New Games |
- Hey 3DS owners, you need to check out PiCTOBiTS
- E3: Hamza tells us how he would have made The Darkness II
- E3: Scary LA woman asks Mr Destructoid to do pushups
- E3: Street Fighter III:3rd Strike's new features detailed
- E3: Destructoid Vs Capcom on Street Fighter X Tekken
- E3: Test Subjects Needed (Update)
- E3: Dynasty Warriors on PS Vita is a ... screen masher?
- Weekend Reading: Destructoid's full E3 coverage on 1 page
- Epic Games' sites and forums hacked, users warned
- Sell and buy used games (gasp) & get entered to win a 3DS
- Silent Hill HD Collection changes voice actors
- Daily Community Hotness: End of E3 2011
- Podtoid: The Big E3 One
- E3: XCOM looks way better than it did last year
- Live Show: A Very E3 Hangover
- E3: Hands on with Ninja Gaiden 3
- Sony will consider support for UMD games on PS Vita
| Hey 3DS owners, you need to check out PiCTOBiTS Posted: 11 Jun 2011 03:30 PM PDT What got me through E3 this past week was, surprisingly enough, my 3DS. No, I didn't get Ocarina of Time 3D early, and while cool in its own right, one can only extract so much joy from the new Pokedex 3D app. (Those 3D models are pretty damn cool, though.) Instead, it was a DSiWare title that I happened to pick up on a whim. This library was incorporated into the 3DS eShop launch early on in the week, giving all of those who skipped out on the DSi an opportunity to sift through a rather large pile of crummy games. But there are a handful of stand-outs, for sure. One by the name of PiCTOBiTS -- or PiCOPiCT, depending on your region -- belongs to the acclaimed Art Style series. It's so remarkable that I felt compelled to give it an extended shout-out here on the site. I almost never do that!
This game is the result of a collaboration between skip Ltd. and Nintendo, which is why you're seeing classic Nintendo sprites up there. NES gamers are going to feel right at home with this blast of nostalgia. Without delving too deep into the mechanics, colored blocks fall, and you're tasked with making matches of four blocks or more using the stylus. Upon each successful match, all falling blocks stop moving momentarily -- and then any leftover blocks from the formation you just cleared begin rapidly dropping to the bottom of the screen. There's a small window where, assuming you're quick enough, you can make yet another match to completely clear this falling formation -- or even make separate matches -- during the pause, or immediately following it. Doing so starts up a multiplier, so to get the truly high scores, you'll need to plan ahead and make a rapid chain of matches. This is important, because all cleared blocks are applied to the system's top screen to create retro game characters. Yeah, your overall goal is to finish "drawing" the level's iconic sprite (or sprites), pixel by pixel, using these matches. It's SO COOL. Such an appreciated take on the crowded genre. The end result is an easy to capture but hard to execute idea. Tremendously addictive, challenging stuff. Rounds are often quick, and successful runs are rewarded with spendable coins. (Of course they're coins. They always are.) These can be spent on harder "dark" versions of each level, and also on music in the game's jukebox mode. Oh yeah, about that music ... It's crazy good. The soundtrack is a bunch of remixes by the Japanese chiptunes band YMCK. Expect to hear tracks from Super Mario Bros., Balloon Fight, Devil World, The Legend of Zelda, and more. I tend to never mess around much with jukebox modes in games, but more than a few times this week I caught myself leaving PiCTOBiTS on repeat for background noise. So yeah, there it is. Hopefully you'll give PiCTOBiTS a proper look. Need more to go on? My boy Jonathan Holmes has your back with a full review. Be a good friend, and spread the word. It's, like, five bucks or something. Total impulse material. As for you, Nintendo, you best get to making a sequel. | ||||||||
| E3: Hamza tells us how he would have made The Darkness II Posted: 11 Jun 2011 01:30 PM PDT
The Darkness II has a sweet comic book style mixed with lots of blood and bullets. There are tons of awesome ways to rip, tear, and cut apart your enemies while simultaneously firing your two guns at them. That seems good enough for me, but not for Hamza. If it was up to him, he'd use an ancient evil of unimaginable power to sit around the house and be lazy. Come on, man, have some creativity! You can check out Hamza's ideas, as well as a lot of other new information, in his interview with Tom Galt of Digital Extremes, the developer for The Darkness II. The game will be out on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC come October 4, 2011. | ||||||||
| E3: Scary LA woman asks Mr Destructoid to do pushups Posted: 11 Jun 2011 12:30 PM PDT
Mr. Destructoid is super fit and can do a lot of push-ups as seen in this video from E3. It should be noted that this little woman is under that helmet. Thanks Dorian for rocking it! | ||||||||
| E3: Street Fighter III:3rd Strike's new features detailed Posted: 11 Jun 2011 11:30 AM PDT
