New Games

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• Call of Juarez: The Cartel wants to show you co-opetition
• Sell and buy used games (gasp) & get entered to win a 3DS
• List of exhibitors at gamescom 2011
• Take a look at the new 'Annihilation' maps in Black Ops
• Live Show: Backlog continues Parasite Eve II
• 4J Studios is working on Minecraft for XBLA
• Sonic is an old party hog
• IT'S DRAGONITE!!
• Spotlight on Transformers Universe
• L.A. Noire's Nicholson Electroplating case gets a trailer
• Oh, hello! There's a new Nintendo 3DS system update
• Dance Central 2: The Hamza edition
• Live show: Mash Tactics plays Moon Diver
• Review: Alice: Madness Returns
• You're free to play with the Kinect for Windows SDK beta
• The Official Destructoid Review Guide 2011
• PSA: Nintendo Points cards won't work on 3DS eShop

Call of Juarez: The Cartel wants to show you co-opetition Posted: 16 Jun 2011 04:30 PM PDT Can't see the video? Click here Call of Juarez: The Cartel has three player co-op, but according to this trailer there is also plenty of competition to go around if you want there to be. As a Western movie buff, I'm still not over the fact that they took one of the few decent Western game franchises into the modern era. X-COM? Loved it. XCOM? I'm close to being over that game having that name. It's a game about shooting aliens, harvesting and researching alien tech to use against them, and managing a team. So far, at least some of those elements seem to be in XCOM. So fine, whatever, let's see what they make of it. It might be a good game even though it's not X-COM. The Cartel though? I don't see any traces of the Western setting that made the Call of Juarez games stand out in the crowd. Those who played the past two games might see some familiar FPS gameplay going on, and some of the "enemies running between trees in a tree-infested hilltop area" stuff that wasn't quite the highlight of Bound in Blood. It's weird, but I just feel almost nothing for The Cartel. No rage, no disappointment, no giddy anticipation. It just seems to be "there," and if anything, I feel more confused about why it is called Call of Juarez and what it's supposed to be. Maybe time will tell when it's released on July 19th, 2011.

Sell and buy used games (gasp) & get entered to win a 3DS Posted: 16 Jun 2011 04:15 PM 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. sign up for our discount games newsletter * indicates required Email Address * Close Can't see the video? Click here   Let us know what you think in the comments below!   We'd love to know what you think of our shop.  Please send us your feedback, wishlist, and suggestions.

List of exhibitors at gamescom 2011 Posted: 16 Jun 2011 04:00 PM PDT Everyone and their mom is showing off something at the 2011 gamescom, set to go down in Cologne on August 17th. The big three will be there, as will just about all of the third parties. I've been writing about games for forever and there's still a few I've never heard of. You can find the list we nabbed from GoNintendo after the jump. Last year's gamescom was a huge success. Officials bragged that the 2010 event had the highest attendance of any game show ever. We'll see if they can top last year's numbers. We'll also see if I can finally go and get down with some of those german girls, beer and sausage. Oh, and play games. Of course. Electronic Arts THQ Take-Two Bethesda BigBen Interactive Capcom Asus CD Project Red Sony Ubisoft Konami Koch Media Namco Bandai Hama Alternate Valve Razer Parrot City Interactive Microsoft Nintendo SEGA Warner Bros Rondo Media dtp Entertainment Avanquest Vidis NCSoft Gameforge Frogster Trion Worlds Nexon Wargaming.net Ubisoft GamersFirst

Take a look at the new 'Annihilation' maps in Black Ops Posted: 16 Jun 2011 03:30 PM PDT Can't see the video? Click here The next map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops was announced and it's going to bring four new versus maps plus a zombie map too. The downloadable content is hitting Xbox 360 owners first on June 28 and will run you $15. Here's a video and new screens to show you what you can expect and ... ARE THOSE ZOMBIE MONKEYS?! AWESOME!

