Each Monday, Microsoft refreshes its weekly sale on digital Xbox One and 360 games on Xbox Live. This week's sale is up on the site, so let's take a look at some of the best games you can get for low prices. Note that some of the discounts are reserved for Xbox Live Gold members, while others are available to everyone.There aren't a lot of big games on sale this week, but if you don't mind picking up racing games that aren't the latest in the series, you can save some serious cash. Need for Speed and Need for Speed Rivals are on sale for $5 each. A bundle containing Forza Horizon 3 and Forza Motorsport 6 is down to just $32--significantly less than if you wanted to pick up racers of a more recent vintage.All episodes of the mystery adventure game The Council are on sale, but if you're in for a penny, why not go for the whole pound and grab the complete season for $20? And for those whose interests span both football and fantasy (the Tolkien kind), Blood Bowl 2 will be right up your alley; it's on sale for $5.But not every game needs to last dozens of hours. It's always nice to have a few smaller games you can play for 10 minutes here and 15 minutes there. A number of those are on sale right now, including Clustertruck for $7.50, Coffin Dodgers for $4.80, and the king of them all, Peggle 2, which is on sale for just $2.40. Do yourself a favor and pick that one up if you don't have it.You'll find more games on sale this week below, or you can view the whole list on Major Nelson's blog.Aces of the Luftwaffe - Squadron -- $12 / £9.59Blood Bowl 2 -- $5 / £4Brawlout -- $10 / £8Clustertruck -- $7.50 / £6Coffin Dodgers -- $4.80 / £3.84The Council: Complete Season -- $20 / £16Forza Horizon 3 and Forza Motorsport 6 Bundle -- $32 / £28Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes -- $11.24 / £9.36Need for Speed -- $5 / £6.25Need for Speed Rivals -- $5 / £3.75Overcooked -- $4.25 / £3.20Peggle 2 -- $2.40 / £2Treadnauts -- $7.50 / £6Tricky Towers -- $6 / £4.79Info from Gamespot.com

Epic Games, the makers of Fortnite, has announced its own marketplace to compete directly with Steam. The Epic Games Store will roll out soon for PC and Mac, with plans to expand to open platforms and Android in 2019. It's already detailing some developer-friendly moves.The most significant part, for devs, is that they'll earn 88% of their revenue. According to the announcement there are no tiers to the profit-sharing: it's just an 88/12 split between developers and Epic for listing on their marketplace. This is the most striking challenge to Steam, which now takes 20-30% based on a tiered earning structure. If a developer is using the Unreal engine, Epic will cover the 5% engine royalty out of its own 12% cut. Though Epic is encouraging use of its own Unreal engine with profit incentives, it says games developed on any engine are welcome.Purchasing a game on the Epic store will automatically subscribe players to the game's newsfeed for easy communication, and developers are in charge of their own game page on the news feed. It promises no store ads or cross-marketing on a game page, and no paid ads in the search results.Epic is also encouraging developers to work with streamers and bloggers, letting them set a revenue share for referrals. Epic says it will cover the first 5% of creator revenue sharing for the first 24 months to help get the ball rolling.The company promises more details to come at The Game Awards on Thursday.Info from Gamespot.com

Obsidian Entertainment, hot off the heels of being acquired by Microsoft, has announced when we'll see the first glimpse of its next project. The studio's homepage now shows a series of teaser images counting down to Thursday's Game Awards.The images show retro-style advertisements from two fake sponsors: Spacer's Choice and Auntie Cleo's. Spacer's Choice attaches to a retro-futuristic gun, while Auntie Cleo's attaches to a collection of ointments and creams. The images don't tell us much about the project, but they do set a particular tone.Each of the fake ads teases more news at The Game Awards, the awards event coming this Thursday hosted by Geoff Keighley. The show has been teasing ten new game announcements along with updates for existing games. And of course, it will offer lots of celebrity guests and presenters, and the awards themselves.The game is set to be published by Private Division, a new indie label from Take-Two. It's not clear if that publishing deal will be impacted by Microsoft's purchase of Obsidian. The studio has long specialized in RPGs--having made Fallout: New Vegas, South Park: The Stick of Truth, and Pillars of Eternity--so whatever this retro-futurist space theme is, it's likely to fit into that genre.Info from Gamespot.com

There's nothing scary about the familiar. Whether it's being lurched at by the shuffling zombies, set upon by mutated alligators, or stalked by skinless Lickers, in each subsequent play of Resident Evil 2 its frights are just a little less effective. This makes the challenge Capcom faces in remaking the game all the more tricky.Resident Evil 2 is a beloved survival horror title and, if you're anything like us, you'll have walked the halls of Racoon City's Police Department enough times to call it home--albeit one overrun with gruesome creatures and an abundance of coloured herbs. Capcom is clearly mindful of this and, in reimagining the game for a modern audience, has made numerous smart changes that will keep returning veterans on their toes.As a baseline, there is a level of familiarity in the broader layout of the environment that will stoke nostalgia from fans. But Capcom has also remixed item locations, enemy placement, and--most importantly--how it feels to be in RPD. We recently went hands-on with the game and found that there was a pervading sense of tension throughout. Zombies felt like they took more ammo to bring down, so the resource management that's so vital to Resident Evil was even more critical. Lickers seemed to wait in the shadows for opportune moments to strike, ensuring we never really felt at ease, and the close-up camera seemed to smother us, creating a sense of claustrophobia that we couldn't shake.However, undoubtedly the most unnerving part of Resident Evil 2 Remake was the presence of the Tyrant, a seemingly unstoppable force of nature. This towering menace was always bearing down on us, following us throughout the police department in an attempt to corner and crush Claire Redfield. Even when we tried to put some space between us and the Tyrant, the distant stomp of his footsteps served as an ever present reminder that we were never really safe. In all honesty, it was quite overwhelming, and that's exactly what fans of Resident Evil and survival horror as a genre want from this remake.In the video above, GameSpot's Resident Evil superfans Adam Mason and Tamoor Hussain talk through their experiences with the remake, discussing both the similarities to the original title and what Capcom has done to reinvent it. Our demo included sections where we were also able to play as Leon Kennedy and Ada Wong, in addition to Claire Redfield, and we discuss some of the differences in gameplay their sections provide.Resident Evil 2 Remake is set for release on January 25 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.Info from Gamespot.com

