I was quite a young girl when I first got interested in video games. It was something of an awkward transition. At the time, games were largely considered "boy toys," so moving from typical "girly" things like princess dolls and My Little Ponies into gaming was jarring at times, especially since not a lot of games catered to the cute, colorful things I’d been enjoying at playtime to that point. Sure, I loved the fantasy worlds of Mario and Sonic, but I also wished there was a fun gaming playspace for me that echoed the fluffy-cats-and-rainbow-unicorns aesthetic of my Lisa Frank Trapper Keepers.Had my third-grade self seen Calico, an open-world animal cafe and social interaction game, she would have lost her mind. Calico embraces an aesthetic and theme that is shamelessly, unabashedly girly in the best ways--a world of happy magical girls living in pastel-colored lands with fluffy, cotton-candy trees where all kinds of lovable animals roam freely. But while Calico's concept and visuals are a delight, the simplistic, bug-ridden gameplay dragged me kicking and screaming out of the childhood fantasy world I so wanted to exist in.Calico is very cute (screenshots captured on PC).Calico starts off with your created player character inheriting a cat cafe in a faraway world where magic is very real and a part of everyday living. Your job is to fill your little cafe with animals, decorations, and cute kitty-themed pastries while exploring the world and helping your new friends with various errands. It’s a very laid-back, play-as-you-please experience in the vein of other life-sim games, but with an air of play and fairy magic baked in: You can buy potions with funny effects to use on yourself and your animal friends, like shrinking down to mini-size to cook, zooming around while riding on giant red pandas and bunnies, decorating your house with clouds, flowers, and cat paws, and collecting basically any animal in the game (that isn’t already someone else's pet) to be a part of your cafe or your traveling posse.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The latest in Epic Games' ongoing dispute with Apple and Google has seen the Fortnite developer team up with Samsung to send out a number of #FreeFortnite themed care packages to gaming journalists and influencers. Like its previous 1984-style parody video, the merch--and even the boxes they were packed in--reference iconic Apple imagery.Epic Games previously invited fans to make and sell their own Free Fortnite merchandise, even providing a full asset pack of the campaign's Apple-spoofing imagery. It's unclear how many people actually took up the invitation, but Epic is now sending certain influencers merchandise of its own making.The merch is bundled with a Samsung Tab S7 and a note explaining that Samsung's Galaxy Store is the only place where Fortnite is currently available on mobile.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Dead Cells' latest free update is live now, just in time for players to dive back into the beloved roguelike over the holidays. The update adds new content--including the much-requested katana--as well as reworks and tweaks on existing systems.While Dead Cells got its full release over two years ago, the side-scrolling roguelike still receives regular updates, and is in line for a brand new DLC set to launch early next year.The new update introduces the Katana weapon for the first time, as well as a new mob in the form of the community-suggested explosive crossbow-brandishing Demolisher. Motion Twin says the Demolisher will mainly be found in the Distillery at BC0 and later in the game as an alternative upgrade to the Knife Thrower.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

In a holiday roundup post on Halo Waypoint, 343 Industries studio head Bonnie Ross has addressed fans' disappointment about the newly announced Halo Infinite release window, but has promised that the delay is happening for a reason.The Waypoint post includes updates on the Master Chief Collection, the Halo Esports community, and even the upcoming live action Halo TV show, but closes out with a message from studio head Bonnie Ross. Though the message is focused on the studio's successes of 2020, including five releases as part of the Master Chief Collection on PC, Ross also touches on the conversation around Infinite's delay."2021 will be a big year for the Halo franchise," Ross says. "As we recently announced, Halo Infinite will release in fall of 2021. I realize the wait has been difficult, and I assure you that the team wants the game in your hands as soon as possible, but they also want to deliver something special…the Halo game you deserve. Thank you for your patience, your understanding, and most importantly your words of support to the team. I cannot express how grateful I am for the Halo community and the encouragement you've expressed to us. It has lifted us up and provided us the fuel to keep going. As you saw from the recent blog post, the team is making tremendous progress and is SO eager to show you more."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

