still get Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order for $39.79 or Red Dead Redemption 2 for $38. This brings a lot of these games to their best price yet.The encore sale lasts from now until January 7 at 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET. If you have Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or Xbox Game Pass for PC subscription, then you don't need to pay anything extra to be able to play a select few of these games. Game Pass's PC library currently includes The Outer Worlds, Metro Exodus, and Metro: Last Light Redux. And right now, you can subscribe to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for $1 for your first three months.During the holiday sale, the Epic Games Store offered a new free game every day. And with the new year, Epic isn't stopping there. It's currently giving away three great games for free: Darksiders: War-Mastered Edition, Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition, and Steep.Borderlands 3 -- $39 ($60)World War Z -- $15 ($35)Metro Exodus -- $20 ($40)The Outer Worlds -- $45 ($60)Red Dead Redemption 2 -- $48 ($60)Control -- $40.19 ($60)Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey -- $20 ($40)STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order -- $49.79 ($60)Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint -- $24 ($60)Rebel Galaxy Outlaw -- $22.49 ($30)The Sinking City -- $36 ($60)Outward -- $16 ($40)RUNE II -- $22.49 ($30)Afterparty -- $16 ($20)Metro: Last Light Redux -- $5 ($20)Superliminal -- $16 ($20)The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series -- $25 ($50)Close to the Sun -- $18 ($30)Slime Rancher -- $8 ($20)Info from Gamespot.com

GOG's winter sale is winding down, but the digital retailer has a post-holiday surprise for PC gamers. From now until January 1 at 6 AM PT / 9 AM ET, tactical RPG Tower of Time is free at GOG. All you need to do to claim the freebie is create a free GOG account.Developed by Event Horizon, Tower of Time is an isometric RPG that blends fantasy with science fiction in a post-apocalyptic setting. It has a rather interesting setup, as you play as the main character during only the first section of the game. After the introduction, the protagonist sits takes the throne atop of the eponymous tower and watches and influences the group of champions that explore down below.While you start off with just two champions, you'll eventually have seven characters--each with their own distinct class and skills--to choose from when assembling your party. Tower of Time's combat takes place in real-time, but it can be slowed down and even paused. Success hinges on planning your moves in advance.Though Tower of Time has a story that reacts to your decisions, you can move through the roughly 50-hour adventure much faster by playing in the combat-focused RPGlite mode. For those who like tough challenges, permadeath is an option.Tower of Time is the only freebie at GOG, but you still have time to save on tons of PC games during the winter sale. Most notably, The Witcher Universe Collection is available for just $27 until January 5. The bundle includes all three mainline games in CD Projekt Red's fantasy series, Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales, and The Witcher Adventure Game. See Tower of Time at GOG Best Deals This Week 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 Buy Is Practically Begging People To Buy Starlink: Battle For Atlas Free Game Available For 48 Hours In GOG's Winter Sale Finale Steam Winter Sale 2019: Best Games Under $10 Info from Gamespot.com

Ubisoft is going back to its hacker-centric open-world formula with Watch Dogs: Legion, which marks the third game in the series. We got a pretty close look at Legion when it was announced at E3 2019, and it looks like Ubisoft means to expand on the central ideas of the series pretty significantly. You'll still use your amped-up smartphone to hack the planet in every mission, activating and deactivating security cameras, alarms, weapons, traffic lights, and other connected devices at a whim. But with Legion, Ubisoft is adding a lot of systems that make the world of hacker group DedSec feel deeper and more customizable. You're not just a part of a hacker revolution--you're building it from the ground up.Though there haven't been many more details about Watch Dogs: Legion since E3, we did spend some time going hands-on with the new game, getting a sense of how it handles and how its new NPC-centric character system works. Here's everything we've learned about the game, from its announcement at E3 2019 to now, including when we might expect it to be released. We'll continue to update this as more information is revealed prior to its release.Table of Contents [hide]What Is Watch Dogs: Legion?How Legion's NPC System WorksCharacter Classes, Perks, And SwitchingLegion's Five Stories And How They WorkCombat And The New Melee SystemIs There Permadeath?Is There Multiplayer?Crowd-Sourced MusicWill It Be On Xbox Series X/PS5?Release DateWhat Is Watch Dogs: Legion?Ubisoft's Watch Dogs series puts you in the role of a hacker trying to bring down a corrupt government surveillance state. In the first game, set in Chicago, you played Aiden Pearce, a hacker outlaw with the ability to tap into and manipulate ctOS, a city-spanning computer system that surveilled and collected data on just about everybody. The bones of Ubisoft's open-world game were similar to what the developer has turned out in other franchises--it was a third-person cover shooter that mixed in stealth elements, and in which you also could hop into just about any car to reach various destinations and evade the pursuit of police cars. What Watch Dogs added was the hacking