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike is my favorite fighting game, so I was sold on this online-enable port from the get-go. Thankfully, it appears that Capcom was sure I'd be so easily sold on the game, as they've added seemingly endless amount of new features to the game, most of which are detailed above by Mr. Seth Killian. Also, this just in-- Simon Viklund of Bionic Commando Rearmed fame has remixed the entire 3rd Strike soundtrack for this re-release. I hate to say it, for fear of sounding like a fanboy, but I want this game just as badly as anything else I saw at E3. I can't wait to test my Ibuki and Yun skills on the virtual streets on the inter-webs. | ||||||||
| E3: Destructoid Vs Capcom on Street Fighter X Tekken Posted: 11 Jun 2011 10:30 AM PDT
Jesse Cortez and I took on Capcom's Seth Killian on their upcoming fighting game Street Fighter X Tekken. Part one of our mini-tournament is right up there, while part two is after the jump. Over the course of these videos, Seth does a great job on filling us in on the various systems and concepts that went into building the Street Fighter X Tekken, while Jesse and I remain focused on destroying master Killian once and for all. Spoilers -- this was my first time playing the game.
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| E3: Test Subjects Needed (Update) Posted: 11 Jun 2011 10:00 AM PDT [Update: Current theories suggest that this is either a promotion for The Dark Knight Rises or chewing gum. If I'd have known that at the time, I'd have shoved the envelope in the face of that polite young Asian lady.] During the last day of E3, I was handed a black envelope sealed with a "Confidential" sticker by a polite young Asian lady. As with all the stuff I get given to me, I was too nice to refuse and thus hastily crammed it into my bag. I finally opened it this morning. Contained inside was a weird optical slider thing that, when used properly, displayed the website address, TestSubjectsNeeded.com. On the back was an image of a wasp-like insects with its wings flapping. The site itself puts the user through a series of tests to determine their fitness for some mysterious experiment. It's also full of oddball, flashing imagery. It seems to be the start of an Augmented Reality publicity stunt for some type of game, but the game in question is yet to be revealed. Could be something awesome, could be something rubbish. You never know with these random E3 shenanigans. Something to keep in mind, though. | ||||||||
| E3: Dynasty Warriors on PS Vita is a ... screen masher? Posted: 11 Jun 2011 09:00 AM PDT Dynasty Warriors is one of the most enduring button mashers on the market, but thanks to the PlayStation Vita's overwhelming abundance of gimmickry, Omega Force can now introduce a new concept for its series --screen mashing! The above trailer reveals the new interface for Dynasty Warriors on the PlayStation Vita. Not sure how I feel about a game in which you touch random points on the screen to do everything, but if it's used to enhance a more traditional hack n' slash interface, I might be sold. Yes, I care about this sort of thing. | ||||||||
| Weekend Reading: Destructoid's full E3 coverage on 1 page Posted: 11 Jun 2011 08:35 AM PDT We hope you've enjoyed Destructoid's E3 coverage. Somehow there's 100+ more stories coming. Until then, here's all the news, videos, and previews we've uploaded so far. Enjoy. Also, do the Hamza. | ||||||||
| Epic Games' sites and forums hacked, users warned Posted: 11 Jun 2011 08:00 AM PDT Oh for f*ck's sake. Again, with this? Epic Games has become the latest victim in a wave of prominent game site hacks that have occurred in the wake of the PSN's return. The company recently warned site members that its various destinations and forums were broken into and that a number of passwords and emails may have been taken. Epic has reset all passwords and assured users that there's no further risk, since the company has never asked for credit card details. The Unreal Developer Network was left untouched. I wish the people behind them would stop if only for the fact that their bullshit could lead to some serious legal crackdowns on the Internet. I'd really rather the government and other authorities not become more interested in regulating the 'net than they already are, but this kind of crap encourages them. I'm not sure "owning" a videogame company is particularly worth drawing that kind of attention. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
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| Sell and buy used games (gasp) & get entered to win a 3DS Posted: 11 Jun 2011 07:23 AM PDT Destructoid is proud to bring you the laziest way possible to buy and sell games. We've partnered with Glyde and created The Destructoid BUY AND SELL GAMES THING. Why you should try it: you'll get way more money selling with us than trading in your games at retail stores. Unless Jim's coming over you can turn those seven copies of Dynasty Warriors into cash, people!
