Riven, the Exile. Never before have we seen a more polarizing champion in League of Legends, and honestly the character equivalent of cilantro (you either love it or hate it) has a surprisingly complex skill ceiling for being a renowned low-rating stomper. Renowned for her outplay potential, as well as coinflip playstyle, Riven is either incredibly overpowered or simply underwhelming depending on the state of the current game. Let’s look at some tips that can ensure that your coin lands on the former option a little more often.

Animation Cancelling

Riven is famous for having an incredibly telegraphed set of skills when it comes to trading. However, most of the indicators that these wind-up animations are even coming can be cancelled. Whether it’s with Flash, her basic abilities, or itemization choices, Riven can make all of her transitions seamless.

Besides weaving in additional spellcasts, the most intriguing of Riven’s animation cancelling is tied to her Q - Broken Wings. By issuing a movement command with your mouse as you press your Q, you can weave an additional auto attack or ability between your three-pronged attack.

Passive Juggling

Riven’s passive - Blade of the Exile - grants her additional damage per auto-attack after using an ability. However, with four abilities (five if you count R’s active), and the Q issuing three separate stacks, Riven mains have to be conscious of weaving auto attacks between their abilities in order to maximise passive damage output, as the charge storage only goes to three.

A good rule of thumb is to auto after every spellcast, something that becomes significantly easier once you master the aforementioned animation cancelling.

Go In, Get Out

Riven excels at taking short, bursty trades before disengaging with her E- Valor. Be conscious of opportunities to do so, whether it’s after your opponent has used their only potential response already, or even just if the minion wave is stacking in your favour.

Take consistent, quick trades, using your abilities and your kit to their fullest before falling back on her insane mobility. More cooldown reduction means more trades, so consider itemising for it. When you’ve traded enough, and the enemy is low enough, look to execute them with a full combo plus your R’s active - Wind Slash.

Since being a pirate was pretty much all any of us wanted to do as a child, allow us to guide you toward living vicariously through League of Legends’ very own scourge of the high seas, Gangplank. Iconic for his ability to remove himself from any sticky situation, as well as chunk entire teams for half of their health come lategame, Gangplank has a tricky early game to navigate that proves immensely rewarding come the 25 minute mark.

Playing Weakside

An unfortunate situation has arisen in both professional play and solo queue, in which top lane is pretty much ignored by both teams after five minutes into the game. How do you remedy this? By playing one of the League’s best duelists and safest laners.

Gangplank, the outlier that he is, doesn’t actually care about being left in isolation all too much. A pretty binary trading pattern of proccing Grasp of the Undying and then Q-ing an enemy for a solid chunk of health early game while clearing out the waves helps the Pirate King stay on top.

Unconventional W Usage

Part of what makes Gangplank so good at being left alone--and escaping some slippery situations even Lissandra players with the fullest of inventories would struggle with--is his iconic W - Remove Scurvy. The ability immediately cleanses any negative effect from Gangplank, as well as offering a small heal.

Obvious uses of this ability include crowd control and the like, but you can also use it to remove particularly obnoxious ultimate abilities - Mordekaiser, Urgot, and Camille without a care in the world.

Global Influence

Besides his scaling and innate safety, the real reason why Gangplank is so good at his isolated gameplay is because he can affect the map from any lane. Use your R - Cannon Barrage to clear waves if it looks like you’re being set up for a dive, check neutral objectives like Baron Nashor and Dragon, or set up ganks by cutting off an escape route.

Gangplank’s utility is both unparalleled and immense - almost as much as his lategame teamfight damage.

With the new Buddy Adventure system in Pokémon GO, you will have noticed the revamped Buddy Profile page, and the buddy hearts. These buddy hearts measure the affection that you have earned from your buddy that day. You can earn the following number of buddy hearts each day, for a total of 10. 

• Walking together, two kilometers, up to three times a day - up to three hearts
• Giving your buddy a treat - up to three hearts
• Playing together - one heart
• Battling together in a trainer battle, or at a gym - one heart
• Take a snapshot of your buddy - one heart
• Visit a new place with your buddy by spinning a new Poké Stop  - one heart

If you like, you can purchase a Poffin for 100 gold, which will double the number of hearts you can earn that day in each category, for a maximum of twenty hearts. This will allow you to rank up your buddy level faster. The Poffin will make your Pokémon Buddy excited for six hours, so make sure you only use them when you are sure you will be able to earn all twenty hearts within that time. 

