Kotaku Wednesday, December 24, 2025 3:39 PM
New details about the upcoming Pokémon Wind and Wave show the games' map, battle gimmicks, more The post Surprise <em>Pokémon</em> Leak Reveals Fresh Clues About The New Gen 10 Games appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Wednesday, December 24, 2025 12:05 PM
Upgrade your viewing experience without shelling out big bucks. The post Amazon's 40″ Fire TV Drops to an All-Time Low to Stand Out in the Smart TV Deal Crowd, Priced Like Refurbished but Brand New appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Wednesday, December 24, 2025 12:00 PM
Strange Jigsaws is a stunningly clever and entertaining collection of puzzles that defy time and space The post There's No Better Time Than The Holidays For Time-Traveling Jigsaws appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Wednesday, December 24, 2025 11:45 AM
Also: where the heck is that rumored Final Fantasy 9 remake? The post <i>Clair Obscur</i> Director Says Everything In Its Games 'Will Be Made By Humans' Moving Forward appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Wednesday, December 24, 2025 11:15 AM
Rip and tear around the Christmas tree The post <i>Doom</i> Is The Ultimate Holiday Game appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Wednesday, December 24, 2025 11:05 AM
Enjoy consistent performance for all your tasks. The post ASUS Clears Out CPU Liquid Cooler at Its Lowest Price, With Pre-Installed ARGB Fans and Aura Lighting appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Wednesday, December 24, 2025 10:30 AM
Let's remember some old Christmas time video game commercials The post RIP The Art Of The Old Christmas Time Video Game Commercial appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Wednesday, December 24, 2025 10:05 AM
If a new laptop is in the cards, then head to Amazon for a deal you won't believe. The post Dell Pushes 15.6″ Laptop Into Clearance at 78% Off (Ryzen 7, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) to Rival HP Windows PC Deals appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Wednesday, December 24, 2025 9:05 AM
As slightly belated holiday gifting goes, a top-class smartwatch and fitness tracker for 29% off at Amazon is a great option. The post Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 (2025) Crashes to a Record Low, No Need to Pay More for Older Models appeared first on Kotaku. |
PCGamesN Wednesday, December 24, 2025 10:23 AM Minecraft developer Mojang has come under fire for an insensitive notification advertising its premium Realms Plus service to players. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Wednesday, December 24, 2025 11:00 AM  We eight scribes from RPS are, Bearing jokes, we wrote in the past, Christmas crackers, god we're knackered, After twelve months of graft. O, reader of wonder, loved the most, Why not subscribe to Supporters posts? January leading, still proceeding, See you once we've munched our roasts. But first, time to enjoy your lovely joke! |
Siliconera Wednesday, December 24, 2025 2:00 PM
Myethos announced three Zenless Zone Zero figures of Asaba Harumasa, Hoshimi Miyabi, and Ellen Joe that are in various stages of development. The Sparkling Wonderland Gift+ version of Harumasa is furthest along, while the Ellen Joe one is only confirmed as a teaser silhouette. There are no release windows for any of them. We should see them worldwide like past figures based on characters from the game.
As Harumasa is furthest along in development, we have the best idea of how he'll look. He's wearing a casual outfit with an oversized blue sweater over white and black shirts and black pants. He has a guitar at his side, with his right arm leaning on it. It will be 1/8 scale and already showed up as a painted prototype, so it's possible we'll see it release in 2026.
The Miyabi and Ellen Joe designs are earlier in the process. Miyabi did show up as an unpainted prototype. That design featured her in a formal-style dress while playing a keytar. The Ellen Joe silhouette only hints at her possible pose, which suggests she'll be holding a guitar and waving.
Here are all the Myethos teaser photos for the Gift+ Zenless Zone Zero Asaba Harumasa, Hoshimi Miyabi, and Ellen Joe figures.
Myethos is well known for its HoYoVerse series figures. One that we'll see in 2026 is a Honkai: Star Rail concert figure of Castorice playing a harp.
The Zenless Zone Zero Asaba Harumasa, Hoshimi Miyabi, and Ellen Joe Myethos Gift+ figures are in development. The game is available on the PS5, Xbox Series X, PC, and mobile devices.
The post New Zenless Zone Zero Figures Are Miyabi, Harumasa, Ellen Joe appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Wednesday, December 24, 2025 1:00 PM
Good Smile Company announced a new Katekyo Hitman Reborn Nendoroid of Tsunayoshi Sawada, and its based on his appearance later in the series when he's wearing his black suit and acknowledged as Vongola Family head, Vongola X. It costs ￥7,200/$44.99. We'll see it in Japan in July 2026, followed by a worldwide release in Q4 2026. It follows the release of a standard and more casual version of Sawada in his school uniform.