Selling is easy Unlike eBay, selling doesn't take 30 steps and photography. It works kind of like Netflix: Buy or sell something and the pre-paid mailers (pictured above) do all the work. Its almost too easy. Try it!
Our prices may surprise you Dare to compare! We're usually cheaper or the same price as the big guys. Plus, when you buy a game on Dtoid you might be helping another community member buy their next game. Try listing a game and see.
BONUS: Try it and you're entered in a drawing to win a Nintendo 3DS We're so confident you'll like our shop that we're giving away a virtual raffle ticket each time you list and sell a game (or) purchase a new or used game between now and July 30th. Destructoid earns a small commission for each transaction, which helps us pay for prizes and tacos. Plus, you make more dough for your games than at those strip-mall pawn shops. You know what I'm talking about.
Nintendo 3DS Contest rules: 1) You must either complete a purchase (buy something!) or list and complete a sale (sell something!) 2) You must be in the United States (sorry, we're working on this. Caramba.) 3) Winners will be selected by our partner at random and announced on our contest page and contacted over email with the address you have on file. If you do not respond within 10 days the contest resets and you forfeit your prize. You'd be surprised how often this happens. Its amazing. Good luck!
Want our game deals in the mail? Ok, we'll write some. We promise to not bother you unless we have something dirt cheap going on, and we'll never share your contact information anyone. In fact, we use a third-party service to manage and keep your email safe.
Let us know what you think in the comments below!
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| Silent Hill HD Collection changes voice actors Posted: 11 Jun 2011 07:00 AM PDT Konami has announced that it would be recasting the voice actors for Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3 on the HD collection. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the decision, but James Sunderland's original actor, Guy Chihi, has already formed an opinion -- and accused Konami of trying to duck out of paying him. "Konami knows that they owe me residuals for all previous unauthorized re-uses of my mocap and vocal performances," he alleged. "It would appear Konami is seeking to avoid further liability by changing the voice in their latest re-use of the SH2 materials. However, if any of my mocap appears in the new release, Konami will be liable for unauthorized reuse of my performance. Like Gump’s Momma said, 'Stupid is as stupid does.' It would have been much better for everyone had Konami simply made me a reasonable offer ... "I’ll get around to seeking compensation through the courts one of these days. I simply don’t have the time for it right now. I hope this doesn’t bum out any fans ... It’s just business as usual on the production side of games." This news is pretty crazy and has certainly dampened my excitement for the collection. Whatever one thinks of the voice actors, they were part of the original charm and I can't say I'm fond of having them cut out. I just don't know what Konami's damage is when it comes to Silent Hill lately. James Voice Actor Speaks Out About Silent Hill 2 HD Re-Casting [The Gaming Liberty] | ||||||||
| Daily Community Hotness: End of E3 2011 Posted: 11 Jun 2011 06:30 AM PDT While E3 is officially over, that doesn't mean our coverage is. In the coming days, the Destructoid team will continue to bring you the most important and entertaining stories from the convention. I had an absolute blast helping represent Dtoid at E3 this year, and I hope you have enjoyed all of our hard work. The Destructoid community has also been giving their impressions throughout the show over on the C-blogs and the forums. We always love to hear what you guys are thinking, so keep it up and check out all of the c-blogs below! C-blogs:
Forums: | ||||||||
| Posted: 11 Jun 2011 06:00 AM PDT A number of Destructoid editors closed E3 in style -- with an all-star Podtoid recording! Jonathan Holmes, Max Scoville and myself are joined by Hamza Aziz, Hollie Bennett, Conrad Zimmerman, Tony Ponce, Bob Muir, Jesse "Tactix" Cortez, Niero Gonzalez (briefly) AND Retro City Rampage creator Brian Provincian who has some AMAZING news concerning his game and Destructoid. Join us for hot E3 discussion, including Skyrim, Halo, Ninja Gaiden 3, the Wii U, Sonic Boom, Battlefield 3, and much, much more. As always you can subscribe via iTunes or RSS, or directly download. | ||||||||
| E3: XCOM looks way better than it did last year Posted: 11 Jun 2011 05:30 AM PDT
