Genshin Impact's big 1.2 update is arriving on December 23, bringing with it a huge new area, a host of new rewards and content, and some well-overdue quality-of-life updates. The update will bring two new 5-star characters across two banners--first, the sword-wielding Geo alchemist Albedo, and later in January the Cryo archer Ganyu.Developer Mihoyo has now revealed the event banner for Albedo, showing that 4-star characters Bennett, Fischl and Sucrose will all be easier to obtain while wishing on the "Secretum Secretorum." The new main character Albedo is a Geo sword user who seems to be designed for a support role.Albedo's story quest "Princeps Cretaceus Chapter" will launch at the same time as his banner and will be a pre-requisite for the Dragonspine-centered The Chalk Prince and the Dragon event. Accordingly, the story quest will temporarily be available to all players above AR20 without the need for a story key. After the event, the level requirement will be raised to AR40 and a story key will be required.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film series is packed with many beloved scenes, but one stands above all for the director, and it's not a scene he directed.Sitting down with The Lord of the Rings super-fan Stephen Colbert, Jackson said one of the scenes that best captures the spirit of the project is one that came in late and was not originally planned. In The Two Towers, Jackson wanted to properly introduce Gollum, but the director remarked that he didn't have a sequence that effectively demonstrated Gollum's two-persons-in-one existence as Gollum and Smeagol. "We knew we needed it, but we had no time to shoot it," Jackson said.Director Peter Jackson tells us his favorite scene from The Lord of The Rings franchise. #LSSC pic.twitter.com/dikYtMK612 — A Late Show (@colbertlateshow) December 12, 2020So Jackson turned to his partner in real life and on The Lord of the Rings, screenwriter Fran Walsh, to write and direct a scene that showcased Gollum's identity. The scene from The Two Towers shows Gollum grappling with his pained existence, bouncing back and forth between what he wants and what the seduction of the One Ring is compelling him to do.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The finale of The Mandalorian Season 2 last week contained not one but two big surprises. You can read about the first here, while the second was that a spin-off Star Wars show titled The Book of Boba Fett is on the way next year. Now the logo and more details have been revealed.The Book of Boba Fett will be produced by Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, and Robert Rodriguez, and star Temuera Morrison as Boba Fett and Ming-Na Wen as Fennec Shand. Favreau is the showrunner of The Mandalorian, while Filoni is an executive producer of that show, as well as being responsible for animated Star Wars series such as Rebels and The Clone Wars. Rodriguez directed one of the recent Mandalorian episodes, and helmed movies such as Alita: Battle Angel, Spy Kids, and Sin City. As for the logo, check it out below:The Book of Boba Fett, a new Original Series, starring Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen and executive produced by Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni and Robert Rodriguez, set within the timeline of The Mandalorian, is coming to @DisneyPlus Dec. 2021. pic.twitter.com/YT2zbLufI8 — Star Wars (@starwars) December 21, 2020Favreau was interviewed by Good Morning America, where he revealed that The Book of Boba Fett will start production soon, ahead of its December 2021 premiere on Disney+. He also confirmed that The Mandalorian Season 3 is on the way too. However, that won't start filming until after the Boba Fett series, so we won't see that before 2022.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