Since Sawada is all business for this figure, the face plates reflect that. There's one where he looks stoic and serious, one that's similar to that with glowing eyes, and an X-BURNER shouting face. He has a Vongola chair to show his position as heir, with parts that can pose him sitting in it. He also has X-Headphones and Dying Will Flame parts. His Vongola Box Weapon is attached to his suit and Leone di Cieli ver Vongola (Nuts) comes with him as an accessory.
Here are all the example photos of the Tsunayoshi Sawada Black Suit Reborn Nendoroid:
There's also a Good Smile Company storefront exclusive. If someone buys the Nendoroid direct from them, you also get two additional hand parts. One involves Sawada holding two Dying Will Pills in his left hand, while the right hand is holding a case for them.
One of the last updates on Reborn merchandise involved a crossover with Sanrio mascots.
The Black Suit Katekyo Hitman Reborn Nendoroid of Tsunayoshi Sawada will come to Japan in July 2026 and the US in Q4 2026. Pre-orders are open until February 4, 2026. The Reborn anime is streaming on Crunchyroll, and Viz Media handles the manga.
The post Tsunayoshi Sawada From Reborn Suits Up in New Nendoroid appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Wednesday, December 24, 2025 12:00 PM
The PC has been a welcoming home in recent years to the best indie releases, letting them catch on and work out bugs before heading to other platforms. Siliconera's PC Game of the Year selections carry on this spirit, with games that did make it to other systems but were made possible through the PC ecosystem.
These awards represent the consensus of the Siliconera staff. Multiplatform games are considered on the platform for which they received the most staff support. For more of the year's award selections, check out our Game of the Year 2025 archive.
Hades II
Building on the ideas of the first game (and developer Supergiant's long line of work building indie darlings), Hades II is a game in which it's hard to find fault. The team's hard work to polish and iterate in Early Access shows through, and the resulting lack of friction makes it a joy to go through its gameplay loop over and over again.
Monster Train 2
Following up on the excellent first Monster Train, this sequel pulls a Gold & Silver and effectively doubles the possibilities for strategy. Or maybe more than that? Since it relies on a mash-up approach, doubling the factions means an exponential increase in the number of combinations. And each pair has its own strategies! Its effective daily challenges make it a handy companion for the long term, so we'll be playing it for quite a while to come.
Winner: Blue Prince
Exploration puzzle games like Myst certainly have their fans, but others bounce off the genre because the solutions seem a bit obtuse. Blue Prince grounds its delightful puzzles in established systems with clues and clear throughlines, making for a solve that feels thoroughly rewarding but never overly frustrating. Add to that the wit and commitment to aesthetic and you have a game that shouldn't be missed. (Just bring along a journal for notes!)
The post Siliconera's PC Game of the Year 2025 appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Wednesday, December 24, 2025 11:00 AM
Cover and Holostars English Vtubers announced there will be a Winter Music Festival Concert on December 24, 2025. People can tune in for free at 6pm PT/9pm ET. It will air on the official YouTube Channel for all members in this branch, and we'll be able to find it in the Live section. However, as of time of writing there's no placeholder available.
Leading up to the performance, the official Holostars English social media account shared some descriptive teasers. The first general teaser appeared on December 19, 2025. It suggested a school-themed setting and teased a performance on December 25, 2025. (In some time zones, like JST, the stream is taking place that day.) Subsequent posts teased references to performers like Banzoin Hakka, Crimzon Ruze, and Octavio.
Here are all the teaser messages released so far:
This will mark the second Holostars English concert to appear in 2025. The first was Everglow, the first 3D live performance for that branch. It showed up in August 2025. That's still free to watch online, and you can see it below to get an idea of what we might be able to expect tonight.
The Holostars English Vtubers Winter Music Festival concert will stream on YouTube at 6pm PT/9pm ET on December 24, 2025.
The post Holostars English Concert Taking Place on Christmas Eve appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Wednesday, December 24, 2025 10:00 AM
Last week, Level-5 promised it would have the Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time free, roguelike DLC called The Sinister Broker Bazario's Schemes would be out "around Christmas." On December 24, 2025, the developer and publisher released the add-on worldwide. The company billed it as "a Christmas present" on social media. As long as you own the game on any platform, you can download and access this update.
