Month: December 2019

Before it made games that just dropped the pretense altogether and used plastic instruments, Harmonix was already the master at turning your average, run-of-the-mill controller into an instrument of musical chaos in Frequency and Amplitude. That same ethos is the engine driving Audica, which seeks to do the same for VR motion controllers. It’s a game with a killer idea, but the execution is just short of the mark.

At its core, Audica is a VR shooting gallery that makes music. In a world where stylishly slicing boxes with lightsabers is the current gold standard for rhythm games, stylishly making music with blasters was pretty much the logical–even welcome–next step on paper. Your instruments are two neon laser tag guns. Colored targets fly toward you to line up with a circle on a specific beat in a song, and your job is to shoot that target on the beat with the correct colored gun for the maximum amount of points. The game does throw curveballs at you–some targets require you to hold your gun sideways, for example. But, by and large, Audica’s premise is simple: make music with laser pistols. Despite this simplicity, though, making beats with bullets feels great in Audica.

Your lasers feel appropriately futuristic; by default, they’re cool, reflective cannons with mirrored blades attached to the barrel that convey a sense of power. That feeling of power is all the more pronounced once you start firing away at targets and get in sync with the ebb and flow of a song’s note pattern. Every successful hit generates a slick, track-specific “thwap!” that punctuates every note.

Screenshots were provided by the publisher

If, for whatever reason, the default sound on a track doesn’t work for you, you do get the option to customize the effect. That same level of customization carries over to the calibration options, with some extremely user-friendly settings to account for your sense of rhythm or lack thereof. That’s even more crucial in virtual reality, and Audica aces it, weaving the calibration tools in with the beat and targeting tutorials rather elegantly before you even start the game proper. Even with the calibration, the game is extremely forgiving when it comes to perfectly hitting a target dead center, though perfect aim does help achieve the best possible scores on a song. Still, just jumping into a track and firing at will is a blast because Audica is so approachable.

Audica’s big, pervasive caveat, however, is that you better like fast-paced, thumping EDM from the last five years, because there’s really nothing else in the game. Constricting the pool of music causes all of the tracks to bleed together after long sessions. The DLC helps, bringing some bigger star power and at least some element of chill to the soundtrack with songs like Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger” and Billie Eilish’s “bad guy,” but these are also some of the trickiest songs in the game, even at lower difficulties. More than anything, those tracks are a perfect showcase of how versatile the note charting and game design can be given a bigger musical palette to work from, and highlight just how much less of that creativity gets a spotlight in the main tracklist.

Also, even by rhythm game standards, Audica is too tricky for its own good. Far too often, notes are there to taunt, trip up, and challenge instead of letting you revel in the music being played. Audica’s challenges often come from deliberately destroying your groove, creating off moments that don’t feel like you’re supposed to get in sync with the music being created by your shots and swipes. It feels like trying to win a dance competition, and every few seconds, someone tosses an orange at your head.

In this case, that orange can take the form of frequent errant notes, targets outside your field of view, or modifiers that you can’t turn off, many of which ask the unnatural–a certain modifier that requires you move your arms an arbitrary amount during the song is probably the most egregious of them. On Advanced and Expert modes, you still get a wide berth to hit the targets anywhere, but it doesn’t matter if those targets appear off the beat and ask more of you than responding to the rhythm. When the game isn’t getting in its own way–and the note patterns are complex, but follow a certain rhythmic logic–it does feel empowering, like you’re in a breezy, futuristic version of Baby Driver. In particular, tracks like KD/A’s “Pop Stars” that flit back and forth between poppy melodies and impactful hip-hop line deliveries lend themselves extremely well to punctuating every note with a pull of the trigger. But this isn’t sustained across all of Audica’s tracks. Obstacles are far too arbitrary too often for that.

Mostly, though, you just can’t help but get the feeling of playing a grand experiment, and it’s a shame that Audica doesn’t land as well as Harmonix’s other rhythm games. There’s a lot that’s simply, innately cool about Audica’s concept, the very idea of using weapons to make music, but once you reach a certain level of proficiency, the enjoyment dries up faster than it should.

2019 may be winding down, but Pokemon Go developer Niantic is closing out the year with one final Community Day event. Just like last year, this month’s Community Day will actually be spread across two days–December 14 and 15–and will give players another chance to catch rare Pokemon, learn exclusive moves, and earn some extra bonuses.

