Kane99

DETECTIVE - The Motel is a new crime/investigation game where you're responsible for solving crimes as fast as you can. It just released on PC, Xbox One, Series X|S, PS4 and PS5. Game here - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2852480/DETECTIVE__The_Motel/

Tokyo Xtreme Racer is an upcoming racing game that will first release in early access this month (jan 22nd). I'm getting Need For Speed Underground vibes from this one, and I can see myself giving this a shot. I know my brother who is a big NFS fan would likely be into this one. I'm hearing though that this is based on a series already. You can find more on this game here - https://simulationdaily.com/news/tokyo-xtreme-racer-release-date/ And the actual game can be wish listed here until its official release - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2634950/Tokyo_Xtreme_Racer/

Source - https://www.ign.com/articles/ces-2025-hyperkin-unveils-dualsense-style-xbox-controller-called-the-competitor Looks like Hyperkin has a DualSense-Style Xbox controller coming out soon called the Competitor. It was revealed during CES 2025. It will also work on PC. it will be more like a pro-controller as it has back buttons and Hall Effect sticks and triggers. They say it's meant for highly competitive gamers, but I'm kind of tempted to pick this up. Two of my PowerA fusion controllers have stopped working on my PC, so I am in need of a good replacement controller. Just hope it's not crazy expensive, which I imagine it will be.

I'm thinking about updating an old PC I have lying around to build it up into a cheap gaming PC. I was wondering if anyone here has had any success buying PC parts from places like Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist? What tips would you give? If you have purchased parts on FB Marketplace or any other classifieds site, how did the build go? What suggestions would you give to help make the process easier?

It's an end of an era for the Friday the 13th: The Video Game, as the servers have been shut down and the game is no longer for sale as of December 31st. You can still play th game on PC, likely through private servers, but fans of the console port will be out of luck, as that version of the game will be rendered obsolete. So if you own the game on console, you will no longer be able to play it. I didn't play much of this game, but did have fun the brief time I did play it. It's kind of sad to see a game end its run like this though, but I think it's always been inevitable when the studio behind the game had to stop working on it due to a licensing dispute. Just imagine if they were able to update the game, we might have gotten a vastly improved game. But that's not how it turned out unfortunately. Anyway, what do you think the legacy of this game will be? Will we ever get a new Friday the 13th game from a new studio? Would it be a multiplayer game again? You can read about this news here - https://www.gamesandwich.com/news/friday-the-13th-the-game-goes-offline-forever-after-the-new-year/

I found an interesting article that discusses the idea of seeing Assassin's Creed taking place in the wild west, and it made me wonder, what other locations would be interesting to see featured in an Assassin's Creed game? You can check that article out here - https://tech4gamers.com/wild-west-assassins-creed/ Honestly a wild west setting would be cool, especially in the AC world. The next game we're getting will take place in Japan, so where else could we end up seeing an AC game take place? I am always for a future AC game, as there was teases in past games of a future setting with the animus and the fact you learn your ancestors skills. So a future setting I think would work great. But what are some other locations or time periods would you like to see AC venture off into?

This is really cool, I guess a prototype early build for Half-Life: Blue Shift leaked recently. It was a build from back in 2000. Blue Shift was an expansion that came out for Half-Life in 2001. The cool thing is, this seems to be from a Dreamcast version of the game, but that game never released as it was cancelled before it could drop. Check out the footage below. You can also read more about this news here - https://twistedvoxel.com/half-life-blue-shift-prototype-leak/

And you can play the full game to completion. I guess early on, the game was planned to release on the Dreamcast, but Rockstar later moved development to the PS2. But it seems it was very possible to make a port work on the Dreamcast. It's not perfect right now, but works. I imagine it can be fixed up even better, to the point gameplay may even get smoother. Check out a video showing it off and discussing it.

NerdStash has a post up about 10 early access games you should have on your wish list essentially. I've never heard of any of these games myself, but the majority of them look pretty decent. The list can be viewed below, and more details on each game can be viewed here - https://thenerdstash.com/10-early-access-games-you-should-have-on-your-most-anticipated-list-but-probably-dont/ The Ranch of Rivershine Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist Mind Over Magic Beastieball Worshippers of Cthulhu Critter Cove Cursed Crew Trash of the Titans Coffee Please STONKS-9800: Stock Market Simulator Do any of these games interest you? Trash of the Titans, Ender Magnolia, and Cursed Crew look interesting to me.

Source - https://tech4gamers.com/gaming-industry-laid-off-25000-people-2023-2024/ It's sad that so many people were laid-off when it came to the gaming industry. Around 25,000 employees were let go or fired from their jobs. The big companies that partook in the layoffs were big time companies like; Microsoft, PlayStation, EA, Activision and more. The article above seems to blame the layoffs on increasing costs of game development. As well, it seems live-service games has been a big reason for layoffs as well. Concord is a bit one to bring up as an example. What I don't get is why are all these CEOs and people in charge making majority of the money, and yet thousands of employees get let go to save money? Why do CEOs need to be paid millions or even hundreds of millions to do their work? Couldn't they let some of those earnings trickle down to the workers more? What do you think? Do you think we'll see a rise in layoffs in 2025? Or will things calm down in the new year?