While it may have been last season of Fortnite: Battle Royale that was Marvel-themed, that doesn't mean the game's connections to the franchise have ended. A small new set of challenges, dubbed Wakanda Forever, have been introduced to the game for the next three weeks, and completing them will earn you the Wakandan Salute emote--and the long-awaited Black Panther skin is finally approaching its release.The Wakanda Forever challenges are available for free, and there are only three total you'll need to complete. Fortunately, this just involves playing the game--you won't need to hunt down any unmarked locations or do anything unnatural. However, one of the three challenges is mislabeled: Despite saying you only need to play five Duo or Squad matches, you actually have to do this challenge with a friend, Epic clarified on Twitter; it's working to update the in-game text now. Each of the three challenges has a corresponding XP reward, and once you finish all three, you'll unlock the emote, which was popularized by 2018's Black Panther movie. You just have to do all of this by January 12 at 4 PM PT / 7 PM ET.Wakanda Forever ChallengesPlay Matches (10) -- 10k XPOutlast opponents (500) -- 20k XPPlay Duo or Squad matches with a friend (5) -- 20k XPCoinciding with this, Epic's ongoing Fortography event, where players submit their best Fortnite screenshots, will focus on the new emote. You can submit yours by tweeting with the #Fortography hashtag.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The awaited 1.5 update for Stardew Valley has arrived on PC, and ahead of its release indie developer Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone outlined some of what we can expect from the big patch.In a tweet, Barone highlighted a couple of key features for new farmers just starting out after the version 1.5 update goes live. Those include a new farm type, Beach Farm. According to an attached screenshot, sprinklers don't work on a beach farm, but it's great for foraging and fishing, and sometimes you'll a supply crate will randomly wash up ashore. There's also be a new Advanced Game Options menu, which lets you toggle aspects like your community center bundles, mine rewards, and whether monsters will spawn on your farm.Barone followed up shortly after with an update that the patch is now live. He had said just recently that it could release on PC this year, followed by consoles early next year.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The Netflix movie Enola Holmes was one of the streaming service's biggest releases this year, but it was also the subject of a copyright infringement lawsuit, brought by the estate of Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle. The suit has now been settled.The character of Sherlock Holmes has been in the public domain since 2014. However, not every story featuring Holmes is--the last 10 books published between 1923 and 1927 remain under control of the Conan Doyle Estate. The Doyle estate had argued that the Sherlock of Enola Holmes is the more "emotional" version featured in these later books.According to The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix and the estate have reached a settlement, leading New Mexico federal court to dismiss the case. It's unknown what the settlement involved, but it's very likely that it will enable Netflix to make more Enola Holmes movies, based on Nancy Springer's series of novels.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Last week, Amazon debuted its first look at Eddie Murphy's return as Prince Akeem in Coming 2 America, and on Monday, it debuted the first poster for it as well as announced the first teaser will be coming the next day.The sequel will be set in the African nation Zamunda, where newly-crowned King Akeem (Eddie Murphy) and his trusted confidante Semmi (Arsenio Hall) embark on an all-new adventure that has them traversing the globe from their home country to the borough of Queens, New York – where it all began.Coming 2 America reunites a lot of the original cast including Murphy and Hall, James Earl Jones, Shari Headley, but also introduces Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, KiKi Layne, and Wesley Snipes into the fold. Murphy also co-produced the film as well.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

One of the final weeks of the year finds the new offerings on Netflix, for better or worse, starting to dry up. By week's end on December 26, there will likely be tons of presents under the tree--but there's only eight new programs dropping on the streaming service overall.We would be remiss to not highlight The Midnight Sky, George Clooney's sci-fi adventure epic, which debuts December 23 on Netflix. Clooney directs and stars in this adaptation of the acclaimed novel Good Morning, Midnight, which tells the story of a father and daughter racing to stop astronauts from returning to a planet which is now an absolute frozen tundra. Should be just the thing to cozy up with as winter takes hold and the holidays begin.All jokes aside, Clooney himself remarked as soon as he laid eyes on it, this seemed like it would be an unfortunately timely film: "I got the script way before the pandemic, but still there were all these other elements… There’s the denying of climate change but also the idea of how hateful it’s become, how race and all these other things that are tinderboxes in our country really just require anybody to throw a match in it. That’s why I was drawn to the story because if you play that kind of hatred out over a 20-year period of time, it’s not inconceivable that we destroy ourselves."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

2020 is finally coming to a close, wrapping up what was certainly an unprecedented year for the video game industry. While Sony and Microsoft both ushered in next-generation consoles, the Nintendo Switch marched into its fourth year on the market with some great releases that helped sustain its impressive sales momentum.Although 2020 turned out to be fairly light in terms of Nintendo's first-party output, that certainly didn't mean that there wasn't anything to play on the system. A huge assortment of stellar third-party titles graced the hybrid console this year, including a variety of critically acclaimed indie gems like Hades and Spiritfarer. Nintendo also put out some great titles this year, from an original Switch entry in the Paper Mario series to the record-smashing Animal Crossing: New Horizons.Below, we've rounded up all the best-reviewed games to hit the Switch in 2020. This list covers every title that has scored an 8 or higher on GameSpot. For more of our end-of-year coverage, be sure to check out our Best Games of 2020 and GameSpot's top 10 nominees. And for a look ahead at what the future has in store for the hybrid system, check out our roundup of the biggest Switch games to play in 2021 and beyond.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Cyberpunk 2077 has been mired in controversies since launch, but a brand-new Nexus Mod aims to bring some much-needed levity to the experience by giving PC players the ability to change their in-game hairstyle whenever and however many times as they want.The mod, created by user woodbricks, grants players access to all the hairstyles available in Cyberpunk 2077. Once installed, players can swap between the 39 haircuts for both male and female characters. However, those who've customized their V with a totally bald cut cannot change it to any of the other 38. Additionally, while the mod is compatible with both genders, hairstyles won't neatly swap between the two due to head shape and character model.There are specific instructions for changing V's hairstyle with this Nexus Mod. PC players will have to locate their save file, download and install a Hex editing program like this one, edit the file in question by changing V's hair to the corresponding Hex code of their choosing, and save. Relaunching the game after completing the steps is not necessary; players can simply load their save file and continuing playing Cyberpunk 2077 with their freshly cut V.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

