Redbox is winding down the video game side of its rental business and will instead focus entirely on movie rentals moving forward.

The Verge nabbed an official statement from the company that confirms as much, though the brief comment doesn’t delve into much detail on why the company opted to stop offering video game rentals.

As of now, Redbox has already stopped offering video game rentals through the physical kiosks it has positioned in grocery stores and chain retailers according to a tweet from the business’ support account.

For the time being, ​Redbox will still offer games for sale through its kiosks, something it has done in the past to clean out older games and excessive stock, but will eventually discontinue that service as well in early 2020.

The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community.
The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.

[Video Game Deep Cuts is a weekly newsletter from video game industry ‘watcher’ Simon Carless (GDC, Gamasutra co-runner, No More Robots advisor), rounding up the best longread & standout articles & videos about games, every weekend.

This week’s roundup includes excellent pieces on the PlayStation’s 25th anniversary, multiple new 2019 ‘best of’ game lists, and great articles on Katana Zero, Shovel Knight, Knights Of The Old Republic modders, Mario Maker 2, and lots more.

Until next time…
– Simon, curator.]

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PlayStation: The First 25 Years (Jeff Cork / Game Informer – ARTICLE)
“The path from the PlayStation 1 to the upcoming PlayStation 5 lines up neatly, but only if you’re looking at it numerically. In actuality, for more than 25 years the PlayStation team has had to navigate some of the industry’s most difficult terrain.”

Paradox Interactive is Not Immune to Propaganda: Leftist Politics in Grand Strategy (Huntress X Thompson / YouTube – VIDEO)
“[The video is] about Paradox Interactive’s Victoria 2 & Hearts of Iron 4, and how they both include anti-anarchist and anti-communist messages that are suspiciously consistent with propaganda.”

How Katana Zero brought action into cutscenes (Alex Wiltshire / RockPaperShotgun – ARTICLE)
“When this action game halts its razor-fine combat to tell you its story, I sit forward. That’s down to its interrupt system, which lets me choose whether I want to hear NPCs out, or whether I want to tell them to shut up. “I honestly hope more games adopt the interrupt system, if nothing else because it just feels like a much better way to tell stories,” developer Justin Stander tells me. “It’s less reading and more doing.”

The 10 best video games of 2019 (Christopher Byrd / Washington Post – ARTICLE)
“In assembling this year’s top 10 list, I leaned toward the titles that surprised me with their forward-thinking aesthetics, challenges to convention or sheer ability to dazzle.”

What happens when you try to recycle a video game? (People Make Games / YouTube – VIDEO)
“We take a look at what happens when you try to recycle a video game, plastic box and all.”

How “randomizers” are breathing new life into old games (Scott White / Ars Technica – ARTICLE)
“After playing a classic game to the point of memorization, how do you recapture the sense of adventure and discovery you experienced the first time you played it? A small but growing community in the retro emulation scene is aiming to answer those questions with a class of mods and hacks called “randomizers.””

What a YouTube Copyright Strike From 2015 Has to do With ‘Mario Maker 2’ in 2019 (Patrick Klepek / VICE – ARTICLE)
“One of the coolest features coming to Super Mario Maker 2 is what Nintendo’s calling Ninji Speedruns, where you try to complete Nintendo-designed levels while racing against the scattered ghosts of other players. What makes the connection between McClure and Nintendo curious is the video Nintendo directed a copyright strike at on McClure’s channel.”

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare… 12 Years Later (Raycevick / YouTube – VIDEO)
“[SIMON’S NOTE: feedback from a dev in the comments on this excellent video: ‘Ex IW dev, current Respawn dev here. Thank you for this. It was a lovely trip down memory lane. <3’.]”

The 30 Best Videogames of 2019 (Garrett Martin & Paste Games writers – ARTICLE)
“Did you know that a certain number of games this year shared some similarities, either incidental or fundamental, that are in no way unique to this year or each other, and that that’s enough for me to draw a tenuous and surface level connection between them? Rad. 2019: what a year for games and the people who have to hit word counts about ‘em!”

