The coronavirus continues to kill people at an alarming rate of over 2,400 deaths per day nationwide.
Best Games Of 2020 – The Last Of Us Part 2
Over the next week, we will be posting features for what we’ve nominated to be the best games of 2020. Then, on December 17, we will crown one of the nominees as GameSpot’s Best Game of 2020, so join us as we celebrate these 10 games on the road to the big announcement. Be sure to check out our other end-of-the-year coverage collected in our Best Games of 2020 hub.
There’s often a fine line that must be tread when making sequels: Give people what they want, but still surprise them with something different. The Last of Us: Part II‘s expanded scope offered even more to appreciate about Naughty Dog’s harrowing post-apocalyptic world, yet the story of conflict between Ellie and newcomer Abby ultimately inspired an earnest and interesting, if at times heated discussion about storytelling in games. Along with being a great follow-up that ratcheted up the white-knuckle tension and anxiety of surviving in a post-apocalyptic world, its achievements in empathetic storytelling made The Last of Us: Part II one of the most unforgettable games of the year, and in PlayStation’s history.
Like its predecessor, The Last of Us: Part II strives to tell a similarly profound story about the bonds that can form in the bleakest of circumstances, while this time introducing a second protagonist to both compliment and complicate a plot that is already wrought with heavy themes of morality. The Last of Us: Part II puts you in control of characters that are in uncomfortable positions so that it–and by extension you–are forced to examine the human condition and cycle of violence in the harshest of times.
The Last of Us: Part II is a revenge story, and the game’s presentation is remarkably effective at getting you invested in the initial pursuit of righting a certain wrong. After the game’s shocking opening act, which introduced us to Abby, Ellie proceeds with her odyssey across the country, going through that familiar yet engrossing cycle of survival, exploration, and heart-pounding battles to the death.
The Last Of Us Part II – Game Of The Year 2020 Nominee
Reflect back on the year with this montage of The Last Of Us 2, which is one of GameSpot’s nominees for Game Of The Year 2020.PS5 Made Scalpers A Lot Of Money, And This Report Tries To Determine Just How Much
Oh, scalpers. The bane of everybody’s lives, and one of the major forces behind next-generation console and PC hardware scarcity. Gamers this year were frustrated at not only the competitive process of getting a standard-priced console from retailers, but also the sky-high second-hand prices set by scalpers looking to make a profit.
So exactly how much did scalpers make off of this new set of hardware? Data engineer Michael Driscoll created an analysis that tried to answer the question (via Tom’s Hardware). He processed sold listings on eBay for PS5 and Xbox consoles, as well as AMD and Nvidia graphics cards, and recorded the median percentage of the manufacturer’s suggested price (MSRP) that a certain hardware type sold for since launch. Take note that he only pulled US listings, so it’s not a global resell market estimate.
To no one’s surprise, scalpers made a killing on the PS5, specifically the standard version. Since November, it has consistently sold for more than 250% of its suggested retail price. Considering a standard PS5 edition retails at $500, that means people were consistently paying above $1250 for a console. Driscoll commented, “Over 32,000 PS5s have been sold on eBay, resulting in scalpers netting $19 million in profits.” The disc-less edition sold above 125% MSRP and at a maximum of 200% MSRP, staying between $500 and $800.
Fortnite PC Players Are Getting A New Performance Mode
Fortnite got a big performance and visual boost for early adopters of the PS5 and Xbox Series X, but Epic Games wants to share the love with PC gamers as well. The studio behind the battle royale is adding a performance mode on December 15.
“We’re launching a new performance mode on all PCs that meet Fortnite’s minimum specifications,” reads a post on Epic Games’ official site. “Available in Alpha, Performance Mode will be selectable through the in-game settings menu and offers significant performance gains by trading out visual quality to lower memory usage and lighten the load on CPU and GPU.”
Due to the addition of Performance Mode, please note that the patch size of the upcoming v15.10 will be larger than normal on PC for players who have high resolution textures installed (approx. 23 GB).https://t.co/uY3JTQPZwQ
— Fortnite Status (@FortniteStatus) December 14, 2020
Epic Games says that this new mode should help PC players, even those who run the game on the lowest settings possible, enjoy a smoother frame rate.
Syfy Releases Trailer For Kooky Dramedy Mystery Resident Alien
Syfy has dropped a trailer for its upcoming series Resident Alien. It follows an alien who crash lands on our planet in Patience, Colorado and poses as Dr. Harry Vanderspeigle while he awaits a rescue after carrying out his mission to kill all humans. It’s actually a bit more complicated than that, as the alien gets sidelined after being roped into solving a local murder–meaning he must assimilate into his new world before destroying it. It’s hard to convey the humor that’s infused through the high-stakes tone the show trucks in, so see for yourself in the new clip below.
Due to premiere on January 27 on SyFy, the show is an adaptation of the Dark Horse comic series co-created by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse, which ran from 2012 through to 2018. The trailer looks promising and strikes a fun balance between humor and drama, which isn’t a shock given its star Alan Tudyk (Firefly, Rogue One), and the fact that the show is executive produced by Chris Sheridan (Family Guy). The show’s cast also includes Sara Tomko (Once Upon a Time), Corey Reynolds (The Closer), Alice Wetterlund (Silicon Valley), and Levi Fiehler (Mars).
A SyFy release further telegraphs the show’s emphasis on balancing comedy and drama, explaining Vanderspeigle’s struggle to assimilate sees him “wrestl[ing] with the moral dilemma of his mission and asking the big life questions like: ‘Are human beings worth saving?’ and ‘Why do they fold their pizza before eating it?'”
Trump Has Hidden Evidence Of His Crimes For Years. Biden Can Expose It.
Electors Meet Across U.S. To Formally Choose Biden As Next President
The electors’ votes have drawn more attention this year because Trump continues to make baseless allegations of fraud.
US treasury and commerce departments targeted in cyber-attack
All federal civilian agencies are told to switch off a network tool exploited by “malicious actors”.
New To Netflix This Week: Chadwick Boseman’s Final Movie
We’re halfway through December, and the holidays are right around the corner. However, most people already have their holiday movies planned and want to know what else is coming to Netflix this week. Well, it’s an interesting lineup where you can watch Chadwick Boseman’s final film, a music documentary featuring Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, and a few reality TV shows where people yell at each other for no reason at all.
On Friday, Boseman’s final performance comes to Netflix. In Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Boseman plays Levee, a trumpeter looking to make a name for himself in the music industry. Based on the play by August Wilson, the story also follows a recording session in Chicago during the 1920s where the Mother of Blues, Ma Rainey, is late to her own session as she battles with her music manager. Check out the trailer below.
Arriving on Tuesday is another round of Song Exploder. Based on the podcast of the same name, the series explores musicians and how they wrote some of their most influential songs. Season 1 featured Alicia Keys, Lin-Manuel Miranda, R.E.M., and Ty Dolla $ign. Season 2 features Dia Lipa discussing “Love Again,” The Killers exploring “When You Were Young,” Natalia Lafourcade explaining “Hasta La Raíz,” and Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails breaking down one of the breakouts from The Downward Spiral, “Hurt,” which was also famously covered by Johnny Cash.