The team at 2K Marin started working on the XCOM reboot shortly after finishing BioShock 2, so it's understandable that they were still working in that mindset. Nonetheless, many fans of the dormant strategy franchise were disappointed that their beloved strategy game was being turned into yet another FPS. 2K Marin took the hint. The new build of XCOM has really kicked up the tactical element and features a mode where you can slow combat down to a crawl to give you enough time to make complex decisions. You can also capture enemy tech like it's a pokemon and use it in different ways against your enemies. The game is back on my radar, and it might be for you as well after you watch Hamza's interview with producer Drew Smith! Update: A video with the correct audio mix was uploaded. | ||||||||
| Posted: 11 Jun 2011 05:00 AM PDT [Saturday Morning Hangover airs every Saturday from 10AM until Noon Pacific on Destructoid's Justin.tv channel] E3 is kind of like Christmas to a lot of gamers. We come running downstairs to our computers and are shown all manner of wonderment as a seemingly endless stream of announcements and reveals tantalize the senses. It's a very magical time indeed. Now that it's all over, I'm more exhausted than a five-dollar whore after shore leave. Let the Hangover commence. Come join Jordan Devore, Katrina and myself for the week's Xbox Live Indie Games releases, including the hotly anticipated Techno Kitten Adventure. Afterwards, we'll put another dent into Aperture Laboratories by flinging dispensable robots against the wall until one sticks in Portal 2 co-op while we talk all up and down the big show last week with you and the goons in the live chat. It's all happening right now over on Destructoid's Justin.tv channel! | ||||||||
| E3: Hands on with Ninja Gaiden 3 Posted: 11 Jun 2011 04:00 AM PDT Team Ninja is under a lot of pressure. Developing a Ninja Gaiden game without Tomonobu Itagaki, appealing to a demanding hardcore fanbase, and facing stiff competition from the likes of God of War and Devil May Cry, it's fair to say that the studio has a lot on its plate and there's an intense need to deliver. "It's a good pressure," insists producer Yosuke Hayashi, when asked whether his team is coping with the strain. "We know about those other games, we've played them. Our goal is to be the best action game available." Whether Ninja Gaiden 3 achieves that goal remains to be seen, but one thing's for sure -- this is going to be the most divisive game in the series. Ninja Gaiden 3 is a darker look at series protagonist Ryu Hayabusa, and deals with the theme of taking human life. Over the course of the Ninja Gaiden series, Ryu has killed a lot of people -- I'd say roughly half the population of China -- and this game sees Ryu face that fact and deal with the consequences. Part of this theme is in the game's lack of over-the-top gore. According to Hyashi, Ninha Gaiden 3 wants you to "feel what it's like to actually cut somebody with a sword." With this in mind, Ryu doesn't just lop off random limbs. Instead, bodies are left covered in gaping wounds and gashes as they stagger around in their death throes. Despite the lack of silly gore, it can be said that the enemies still die in significantly painful and grisly ways. Also in keeping with the game's central premise is Ryu's new arm. The genocidal protagonist has been cursed with an arm that channels the energy of all the souls he's killed. In gameplay terms, this allows you to fill a meter that unleashes a devastating attack on multiple enemies once you hold down and charge the Strong Attack button. It's all very flashy and there's plenty of blood, although it does lead to one watching the action, rather than interacting with it. Hopefully this arm plays a larger gameplay role than a simple attack. I'd be interested to see if they can tie in a risk/reward situation where Ryu has to pay for using his new powers. It would make sense if that power is generated by people he's killed. At first, Ninja Gaiden 3 looks set to be taking a leaf out of Ninja Blade's book, featuring a ton of Quick-Time-Events. It was explained that the demo stage also acts as a tutorial and that what looks like QTEs are actually button instructions. Over the course of the game, the prompts will disappear and players should naturally know what to do. That's what Team Ninja insists at this stage, anyway, and they have promised that the title won't be the QTE-fest that some have feared after experiencing the demo. The demo takes place in London and starts with Ryu leaping from Big Ben and into a crowd of enemies. Pressing a shoulder