You will need the following number of hearts to level your buddy up through the different levels:

• Good Buddy - requires one heart
• Great Buddy - requires 70 hearts in total
• Ultra Buddy - requires 150 hearts in total
• Best Buddy - requires 300 hearts in total

So, to get to the rank of Best Buddy, you will need to earn ten hearts a day for 30 days, or 20 hearts a day for 15 days. 

With a new post that just went up on the Halo Waypoint site, 343 Industries is taking off for the rest of the year. But it’s not closing down quietly, as it has provided new pieces of concept art for Halo Infinite, and discussed what’s on the way for 2020.

The concept art is below, and it shows off a stunning new side of the Halo universe. The first features a soldier looking at what appears to be a rather magical pool, with an energy spark in the center of it.

There’s also this one, revealing some fantastic lighting on an important piece of Halo’s past.

The team then discussed what’s confirmed for the game thus far. This included its holiday 2020 release window, its platform (the Xbox Series X, previous Xbox One platforms and Windows PC), and the story timing, which follows the conclusion of Halo 5: Guardians.

There are also a list of confirmed features, such as split-screen, LAN support, player customization (with armoring options like Halo: Reach possesses) and more.

Studio head Bonnie Ross then spoke about what’s been happening as of late, and what’s to come. “As we wrap up 2019 I wanted to take a moment to thank the Halo community for all of your support and engagement over the last year – your passion, energy, and feedback constantly reminds us of how important this franchise and universe is to all of us, and it fuels our efforts across everything we do,” she said.

Ross also spoke a little bit about the Showtime Halo series that’s currently in production. “I had the opportunity to spend a week in Budapest on the set of the upcoming Showtime Halo TV series and seeing the care and dedication of a different industry bringing our universe to life for a different medium was energizing.” 

She added, “I know you’ve all waited patiently for this series, and I can say, without doubt, that the team working on this project is as passionate about Halo as anyone. It is in good hands and I can’t wait for when more will be shared.”

And finally, Ross concluded, “I want to thank the amazingly talented and dedicated team here at 343 Industries for your continued dedication, hard work and fan focus. Through that, you accomplished so much to release Halo: Reach and push the development of Halo Infinite to new heights, setting us up for a HUGE 2020. You amaze me every day.”

With that, 343 provided one more present to fans — double XP for both Halo 5: Guardians and all the games in the Master Chief Collection, including Reach, for the remainder of the year.

Check out the full blog update here, and have a nice Halo-day.

Bot Grenades were introduced to Fortnite with update 11.31, in conjunction with the Battle Lab game mode. The Battle Lab allows players to set up custom games where they control things like gravity, fall damage, and can pick loot sets from pre-existing LTM modes. It will enable you to change various elements of the game to suit your own needs. You can set up the games and play them with friends, or you can load into matchmade activities with strangers. 

Bot Grenades are an item that is available in the Battle Lab. When a player throws the grenade, it will spawn an AI-controlled bot. They are not weapons but mostly act as a means for players to test specific functions in their Battle Lab. 

Unfortunately, the Bot Grenades did not last long in the game, and an update on the Epic Games Trello board informed players that an issue needed to be investigated, and Bot Grenades were being deactivated in the game. 

Bot Grenades are certainly an exciting addition to the game, and people who are enjoying Battle Labs certainly seem eager to have them return. There are also requests for the Bot Grenades to be added to the game's Creative Mode.

We will update this guide when the Bot Grenades are added back to the game and will talk about some areas that you can test with them, just as soon as we can use them in-game again. 

Pokémon Sword and Shield are offering players some free gifts in celebration of the holiday season. These gifts include various kinds of Pokéballs that will help you along your way to completing the Pokédex. 

For now, these Mystery Gifts only contain different types of Pokéballs but in the future, Gamefreak could switch up the contents of the gifts. Currently, mystery gifts hold nine kinds of Pokéballs. 

You will need a code to unlock each gift, which contains three Pokéballs each. The way to redeem a code for Nintendo Switch is the same way as PlayStation 4 or Xbox One. Simply navigate to the Switch eShop and select "Enter Code", which is located on the left side of the screen. Below you can find all three codes for the Pokémon Sword and Shield Mystery Gifts and what each code contains:

• 1YAHAYA : Fast Ball, Level Ball, Moon Ball
• KOUN1NMASCOT : Beast Ball, Heavy Ball, Lure Ball
• OKUGAFUKA1BORU : Dream Ball, Friend Ball, Love Ball 

Each of these Pokéballs is extremely useful in-game, as they all help the catching process in unique ways. Some are self-explanatory, like the Fast Ball, which increases catch probability the quicker you use it in battle. 