There’s a lot happening during this month’s big Pokemon Go event, so to help get you prepared, we’ve rounded up everything you need to know about December 2019’s Community Day weekend below, from what Pokemon you’ll be able to find again to all the different bonuses and special moves that will be available.

What Is December’s Featured Pokemon?

While each Pokemon Go Community Day typically stars only one “featured” Pokemon, this month’s event brings back every previous featured Pokemon, giving you another chance to catch them. On December 14 and 15, all of the featured Pokemon from each of 2019’s Community Days will appear more often again in the wild. The full list includes:

• Totodile
• Swinub
• Treecko
• Torchic
• Mudkip
• Ralts
• Slakoth
• Trapinch
• Bagon
• Turtwig
• Chimchar

On top of that, you’ll have another chance to encounter the featured Pokemon from 2018’s Community Days as well. During both days of the event, the following Pokemon will appear in Gyms as Raid bosses:

• Bulbasaur
• Charmander
• Squirtle
• Pikachu
• Eevee
• Dratini
• Chikorita
• Cyndaquil
• Mareep
• Larvitar
• Beldum

You will also be more likely to hatch the following Pokemon from eggs on each day of the event:

December 14

• Bulbasaur
• Charmander
• Pikachu
• Dratini
• Totodile
• Mareep
• Swinub
• Larvitar
• Treecko
• Torchic
• Slakoth
• Bagon

December 15

• Squirtle
• Eevee
• Chikorita
• Cyndaquil
• Mudkip
• Ralts
• Trapinch
• Beldum
• Turtwig
• Chimchar

What Is December’s Special Community Day Move?

All of them! In addition to bringing back every previous featured Pokemon, you’ll have another chance to get each monster’s special Community Day move, which they normally cannot learn in Pokemon Go through other means. To get these attacks, you’ll need to evolve the Pokemon all the way into their final forms before the event ends on December 15 (although any Pikachu or Eevee you catch during the event should already know their Community Day moves). As a refresher, here is each Pokemon’s Community Day move:

Featured Pokemon	Community Day Move
Bulbasaur	Frenzy Plant
Charmander	Blast Burn
Squirtle	Hydro Cannon
Pikachu	Surf
Eevee	Last Resort
Dratini	Draco Meteor
Chikorita	Frenzy Plant
Cyndaquil	Blast Burn
Totodile	Hydro Cannon
Mareep	Dragon Pulse
Swinub	Ancient Power
Larvitar	Smack Down
Beldum	Meteor Mash
Treecko	Frenzy Plant
Torchic	Blast Burn
Mudkip	Hydro Cannon
Ralts	Synchronoise
Slakoth	Body Slam
Trapinch	Earth Power
Bagon	Outrage
Turtwig	Frenzy Plant
Chimchar	Blast Burn

What Time Does December’s Community Day Start?

While Community Days typically only run for three hours, December’s big event will take place over two 12-hour periods, running from 9 AM to 9 PM local time on December 14 and 15. You’ll be able to encounter all of the aforementioned Pokemon throughout that time, although certain monsters will be more common each day during a three-hour window. Here are the monsters you’re more likely to see from 11 AM to 2 PM local time each day:

December 14

• Totodile
• Swinub
• Treecko
• Torchic
• Slakoth
• Bagon

December 15

• Mudkip
• Ralts
• Trapinch
• Turtwig
• Chimchar

What Other Bonuses Are Available?

On top of bringing back every previous featured Pokemon, Niantic is offering a handful of other bonuses during December’s Community Day weekend. From 11 AM to 2 PM local time each day, you’ll earn twice the normal amount of Stardust and XP for catching Pokemon. Eggs will also hatch at half the distance they normally require during that window of time.

Episode 5 of The Mandalorian brings us back to the sands of Tatooine. Going back to Luke Skywalker’s home planet of Tatooine, first seen in A New Hope, means there are bound to be a few familiar Star Wars references. Check out all the best Easter eggs we found in the video above.

In Chapter 5, “The Gunslinger,” Mando and Baby Yoda land on Tatooine, where they get their ship repaired at Mos Eisley Spaceport by an operator/mechanic named Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris). Looking for work, Mando meets an aspiring bounty hunter trying to join the Guild, and decides to help him track down an assassin named Fennec Shand, played by the original Mulan herself, Ming-Na Wen.