How Sony bought – and squandered – the future of gaming (Sean Hollister / The Verge – ARTICLE)
“Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: a video game platform that lets you play games with the press of a button, no need for discs or downloads. Tap on a YouTube ad for a game, and you’re instantly playing in your web browser. [SIMON’S NOTE: part of a gigantic PlayStation 25th Anniversary set of articles.]”

Classic Postmortem: GoldenEye 007 (Martin Hollis / GDC / YouTube – VIDEO)
“In this 2012 GDC Europe Talk, Martin Hollis shares how his team created Goldeneye 007, the biggest release for the N64 without Mario in its title, and how what started as a Virtua Cop-style on-rails project became the legendary FPS that paved the way for console shooters like Halo and countless others.”

51 top games in soft launch: From Marvel Super War and Disney Sorcerer’s Arena to Minecraft Earth and Tetris Royale (Matthew Forde / PocketGamer.biz – ARTICLE)
“An important part of the shift to a games-as-a-service approach, the soft launch process enables developers to fine-tune their game, particularly in relation to meta-game mechanics such as time gates, in-game resources and psychological components. [SIMON’S NOTE: this constantly updated list is interesting because these iOS/Android games are often pretty high-profile/interesting & sometimes never even make it out of a regional iOS ‘soft launch’…]”

Clark Tank: Analyzing Steam Top 50 and Playing Automation Empire! (Ryan Clark / Brace Yourself Games / YouTube – VIDEO)
“Every third Friday at 1pm Pacific time we stay on top of the latest game industry trends by examining the Steam top 50, scrutinizing the latest Kickstarted games, and by playing the most prominent recent releases. [SIMON’S NOTE: loooots of good stuff in here as normal – look at the date stamps.]”

Marathon man: A Twitch streamer spent nearly the entire month of November live on camera (Gene Park / Washington Post – ARTICLE)
“Last century, George Mallory tackled Mount Everest “because it’s there.” In 2019, GiantWaffle spent 80 percent of November live on camera for similar reasons… On Nov. 30, Andrew Bodine, a popular variety Twitch entertainer who live streams under the handle of GiantWaffle completed a 573-hour streaming marathon on Twitch, sleeping no more than four hours a night while spending between 19 to 20 hours a day on camera.”

The modders who spent 15 years fixing Knights of the Old Republic 2 (Austin Taylor / Ars Technica – ARTICLE)
“Originally, Staniewicz and his team planned to fix one planet at a time and release them accordingly as they were completed. Once the team finished working on Nar Shaddaa, however, they decided to keep going and release their work as one large mod encompassing all the cut content.”

The Making of Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment, Part 3: Our Favorite Secrets and More (Yacht Club Games / USGamer – ARTICLE)
“It’s at this point that the team really starts scrutinizing the level as an organic unit, then revisiting everything one sequence at a time as we block in more final placements and smooth out rough parts. The result should be a ‘done’ level where only final touches remain! [SIMON’S NOTE: this whole series is great behind the scenes dev stuff!]”

The Tekken Hero Putting America on His Back (TheScore eSports / YouTube – VIDEO)
“Anakin has been around forever. He’s played in dozens of tournaments, repping Jack and America in even the hardest times. He’s a fan favourite, but right now? He’s North America’s greatest hope.”

Razer CEO Berated And Threatened His Staff, Former Employees Say (Cecilia D’Anastasio / Kotaku – ARTICLE)
“Min-Liang Tan was “officially pissed off,” he wrote in an email to members of Razer’s marketing team in February of 2014. The gaming hardware company hadn’t made the business website Fast Company’s 2014 list of “Most Innovative Companies,” and in his email, part of an exchange obtained by Kotaku, Tan asked of his marketing employees, “Are you guys fucking off?””

