You've probably seen pretty much everyone you follow online posting their 2020 Wrapped info from Spotify, detailing everyone's stats for time listened, top artists, genres, podcasts, and more. Well gamers, we haven't been excluded from the trend. This year, Spotify recorded an almost 55% increase globally in streaming from game consoles, both Xbox and PlayStation, as revealed in a special Wrapped that highlights what those users were listening to this year.Video game soundtracks did particularly well, unsurprisingly. Minecraft, Doom, and Death Stranding all had their soundtracks in the top streamed category this year, and the soundtrack for Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 spiked more than 316% once the game launched.If you don't currently have a Spotify Premium subscription but do have a Game Pass Ultimate membership, you can get a free three-month trial of the music service.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Fortnite's new season brought a ton of big changes to the battle royale with the addition of a new bounty system, a Mandalorian skin, and new game mechanics. It also brought a number smaller changes that players have been sifting through. Epic Games doesn't include patch notes anymore, so players have to find out about most changes themselves."I love that we are finally getting lore for a lot of the skins like Burger Boss and Bunker Jonesy," said Redditor JackBoyEditor about how NPCs interactions with players change depending on what skin they're wearing. "Somebody has to go around wearing one of The Seven to see their reactions."One of Fortnite's NPCsSeason 5 introduced a bounty system where players can start missions given to them by one of 40 different NPCs scattered across the map. Some NPCs will have special dialogue if they interact with players using specific character skins. Kit, for example, will purr if you talk to him while wearing the Meowscles skin.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Actor Hugh Keays-Byrne, known for his starring roles in both Mad Max and Mad Max: Fury Road, has died at the age of 73. The cause of death for the Australian actor has not yet been disclosed. Filmmaker Ted Geoghegan shared the news via social media, calling Byrne "an unsung hero of Aussie cinema… [and] an absolutely wonderful human who fought very hard for environmental and humanitarian issues." Filmmaker Brian Trenchard-Smith, a friend of Keays-Byrne's, reported on Facebook that the actor died in the hospital.Hugh Keays-Byrne, an unsung hero of Aussie cinema, has passed away at age 73. I'm continually floored that he played Toecutter, the central antagonist of 1979's MAD MAX *and* Immortan Joe, the central antagonist 2015's MAD MAX: FURY ROAD. Thanks for all the entertainment, sir. pic.twitter.com/55W99w3wzq — Ted Geoghegan (@tedgeoghegan) December 2, 2020In addition to actor Mel Gibson and writer-director George Miller, Keays-Byrne shares the distinction of being synonymous with the long-running and still-enduring Mad Max franchise. In the original 1979 version, Keays-Byrne plays the merciless terrorist Toecutter who ruled the outback with his motorcycle gang; in 2015's Mad Max: Fury Road, he again played a villain--Immortan Joe.In the many years between, Keays-Byrne made a name for himself as a versatile actor outside that cinematic universe, starring in films such as 2000's Farscape, 1989's The Blood of Heroes, and 1974's Stone. Mad Max: Fury Road stands as the actor's final role.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Jeff Goldblum has revealed that Jurassic World: Dominion has perhaps somewhat unsurprisingly been "tweaked" to better fit the pandemic--and hopefully sometime soon the post-COVID--era. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, the actor divulged that the sequel to the 2018's Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom has been massaged a bit to reflect the reality that events in the film are taking place with a pandemic in the recent rear-view mirror.At the very least, Goldblum indicates, it's his character, scientist Dr. Ian Malcolm whose dialogue has been changed a bit to evoke the "fragility of our species and the global cooperation that's needed and the foundation in science that is needed and the ethical use of science that's needed to unite us… as a family and reach our potential and to do right by ourselves and this glorious planet." He also says changes were made to make themes in the movie both "right for now" and "nourishing for now."And Goldblum being Goldblum, he also mentioned in passing that working on the original Jurassic Park back in 1993 was a "delicious experience."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The home where J.R.R. Tolkien wrote The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings--20 Northmoor Road in Oxford--is currently up for sale, and a dedicated group has launched a campaign to buy it and turn it into a center where fans of Middle-earth can visit to celebrate the author's life and works.A charity has been established that is seeking to purchase the house for $6 million USD. In a new video, some of the cast members from across the fantasy series, including Ian McKellen (Gandalf), John Rhys-Davies (Gimli/Treebeard), and Martin Freeman (Bilbo) speak about their appreciation for Tolkien and Middle-earth, calling on fans to donate to help purchase the home.Unlike other writers of his stature, there is no centre devoted to J.R.R. Tolkien anywhere in the world. Yet. @ProjNorthmoor https://t.co/pzMg8Yk2t2 pic.twitter.com/jx2r5MVbcw — Ian McKellen (@IanMcKellen) December 2, 2020J.R.R. and Edith Tolkien moved into the home in 1930, and it was in that home that Tolkien wrote The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