2018 was a fantastic year for video games, a non-stop hit parade of amazing titles all over the scene--AAA blockbusters, indies, and everything in between. If you've got a Windows machine with the right hardware, you're already in a good position to experience the overwhelming majority of it. The PC has continued to be an outstanding place to play video games in 2018, and with some companies making interesting technological headway this year, it's also the place where the first steps to the next generation of games are already taking place.The Walls Between Console And PC Continue To FallIf you only have a PC, you might find yourself feeling left out when a major console release rolls around. That's certainly still the case with Sony and Nintendo, but Microsoft's Play Anywhere initiative, introduced in 2017, continued to see a small handful of Xbox One releases come to Windows 10 as well. The critical consensus was mixed on Sea Of Thieves and State of Decay 2, though both have seen continual content updates since launch. Forza Horizon continued to be a welcome asset though, so we're looking forward to seeing what Microsoft Game Studios has in store for 2019, especially with its current focus on acquiring major developers.Meanwhile, Japanese third-party publishers like Capcom and Sega continued to recognize the value of their PC audiences, and we saw more traditionally console-only franchises make the transition to Steam. Ports and remasters of existing games like Yakuza 0, Devil May Cry, Shenmue I & II, and Katamari Damacy appeared, but we also got significant new releases like Valkyria Chronicles 4, and the mammoth Monster Hunter: World, and we also have Devil May Cry 5 and Resident Evil 2 Remake to look forward to. With the higher potential power of gaming PCs, multiplatform titles overall continue to perform better, too, and there were few instances of dodgy PC ports this year. At least, not to the extent of Nier: Automata in 2017.There was one incredibly notable third-party game that didn't make its way to PC, however. Red Dead Redemption 2 released to near-universal acclaim in October, but Rockstar hasn't made any comments about the potential for a PC version just yet. The PC version of Rockstar's previous game, Grand Theft Auto V, was announced roughly a year after its initial release.The Battle Royale For Battle Royale IntensifiesPlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds dominated PC gaming talk in 2017, capturing a lot of attention and spawning many imitators. But while PUBG hit its absolute peak popularity on PC in January of 2018, its player base diminished drastically throughout the year.The obvious reason is likely Fortnite, which dominated the talk of 2018 to a much larger and more unprecedented scale than PUBG ever did--it's become a mainstream cultural phenomenon. But PUBG itself is also to blame. The game had numerous bugs, technical issues, matchmaking problems, and a general jankiness that never really went away.PUBG's raw, early-access feel was endearing at first. When the concept felt new and exciting, it was easier to overlook its problems. But the charm started to wear off through 2018, especially since its competition was a more polished alternative. PUBG developer Bluehole eventually acknowledged that the game had numerous issues, launched Fix PUBG, a development roadmap that let everyone know that it is listening, they are working on it, and they want to be transparent about it. But that hasn't stopped its player base from shrinking.On the plus side, if battle royale is your jam, the PC is the best place to get access to all the up-and-coming competitors trying to make waves with their own unique takes on the popular format. Fortnite and Call of Duty's Blackout aside, PC players also have access to SCUM, Ring of Elysium, H1Z1, Battlerite Royale, Fear The Wolves, Fractured Lands, Realm Royale, Cuisine Royale, Darwin Project, Maelstrom, and Radical Heights (R.I.P.), to name a few. How many will make it in the end? Probably just one, really.Strategy Is Still Strongest On PCSure, the major consoles have their exclusive titles. But there's one genre that you absolutely need a PC to experience the best of: strategy and management games. Statistics, spreadsheets, intricate battle commands, economies, sewerage systems--these games keep you obsessing over the smallest decisions and keep you up all night.2018 saw the release of some exceptional new strategy titles, like the phenomenal Into The Breach, the slow and deliberate Battletech, the perilously stressful Frostpunk and the frantic They Are BIllions. These games brought engaging new ideas to the already stalwart genre roster available on PC. We also got great new releases from familiar series--Thrones of Britannia represented a successful, smaller-scale experiment for the Total War series, Football Manager 2019 once again did its thing, and Two Point Hospital was a pitch-perfect spiritual successor to Bullfrog's classic Theme Hospital.Meanwhile, the existing strategy heavyweights all saw strong expansions--Civilization VI received Rise and Fall, which added an interesting new dynamic to the ever-popular 4X game, and Paradox continued to roll out multiple expansions for its enduring roster, including Stellaris, Europa Universalis IV, Hearts of Iron IV, Crusader Kings II, and Cities: Skylines.Valve Finally Releases A New GameThe company behind Steam, Half-Life, and Dota 2 among other things released its first new game in years during 2018, the trading-card game Artifact, based on the Dota 2 universe. It was designed by the legendary creator Richard Garfield (the person responsible for Magic: The Gathering and Netrunner), but its release was surrounded by heated discussion over its unique monetization model. While the base game costs $20USD, the only way to get new cards is to either buy more 12-card packs at $2USD each, or purchase them individually from other users on the Steam marketplace. This model mimics the real-world collectible card game market, but i seemed to irk players who are used to the more generous free-to-play model of its competitors. However, Artifact's defenders tout that the relative cost of achieving a full set of cards compared to other games is comparable, and in cases better given the ability to resell on the Steam marketplace.In more positive and less contentious Valve news, the company this year acquired Campo Santo, the independent studio behind Firewatch and the upcoming In The Valley Of Gods, so expect to see another Valve published game in 2019.Discovering Indies And Early Access Games Is Still Best On PCThough Xbox began experimenting with early access games in 2017, the PC is still the best place to try out a large variety of the freshest new game ideas. Wading into the early access pool naturally has its own perils (we're talking about unfinished games, after all), but there are always games whose concepts are so enticing and executed so well that they demand your attention even before they're finished.Significant early access darlings that gained popularity this year included the widely celebrated Dead Cells, which finally came out of early access in August, the deck-building roguelike Slay The Spire, space survival game Astroneer, the aforementioned RTS They Are Billions, Crytek's competitive western game Hunt: Showdown, among many others.Elsewhere, Star Citizen is still in development, seven years later. The ever-growing spiritual successor to Wing Commander reached over $200 million dollars in crowdsourced funding in November of this year, and its scope continues to be almost incomprehensible. The 2013 phenomenon DayZ also reached its fifth year of Early Access, though