If you can’t get enough of Baby Yoda, read about Jon Favreau discussing why everyone loves Baby Yoda, and check out the best Baby Yoda toys, Funko Pops, shirts and more.

Although 2016’s Ghostbusters reboot was not a box office hit, fans of the supernatural comedy series haven’t had to wait long for another movie. Ghostbusters: Afterlife is the fourth film in the franchise, and it hits theaters in July 2020. Ahead of the first trailer next week, new details and images have now been released.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife is not connected to the reboot but is a direct sequel to the original ’80s movies. The new images come via Vanity Fair and show some of the new cast, which include Ant-Man star Paul Rudd, Stranger Thing’s Finn Wolfhard, and Captain Marvel’s McKenna Grace. There’s also the iconic Ecto-1 Ghostbusting car in a cornfield–check them out below:

Ghostbusters: Afterlife is directed by Jason Reitman, son of Ivan Reitman, who helmed by the first 1984 movie. Original Ghostbusters Bill Murray, Dan Akyroyd, and Ernie Hudson are set to return as well, as are Sigourney Weaver and Annie Potts, who also appeared in the two ’80s movies. However, it’s unknown how much they will appear in the new film.

As for the story, it focuses on the adult children of one of the original team, who move to an old farm in rural Oklahoma with their own kids Trevor and Phoebe, played by Wolfhard and Grace. The children discover their connection to the original Ghostbusters, and according to Reitman, must decide “whether they’re ready to pick up the proton pack themselves.” Rudd plays a schoolteacher who is obsessed with the spectacular events that took place in New York in 1984.

However, one person who is not so happy about the upcoming movie is Leslie Jones, who starred in the reboot alongside Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, and Kate McKinnon. Earlier this year, she described the decision not to continue with an all-female Ghostbusters crew as “like something Trump would do.”

The video game industry is sophisticated, both as a multifaceted business enterprise and artistic medium. That complexity made it intersect with politics in 2019 in ways that are both broad-ranging and deep. Despite the best efforts of some fans and publishers to distance the medium from messy political societal conflicts, this year proved there’s no separating the two. Politics and video games are enmeshed and likely to stay that way.

Loot Box Controversy Continues

Following the initial explosion of controversy over loot boxes last year, the fallout has continued well into 2019. A bill introduced by US Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) called the Protecting Children from Abusive Games Act would have banned loot boxes and “pay-to-win” microtransactions altogether. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) criticized Hawley’s bill as “riddled with inaccuracies” and said many provisions simply don’t understand how the industry actually works, and the bill has remained inert since its introduction in May.

Meanwhile, the industry was being probed by other sources within the United States government. In response to a letter of concern from Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), the Federal Trade Commission announced a public workshop on loot boxes to discuss the issue. That event took place in August and hosted panelists talking on the monetization models, psychological impact, and steps for further action. It was the games industry itself that made the biggest news of the day, though, as all three console manufacturers and several major publishers committed to new disclosure notices in any games that include loot boxes. Most of the industry has therefore volunteered to provide disclosure on rarity rates for randomized virtual items, and set a deadline for the policy rollout by the end of 2020.

This was part of a larger trend within the industry as well. With legislators in several countries considering action, publishers have started to preempt legal remedies with their own voluntary action. Several games have pulled loot boxes from their monetization models, either in countries where the practice has been banned or worldwide, and some new releases like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare have made a point of noting they would not use the controversial monetization mechanism.

Shootings Lead To Game Violence Furor

In the wake of tragic back-to-back shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio on August 3 and 4, the debate regarding a potential link between gun violence and violent video games kicked into high gear. The tragic nature of two shootings occurring so closely together shook the public, who demanded action from political leaders. In response, President Donald Trump and many conservative leaders quickly coalesced around video game violence as contributing to a culture of violence in America that devalues life.

It began with Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Republican House minority leader Kevin McCarthy in media appearances over the weekend of the two tragedies, and then a statement from President Trump on the following Monday.

“We must stop the glorification of violence in our society,” Trump said. “This includes the gruesome and grisly video games that are now commonplace. It is too easy today for troubled youth to surround themselves with a culture that celebrates violence. We must stop or substantially reduce this, and it has to begin immediately.”