Others, like the Lure Ball, aren't so easily understood. Here's a quick rundown of how each Mystery Gift Pokéball works: 

• Level Ball - increases catch probability if the trainer's Pokémon is at a high level. 
• Moon Ball - helpful when catching a Pokémon that evolves using a Moon Stone. 
• Beast Ball - increases the odds of catching an Ultra Beast (when they eventually release in Sword and Shield). 
• Heavy Ball- works best on Pokémon who weigh more. 
• Lure Ball - increases your odds of catching a Pokémon while fishing.
• Dream Ball - makes it easier to catch Pokémon who are sleeping. 
• Friend Ball - increases friendship with the Pokémon caught using the Friend Ball. 
• Love Ball - works best when used on a wild Pokémon that's the opposite gender of the trainer's Pokémon. 

The Firebug achievement is all about destroying Pretty Boy statues in Borderlands 3. To access them, you'll need to have played through all of the game's DLC, Moxxi's Heist of the Handsome Jackpot, to find them all.

You do need to purchase this DLC. You have several options available to you to buy it. When you've purchased it, and started the DLC, you can work toward grabbing all four the statues.

The five statues are in these locations:

• Two are in the Spendopitican
• One in the Impound Deluxe
• One in Jack's Secret
• One in the VIP Tower

We have all of those locations mapped out for you, ready for you to check them out. After you complete them all, you'll receive the achievement, and you're almost to the end of the heist, too.

The first DLC for Borderlands 3, Moxxi's Heist of the Handsome Jackpot, introduces an array of old and new characters to the heist, A particular character you may have questions about is Digby Vermouth, the resident musician who makes sweet melodies on his saxophone.

You do need to have purchased the DLC Moxxi's Heist of the Handsome Jackpot to meet Digby Vermouth.

Some may recognize his name due to his song being on the Borderlands 3 official soundtrack. He is credited to having played Supernova Dreamsicle. It was not by him, but you can check out his song below. It's a smooth jazz-based song with some decent notes and flow in the background. You may also have heard Sir Hammerlock refer to himself as "a little bit Digby Vermouth 's 9th concerto in D-minor," when explaining his and Wainwright's relationship.

You first meet Vermouth at a bar at the small alcove in the middle of the Spendopticon Vice District. You'll need to do several quests for Vermouth, the first revolving around gathering up ingredients to make him a drink to bring about his senses.

He explains how he's been stuck in the Handsome Jackpot since he came on board, and Handsome Jack perished in Borderlands 2. Despite being trapped, he's been bringing up jams for the entire station, and it's been a fun party for him to engage.

The next part of his quest has you locating his trusty saxophone from someone who stole it. You'll continue talking to Vermouth the entire time, learning about his background and history in the Borderlands universe. You'll also have to escort him to Foxxii's for the third part of his quest.

Beyond seeing Vermouth in the Handsome Jackpot and playing a song with him, he doesn't show up or do too much else. It's a fun little nod from the developers of the joke they had of the jazz-playing Musician from their video game's soundtrack.

There's an achievement in Borderlands 3 called Killer Look. To get it, you first must have access to the first paid DLC, Moxxi's Heist of the Handsome Jackpot. 

After you have access to it and start the DLC, you'll have to play through the entire DLC campaign to reach all of the points to get them.

There are five different locations you have to visit.

Two in Spendopticon

The first of the two is in the Market District. You'll need to gain access to this area before entering. When you do, follow the location on your map, and you can fight the person on your fashional hit list: Evil Saint Lawrence. 

The next person in this area on your list is Junpai Goat Eater, and they're over by the baths in the Vice District. You'll need to go into the back area. You'll be able to take him out pretty quick and slice him off your list.

Impound Deluxe

You're headed to the lower levels now to find yourself in the Impound Deluxe. You need to fast travel down to the Beggar's Berth location. You then need to work your way down until near the end, to the small section in the corner. You'll see a green door you can open. You may not notice the Killer Look icon on your map until you get right there.

The Compactor

You'll have to have played through this area to access this achievement. Return to Trashlantis and go down into Cubeland good ways. You want to look for a small alcove that's off to the left. It's behind a VIP door. Gain access to the VIP by paying the amount, and then take out Gorgeous Armada.

VIP Tower

The final Killer Look person you need to take out is in the VIP Tower. You can only access this individual if you've reached the end of the DLC, and luckily, when you do, they're immediately next to the fast travel point, making them an easy target.

American video game developer NetherRealm Studios and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment have announced an in-game event in Mortal Kombat 11 to celebrate the holidays. The seasonal update will be split into two parts, with one for Christmas and the second for the New Years.  