element, which let you change traffic lights to cause collisions and stop pursuers, jack into surveillance cameras to see enemy patrol routes and more carefully stealth your way around them, or set off enemies' radios or weapons to create distractions.In Watch Dogs 2, Ubisoft switched to a new character, Marcus, and his group of anarchist hackers known as DedSec. In that game, ctOS had spread to San Francisco, and the hackers were trying to overthrow the system and free the city. It also had a fairly political bent, satirizing tech culture in the city and leaning into a few charged topics of the modern world, such as police violence against minorities and people of color.Watch Dogs: Legion continues down the path set by Watch Dogs 2. You're again working with DedSec, but things have gone full-on dystopia. The game is set in a possible future of our current world, taking place in a post-Brexit London that has become a police state as the government has struggled to deal with the fallout from the current political climate. Instead of joining a hacker collective of various characters as in Watch Dogs 2, however, in Legion, you're building DedSec from the start of the game. You do that by recruiting various non-player characters into the fold. The biggest change in Legion is the fact that every character in the game could potentially become a player character if you do what's necessary to recruit them, which includes exercising your hacker abilities to learn about their backstories, changing their opinions about DedSec, and completing loyalty missions to turn them to your cause. Any NPC in the city is a potential recruit, and they all have randomized abilities and foibles that can make them assets to your team under the right circumstances.While most of the hacking gameplay systems from the past two games persist into Legion, it's the NPC system that really sets it apart.How Legion's NPC System WorksIn past Watch Dogs games, your hacking repertoire included the Profiler, a system that let you instantly dig up a little bit of information on passing NPCs and characters you might interact with. That info sometimes gave you gameplay options, like siphoning some funds from a person's bank account, but mostly was just window dressing to make various folks wandering Chicago or San Francisco seem a little more real.The Profiler is an essential tool in Legion, however. Every time you use it to scan an NPC in the game, you learn key information about that person. You'll see their occupation and what they're currently up to--all the NPCs have jobs and schedules in Legion--as well as their intrinsic traits. A given person might deal significantly more melee damage than other characters, or be adept at hacking. They might also have physical ailments; one elderly character we played at E3 was a great hacker but physically weak, and moved more slowly than our other recruits because of her advanced age. (In the same way you learn about potential recruits, you can also use the Profiler on enemies to learn their strengths and weaknesses ahead of a battle.)You'll also receive a little backstory about each NPC you scan and get a look at their opinion on DedSec. The authorities in London consider DedSec a terrorist organization and rail against it in the media, so some people have a critical view of the hackers, while others are more sympathetic to their cause.In order to recruit an NPC, you first need to raise their opinion of DedSec, which you can do by helping them with their problems you learn about from the Profiler or doing deeds they appreciate in a Robin Hood-like way. Characters also remember negative things about DedSec's actions, so you'll need to be careful about what you do and how people see you. As you raise those opinions, you'll eventually get a chance to complete a specific mission for that character tied to their backstory. One character we recruited at E3 was being blackmailed by corrupt cops, requiring us to infiltrate New Scotland Yard and erase the dirt they had on our would-be DedSec addition. After completing the mission, the guy joined up, which added him to the roster of up to 20 DedSec characters we could have at any given time.Character Classes, Perks, And SwitchingOnce you have characters, you open up a host of other systems related to them. Legion includes three character classes, and when you get a new recruit, you assign them one of your choice: Enforcer, a combat-heavy class for characters who are good at shooting.Infiltrator, a class better suited for stealth and melee fighting, with the ability to briefly become invisible.Hacker, a class that can control London's police drones and gets a spider bot to help with sneaking around, manipulating computers. You generally want to choose classes for your characters that align with their intrinsic traits; melee fighters are better as Infiltrators, while characters who can soak up a lot of damage make good Enforcers, and so on. Playing as your character can also level them up to unlock additional abilities and perks over time, so it's worth investing time in your recruits.As you recruit characters, you'll be able to switch to them on the fly whenever you want. Since everybody still has a job and a schedule, characters you're not playing as will go about their lives in the meantime; when you swap to them, you'll find them wherever they are in the city. When you're not using characters, they're still an active part of the group, however. They'll chime in on the radio to comment on your missions and actions, and some have passive perks that can affect your gameplay even when they're not around. In our E3 demo, we found ourselves fleeing police, and got a notification that another character's passive trait would