Critics of the president have suggested that invoking video games is a strategic choice to shift the national conversation away from gun control, which conservatives have historically opposed. President Trump used similar rhetoric, culminating in a roundtable discussion with industry leaders and stakeholders, following the Parkland shooting in 2018. The evidence of a causal link between game violence and real-world tragedies is unclear at best. The American Psychological Association has argued against any such connection, whereas the American Academy of Pediatrics has sharply criticized media violence. No significant gun control legislation has passed through Congress to the president’s desk.

Blizzard Causes An International Incident

For sheer volume and intensity of a political controversy in 2019, it’s hard to get bigger than Blizzard’s decision to harshly punish a Hearthstone player who spoke out in support of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. In a post-match interview, Ng Wai Chung (aka Blitzchung) donned a mask in solidarity with protestors and quoted the slogan, “Liberate Hong Kong. Revolution of our age.” Punishment for the offense came swiftly, with Blizzard citing a rule against any behavior that “brings you into public disrepute, offends a portion or group of the public, or otherwise damages Blizzard’s image.” It revoked his monetary winnings and banned him from competitive events for a full year.

Backlash to the decision followed just as quickly. The Hearthstone subreddit was subsumed by players swearing to delete their accounts after years of play. Many called for a boycott and successfully started a trending hashtag. US senators Marco Rubio and Ron Wyden expressed bipartisan disagreement with the decision, and professional Hearthstone streamers and casters strongly disagreed in public statements–some of them even cutting ties and thereby walking away from a game that’s defined their careers.

Less than a week later, Blizzard issued a statement partially rescinding its ruling. It returned the winnings and reduced the ban to six months. This made Blitzchung eligible for next year’s Grandmasters tournament, but Blizzard did not admit fault with the ruling that an infraction had taken place, and the controversy continued. Protests were organized to take place at BlizzCon 2019, and once again, Blizzard made a statement. Company president J. Allen Brack opened the BlizzCon proceedings by accepting personal responsibility for the lack of transparency and communication. Though advocate groups say Blizzard’s apologies still have not addressed the core issues of free speech or democracy, the volume on the controversy has lowered significantly.

Blitzchung, for his part, has accepted a position on the competitive Hearthstone team TempoStorm.

Modern Warfare Invokes Real-Life Massacres

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was always intended to be a pointed semi-reboot, with overtones inspired by real-world events. Two controversies surrounding the game showed that those efforts may have hit too close to home for some players.

The first came in the announcement of Killstreak bonuses, which included white phosphorous. The chemical agent is controversial in real battlefields, where it’s only authorized to be used as a smokescreen. When it comes into contact with people, it can result in horrific effects including severe burns and organ damage. In advance of release, players expressed concern that using it as a Killstreak bonus was insensitive to the severe, real-world effects. Sure enough, GameSpot’s own review noted an odd disconnect between a campaign that heavily focuses on the ills of chemical warfare, and multiplayer that treats it relatively flippantly.

Another controversy materialized once the game was released, when players found a mission called the “Highway of Death.” The name carries resonance in US political history, having been coined for a massacre of Iraqi military committed by US and allied forces in the first Gulf War. Modern Warfare used the term in reference to a mission in which Russian forces, not American ones, commit an atrocity. Some accused the developer of misappropriating a tragedy and shifting the offender to America’s geopolitical foe. Narrative director Taylor Kurosaki noted that in the context of the story, the area was called that before the Russian attack.

But Games Aren’t Political, Say Publishers

Against this backdrop of near-constant intersection between video games and politics, publishers are often cautious to avoid any appearance of political overtones. This is especially the case in regards to games that have the most overt appearance of politics–the ones that center on global conflict, often starring American military or espionage agents as the protagonists.

Ghost Recon Breakpoint lead developer Sebastien Le Prestre told GameSpot in May that the game was not trying to make any political statement, despite themes centering on American drone warfare, rogue military officers, and imperialism. Similarly, Infinity Ward’s Jacob Minkoff and Taylor Kurosaki said in August that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was meant to be apolitical, even though the developers talked openly about pulling inspiration from real-world events and touching on themes of colonialism and foreign occupation.

This disparity has led to a sense of dissonance between the artistic vision of games, which often and obviously includes inherently political content, and the interest of publishers, who likely want to maintain an appearance of total neutrality in a broad market where many different types of people might want to play their games.