we're not sure if anyone is still playing that.On the indie front, Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have all been getting better in bringing indie games to their respective platforms, and other publishers like Devolver Digital are making sure their titles get released in as many places as possible. But, if you're interested in the independent scene, the PC is still the place to be. Certain high-profile 2018 titles are PC only, like the exceptional Return To Obra Dinn, and others, like Into The Breach, released on PC long before getting announced for any other platform. Additionally, PC-exclusive services like Itch.io are still the best place to check out smaller-scale experimental titles.New Technology Is Here. The Future Is Here.2018 was the year that GPU manufacturer Nvidia took its next big step and revealed the Geforce RTX 20 series of graphics cards at Gamescom, which can very comfortably run modern games at their highest detail levels in 4K resolutions and at 60fps. But even though the raw jump in performance might not seem that drastic on paper, and the cards themselves are expensive, the 20 series pushes GPU tech forward with the introduction of a couple of notable technologies that look to the future of graphics rendering.The 20 series boasted a major advancement in the form of real-time ray tracing, essentially a superior and realistic-looking way to render lighting, shadows, and reflections, though only a limited number of games are currently able to actually utilize this technology (Battlefield V is the only one at the time of writing). The 20 series also uses a new form of antialiasing, called Deep Learning Super-Sampling (DLSS), which uses a form of artificial intelligence to perform better polygon rendering without the huge computational strain that it typically requires.Elsewhere, Google unveiled a limited test of its cloud streaming service, Project Stream in October. The company teamed up with Ubisoft to let a selection of users play Assassin's Creed Odyssey through the service, which streams game through the Google Chrome browser, and by GameSpot's own accounts, this actually runs pretty damn well.With rumors of new consoles on the horizon, these two disparate advancements in both local and remote computational technology give us some good ideas of what to expect. We know a number of major games companies are looking towards cloud streaming as an option (if they don't already have an active service), and we know that there's always been a bit of a hardware arms race between Sony and Microsoft concerning who gets to boast about having the better graphical quality. So, to see functioning examples of both kinds of advanced technologies this year on PC feels like we're already getting a taste of the next few years of gaming.Other Matters, In BriefValve's annual Dota 2's tournament, The International, once again broke its own record of the largest prize pool in esports history. The final total was $25,532,177Valve's Steam Link hardware was discontinued and run out at trivial prices during Black Friday. The company plans to continue its Steam Link technology as a software-only platform, utilizing existing smart device technology from other manufacturers.Valve announced a new Linux initiative titled Proton, which seeks to allow Windows-based Steam games to run from within Steam's Linux client.Seminal 90's PC games Ultima Underworld and Star Control saw modern successors release this year with Underworld Ascendant and Star Control: Origins. Unfortunately, neither seemed to meet fan expectations.Blizzard fails to announce a new Diablo game at Blizzcon, to the disappointment of its most rabid series fans.The declining value of cryptocurrency in 2018 leaves graphics card manufacturers with huge amounts of surplus inventory.VerdictIt's unsurprising that the versatility and open nature of the Windows PC platform continues to make it the best place to play a large variety of games. Third party publishers are continuing to support their PC audiences, and it's the platform with the biggest variety of independent and early access games. Big console exclusives from Sony and Nintendo will continue the elude PC audiences, but Microsoft's Play Anywhere initiative continues to be a positive idea that will hopefully pay off with their recent studio acquisitions. Additionally, the PC still sees its fair share of platform exclusive games, especially in the strategy genre.2018 was a great year for games, and because you can play the overwhelming majority of them on your computer, it was a great year for PC gaming.The GoodThe BadAn increasing number of traditionally console-exclusive games make the transitionSome disappointing revivals of classic PC gamesA strong year for PC-centric strategy gamesRed Dead Redemption 2 hasn't been announced, yetVariety of indies and early access games is still largest on PC Nvidia paves the way for Ray Tracing support in the future Info from Gamespot.com

Overwatch will be kicking off its annual "Winter Wonderland" event starting next week, and lasting throughout the month and into January. A short teaser video revealed the dates from December 11-January 2. The teaser also showed a portion of the Blizzard World map done up in holiday decorations. Last year's Winder Wonderland event included a new boss fight Brawl called Mei's Yeti Hunt and the return of Mei's Snowball Offensive Brawl. The Yeti Hunt pitted teams of five (all Mei) against one Winston in his Yeti skin, for an asymmetrical multiplayer experience similar to games like Evolve or Friday the 13th. This year we may see another new Mei-based mode, along with the return of one or both of the previous ones.The showpiece of any new Overwatch seasonal event are the new skins. Most of these annual events let you catch up on old skins you may have missed, as well as a host of new skins. Since last year's Winter Wonderland, Overwatch has added Brigitte, Wrecking Ball, and Ashe. Those three are particularly likely to get some fashionable new holiday duds, along with filling out holiday looks for the rest of the roster.Snow off your holiday spirit! ☃️Overwatch Winter Wonderland returns December 11. pic.twitter.com/ZDkz80h8Ts — Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) December 4, 2018Alongside Ashe, Blizzard introduced a big under-the-hood overhaul for Overwatch. Its central mechanic for obtaining new cosmetics is under scrutiny now, though, as both the US and Australian governments are considering investigations into loot boxes.Info from Gamespot.com

