News:: Oculus Rift receives $150 gift card bonus at Best Buy

Big box retailer Best Buy is clearing out its inventory of Oculus Rift this week, as every purchase will now receive a giant $150 Best Buy gift card as an extra bonus on the VR headset. Perhaps Best Buy stocked one too many units during the recent holiday season, or maybe the units moved slower than expected - whatever the reason the current incentive is $50 more than what we saw during the holiday season.

No expiration date have been mention on the deal, and we wouldn't be surprise if it ends later tonight. The $150 Best Buy gift card is a physical card that ships free with no expiration date or fees. Good towards online or in-store purchase.

• Oculus Rift VR Headset + $150 Gift Card — $599  (list price $599)
• Free shipping or store pick up, gift card bonus added to cart automatically

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News:: Steam's 2016 top sellers include 'No Man's Sky' and 'Rocket League'

Want a (mostly) complete snapshot of the PC gaming scene as it was in 2016? Head over to Steam. Valve's portal has listed the top 100 best sellers of the year based on revenue, and it clearly reflects what people were buying. Indie titles had a particularly strong showing in 2016, most notably No Man's Sky -- yes, despite the backlash over its grandiose promises, the space exploration game raked in enough cash to be one of Steam's "platinum" sellers. While NMS' $50 price tag no doubt helped (it didn't have to move as many copies as its rivals to rake in money), it's apparent that the PC version wasn't the outright commercial flop some expected it to be.

Source: Steam (top 100), (winners)

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News:: Psychological horror RPG Omori is alive and well

It has been a matter of years since we last touched on Omocat's Kickstarter-funded project Omori, and while its release date remains elusive, even now, the team has been "extremely busy" working on the uncanny role-playing game. With news of a delay comes another trailer, thank goodness.

"Some RPGMaker MV updates have broken a lot of our plug-ins, all of which have had to be remade," the creators said of the delay. "We were aiming to resolve our programming issues sooner, but it looks like that won't be the case. For now, we will be fine-tuning the gameplay and graphics, and reworking some story elements. I am aware that another release date delay will come with a fair amount of backlash, but we can't just 'pump out a game,' especially one that performs inadequately."

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News:: Terry Cavanagh releases his next game, Tiny Heist

Terry Cavanagh is the man behind VVVVVV and Super Hexagon. Even if you've never played those games, you've probably heard about their extreme difficulty. While I love VVVVVV and have since surmounted most of its challenges, I'm still perplexed by Super Hexagon and how anyone can beat the various other difficulties. Doing 60 seconds on the standard version is hard enough; why would I want it faster?

Anyway,  Cavanagh has just released his newest title, a browser-based, rogue-like stealth title about stealing gems. Called Tiny Heist, the goal is simply to beat 15 levels and escape with a bunch of treasure. I can't manage to get past level four, but since this is a browser game, I have a feeling that my productivity at work is going to plummet as I try to see the finale.

I'd make a comment about Terry Cavanagh not being able to finish his own games, but he proved himself worthy in front of a live audience. Now I feel inadequate. Anyway, why not give Tiny Heist a go?

Terry Cavanagh's stealthy roguelike Tiny Heist released for free [PC Gamer]

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News:: Arkane says Prey won't have launch issues on PC, for whatever that's worth

A prominent and disturbing trend in video games is that titles regularly launch with the PC versions not being up to snuff. Prey won't suffer the same fate says developer Arkane -- a studio whose last game, Dishonored 2, launched two months ago with the PC version not being up to snuff.

In the above-embedded interview with Game Informer (and as reported by Dark Side of Gaming), Prey's creative director Raphael Colantonio assures players that PC optimization is not a cause for concern this time around because Arkane is "paying double attention" to it, whatever that means.

Colantonio elaborated: "We've had a rough launch on the PC with Dishonored 2. In development, you never exactly know what you’re going to see, especially on the PC with so many configurations and stuff. Unfortunately it is what it is -- it shipped, then it got patched and now it runs really well. Of course, we are paying double attention to make sure that this time the PC version is really flawless when we ship."

Colantonio explained how Arkane will accomplish this. "A bit more Q&A time. Also it's a different engine so the constraints are different. In the case of Dishonored 2 we created a new engine really, even though it's based on idTech most of it has been redone. The risk is not the same. In the case of Prey, we're using CryEngine and it's an engine that's already shipped stuff before. So it's not the same configuration. But nevertheless, we are aware of the problem; we were already but it got us by surprise. This time we'll be paying more attention for sure," he said.

It rings clear exactly how vapid this statement is when you consider how many developers have told consumers that their PC port might have performance issues. That's not something that happens. Colantonio speaking to the topic just has a little more gusto behind it. The smart play would be to assume these comments are worth nothing until they're validated by a smooth launch. Dishonored 2's problems means Arkane hasn't earned the benefit of the doubt right now.

Arkane Studios claims that the PC launch of Prey won't be plagued by performance issues [Dark Side of Gaming via NeoGAF]

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News:: Dragon Quest producer: 'We're still trying to make the series popular in the west'

Appealing to a general western crowd with a JRPG is tough all around, not just for recognizable brands like Dragon Quest. While it's still wildly popular in Japan and warrants an unofficial holiday on each release, it's not as big as say, Final Fantasy overseas. Series producer Yu Miyake spoke to Edge Magazine to clarify what's going on, and it's an interesting look into the history of their localization efforts.

