Top Releases:

• Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Mega Dimension (Switch/Switch 2) – Releases Dec. 10^th
• Unbeatable (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Dec. 9^th
• Mutant Football League 2 (PC – leaving early access/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Dec. 10^th
• Terminator 2D: No Fate (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Dec. 12^th
• Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return – Special Edition (PC/PS5/Switch/Switch 2) – Releases Dec. 15^th
• Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora – From the Ashes (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Dec. 19^th

It’s the final New Game Releases of the year and we, once again, have a Nintendo title as the top release, the expansion for Pokémon Legends: Z-A…Mega Dimension! Players who purchase this new DLC will be able to enjoy it once they complete the base game’s main story. It will, of course, add a bunch of new Pokémon for you to catch and, more importantly, will introduce brand new mega evolved Pokémon, Z-A’s fancy new addition to the franchise’s (very confusing) lore.

Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Mega Dimension (Switch/Switch 2) – Releases Dec. 10^th

Developed by: Game Freak
Published by: Nintendo

If you aren’t all aboard the Nintendo hype train this year, there are a few other titles to check out. There’s a quirky rhythm game coming out called Unbeatable that might be fun. If you were a fan of the 90’s sports title Mutant League Football, the totally not related game Mutant Football League 2 is coming out of early access. If you’re longing for more 90’s nostalgia, Terminator 2D: No Fate will scratch that itch. The 90’s nostalgia continues further with Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return – Special Edition (this is technically 2000’s nostalgia, I guess). Finally, in other DLC news, do you remember when Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora came out last December? Sure you. Well, a new movie is coming out soon and the teams at Ubisoft have banded together to bring us From the Ashes, a story expansion for the game; neat!

Unbeatable (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Dec. 9^th

Developed by: D-Cell Games
Published by: Playstack

Mutant Football League 2 (PC – leaving early access/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Dec. 10^th

Developed by: Digital Dreams Entertainment
Published by: Digital Dreams Entertainment

Terminator 2D: No Fate (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Dec. 12^th

Developed by: Bitmap Bureau
Published by: Reef Entertainment

Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return – Special Edition (PC/PS5/Switch/Switch 2) – Releases Dec. 15^th

Developed by: Whoopee Camp/Limited Run Games
Published by: Limited Run Games

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora – From the Ashes (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Dec. 19^th

Developed by: Massive Entertainment and all of…waves hand around…Ubisoft, I guess
Published by: Ubisoft

Ports and Expansions:

That’s not all the ports and DLC, though. The strategy game Victoria 3 is getting more content, the the Iberian Twilight “immersion pack”, which is heavily focused on the nations of Spain and Portugal. If you’re looking for something more grim dark for your Switch 2 than Pokémon, Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is coming to Nintendo’s fabulous little machine. Finally, in oddball ports, the previously Japan-only title Milano’s Odd Job Collection is making its way West, while old school PC players might be excited to see The Last Ninja Collection coming to Steam, with Bonus Games, even!

• Victoria 3: Iberian Twilight (PC) – Releases Dec. 11^th
• Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader (Switch 2) – Releases Dec. 11^th
• Milano’s Odd Job Collection (PC/Switch) – Releases Dec. 9^th
• The Last Ninja Collection + Bonus Games (PC) – Releases Dec. 18^th

Everything else:

I normally just post these and move on, but I wanted to bring up something interesting. On Steam, one of the most unique and rare PlayStation games of all-time is releasing, Tail of the Sun. Hailed as both a masterpiece and one of the worst games ever made, this port is, apparently, only available in Japanese. However, it’s so strange, and possibly easy to play without localization, that you should probably give it a look if you have a love for retro games. I tried finding a trailer for it but couldn’t so, instead, you’ll get a trailer for The Panopticon and you’ll like it!

• Farming Simulator Signature Edition (Switch 2) – Releases Dec. 9^th
• Storm Lancers (PC/Switch 2) – Releases Dec. 9^th
• A la Card (PC) – Releases Dec. 11^th
• Tail of the Sun (PC) – Releases Dec. 15^th
• Undeads (PC) – Releases Dec. 15^th
• Utawarerumono: ZAN (PC) – Releases Dec. 15^th
• The Panopticon (PC) – Releases Dec. 16^th

Notable Releases from 10, 20, and 30 years ago:

Games:

In notable games, 2015 saw the release of Yakuza 5 for the PS3 as a digital download, seeing Sega eschew a physical release because, well, Yakuza was not doing so hot in North America. Can you imagine that; the Yakuza series (now called Like a Dragon) not being major release with tons of hype surrounding it? It’s true! I was there!

Set about a year after the events of Yakuza 4, the game has players, once again, taking control of series protagonist, Kazuma Kiryu. While he remains the main focus, Yakuza 5 allows players to control, at various times, four other characters, bringing the total number of protagonists to five, a record for the series.