increase police response times to make it a bit easier to get away. Abilities like that effectively make it feel as if the rest of DedSec is working with you and helping you out, even when they're not around.Legion's Five Stories And How They WorkLegion finds the city of London "facing her downfall." Various hardships in the post-Brexit era have crippled the government, allowing power-hungry opportunists to take advantage. One such is Albion, a private military company hired by the government to keep the peace, but which vastly infringes on the rights and freedoms of the citizenry. Our time with Legion also suggested there's some intrigue in the crumbling government itself, with spies and other actors trying to consolidate their power in the chaos.According to Ubisoft, Legion doesn't just tell one big story across its campaign; instead, it features five distinct storylines that sound like they'll work sort of like episodes that you'll uncover as you play."Each of those storylines tackles a variety of topics, from AI and automation and their effect on society to oppression from a private military controlling the city, and obviously playing a resistance with that team is caught up in that," lead producer Sean Crooks told us at E3. "It's crucial. It's very important and critical to the story and the team."It sounds like it might be tough to tell a convincing story using a cast of random NPCs, but our time with Legion suggested Ubisoft has a pretty good handle on that idea. When you hit a story cutscene, whatever character you happen to be playing becomes its protagonist, just like when you're playing the rest of the game. Characters have distinct animations, voice actors, and dialogue lines, so it doesn't feel like you're seeing a set of generic animations and lines with your character's particular appearance added in. That works to help make it feel as though the characters you recruit are the fully fleshed-out stars of the game, even though you can pull them from literally anywhere.There are other nice touches to go along with the cutscene system. Characters interact with each other and chime in on what's happening over the radio when you're not playing them, lending them a little more personality. While you're in charge of their actions, little touches like these help to make the cast feel more real and alive. Given the fact that a big part of Watch Dogs 2's success was its solid and well-written cast of characters, Legion's NPC system initially sounded like it would undercut the game's ability to tell its stories--but from our time at E3, at least, this doesn't seem to be the case.Combat And The New Melee SystemAs in past Watch Dogs games, you'll get into your fair share of gunfights in Legion. Once you recruit a character to your team, they seemingly get some special ops training, because every member of DedSec can handle themselves with a gun, a taser, or a punch to an enemy's face. Combat is similar to previous games when it comes to guns--you'll be able to snag both lethal and non-lethal options, taking cover behind objects and shooting around corners or over their tops to avoid taking damage yourself.One big change to the Watch Dogs formula is a new melee combat system that gives you more options for dealing with enemies. In the past, getting into a gunfight was a pretty sure way to wreck your attempts at stealth, with enemies pouring in to take you down from all directions once you'd opened fire. The melee system solves that problem, giving you a way to dispatch baddies without necessarily tipping off every single person in a building that you're there.The melee system is pretty robust, as well. In addition to stealth takedowns, it also includes the ability to dodge and block, and combos you can execute against enemies. You won't just be slamming the punch button when an enemy turns around and spots you at an inopportune moment--you'll have to think about how to beat them hand-to-hand.Is There Permadeath?With a roster of characters you can recruit from anywhere, it stands to reason that if you can add characters, you can also lose them. Legion includes a system in which your characters can die for good, although it's more of a risk-reward proposition than a looming threat throughout the game.When a character takes too much damage, they can be captured by authorities and arrested, requiring you to free them, or they can be grievously wounded and require some time in a hospital. In both cases, the character is out of commission, and if you lose them on a mission, you'll fail it and have to try it over again with someone new. But there's also a system that lets you rally from a defeat, at the risk of potentially losing a character to permanent death.As we saw at E3, if a character takes enough damage that they would be knocked out, you can choose to succumb and let the mission fail, keeping the character alive but incapacitated. Conversely, you can also choose to fight through the pain, giving the character a chance to continue. You get a second chance at completing the mission without losing your progress, but at a serious risk: If your character takes too much damage a second time, they'll die for good. In practice, that means permadeath is possible, but something you can avoid if you're willing to repeat missions. Should you be willing to go for broke, however, you might find members of DedSec will fall in battle, never to return.Is There Multiplayer?Yes, there's multiplayer. As with Watch Dogs 2, Watch Dogs: Legion will support cooperative play online with as many as four players. You'll also share your progression through both single-player and cooperative modes, so playing with your friends won't be a setback to your progress when you're