No Blood for Imulsion: Gears of War and the Military-Industrial Complex (Michael Goroff / EGM Now – ARTICLE)
“Early on in Gears 5’s campaign, an aging, gray-bearded Marcus Fenix says something that sounds like it was torn out of the pages of a Second Amendment rights pamphlet: “It’s not the weapons I don’t trust, First Minister,” he tells Jinn after she expresses concerns about resurrecting the Hammer of Dawn weapon system. “It’s the people who use them.” In other words, satellite-powered superweapons don’t kill people; people kill people.”

How the PlayStation changed video games forever (Polygon w/Archipel / YouTube – VIDEO)
“We sat down with four key former developers and businessmen from Sony to reflect on the original PlayStation, its creation and launch, and how the video game industry has changed over the past 25 years. [SIMON’S NOTE: the wonderful Archipel YouTube channel teamed up with Polygon for this one!]”

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[REMINDER: you can sign up to receive this newsletter every weekend at tinyletter.com/vgdeepcuts – we crosspost to Gamasutra later, but get it first via newsletter! Story tips and comments can be emailed to [email protected]. MINI-DISCLOSURE: Simon is one of the organizers of GDC and Gamasutra & an advisor to indie publisher No More Robots, so you may sometimes see links from those entities in his picks. Or not!]

These Season 9 Triumphs will be fixed in a future update and requirements will be lowered:
?"Challenges" won't progress with weekly challenge completion
?"Rituals" won't progress with weekly Gambit bounties or Infamy ranks
?"Engagement" won't progress with banked motes (6/7)

— Bungie Help (@BungieHelp) December 10, 2019

? Players must have linked an Obelisk to the Sundial to receive rewards at the end of the activity.
? Season of the Undying seasonal currency is not deleted from the Postmaster when the season ends. Players can manually delete this seasonal currency. (3/7)

— Bungie Help (@BungieHelp) December 10, 2019

? Progress may not count towards the “A Matter of Time” quest step if players return to orbit too quickly after completing the Sundial activity.
? The shields of Barrier Champions will not disappear if a player is using Divinity. (5/7)

— Bungie Help (@BungieHelp) December 10, 2019

? The seal for the “Savior” title incorrectly lists a requirement of 28 triumphs completed to unlock. The seal will unlock after completing the 15 triumphs listed in the seal contents.
? When standing in front of the Obelisk, players can be killed by enemies. (4/7)

— Bungie Help (@BungieHelp) December 10, 2019

When you think of coding, your first thoughts might be about highly specialized technical know-how. But did you know that effective coding requires skills like creativity, innovation and collaboration too – all of which will be hugely important for the workforce of tomorrow?

According to Microsoft research with McKinsey, the fastest growing occupations, such as technology professionals and healthcare providers, will require a combination of digital and cognitive skills such as digital literacy, problem solving and critical thinking. Young people having access to learning tools to improve both these sets of skills is crucial – a fact non-profit organizations like JA Europe recognize through their work to get young people ready for the future of work. If young people are given the opportunity to develop their digital skills, the European Labor Market will see significant benefits when they move into the workforce. According to a LinkedIn Economic Graph report, AI Talent in the European Labour Market, training and upskilling ‘near-AI’ talent could double the size of the current AI workforce in the EU. It also found that AI skills are concentrated in a small number of countries and that this must be addressed to reduce the digital skills gap in Europe.

In conjunction with Computer Science Education Week which began yesterday and extends to December 15, Microsoft continues its multi-year commitment to Hour of Code, a global movement that introduces students to computer science and demystifies what coding is all about. Activities are running across Europe to fuel imagination and demonstrate how these skills could be used to solve some of the world’s biggest problems. As such, code has the power to turn anyone into an everyday superhero.

To bring this to life, Microsoft is inviting young people to ‘save the day’ through Computer Science. Created in partnership with MakeCode, a new Minecraft tutorial combines code, Artificial Intelligence and problem solving skills. It is inspired by various Microsoft AI for Earth projects and encourages students to use their critical thinking skills to plot where forest fires could happen, put plans in place to stop them with AI and ultimately save the Minecraft village!