The Black Armory, Destiny 2's first expansion of the post-Forsaken era, goes live today, along with a new update to the game that patches in a few minor changes. Bungie outlined what the expansion entails last month--instead of focusing on a new story campaign, it's focusing on new locations and activities. That means a heap of new loot to get as players reignite three special Forges across the solar system, and a full new Raid on its way on December 7.The big notable additions in The Black Armory, the Forges, sport a new horde mode-style activity that will include matchmaking and special rewards. The expansion brings five new Exotics, four of which Bungie has detailed so far, and new Pinnacle Weapons for players willing to put a lot of time and skill into Gambit, Strikes, and the Crucible. The Black Armory also increases the Power Level cap to 650, giving players a reason to jump back into the endgame grind--and with the Scourge of the Past Raid on its way on Friday, many players will want to be climbing that hill as quickly as they can.The launch of The Black Armory accompanies Patch 2.1.1.1, which includes a host of small tweaks and balancing changes, as Bungie explained on its blog. It notably reduces Gambit's Heavy ammo boxes for Linear Fusion Rifles from five rounds to three, which should reduce the effectiveness of the many, many folks using The Queenbreaker in those matches.Players below Power Level 550 will get some help catching up to endgame players with the new patch, as Destiny 2 will now drop Prime Engrams and their Powerful gear more frequently for players rushing to catch up. And Raiders in Scourge of the Past and Last Wish will now have the option of deleting their checkpoints in those activities if they want to restart them.There are also a host of changes and issue fixes throughout Update 2.1.1.1. Check out the full patch notes below.SandboxGeneralChaos Reach Tuned Chaos Reach’s deactivation cost so that it consistently retains Super energy from deactivating early. Previously, Chaos Reach allowed Players to save Super energy when deactivating the Super early by charging a flat Super energy cost upon deactivation (~65%). This meant that in order to save Super energy, you’d have to deactivate within the first second or so of the Super’s duration.With this change, Chaos Reach’s deactivation will now always save you some Super energy. Deactivating the Super is no longer a flat energy cost but, rather, now works on a curve. The intention is to reward players for skillfully timing their deactivation.Fixed an issue where the overshield granted upon respawning in Crucible would not negate damage right awayIncreased damage required to destroy Nightstalker Tethers prior to their activationFixed an issue where the Biotic Enhancements buff would apply too much of a damage multiplier when standing in a Well of RadianceArmor/WeaponsFixed an issue where Scavenger perks could be used to generate heavy ammo off of team mates who fell to self-inflicted misadventureFixed an issue where high impact scout rifles were not firing at 150 RPMFixed an issue where the impact stat bar for Fusion Rifles was not updating when upgrading a charge time masterwork for the weaponGwisin VestFixed an issue where kills were not required to extend Super uptimeFixed an issue where Super was not extended after 10 or more killsChromatic FireFixed an issue where explosions were doing less damage than intendedReduced the amount of ammo gained from the Machine Gun Scavenger perk to bring it in line with other Power weapon scavenger perksFixed an issue that caused the Black Armory weapons to sometimes roll two of the same perkDuplicate perks have been replaced in each weapon's talent gridCrucibleGeneralFixed an issue that caused The Mountaintop to drop above appropriate power levels for players who do not own Forsaken, making it unequipped unless pulled from collectionsFixed an issue that caused Valor Ranks to display different values from what their rank actually wasThis is strictly a visual fix, ranks have worked properly since Season of the Forge beganGambitGeneralFixed an issue where the wrong team would sometimes be credited for killing the Ascendant Servitor PrimevalReduced the amount of ammo that Linear Fusion Rifles receive from the Power Ammo crate in Gambit to from 5 to 3 roundsSleeper Simulant still only receives 2 roundsPlayers who die with fewer than 2 rounds of special ammo will now always respawn with 2 rounds, to help alleviate special ammo starvationFixed an issue where players would be held in a loading screen if another player was inspecting items in inventoryVanguardGeneralFixed an issue where Protheon, the Modular Mind grew three times larger than intended in Update 2.1.0This strike has been reintroduced to Matchmaking, and can be launched once again from the DirectorRaidsLeviathan & Raid LairsRemoved "Normal Mode Completion" requirement for launching Prestige Modes for Leviathan, Eater of Worlds, and Spire of StarsLast WishFixed an issue where Destiny 2 would crash during the Morgeth fightClansGeneralFixed an issue where the “Hawthorne’s Heroes” Clan Perk was not providing the proper rewardsItems & EconomyCollectionsThe "Hecuba-S" exotic Sparrow no longer requires Annual Pass ownership to reacquire from CollectionsThe "Mimesis Drive" Sparrow now properly requires Annual Pass ownership to reacquire from CollectionsShader reacquisition time reduced from 3 seconds to 1 secondGeneralPrime Engrams will now appear more frequently for players under 550 power, and provide larger power benefits when decryptedFixed an issue where the "Harbinger's Echo" sparrow was locked out for players who destroyed dragon eggs across multiple characters. We are currently developing a fix for an upcoming patch to address players who have already destroyed all eggs prior to this update. Update 2.1.3 is tentatively planned for December 18. 2018 Seed of Light added to the drop table of the Blind Well HeroicThe "Lest Ye Be Judged" Trophy/Achievement can be completed by visiting XurFixed an issue where the “Riddle Me This” Triumph was not unlocking properlyFixed an issue where Amanda Holliday had an improper notification waypointFixed an issue where Festival of the Lost armor could not be masterworkedFixed an issue where items could not be masterworked if players did not have Enhancement Cores in inventory, even if the masterwork cost did not require coresFixed an issue where Amanda Holliday’s inventory did not refresh at the proper timesUIGeneralWhen selecting a Last Wish or Scourge of the Past on the Director, players can now delete their current checkpoint before launching the activityFixed an issue where the Vanguard node on the top-level Director was not displaying active challengesInfo from Gamespot.com

On the first Tuesday of each month, Sony makes a new set of games available for free to PlayStation Plus members. We've passed that milestone for December, which means the month's free PS4, PS3, and PS Vita games are now available. Add them to your library, and they'll be yours to download and play as long as you have an active PS Plus subscription. You can get all of the free games right here.On PS4 this month, you can grab Soma, a game that's decidedly not filled with holiday spirit. In this atmospheric horror game, you're tasked with exploring a seemingly deserted underwater facility to discover what happened to the human and AI occupants. The other PS4 freebie is Onrush, an off-road online racing game that's more about takedowns and teamwork than about finishing first.On PS3 this month, you can grab Steredenn: Classic, a pixelated space shooter that mixes retro-arcade action with procedurally generated levels and massive boss fights. The other PS3 freebie is SteinsGate, an anime-style visual novel about teenage scientists who discover a way to send messages to the past--which you can bet begin to affect the future.This month's PS Vita games are the customs agent sim Papers, Please and the Metroidvania-style side-scroller Iconoclasts, the latter of which is also playable on PS4 thanks to Cross-Buy. Make sure to grab your free games by Tuesday, January 1, because that's when a new batch will come and take their place.Free PS Plus Games For December 2018PS4SomaOnrushIconoclasts (also on PS Vita)PS3SteredennSteinsGatePS VitaPapers, PleaseIconoclasts (also on PS4)Info from Gamespot.com

