New Games |
- Live Show: Backlog employs slave labor in Pikmin 2
- 4X multiplayer XP in Red Dead Redemption this weekend
- Watch a portion of BioShock Infinite's E3 demo
- Limbo is coming to PSN and Steam, releasing 'very soon'
- Steam's massive summer sale event is in effect
- Evo Championship Series 2011: July 29-31
- Video on Rage: 'The best thing id has ever done'
- Modern Warfare 3 will totally change Killstreaks
- New teaser site for Capcom's online game Ixion Saga
- Nintendo shareholder hates games, says stupid things
- The Memory Card .94: Death is impossible
- Viva la Mexico! Hideo Kojima will visit Mexico City
- James Pond makes grand return, comes to iOS
- Bethesda parent company trademarks 'Dishonored'
- Free App of the Day: Super Mega Worm VS. Santa
- Street Fighter IV: Volt is out now, temporarily cheap
- Adult Swim slashing prices on iOS games for July 4 sale
| Live Show: Backlog employs slave labor in Pikmin 2 Posted: 30 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] I give them life and then I impress them into cruel servitude beneath the might of my iron fist and a really annoying whistle. Soon, I will have an army and the streets will run red (and blue and yellow). They will war for my amusement, living and dying according to my whims. I am their God. We're playing Pikmin 2 on Backlog and having a jolly good time doing it. I think there's still one more type of Pikmin to discovered and many more treasures to be found in clearing the freight company's debt. Confused? Come join me and the goons in our live chat as I play and we'll explain it all to you. It's all going down right now over on Destructoid's Justin.tv channel!
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| 4X multiplayer XP in Red Dead Redemption this weekend Posted: 30 Jun 2011 02:00 PM PDT Rockstar is almost ready to enable quadruple experience points in Red Dead Redemption across both platforms and all multiplayer modes, including Free Roam and Undead Overrun. The switch will be flipped at 12:01am Eastern on Friday and remain on until 11:59pm Eastern on Monday, July 4th. I'll never forget the fun times I had in the multiplayer. Purposely jumping your horse off a cliff while friends below attempt to shoot you to death before you touch the ground -- what a thrill that is. You should try it sometime. This is good news for everyone who didn't obtain the Zebra Donkey mount in multiplayer. Considering the absurd amount of experience needed to unlock it, there's probably quite a few of us. 'Red Dead Redemption' Celebrates 4th Of July With 4X Experience, Teases More DLC [MTV Multiplayer] |
| Watch a portion of BioShock Infinite's E3 demo Posted: 30 Jun 2011 01:00 PM PDT BioShock Infinite was a powerful force at this year's E3. Which is cool and all for everyone who attended the convention, but what about the gaming community at large? Your time has come: the first two minutes of the E3 demonstration have gone public. Those allergic to cliffhangers will want to stay far away. The full presentation -- set at approximately fifteen minutes in length by Irrational Games -- will be shown on Spike TV. Tune in on Thursday, July 7 for a half-hour GameTrailers TV show with creative director Ken Levine and journalist Geoff Keighley, or wait for it to appear online in the usual places. I had forgotten that BioShock Infinite won't be out until next year. Well, sh*t. |
| Limbo is coming to PSN and Steam, releasing 'very soon' Posted: 30 Jun 2011 12:00 PM PDT When we got wind of Limbo for PlayStation Network by way of a Korean ratings board, I wasn't expecting to hear anything about it -- especially not on the record -- for some time to come. That's generally how these things go down, but Playdead CEO Dino Patti was able to make it official. Speaking to Joystiq, he put it simply: "Limbo is in production for Steam and PSN, and is coming very soon." If you happen to own one or both of those platforms and not an Xbox 360, you should be thrilled by this news. The game is fantastic, and specifically for the PSN market, there's not much else like it. Limbo coming to Steam and PSN, Playdead handling the ports [Joystiq] |
| Steam's massive summer sale event is in effect Posted: 30 Jun 2011 11:30 AM PDT Steam is having an extra bit of fun with its summer-themed sale this year. Based on the number of emails we got from you guys about this -- thanks for those, by the way -- many of you are well aware. For everyone else, the sale will last through July 10, with daily deals along the way. Game bundles and entire publisher catalogs are also on sale, but you shouldn't buy these until the very last day, if at all, to avoid overpaying for individual titles. In a neat twist, each day there will be specific achievements that can be earned for prize tickets. These tickets can then be spent on in-game items and content, so there is some level of incentive to actually play the games rather than to simply buy them because they are on sale. |
| Evo Championship Series 2011: July 29-31 Posted: 30 Jun 2011 10:40 AM PDT At the end of this month, the world's greatest competitors on the fighting game scene will be descending upon the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas to duke it out for the Evo Championship Series. This year, the competition will feature the greatest players in the hottest fighting games, from Blazblue: Continuum Shift, to Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition and even Mortal Kombat 9. It will also feature industry and community panels as well as a pre-party sponsored by Insert Coin(s)! For the first time, Destructoid will be on hand to bring some on-location coverage of the event, from the matches themselves, to what goes down after hours. Our good friends at iPlaywinner x Team Spooky are in charge of streaming the tournament this year, and so to get everyone hyped for the event, check out the latest "Bread and Butter" interview with one of their favorite commentors, MAGUS1234. Let us know what sort of coverage you'd most like to see, if you're attending, and if you'd like to see more of these types of interviews on Destructoid! Bread & Butter Interview with MAGUS1234 [iPlaywinner]