alone.Crowd-Sourced MusicAs with Beyond Good and Evil 2, Ubisoft announced it has partnered with HitRecord, actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt's media company, to create music for Legion. HitRecord's deal is that it works with artists to basically crowdsource content. Artists can collaborate through the community to make various works; in the case of music, one artist might write a guitar riff or piano line, while another contributes a different instrument, and so on. Ubisoft contracted with HitRecord for 10 songs that'll play on in-game radios, with each song earning its creators $2,000, split between collaborators. Their names will also appear in the credits. Creators whose songs aren't chosen for the game get no compensation.Will It Be On Xbox Series X/PS5?Yup. As Ubisoft confirmed in October, Watch Dogs: Legion will be a next-generation console game, popping up on both Sony's PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles from Microsoft. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said the game will "take full advantage" of the power of those machines, but of course, we don't yet know what that means. Legion will also be released on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, for those who aren't keen on a console upgrade, and on Google's Stadia streaming platform.Release DateUbisoft originally slated Legion's release date for March 6, 2020. In November 2019, however, the company announced that it was delaying the game into its 2020-2021 fiscal year, without giving it a new release date. That means as of right now, we can expect Legion to release sometime after March 2020--but we don't know exactly when. Info from Gamespot.com

CD Projekt Red's The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is still going strong four years after launch--stronger than ever, as it turns out. With the recent release of Netflix's The Witcher series on December 20, the open-world action-RPG is seemingly attracting a huge audience on PC, with the Steam version recently seeing more players than ever before--including its original release day.According to Marcin Momot, CDPR's global community lead, The Witcher 3 hit a concurrent Steam player count of 93,835 on Sunday, December 29. That wasn't a one-day fluke--the number has since been beaten by December 30's peak of 94,651. Steam indicates that the open-world action-RPG is one of 2019's top-selling titles. No specific data on that front was shared, but it is positioned in the "Gold" tier alongside games like Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Resident Evil 2 Remake.New player record for @witchergame on @Steam, over 4 years after the release! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/mTGvmrMM5a — Marcin Momot (@Marcin360) December 29, 2019The Witcher 3 also saw an increase in Steam players right after Netflix's The Witcher debuted and has steadily grown ever since. The TV series is based on the books, not the games (which were also inspired by the books), and has been renewed for a second season.CDPR and The Witcher author Andrzej Sapkowski have settled their dispute recently, with the agreement "confer[ing] new rights" to the developer while keeping its existing title rights for everything The Witcher related. Sapkowski had previously filed a legal demand for $16 million and CDPR responded by saying it "will go to great lengths to ensure [an] amicable resolution."The Witcher 3 has received a plethora of accolades since its 2015 launch, including several Game of the Year awards. It is also one of the few games to earn GameSpot's coveted 10/10 "Essential" rating, with our review calling it 'incredible, sumptuous, captivating, and inspiring."Info from Gamespot.com

As with every holiday season, it's been a busy few months for deals as stores and publishers compete to offer appealing prices on games, consoles, and accessories. But the hectic shopping season is finally coming to an end, which means retailers are now clearing out their leftover stock at low prices. So while it may be too late to pick up a gift for that special someone, there's still time to snag something on your personal wishlist at a nice discount.Amazon's massive year-end sale has replaced its Christmas sale, and with it come thousands of deals across categories like electronics, movies and TV, headphones, and, of course, gaming. While many of the best deals were offered earlier this month, Amazon is still discounting quite a few games. As usual, some of the best prices are for PS4 and Xbox One games, but PC and Switch gamers still have some nice options as well. One of the standouts is Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order for just $33.74 (full discount shown at checkout). You can also find Gears 5 for just $25, The Outer Worlds for $40, and NBA 2K20 for $30. Some first-party Switch games like Super Mario Maker 2 are $10 off, which is about the cheapest you'll find them outside major sales like Black Friday and Prime Day.Speaking of Black Friday: If you missed out on the popular PS4 Slim bundle that comes with God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition, and The Last of Us Remastered, you can still find it in stock at Amazon for a discount, although not quite as cheap as it was in November. The bundle is currently selling for $249, down from $300. The Xbox One S All-Digital Edition is also discounted to $172.90, down from its usual $250. And while Nintendo Switch deals are unsurprisingly nowhere to be seen at this point, you can snag a Switch Pro Controller for just $55, an excellent purchase if you got a new Switch for Christmas.Check out some of the best post-Christmas gaming deals at Amazon below. You can also see more year-end deals across