Live Show: Backlog continues Parasite Eve II Posted: 16 Jun 2011 03:00 PM PDT [Backlog is the ongoing quest to rid Conrad Zimmerman's collection of unfinished games. As voted on by the Destructoid community, Conrad plays each game from start to finish live on Destructoid's Justin.tv channel every weeknight at 8pm Pacific] Still in the Mojave, still making slow progress. God I hate my life. It's a good thing I have all of you there to keep me sane. We're playing Parasite Eve II right now on Backlog. We're kicking out the jams and listening to the utter lack of voice acting and proper music in this game. This was the pinnacle at one point, people. Soak it in. Come hang out with me and the goons in our live chat as we play live and marvel at old graphics. It's all going down over on Destructoid's Justin.tv channel!

4J Studios is working on Minecraft for XBLA Posted: 16 Jun 2011 02:30 PM PDT We know that the Kinect-compatible version of Minecraft for Xbox 360 will be an Xbox Live Arcade title, which should be a good indicator for how much it'll eventually cost when it hits this holiday. It's now been divulged that 4J Studios is the company behind the game. That's the same team who did an amazing job porting the Banjo-Kazooie games to XBLA, among other things. I feel better about this project already, knowing they're doing it. I'm incredibly curious to see how much of the ever-expanding PC version makes it into this Xbox 360 release. I mean, it could be totally bare bones and people would still eat it up. Should be interesting. Minecraft for Kinect is an XBLA title, ported by 4J Studios [Joystiq] [Image]

Sonic is an old party hog Posted: 16 Jun 2011 02:00 PM PDT Can't see the video? Click here Our friend Sonic the Hedgehog is all grown up. In dedication of his twenty years of accomplishments, I made this video. Now if I can only convince Sega to give me some cash to take Sonic out for his crazy 21st Birthday, we may end up in a bathtub in Mexico with our kidneys gone.

IT'S DRAGONITE!! Posted: 16 Jun 2011 01:30 PM PDT Can't see the video? Click here B*TCHES LOVE DRAGONITES! [Created by YouTube user AMTRAX91]

Spotlight on Transformers Universe Posted: 16 Jun 2011 01:00 PM PDT Can't see the video? Click here All I want for Christmas is a robot car!!! Jagex and Hasbro have teamed up to bring this killer property to the MMO world. Yes, Transformers Universe the MMO is coming in 2012, and yes, it does have lady transformers. Learn more about this game from Kris Jones, the executive producer of Transformers Universe.

L.A. Noire's Nicholson Electroplating case gets a trailer Posted: 16 Jun 2011 12:30 PM PDT Can't see the video? Click here Want someone to yell at you? Click the play button. This is the trailer for the impending "Nicholson Electroplating" arson case for L.A. Noire. An explosion spanning six blocks has occurred, and it's up to Cole Phelps to pick up cigarettes and rotate them. This add-on case hits PlayStation Network and Xbox Live on Tuesday, June 21. It's $3.99 (or 320 points, if you're speaking Microsoft's language); those with the Rockstar Pass can download it for free, however.

Oh, hello! There's a new Nintendo 3DS system update Posted: 16 Jun 2011 12:00 PM PDT Nintendo has pushed out a surprise (but small) update for the Nintendo 3DS. So if you try to log on to that eShop -- you know, to get all of that awesome stuff that was released today -- you'll have to first download this update.  What does it do? Well, if you'd already updated last week, not all that much. Nintendo has released the basic "improvements to overall system stability and other minor adjustments to enhance the user experience" line, which is meaningless to most people. But it seems mainly to fix a bug with Ridge Racer 3D that was causing system freezes, so that's kind of important.  A full list of changes and details can be found below, for those interested.  Nintendo 3DS Menu 2.1.0-3U If you currently have update version 2.0.0-2U, this update provides: Further improvements to overall system stability and other minor adjustments to enhance user experience A correction for the screen freeze symptom experienced in the Ridge Racer 3D game You can receive automatic updates when a wireless internet connection is available. When the download is complete, you will receive a dialog on the HOME Menu detailing the steps to install the update If you have not completed the update released on June 6, version 2.0.0-2U, this update will add the following new features: Nintendo eShop Internet Browser Transfer functionality to move DSiWare™ from Nintendo DSi™/Nintendo DSi XL™ systems to the Nintendo 3DS™ system Automatic system updates Improved stability and performance of the overall system Another 3DS system update? UPDATE (lol) [GoNintendo]