Since 2012, Microsoft has helped more than 137,000 young people and educators in Europe through Hour of Code events and programs. And, as the end of the decade draws near, we are keen to support even more people to get into coding and show how it can change the world. If you’re looking to help your children or students become coding superheroes, we have developed two training guides – one for students and one aimed at educators – no cape needed!

Go forth and code!

Whether you’ve been riding the Switch train since Nintendo’s hybrid handheld launched or you’re just jumping on board this Christmas, there’s no shortage of great games to play on Nintendo Switch or Switch Lite.

But which Switch games are the best? There are so many to choose from, but which Switch games should you play first? Well, we’ve combed through every main genre and plucked out three picks for the best games to pick up for Switch this Christmas. Most of these games have come out during 2019, but we’ve thrown in some evergreen titles for you, too, because we’re nice like that.

If you’re a fan of a particular genre, we’ve also included more suggestions in our lists – simply click on the headers to find a whole host of games of a similar flavour. These are great games for Christmas (but not just for Christmas), for someone who’s just got a brand new Switch or Switch Lite, or if you’re an existing Switch owners looking to fill in the blanks in your collection.

Please note that some links on this page are affiliate links, which means if you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale which helps support the site. Please read our FTC Disclosure for more information.

If you prefer your adventuring with fewer numbers on screen and a little more swashbuckling combat and action, here’s our pick of the best Action-RPGs on Nintendo Switch:

The Switch is the perfect console for some local co-op multiplayer on the TV or in Tabletop mode on the train. Just slide off the Joy-Con and you’re ready to go. Here are our favourite co-operative multiplayer games to play on the Switch:

If you like some digital fisticuffs, there are plenty of fighters to pick from, whether you’re a fan of old-school one-on-one fighting action or chaotic, party-based brawlers. Here are our choices for the best fighting games for Switch:

In the years since Switch first launched it’s built up a tidy catalogue of first-person shooters, from rereleased classics to ‘miracle’ ports from other current gen consoles onto Nintendo’s hybrid handheld. Here are our favourite first-person shooters on Switch:

If you’re a fan of things that go bump in the middle of the night, Switch has some brilliantly scary games to its name. Whether you prefer to play in portable mode with the lights on, or dock the console to the TV and turn the volume right up in a darkened room, here are the scariest games you can find on Switch:

There are racers, and then there are kart racers. While there’s one undisputed king of the kart on Nintendo platforms, there are a fair few others trying their hand at taking Mario’s karting crown. Here are the best kart racers on Switch:

While Switch makes local multiplayer matches a breeze, what about if your friends live miles away or you want to carry on playing against them when you get home? Fortunately there are plenty of fantastic online multiplayer options – here’s our pick of the best online multiplayer games on Switch:

Whether you’re throwing a party for family, friends or vague acquaintances, there are a whole host of great party games on Switch to get everyone into the fun zone. Take a look at our favourite party games for Switch:

Whether you’re a fan of classic 2D platformers or expansive 3D playgrounds, Switch has got you covered – here are the best 2D platformers as well as the best 3D platformers you’ll find on Switch:

Handheld consoles and puzzle games have gone hand-in-hand ever since Tetris was bundled with the Game Boy. Here are our picks for the best puzzle games on Switch to keep your mind occupied and your melon twisted:

We’ve already done karting, but here are our picks for the best racing games on Switch that don’t feature a kart, banana skin or pesky Blue Shell:

If you’re down for epic quests, turn-based battling and hours and hours of watching numbers go up steadily as your team grows ever-stronger, you’ll probably enjoy one of the many great traditional RPGs available on Nintendo’s console. Portability means you’re much more likely to be able to devote the required time to these gems, so check out our picks for the best RPGs on Switch:

The humble shoot ’em up has been a video game staple since the dawn of the medium, and Switch has become something of a haven for shmup fans. Check out what we consider to be the best shmups on Switch:

If you’re one who enjoys planning out an offensive against the enemy ahead of time down to the very last detail and surveying the battlefield from above, the selection of strategy games on Switch will have you in your absolute element. Here are our choices for the best strategy games on Switch:

Other Great Nintendo Switch Games

We’ve rounded up some amazing Nintendo Switch games by their respective genres above, but it would be remiss of us not to highlight these lovely Switch games released in 2019 which didn’t quite fit into the sections above.

