Author: Trafficblast

Monster Hunter World‘s first anniversary is quickly approaching, and Capcom is commemorating the occasion with a special in-game event. The Appreciation Fest kicks off on all platforms–PS4, Xbox One, and PC–on January 26, and it’ll feature new gear, as well as new and returning event quests and more.

During the Appreciation Fest, the Gathering Hub will be decked out with balloons, confetti, and other special decorations. As with other seasonal events, a special platter will be available, and all facilities will hold sales on in-game items and services throughout the festival.

On top of that, Capcom says that “almost all” previous event quests will return during the Appreciation Fest. Players will also receive daily login bonuses and limited bounties to complete, and the company teases that there will also be “some very special event quests, featuring monsters that have had a whole year to build up a grudge and are ready to unleash their frustration.” It appears one of these will be the Greatest Jagras, which will be available during the first half of the event.

Finally, Capcom will introduce a new set of Appreciation Fest equipment and items. Both the Handler and your Poogie will also sport new outfits. The event is scheduled to run until February 21; you can find more details on the game’s official website.

Not long after the Appreciation Fest begins, Capcom will roll out another free update for Monster Hunter World, bringing The Witcher’s 3 Geralt of Rivia to the game. The update arrives for PS4 and Xbox One on February 8 (with a PC release set to follow at a later date) and will also add new quests new quests “with a unique flavor, blending the RPG mechanics of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt with Monster Hunter World’s game systems.”

While the acclaimed platformer Celeste is free all month for Xbox Live Gold subscribers, two of this month’s free Games with Gold will return to full price on January 15. The games in question are Never Alone for Xbox One and Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light for Xbox 360 (also backwards compatible with Xbox One). You can get your free games here.

Never Alone is a puzzle platformer about a native Alaskan girl and her pet fox on a journey to stop the blizzards that have been wreaking havoc on her town. The game was made in conjunction with Iñupiaq elders, who appear in unlockable documentary clips that offer information about this Northern Alaskan people’s culture.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is a co-op action-puzzle game that first launched in 2010. You can play it solo or with a partner, and the puzzles you encounter will change depending on the number of players. Either way, you’ll find plenty of weapons, upgrades, and abilities to help put down the many enemies you’ll face throughout the game.

Once they go away on January 15, January’s second wave of Games with Gold will become available for free. These include WRC 6 FIA World Rally Championship on Xbox One (free between January 16 and February 15) and the Xbox 360 game Far Cry 2 (free January 16-31).

Games With Gold January 2019

Xbox One

• Celeste (Jan. 1-31)
• WRC 6 FIA World Rally Championship (Jan. 16-Feb. 15)
• Never Alone (Dec. 16 – Jan. 15)

Xbox 360

• Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light (Jan. 1-15)
• Far Cry 2 (Jan. 16-31)

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It’s winter in the northern hemisphere, and that means two things: colder temperatures and video game sales. If you do your gaming on PC, you’ll want to check out the discounts available on the Humble Store now, because its winter sale is live through January 24, offering discounts of up to 90% on a slew of PC games (most of which come in the form of Steam codes). Let’s look at some of the games available on the cheap.

First, a freebie–but you’ll have to hurry to get it. Between now and January 12, while supplies last, you can grab a free copy of the first-person platformer A Story About My Uncle just for signing up for Humble’s newsletter. No worries if you’re already signed up; you can still get a copy of the game.

Strategy game fans can pick up Sid Meier’s Civilization VI Digital Deluxe Edition, which comes with the base game, the soundtrack, and six DLC packs that add new civilizations and scenarios; it’s on sale for $24 / £21. Speaking of fancy editions, Dark Souls III Deluxe Edition is on sale for $25.50 / £18, and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt GotY Edition is down to $20 / £14. All three of these titles offer dozens of hours of playtime.

Fans of anime and fighting games can grab Dragon Ball FighterZ for $24 / 18. Tekken 7 is also on sale, bringing the price down to $20 / £17.50. Those looking to sink some hours into an RPG can get Final Fantasy XV Windows Edition, which comes with all of the DLC, for $25. If you prefer more traditional-style RPGs, you might consider Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age, which is on sale for $36 / £24.

For those looking to keep their expenditures in the single digits, you can pick up FTL: Faster Than Light for $2.50 / £1.75, Papers, Please for $5 / £4, or Darkest Dungeon for $7.50 / £5.70. And while Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen has just been announced for Switch in a $30 edition, you can get it on PC for just $9 / £7.20 right now.

You’ll find more of our picks in the list below, or you can see the full list of games on sale on the Humble Store.