Dance Central 2: The Hamza edition Posted: 16 Jun 2011 11:30 AM PDT Can't see the video? Click here I love Kinect even if I do only use it for impressing my Mum and playing lots of Dance Central. So what else do you do when you see the Dance Central 2 booth at E3? You grab the most metrosexual guy on staff and play Usher.

Live show: Mash Tactics plays Moon Diver Posted: 16 Jun 2011 11:00 AM PDT Moon Diver, what an awesome name! Today on Mash Tactics we will be jumping and slicing our way into this title available on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. You can check us out every weekday at 4PM PST on Justin Tv. We will be playing this game for the first time so get their early the see our initial impressions. [Join us for Mash Tactics every weekday at 4PM PST on Justin.Tv/Destructoid to watch live streams of new game releases and crazy antics with industry guests. Come join us on the chat and see what all the fuss is about! Want to get involved? We are always looking for community content to showcase. If you would like us to read your C-blog post or show off your original Dtoid art, we would love to see it. Get your voice heard by guest starring on one of our many community focused shows. Still want more? With a little bit of consistency, dedication, and responsibility, you too can have your own show on the official Dtoid channel! Join us in chat on Justin.Tv/Destructoid to find out how you can be a part our great expanding community.] Watch live video from Destructoid on Justin.tv Can't see the video? Click here Can't see the video? Click here   Can't see the video? Click here

