Gamers Prefer Singleplayer, Lost Superman Prototype for PS1

Sony discovers single-player preference

Sony compiled a report on their customers’ game playing habits and shared it with developers in 2019, and now it has appeared online.

Vice got their hands on the presentation, but can't share everything since it would reveal their source. The most interesting finding is that the majority of PlayStation 4 players prefer to play offline.

That flies in the face of EA's recent declaration that single-player experiences are headed for extinction, and explains why Sony is investing so heavily in single-player prestige games.

The research also shows what problems PlayStation 5's Activities feature was designed to solve, with gamers reporting the following concerns about playing games:

• "No idea how long I might need, don't play unless I have 2+ free hours"
• "Takes a lot of time to scan through long help videos when stuck"
• "How to engage socially without risk of spoilers"
• "Forgot what I was doing in this game last time, hard to get back in"

Solo play: So there you have it, proof that most time spent playing is offline, leading Sony to state that “single player is thriving”. This certainly explains why games like Marvel’s Spider-Man and Ghost of Tsuhsima have enjoyed such strong sales.

What is the final puzzle in Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors?

a) Go
b) Chess
c) Sudoku
d) Baccarat

The answer will be revealed at the bottom of today's issue. Join up with our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss what the answer could be.

Duke Nukum takes legal risk down to zero

Apogee Software’s legal department kept a nervous eye on the animated series Captain Planet and the Planeteers, which happened to feature a character named Duke Nukem.

To make themselves less of a target, Apogee decided to release a second version of the original Duke Nukem under the name Duke Nukum. Fortunately, everyone’s favorite hero got his name back after Apogee’s legal team discovered that Duke Nukem had never been trademarked. Always bet on Duke!

Join our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss today's fact.

Season of Celebration for Pokémon GO

December is a busy time for Pokémon trainers, especially now that the Season of Celebration is underway.

Season of Celebration is a major event that will be running until March next year, while the Pokémon Winter Fest features loads of minigames alongside Mythical Pokémon Missions and over 980 badges to earn.

Pokémon GO

• Season of Celebration begins today
  • Different spawn rates depending on the season
  • Raids also shift depending on the season
  • Growlith & Wingull hatch from 2km Eggs, Baltoy & Ducklett from 5km Eggs
  • Seel, Aron and Elgyem no longer hatch from Eggs
  • Mega Charizard X more powerful in first half of December
• New level cap for all Level 40 trainers
• New sets of Timed Research for Level 40 until December 31st
• December's Community Day on December 12th and 13th
• Espurr appears in special 1 Star Raid Battles

Pokémon Masters EX

• Battle Buffet Bash event begins
• Gloria & Zacian Sync Pair Scout

Pokémon Sword & Shield

• Wild Area Event shift
  • Bug and Poison-type leave boosted raids, replaced by Ice and Fire-types
  • Includes Gigantamax Centiskorch and Gigantamax Lapras
• Ranked Battle Season 13 Series 7 now live until December 31st
  • Ruleset adds The Crown Tundra Pokémon
  • Returns 16 Pokémon banned from previous season
• Ranked Battle season 11 has concluded and rewards are available

Unreleased Superman port takes flight

Superman 64 for Nintendo 64 is infamous for being the worst game ever made, but now a PlayStation port has been discovered and released. Is it even worse?

The launch was celebrated on DeviantArt since one of their users won the game in an eBay auction. The Nintendo 64 version was released in unfinished state due to a less than amicable relationship between developer Titus and Warner Bros.

Prodigal prototype: The PlayStation port was scheduled for launch in 2000, but it got swept under the carpet after Superman 64 was universally panned by critics. The PlayStation port is not exactly a finished product, so it's unlikely to play or even work particularly well.

Game of Steel: There haven't really been any good Superman games – even Rocksteady Studios' attempt got shot down by Warner Bros, who were nonetheless happy to greenlight Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, where Superman is a villain.

• Switch update 11.0.0 adds new online features like Trending, prioritising downloads and transferable media
• The Xbox Series X/S November update is being rolled out and includes “Optimized for X|S” badges and Game Pass preloads
• Aksys Games announce Idea Factory visual novels for Switch from are finally coming to the West in February next year
• New Tetris 99 18th MAXIMUS CUP gameplay footage brings the Super Mario 35th Anniversary celebration to Tetris
• Cyberpunk 2077 E3 trailer recreated in World of Warcraft shot by shot to become ‘World of Cyberpunk’

As we head into the end of the year, we're going to be giving away a PlayStation 5 to one lucky reader. The winner will be revealed in the Christmas eve issue of DailyBits.

You can find out more about this giveaway on our dedicated page.

Here’s the Giveaway Code for Week 49, which will allow you to gain more points: 1288

What is the final puzzle in Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors?

ANSWER: Sudoku!

The Zero Escape games are pretty wacky: They mix pseudo-science, escape room puzzles and brutal traps to create mind-bending adventure games. That makes it extra surprising that 999 ends with something as mundane as a Sudoku puzzle. There’s a reason for it, but it’s a bit complicated to get into here. Suffice to say, it involves multiverses and conspiracies involving shady business conglomerates.

If that sounds like your idea of fun, you should check out the games. The stories are perplexing and the stories are odd to say the last, but there’s really nothing else like them and they are available on PC PlayStation 4, Vita and Nintendo DS.

Today's issue of DailyBits was written by Gavin Herman, Erlend Grefsrud, Simon Priest, and Jamie Davey.

We hope you've enjoyed today's issue DailyBits! Please feel free to send any feedback over to team@dailybits.news. Thank You!