After getting to a certain point in the story, the option to visit Snoozaland will come up at your base camp in-game. If you head out on this optional new journey, you'll start out pretty weak and nearly powerless on each run. As you explore the Ginormosia-like location, you'll get opportunities to become more powerful as you beat enemies and gain rewards like new outfit equipment and mounts. These can then be used in any part of Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time.
There's also one new trailer involving Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time. However, it's more of an overview that also explains what Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road is like.
Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is available on the Switch, Switch 2, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC, and the roguelike The Sinister Broker Bazario's Schemes DLC is available for free on every storefront.
The post Free Fantasy Life i Roguelike DLC Debuts appeared first on Siliconera. |
Destructoid Wednesday, December 24, 2025 2:54 PM
The Holiday season is upon us, with the happiest day of the year almost at our doorstep. Everyone is at home, with their loved ones, enjoying the jingling bells, and likely hanging around Steam. But Steam isn't hanging around us, as it appears the Christmas spirit has brought it down.
On Christmas Eve, i.e. tonight, Steam seems to be buckling, either under the weight of all the people using their free time to play some games, or those who are eager to purchase Christmas presents just in time for the big day. The Steam Winter Sale is currently ongoing, after all, so it was only a matter of time before a great influx of eager buyers brought the platform to its knees.
According to Steam Status, every segment of Steam is currently offline or "unknown," whatever that may mean. For most people, the chat seems to be in order, but the store itself and some other Steam services have been going off sporadically during the entire night.
At one point, 25 percent of all Steam users were out cold (pun intended), and it's not just weekly maintenance that Steam usually performs on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
However, the service seems to come back up rather soon after going out, meaning Valve is likely actively working on keeping everything in order, so if you're running into various errors, like the one that appears when "processing your request," remember that it's not you but Steam itself.
Let's hope all gets resolved and comes back up, permanently, by the time Christmas itself arrives. It'd be a damn waste of a good holiday without a proper round of Christmas gaming.
The post The Holiday season seems to have brought Steam down appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Wednesday, December 24, 2025 1:57 PM
The Thibaut Courtois Winter Wildcards SBC is now live in FC 26 Ultimate Team, and you can add an excellent goalie to your squad.
This is the best version of Courtois that we currently have in Ultimate Team. To unlock the card, you'll have to complete two tasks. Both of them have specific requirements to meet, and this guide will help you solve the SBC without breaking your bank.
Table of contents
FC 26 Thibaut Courtois Winter Wildcards SBC tasks
As mentioned above, there are two tasks, and here are the requirements.
Real Madrid
LaLiga
Let's now look at some cheap solutions that you can use to complete the two tasks.
FC 26 Thibaut Courtois Winter Wildcards SBC solutions
Real Madrid
LaLiga
The Courtois SBC will cost around 80,000 coins worth of fodder. You can reduce the completion cost by using cards that are already available in your Ultimate Team. Make sure that they're of the same rating so that you can meet the overall requirements of the squad.
The 90-rated item is currently the best goalkeeper you can obtain in Ultimate Team, and it also includes the Cross Collector+ playstyle. It's got decent meta stats and playstyles, making it an ideal choice to use in competitive modes.
The post FC 26 Thibaut Courtois Winter Wildcards SBC tasks and solutions appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Wednesday, December 24, 2025 1:30 PM
The Icy Precision Evolution is now live in FC 26, and it allows you to upgrade two items of your choice in Ultimate Team.
The latest evolution, available for free, has two charges. You can either use the boosts on separate cards or chain them together into one. There are plenty of great options to consider, and this guide will help you to lock down the best based on the requirements and the offered upgrades.
Table of contents
FC 26 Icy Precision requirements
Here are the requirements for Icy Precision Evolution in FC 26.
FC 26 Icy Precision Evolution upgrades
The Icy Precision Evolution has only one level of upgrades. To obtain the boosts, you'll need to complete specific tasks.
Level 1 upgrades
Level 1 upgrade requirements
Best players for Icy Precision Evolution in FC 26
You can include a wide variety of items in this evolution. I have considered items that will benefit the most from the offered boosts.
These are arguably some of the best options you can include in this evolution. It's another perfect evolution that you can chain with other options. The overall rise is minimal, and we already have evolutions that allow you to use 86-rated cards in them.
The post Best players for FC 26 Icy Precision Evolution appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Wednesday, December 24, 2025 12:26 PM
I've always been a fan of big-budget blockbusters, whether it be movies or video games, but when it comes to the latter, I'm beginning to see the light more and more: indie games are the lifeblood.