It’s a shame that Sega opted for such a low key release for Yakuza 5 in North America, as the critical consensus was that it was not only the best Yakuza game in the franchise, but one of the best PS3 games of all-time. Famed Japanese publication Famitsu was so impressed with Yakuza 5 that they bestowed one of their rare perfect scores to it. Sales of the game in just the US are difficult to come by but, according to Wikipedia and VG Chartz, Yakuza 5 has sold nearly 600k copies since it was launched.

While the next title in the series, the PS3/PS4 title Ishin!, would initially skip North America (until it was remade and re-released in 2023, the next mainline title, Yakuza 0 would kind of reset the series and helped kickstart the franchise with North American players who were, finally, starting to “get” what these wacky brawlers were all about. We have been lucky to receive every new title series since then, both physically and digitally. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to make sure my chicken is selling enough real estate, tweak the settings on my slot racing car, ride a dolphin to my island resort, give a hostess a makeover, and punch a tiger in the face.

From 2005, we’ve got the fighting game Dead of Alive 4 for the Xbox 360. While not released on launch day, DOA4 is, as these companies like to say, part of the 360’s “launch window”. Releasing on New Year’s Eve, 2005, it was likely a game that many picked up just a week after they received the console for Christmas. Seen as the 360’s “killer app” in its early months, DOA4 took full advantage of Xbox Live, creating a lobby/hub space for players to congregate in (with cute little avatars) before matches. This was, according to Wikipedia, the first fighting game to have this feature which is, now, almost required in every new fighting game.

On top of that, DOA4 was the first 7th gen fighting game and the first 360 game to contain achievements that got you zero points (why?). It was a smash hit with both critics and fans, who, as I mentioned, called it the 360’s “killer app”, which they felt more than justified the purchase of Microsoft’s new console. It sold over 1 million copies in just six months and holds the #61 spot on the list of all-time, best-selling Xbox 360 games.

While DOA4 was a game of firsts, it was also a game of lasts; namely, this was the last game in the series to be exclusive to the Xbox. The next entry in the series, Dead or Alive: Dimensions, would arrive six years later as a launch title for the Nintendo 3DS, while the next mainline title, DOA5, would be cross-platform, releasing in 2012 for both PS3 and Xbox 360. Depending on your outlook, it’s either really neat or really lame that DOA4 is still console locked to the Xbox 360 (I guess you could make an argument that DOA: Dimensions is a quasi-remake). However, it is at least backwards compatible with the Xbox Series X|S, making it a easy enough game to play today, assuming you have that machine.

From 1995, we’ve got another “launch window” title, this time for the Sony PlayStation, the top-down shooter Loaded. Developed by the British company Gremlin Interactive and published by Interplay, Loaded was part of the wave of hyper-violent video games released in the wake of Doom and Mortal Kombat. Loaded (ha) with copious amounts of blood and gore, Loaded was, like, super sick, bro, perfect for the edgy, teenage fan that liked the fancy new PlayStation.

The game featured collaborations with a few well known comic book artists, including Garth Ennis and Greg Staples. Again, going right for the “edgy teenager” demographic from the get go. To help promote the game, Gremlin partnered with DC Comics to release a 12-page tie-in comic that introduced the game’s six playable characters and set up the (flimsy) plot. Critics were mostly pleased with Loaded and compared it favorably to the arcade game Smash TV. The game’s graphics and music were noted as highlights of the title, while the gameplay was knocked for being incredibly repetitive.

While the game had a unique art style, that same uniqueness could be said for the way it played. Players, though, were fans of Loaded, making it an early hit for the PlayStation. A port for the Saturn would arrive in October of 1996 while a sequel, Re-Loaded, would hit the PlayStation and PC in December of 1996. Loaded and Re-Loaded were also among the last games to be developed under the original Gremlin Interactive name, with the company being sold in 1997 to Imagitech and DMA Design (creators of Grant Theft Auto), before being purchased by Infogrames in 1999, who were bought by Atari in 2003, and ultimately ending up as a property of Warner Bros. Entertainment; so, I guess look forward to Zack Synder’s Loaded any day now.

Movies:

In notable films, 2015 saw the release of Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight, which does not star Paul Dano or Matthew Lillard (though I’m not sure why…). It does, however, star longtime Tarantino collaborator Samuel L. Jackson and a bounty hunter who is trying his damnedest to stay alive in a blizzard after a group of criminals attempt to free their cohort from another bounty hunter. What transpires over the next 168 minutes is a tense, often funny, often violent spaghetti Western homage that critics called one of the best films of the year. It was nominated for three Academy Awards, Best Supporting Actress (Jennifer Jason Leigh), Best Cinematography, and Best Original Score (which it also won).

From 2005 we have another critically acclaimed film, Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain. Released at a time when a film about a homosexual couple was still considered kind of, like, crazy, Brokeback Mountain is a modern Western and tells the story of two ranch hands (played by Heath Ledger & Jake Gyllenhaal) who fall in love in 1960’s America and the 20 year relationship they hide from the world. Hailed by several critics as the best film of 2005, and in subsequent years by many other critics as one of the greatest America films ever made, you would think it won Best Picture at the Academy Awards. It did not, that prize went to Crash (woah…).