Both events are in the Towers of Time game mode. Players can participate for free in the two, which consists of challenging towers for experience, character skins, player module pieces, consumables, and more - with holiday-themed modifiers. 

• Winter Wonderland Tower event (available December 22 - 27) will feature three Towers with holiday-themed modifiers in the form of falling Killer Kanes, Sledding Tarkatans, Parachuting Ginger Deadmen, Exploding Snowmen, Christmas Trees, Menorahs, Dreidels and Shooting Stars. 
• Ring in the New Year Tower event (available December 28 through January 2) will feature three Towers allowing players to usher in the new decade with party-themed modifiers, including a Disco Ball, Champagne Bottles, Party Poppers, Fireworks, and a Digital Countdown Clock to ring in the new year.
• Kombat League, the seasonal ranked mode in Mortal Kombat 11, is currently in its sixth season, ‘Season of Konquest,’ and now available for all players to participate in until January 7. The next season of Kombat League is set to begin on January 14.

The Mortal Kombat 11 Kombat Pack DLC has also been released, which consists of a variety of skins, gear sets, and one week of early access for new content. It also includes characters like The Joker, Spawn, Terminator T-800, Sindel, Nightwolf, and Shang Tsung.

Pokémon Sword and Shield will be celebrating the holidays in the most Pokemon way possible: by having giant Delibirds invade the Galar region. That's right, the latest Wild Area Event is going to star one of the least liked Pokémon in the franchise.

Starting from today, Dynamax Delibirds will begin spawning more commonly in Max Raid Battles in the Wild Area. Completing these Delibird Raids will rewards players with even more Candy, which are special kinds of vitamins that give your Pokémon experience points. There are also Dynamax Candies that level up the Dynamax level of your Pokémon.

Serebii Update; New Wild Area Max Raid Battle Event is live until December 25th 2019 at 23:59 UTC. Adds more Delibird raids with Rare Candy rewards https://t.co/gDbXkHSvkTpic.twitter.com/eYzmhr4M1z

— Serebii.net (@SerebiiNet) December 20, 2019

Delibird is an ice and flying-type bird Pokémon that was first introduced in the second generation of Pokémon games, Gold and Silver. Its primary colors are red and white, and it is meant to evoke the classic imagery of Santa Clause. It carries around what appears to be a bag fill of gifts, though, in actuality, that bag is his tail. For the longest time, it could only learn the move Present, naturally.

Related: 10 Pokémon We Hope Are Cut In Sword And Shield

Gamers can teach it more moves through TMs, and in Sword and Shield, it can finally learn Drill Peck. Nevertheless, Delibird doesn’t have excellent stats as is, so it doesn’t make much sense to have one in your team.

With that said, you don’t need to capture the Delibirds you encounter in Max Raids to receive their candies. You need to defeat them in a Max Raid Battle. Even if you don’t want a Delibird, it may be worth taking part in this event to grind for as many candies as you can.

The Delibird event in Pokémon Sword and Shield will end on Dec. 25.

Christmas has arrived, and Rockstar Games has released a new seasonal update to GTA Online. The update includes festive clothing, discounts for vehicles, and real estate, along with the brand new Grotti Furia Supercar - now available for purchase from the Legendary Motorsport.

The Los Santos map will have festive lights, decorations, Christmas trees, and even snowfall for a snowball fight during the holidays. Also, players who log in during the event will receive a variety of in-game rewards like clothing and weapons for their characters. The Diamond Casino and Resort will give players the chance to win a few holiday prizes as well.   

Discounts for Real Estate: 

• MC Clubhouses – 50% off 
• MC Business Properties – 50% off 
• Executive Offices – 50% off 
• Bunkers – 50% off 
• Hangars – 50% off 
• Facilities – 50% off 

Discounts for Vehicles: 

• Pegassi Tezeract – 40% off 
• Imponte Deluxo – 30% off 
• Mammoth Avenger – 40% off 
• Mammoth Thruster – 40% off 
• Ocelot Stromberg – 40% off 
• Armored Kuruma – 40% off 
• Buckingham Akula – 40% off 
• HVY Insurgent Pick-Up Custom – 40% off 
• HVY APC – 40% off 
• HVY Barrage – 40% off 
• RCV – 40% off

GTA Online players that have a Twitch Prime subscription can receive the Pixel Pete's Arcade property in Paleto Bay for free via rebate. They will also get an extra 10% off the holiday discounts listed above.

