Raw Fury talks Publishing, Slowpoke rains in 2021

Pokémon Go rings in 2021 with Slowpoke

2020 is a year that will live on in infamy, and now it’s very nearly over. 2021 will hopefully be better, and it’s already off to a flying start with a customised Slowpoke appearing in Pokémon Go.

The lethargic Pokémon will appear with special New Year's glasses, celebrating both 2020 and 2021. How come? Well, Slowpoke is late to the party as always, according to Niantic. There will be other costumed Pokémon as well, with new avatar items and party hats as well.

Pokémon Go New Year event

• From December 31st until January 4th
• Festive costumes for certain Pokémon
• Slowpoke wearing 2020 glasses appear in the wild, raids after Field Research and hatch from 2km Eggs
• Slowpoke with 2020 glasses evolves into Slowbro with 2021 glasses
• Pikachu with New Year’s hat in the wild after Field Research, and 2km Eggs
• Pichu with New Year’s hat evolves to Pikachu with New Year’s hat
• Pikachu with New Year’s hat evolves to Raichu wearing a New Year’s hat
• Wynaut hatching from 2km Eggs, and Shiny Wynaut is possible
• Raticate, Wobbuffet, and Wurmple wear party hats in 1 star Raids
• Eevee with party hat a Field Research reward encounter
• 2021 Glasses and the New Year’s Party Hat for avatars on December 30th

Which Metroid remake did MercurySteam pitch to Nintendo?

a) Metroid
b) Metroid Fusion
c) Metroid Prime
d) Super Metroid

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.

Break this wall and it’ll break you

Crash Nitro Kart for Game Boy Advance had a rare but nasty bug that could get you stuck in a wall when navigating the hub. There was no way to get loose without either cheating or restarting the game.

The game was originally being developed by Traveller’s Tales as Crash Team Racing 2 and was supposed to introduce Nina Cortex, but Vicarious Visions took over the project and Nina Cortex ended up in Crash Twinsanity instead.

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

Over 13 million Cyberpunk 2077 sales

CD Projekt has announced early sales figures for Cyberpunk 2077, and it has done great in spite of all the controversy surrounding its launch.

Over 13 million units have been sold, even when counting in refunds. “This figure represents the estimated volume of retail sales across all hardware platforms (factoring in returns submitted by retail clients in brick-and-mortar as well as digital storefronts),” they explained.

Storm in a teacup: “The Management Board has decided to disclose the above information in the form of a current report due to its potential impact on investment-related decisions.” The statement was issued to help calm fears Cyberpunk 2077 was performing badly.

Road to recovery: Despite the angry players and the apparent hit to CD Projekt RED's reputation, Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the biggest game launches in history and CD Projekt is now focusing on rebuilding the trust it lost during the troubled launch.

Raw Fury shares its standard contract

Publisher Raw Fury has shared their standard publishing contract in a bid to increase transparency and show developers what to expect from a publishing deal.

They admit it's not the be-all-end-all of publishing agreements since contracts are typically negotiated, but it's still representative of what kind of agreements indie developers will be presented with.

Additionally, independent developer Jan Willem Nijman has written comments directly in the contract on Google Drive.

Costly ignorance: “We hope sharing this knowledge can help combat shady practices where predatory people and companies fleece devs by virtue of this knowledge being so scarce, trapping developers in bad deals through the obscurity of legal jargon,” said Johan Toresson.

Legal trendsetter: The contract is also available in multiple languages, although English is the primary language that the contract is legally executed in. Raw Fury hopes to “lower the barrier of entry” for developers by making more business resources available, and publisher WhiteThorn Games has already followed suit.

• Discover the world of the Pokémon Sword & Shield expansions in the mockumentary Explore the Galar Region, complete with Attenborough spoof
• Would you rather have a Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 remaster or remake? That is the question the very scientific community poll asks by the RTS Games Lovers group
• Xbox Games with Gold line-up for January 2021 revealed and includes Little Nightmares, King of Fighters XIII and Dead Rising
• Nordisk Games makes “sizeable investment” in MercurySteam and now holds 40% of the studio behind Metroid: Samus Returns
• Cyberpunk 2077 recreated as a PlayStation demake staying faithful to the slightly buggy launch version

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.

Here’s the Giveaway Code for Week 51, which will allow you to gain more points: 5362

Which Metroid remake did MercurySteam pitch to Nintendo?

ANSWER: Metroid Fusion!

Nintendo hasn’t made that many Metroid games, and maybe that’s why it’s such a beloved series – each entry stands out. MercurySteam, the developers behind games like Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and Clive Barker’s Jericho, are such big fans that they wanted to remake Metroid Fusion, a Game Boy Advance game with a surprising horror twist.

They pitched a remake to Nintendo, and Metroid creator Yoshio Sakamoto was impressed. He had been trying to get a 2D Metroid game off the ground for a while, so he enlisted MercurySteam to help out with Samus Returns. Passion and enthusiasm goes a long way!

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