A new PS5 update adds alerts if the system detects that you may be accidentally running the last-gen version of a game that has an updated PS5 version. The update solves a confusing issue that fans have been hitting since the new console launched.As noted by Twitter user Tidux and confirmed by GameSpot, starting the PS4 version of a game on your PS5 will now prompt a dialogue box. That alerts the user that they're launching the last-gen version and allowing them to switch to the PS5 version instead.When the console first launched, various cross-generation games would default to their PS4 versions, leaving users playing the older games on their shiny new hardware. Some even felt underwhelmed by the new console because the games didn't look noticeably better, when they were accidentally looking at the PS4 versions. This update would appear to resolve that problem.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Coming To America was one of many hit movies that Eddie Murphy made in the 1980s, but it's taken over 30 years for the sequel to arrive. Coming 2 America is set to hit Amazon Video in March, and the first teaser is here.Murphy reprises his role as Akeem Joffer, the prince of the fictional African nation of Zamunda. When Akeem's father King Jaffe informs him that Akeem has a son he never knew about, the prince must return to New York with his trusted friend Semmi to find him. It looks very funny, and as the trailer reveals, Murphy and Hall will play multiple characters once more, including the hilarious old barbershop men, who are somehow still alive three decades later. Check the trailer out below:Coming 2 America also stars James Earl Jones as Jaffe, plus Wesley Snipes, Tracy Morgan, Leslie Jones, Jermaine Fowler, and KiKi Layne. It's helmed by Craig Brewer, who previously directed Murphy in last year's acclaimed Dolomite Is My Name. The film was originally set for a theatrical release this month but will now hit Prime Video on March 5.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Helping close out 2020 with a rare bit of closure, Hugh Jackman has been named the winner in an ongoing and over-the-top war against Ryan Reynolds in who could raise the most for charity. Since the competition began in November, Sam's Club clocked purchases of Laughing Man coffee (which supports coffee farming communities) for Jackman and Aviation American Gin (which supports the SickKids Foundation) for Reynolds. According to a video tweeted by Reynolds--which he says he "quite literally" has "a legal obligation to post"--it has been announced that Jackman is the winner.Quite literally, I have a legal obligation to post this. pic.twitter.com/xq8q7ZXvb4 — Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) December 21, 2020While, yes, the "war" was for a good cause, basically the video above is a long-burning fuse for a quick and pretty funny joke. Sam's Club CEO Kath McLay gives the Australian actor a Skype call to congratulate him on emerging victorious, and then mentions she's dreading calling Reynolds next to deliver the bad news.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Warner Bros. has released a trailer for The Little Things, a tense murder mystery that probably only needs the cast stated to sell people on it: Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, and Jared Leto. The film will be coming to theaters and streaming exclusively on HBO Max on January 29. Check out the new trailer below. In The Little Things, Los Angeles Sheriff Department Jim Baxter (Malek) unofficially engages Kern County Deputy Sheriff Joe Deacon's (Washington) help on tracking down a serial killer--who, based on the casting and trailer, is strongly implied to be Leto's unnamed character.However, the trailer also is shrewd enough to raise suspicion in other directions, like highlighting the fact that Deacon just so happens to be in Los Angeles on a quick evidence-gathering assignment at the time of the murders. The film's synopsis hints at further tension, stating "as they track the killer, Baxter is unaware that the investigation is dredging up echoes of Deacon's past, uncovering disturbing secrets that could threaten more than his case."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The PlayStation Store has kicked off its annual Holiday Sale, and it features many of 2020's most popular games, including PlayStation exclusives like The Last of Us Part II and Final Fantasy VII Remake. While most of the deals are on PS4 games, all of them are backwards-compatible with PS5, meaning you can potentially get benefits like faster loading times and higher frame rates or resolutions. Some of the recently released games, such as Ghost of Tsushima, even come with free performance upgrades for PS5. The Holiday Sale runs until January 9.For new PlayStation owners, the sale is particularly great when it comes to exclusives. The three biggest PlayStation exclusives of the year are discounted to excellent prices. The Last of Us Part II is $30, Ghost of Tsushima is $40.19, and Final Fantasy VII Remake is $30. All three of those games were nominated for GameSpot's game of the year. Another nominee, Persona 5 Royal, is down to $30, while our 2019 Game of the Year, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, is down to $39.There are plenty of worthwhile discounts on third-party 2020 hits, too. A trio of recently released Ubisoft open-world games are on sale for great prices. Watch Dogs Legion is $30, Immortals Fenyx Rising (released just earlier this month) is $40.19, and Assassin's Creed Valhalla is $45. Each of those games comes with a free PS5 upgrade. Yakuza: Like a Dragon will be getting a free PS5 upgrade, and you can get the PS4 version right now for $45, or the Yakuza Remastered Collection for $30.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Pokemon developer Game Freak has rolled out a new update for Pokemon Sword and Shield. This patch appears to be very minor, however, primarily resolving a handful of bugs.According to the patch notes on Nintendo's support website, Sword and Shield's 1.3.1 update "fixed some issues for a better gameplay experience." The notes don't delve into any more detail beyond that, so it's not quite clear what has been fixed. If the update is not automatically installed, you'll need to highlight your game's icon on the Switch home screen, press the Plus button, and select Software Update to manually download the patch.This marks Sword and Shield's first update since October's 1.3.0 patch, which added the games' Crown Tundra expansion. That is included alongside the titles' first DLC, The Isle of Armor, in the Sword and Shield Expansion Pass.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

