While thrillers and horror movies based around pandemics and contagious outbreaks have been made for decades, the events of 2020 have, obviously, made them even more terrifying than ever before. The latest addition to the sub-genre is the new South Korean series Sweet Home, which hits Netflix this month. The first trailer has now been released.Sweet Home focuses on a pandemic that sweeps across the world, turning people into terrifying creatures. The series is set in an apartment block, and centers on a group of residents who have to work together to survive. It looks a lot of wild and scary fun, with some really cool monsters; in particular, there's one crazy creature known as the Protein Monster, who seems to be rendered in old-school stop-motion claymation style. Check the trailer out below:Sweet Home is directed by Lee Eung-Bok, and stars Song Kang, Lee Jin-Wook, Lee Si-Young, Lee Do-Hyun, and Kim Nam-Hee. It's based on a webtoon of the same title by Kim Kan-bi and Hwang Young-chan, which was published in 2017. All 10 episodes arrive on Netflix on December 18.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

2020 was a tough year in many respects due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and how it tore holes in every aspect of our lives, from the glaringly obvious to the minute. As a result of this, many people sought refuge in games and gaming content this year on sites like YouTube. Now, YouTube Gaming has announced that the service had its best year ever, with over 100 billion hours of content watched--that's a lot of Fortnite.According to a blog post announcing the milestone, more than 80,000 channels hit 100k subscribers this year, over 1,000 hit 5 million, and over 350 hit 10 million. The top games watched for 2020 were Minecraft, Roblox, Garena Free Fire, Grand Theft Auto V, and Fortnite. Minecraft notched over 201 billion views by itself, doubling Roblox's count of 75 billion.The blog post highlighted the charitable giving of top YouTubers like Jacksepticeye and The Game Theorists, with the former raising over $660,000 for COVID-19 relief in a 12-hour stream. It also listed the most successful streamable live events of the year, with Travis Scott's Astronomical Fortnite concert coming in at #1.Info from Gamespot.com

Marvel's Avengers now has the first of its post-launch characters, Kate Bishop. The sassy archer is another hero in the Marvel universe who uses the Hawkeye codename--Clint Barton, who's also Hawkeye, is her mentor and will be the second post-launch character for Marvel's Avengers. Yup, Marvel's Avengers is getting two playable Hawkeyes back-to-back."Yeah I mean, I'll be honest, from a gameplay standpoint, it would probably have been easier to not have to do two very similar characters," Marvel's Avengers lead combat designer Vince Napoli told me. "But, as with everything in the game, I think it's a decision driven by story and narrative. [The team] sort of fell in love with the idea of telling a story we only could by having Hawkeye as the first character. And then when they were looking at the storyline, they were like, 'Hey, it'd be awesome to also throw Kate in there.'"As Napoli tells it, developer Crystal Dynamics wanted to use the two Hawkeyes to tell the next chapter of Marvel's Avengers story, but the team didn't want Kate to just be thrown in solely for story purposes. If she mattered to the overall narrative of the game then she deserved to be playable too, not just Clint. "At least it gives us a couple of playable characters right away, one after the other, which is really cool," Napoli said. "And I know you're excited to have a quick two-part introduction and kickoff to this whole post-release story stuff. So that's kind of nice, the fact that there's a nice, a quick turnaround."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Early Access farming/collecting sim Ooblets has just dropped its latest update: V.05 Coldyrain. The Ooblets team have laid out their plans for content drops, and this is the latest. If you're familiar with the naming conventions in Ooblets, it's probably not a stretch to understand that this is a snow/winter update for both PC and Xbox.According to the Latest News dialogue that appears after you've downloaded the update, this new content drop is a bit different than what the devs were originally planning. The first idea for this update was for it to be a big Wildlands update, with some fun winter stuff thrown in for good measure. But it soon became apparent that the new wintery features were both substantial and fun enough to warrant being a main focus for this update. According to the team, that big Wildlands update is still in the pipe, and will probably release as its own update later this month.So what all can you expect from this new season in Ooblets? Well first off: get ready for snow. This new chilly precipitation will work similarly to the pre-existing in-game rain, but instead of watering your plants, it will freeze them. Frozen plants aren't dead, but they won't grow either, so you'll need to be managing them with the different tools the update is adding to keep your crops warm like heaters and special anti-freeze fertilizer. Or you can wait for the snow to melt, I guess. For now, it will snow pretty regularly, but the frequency will decrease after January as things start to warm up again irl. On top of the new weather, this update has also added new crafting recipes, new resources, and even a new chilly ooblet to collect! You can see all the new features below.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Ubisoft has delayed Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake from its originally scheduled January 21, 2021 release date. The upcoming remake of the platforming classic will now launch on March 18, 2021 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.Ubisoft's Prince of Persia Twitter account announced the news, with the development team saying, "We are excited to put this game in your hands, as we retell the story of the Prince and Farah in a reimagined 11th century Persia. However, 2020 has been a year like no other. Today we wanted to let you know that we are taking additional time to work on the game. With that, the release date of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake has been moved to March 18, 2021. We believe this is the right call to ensure we will deliver a game you will enjoy."Thank you for your patience and continued support for Prince of Persia and we hope you stay safe and healthy this holiday season."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