Wreck-It Ralph takes his wrecking ways online in Disney’s new movie sequel, Ralph Breaks The Internet. In a fitting addition to that story, video game characters Ralph and Vanellope get a chance to do some damage to virtual reality in The Void’s new tie-in VR experience, Ralph Breaks VR--and participants get to join them in the digital world of the internet that feels like a little more than a video game.Ralph Breaks VR goes beyond what headset owners at home experience. The Void is a room-scale VR platform built on stages that incorporate real objects into its virtual worlds. That means when you step on a virtual tram and ride the information superhighway to the digital city that is the movie’s version of the internet, you're enclosed by real walls that you can reach out and touch. In addition to wearing a VR headset and carrying the necessary tech to render its images in a backpack, participants also wear haptic vests that vibrate when something touches them, providing another level of interaction between your real body and the virtual experience. The Void's mix of real and virtual takes the idea of VR to a different level, and it's perfectly suited to the Wreck-It Ralph franchise.Ralph Breaks VR starts with participants disguising themselves as Netizens, the colorful folks who live in the internet in the movie, each with a different bit of personality--such as a stuffy nerd or surfer dude. With your new identity in place, you head onto the real stage, which matches the images you see in the headset. So as you move through darkened rooms or cross walkways high above the city streets, you’re walking through physical places that you can actually run into.The four participants in Ralph Breaks VR meet up with Ralph (John C. Reilly) and Vanellope (Sarah Silverman), who take them on a guided tour of the internet, although it’s mostly an experience of playing games with and against the other people in your group. Look at your virtual wrist in the experience and you’ll see a watch displaying the names of everyone in the session, along with the points they accrue as they play, giving the whole thing a light air of competition.The first stop is a TRON-like area of the web, called Dunderdome, that is dedicated to video games, where you play a version of arcade classic Space Invaders. But instead of running the game on a screen and battling extraterrestrials with a controller, participants find themselves at the ground level of the game, using a control panel to move around the tanks normally found at the bottom of a Space Invaders screen. Broken into teams of two, one player controls the tank’s movement and fires its main gun, while the other controls air strikes and protects the tank from attackers.Once the game of life-size Space Invaders is over, things take a turn--the software that protects the internet flags the humans as viruses and sets out to eradicate them, while Ralph and Vanellope work to try to get them to safety.In practical terms, that means players are quickly moving from room to room as they try to find their way out. Before long, you find your way into the mobile game Pancake Milkshake from the movie. In the film, Ralph invades the game, which is about feeding pancakes to a bunny and milkshakes to a kitty, where he overstuffs the rabbit to the point of explosion. Ralph Breaks VR expands on the concept with the bunnies and kitties out for revenge as they whip their favorite treats back at the participants. Luckily, you can pick up a blaster that fires both foods, so you can return fire as you dodge incoming sweets. The scenario even gives an extra nod to the film by awarding you with more points if you zap the right food at its corresponding animal. With Ralph and Vanellope’s help, participants fight their way out of the internet and back to safety.Ralph seems like a unique fit for The Void's VR experiences. That's what both the Void team and ILMxLab, Lucasfilm's immersive experience company, thought as they began working on the project, which is part of a six-experience deal with Disney."[It was] serendipity, and it's such a great property, as far as how it fits into what The Void as a platform can do," said Curtis Hickman, co-founder and chief creative officer at The Void. "There's something that I think is really fascinating about putting on this equipment and going into VR. You are stepping into a video game in a sense, and what story really encapsulates that? Wreck-It Ralph."The experience is also full of Easter eggs for Ralph Breaks The Internet fans. The Void and ILMxLab worked closely with the movie's screenwriter, Pamela Ribon, who wrote the experience's story as well, to keep Ralph Breaks VR true to the movie on which it’s based. The VR world is full of visual callbacks from the movie, such as the signs scattered throughout the internet cityscape. And Reilly and Silverman reprising their roles as Ralph and Vanellope deepens the experience even more.VR technology is breeding a lot of interesting ideas like The Void, but is still developing its hardware to be less expensive. While it’s not clear exactly where VR will go in the future, experiences like Ralph Breaks VR offer something that doesn’t exist anywhere else. It’s particularly fun if you’re a big fan of the Ralph series, but you don’t have to be: beaning cute animals with pancakes is a good time no matter who you are.Info from Gamespot.com

The Game Awards have become known for big announcements and trailers, but some studios have felt the need to set expectations by coming forward and pointing out that they won't be among them. Naughty Dog has joined in and stated that The Last of Us 2 won't be among the games shown on stage at the awards.In a tweet, the studio said it's looking forward to celebrating games at the show but won't be there to show its own game. It also said it looks forward to revealing more "when the time is right."The Game Awards appeared to be the next likeliest place for the anticipated sequel to make an appearance, after Sony opted out of a PlayStation Experience this year. At the time, the company acknowledged that the timing just wasn't right for such an event. So far we have not heard a release date for The Last of Us 2, so it could be a year or more away.We already know that the Game Awards will host ten new game announcements, including one from Obsidian Entertainment. That's said to be on top of updates on existing games, like the announcement being teased for Fortnite. Plus, of course, the award show will host the actual awards, giving out accolades for Game of the Year, along with categories like Best Narrative, Best Ongoing Game, and Games for Impact. Check out the full list of award nominees.The Game Awards will kick off on Thursday at 8:30 PM ET / 5:30 PM PT / 1:30 AM GMT (Friday) / 12:30 PM AET (Friday).Info from Gamespot.com