We hope those set you on the right path at the start of your Switch journey, or help you plug some gaming gaps in your Switch library. Remember, if you’re after further recommendations be sure to click on the headings and you’ll find yourself with a larger list of fantastic Switch games in your chosen genre. Happy gaming, everybody!

Later this week, the 2019 Game Awards are taking place at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Although Reggie Fils-Aimé has now officially moved on from his role as Nintendo of America’s president, it turns out he’ll still be making an appearance at this year’s show. After all, he’s been a huge part of the industry since he walked out on-stage at E3 2004.

According to The Game Awards Twitter account, he’ll be one of the presenters:

Will he be part of something bigger, though? Some fans seem to think so – we’ll just have to wait and find out. What exactly he’ll be presenting has not yet been revealed, either.

The Game Awards 2019 is once again hosted by Geoff Keighley and is scheduled to take place on 12th December at 5:30pm PT / 8:30pm ET (so that’s 1:30am GMT the following morning). It will run for roughly two and a half hours and is expected to feature “around 10 new game” reveals.

Are you looking forward to Reggie’s on-stage appearance at this year’s Game Awards? Leave a comment down below.

Fortnite News

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The PlayStation 4 version of Minecraft is finally being updated to the unified, cross-platform-supporting Bedrock Edition tomorrow, it has been revealed. The news means that Minecraft fans playing on Switch will now be able to play with their friends who own the game on Sony’s machine.

The official Minecraft website goes into a little more detail in a message to PS4 players:

“The Bedrock version of Minecraft is the unified version of the game that offers the same experience across all consoles. All that glorious, unified code means that you’ll be playing the same game as your pals on Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Windows 10, and mobile! So, yes – that means you get cross-play between those different consoles.”

Nothing else changes for Switch owners – if your copy of Minecraft is up to date, you’ll already have the Bedrock edition of the game – but we have been treated to a look at how this PS4 update can improve Switch players’ lives in the trailer above. We all sit in colour co-ordinated rooms when playing our favourite consoles, right? What do you mean, ‘no’?

Minecraft’s been having yet another successful year, earning the title of being the most-viewed game on YouTube in 2019. Considering how long the thing’s been going, that’s a solid achievement.

Do you have any PS4-playing friends who will be ready to team up with you going forward?

Racing games can be great fun, but you know what can make them even better? Playing them with a replica steering wheel (and no, not the ones you sink your Wii Remote or Joy-Con into.) Just ask anyone who’s been to an arcade and played something like Mario Kart Arcade GP DX, Crazy Taxi or one of the many Cruis’n games. There’s something special about getting behind a wheel, slamming your foot to the floor and racing off into the sunset.

That’s why accessory manufacturer, Hori, is happy to be releasing not one, but two officially-licensed racing wheels for the Nintendo Switch: the Mario Kart Racing Wheel Pro Mini and Pro Deluxe. With these, you’ll be able to bring home a similar experience to playing your favourite racer in the arcade, and your little one can even have a wheel of their own. Awww.

Each of these wheels offers a very similar set of features (we’ll get to their unique features shortly) but their quality and size are really what changes most between the two different models. Right off the bat, you’ll be able to tell that the wheel on the Deluxe model is substantially beefier than that of the Mini (by roughly three inches.) Each wheel comes equipped with a number of buttons on the front to match the buttons found on a standard Switch controller, and feature two shifters on the backside of each wheel (which default functions are set to L and R buttons) that are perfect for boosting, drifting, shifting and lobbing items at your enemies.

You also won’t find analogue sticks on either of these wheels, however, there is a switch on the top of each wheel that allows you to change the input of the D-pad to the left stick or right stick, if you need it. Each of these racing wheels also come attached with a ten-foot USB cord that plugs straight into your Switch dock or USB hub.