THQ Nordic owner Embracer Group has announced the acquisition of Tarsier Studios, the developer behind LittleBigPlanet for PlayStation Vita and Little Nightmares. THQ Nordic drove previous acquisitions on its own, so it's the first time we hear about the company that owns it making such operations.

The press release never mentions THQ Nordic, so that label, which includes developers like Gunfire Games and Milestone and publishers like Deep Silver and Koch Media, should keep working separately from the team at Tarsier.

Embracer Group has revealed that the newest studio of the network "will remain autonomous within Embracer’s wholly-owned sub-group Goodbye Kansas Game Invest," which is even more confusing as it brings another entity in (Goodbye Kansas Game Invest) that we've never heard of before.

"Embracer and Goodbye Kansas Game Invest will act as owner, financier, and publisher of the new IPs to be developed," says the press release, but "Tarsier and Embracer is committed to completing ongoing development projects financed by external parties such as Little Nightmares 2, published by Bandai Namco."

Bandai Namco owns the Little Nightmares IP, and this means that any other potential game in the franchise after the second chapter coming in 2020 should be developed by someone else or at least greenlight by Embracer Group. 

"We at Embracer are impressed with the position and the team that Tarsier has built up during 15 years, which is evident looking at the fantastic reviews that several of the studio’s famous productions have received, and with the future ambitions of the Studio," said Lars Wingefors, co-founder and group CEO, Embracer Group AB.

"Together with Tarsier, we want to invest in developing new projects, in the same manner, they have done successfully in the past. We look forward to, together with management and all of Tarsier’s employees, embrace the quality and creativity the Studio has, and take the Studio to the next level," Wingefors added.

"It feels exciting to, after a 15-year long journey with Tarsier, partner up with Embracer to continue develop the potential that our Studio has. We look forward to the opportunity to continue making exceptionally great games together with Embracer Group", said Andreas Johnsson, Studio Head, Tarsier Studios.

Gearbox Software founder Randy Pitchford is known for his outspoken ways, and today was no different—except, perhaps, that today's controversial opinion was directed at Xbox head Phil Spencer.

The exchange, which took place over Twitter, kicked off when Spencer commented on Digital Foundry's Xbox Series X tech analysis, defending Microsoft's upcoming console's power and noting that Moore's Law was slowing down.

DF does good work. As Moore's law slows and our perf ambitions increase it leads to design innovation. Software innovations like VRS will also be critical - Xbox Series X rewrites the rules of console design - and the power level should be extraordinary https://t.co/1Kddsolxti

— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) December 19, 2019

Pitchford was not particularly impressed with the comment, asking, "Is Moore’s Law slowing down? How many transistors in the Series X?"

"Your ambitious message for the Xbox One X was inspiring," he continued, "but for Series X, well, this feels more like an excuse." 

Is Moore’s Law slowing down? How many transistors in the Series X? What if Moore’s Law is like the 4-minute mile? Your ambitious message for the Xbox One X was inspiring, but for Series X, well, this feels more like an excuse. https://t.co/7ihDmwWzO3

— Randy Pitchford (@DuvalMagic) December 19, 2019

Moore's Law, for the unfamiliar, claims that transistor density on a microchip doubles every two years, increasing power and decreasing price. According to Digital Foundry, that doubling of power is "unlikely" to have happened between the Xbox One X, which was revealed in July 2017, and the upcoming Xbox Series X, revealed this month.

The concept has been a hot topic among tech leaders this year. At CES 2019 in January, for instance, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang made headlines with his comments at a Q&A, saying, "Moore's Law used to grow at 10 times every five years [and] 100 times every 10 years. Right now Moore's Law is growing a few percent every year. Every 10 years maybe only 2s. ... So Moore's Law has finished."

In response to followers who claimed Pitchford was being hostile toward Xbox, he reaffirmed his affinity for the Xbox: "One X is a beast and I love it!"

"If I could wave a magic wand," he noted in another comment, "Xbox and PlayStation would both be incredibly powerful and keep parity with one another. I think Sony and Microsoft should team up, actually."

It's also worth noting that the upcoming game Godfall, developed by Counterplay Games and published by Gearbox, is first releasing on PC and PlayStation 5.

We first learned some of Xbox Series X's technical details through GameSpot's recent coverage, which revealed an approximately 12-teraflop GPU, and a CPU with 4 times the power of this generation's consoles.

Xbox Series X was revealed at The Game Awards 2019 last week, where a fake script was used to prevent leaks from flooding the Internet ahead of the show. The system will release Holiday 2020.

Correction (Dec. 20, 2:40pm CT): Parts of this story, including the original headline, inaccurately portrayed Pitchford's comments. We have adjusted the story, and we apologize for the error.