button allows him to quickly take one enemy out, but the rest of the foes are fought in a traditional slice 'em up fashion. Although I am sure the full game features deeper fights, I have to say that on Normal difficulty, I got through a lot of the presented combat with button mashing. For a regular action game, this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but fans will definitely be put off by what I feel is a lowered challenge and less of a focus on blocking and countering. There is still an opportunity for skillful martial prowess, and later enemies in the demo did require a deft use of the block button, but most enemies were dispatched -- and in a visually impressive fashion -- without me having to care much about what I was doing. Hayashi says he doesn't want to alienate hardcore fans, but that he also wants to find a way to bring all types of players to the series without so much relying on the concept of "Easy" and "Hard" difficulty levels. I have absolutely no idea how Team Ninja is going to pull that off, but more power to them! Ryu has all the tools needed to succeed, as usual. His sword skills are as flash as ever, and within moments you'll be stabbing people in the guts, juggling them into the air, and dashing back and forth to slice into several foes multiple times. Ryu can also slide kick, which is used to both dodge attacks and knock enemies over. Of course, he can also throw his trusty knives to keep enemies staggered. Several sections involved Ryu hooking into a wall with both hands and scaling it with timely shoulder button presses. Pressing the movement stick left or right allows Ryu to dodge projectiles tossed down by enemies, and he can also lob a knife up at his attackers to send them tumbling down past him. It takes a little while to get used to these sections, but I found them oddly amusing once I had a handle on it. In many ways, it feels that Ninja Gaiden has simplified itself somewhat to become more of a hack n' slash title than it previously was, and as a fan of hack n' slash games in general, I can't say I had a bad time. It was pretty fun, but I feel those more purist than I in their love for Ninja Gaiden may be left wanting more. If you just want to kill a bunch of guys, however, then this will definitely sort you out. An amusing irony, since this game is about Ryu suffering for killing a bunch of guys. The demo featured an interesting little stealth section. Ryu can sneak behind enemies and murder them with a single button press, and part of the opening level takes place in a dense fog that Ryu can silently walk through. Should he run, or engage in full combat, he gives his position away to a group of rocket troopers who will send missiles to his location. It was a neat little section, although the rockets were suitably irritating. Two boss fights also featured. One was a fairly standard encounter against a spider-like mech that directed machine gun fire at the ground and periodically sent out an electified shockwave. To take it down, Ryu had to hack at its legs to shatter the armor, then slice the limbs off individually with some button mashing. The second and final fight was a lot more like a true Ninja Gaiden encounter, as dodging, blocking and countering attacks were necessary in order to fight off an extravagant masked Englishman. This fight, was far more satisfying than anything else in the demo, and is hopefully a good indicator of where the full game is going. Ninja Gaiden 3 is going to generate a lot of discussion when it's finally finished. I think a lot of fans will hate it just because they're fans, and I think a lot of them will love it for the same reason. As a more casual appreciator of Ninja Gaiden, I can say that the demo was certainly enjoyable for what it was, but I can understand why some wouldn't be so keen on it. The jury is very much still out on this one. I will keep my fingers crossed and hope for very good things. | ||||||||
| Sony will consider support for UMD games on PS Vita Posted: 11 Jun 2011 03:36 AM PDT I've talked before about how I hope all my lovely UMD-based PSP games will somehow work on the PlayStation Vita. Sony has not said much about how they would offer up support since the product announcement, but a new blurb in a PlayStation Vita FAQ gives me hope.
That's far from confirmation, but it does at least sound positive. The FAQ also states that they have no plans to bring any kind of UMD reader out for the device. Sony says that they'll continue the push to get UMD games released on their new game medium. Stay tuned and keep your fingers crossed. |
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