Evening Reading - December 10, 2021

Greetings, Shacknews! We're continuing to plow through this intense December month, still talking about end-of-year stuffs here on the staff. And, yes, that means we might have missed a few things over the last few days. I'll endeavor to catch us up with tonight's Evening Reading

In case you missed it at Shacknews:

• Banjo-Kazooie is coming to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pass in January 2022
• Halo Infinite campaign mission select is coming in a future update
• Kane Hodder confirmed as Leatherface in the Texas Chain Saw Massacre game
• Activision Blizzard CAO Brian Bulato uses union-busting language in email to workers
• Bungie CEO responds to allegations of sexist, toxic workplace
• Shack Chat: What was your favorite announcement from The Game Awards 2021?

And, because it's the weekend, go find yourself something to play!

• Weekend Console Download Deals for Dec. 10: The Game Awards 2021
• Weekend PC Download Deals for Dec. 10: The Game Awards 2021

Catching up with some big gaming reveals

Up first, holy crap! Tunic has a release date!

This is near the top of my most anticipated list for 2022 and this trailer has me incredibly stoked.

Next, another high-profile indie, coming from publishing team at Annapurna Interactive, also got a release date. A Memoir Blue is coming in February!

Next, we look over at Square Enix. Prior to last night's Game Awards, we got a new trailer for Babylon's Fall!

TJ recently wrote up a preview for the closed beta, so go check that out.

Who's ready for next-gen Sniper Elite? That's right, we got the reveal for Sniper Elite 5 earlier today.

Chatty, you're going to like this one. It's the next big DLC for Cities: Skylines, as we explore Airports!

Fall Guys is going to suck me back in with Nightmare Before Christmas outfits.

And yes, I'll be looking to catch up with any outfits I might have missed with this Guestravaganza event.

What could one possibly make from a tagline that says "Dark Souls meets Tetris?" That's the idea of Loot River and here's a new trailer.

If that strikes your fancy, Loot River has a playable demo right now on Steam and Xbox.

Next, it's something for the fighting game fans. IGN announced the latest DLC for Power Rangers: Battle For The Grid. It's Rita Repulsa and YO, I HEARD YOU MARVEL PLAYERS LIKE DORMAMMU!

Press "X" to "Garbage!"

Staying on fighting games, King of Fighters 15 has its second open beta coming later this month! Plus, take a first look at Krohnen, an all-new character to the series!

The next King of Fighters is coming to PC, PlayStation, and Xbox on February 17.

Lastly, Xbox Game Pass on PC is getting a slight tweak. You'll be forgiven if you nodded off when Lil Dicky showed up last night, but "Xbox Game Pass on PC" will now be going by "PC Game Pass." Please make a note of it.

And now... Other Stuff From The Internet!!!

The real Squid Game

pic.twitter.com/zV1pl5VQfL

— pics that go raw (@thispicgoesraw) December 10, 2021

Imagine how high those stakes get on that damn Chance Time space.

Real monitors have curves

One day they're going to close up for good and that will be it. pic.twitter.com/gxxsnZjjRS

— Marina Ayano 彩乃 橘高 (@even_kei) December 9, 2021

In the future, monitors will be shaped like tacos.

Should have gone to the mushroom planet

pic.twitter.com/0edAfisJ8V

— laura with the red nose and the antlers (@freezydorito) December 9, 2021

Gross, smelly mushrooms.

Getting ready to Rumble... verse!

Whiff punish for wins pic.twitter.com/SwlMzN4LkN

— Justin Wong (@JWonggg) December 10, 2021

And, in terms of features...

Omg @IronGalaxy put in the WWE2k ref glitch in as an emote. Put it into practice with an apt call from the announcer. @Rumbleverse is pretty fun so far! pic.twitter.com/Wtui5zKozc

— Esteban Martinez (@TheBesteban) December 10, 2021

Yeah, I'm stoked for this, in case you couldn't tell by this week's Shack Chat.

GRAPPLING HOOK!

Possibly my greatest Grapple Steal yet pic.twitter.com/ovRssTyQFG

— Ketchup on #GamesMaster (@PNDKetchup) December 10, 2021

Not every fighting game personality is playing Rumbleverse, as evidenced by Ketchup here mastering the Halo Infinite Grappleshot.

PC Final Fantasy fans for the last 24 hours

😎 @maximilian_ is mood #FF7Remake for PChttps://t.co/KIezkrRGPf pic.twitter.com/1lF6eaPLeX

— SayoriChu ➡️ Midgar (@SayoriChu) December 10, 2021

Sadly, too late for some of the end-of-year Shacknews GOTY categories, but this should hopefully still be awesome.

IT'S STILL REAL TO ME, DAMMIT!

dad jokes killed a man today @kassemg @WWECesaro pic.twitter.com/vtc3nb8EHr

— G4TV (@G4TV) December 10, 2021

Man, Cesaro out here killing dudes with dad jokes. I thought the Swiss were supposed to be neutral!

Tonight in video game music

To celebrate the upcoming 25th anniversary of Mario Kart 64, here's a full cover album from the guys at GameGrooves. Welcome to Skario Kart: A Ska Tribute to Mario Kart 64!

There's your Evening Reading to send you into the second weekend of December. You have two weeks left to shop for Christmas! What are your plans for this weekend, readers? Join the conversation and let us know in the Shacknews Chatty comment thread below.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?