Review: Alice: Madness Returns Posted: 16 Jun 2011 10:40 AM PDT Poor Alice Liddell, mentally torturing herself after her family perished in a fire that consumed her childhood home. Enough to drive a girl mad, which is exactly what led to the events of 2000's cult-classic, American McGee's Alice. McGee's tale picked up where Lewis Caroll's mind-bending children's adventure Through the Looking-Glass left off. Fans and critics alike applauded McGee's vision of a twisted Wonderland, further warped through the lens of madness. 11 years later, McGee and his studio Spicy Horse have returned to continue Lidell's psychotic decent with Alice: Madness Returns. It's an adventure ripe with an imaginative world and cast, solid platforming, and commendable combat. It's unfortunate that some tedious level design and gameplay decisions keep Madness Returns from being great. Alice: Madness Returns (Xbox 360 [Reviewed], PlayStation 3, PC) Developer: Spicy Horse Publisher: Electronic Arts Release date: June 14, 2011 Price: $59.99 (Xbox 360, PS3), $49.99 (PC) Like its predecessor, Alice: Madness Returns' focus is mainly on its platforming, which the game features in spades. Moving platforms, mushroom platforms you'll bounce off of, platforms you'll glide off of as you descend towards another platform, or riding steam vents that keep Alice afloat. The game manages to do all of this well, with a fairly solid control set that lends itself to some of the world's tricker navigational dangers. While there area a few spots where the game's camera will shift suddenly to an undesirable angle, instances of being unfairly punished are few and far between. While the game's five chapters are fairly linear, Spicy Horse does open up a little room to explore some nooks and crannies of the beautifully deranged Wonderland. Early on in the game, Alice will gulp a potion that gives her the ability to shrink on command, as well spot hidden clues and paths to proceed through the game's world. Madness Returns features a fairly comprehensive cache of hidden collectibles, from memories that piece together Alice's backstory to other objects that will unlock concept art and more. Compulsive collectors will have plenty to hunt for, but almost all of these items are merely there to side-track gamers from the main objective. Even Alice's memories, which do a respectable job of fragmenting her shattered backstory, aren't key to understanding main story threads. Madness Returns also features updated lock-on enemy combat mechanics, which will have Alice wielding the swift and sharp Vorpal Blade as well as the more powerful, heavier Hobby Horse. What this boils down to is your common third-person action "light" and "heavy" attacks, and while there are no true "combos" to memorize, the game's enemy patterns vary enough that you'll need to various tactics in battle. Alice will also wield a pepper grinder that acts a gating gun for ranged attacks, a rabbit bomb, and a tea pod that fires off mortars. On paper, this stuff sounds like Third-person Action 101, and it is. But Madness Returns' twists on the norm -- a spice burr as artillery! -- manage to paint things in a curious, engrossing light. Each of the game's chapters paints a mesmerizing and peculiar set of wonders, playing off of themes from Carolls' books and sprinkled with touches of goth culture. While some of the game's horror tends to lean towards the obvious (like an obsession with eldritch doll heads and faces), the world and creature design for the most part is nothing short of spectacular. From the deranged environs of a Wonderland that is crumbling around Alice to the drab, Dickensian areas that players explore between the game's five chapters, Madness Returns' artistic flair is its strongest suit. Unfortunately, the game engine doesn't do such a great job of being able to keep up with the art on a pure technical level. It's hard to say what's to blame here, whether it's the Unreal Engine itself or the folks working with those tools, but Madness Returns sometimes struggles to bring the game's fantastic art to life. While quick glances at the world are dazzling, closer inspection will reveal cracks in its shell. On the Xbox 360 textures sometimes look muddy and points where they've been stitched together are sometimes painfully obvious. Even worse, some textures load in seconds after they appear on screen, the game's spell broken as you wait for an on-screen visual to stream into view. In an odd way, sometimes these technical hurdles lend itself to the game's surreal, almost painted feel. Regardless, you can't help but notice a distinct lack of visual polish in many of the game's areas. For those looking for a long adventure, you've got it with Madness Returns; you're facing upwards of 15 hours of gameplay here through your first run. But stop and do the math on that for second: five chapters at about 15 hours of gameplay? That's right, many of the chapters run close to three hours a piece, and in doing so, completely overstay their welcome. After an hour or so (sometimes less), you've seen everything the chapter has to offer. And then you're forced to do the same few tasks over and over again, trapped in a single portion of Wonderland. McGee has been clear about his love for Nintendo games, and the game's combat and platforming show shades of 3D Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros. games, respectively. But unlike Nintendo's classics, with a pacing that's constantly introducing players to new mechanics and surprising tasks  throughout, Madness Returns misses the mark. Despite core gamplay of platforming and combat being solid and even fun, you quickly realize that you're doing the same things repeatedly to the point of becoming quite tiresome. Flip a switch to move to a higher platform; kill some enemies on said platform; flip another switch; repeat. That's Alice: Madness Returns in a nutshell, really. Spread across, say, 12 different environments, perhaps this tedium could have been masked. But after a few three hours stretches, I found myself wishing that every cut-scene would be my cue to enter a new area. And I was consistently disappointed. Things are helped much by the fact that Madness Returns doesn't contain any real "boss fights" outside of the game's climactic finish. You will encounter a number of larger enemies throughout your adventure, which are boss-like in nature. But these larger enemies will be encountered repeatedly throughout the game, sometimes with smaller enemies acting to make the battles more difficult. This is particularly regrettable, considering a fresh battle would be a just reward for a three hour stretch of somewhat repetitive gameplay. To the Spicy Horse's credit, it does throw quite a few gameplay diversions into the fold that threaten to keep things fresh. A side-scrolling paper cutout platforming section and a shoot-em-up-style underwater scene were unexpected highlights. But even those are repeated multiple times in one level, that first instance of joy soon giving way to wondering aloud why you're doing more of the same for the third time in a chapter. Other mini-games fall flat, like a pointless music game that's less about rhythm/note matching and more of a series of quicktime events. There are also a few mini-games that can be skipped, and with no real reward for completing them, seemed like pointless distractions. In spite of tedium and technical faults, I quite enjoyed Alice: Madness Returns, which says quite a bit for the extraordinary world McGee has created from the blueprint of Caroll's original tales. Fans of the original Alice will find plenty of here to love, and will certainly want to return to Wonderland to work towards a satisfying narrative conclusion. For others, putting up with the game's monotonous design may prove to be a personal spiral into madness they may want to avoid.