We're just weeks away from the release of the highly anticipated Wonder Woman 1984. As we've seen with other major releases in this very bizarre year, you won't need to head to your local theater to watch the latest live-action film in the DC universe. Wonder Woman 1984 releases on December 25 on HBO Max, HBO's streaming service that launched earlier this year. While it will also be available in theaters on Christmas Day, the decision by Warner Bros. allows fans to see the heroine's new adventure from the comfort of their own homes.To watch Wonder Woman 1984 at home on release day, you'll have to sign up for HBO Max. Those with active HBO subscriptions from their cable provider already have access to the streaming service. HBO Max costs $15 per month, and unfortunately there isn't a free trial to take advantage of. That said, if you're watching it at home with family, paying $15 for a one-month subscription is likely significantly cheaper than the theater experience. And, of course, you can watch Wonder Woman 1984 as many times as you want on HBO Max. Sign up for HBO Max Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Immortals Fenyx Rising might have only launched less than a week ago, but if you decided to wait a little on Ubisoft's latest IP you can now enjoy it at a steeply discounted price.Amazon is selling Immortals Fenyx Rising on Xbox One and PS4 for $40, down from $60. To get the full discount, you have to click the coupon on the store page. This deal only applies to the physical versions of each, but both are still eligible for the free Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PlayStation 5 upgrades, as long as you have the disc inserted into the console. Immortals Fenyx Rising $40 (was $60) See at Amazon Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The saga of the release date for the Monster Hunter movie has yet another twist, just days after a controversy emerged over a particular line of dialogue. While the film recently had its release date changed to Christmas Day, you'll now be able to see it in theaters even earlier.Sony's Monster Hunter will hit theaters domestically on December 18, GameSpot has learned. It's unknown at this time as to why the studio decided on the new release date. That leaves Tom Hanks' News of the World, Regina King's One Night In Miami, and the dark comedy Promising Young Woman as the movies premiering on December 25.This move comes a day after Monster Hunter was pulled from theaters in China after a line of dialogue spoken by Jin Au-Yeung's character caused an outrage. Also going by the name MC Jin, the actor explained the scene for himself in an Instagram post, which you can see below.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

On November 12, Hearthstone released a new seasonal rewards track and a paid battle pass called the Tavern Pass. It was met with anger from the community after Blizzard promised this pass wouldn't reduce gold rewards, and it proceeded to do exactly that. Blizzard altered the pass to fix this, but that altered other in-game rewards. Blizzard is now taking another swing at revising this pass, posting an update on its site going through all the changes the pass will have implemented soon in response to fan feedback.One of the primary issues being addressed quests that players have expressed are too difficult to complete. Some of these are just being tweaked or removed in general as they're harder than expected or not worthwhile. Others are getting very specific changes. Quests that require Legendary cards and Arena runs are all being removed from the battle pass. Additionally, one of the weekly quests is being altered so instead of having to win 7 ranked matches, they will only have to win 5. All daily quests that had been rewarding 800XP will now be rewarding 900XP, and Tavern Brawls and Battlegrounds will contribute to quest progress.Another huge focus of this revamp is reducing how much XP players need to reach certain milestones in the rewards track. Originally, the Hearthstone devs had taken event reward XP into account when calculating the cadence for leveling up in the battle pass. But now players should be able to advance without event XP thanks to how the track is going to be revised. The XP requirements for the rewards track will be reduced by 37,000 XP, which is almost 20%. The devs hope that this will make the mid-to-late levels of the pass more accessible and that it will fix the event XP miscalculations. Players' earned XP totals will remain the same after these changes, so you may find you have more progress than last time you logged in once these changes go live.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The weirdly amazing news surrounding the upcoming third Spider-Man movie from Sony and Marvel Studios isn't relenting. It's just getting bigger and better. It's already been reported that Jamie Foxx will once again play Electro--a character he first placed in 2014's Amazing Spider-Man 2--for the upcoming film. That plus the knowledge that original Spider-Man trilogy star JK Simmons is back in the franchise as J Jonah Jameson after appearing in Spider-Man: Far From Home certainly leads us to believe that this next Spider-Man movie will be crossing all over the Spider-Verse. Now, another familiar face is returning.According to The Hollywood Reporter, Alfred Molina will reprise the role of Otto Octavius, a part he first placed in 2004's Spider-Man 2. It was first reported by GWW that Molina was spotted on the next Spider-Man movie's set as Doc Ock, though it wasn't clear if this was the same version from the 2004 film.With all of these Spider-Man villains, though, what about the various web-slingers themselves? While the next MCU Spider-Man movie certainly seems to be tying together the character's various franchises, it remains to be seen if Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, who both played the role before Tom Holland was cast for the current series of films, will wear the mask again. What's more, if Marvel Studios and Sony are really crossing the franchise streams, here's hoping they find some kind of way to include characters from the animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse film.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