This week, a group of Destiny fans released the 1.0 version of their pen and paper RPG system modeled on Dungeons and Dragons 5E and modified to work with the classes and world of the Destiny series. Dungeons and Destiny has been in the works for two years, and is "almost a complete overhaul of the entire [5th Edition] system," according to Reddit user GoodGameKitty, one of the creators.To fully capture the feel of Destiny, the D&Destiny creators altered and added quite a bit. The 1.0 release includes nine character classes from both the original Destiny and Destiny 2: Gunslinger, Nightstalker, Sunbreaker, Voidwalker, Defender, Bladedancer, Striker, Sunsinger, and Stormcaller. Each of these classes also has three unique archetypes. The Stasis classes introduced in the new Beyond Light expansion for Destiny too are also scheduled to be added once the Bestiary of the Wilds and Architect's Guide supplements have also reached 1.0.The races that populate Destiny will also be present in this ttrpg, with racial attributes for the three branches of humanity (human, Exo, Awoken) and the five alien species (Cabal, eliksni, Vex, psion, krill). Every race has two or three variations you can choose from. And of course, Destiny wouldn't be complete without an arsenal of space aged weapons, vehicles, and items. D&Destiny boasts 14 firearms and combat bows, and has a weapon upgrade system that allows players to select their own weapon perks, including melee weapons. There's a brand new section covering equipment your Guardian might need or encounter like jumpships and patrol beacons.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

With Season 11 of The Walking Dead still looming over the horizon--and also a series spin-off--it's a bit of a surprise that AMC has announced the first-ever The Walking Dead Holiday Special, slated to debut December 13 on the network's streaming platform AMC+.According to Deadline, the hour-long event will feature cast members gathering virtually to reminisce over the series' history to date, and also offer a peek into the future with a table read from an upcoming Season 10 episode. It may be more expedient to say who will not be participating, but among those expected to make an appearance are: Lauren Cohan, Melissa McBride, Josh McDermitt, Khary Payton, Eleanor Matsuura, Cooper Andrews, Cassady McClincy, Lauren Ridloff, Cailey Fleming, Emily Kinney, and IronE Singleton.Walking Dead Universe COO Scott M. Gimple and showrunner/executive producer Angela Kang will also be present. The Walking Dead Holiday Special will be hosted by Chris Hardwick, perennial after-show host for the network.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Warner Bros. interfered with Peter Jackson's filmmaking on The Hobbit, and it led to a lesser product in the end compared to The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. This is according to actor Jed Brophy, who has known Jackson for 30 years and has appeared in many of his movies over the decades, dating back to Braindead and running through The Hobbit.In an interview with Kiwi Talkz (via ScreenRant), Brophy said one of the issues with The Hobbit was that non-creative studio bosses from Warner Bros. got in the way."They get in the way. They want to be 'creative,"" Brophy said using air quotes in regards to these people. "Let the creatives do the job, man. Your job is to find the money and then sell it. Don't get in the way of an auteur. I may be speaking out of turn here, and probably, if those people find me I'll get slammed, but I think Warner Bros. kind of got in the way of Peter on The Hobbit. I think they got in the way of him being able to do what he does well."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Wildfire, a slow-going platformer where fire is your best friend, launches on consoles this week. Its bite sized levels require you to find the best way to get from one point to another while completing various missions.The Sneaky Bastards-developed stealth sidescroller originally launched on Steam in May and is coming to Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox One on December 3. It'll cost $14.99 on all platforms.There's a good variety of mission types. Wildfire puts you in the shoes of a villager who's town is burnt to a crisp by a "villainous force" of strange Amazonian women. You must find and saved your friends who have been captured by completing short, Celeste-like levels that are connected by an overarching narrative.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Animal Crossing: New Horizons received its big winter update a couple of weeks ago, and its companion NookLink app has now gotten an update of its own. Nintendo has added a handy new Catalog function to the mobile service, letting you more easily track all the items you've obtained in the game.Through the newly added Catalog function, players can quickly look up furniture, clothing, and other items that they've acquired in New Horizons. The feature displays information about the items, including which color/design variants players have obtained, how much the item costs to purchase from Nook's Cranny, and whether or not it can be customized. The Catalog function also has a section displaying your 20 most recently acquired items in the game.