You're free to play with the Kinect for Windows SDK beta Posted: 16 Jun 2011 10:20 AM PDT Without an official software development kit for Kinect, people have been able to whip up hilarious, often times neat results. With the Kinect for Windows SDK out in the wild? I think we're in for a real treat. You can find out more about the SDK -- which features are included, what the license entails, etc. -- and also download it from this page. I could easily see this leading to more inventive uses of the device than Kinect Fun Labs ever will, not to completely discredit that initiative. Experimenting with Kinect, in any form, is a very good thing.

The Official Destructoid Review Guide 2011 Posted: 16 Jun 2011 10:00 AM PDT A lot has changed since our last Destructoid Review Guide, posted shortly after I became Reviews Editor in 2008. We've had a lot staff changes, we've altered much of the way reviews operate internally, and we've had years of fresh accusations/outrages to address.  With that in mind, here's an updated reviews guide for 2011! It should explain how we operate, why we do the things we do, and how our scoring system works. Please read this before you send us any hate mail the next time we give your favorite game less than 11/10. Destructoid Reviews: Our Goal Destructoid always aims to give you, dear reader, our most honest appraisal on a game, even if it hurts us. Destructoid "goes to work" to serve our readers, not the gaming industry -- so we feel it's imperative to review games harshly as needed. We don't mince our words, but we're just as likely to heap high praise upon a title as we are to inject it with deadly venom and throw it to the wolves. In the case of a massive disappointment, we have thus earned a reputation for being one of the most brutally honest publications online as we encourage our writers to not spare any emotion. We also take this opportunity to check the hype and promises used to market a game and try to cash that check. It's only fair -- and keeps the PR kids responsible.  When it comes to reviews, we prefer to let emotions run deep.   We place a high value on personality at Destructoid. The editors writing the reviews are editors many of you have gotten to know over the years. We think our reviews are valuable because you know what we look for in a game -- and you know that whether you agree or disagree with us, you can better inform your own purchasing decisions. We do not aim to solely influence your buying habits -- but we like to think we can help you as part of a variety of tools that consumers use to make their decisions. If you're going to spend $60 on a piece of software, it better damn well deliver!   It is our mantra that reviews are subjective. The idea (and ideal) of the "objective" review is nonsense. That would be more like a manual or a list of specifications. Feel free to check out our mock attempt at an objective review here. If you prefer reviews without emotion, there are tens of thousands of bland gaming web sites out there for you to discover -- websites more concerned in selling their reviews into retail product review databases than serving their readers.  Destructoid reviews use scores, and use the FULL ten-point scale. It is surprising that we have to educate the industry that the number five is the one in the middle of a ten-point scale. If you don't read the rest of the article, at least take this away with you: a five is an average, perfectly normal game. Repeat it, take a deep breath, and repeat it again. A five is an average, perfectly normal game. yMoving on. Every single number has a distinct meaning and a valuable place in our system. Our scoring scale was specifically designed to reflect the various tones that a review can take with its written content. Note that without the written content, the score is meaningless. It's not enough to just look at a number -- we pick our scores based upon what we wrote. Read the content before judging an entire review based on the number at the end.  Brutal honesty, a full ten-point scale, subjectivity and a personal touch -- that is the Destructoid review four-part policy. Please respect our desire to use all the numbers in between those two extremes, too.  The Scale And How We Score: The scoring scale was designed in 2008 with much careful consideration, and is intended to take the thought out of the numbers. While it is impossible to not have a number in one's head when writing a review, this system helps make the number a little more "natural" by lining up the tone of the written review with the scoring summary. If a writer said in the review that the game was good, but short, then he can look at the scale and see that a number in the 7.0 range is suitable.  Every number is important! Here's the full scale: 10 -- Flawless Victory (10s are as close to perfect as you will get in a genre or on a platform. Pure, untarnished videogame ecstasy.) 