After laughing and noting that "[they're still trying]" to make the franchise popular, he makes the claim that it's not catching on as much because of "historical timing." Miyake says that the NES laid claim to Dragon Quest, but Final Fantasy VII was the breaking point for western audiences -- a breakthrough that DQ never really had. Miyake admits that Enix "messed up" with its localization efforts, in that they should have tried harder to make it work over here.

But they did try quite a bit with Dragon Quest VIII, with regional voice acting, menu design, and other western concessions, but it still didn't approach Final Fantasy levels of sales. Finally, Miyake explains that Akira Toriyama's cartoonish/sometimes chibi art style isn't off-putting in Japan, but is in the west.

Whether it's one of these reasons in particular or all of them collectively, it's great to see a developer speak so frankly on why something isn't as popular as they want it to be. They're still at it though, as Dragon Quest Builders and Heroes is "softening the ground" for Dragon Quest XI. Good luck to them, it's a great series.

Dragon Quest [Edge via Nintendo Everything]

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News:: Some of Codemasters' racing games have been delisted from Steam

In the digital era of games, not everything lasts forever. As crazy as it may sound, sometimes licenses for cars, music, or product placements end up rendering a game unsellable after a certain date. It looks like that has come to pass for a few of Codemasters' racing games, as Dirt 3, F1 2013, and Grid are no longer listed on Steam.

No reason has been stated for the absence of these games. Curiously, F1 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014 are still on the service; this more than likely means there is an issue with a song present, as I doubt any of the car manufacturers would be okay with an older title using their likeness over a newer title.

Grid was also removed from GOG a few days ago with the other two titles never being present on the service. GOG did state the removal was due to expiring licenses, but that doesn't necessarily mean Valve would have to follow suit. Either way, the titles were dirt (ha) cheap during the Steam Winter Sale, so anyone who wanted them had ample opportunity to grab them for some ridiculously low prices. Heck, Humble Bundle even gave Grid away a few weeks ago.

Grid, Dirt 3 and F1 2013 removed from Steam [PC Gamer]

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News:: Steam reveals its best-selling games for 2016, and it's full of heavy hitters

Steam has confirmed what we probably could've already guessed. The PC games distributor has issued a list of the top revenue earners in 2016. While the form varies -- some are free-to-play, some are huge triple-A titles -- there's one constant: These are all wildly successful video games.

The way Steam categorizes these is by breaking the list into platinum, gold, silver, and bronze tiers. No specific sales numbers or amounts earned were shared, just what level the games fall into. That means that we can't really deduce what performed the best, unless directly comparing titles in different tiers.

The games that made the platinum tier were: The Division, Dark Souls III, Total War: Warhammer, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Fallout 4, Dota 2, Civilization VI, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, No Man's Sky, Grand Theft Auto V, XCOM 2, and Rocket League. The rest of the list can be seen here.

Some of 2016's biggest games are accounted for on this list. Some of 2015's biggest games are also accounted for, presumably selling very well with the help of some vaunted Steam sales. And, don't forget that Valve-developed titles continue to be absolute behemoths in the PC scene. Maybe we didn't know the exact games, but we could've guessed that this list would have this sort of makeup.

Top 100 Best Sellers of 2016 [Steam]

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News:: Man, Breath of the Wild's Link sure cleans up good after 21 years

Say what you will about Nintendo, but they know how to lovingly repackage nostalgia.

While some will say it's pandering, you could see the passion emanate from Iwata's eyes whenever he was talking about a revival of an old property, and in some way, I can see that same affection with this new promotional piece of art for Breath of the Wild.

For most of you out there, it's just Link sitting on a mountainside looking at...another mountain. But for the older generations, it brings back the memory of opening up the manual for the original Zelda for the first time on the NES and checking out that glorious art. See the comparison for yourself in the gallery below.

Man, so far everything about Breath of the Wild seems like a step up from the linear Skyward Sword. As long as it doesn't have a five hour tutorial and forced waggle, I'm sure it'll get off to a better start, at least.

Zelda [Twitter]

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News:: Mass Effect Andromeda ruled out for Nintendo Switch by game's producer

In true EA fashion, they want to see if the Switch sells before fully supporting it. It sure beats the Ubisoft strategy of going all in, calling it the best thing since sliced bread, vowing your undying support, then pulling out within a few months!

All all seriousness, BioWare producer Michael Gamble recently clarified their stance on putting Mass Effect: Andromeda on the Switch -- in short, it's not planed at the moment. After months of being jerked around and being volleyed vague hints, we now know for sure.

But, the "door isn't closed," and if there's enough demand, it could eventually hit the Switch. Different generation, same ol' stuff. Either way, forward thinking and support upfront could help the Switch actually catch on -- if everyone "waits and sees" from a third party perspective, that doesn't help much, does it? But that's their choice and it makes perfect sense given how hard the Wii U bombed in some sectors.