other categories at Amazon. See more gaming deals at Amazon Best end-of-year deals at AmazonGamesAssassin's Creed Odyssey -- $15 (Xbox One)Astral Chain -- $49.94 (Switch)Call of Duty: Modern Warfare - Battle Pass Edition -- $65 (Xbox One)Civilization VI -- $19.93 (Switch)Civilization VI - Platinum Edition -- $48 (PC)Death Stranding -- $40 (PS4)The Division 2 -- $12 (Xbox One)The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Special Edition -- $17 (PS4, Xbox One)The Evil Within 2 -- $9 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)Fallout 76 -- $10 (PS4, Xbox One)Gears 5 -- $25 (Xbox One)Just Dance 2020 -- $18.74 (PS4, Xbox One, Switch)Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 -- $40 (Switch)NBA 2K20 -- $30 (PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC)Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch -- $37.68 (Switch)The Outer Worlds -- $40 (PS4, Xbox One)Rage 2 -- $15 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)Red Dead Redemption 2 -- $30 (Xbox One)Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order -- $33.74 (PS4, Xbox One)Super Mario Maker 2 -- $49.94 (Switch)Super Mario Party -- $50 (Switch)Wolfenstein: Youngblood - Deluxe Edition -- $17 (PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC)World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth -- $30 (PC)Wreckfest - Deluxe Edition -- $45 (Xbox One)Consoles and accessoriesNintendo Switch Joy-Cons -- $69 ($80)Nintendo Switch Pro Controller -- $55 ($70)PlayStation DualShock 4 Wireless Controller -- $46 ($60)PlayStation Gold Wireless Headset -- starts at $69 ($100)PowerA Wireless GameCube-Style Controller for Nintendo Switch -- $37 ($50)PS4 Slim Only on PlayStation bundle -- $249 ($300)Xbox One S All-Digital Edition -- $172.90 ($250)Xbox One Wireless Controller - Gears 5 Limited Edition -- $59.90 ($75)PC accessoriesBengoo G9000 Stereo Gaming Headset (PS4, PC, Xbox One) -- $29 ($40)HyperX Cloud II Gaming Headset (PS4, PC, Xbox One) -- $75.90 ($100)Razer DeathAdder Elite Gaming Mouse -- $25 ($70)Razer Firefly Chroma Hard Gaming Mouse Pad with RGB Lighting -- $35 ($60)Razer Huntsman Gaming Keyboard -- $86 ($150)Razer Kraken Gaming Headset (PS4, Switch, PC) -- $50 ($80) Best Deals This Week 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 Buy Is Practically Begging People To Buy Starlink: Battle For Atlas Free Game Available For 48 Hours In GOG's Winter Sale Finale Steam Winter Sale 2019: Best Games Under $10 Info from Gamespot.com

Upgrading four Sundial obelisks scattered is central to the activities during the Destiny 2's Season of Dawn. To get the materials you to amp up the power of the obelisks, you'll complete special weekly bounties from each one, and daily bounties from Saint-14, to earn the materials you need. Doing so increases your rewards significantly throughout the season.In order to upgrade the obelisks, you'll need to visit and interact with each one. But many players have reported issues with the obelisk in the EDZ. Walk up to it, and you might find that there's no prompt to interact with the obelisk's control panel, and therefore no way to spend the Polarized Fractaline materials needed for the upgrade. As Bungie has noted, the obelisk is bugged, and it can seem like your progress in the season is stalled if you don't know what to do about it. Destiny 2 News And Guides Destiny 2: Transponder Locations And Where To Find Saint-14's Ghost Destiny 2: The Dawning 2019 Recipes, All Cookie Ingredients, Gifts, And Rewards Guide Destiny 2 Patch Notes For The Dawning Update, Live Now Destiny 2: Where To Find All 15 Vex Transformers For "An Impossible Task" Quest Destiny 2: A Matter Of Time Quest Steps -- How To Unlock The Sundial Fortunately, there's a workaround. Apparently, the obelisk's issue has to do with the requirement to unlock it in the first place--you need to complete a mission in the EDZ in order to power up the obelisk and make it work. Unlike other obelisks in the solar system, though, the EDZ one isn't just checking if you have completed the requirements; if anybody in your instance hasn't activated it, it won't give anyone the prompt to interact with it.Bungie suggests repeatedly spawning in at a different transmat location and then returning to the EDZ obelisk, which is located in the EDZ's Gulch section. The idea is that you can try to enter the area over and over, in hopes of finding an instance in which everyone has activated the obelisk. It can be time-consuming, but eventually, it should work.That method works if you're on PC, although it can be annoying. If you're a console Destiny 2 player, however, you have an easier method. While your character is in orbit, go into your console's Settings menu and adjust the date and time, picking any day in the past. Once that's done, spawn in at the Gulch transmat zone and head to the obelisk. You should now be in an empty instance, having tricked Destiny 2 into thinking you're playing at a different time than everyone else. With nobody around, the obelisk should work.That's still a bit of a pain, but we've found altering the console's date makes the obelisk work every time. Bungie hasn't said when it'll get a fix together for the obelisk, unfortunately, so be prepared to put in a little extra effort to advance your way through the Season of Dawn's requirements.Info from Gamespot.com

