It’s a big year for Sony, now that the PlayStation 5 is out in the wild and its library is ready to be populated with a number of first-party games. 2020 kicked off with the likes of Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Astro’s Playroom, and Demon’s Souls showing off the potential of the PS5. In 2021, its power and that lightning-quick solid state drive take center-stage with the return of Ratchet & Clank.

Friday ended with a bit of a shocker, as Microsoft announced that it would soon be jacking the price of Xbox Live Gold up considerably. Many pundits presumed that this was an effort to drive more people towards adopting an Xbox Game Pass subscription, but whatever the true reasoning behind the move, folks weren’t exactly impressed.

Vicarious Visions, the studio behind some of the best remasters of recent memory and plenty of other great games, just experienced a major paradigm shift.

Resident Evil Village, the eighth game in the main event series of zombies and corporate conspiracies, will officially launch on May 7, 2021. Hey that’s this year! Revealed during the Resident Evil Showcase digital event, the release date also came with a pleasant bonus surprise, as the game will have a large rollout on current and last-gen systems.

The First Samurai doesn’t end the tale of Nioh 2 in a satisfying way but it does provide a meaningful and fun loot experience. Bbrutal new enemies and new gameplay modes makes the complete package of this game something truly special.

There’s a certain joy to be found in Hitman and its sequels, within those failed runs though, learning experiences which players should savour and use to eventually become stealthy forces of nature that can move unseen through the shadows.

Team Ninja’s brand as of late has been games with feudal fun and a swimming pool of blood. With Nioh 2 Complete Edition on PC and PS5 getting ready to be shipped out and a remaster of the first game on the way, the studio is looking towards the future and it certainly sounds like it’s ready to pack its samurai swords away as it gets to work on its next game. Long story short, don’t expect to see Nioh 3 anytime soon.

There’s no shortage of rare shoes out there either, with some versions fetching a ludicrous sum on the open market, but can any of that footwear run your feet and Crysis? I’m not exactly certain if RTKFT’s “virtual and physical next-gen collectible sneakers for the best esports, gaming, and entertainment celebrities” can, but it certainly looks like it can run a few games of Minesweeper at the very least.