9 -- Superb (9s are a hallmark of excellence. There may be flaws, but they are negligible and won't cause massive damage to what is a supreme title.) 8 -- Great (8s are impressive efforts with a few noticeable problems holding them back. Won't astound everyone, but is worth your time and cash.) 7 -- Good (7s are solid games that definitely have an audience. Might lack replay value, could be too short or there are some hard-to-ignore faults, but the experience is fun.) 6 -- Alright (6s may be slightly above average or simply inoffensive. Fans of the genre should enjoy them a bit, but a fair few will be left unfulfilled.) 5 -- Mediocre (5s are an exercise in apathy, neither Solid nor Liquid. Not exactly bad, but not very good either. Just a bit "meh," really.) 4 -- Below Average (4s have some high points, but they soon give way to glaring faults. Not the worst games, but are difficult to recommend.) 3 -- Poor (3s went wrong somewhere along the line. The original idea might have promise, but in practice the game has failed. Threatens to be interesting sometimes, but rarely.) 2 -- Bad (2s are a disaster. Any good they might have had are quickly swallowed up by glitches, poor design choices or a plethora of other issues. The desperate or the gullible may find a glimmer of fun hidden somewhere in the pit.) 1 -- Epic Fail (1s are the lowest of the low. There is no potential, no skill, no depth and no talent. These games have nothing to offer the world, and will die lonely and forgotten.) Why We Use Review Scores: The simple answer is this: review scores are the standard review currency in the industry. We didn't invent them, and if we don't use them, they're not going away. Destructoid is simply doing its part to participate in the ecosystem of scores.  Scores get us on Metacritic, which in turn gives our reviews much more exposure. I wholeheartedly believe that Destructoid features some of the best reviewers on the Internet, and I want to maximize their influence and audience. Scores help that. Straight from the mouth of our founder: "Ad companies we've worked with have called us crazy for publishing scores. It really is like deciding to go to war. The only reason a site does not publish review scores is to sell more advertising. We have lost ad campaigns because we've given bad review scores, and frankly my dear, I don't give a damn. I'm not compromising our voice. Still, we understand the danger of a bad score. For example, some publishers giving their employees pay cuts due to scores, but in that case we push it back on them. It's not our fault you choose this method to compensate your employees. Grow a backbone, stand behind your work, make better games, and stop blaming the gaming press for having an honest opinion.  - Yanier Niero Gonzalez, Destructoid Publisher/Founder So there, shut up. We are often asked why we use review scores, and frequently receive requests to remove them. This will not happen anytime soon. We use scores because, as much as we emphasize the written content, many readers expect numbers to accompany their reviews. This goes for all forms of entertainment, not just videogames.  For a more detailed explanation on this subject, feel free to read this article.  Who Writes Reviews And How We Do Business: The majority of reviews are handled by myself and editor-in-chief Nick Chester. The predominant reason for this is that Destructoid counts as a full-time job for the pair of us, so we have more dedicated time to play and write about these games. We also have access to developer kits and the developers themselves, which means we are the likeliest to receive advance review code in order to get more timely reviews published.  Though we handle most reviews, we also have Conrad Zimmerman, Dale North, Maurice Tan, Jonathan Holmes, and Jordan Devore as regular reviewers, whose unique specializations allow them to review games in particular genres. We have a number of interns to turn to when we cannot find another writer or have something incredibly obscure that needs writing up.  Reviews are assigned by Nick and myself based on our years of professional acquaintance with each other and our writers. Every month, I email Nick a list of upcoming games with suggestions on who should review each one. Nick emails back with agreements or superior suggestions. After a short discussion, we then contact PR representatives to check on the status of review copies. If we find a PR rep is unresponsive, we make plans to purchase the game instead.  Though our system is by no means perfect and we sometimes miss obscure, but wholly valid, game releases, we do a pretty good job. Nick and I work hard to compromise and find the best fit for the job. Over the years, the amount and variety of games we cover has only expanded, and will continue to do so, with more allotments made for mobile and PC game coverage.  