Sony refreshes its weekly PSN sale each Tuesday, giving a new batch of games to get the discount treatment for seven days. This week's discounts are in full swing, so if you have a PS4, PS3, or PS Vita, you'll probably want to take a look. It doesn't feature a particularly long list of discounted games, but you might find one you want in there. Here are some of the sale's highlights.If you've been curious about The Elder Scrolls Online, now's a good time to hop in and see what the MMO has to offer. The base game is half off at $10 and the Summerset expansion is down to $20, or you can go all in and pick up everything released so far in The Elder Scrolls Online: Collection for $40.With Metro Exodus coming early next year, now is a great time to get caught up on the apocalyptic shooter series. You can do that for cheap this week, because Metro 2033 Redux and its sequel Metro: Last Light Redux are on sale for $5 each. Or you can save even more money and get both together for $6 with the Metro Redux bundle.The Dead Island series is on sale this week, as are the Saints Row games. The action-RPG Kingdom Come: Deliverance is down to $39, and the Quanitc Dream Collection, which comes with Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, and Detroit: Become Human, is discounted to $40.You'll find more of our picks below, or you can check out the full list of sale items on the PlayStation Store.Agents of Mayhem -- $5The Council: Complete Season -- $20Dead Island: Definitive Edition -- $6Dead Island: Riptide Definitive Edition -- $6Dead Island: Definitive Collection -- $12Deadlight: Director's Cut -- $3.75Dreamfall Chapters -- $5The Elder Scrolls Online -- $10The Elder Scrolls Online: Collection -- $40The Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset -- $20Kingdom Come: Deliverance -- $39Metro 2033 Redux -- $5Metro: Last Light Redux -- $5Metro Redux -- $6Quanitc Dream Collection -- $40Risen 3 - Enhanced Edition -- $5Saints Row Re-Elected -- $5Saints Row Re-Elected & Gat Out of Hell -- $7.50Walden, a Game -- $9.50Info from Gamespot.com

It's been a long time coming, but we can finally rest assured that Crackdown 3 is heading our way soon. This open-world shooter for Xbox One and PC is set to launch on February 15, 2019. It puts you in the shoes of a super-cop in a city overrun by gangs. As you level up, you'll be able to leap up the sides of skyscrapers and throw vehicles at enemies in your pursuit of justice.If you're ready to lock down your copy of this Microsoft exclusive, you might want to know where to buy it, how much it costs, and what comes with it. We have you covered on all accounts below.No Pre-Order BonusAs yet, no pre-order bonuses have been announced for Crackdown 3 announced. We'll update this section if that changes.Included in Xbox Game PassBefore you crack open your wallet to shell out cash for Crackdown 3, consider subscribing to Xbox Game Pass instead. It's a service that lets you download and play an assortment of games on Xbox One, including all titles published by Microsoft Studios (like Crackdown 3) the day they launch. You get a 14-day free trial, and it's $10 per month after that.Crackdown 3 (Physical) Collectors may be disappointed, but only one edition is planned for Crackdown 3. At the time of this writing, the cheapest place to buy it is Newegg, where you can save $10.$50 -- Buy it from Newegg$60 -- Buy it from Amazon$60 -- Buy it from Best Buy$60 -- Buy it from GameStop$60 -- Buy it from MicrosoftCrackdown 3 (Digital)The digital version of Crackdown 3 is playable on both Xbox One and on Windows 10, complete with cloud saves that let you pick up where you left off, regardless of what hardware you're using. So if you have a gaming PC, this could be the smartest option. Once again, Newegg has it $10 cheaper than the competition.$50 -- Buy it from Newegg$60 -- Buy it from Best Buy$60 -- Buy it from GameStop$60 -- Buy it from Xbox LiveInfo from Gamespot.com

With anime's burgeoning popularity, it makes sense that the biggest streaming services would look into increasing their portfolio. This is something Hulu's planning to do, as the streaming giant's recently announced that it has partnered with Funimation to bring a bunch of new shows to the platform at the same time they air in Japan.According to a report by Variety, the deal will begin in 2019. While this Funimation partnership will produce new, original anime for Hulu, it also gifts the platform the entirety of Funimation's catalog, including already-streaming shows like One Punch Man, Sword Art Online, and more than 600 others in both dubbed and subbed formats. With this contract finalized, it means Hulu will be the only place to watch both dubbed and subbed versions of popular anime like Attack on Titan and My Hero Academia.This partnership comes just a few months after Crunchyroll and Funimation's breakup. While together, the sites worked hard to simulcast anime in both English and Japanese. In doing so, select anime, such as Overlord, had both options available the same day as their Japanese release. After nearly two years working together, the two decided to end the relationship on November 9. Since then, Funimation has not been part of the VRV bundle, a subscription package with dozens of animation streaming services such as Crunchyroll, Rooster Teeth, and Machinima. Last year, it was announced that Sony Pictures Television acquired Funimation for approximately $150 million. Thanks to the purchase, it seems Funimation plans use Sony as a launchpad to further distribute anime "through [Sony's] global footprint of television networks and existing digital offerings." It remains unclear how the Hulu/Funimation partnership will affect Funimation acquisition by Sony.Info from Gamespot.com

The Black Armory, Destiny 2's first expansion of the post-Forsaken era, is here, and players are already diving in to try to learn the mysteries of its four special forges. Those forges, which are scattered across the solar system, are part of the game's new activity, in which three players try to defend a forge from enemies. First, though, you have to find the forges and start them up, and the first of the four is located in the EDZ on Earth.There's more to the first forge, the Volundr Forge, than meets the eye, though. Hidden just at the edge of the area, where you fight to protect the forge, as Reddit user H1gash1kata discovered, is a cave with a secret of its own. Find it, and you'll discover a treasure chest that hides an item called a Mysterious Box, which starts a Pursuit that will end with an Exotic weapon reward.To find the box, you'll first need to unlock the Black Armory mission that sends you to find the forge. You'll start by interacting with Ada-1, the new Black Armory vendor, in her spot in the newly added Tower Annex area. She'll entrust you with a Machine Gun Frame item, and you'll need to kill enemies to repair and calibrate it for the forge.The calibrations aren't too difficult, with requirements like racking up Hive kills, multi-kills, and kills on "Powerful" enemies (so those with orange health bars or better), but you'll need to do them with a Power weapon--we recommend Thunderlord. Your first two requirements are in the EDZ; after that, if you head to Mars and complete the Flashpoint or some Escalation Protocol fights there, you should have the first three steps of the quest completed pretty quickly.Once you return to Ada-1 with the completed Machine Gun Frame, you'll get a mission in the EDZ that sends you to find the Volundr Forge. Follow your Ghost's tracker north from the Gulch and you'll find your way through Cabal tunnels to a location called Smidur's Cavern. Here you'll find the forge itself, which is a big, floating, V-shaped machine surrounded by Cabal guys. You'll know you're in the right spot when you have to jump a big chasm marked by a destroyed bridge.When you reach the bridge, jump to the far side (and clear out the enemies), then stand at the edge of the gap the bridge used to cover and face the forge. From here, do an about-face so you're facing back toward the far side of the collapsed bridge, where you came from. Look to your right along the cliff face ahead of you and you'll see a small cave opening, along with an obvious path of platforms to reach it.Head over to the cave to discover the chest inside. Open it and you'll receive the Mysterious Box Pursuit. It has some weird requirements. The Pursuit describes four insignias on the box, each with a different lock--a fishhook, a butterfly, a hand, and a Black Armory insignia.As of right now, nobody's quite sure what those things mean or how to clear the four locks. With so many different elements and much of the Black Armory not yet available to players thanks to content rolling out over time, it's possible we won't know the solution to this one for a few weeks, much like the Thunderlord quest was time-gated. We'll update this post as soon as we discover how to make progress on the quest--but feel free to leave any tips or amazing discoveries about either the Mysterious Box or The Black Armory in the comments below.Info from Gamespot.com