Now sure, wheels are great and all, but it wouldn’t be a complete racing package without a set of pedals. Each racing wheel includes its own unique pedalboard that matches the size of their respective wheel and connects straight into the wheel with a cable similar to that found on an old-fashioned landline phone (someone found a way to repurpose some old cables, clearly). The pedals on the Deluxe model have quite a bit more resistance than those on the Mini, which not only makes them feel more realistic but also means the Mini model that much more child-friendly.

Now to talk specifics, we’ll start out with the Mini, which really is the perfect wheel for kids. The tension of the wheel is much more relaxed, the pedals shouldn’t give them much trouble to push, the turning radius is much smaller at 180 degrees and they’ll probably geek out at the fact that, unlike on the Deluxe model, the Mario ‘M’ in the middle of the wheel is actually a button that functions as the ZL button, which in Mario Kart fires off an item (or honks your in-game horn when you’re not holding one.) It’s a novel feature that kids will probably enjoy way more than we did.

The Mini wheel also has four suction cups on the bottom of its base that allow it to be attached to a hard surface for a more polished experience; however, like all suction cups in existence, they don’t always want to stay stuck when you need them to. The base is small enough though that the wheel can still be played comfortably resting in someone’s lap with little trouble. Also, the overall build quality does concern us a bit (especially as we know how kids can be); if this were to get stepped on or thrown too hard, the wheel could end up forfeiting its race career for good.

The Deluxe wheel really is the star of the show, designed with the more serious racer in mind. The wheel itself is much larger, snappier and features rubber grips, making it a more comfortable experience. Those aren’t the only tricks the Deluxe model has up its sleeve, though. The ZL and ZR buttons are actually set into the left and right wings of the wheel, allowing them to be pressed while steering, and the L and R Shifters are substantially longer, allowing for better ease of access when going around sharp corners.

The Deluxe model also includes five detachable suction cups and a separate adjustable clamp that allows the wheel to be fixed to any hard surface. The clamp is a real game-changer here and prevented us from being constantly worried by the thought of the wheel’s suction cups coming up off the table. The pedals on the Deluxe also have an extra flap underneath that flips out, helping keep the pedals stabilized during heated races.

During our first few rounds of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe with the Deluxe wheel, we felt pretty embarrassed by our skills as it took quite a bit of practice to get used to the wheel. But after a bit of digging through the manual, we realized that the Deluxe’s range of motion was much larger at 270 degrees, versus that of the Mini’s at 180 degrees. We felt that the shorter range of the Mini’s wheel was better suited for something like Mario Kart, and thankfully there’s a way to make the Deluxe wheel operate similarily. By holding the ZR and Assign buttons together for three seconds, you’re able to activate QuickMode, which shortens the range of motion of the wheel down to that of the Mini’s, which greatly improved our game.

Hori’s racing wheels are designed to be compatible with most standard racing games. The one we sunk the most time into, however, was Mario Kart 8, and it all worked perfectly. Some games, like Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled, use a different button layout for accelerating, boosting and tossing items. Thankfully, these wheels feature programmable buttons, so you can switch around each button and pedal press however you like.

Unfortunately, not all racing games will function properly with these wheels. A solid match of Rocket League requires the use of the camera and the ability to adjust the movement of your car mid-air, (you can use the D-pad on the wheel, but it’s less than intuitive) and after some testing, it just doesn’t seem like Rocket League is well suited for the wheel treatment.

We’re almost three years into the life of the Switch and we can see it’s amassing quite the library of kart racers and simulators; take into account the success of the Switch, and it’s only natural to see the release a traditional racing wheel on the system. We’re happy to see Hori catering not just to adult racers, but also to a younger generation with their release of the Mario Kart Racing Wheel Pro Deluxe and Pro Mini.

The Pro Deluxe definitely delivers the more definitive experience, with its sturdier build quality and additional features, but that’s not to say the Mini doesn’t have its own place in the race. Depending on your age or playstyle, these are both great ways to experience some of your favourite racers in a new way on Switch.

Please note that some links on this page are affiliate links, which means if you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale which helps support the site. Please read our FTC Disclosure for more information.