Video games are the product of a political society, and when the real world mixes with the games we play, disengaging from that conversation is the least impressive thing a publisher can do. While it’s fair to stand up for intentions, publicly being defensive or downplaying concerns won’t lead to a resolution or progress the conversation in a productive direction. Politics have always and will always coincide with video games. The sooner everyone acknowledges that, the sooner we can find ways of settling our differences and making the most of the unique opportunities games afford us.

Game Streaming Will Go Hand In Hand With Next-Gen Gaming

Everyone had eyes on the recent Google Stadia launch, and despite reports that the tech is actually pretty good, the cost per game was the prevailing topic of discussion. Business model aside, Stadia’s technical achievements are proof positive that game streaming is ready to be taken seriously. And if you ask me, Sony and Microsoft are going to make it a core component of the next-gen console experience, whether we’re ready to embrace it or not.

Sony’s made it clear that it wants the PlayStation 5 experience to be as seamless as possible, and what better way to do that than by injecting a bit of game streaming into the formula? Streaming a game while you wait for it to download would be very enticing and very convenient. At the very least, Sony will likely make a big push for PlayStation Now, its subscription-based cloud gaming service. It’s been around for years, and there’s a substantial library of games for subscribers to play at will. If the recent price cut (down to $10) is any indication, Sony wants to remain competitive in the lead-up to the new year, and cloud gaming’s heyday.

Microsoft has been paving the way with value-focused services in the wind up to 2020, and with the announcement that xCloud and Game Pass will effectively be one and the same, Xbox owners who are willing to throw down a little bit of extra change can expect to have access to hundreds of games, both locally on their next-gen Xbox and on the go, whether it be on a mobile phone or PC. On paper, that’s an incredible value and will go a long way to expose more users to cloud gaming, and perhaps make it a popular option–at least, for users with capable internet service.

With so many companies jumping into game streaming, it will be fascinating to see how their approaches differ in 2020. Cloud gaming may not take off in the eyes of consumers right away, but like it or not, it will probably become a household concept, and slowly build momentum as the tech and service models continue to evolve with the arrival of next-gen consoles. — Peter Brown

With Christmas fast approaching, the gift-shopping days are getting smaller in number all the time. However, if you have a special gamer you’re shopping for, then Ebay and Woot have great deals on the Nintendo Switch Lite that are definitely worth checking out.

Ebay and Woot both have the Nintendo Switch Lite discounted to $180 USD. Woot requires you to be an Amazon Prime member for the full discount, while non-Prime users can get the Switch from their site for $190. Ebay doesn’t have any requirement: you can grab a Switch Lite for $180 no matter what. We don’t expect the deal to last for long, as it’ll only be available until stock sells out–Woot says its deal will last for five days otherwise.

Nintendo Switch Lite | $180 ($200)

The Switch Lite is Nintendo’s handheld-only version of the Nintendo Switch. It can’t be docked, and it doesn’t feature detachable Joy-Cons, but it does feature a proper D-Pad and a more sturdy-feeling design. You can read more about it in our Nintendo Switch Lite review.

If you’re interested in picking up a few games with this Switch Lite, then there are a bunch of recently released games that are definitely worth playing. You can see them all through the links below.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Humble Monthly is no more, and in its place comes Humble Choice, a new monthly subscription that lets you choose which games you want from a selection of 10. If you held an active subscription to Humble Monthly when the transition to Humble Choice occurred, then you get all 10 games for the same monthly fee.

The first 10 games from Humble Choice have been revealed. They include Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Blasphemous, and Phantom Doctrine, in addition to seven others. If you were converted to the $12 USD/month Classic plan, then you don’t need to make any choice: you get all 10. You can see a list of the games in the list below.

If you’re a new subscriber to Humble Choice, then you’ll have to pay more money for fewer games depending on your plan. Premium costs $20/month and gets you nine of these games, while Basic comes in at $15/month with only three games. Each subscription comes with additional benefits, such as a library of DRM-free games, access to Humble Originals, and a store discount–the $5/month Lite plan gets you some of these benefits with no games. You can learn more about these plans at Humble.

If you’re already a Humble Choice subscriber, you have until December 27 to unlock your choices. At that point, you’ll be charged for the month and sent your games. If you want to cancel before then, you can do that on Humble’s website. However, you can unlock your games and start playing now, but once you do so, you’ll be charged.

Humble Choice December 2019 games