[Announcement]NookLink for #AnimalCrossing: New Horizons has been updated! Now you can use your smartphone to search for and check items obtained in #ACNH with the Catalog function pic.twitter.com/xJh2DPVs4S — Isabelle (@animalcrossing) November 30, 2020NookLink is part of the Nintendo Switch Online mobile app. In addition to allowing voice chat for compatible games, the app offers game-specific services for a couple of other first-party titles. Splatoon 2 players can use the SplatNet 2 feature to track their stats, see map rotations, and order in-game items, while the Smash World service for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate lets players view and share screenshots and videos.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The runtime for the upcoming superhero movie sequel Wonder Woman 1984 has been revealed, and it's longer than the first one. The movie clocks in at 2 hours and 31 minutes, according to listings on cinema pages. This compares to 2 hours and 21 minutes for the 2017 film.Director Patty Jenkins explained to Collider that her first cut of Wonder Woman 1984 was longer, coming in at 2 hours and 45 minutes before it was cut down in the editing process.Comparing to other DC movies, Wonder Woman 1984's 151 minutes is one minute shorter than the theatrical edit of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. For further comparison, Joker (122 minutes), Suicide Squad (123 minutes), Shazam (132 minutes), and Aquaman (142 minutes) were all shorter.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

As 2020 comes to an end, stores and outlets are starting to release their game of the year lists. Both Google Play and the Apple App Store have weighed in and announced the game of the year on their platforms, and the same game has taken top honors for both storefronts--Genshin Impact.Google Play has given the game top honors, citing the game's size and enjoyable combat as factors "Genshin Impact blew us away with its sheer scale and ambition," the description reads. "Combat is fast and fluid, with each fight a spectacle to behold. Quite simply, this is the best game we’ve played this year."Apple did not delve into their reasoning, but also selected the game as the year's best. Several other games were honored in their app awards, too. Legends of Runeterra was declared the year's best iPad game, Disco Elysium took the Mac award, Dandara Trials of Fear claimed the Apple TV top spot, and Sneaky Sasquatch was declared the best game of 2020 on the Apple Arcade service.Genshin Impact, which recently added Zhongli as a playable character, has certainly made a strong impact this year, with a visual look reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and deep gameplay complemented by its free-to-play mechanics. The game will add the Dragonspire region later this month.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The PlayStation 5 has finally arrived, ushering in the next generation of gaming from Sony. The console is selling very well, and stock has sold through at most retailers. As such, this video we're about to share might be difficult to watch for those who remain in the hunt for a next-gen system. Someone has acquired a PS5 only to place it into one of those machines that destroys everything. It is a terrifying video, with the cracking and crunching sounds standing out as particularly painful to hear as the console gets literally shred to pieces. Have a look:So who’s trying to get the shredded parts and build a PS5? 🤦‍♂️(Via u/cheeseinmya**) pic.twitter.com/8ie9qlSsVf — SLAM Gaming (@SLAMftw) December 2, 2020Sony has promised that more PS5 units will be available for purchase later this year, so if you've been shut out thus far, there is still hope. You can follow GameSpot's PS5 ordering page to stay up to date on how to get a console for yourself when they become available.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Watching movies in 2020 is, simply put, weird. Here in the US, the continued spread of the COVID-19 pandemic means that theaters have, with few exceptions, stayed empty. Theater chains like AMC are hurting. That means we're doing most of our watching at home on services like Google Play. Despite the shift, Google's best-seller list is a mix of this year and last year's releases similar to last year's list.Along with the few movies that released in 2020, up of some of our favorites from 2019, including films like Knives Out, Parasite, and 1917. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is also on there.Here's the top 15:Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Genshin Impact has, in terms of both spending and impact, been one of the biggest games of 2020. The title, which took top honors in Google Play and Apple's game of the year lists, has reportedly brought in a huge amount of money every day since its release.According to SensorTower, which tracks mobile spending and engagement, their stats suggest that Genshin Impact has brought in $393 million since it launched on September 28. which averages out to over $6 million every single day. Despite releasing late in the year, it's reportedly the second-highest grossing mobile game of the year, behind Honor of Kings ($467 million).$120 million of this revenue is said to have come from China, and $98 million of it from Japan. It's worth noting that these numbers are based on SensorTower's estimates, rather than hard figures released by developer miHoYo, so they might not be the exact numbers.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com