December is officially underway, and it's shaping up to be another busy month for Pokemon Go. Developer Niantic has a variety of December events and activities lined up for the game, including a big Community Day weekend celebration. Of course, a new month also means new Field Research tasks, and another batch of those is now live along with a new Research Breakthrough encounter.This time around, you'll be able to encounter one of two Pokemon each time you achieve a Research Breakthrough in December 2020: Lapras or Unovan Darumaka. Both Pokemon will be available all month long. You'll also earn bonus XP for catching either monster.As a refresher, you'll achieve a Research Breakthrough when you collect seven stamps. You'll receive one stamp for the first Field Research task you complete each day. If you don't manage to achieve a Research Breakthrough before the month ends, any stamps you've earned will carry over, so your progress will go toward next month's Research Breakthrough.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

As if Black Friday wasn't enough, Best Buy has just kicked off a new buy two, get one free promotion that can net you some huge savings on next-gen games for PS5 and Xbox Series X. Games like Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Watch Dogs: Legion, and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War feature upgraded next-gen versions, though there are also a number of titles that will work great via backwards compatibility. This includes the highly anticipated Cyberpunk 2077, Marvel's Avengers, and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. There's currently no end date for this promotion, though supplies are limited. If you're interested in snagging some new games on the cheap, then you'll want to act sooner rather than later.All you have to do is add three games to your cart and check out. The discount will take affect once your items are in the cart, but be sure to double-check that the discount has applied before finalizing your order. Of the three items, the cheapest will be the one you get for free. That means if you buy two $60 games and one $30 game, you'll get the $30 one for free--if your games are of equal value, you'll still get one for free. If you're interested in seeing some of the best options, check out our recommendations below. See B2G1 free sale at Best Buy Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Developer Moon Studios has announced a partnership with iam8bit and Skybound Games to send money directly to a nonprofit organization aimed at preserving the tropical rainforests.From now until December 13, five percent of Ori and the Will of the Wisps sales on Nintendo Switch will go to the charity Rainforest Trust, a US-based environmental organization focused on purchasing and protecting tropical rainforests and the endangered wildlife inhabiting them. In addition to the small-scale contribution, iam8bit is also donating $25,000 to the nonprofit."iam8bit's very first game as a publisher is Ori and the Will of the Wisps on Nintendo Switch. As a publisher, we considered how best to spend the game's marketing budget, and decided to shake things up to try and make a positive difference with that money,” iam8bit co-owners Jon M. Gibson and Amanda White said in a press release. "As we've worked with Moon Studios to publish the Ori series on Nintendo Switch, we've been struck by their dedication to expressing nature as a living, breathing entity worthy of protection. Following their lead, we wanted to do our part to preserve nature, and are excited to work with the wonderful and dedicated people at Rainforest Trust to do just that."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

HBO's reliably excellent Documentary Films unit has announced that in 2021 it will be airing Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street on HBO and HBO Max. The new documentary explores links between the civil rights movement of the late 1960s and frames the popular children's television series as a "revolutionary experiment to harness the burgeoning power of television and create an educational, impactful, and entertaining show."Street Gang will chronicle the show's first 20 years, starting in the late 1960s, when socially conscious media executive Joan Ganz Cooney and Sesame Workshop co-founder Lloyd Morrisett teamed with visionary Muppets creator Jim Henson and acclaimed children’s television writer and director Jon Stone to craft the iconic and uplifting world of Sesame Street.Rather than portraying the show as one that belonged to a particular audience or social movement, the documentary will "take audiences inside the minds and hearts of the Sesame Street creators, artists, writers and educators who together established one of the most influential and enduring children's programs in television history."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

With a new generation of consoles just launched at the tail end of 2020, the future looks bright for the PlayStation and Xbox platforms. But, as always, PC remains its own unique gaming platform that can provide experiences you might not be able to find on consoles while also offering a place to play multiplatform games at their best. PC's seemingly infinite backlog of games makes it a beast of a platform, but there's just as much to look forward to in 2021 and beyond.It is exciting that PC gamers have options for even more powerful video cards with Nvidia's RTX 30-series and AMD's RX 6000-series (if you can find them), providing more graphical horsepower than ever before and new features like ray tracing and AI-driven supersampling. But while PC pushes innovation in graphics and performance, what matters most is the games. And if you need a cheat sheet for what's in your PC gaming future, and details on why you should be excited for each of these upcoming titles, we have you covered.Table of Contents [hide]AvowedAvowedOne of the games that developer Obsidian Entertainment has up its sleeve is Avowed, and it's intriguing considering the studio's track record (Fallout: New Vegas, The Outer Worlds). Avowed looks to be the first big RPG from Obsidian under the Xbox Game Studios umbrella, but all we know so far comes from the short teaser trailer shown off during the Xbox showcase from July 2020, which revealed it as a new first-person fantasy RPG set in the Pillars of Eternity universe.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com