Knives Out is reportedly in the works for PlayStation 5. The next-gen version of the NetEase battle royale title has been mentioned by Vincent Chi, Tencent Department Art Director/Product Manager, on his LinkedIn profile page.

The game is currently available for smartphones globally, and on Nintendo Switch in Japan. It is also said to be in development for PlayStation 4 as well.

Knives Out was considered a PUBG clone, but it exceeded both PUBG Mobile and Fortnite's revenues in 2018.

Chi's curriculum vitae mentions "Sony PlayStation console PS4 PS5 full development," which could be a hint at the next generation release of the battle royale game, rather than simply support to the backwards compatibility feature.

At the time being, though, we can't confirm whether this means anything at all, as backwards compatibility could require some additional work to be done at each developer, and that would justify adding such a mention in a CV. On top of that, the Art Director/Product Manager at NetEase has already removed any trace of the leak.

Should all be confirmed, this would make Knives Out the second game revealed for PS5. The first, Godfall, was officially announced at The Game Awards for both PC, via Epic Games Store, and Sony's next platform. It's a cooperative looter brawler from the creators of Duelyst at Counterplay Games and Gearbox Publishing.

Knives Out title could be a PlayStation console exclusive in Western territories, as Xbox is not mentioned at all in Chi's profile page.

Linkedin page shows that Knives Out, the battle royale game from NetEase, could also be coming to PS5 in addition to PS4.

The game is currently out for smartphones (global) and Nintendo Switch (Japan) with a PS4 release planned soon. https://t.co/4Z9iGkJjHa

— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) December 19, 2019

Star Wars left its mark in movie theaters across a slew of sequels, prequels, and spin-offs. They made their fair share of the money, but that’s not the only place the franchise capitalized, as it also made a name for itself with video games.

There haven’t been too many games as of late, mainly due to Disney handing out rights to Electronic Arts and a small handful of mobile developers. But the games we have gotten ended up being quite noteworthy, between the Battlefront efforts from DICE and Respawn’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.

Before those games, though, Star Wars built a reputable name for itself across several releases. Right, some games were forgettable (the NES Star Wars cough cough), but others were tremendous and became the stuff of legend. Ask any PC gamer that remembers the classic LucasArts games like X-Wing and TIE Fighter, and they’re likely to go on for hours on end talking about their epic space battles.

With that, we've compiled a list of the best Star Wars games to date. However, this doesn't necessarily mean they were popular with critics, just that it has a great amount of franchise and play value.

10 Best Star Wars Games

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Several years ago, LucasArts wowed us with the single-player Force Unleashed games, introducing us to the powerful Apprentice as he fended off Darth Vader and the Imperial Forces. And here we thought those games couldn’t be topped.

But then, along came Respawn Entertainment and the tremendously impressive Jedi: Fallen Order. Following a young Jedi on his journey across the galaxy, he comes across enemies that will, ahem, “force” him to use his abilities — along with his lightsaber — to stay alive.

The game is a wonderfully designed single-player adventure, filled with memorable characters and moments straight out of the Star Wars universe. And what it lacks in flashiness (like the Force Unleashed games possess), it more than makes up for with exciting, visceral combat. And it sounds like a sequel may not be far off, which would be fine by us. The more we see of Cal and company, the better.

Star Wars Episode 1: Racer

One of the most thrilling moments in the Star Wars franchise is the pod-racing sequence in Episode 1 and what better game to make than a racer. Although it's not the most in-depth Star Wars experience in the gaming world, it is a fun and entertaining ride. Despite its older graphics, it's worth a play-through. 

Star Wars Classic Arcade

One of the very first Star Wars games to make its way to market came from Atari, a small but highly enjoyable affair where you could become Luke Skywalker. In this 1983 arcade classic, you’ll take on fireball-spewing TIE Fighters and turrets as you make your way to the infamous trench of the Death Star, with one golden opportunity to blast it to bits. And once you do that, you repeat the process, in the hopes of attaining a Jedi-worthy high score.

What’s great about Star Wars is that it appeals to players of all ages. Young players get caught up in the wonder of the original film’s space battles, while veterans shoot like crazy at incoming fireballs like a pro. The simple vector graphics make it an easy game on the eyes as well.

While the original arcade game is hard to find these days (save for those bar-cades), Arcade1up does have a suitable — and affordable — alternative with its home arcade cabinet. For $499, you can play the original as it was meant to be played, along with the long-lost The Empire Strikes Back game and its follow-up Return of the Jedi.