While the acceptance of homosexuality was far better in 2005 than it was in the film’s setting of 1963, there were still people in America (even liberal pinko commie Hollywood) that just were not comfortable with gay people and their love (ick!). Mired in controversy from the start, Brokeback Mountain became a cultural lightning rod across America, igniting debates about how much “gay stuff” we should be allowing in our cinemas, THAT’S WHERE CHILDREN GO TO WATCH THE MICKEY MOUSE!

Powerful, moving, and a movie I still quote today (Jack NASTY!), Brokeback Mountain was one of the first mainstream films to tackle male, homosexual eroticism and love (yeah, other movies did too, but like, this was the biggest, okay?). It has been credited with helping to change the minds of many Americans in their view of homosexuals and led to an increased display of outward homosexuality in film & television. Going back to the Oscars, Brokeback had won three Academy Awards earlier in the telecast, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Score, and was assumed to be the Best Picture winner. Instead, we got the flaccid, toothless, dogshit Crash as our winner. What a fuckin’ world.

From 1995, we’ve got ANOTHER critically acclaimed film (weird, these always seem to come out near the time when people vote on the Oscars…), Dead Man Walking, starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn, written & directed by Tim Robbins (the actor?!). Based on the non-fiction book of the same name, the film tells the story of a death row inmate named Matthew Poncelet (played by Penn) and is a composite of two real-life murderers, Elmo Patrick Sonnier and Robert Lee Willie. Poncelet is visited by a nun, Sister Helen (played by Sarandon and based on the author of the book the film is based on), who tries to have Poncelet’s death sentence changed to life in prison.

Dead Man Walking is a mournful, powerful film that asks the audience to decide if killing another human being is a worthwhile cause, even if we judge them to be among the most heinous. Robbins and Sarandon courted controversy with the film as they were, in Robbin’s eyes, considered “too political”, even for Hollywood, and expected the film to kind of quietly be passed on by Academy voters.

Instead, the film received four nominations, Best Director for Robbins, Best Actor for Penn, Best Original Song for Bruce Springsteen and, its sole winner, Best Actress for Sarandon. It was in the 90’s that you started to see more challenging film receive Oscar nominations and, perhaps, showed a slate of films that were more in line with what audiences liked. Still considered among the greatest American film ever made, Dead Man Walking is a triumph (even if it might feel heavy handed), and is certainly worth a watch if you’ve never seen it.

Albums:

In notable albums, 2015 gave us King Push – Darkest Before Dawn: The Prelude from rapper Pusha T. This was his second studio album and had a plethora of “who’s who” 90’s, 2000’s, and 2010’s rappers and producers work on or guest on the album. Names like, Kanye West (hrm…), Puff Daddy (er…), Q-Tip (okay, phew), ASAP Rocky, Timbaland, J. Cole, Metro Boomin, and more.

The album was both a critical and commercial success, being called one of the best albums of 2015 (even this late in the year), and peaking at #20 on the Billboard Top 200. Pusha T, when asked about the album, considered it “Album of the Year”, and felt that his previous release was also “Album of the Year”, and that all subsequent releases would be their respective “Album of the Year”. Well, each album since have been hailed by multiple critics as the best of their release years, so I guess he wasn’t lying.

From 2005, we’ve got Inhuman Rampage, the third studio album from the metal band DragonForce. Known for their insane guitar solo’s and hyper fast songs, Inhuman Rampage was the band’s breakthrough album, reaching #103 on the Billboard Top 200, #18 on the Billboard Top Hard Rock chart, and #5 on the Billboard Independent chart. The album was so well received in the US that it went Gold.

The success of the album was likely a key factor in its inclusion on the track listing for 2007’s Guitar Hero III and it, in turn, helped make the song, and band, even more popular, making it into a pop culture icon. However, despite being so well known from Guitar Hero III, the band claims they only made about $3,000 from the game. Still, the exposure helped earn the band more fans, leading to their next album to peak at #18 on the Billboard Top 200, and saw (most of) their following releases enter the chart.

Closing things out this week, from 1995, is the album We Got It from R&B boy band Immature. Released at a time when kid rappers & singer were hot shit (once again), We Got It saw the group going a bit more “grown up” in their style and lyrics (but not by much; don’t forget, one of the members still called himself “Batman”). While the album was a commercial success, selling nearly 1 million copies, I can’t tell you a single song off of it. I mean, I was too busy being a hardcore punk rocker to pay attention to child singers. My girlfriend, on the other hand, who loves boy bands and R&B, well, she also didn’t know any of these songs either, womp womp. Sorry Batman.

Yakuza 5 (PS3) – Released Dec. 8^th, 2015

Dead or Alive 4 (Xbox 360) – Released Dec. 29^th, 2005

Loaded (PlayStation) – Released Dec. 15^th, 1995

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