So much can change in a year. This time last year, it was PUBG, dominating on Steam and sporting an exclusive deal with Microsoft for the Xbox One version, which was driving the most discussion and helping propel the battle royale phenomenon even further. Today, Fortnite is a veritable juggernaut on the level that few could have expected or even imagined. It is a bona fide hit that has been so unbelievably successful it's spurred changes to long-standing policies within the industry and impacted wider entertainment culture.Developer Epic Games started out the year by announcing it was effectively shutting down its previous game, Paragon, and offering refunds to everyone. The studio apologised for failing the game's audience and not being able to deliver them the game they might have wanted. While this is sad for those playing the game and wanting to see it further developed, it appeared to have been a sensible business decision given Fortnite's popularity. Epic (seemingly) narrowing its focus to cut loose non-Fortnite projects speaks to the popularity of the game, the scale it has reached, and the work necessary to deliver on that vision.Another major early 2018 development for Fortnite was when the game launched for mobile devices. Fortnite's mobile version has been a revenue juggernaut, reportedly making $2 million/day for a period of time, and a total of more than $300 million as of October--on iOS alone. Not bad for a game that is technically free. The Android edition of Fortnite, meanwhile, made headlines for how developer Epic released it. Instead of launching through Google's own store, Epic decided to release it via its own website.Most games need the visibility of the Google Play store to find an audience, but Fortnite is an exception, and in bypassing the store, Epic avoided paying Google its store fee. One estimate said Google missed out on $50 million or more because of this. The closed nature of Apple's ecosystem relative to Google's meant that Epic was forced to launch Fortnite through the App Store. This move was the first major example in 2018 of Epic flexing its muscles and leveraging the popularity of Fortnite to blaze its own trail. What's more, the way in which in-game items and progress move between the mobile, console, and PC editions of Fortnite is relatively uncommon in the gaming world. It reflects Epic's wider ambition to break down the barriers between platforms--and that's something people seem to generally enjoy.Another way that Fortnite impacted the gaming world in 2018 was related to policy changes among the established platform-holders. After holding out for more than two years, Sony finally allowed the PS4 to connect with outside networks for cross-play--but only with Fortnite for the time being. Fortnite being so popular that it pushed an established giant like Sony--in the midst of a hugely successful generation of hardware--to change its policies is truly a testament to how powerful Fortnite is. Epic also used its weight and clout to convince Nintendo to drop its weird requirement to use a phone for voice chat; with Fortnite, voice chat works natively. What's more, all three major consoles--Xbox One, PS4, and Switch--have Fortnite-themed hardware bundles, which is the first time that's ever happened in the world of gaming.Companies like Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo recognise how all-powerful Fortnite has become, and they're bending to the will of a developer in a way this industry has basically never seen before. They say a rising tide lifts all boats, and the platform-holders surely see Fortnite as a means to help their own brands fly higher.Fortnite also further demonstrated to the industry this that narrative can have a place in multiplayer-only games. Fortnite cleverly wove some amount of narrative into the experience through numerous in-game events and stories throughout the year. Take, for example, the time the sky began to rip apart. What did it all mean? Fans searched the world for clues, eventually culminating in Epic revealing a new item, the Rift, that allows players to teleport to a new location on the map.Then there was impending comet--players saw it in the sky for weeks before it crashed onto the map, destroying Dusty Depot and leaving a massive crater with alternate gravity properties. There was also mysterious purple cube that one day simply appeared on the map, causing all kinds of wacky and weird things to happen. The cube, who was affectionally known as Kevin, eventually exploded, and sent players into an endless void. Epic's genius is getting people to care about the Fortnite world outside of the moment-to-moment gameplay. It might not have been the first multiplayer game to feature compelling story elements, but the loose, ongoing narrative surely helped it to keep bringing players back.In addition to expanding to mobile, Fortnite launched for Nintendo Switch this year, bringing the battle royale game's presence to yet another major platform. Fortnite has been hugely successful on Switch. As part of an earnings report, Nintendo revealed that half of every Switch sold worldwide had Fortnite installed, which is a very impressive feat. Effectively, this seems to suggest that Fortnite may represent the kind of "killer app" that every platform needs to attract an audience. It further speaks to the power of Fortnite and the brand overall in that it can perform well no matter what platform it is on. The implication here is that, should Fortnite be able to remain popular, platform-holders like Nintendo (as well as Sony and Microsoft) may need to factor it in--in some capacity--for their future platforms.Another way Fortnite impacted the larger gaming world this year was through its demonstration that delivering compelling new content on a regular basis can pay huge dividends. Epic releases new updates about once per week, introducing new modes, cosmetics, weapons, balance changes, and more. This helps make Fortnite feel fresh all the time--and it gives wavering players FOMO. This has surely contributed to the wider culture around Fortnite, especially among younger audiences who may feel compelled to keep coming back to see what's new. There are countless challenges to complete, skins to unlock, and modes to play, and this heavy pull to come back to the game is surely beneficial to Epic in a business sense.Some soury news around Fortnite came in May when PUBG Corp., the developer of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, filed a lawsuit in Korea against Epic. PUBG Corp. claimed copyright infringement due to the similarities between PUBG and Fortnite. However, PUBG Corp. later dropped the lawsuit, though