We've spent the last few weeks looking back at some of the best games of 2019, but now it's time to look ahead at what the new year has in store, and it seems 2020 is already shaping up to be another exciting year for gaming. Both Sony and Microsoft will launch new next-generation consoles during the holidays, but in the meantime, there are plenty of big-name titles on the way to current systems.While most of 2020's biggest releases are still a few months away, there are a handful of major games on the way to each platform in the first month of the new year. Bandai Namco's Dragon Ball RPG, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, hits PS4, Xbox One, and PC on January 17, while Switch gets a port of the underrated Wii U RPG, Tokyo Mirage Sessions, on the same day. This month also sees the PC release of Monster Hunter World's acclaimed Iceborne expansion, as well as Blizzard's anticipated Warcraft III remaster.Those are only a few of the games on the way next month. You can see all the biggest PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch games of January 2020 below, and for a look at all the other announced games on the way next year, be sure to check out our list of game release dates in 2020.Monster Hunter World: Iceborne (PC) -- January 9Following its release on PS4 and Xbox One back in September, Monster Hunter World's big Iceborne expansion finally arrives on PC on January 9. This expansion takes players to an arctic region known as Hoarfrost Reach, which is home to a diverse array of new and returning monsters to hunt, not to mention a wealth of new gear to craft and quests to take on. The PC version of Iceborne also boasts high-resolution texture pack support, 4K and an uncapped framerate, support for ultra-wide screens, improved mouse and keyboard controls, and more.Further reading:Monster Hunter World: Iceborne Review - A Very Ice TimeMonster Hunter World: Iceborne Has A Release Date On PCMonster Hunter World: Iceborne Review Roundup - Is The New Expansion Any Good?Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot (PS4, Xbox One, PC) -- January 17Bandai Namco's new Dragon Ball action-RPG, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, arrives on PS4, Xbox One, and PC on January 17. The title is a retelling of the entire Dragon Ball Z series, encompassing all of the major story arcs and even some of the anime's filler material, such as the famous driving test episode. And despite the title, Goku won't be the only playable character; you'll also take control of Gohan, Vegeta, future Trunks, and the fused warrior Vegito throughout the course of the adventure. The game even introduces a brand-new character named Bonyu, who was designed by series creator Akira Toriyama.Further reading:Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot's Opening Cinematic Is A Blast Of NostalgiaDragon Ball Z: Kakarot Will Feature Vegito As A Playable CharacterDragon Ball Z: Kakarot Will Cover The Cell Saga And Filler Material, Including The Fan-Favorite Driving Test EpisodeTokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore (Switch) -- January 17Launching alongside Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is Tokyo Mirage Sessions Encore, an enhanced Switch port of the 2015 Wii U RPG. A crossover between the Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei series, Tokyo Mirage Sessions follows a group of teens who must command Mirages--reimagined Fire Emblem heroes--in order to stop otherworldly invaders from draining Tokyo of a creative energy called Performa. The Switch edition includes the base game and all of the downloadable content released for the Wii U version, along with some new content in the form of additional story elements, characters, and songs.Further reading:Tokyo Mirage Sessions Is Coming To SwitchTokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Wii U ReviewWarcraft III: Reforged (PC) -- January 28Capping off the month is Warcraft III: Reforged, which launches on PC on January 28. A complete remaster of Blizzard's beloved real-time strategy game, Warcraft III, and its Frozen Throne expansion, Reforged features completely overhauled visuals and a host of other changes, such as improved social and matchmaking features, "rebalanced" online play, and more. The standard edition of the game retails for $30, while the Spoils of War edition runs for $40 and includes a variety of in-game bonuses for Reforged and other Blizzard titles.Further reading:Warcraft III: Reforged Has A Release Date, And It's Not Far AwayFull January 2020 Release ScheduleRelease DateGamePlatformsPre-OrderJanuary 9Monster Hunter World: IcebornePCN/AJanuary 17Dragon Ball Z: KakrarotPS4, Xbox One, PCAmazon, PlayStation, Microsoft, SteamJanuary 17Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE EncoreSwitchAmazonJanuary 23Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HDSwitchN/AJanuary 23The Walking Dead: Saints & SinnersPCN/AJanuary 28Journey to the Savage PlanetPS4, Xbox One, PCAmazon, PlayStation, Microsoft, Epic StoreJanuary 28Warcraft III: ReforgedPCN/AInfo from Gamespot.com

Though the holidays are just about over, it's time to start spending those gift cards and pick up some games and accessories for your new console. GameStop's latest weekly ad features deals on a number of Xbox One, PS4, and Switch games. PC gamers can also save on some awesome Corsair gear.The weekly sale technically runs until January 4, but most of the game deals are deemed "special offers" and are only discounted until January 1. The Division 2 drops all the way down to $12 on PS4 and Xbox One, which is a remarkable price for a game that released in 2019. Gears 5 is 50% off, lowering the price from $60 to $30.For those who received a new Nintendo Switch this Christmas, you can pick up Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 for $40. Arcade multiplayer phenomenon turned console game Killer Queen Black is a steal at $15, and Assassin's Creed: The Rebel Collection is $30. The Rebel Collection compiles Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and the underrated Assassin's Creed Rogue.PC