While 2025 had its fair share of AAA successes (Death Stranding 2, Assassin's Creed: Shadows, and Ghost of Yōtei spring to mind), it was dominated by indie games. Smaller teams, smaller budgets (mostly), but big aspirations and even bigger excitement.
Here are Destructoid's picks for some of the best indie games throughout the year of 2025.
Table of contents
Best 2025 indie games
Hades 2
The masters of the action roguelike genre returned with the 1.0 release of Hades 2. Supergiant Games iterated on and continues to perfect the addictive and satisfying gameplay, wrapped in a stunning art style set against Greek mythology to create one of the best overall games of 2025.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
There's an argument to be made about what's indie and what isn't, but this list was never not going to include Expedition 33. Sandfall Interactive's debut title was Destructoid's 2025 Game of the Year, and just about everyone else's, too. And it deserves it.
Ball x Pit
Ball x Pit caught my eye immediately when it dropped as a Steam demo earlier in the year. Upon release, I had the pleasure of reviewing it for Destructoid, and it became one of my top titles of the year overall. Base-building, ball-breaking, roguelike action wrapped up in a beautiful pixel art style created something truly memorable and still (so far) the most fun I've ever had with balls.
Absolum
Another gorgeous roguelike. Are you noticing a trend? Many of the top indies this year took the roguelike genre and put a lovely spin on it, like Absolum, which is a fantastic co-op beat-em-up with a Saturday morning cartoon aesthetic and also one of my overall favorites of 2025.
Blue Prince
Before Expedition 33 launched a few weeks later, Blue Prince was at the top of many gamers' shortlists for GOTY 2025. It still deserves that honor as one of the more innovative and challenging puzzle games in recent memory.
Hollow Knight: Silksong
When it comes to hype and anticipation, Silksong had some insurmountable expectations after years of quiet and delays. Fortunately for everybody involved (including us gamers), it delivered and then some, offering a fantastic and challenging expansion of the Metroidvania genre.
Dispatch
I got an early look at Dispatch at a preview event with devs the month before it came out, and knew right away it would be something special. Many who helped create it previously worked at TellTale Games, and that quality shines through in every one of its eight episodes, crafting one of the best narratives of the year.
Plus, it's got this hot, towering devil lady.
The post The best indie games in 2025 appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Wednesday, December 24, 2025 10:17 AM
The Winter Offensive event in Battlefield 6 has three new challenges for you to grind, and you can unlock some unique camos in the process.
Winter Offensive has added plenty of exciting stuff ever since it went live on Dec. 9. The current event objectives will allow you to increase your rewards haul if you're unsatisfied with it. This guide will provide all the essential information required to complete the tasks as quickly as possible.
Table of contents
How to obtain all Battlefield 6 Winter Offensive event rewards
Three new objectives were added to the Winter Offensive events earlier on Dec. 24, and here are the available rewards.
You can obtain all the rewards by completing three separate tasks over the next five days (more on that in the following parts of this guide). Let's look at how to obtain the rewards.
Flying High weapon charm
To get this charm, you'll need to get 100 kills on freezing enemies. You'll have to take part in the Ice Lock game mode, as it features the freezing zone mechanics. To complete the objective, you'll have to kill 100 enemies that are affected by the freezing status.
Scatterplot SU-57 vehicle
The next part also needs to be completed in the Ice Lock game modes. Wait for enemies to appear in heat zones (areas that have fire sources). Deal damage to enemy players in those zones to complete this part of the objective.
Undergrowth B36A4 weapon package
This is the easiest task to complete; you have to simply win 10 matches across any mode.
The post All Battlefield 6 Winter Offensive event rewards and how to get them appeared first on Destructoid. |
Gaming Instincts – Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism Wednesday, December 24, 2025 3:33 PM A new trailer was also released. The post FANTASY LIFE i: The Girl Who Steals Time Gets New Major Update appeared first on Gaming Instincts - Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism. |
Gaming Instincts – Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism Wednesday, December 24, 2025 3:06 PM According to the publisher. The post Danganronpa Series Sales Surpass Ten Million Units Worldwide appeared first on Gaming Instincts - Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism. |
Gaming Instincts – Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism Wednesday, December 24, 2025 2:53 PM In a recent report. The post The Witcher 3 Will Get A New DLC in May 2026 According to An Analyst appeared first on Gaming Instincts - Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism. |