it remains to be seen if there was a settlement and what the terms might have been. Epic was involved in a number of other lawsuits throughout 2018, some against it, and others it filed against players for cheating and other reasons. Given the size and stature of Fortnite, it's no surprise that Fortnite has found itself embroiled in legal matters, but as of yet, the litigation does not seem to have had much of a public-facing impact on the game.In better news for Fortnite, the game's success and prominence entered another stratosphere in April when Fortnite announced a gigantic partnership with Disney and Marvel for an Avengers: Infinity War promo that saw Thanos come to the battle royale game. As further evidence of Fortnite permeating wider pop culture, Fortnite also partnered with Epic to bring jersey skins for all 32 NFL teams to the game for a limited time. More recently, players discovered Ralph from the Wreck-It Ralph film series in the game as part of what appeared to be a stealth-marketing campaign for the new film, Ralph Breaks the Internet.These examples clearly demonstrate that major global brands recognise the value and power of being even tangentially associated with Fortnite--even if it's just a marketing tool. In that way, Fortnite has became a platform of sorts through which massive, established brands want to be involved with. What Epic will need to be mindful of is ensuring the partnerships make sense and don't come across as overly cash-grabby (though indeed Epic is surely profiting from these deals).The mainstream attention on Fortnite also made the game a target. Fortnite caught some heat in November when Scrubs star Donald Faison called out the game for ripping off his "Poison" dance for an emote. Show creator Bill Lawrence acknowledged that someone from the Fortnite side reached out about using Faison's dance, but in the end, Faison isn't getting any royalties. Before that, rapper 2 Milly accused Epic of stealing his dance for a Fortnite emote. And before that, Chance the Rapper said he takes issue with Fortnite's use of the dances in the battle royale game. "Black creatives created and popularized these dances but never monetized them. Imagine the money people are spending on these emotes being shared with the artists that made them," he said back in July.Fortnite's dances are based on or inspired by the performances of real artists, and it would be good to see Epic take further steps to publicly and in a front-facing way acknowledge and respect the origins of the dance moves. Fortnite is making an unthinkable amount of money from microtransactions, so it is nice to see Epic pour some of it back into the game's community. In June this year, Epic announced a massive investment for Fortnite esports competitions both big and small. Epic said it would put in a staggering $100 million into global Fortnite competitions. The gargantuan figure towers above what other games pay for their tournaments, but importantly, the $100 million covers every Fortnite competitive event in the 2017/2018 season, not just one. For example, Dota 2's The International 2018 event had a total prize pool of almost $25 million.Epic's massive investment was a smart move for the developer, too, as it pretty much guaranteed that top-level players would continue to play to earn a slice of that money, which in turn keeps people on their couches at home watching and supporting the base game overall.Fortnite is a free game but it makes money from the cosmetics it sells through its in-game store. When something is successful, other studios take notice. Activision's Call of Duty series added a battle royale mode of its own this year with Black Ops 4's Blackout. The mode features a progression system that seemingly borrows heavily from Fortnite's battle pass and seasonal system. EA's Battlefield V is also going to have a battle royale mode; it's called Firestorm, and it launches in March 2019. Even Rockstar Games is taking notice; the studio released battle royale mode for Red Dead Redemption 2's online mode (though GTA V launched a battle royale mode for GTA Online all the way back in August 2017, so it's not new for Rockstar). The point is that Fortnite, building off the success of PUBG before it, has impacted the larger gaming community right up to the top players. It's an incredibly impressive feat, and it further demonstrates that oftentimes some of the most innovative ideas originate at small studios before catching on in a more mainstream way.Fortnite's insane success has also led to improvements in developer relations--at least for those who use Epic's Unreal Engine. Thanks to the extra money Fortnite has brought in, Epic was able to shift its own revenue-sharing arrangement in a move that further benefits developers, and potentially in the end, consumers as well. Epic formerly used the industry-wide 70/30 percent revenue-sharing agreement with developers who used its Unreal Engine, but after Fortnite's success, Epic changed the agreement to 88/12 with developers making more and Epic taking less. The 70/30 revenue split goes back more than a decade, and it's implemented across digital stores for not only games, but other forms of media as well. Epic shifting the split so significantly could spur further change across media, or at the least encourage more developers to use Unreal Engine (which in turn benefits Epic in the longer run). In what could be an even bigger development, Epic just recently announced a Steam competitor in the form of the Epic Store. Impressively, the store will also utilise the 88/12 revenue split, which may encourage developers to release their games on it.But just how popular is Fortnite? In June this year, Fortnite reached 125 million players, a figure that grew to 200 million as of November, an increase of 60 percent. This represents strong growth and even more evidence that Fortnite is no fad. There is no word on how the player population breaks down between platforms, but it's easy to find matches everywhere, so you can imagine player figures are high across all systems.Some of Fortnite's other major achievements in 2018 included the game reaching an unthinkable and unprecedented 8.3 million concurrent players, Epic picking up a further $1.25 billion in venture capital funding, and celebrities like Jimmy Fallon, Ellen, and the Saturday Night Live crew riffing on Fortnite during episodes of their shows. Meanwhile, the Boston Red Sox played the game so much this season that they had to remind themselves to eat. Some of the other notable stories around Fortnite this year include how Fortnite was cited in hundreds of divorce filings and how the mainstream media labeled the game addictive, violence-promoting, and damaging to young people. One story in particular said Fortnite was addictive in the same way that heroin is. It's sad but not surprising.2018 was Fortnite's biggest and best year yet, but no game lasts forever. It will be intriguing to see how Epic plans to continue to shake things up and make the experience feel new and exciting in 2019 and beyond. Outside of its work on the Unreal Engine, will Epic become a one-game studio, pouring its resources into supporting and expanding Fortnite to make hay while the sun shines?That would seemingly make sense for the time being, but I'd be surprised if the studio wasn't at least in the planning stages on other new projects. After all, while Fortnite might be riding high today, no one expects it to stay on top forever. Info from Gamespot.com