HBO and BBC One have renewed the drama series His Dark Materials for a third season. The show is based on the Philip Pullman trilogy of fantasy novels comprising Northern Lights (known as The Golden Compass in the US), The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. As there have been three novels, it sounds like the TV adaptation will only have the three seasons--the upcoming one will close out the televised trilogy. Production is expected to begin sometime in 2021."Bringing Phillip Pullman's epic, intricate, and culturally resonant body of work to television has been a tremendous privilege," said HBO programming executive vice president Francesca Orsi. "We look forward to completing the trilogy with this final chapter in Lyra’s journey."His Dark Materials returned for its seven-episode Season 2 on November 16. The second season will conclude on December 28 at 9 PM on HBO. Season 2 series regulars have included Dafne Keen, Ruth Wilson, Amir Wilson, Ariyon Bakare, Andrew Scott, Will Keen, Ruta Gedmintas, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Joining the cast this season are Terence Stamp, Jade Anouka, and Simone Kirby.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

While there are many movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe ahead of us, much of the focus right now is on the studio's upcoming slate of shows heading to Disney+, which kicks off next month with WandaVision. Now Marvel boss Kevin Feige has spoken about the MCU and the importance of streaming in Marvel's future plans.Speaking to Emmy.com, Feige stated that he considered streaming "the future" of the MCU. [It's] where consumers want to watch things," he said. "And hopefully they'll want to watch our longform narrative series. An experience like WandaVision is something you can't get in a movie. You go to movies for things you can't get on streaming, and you go to streaming for things you can't get in a theater. And of course, everything in a theater goes to streaming eventually."Feige goes on to explain that MCU shows provide the opportunity to explore characters, such as WandaVision's Wanda Maximoff and Vision, in more depth than in movies. "My team and I were wondering internally about where to go from here, and what would be the next step that was equally challenging and unexpected," he said. "Elizabeth [Olsen] and Paul [Bettany] were these amazing actors--who had done amazing things in four movies--but never had a chance to dominate the narrative because there was so much else going on. It felt fun to finally give them a platform to showcase their astounding talent."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Microsoft Flight Simulator is a simulator in the classic sense, practically a teaching tool in its realism and attention to detail. But a new update adds even more verisimilitude, by letting you fly everything from puddle jumpers to jumbo jets while immersed in a VR headset.An update on the Xbox blog announced the sim update 2, which makes the game work with a variety of VR headsets. Those include the Windows Mixed Reality headsets, along with the headsets from Oculus, Valve, and HTC. Just make sure you've updated to the latest version of Flight Simulator before you strap on your headset and take to the skies.Flight Simulator already uses a first-person perspective with realistic dashboards and control panels for lots of aircraft, and actually taking off, flying, and landing your plane takes a high degree of skill. With the VR update, you'll have to manage all that and your airsickness.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The last two characters of Dragon Ball FighterZ's third DLC character bundle have been revealed, and one of them is joining the game's roster in about a month's time.Dragon Ball GT's Super Baby 2 is slated to drop on January 15. Previously released DLC characters for Dragon Ball FighterZ retail for anywhere between $3 and $6 USD. So while Bandai Namco hasn't specified Super Baby 2's price, he's likely to cost around the same as other characters. Alternatively, he can be acquired by purchasing the game's FighterZ Pass 3.Rounding out FighterZ Pass 3 is Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta, the fusion of Super Saiyan 4 Goku and Vegeta, and another member from Dragon Ball GT's cast. Unlike Super Baby 2, SS4 Gogeta doesn't have a release date. He joins the rest of FighterZ Pass 3's roster, which includes the fusion Kefla, Ulta Instinct Goku, and the recently released Master Roshi. Bandai Namco shared a trailer showing the two characters in-game, which you can check out above.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Developer Treyarch has rolled out an update for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S that shuffles the game's multiplayer playlist and pushes out yet another double XP event for all players.The update is now live and it makes a number of changes to the game. As previously promised, Treyarch is issuing a double battle pass XP event for all players until December 28. In addition to the double XP event, daily challenges have been added to Black Ops Cold War's multiplayer and Zombies modes. Other changes include playlist updates, such as bringing Face Off, which consists of 3v3 Team Deathmatch, Domination, and Kill Confirmed matches on Gunfight maps. Raid 24/7 is also live, as well as Nuketown Holiday 24/7, Prop Hunt, and Gunfight.This update comes not long after Treyarch and co-developer Raven Software released one patch after another that not only kicked off Season 1 for both Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Warzone. The patches also made a number of changes to both games, including removing helicopters due to a bug from Warzone and adjusting the spawn logic for Nuketown '84.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com