Mass Effect: Andromeda: BioWare on PS4 Pro, Scorpio and the likelihood of a Switch release [Stevivor]

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News:: Final Fantasy XV Kingsglaive bonus feature is all about Ultros

Ultros is the ultimate asshole of the Final Fantasy franchise -- he puts any given crotchety Cid to shame, and could troll anyone in the FF universe. But in any given game you usually get the chance to kick his ass, or in this case, watch him get pummeled into submission.

For the presumably thousands of you out there who haven't watched the Kingsglaive film to accompany your Final Fantasy XV playthrough (it really should have been included on-disc), Square Enix has given us this small bonus scene on YouTube for free. I won't spoil it, but it's worth checking out even if you haven't seen the movie yet.

In other news, watch Kingsglaive eventually because it smooths out some missing links. Hopefully it'll move into some sort of free streaming service eventually (like Crackle, given the strong links to Sony).

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News:: The winners for the first ever Steam awards are...interesting

I guess it's good that a lot of old games are getting their due with the 2016 (and first ever) Steam awards, but so much of is retreading on stuff we've already talked about many, many times, that they're only really worth skimming for a second.

Your usual suspects are all here -- Portal 2, Skyrim, GTA V, alongside of weird categories that were basically designed to give specific games awards like "Best Use of a Farm Animal." It's all in good fun (most award things are), and 15 million people weighed in to choose the winners, but the categories were really lackluster.

There's always room to improve though, and the userbase and participation element is there!

Steam Awards [Steam]

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News:: Are you aware of what Kingdom Hearts: 0.2 Birth by Sleep - A Fragmentary Passage even is?

This month, a new Kingdom Hearts game is coming out! Wait, what? Yes, I'm serious.

The crazy thing is no one really knows about it outside of the most hardcore fans. Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8: Final Chapter Prologue will drop on January 12, and in addition to providing remasters of Dream Drop Distance (the 3DS one), and X [chi] (the mobile one), it'll also come with Fragmentary Passage, a continuation of Birth by Sleep and a demo of sorts for Kingdom Hearts 3. Hey, this isn't anything new with Japanese companies!

But as I was preparing for the review, I started to get really curious -- how many of you out there are actually aware of what this confusing ass title actually is? Is Square Enix onto something with their algebraic nomenclature, in the sense that folks will actually pay attention to their games? Or is it just more confusing nonsense that has turned into white noise (probably)?

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News:: My Nintendo gets new rewards for the New Year, and they're...still meh

Nintendo still has plenty of chances to spice up My Nintendo at some point, possibly when the Switch arrives in March. I mean, all they have to do is add in some big reward (even if it's 2,000 Platinum Points) every so often to keep people interested -- something that maybe isn't even selling that much anymore.

But no, they're content on keeping it stagnant, hoping that it'll push folks into their mostly dried up Miitomo community, or the rapidly dropping (but good) Super Mario Run. If Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem fail to captivate players into staying within the My Nintendo ecosystem, it's time to try something new. Cycling in bad discounts isn't really working.

Redeem Points [My Nintendo]

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News:: Ariana Grande is coming to the 'Final Fantasy' universe

The Final Fantasy franchise is so big that maker Square Enix can pick and choose the people and brands it wants to work with. Audi Japan already has a $469k Final Fantasy XV themed R8 on sale, for instance, and now one of the smaller titles in the company's line-up will soon benefit from the power of female megastar Ariana Grande. Her character DW -- short for Dangerous Woman (the title of her most recent album) -- will appear in a new update coming to the free turn-based iOS and Android RPG Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius.

Via: The Fader

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News:: Devil May Cry director to announce new game this year

Every year since DMC we get some sort of leak that Capcom will announce a new, true Devil May Cry game -- one with the lovable action hero scamp (also known as Real Dante) and not the "ugly sack of shit" emo archetype that we got with Ninja Theory's take.

Well, it's a new year, and a new chance to get excited over a Capcom project that will likely end up just being a remake! Over on Twitter, Dragon's Dogma and Devil May Cry director Hideaki Itsuno wished his fans a happy new year, and noted that he "exerted [himself] in order to announce a new game this year."

Following up the 15th anniversary of Devil May Cry, the timing is really fishy. But then again, it always is! With Bayonetta 2 currently wearing the crown, I'd love to see Itsuno and crew back in action. Although, he has hinted at a Rival Schools revival multiple times, so...

Hideaki Itsuno [Twitter]

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News:: Ariana Grande is so into Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius

I always find it strange when there are celebrity cameos in video games. I'm not talking about something like the zaniness of Keith David being in Saints Row as Keith David (...after having voiced Julius in the first two games), but more like when the celebrity has their exact likeness placed into the title in a serious manner. How does one explain Zachary Levi being in Tomb Raider, for instance?

Oddly, though, I'm not so opposed to Ariana Grande appearing in a Final Fantasy title. This may mostly have to do with the main characters from Final Fantasy XV looking like a J-pop boy band, but having a costumed pop star running around in the zany world of Final Fantasy almost seems natural. I mean, Lightning from XIII looked like she had just left puberty, so Ariana isn't too far off.

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