Source - https://gamersocialclub.ca/2024/12/30/10-non-gaming-ips-that-need-a-new-game-who-should-develop-them/ The article above lists off 10 non gaming IPs that need a new game along with the developers that should work on them. The list has some franchises that have had games already, but haven't had one in years. Some of those include The Punisher, SpongeBob, Sherlock Holmes, Judge Dredd, The Hulk, John Wick and I think a couple others on the list. Some on the list that I don't recall got a game were Doctor Strange, and Invincible. I don't know about Berserk or Avatar, but I thought both had a game already. They mention ID as a good developer for The Punisher. Sloclap for John Wick as they worked on Sifu and I think his style of fighting would work in game form. Sloclap would be the team to do it right too. Remedy for a Doctor Strange game, and Invincible from Rocksteady. Would you be into any of these IPs being given another game?

2025 is going to be a stacked year for major anniversaries in the gaming world. All I know, is this all just makes me feel super old now. Destructoid recently posted a list of the major anniversaries, including the likes of; Battle Arena Toshinden (PS1) (going on its 30th anniversary), Resident Evil 4 (GameCube) (20th anniversary), Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath (Xbox) (20th anniversary), and more. You can view the full list here: https://www.destructoid.com/all-major-2025-gaming-anniversaries/

I was huge into the first couple Jak & Daxter games, and am sad to see that Sony hasn't really done anything with franchise since. I hear there are some classic Sony IPs featured in AstroBot and I hear there is a nod to Jak & Daxter. I haven't played it myself, but I can only imagine what the nod was. Anyway, it made me think of a new Jak & Daxter game. I would love to see them revive the game. I know Naughty Dog were the original developers, but I don't think they would be involved if a new game was produced. But I would just love to see a revival or even a continuation of the series. We got Ratchet and Clank pretty much each generation since, why no Jak and Daxter love?

Has anyone heard of this free-to-play game? I hear it is like a mix of an adventure game with dress-up elements, but the outfits you use give you powers or something. I'm getting some palworld vibes from the game too. It may not be my thing, but I can see some people really getting into a game like this. Check out the tailer below.

Skydance has a new VR action adventure game available on Steam and I believe the Meta Quest headsets. You can find the game here - https://www.meta.com/experiences/skydances-behemoth/5767635983306831/ and here - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1707990/Skydances_BEHEMOTH/ I'm hearing it's getting mixed reviews, but it looks like it'd be a lot of fun to play in VR. Has anyone here played it yet?

Source - https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2024/12/ars-technicas-top-20-video-games-of-2024/ Ars Technica did their top 20 games of 2024 list recently and it's what you'd probably expect. The list goes in alphabetical order though, so don't try to gauge what games they found to be the best over the others. Though some of my favorites or ones I'd like to play soon are; Astro Bot, Animal Well, Indiana Jones, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, and a few others. No Wukong on the list though, which is surprising kind of with all the hype it had this year. What are some games you feel are missing from the list? What should be replaced?

Source - https://www.gamespot.com/articles/rayman-is-back-but-probably-not-how-you-want/1100-6528598/ There is a new game called Captain Laserhawk: The Video Game that is based off of a Netflix show called Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix, which aired last year I guess. This show is actually based off of the 2013 spin-off game Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. The show featured characters from other Ubisoft games as well from what I hear. I might have to check it out. Anyway, the news is that this Captain Laserhawk game is going to utilize NFTs and the blockchain, and will require you to have an Niji Warrior NFT in order to play. The only other aspect of Rayman you can get in the game is a profile picture that costs you 750 virtual coins. No idea how much that costs, but the way digital junk is these days, I'm guessing it's over $5 at least. But could be more. I am not a fan of this, and it seems Ubisoft is aware people are not fans of these types of games because they released it without any bit announcements or fanfare. Kind of like how I didn't know the show even existed in the first place.

This was probably one of my favorite reveals during the Game Awards last week. Project: Robot is a new game from Fumito Ueda, the mind behind Ico, Shadow of the Colossus and The Last Guardian. This game looks to be big in scope just like his previous titles were. This game seems to focus on mechs, especially huge looking ones. So I'm pretty hyped we can have these grand mech battles or something.

Split Fiction is a new co-op action adventure from Hazelight Studios and Josef Fares. You know the team behind A Way Out and It Takes Two. So you'll get a similar co-op feel from this game. I really dig the idea behind the story. It sounds like it'd be a lot of fun. It releases on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on March 6, 2025. Check out the reveal trailer below.

Screamer is an upcoming racing game that is a reimagining of the classic racing game that originally came out in 1995 for MS DOS. I can't say I ever heard of the original game. This reboot sounds quite appealing though. It's said to be releasing for the PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC sometime in 2026. Check out the trailer below.

The First Berserker: Khazan is an upcoming action RPG based on the DNF universe. It was developed by Neople and will be published by NEXON. It's dropping on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S in March 2025. Check out the cinematic trailer below. 's

Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is the new game from famed studio Naughty Dog. You of course know who they are. It's been rumored they have been working on a new project for some time now, and it was officially revealed during the Game Awards recently. It's currently in development, and I don't think an official release date has been revealed yet.

A new Onimusha game is finally coming, but sadly we have to wait until 2026, so a bit of a ways off. But fans of the franchise will probably be happy to jump back into the series with a new iteration. Check out the reveal trailer below.