gamers can save on three excellent Corsair products. The Corsair K70 RGB MK 2 mechanical gaming keyboard is $50 off, slashing the price from $160 to $110. You can pair that keyboard with the Corsair M65 RGB gaming mouse that happens to be on sale for $40 (was $60). And if you want to round out your desk space, you can plop both of those peripherals on the $15 Corsair MM300 anti-fray extended mouse pad.You can browse the full ad at GameStop and check out our favorite deals below--some of which are holdovers from GameStop's winter sale. You'll also probably want to take a peek at Amazon's end-of-year sale, which includes a larger selection of game deals. See all deals at GameStop Best deals at GameStopAssassin's Creed: The Rebel Collection -- $30 (Switch)Borderlands 3 -- $30 (PS4, Xbox One)Call of Duty: Modern Warfare -- $45 (PS4, Xbox One)Death Stranding -- $40 (PS4)The Division 2 -- $12 (PS4, Xbox One)Gears 5 -- $30 (Xbox One)Ghost Recon Breakpoint -- $20 (PS4, Xbox One)Killer Queen Black -- $15 (Switch)Madden NFL 20 -- $30 (PS4, Xbox One)Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 -- $40 (Switch)Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle -- $20 (Switch)NBA 2K20 -- $30 (PS4, Xbox One)Need for Speed Heat -- $40 (PS4, Xbox One)The Outer Worlds -- $40 (PS4, Xbox One)Red Dead Redemption 2 -- $40 (PS4, Xbox One)The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition -- $20 (PS4, Xbox One)PS4 Gold Headset -- $80Corsair K70 RGB MK 2 mechanical gaming keyboard -- $110Corsair M65 RGB Elite gaming mouse -- $40Corsair MM300 anti-fray extended mouse pad -- $15 Best Deals This Week 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 Buy Is Practically Begging People To Buy Starlink: Battle For Atlas Free Game Available For 48 Hours In GOG's Winter Sale Finale Steam Winter Sale 2019: Best Games Under $10 Info from Gamespot.com

Christmas has come and gone, which means this year's biggest sales are officially behind us. But while Black Friday may have brought some of the best gaming deals of 2019, gamers looking to pick up Respawn's brand-new Star Wars game, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, were limited to Xbox One bundles and a slight discount on the Deluxe edition. If you held off on picking this game up during Black Friday or if you received a new PS4 or Xbox One for Christmas, you're in luck, as the standard edition just hit its lowest price yet in Amazon's big year-end sale.Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order has an initial discount of $45 right now, down from the usual $60. To sweeten the deal, Amazon is offering an additional $11.25 off the price, which drops your total cost to $33.74. While you should see extra savings on the product listing right underneath the price, you'll see the full discount applied during checkout. If you have Amazon Prime, you'll receive free shipping as usual.The Deluxe Edition, which is only $10 more than the standard edition at full price, includes a director's cut with behind-the-scenes features and additional cosmetic items, but it's not discounted on Amazon right now. See Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order at Amazon The third-person action-adventure game earned a solid 8/10 in GameSpot's Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order review, in which Phil Hornshaw praised its challenging, Souls-like combat; intriguing characters; and vast world for exploration."Especially as it wears on, Fallen Order becomes perhaps the strongest conception of what playing as a Jedi Knight ought to really be like," Hornshaw wrote. "It's true that Fallen Order borrows liberally from other action games, but those elements work together with Respawn's combat and environment design, and a story that finds humanity in the Force and in its characters, to hone in on what makes the world of Star Wars worthy of revisiting again and again. Even with some rough edges, Fallen Order represents one of the most compelling game additions to the Star Wars franchise in years." Best Deals This Week 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 Buy Is Practically Begging People To Buy Starlink: Battle For Atlas Free Game Available For 48 Hours In GOG's Winter Sale Finale Steam Winter Sale 2019: Best Games Under $10 Info from Gamespot.com

Pokemon fans can claim a few different freebies right now in Pokemon Sword and Shield, including a free Gigantamax Meowth and a handful of rare Pokemon balls. On top of those, The Pokemon Company is now offering another free gift for players for a limited time, and it's a pretty nice one.Until January 30, you can claim 20 free Battle Points in Sword and Shield. These points are a special kind of currency that can primarily be earned by competing in the Battle Tower, which only opens up after you've cleared the main storyline, and they're used to purchase helpful items like Nature-changing mints and other competitive-focused equipment for your Pokemon.To receive the free Battle Points, you'll need to select Mystery Gift from the games' menu and follow the steps below:Select Mystery Gift from the menu screenSelect Get a Mystery GiftSelect Get Gift via Code/PasswordFollow the prompts to connect onlineInput the download code G1GANTAMAX when promptedAs previously mentioned, a handful of other free gifts are available in Sword and Shield, although time is running out to claim those. You have until January 15 to download the aforementioned rare Poke Balls. That's also the last day you can claim a free Gigantamax Meowth, which isn't otherwise available in the games. You can see all the freebies available in Sword and Shield right now in our roundup.Pokemon Sword and Shield launched for Switch last month and quickly set new sales records for the series. GameSpot awarded the pair a 9/10 in our Pokemon Sword and Shield review and also selected them as some of the best Switch games of 2019. You can read more about the eighth-generation Pokemon games below. Pokemon Sword And Shield News & Guides Pokemon Sword & Shield Eevee Guide: How To Get Every Evolution Pokemon Sword & Shield: How Do Fossils Work? Pokemon Sword Vs. Pokemon Shield: Exclusive Pokemon, Legendaries, And Raids Pokemon Sword & Shield: Every Gen 8 Pokemon Info from Gamespot.com