The Myths: Destructoid has earned a reputation for writing negative reviews, and there are a number of myths surrounding this. The biggest myth is that our reviews are written simply for traffic, in order to cynically gain hits from controversy. If that were true, it would make us supervillains on a genius scale, because this apparently blatant and transparent hit-grab has successfully worked for the past three years. The reality, however, is more mundane.  For a start, it is a myth that negative reviews automatically generate more traffic. For example, one of our notorious negative reviews was Platinum Games' Vanquish. That same month, we also reviewed Fallout: New Vegas, giving it a high score that was in line with the many positive reviews it received. The stats confirmed that our New Vegas review received more hits than our Vanquish review. Destructoid's reviews are some of the most read of all our articles -- whether we score a game high or low is irrelevant to their ability to become successful articles. We don't need to fake a score to get traffic. We'll get hits regardless.  It is important to note that negative reviews carry severe business risks. You may think we spew venom without consequence, but this is also a myth. We have had publishers remove their advertising from our site before, based on a low review score. If we were all about making money, it would be incredibly counter-productive to generate traffic for a page that had just lost its adverts. With every review we score 6/10 or below, we run the risk of losing more money than we could hope to make. That our boss, site founder Yanier Gonzalez, gives us the freedom to use a ten-point scale is a testament to how much he values our integrity as writers over guaranteed profit.  We do not enjoy being hated. Years of hate mail is tiresome, but it's something a number of reviewers have had to endure during their tenure at Destructoid, for daring to give a game a low score. Some seem to think we revel in controversy, but that is not true. Tense relations with publishers and the risk of getting blacklisted is never fun. We write our low-scoring reviews because we want to give an honest opinion, not because we like to make people miserable. Only a sociopath would write reviews just to cause trouble, and sour relationships to their own detriment.  It's a myth that Destructoid scores games lower than everybody else. While some of our high-profile reviews have been more negative than others and don't always march in step with the hive mind, we do not consistently score lower than everybody else. You might find our opinions on certain games can differ, but on the whole, our positive-to-negative ratio isn't as skewed in favor of the negative as you might think. Although these statistics are a month old (at time of writing) and review score data can fluctuate from time to time, you'll notice that our closest competitor, Joystiq, scores games rather similarly to Destructoid: IGN scores even lower, though IGN also reviews a lot more shovelware. Either way, we only get in trouble with readers because of the profile of the games we've given "bad" scores to. Hype doesn't matter to us, though if we think a game is crap, we'll say it's crap. You might think differently, but that's your damage. It's nothing to do with us.  Finally, it should be noted that there's a misconception that we rate all AAA games or console exclusives negatively for attention. The facts simply are not there to support this claim. Were it true, Killzone 2 and Killzone 3 would not have received high scores. Portal 2 would not have joined the rest of the reviews in utter praise. Modern Warfare 2 would have gotten a low score. After all, if our entire modus operandi is to give popular games low scores, there are so many better games we could be picking on. It would have been far more effective to rate Killzone 3 a 4.5 rather than give Heavy Rain a 7.0. It's an insult to our intelligence to claim we rate certain games low on purpose, because the games we rate low are simply poor choices compared to some of the things we could've done if we had this particular scheme in mind.  In summary, we like video games. A lot. We want to play good ones and tell people how much fun they are. That is why we started this site and what we love doing most. When that fails, bad reviews happen. Nuff said. Problem? I've done my best, as reviews editor, to make our review process as easy to understand as possible. A link to this guide will be in every review published and I hope that our intentions and activities are confusing only to the willfully ignorant. If you have any problems or need of clarification, feel free to comment here or contact me at jim[at]destructoid.com.  If you have any other grievance with our reviews, please remember the most important point of all -- VIDEOGAMES.

