biteho.com

Sonic the Hedgehog is gearing up for a big 2020. Sega has announced (according to translations from Gematsu) the Sonic 2020 project, which will see new Sonic news being announced on the 20th of every month this year.

The first announcement is a bit of a cheat, as the Sonic 2020 project itself is January’s Sonic news. February is already going to be a big month for the blue blur, with the Sonic the Hedgehog movie finally arriving in cinemas on February 14.

Sega has celebrated by releasing various wallpapers, banners, and icons based on Sonic, including a Twitter header image for fans to use. It’s not yet clear what sort of news we’ll see each month, and whether we’ll see any new games being announced.

Sonic has only been the star of a few games in the current console generation, most notably Sonic Mania, Sonic Forces, and Team Sonic Racing. His most recent game was Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games: Tokyo 2020.

Epic’s hugely popular battle royale game Fortnite is rolling out a significant change for its competitive tournaments in 2020. The company is attempting to crack down on cheating by taking action against players who “signal” each other while playing in official tournaments.

In a blog post, Epic said it discovered last year that players were sending and receiving signals during tournaments as a method of cheating. Players on opposing sides would swing their pick axe, perform an emote, toss toys, or simply jump to give another player a heads up.

This year, Epic will take action against “any kind of in-game communication.” This includes but is not limited to, pick-axe swinging, emoting, toy tossing, and jumping.”

Players who are caught signaling will receive a “collusion” penalty. Those who break the rules again and again may face harsher penalties, Epic said.

Epic said it takes competitive integrity seriously, and reminded players they can report suspicious behavior through Fortnite’s in-game tools. Additionally, players can reach out to Epic through the company’s player support team.

One of the world’s most popular Fortnite players, Ninja, said in a tweet that he understands Epic’s position, but he also remarked that the new system is potentially problematic. He specifically took issue with how jumping could be an actionable offense.

It’s worth mentioning that Epic’s own statement makes it clear that any action will only be taken following a review. Simply jumping around, if it’s harmless and not related to signalling, won’t land you in any trouble, it seems.

In other Fortnite news, Epic has partnered with TikTok for a special contest where your dance emote could be featured in the game.

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is getting a demo, letting you try out the game before you decide if you want to buy it. The game, which follows up on 3D platformer Yooka-Laylee, is a 2D adventure, released in October 2019. The demo will be available for free.

The demo, which was announced on Twitter, will come to Steam on January 23, then PS4 and Switch on January 30. An Xbox One date is yet to be announced.

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair received a 6/10 in GameSpot’s review, and reviewer Alessandro Barbosa wrote that “The Impossible Lair is definitely a better attempt at capturing the magic of platformers than Yooka-Laylee’s first crack at it, but it’s still not remarkable.” It faired a bit better elsewhere, and has a Metacritic average score of 82 on PS4.

Developer Playtonic Games was rumored to be working on a Banjo-Kazooie revival last year, but that has been debunked.

Cyberpunk 2077 is getting its own line of Funko Pop figurines. They were shown off for the first time at the London Toy Fair 2020, as reported by Game Informer, and reimagine some characters from the game through the familiar Funko aesthetic.

There are four figurines coming–two of V, the protagonist, in both their male and female variants, and two of Johnny Silverhands, the character played by Keanu Reeves. They’re pictured below.

These Funko Pops are due to release on April 16, which was, for a long time, the proposed release date of Cyberpunk 2077. However, the game has been delayed until September, meaning that these figurines will beat the game to market.

Funko Pop has, to date, released well over 8000 character figurines, many of them based on characters from video games. Here are our picks for the best Funko Pops of 2019. If you’re not a fan, you might enjoy our list of the ugliest Funko Pops available.

The PC version of Monster Hunter: World will quickly catch up to its console counterparts in regards to new content, in-game events, and title updates. Capcom has shared a roadmap for the Iceborne expansion, outlining everything coming to the game over the next few months.

The exciting news for PC players is the fact that PC and console update schedules will finally sync up beginning in April. The PC version has lagged behind in this regard ever since it launched seven months after the initial console release back in January 2018. As such, content updates and in-game events occurred on a PC-specific schedule, with the belated PC release of Iceborne facing the same situation. This will be a thing of the past come April, as every platform is set to achieve update parity.

Before then, however, Capcom has a swathe of new content coming to both the PC and console versions of Monster Hunter: World. The Grand Appreciation Fest kicks off simultaneously across all platforms on January 24 to February 13, celebrating the game’s second anniversary with an opportunity for players to attain new layered armor and unique gear. February 6 sees the first title update for PC, which introduces the fearsome Rajang along with adding the Volcanic Region to the Guiding Lands endgame area. The limited-time event, Racoon City Collaboration, also arrives on PC in February, letting you craft Leon and Claire armor from Resident Evil 2. The Holiday Joy Fest event occurs in February for PC players, too, with yet more layered armor to earn.

March 12 marks the release of the second title update on PC, introducing the Stygian Zinogre and Safi’jiiva to the game. The Guiding Lands will also be expanded even further with the addition of the Tundra Region. In April, PC players will be getting the console version’s March updates, as well as a third major title update. This will include two new monster variants, and Arch-Tempered and Master Rank versions of existing monsters, marking the point when both PC and console schedules sync up. After this, May sees the return of a fan-favorite monster, while new monsters and updates are planned for June and beyond.

Monster Hunter: World is far and away Capcom’s most successful game in history, surpassing 15 million copies shipped worldwide, while Iceborne itself has climbed to 4 million copies. Capcom is even working with Hollywood to produce a new Monster Hunter film starring Milla Jovovich coming this September.

During last month’s Game Awards, Gearbox Software revealed that it will publish upcoming “looter-slasher” Godfall, which is being developed by Counterplay Studios. Set for release Holiday 2020, the third-person action-RPG is the first game officially confirmed for the PlayStation 5, Sony’s upcoming next-gen console–also set to arrive Holiday 2020.

A brief snippet of gameplay footage for Godfall has now leaked online. The small clip initially appeared on Reddit and appears to be taken from an internal trailer at Counterplay Games that was shown at the beginning of 2019. This could be the first six seconds of PS5 footage we’ve seen, or it might simply be captured from the PC version of the game. Either way, the use of flashy effects and impressive lighting certainly look the part, and it offers a hint of Godfall’s presumably weighty melee combat. You can watch the footage here.

The announcement trailer shown off during The Game Awards didn’t reveal much else about the upcoming next-gen title, but the developers have since let slip a few more details. Godfall takes place in a fantasy setting and sees you step into the shoes of a member of the exalted Knight’s Order, who are tasked with holding back the apocalypse. You can play the game solo or team up with groups of up to three players and battle across the realms of Earth, Water, Air, Fire, and Spirit, slashing through enemy combatants and gathering loot to create a formidable warrior.