More of this sort of thing! Mods appear so infrequently in console games that whenever they do pop up, I feel like a quick little shout-out of encouragement is in order. This time, we’re talkingCities: Skylines— the Xbox One version is getting its first batch of player-made creations on February 20. That’s tomorrow! “We’ve been hoping to share those contributions with our players on the Xbox One since launch, and thanks to the hard work from Tantalus and the great support from the Xbox team, we’ve got a selection of mods that have been curated, tested, and are ready to drop right into your cities tomorrow – all free of charge with the new update,” writes product manager Sandra Neudinger....

Earlier in the week, Activision and Red Octaneunveiled the next full title in theGuitar Heroseries, set to hit the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii later this year. Hidden in the PR, beneath the distraction of a star-studded track listing, was a small snippet that cause a few people to smash their keyboards in frustration: The exclusive Gibson guitars will include innovative features such as removable faceplates that will allow fans to later personalize their guitars and make it their own, and anew button color design that will be integratedfor an even greater authentic feel and rock experience....

It’s an unforgiving world out there for smaller studios V1 Interactive, the studio behind last year’s squad-commanding strategy shooterDisintegration, is shutting down this month. The FPS-meets-RTS game about robots with transplanted human brainsdidn’t review all that well, and five months after it was released,the multiplayer modes went offline. “We want to thank all the talented people at V1, both past and present, who helped make the last five years wonderful,” V1tweeted....

Maybe you’ll like what you see Not even two months after launching,Disintegrationis giving away its story mode for free. That is, provided you’re willing to dedicate a good chunk of the weekend to beating it. Disintegrationwill be free this weekend on all platforms (PC, PS4, Xbox One) without any sort of gates other than your personal freetime. It’s the full game, and the free period runs from Thursday, July 30 until Monday, August 3....

It’s 2005 again, and you’re coming home to a box of freezer-burnt pizza rolls and plastic pouches of Capri Sun. Booting up your desktop computer is like waking a slumbering beast—and the monitor is probably as large as one, too. Desktop size back in those days never accurately indicated operating power, but if you’re like me, you used that behemoth to run the most basic browser games. You had your classics:QWOP, Line Rider, Interactive Buddy....

Available from the Epic Games Store until September 3 We’ve had a lot to say aboutHitman 3lately, but in the current landscape of weekly game giveaways and subscription passes, it’s never too late to go back to older entries and catch yourself up. This week on the Epic Games Store, IO Interactive is giving outHitman(2016). The mischievous stealth playground was originally delivered episodically, but if you’re coming in nowadays, you won’t have to wait – you can jet around to Paris, Sapienza, Marrakesh, Bangkok, Colorado, and Hokkaido....

Highway to Hell… Doomfor Switch is pretty much the port that should not be. How is it possible that one of the largest games of 2016 (from a storage perspective) can even fit on a system with such limited capacity, not to mention on a retail cartridge? Aren’t Switch’s not even powerful enough to runDoom? Somehow, someway, Bethesda and Panic Button (this port’s developer) made the dream come true. Doomon Switch will be launching on November 10....

There are a number of vendors inFields of Mistria, and all of them come with a specific stock of goods. Balor has his Wagon, which is situated to the south of Mistria, and sells some useful items. The stock at Balor’s Wagon will change daily, so it’s always worth checking back each day. This is especially true near the beginning of a playthrough, as you could get lucky and find items needed for theMuseum, and Balor even sells items outside of the season in which they would usually spawn....

At least it has fun stuff Physical strategy guides might still be a thing in 2018, but they typically don’t cost more than the game they’re covering. Bethesda’s upcomingFallout 76, though, is getting a “Platinum Edition” guide from Prima that will run you around $115. That is certainly a lot of dough to pay for a game guide, but at least the bonus goodies included might sweeten the deal forFalloutmega-fans....

Sweet bliss Far Cry 5has been a game full of surprises for me – some good, some bad, some amazing. I ended up buying it on a whim the night before launch. Despite playing and liking everyFar Cryto date (evenPrimal!), I just wasn’t interested inFar Cry 5leading up to its release. I was skeptical of the doomsday cult angle. I wasn’t totally sold on the setting. I didn’t think I needed another Ubisoft open-world title right now....

Ramza, Agrias, and Delita get some very faithful figures Figures are a common bit of merchandise in the gaming world. The ones that stand out a bit to me, however, are those that really capture the look and feel of their subject and game. This new batch of Bring Arts figures from Square Enix, highlighting the protagonists ofFinal Fantasy Tactics, certainly fit the bill. Square Enix has revealed three upcoming Bring Arts 6″ scale figures forFinal Fantasy Tactics....

Jayne: Money wasn’t good enough. Mal: What happens when it is? If you were looking forward to the release ofNo Man’s Skyon the PC later this Summer, this deal ought to perk you up a bit. An unexpected11% dealforNo Man’s Skyhas just been spotted at FunStock Digital after a June voucher code appeared. This is the first price break we’ve seen on the upcoming August 9 release. You should note that by default FunStock Digital only shows British Pound prices, but they have a drop down menu at the top of their page letting you switch to see the converted US Dollars or Euros....

Available by way of update Holiday season or not, we appreciate getting freebies. Black Forest Games has put out a free Christmas-themed level forGiana Sisters: Twisted Dreamsthat owners of the game can grab from the Extras menu as of today. In addition to offering this content via update across Steam, GOG.com, GamersGate, and backer versions ofTwisted Dreams, the level itself will be a standalone download on both Steam and GOG.com. Consider this a nice supplement to the current demo for the game, unless you’re the obligatory Grinch in the family....