PSA: Nintendo Points cards won't work on 3DS eShop Posted: 16 Jun 2011 09:40 AM PDT Excited about the Nintendo 3DS eShop, I went to my local GameStop and picked up two Nintendo Points cards, each valued at 2000 Points a piece. Valued at roughly $40 American dollars, I started compiling in my head a list of DSiWare and eShop games I'd be purchasing for my handheld. But after entering the code in the "redeem funds" section of the Nintendo eShop, my hopes were crushed: Nintendo Points cards and codes simply are not compatible with the Nintendo eShop.  While this may be obvious to some (you've already prepared the "you're an idiot" comments, I can imagine), it threw me for quite a loop. And now I'm sitting on $20 worth of Wii Points that I really have no intention of using. (Note: I gave away the other $20 on Twitter last night.) But I suppose that I should have known, right? All of the signs that currency used on Nintendo's Wii and DSi online shops wouldn't work on the company's new handheld... right? Not quite, and if I didn't think others would accidentally purchase the wrong pre-paid points cards, I wouldn't have bothered writing this. To Nintendo's credit, the Nintendo Points cards do explicitly state on them that they're for the "Wii Shop Channel" and the "Nintendo DSi Shop." There is no mention of the Nintendo eShop, which apparently has its own unique cards that Nintendo tells me are available at retailers like Best Buy and GameStop. But was it that big of a leap in logic for me as a consumer to think that the points would carry over between Nintendo's services? Apparently the answer is "yes." While Nintendo's Wii Shop Channel and DSi Shop used the same points systems across two platforms, Nintendo has opted to go a different route with the eShop. "We thought a cash-based system would be more logical for users," a Nintendo representative told me today. Unlike Microsoft's seemingly arbitrary "points" system for Xbox Live, Nintendo's points were relatively straight forward to convert to a known currency. 100 Points are equivalent to one U.S. dollar; my 2000 point cards cost me $20 a piece. Seeing a game on Nintendo's shop running for 1000 Nintendo Points, you'd be able to easily determine you're spending $10. By switching over to the new cash-based system -- one which is subject to tax where applicable -- Nintendo has made the shops and funds incompatible. "Nintendo DSiWare games that are available in both the Nintendo DSi Shop and the Nintendo eShop will have two separate price structures," the Nintendo rep explained. "For instance, a game that is 300 Nintendo DSi Points in the Nintendo DSi Shop will be available for $2.99 in the Nintendo eShop." Apparently, it appears, simply converting my 2000 points to an even $20 (what I paid) in my eShop wallet would have been too confusing. Or something. The good news, however, is that owners of the DSi system can easily and relatively painlessly transfer their purchases to their new 3DS. The process involves downloading a software from the DSi Shop which does most of the work for you. Apparently, I'm told, there are Pikmin involved. Nintendo says that "almost all games" downloaded to your DSi can be transferred to your 3DS. But those Nintendo Points you have sitting in your account? You're spending them there or you're going to lose 'em. "Points cannot be moved to the Nintendo eShop or converted into cash," the rep explained. Nintendo also points out that it has added the ability to purchased funds for the eShop using a credit card, something I could have done from the start. But I had some GameStop credit burning a hole in my pocket… and now I've got some extra Nintendo Points lying around. Anyone got any WiiWare recommendations?

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