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter

Ever wanted to play as a bounty hunter in Mandalorian armor? Well, Bounty Hunter gave fans the chance to play as Jango Fett in his solo adventure. The entertainment value came from the ability to use the jetpack and his dual pistols against varying enemies on recognizable planets from the films. It also features other equipment, such as an ID scanner that identifies Jango's targets, which pushed the immersion as the notorious bounty hunter. It also plays much like what we see in games like Uncharted, platforming and jumping between ledges. It was seriously ahead of its time. 

Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga

Okay, so this one was never really canon, but it was an enjoyable and entertaining Star Wars experience. The game allowed for online co-op modes, customizable characters, and new gameplay not seen in previous Lego Star Wars games. It also featured the trademark Lego game humor that creatively used the Star Wars license. 

Star Wars Battlefront II (2017)

This one stirs up a lot of controversy due to its rocky release and loot box system, but it has improved over the last year or so in ways that almost make it a whole new game. With new unlockables, maps, and heroes/villains to choose from in the online modes, there's plenty of entertainment and replay value in Battlefront II. Also of note, the single-player campaign has a great story that is officially in the canon post-Disney that features a former imperial commando turned rebel. Though it's a short campaign, it's still worth checking out for those just needing to scratch the old Star Wars itch. 

Star Wars: Republic Commando 

What's better than a first-person Star Wars shooter that places you in the helmet of a Clone Commando in charge of an elite squad? That's what Republic Commando offered. At the time, the game was innovative and fun to play. It also added a more mature story and theme to the overall arc, inviting older fans into the gaming world. Republic Commando also reinforced the fact that Star Wars is essentially about the war at its core. 

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Developed by the same company that did Mass Effect and the Dragon Age series, KotOR was an RPG that gave players a lot of control over how they played the game, including lightsaber types and character classes. The setting took place thousands of years before Episode 1, an era that would later be built upon with comic books and novels. The game eventually became one of the favorite periods for many Star Wars fans as it featured an array of new Sith Lords and Jedi Knights. 

Star Wars Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron II

At a time when the GameCube was starting to grow on the market, a handful of titles stood out. Along with Super Smash Bros. Melee, there was Rogue League: Rogue Squadron II, the highly anticipated follow-up to the N64 game. And what a sequel it is.

Featuring more colorful visuals, tighter gameplay, and captivating missions to take on (including, yes, destroying the Death Star), Rogue Leader stands as a revolutionary sequel. It’s fun to play and becomes quite challenging in its later stages. More importantly, it showed off the visual strength of the GameCube at the time, making it spring to life on your TV or monitor. (Not to mention John Williams’ original theatrical store blaring through your speakers.)

The developers at Factor 5 would continue this work with a third Rogue Squadron game, Rebel Strike. But, as great as that game is, nothing can come close to Rogue Leader’s unbeatable wonder. The game is Star Wars personified, and a blast after all these years. So...HD version for Switch, Nintendo?

Star Wars: Battlefront II (2005)

Considered by many fans to be the best Star Wars game in history, Battlefront II threw players into the most epic battles from the films. It allowed them to play as the ground troopers on either side of the battlefield and experience some icon and epic moments. The reason we placed the second game and not the first on the list is the addition of space battles, which allowed players to fly into the enemy command ship and dismantle it from within. The campaign was also a solid improvement from the first game, showing the arc from clone trooper to imperial trooper through the various conflicts. 

TemTem, the upcoming critter collection game, has released a trailer detailing the three starters you will get to pick from when the game enters Steam Early Access in January. The three starters, Crystle, Smazee, and Houchic, all have different types and styles of play. All of them are also very cute, so if you tend to decide on your starters based on their design, then best of luck picking a favorite. 

Crystle is a tough Crystal-type, with good Defense and HP stats, and is best used against Electrical and Mental-type TemTem. Crystle can also put out plenty of damage with its Crystal Blade and Crystal Spikes attacks. 

Smazee is a Melee-type, that looks a lot like a cute little monkey. Smazee does impressive starting damage and is best used against Earth and Crystal-type Tem Tem. Houchic is your potential introduction to Mental-types. Mental-types are best used against Neutral and Melee-types and can stack effects to increase their speed and interfere with their enemy's attempts to attack and defend. 

No matter which starter you pick, you will run into different types of TemTem that you will be strong or weak against, so building up a diverse team, leveling up and your TemTem, and evolving them is very important if you want to succeed in your mission to become a great TemTem tamer. 