2021 is just around the corner, and Pokemon Go developer Niantic has now detailed the game's first Community Day of the new year. The event will take place on January 16, and the featured monster this time around will be the Fighting-type Pokemon Machop.Throughout the event, Machop will appear in the wild much more frequently than usual, and you'll have a chance to encounter a Shiny Machop. The Fighting Pokemon will also be able to learn an event-exclusive move. If you can evolve Machoke (Machop's evolved form) into Machamp up to two hours after January's Community Day ends, it will know the Dark-type attack Payback.Attention, Trainers! We’re starting next year’s #PokemonGOCommunityDay events strong 💪 by featuring a Pokémon that’s sure to be a knockout—Machop! Learn more: https://t.co/d9NW6x5gaF pic.twitter.com/5KqKJlnh1G — Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) December 21, 2020 Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

It's no secret that playing Cyberpunk 2077, particularly on last-gen systems, can be messy, so imagining the game playing on Nintendo Switch sounds implausible. But a Nintendo enthusiast has found a way to get the open-world RPG running on Nintendo's console-handheld hybrid--and the process involves hacking the system to access Stadia.YouTuber Nintendrew uploaded a video to his channel demonstrating how he got Cyberpunk 2077 to play on his hacked Nintendo Switch. He discusses the game's performance, which seems to run steadily at 720p when undocked and 1080p when connected to a TV, and how Stadia allows users to stream Cyberpunk 2077 to the system. There are a few required tools, like a Stadia account and payload injector, but Cyberpunk 2077 is apparently fully playable on Switch after downloading and installing a version of Google's Android operating system.Once Android is installed, Switch players can download the Stadia app from the Play Store and start streaming Cyberpunk 2077. Both Joy-Con and Pro controllers are compatible with Cyberpunk 2077, with controller mapping being identical to its Xbox console inputs. And of course, once Stadia is installed on Nintendo Switch, a bunch of other AAA, non-Switch games--such as Destiny 2 and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order--can be streamed to the system as well. It's worth noting that while Stadia isn't directly available on Switch, Nintendo has released a few titles through the cloud, including Remedy's Control and IO Interactive's Hitman 3.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's next DLC fighter, Sephiroth, officially releases tomorrow (although you can unlock the One-Winged Angel early right now), but that's not all that's arriving this week. Nintendo has announced it is also rolling out another update for the Switch fighting game on December 22.The company hasn't shared any details about the version 10.1 update, other than it will "include fighter adjustments." Ahead of the update, you'll need to convert any replay data by going into the game's Vault menu, as it will become incompatible once you've installed the patch.Ver. 10.1 of Super #SmashBrosUltimate will arrive tomorrow! This update will include fighter adjustments, meaning replay data from previous versions will be incompatible. Convert your replays by going to Vault -> Replays -> Replay Data -> Convert to Video, before updating. pic.twitter.com/shaBh9Aspx — Nintendo Versus (@NintendoVS) December 21, 2020As previously mentioned, Sephiroth also officially unlocks tomorrow, December 22. In the meantime, however, you can unlock the DLC fighter early through the limited-time Sephiroth Challenge event. If you defeat Sephiroth in a stamina battle (and have already purchased his challenger pack or the Fighters Pass Vol. 2), he'll be added to your roster ahead of his official release, as will is accompanying stage: Northern Cave.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Having launched almost four years ago, Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser believes the Switch has finally entered the midpoint of its lifecycle. In an extensive interview with Polygon, Bowser discussed the company's 2021 outlook, how well the Switch performed amidst the ongoing pandemic, and what the midpoint for both the standard Switch and more-affordable Switch Lite means for the platform's ecosystem. According to Bowser, it means the company will "really lean into both platforms" while continuing to call attention to the Switch's unique console-handheld hybrid nature."[T]he way we build games onto the platform, and the way partners build games onto the platform, is really what matters and the experience that you have when you play," Bowser said. "So that's what we'll continue to lean into as we go into really what will be the fifth year of Nintendo Switch. And as Mr. [Shuntaro] Furukawa [president of Nintendo] mentioned in his corporate management policy briefing, we believe we're just at the midpoint of this life cycle on this platform."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Following the reveal of a new set of Black Panther-inspired challenges that unlock the Wakandan salute emote, it seems the hero himself will get a Fortnite skin very soon.According to the Black Girl Gamers Twitter account, a Black Panther skin is coming to the game. This has long been rumored and was previously leaked by dataminers.Epic Games hasn't formally announced the skin yet, and it's not available on the in-game store at the time of writing. However, Epic has announced a new trailer is slated to go live later today, which will likely reveal the skin. For now, there's no word on how much it may cost or if it's part of any in-game bundle. The Black Girl Gamers Twitch channel will be one of several streaming a watch party for the trailer, and it will be giving away codes to unlock the new skin.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com