Destiny 2's holiday event, The Dawning, sends you around the solar system to bake and deliver treats in order to complete bounties and fix up a special holiday sparrow. The Dawning this year adds more characters to your treat delivery rotation, including a few villainous characters--like Riven of a Thousand Voices, the final boss of the Last Wish raid. If you're still figuring out how to create all the confections, check out our complete Destiny 2 Dawning recipe guide. Destiny 2 News And Guides Destiny 2: Transponder Locations And Where To Find Saint-14's Ghost Destiny 2: The Dawning 2019 Recipes, All Cookie Ingredients, Gifts, And Rewards Guide Destiny 2 Patch Notes For The Dawning Update, Live Now Destiny 2: Where To Find All 15 Vex Transformers For "An Impossible Task" Quest Destiny 2: A Matter Of Time Quest Steps -- How To Unlock The Sundial At first, the prospect of delivering something to Riven might sound daunting. In most cases, the only way to reach a raid boss is to actually complete a raid, which requires six players and a whole lot of coordination and skill. With the Last Wish raid, however, things are a bit easier. You don't need to fight through the other encounters of the raid in order to reach Riven thanks to the Wishing Wall.To get to Riven, spawn into the Last Wish raid on the Director map for the Dreaming City. After you enter the first room and listen to Riven's monologue, head through the hole in the left wall until you reach the Kalli encounter. Instead of dropping down to where Kalli waits, jump across the pool to the left to find a path of ledges you can climb up to a hidden room that houses the Wishing Wall. You want to shoot the emblems on the wall to create a specific pattern: the Seventh Wish. Here's what it looks like.The Wishing Wall requires you to shoot each of the round emblems in order to change the image that appears on it. Bring slow-firing guns with lots of ammo.Once you enter the right combination, step onto the circular plate on the ground to get teleported to the encounter with Riven. When you arrive, head over to the circle plate to the right and stand on it to get sent downward to the actual fight with Riven. When you arrive, you'll see a small blue snowflake-like projection on the floor near Riven's feet. Activate it and you can deliver the cookie--and you're free to head back to orbit before things get intense.Once you get to the room with Riven, look for a snowflake projection that'll let you pass the boss its gift. Info from Gamespot.com

2020 is just around the corner, and Pokemon Go is kicking off the new year with a variety of in-game activities. Niantic has outlined some of the events it has lined up for the hit Pokemon mobile game in January, and they include the return of a Legendary, a new Research Breakthrough reward, the debut of new Gen 5 Pokemon, and more.First, Niantic will roll out another new Special Research questline revolving around the villainous Team Rocket. Like December's Team Rocket Special Research, this questline will culminate in a battle with Team Rocket boss Giovanni, and if you can defeat him, you'll earn a chance to capture another Shadow Legendary Pokemon, Moltres.A new month also means a new batch of Field Research tasks to complete. Each time you achieve a Research Breakthrough in January, you'll encounter a special Lapras with either Ice Shard or Ice Beam. The last time you could get a Lapras with either of these attacks was back in 2018, making this another chance to add one to your collection if you missed it the first time around.On top of that, the Adventure Sync Hatchathon event is coming back from January 2-16. During that time, you'll be able to earn rewards like extra Stardust, Rare Candies, and a Unova Stone--which is useful for evolving certain Gen 5 Pokemon--by walking certain distances. You'll also be able to hatch and encounter wild Pokemon that are wearing party hats during the event.Shortly after the Hatchathon kicks off, the Legendary Pokemon Heatran will make its return to Pokemon Go. You'll be able to find the Lava Dome Pokemon in five-star Raids from January 7 to February 4, and this time around, you'll also have a chance to encounter its Shiny form.Finally, Niantic is teasing that some more new Pokemon will begin appearing in Pokemon Go soon. The developer has hinted that more Pokemon originally discovered in the Unova region are on their way to the mobile game, although it hasn't shared any more details beyond that, so it remains to be seen which new Gen 5 monsters will debut next month.You can read more details about Pokemon Go's January events on the game's official website. In the meantime, you have until January 7 to catch the game's current Legendary, Virizion. Pokemon Go's January Community Day is also set for Sunday, January 19, although Niantic hasn't revealed what the featured Pokemon will be just yet. You can catch up on more Pokemon Go news below. Pokemon Go News Pokemon Go: New Legendary, Virizion, Now Available Pokemon Go's First Community Day Of 2020 Dated Pokemon Go Adding New Buddy Adventure Feature Pokemon Go December 2019 Field Research Task List New Pokemon Go Event Makes It Much Easier To Get Evolution Items Info from Gamespot.com