The Pokémon games very much inspire TemTem, but from our time in the game, it is clear that it is trying to refine the formula and offer enough to players so that it can stand on its own two feet. The starter TemTem are all great fun to play and offer their strengths and challenges in the early game. They all have an evolution tree as well, although we won't spoil anything for you here. 

TemTem will enter Early Access on Steam on Jan. 21, 2020. 

The last decade was a massive success for the gaming industry, as it became more profitable than movies, music, and television. What powered this growth was hard-working developers, the titles they produced, and the seemingly endless pockets of the people out there who love games. 

To celebrate the last decade of gaming, TIME Magazine has released their list of the ten best games of the decade. It's a pretty solid list that holds a lot of names that will end up on similar listings before the end of the year. In no particular order, here are the games that TIME Magazine thinks are the top ten games of the 2010s.

• Grand Theft Auto V (2013)
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017)
• Fortnite (2017)
• Dark Souls (2011)
• League of Legends (2009)
• Pokémon GO (2016)
• Minecraft (2019)
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011)
• Portal 2 (2011)
• Disco Elysium (2019)

While some might balk at the inclusion of Fortnite, the game's impact, size, success, and cultural reach cannot be denied and is unmatched by any other title this decade. Breath of the Wild changed what everyone expected a Zelda game to be, while also pushing what handheld devices were capable of to the absolute limits. Dark Souls has had an undeniable impact on the philosophy of game design this decade, and Pokémon GO proved that mobile gaming could have hardcore appeal, and brought augmented reality to the mainstream. 

By far, the most surprising entry on the list is Disco Elysium, not because the game doesn't deserve it, but because it is brave to put this Game of the Year candidate on a list of the best games of the decade. It is something we agree with, as Disco Elysium is one of the most excellent examples of writing in games, and narrative design, the industry has produced. 

What about you, dear reader? Do you agree with the list, or are there some titles that you would bump off to make room for your favorites?

Warner Bros. Games have just released a new sizzle trailer for the upcoming LEGO Star Wars The Skywalker Saga game. The trailer features some iconic moments from the long-running cinema franchises' history. 

While it is primarily designed to remind you that a LEGO game featuring all nine of the movies is on the way, it's also an enjoyable reminder of just how appealing some of modern cultures' most famous characters can be in LEGO form. Well known characters and moments from the movies are on display, as we catch a glimpse of Darth Maul, Boba Fett, the infamous Darth Vader, Princess Leia entrusting CP-30 with a very important task, a rather stiff looking Han Solo, Luke on the edge of a sandpit, and the Millenium Falcon. From the most recent films, we see Kylo Ren, and Rey using the Force. 

LEGO Star Wars The Skywalker Saga was first announced at E3 2019 and is due to release next year. It will follow the LEGO game tradition of being a third-person action game and will allow players to choose the order in which they play through the various movies related content. All nine episodes of the film will have their own hub worlds, with offshoot levels and missions.

According to reports from a hands-off demo of the game at E3, fans of the LEGO games can expect quite a few changes to the format. The camera has been reworked to sit closer to characters, bringing it more in line with modern action titles. Combat will feature light attacks and heavy attacks, and Force moves. There have also been some quality of life changes that players can look forward to, such as being able to suspend a quest, begin a new one, and then go back to the previous quest again. 

LEGO Star Wars The Skywalker Saga will release in 2020 for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

Not one to shy away from popular culture collaborations, Bandai have done it again, this time licensing out one of the most impactful cultural phenomenons of our generation with Dragon Ball Z themed baseball gear.

The line features protagonist Goku, antagonist-turned-fan-favorite Piccolo, villainous Frieza, and the eponymous dragon Shenron all receiving their own baseball gloves. Also included are seven baseballs, marked for each of the seven Dragon Balls, and a full Vegeta-themed catching set.

The baseball-themed collaboration follows a few years after a Taiwanese baseball team, the Chinatrust Brothers, donned Akira Toriyama's genre-defining series' iconic colors for a match versus a rival squad. The game did offer merchandise at the time, but this is the first "wide" release, per se. However, if you are looking to acquire these goods outside of Japan, you will have to use a proxy or forwarding service.

The creative baseball equipment will mostly launch in early 2020 (everything in March besides the gloves, which will release in August), and if previous Bandai apparel ventures are anything to go by, pre-orders will begin many months in advance. Mizuno, a famous sporting goods company within Japan, is the not-quite-fashion brand partnering with Bandai this time around.

The release follows a trend of Bandai releasing some, uh, let's say strange licenses of their published anime and video game materials. A personal favorite of ours is the Mobile Suit Gundam themed chopsticks, though this may seem rather tame compared to some of the other offerings on the market.