Crunchyroll has announced the nominees for this year’s Anime Awards. This year, there are five new categories: best character design, best director, best fight scene, and best performance by a voice actor–both for Japanese and English.

Megalobox is the dominant series this year, nominated for eight of the 15 categories, including Anime of the Year. For Anime of the Year, Megalobox is joined by A Place Further Than the Universe, Devilman Crybaby, Violet Evergarden, Hinamatsuri, and Zombie Land Saga. My Hero Academia, which dominated the last Anime Awards, is only nominated for Best Animation and Best Boy this year. However, both series protagonist Midoriya and his childhood friend Bakugo are nominated for the Best Boy category.

Fan voting begins January 11 at 12:01AM PT, and you’ll have until January 18 at 11:59PM PT to submit your choices for which shows you think deserve to win. Head over to Crunchyroll’s Anime Awards portal to submit your votes.

The full list of categories and their nominees are outlined below.

Crunchyroll Anime Awards Category Nominees

Anime of the Year

• A Place Further Than the Universe
• Devilman Crybaby
• Megalobox
• Violet Evergarden
• Hinamatsuri
• Zombie Land Saga

Best Animation

• Violet Evergarden
• Devilman Crybaby
• Megalobox
• A Place Further Than the Universe
• Bloom into You
• My Hero Academia Season 3

Best Opening Sequence

• Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku
• Darling in the Franxx
• Kakegurui: Compulsive Gambler
• Pop Team Epic
• Aggretsuko
• JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind

Best Ending Sequence

• Megalobox
• Attack on Titan Season 3
• After the Rain
• FLCL Alternative
• Revue Starlight
• FLCL Progressive

Best Film

• Night is Short, Walk On Girl
• My Hero Academia: Two Heroes
• Mirai of the Future
• Liz and the Blue Bird
• Mazinger Z: Infinity
• Fireworks

Best Character Design

• Violet Evergarden
• Devilman Crybaby
• Zombie Land Saga
• Megalobox
• Aggretsuko
• JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind

Best Boy

• Kotaro Tatsumi
• Honda-san
• Izuku Midoriya
• Sakuta Azusagawa
• Katsuki Bakugo
• Joe

Best Girl

• Anzu
• Hinata Miyake
• Lily Hoshikawa
• Asirpa
• Shirase Kobuchizawa
• Mai Sakurajima

Best VA Performance (JP)

• Mamoru Miyano
• Soma Saito
• Megumi Han
• Nao Toyama
• Rareko
• Reina Ueda

Best VA Performance (EN)

• Kari Wahlgren
• Christopher Sabat
• Erica Mendez
• David Wald
• Clifford Chapin
• Erika Harlacher

Best Director

• Masaaki Yuasa
• Atsuko Ishizuka
• You Moriyama
• Yohei Suzuki
• Taichi Ishidate
• Hiroko Utsumi

Best Protagonist

• Retsuko
• Yumeko Jabami
• Joe
• Violet Evergarden
• Rimuru Tempest
• Sakuta Azusagawa

Best Antagonist

• Ryo Asuka
• Akane Shinjo
• All For One
• Yuri
• Tokushiro Tsurumi
• Momonga

Best Fight Scene Presented by Capcom

• Hina vs Anzu
• All for One vs All Might
• Naruto & Sasuke vs Momoshiki
• Jiren vs Goku
• Yami vs Licht
• Satan vs Devilman

Best Continuing Series Presented by VRV

• The Ancient Magus’ Bride
• Dragon Ball Super
• Black Clover
• March comes in like a lion
• One Piece
• Boruto: Naruto Next Generations

New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe is out now on Nintendo Switch, with a few new features and improvements over its Wii U cousin. One of those, Toadette, is certainly welcome, but her inclusion seemed to mean one of the Wii U version’s playable characters, Blue Toad, was no longer in the game.

However, it appears Nintendo was fooling us all along. You can still play as Blue Toad: simply hover over (Yellow) Toad on the character select screen and hold either ZL or L. Voila! Yellow Toad will switch out for Blue Toad, who is then playable in any level in the game–including those in the New Super Luigi U expansion.

We enjoyed the Switch remaster here at GameSpot, and we awarded it a 7/10 in our New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe review. “Despite its aging formula, New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe is still a great entry in the series, with its typically tight platforming and both accessibility and depth to spare,” we said. “While it can feel a bit stale for those who have been round the Mushroom Kingdom one too many times before, Deluxe is well worth playing, especially if you didn’t get a chance to play NSMBU on Wii U.”

For more on the game, check out our New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe review roundup or check out our report on how the game works with the Switch’s NES controllers. You can also take a look at some gameplay of new character Peachette in the video above.