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| Video on Rage: 'The best thing id has ever done' Posted: 30 Jun 2011 10:20 AM PDT
Do you want to get excited about id's Rage? This video will do the trick. There's a lot of technobabble on why the game will be the best and a bit of back patting, but we'll let that slide. The folks at id did invent the genre, you know. More importantly, what I got from this video is that the developing team has a serious desire to make a great game that goes beyond the typical shooter. This desire is what is going to make Rage a good game. This video, Rage: History of id Software, moves through the company's history and shows that they're using that knowledge, tech and creativity to make their newest title. You'll see and hear that their id Tech 5.0 engine is going to blow our faces off with their "megatexture technology." They say that Rage is running at twice the framerate of the best looking console shooters out there now, and that's still running at 60 frames per second. You'll hear that they call Rage the "best thing that id has ever done." Excited now? |
| Modern Warfare 3 will totally change Killstreaks Posted: 30 Jun 2011 10:00 AM PDT The ever contentious subject of Killstreaks in Call of Duty is about to get even more controversial, with Infinity Ward community bod Robert Bowling revealing that Modern Warfare 3 is revamping the entire thing. "We changed the entire way the killstreak system works," he said. "I can't go into detail yet, but I will share when I can." Without any further details, we've no choice but to launch into rudderless speculation. So let me ask you -- what do you want to see done to Killstreaks in Modern Warfare 3? @fourzerotwo [Twitter] |
| New teaser site for Capcom's online game Ixion Saga Posted: 30 Jun 2011 09:40 AM PDT There was a trademark awhile back from Capcom for a game called Ixion Saga. We now know that it's an online PC title in which players will form unions with other players for eight-on-eight battles, set to release in 2012. An alpha test is going down on July 28th, says Andriasang. That's all Famitsu had on the game. The rest we'll have to wait for. There's a new teaser page up for the game now. You won't get much more than some pretty imagery, a logo and music for now. The music is lovely, at least. he site says that something is "coming up" for July 7th, though. Check back. |
| Nintendo shareholder hates games, says stupid things Posted: 30 Jun 2011 09:20 AM PDT A Nintendo shareholder recently declared videogames a waste of time and reprimanded president Satoru Iwata for not giving Wii Fit to Tohoku earthquake victims. "I’m concerned about the falling stock price. I own stock, but I don’t own a single Nintendo product," said the shareholder. "I believe games are a waste of time. By the way, the reason I own Nintendo stock is because the name is nice, it’s in Kyoto and it was listed in the year of my birth." Iwata responded politely: "There are people in this world who don’t feel that games are a waste of time, so Nintendo continues to exist. We’d like to eliminate the thinking that playing games by yourself is negative, or when there’s a crime you immediately tie it into games. We’d like to raise the social importance of games. We’re working to expand the gaming population, yourself included." The shareholder then retorted with the greatest non sequitur I've read today: "During the Tohoku earthquake disaster, I believe people in the evacuation centers were lacking in exercise. Why didn’t you bring Wii Fit to them? Why didn’t you show off to the media that you’re doing more for the victims?" Absolutely fantastic. Things not to ask at a Nintendo shareholder meeting [andriasang] |
| The Memory Card .94: Death is impossible Posted: 30 Jun 2011 09:00 AM PDT Death is a normal part of videogames. And in the early days of graphic adventure games, death happened almost too much. It wasn’t surprising to see your main character either stabbed, burned, drowned, blown up, or squashed by some form of absurd danger in King’s Quest, Space Quest, or any of the other early Sierra classics. But then LucasArts came along and changed the world of adventure games forever. In most of their games (with a few exceptions) you couldn’t die. And as interesting as this philosophy was, it came with little to no explanation. In a game full of danger and life-threatening situations, why couldn’t your character perish? This lack of reasoning all changed with Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge. In one notable sequence, the classic adventure game actually explains why main character Guybrush Threepwood can’t ever die. And, my God, it is absolutely brilliant. The Set-Up Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge is arguably the best game in the revered adventure game series. And with good reason! Being the last game led by series creator (and one of my gaming heroes!) Ron Gilbert, the game is the perfect combination of tough adventure game puzzles and classic Monkey Island humor. In the game, you play as main character Guybrush Threepwood, mighty pirate. At the end of the first Monkey Island, Guybrush defeated the evil ghost pirate LeChuck and saved the fair maiden Elaine Marley. In an interesting twist, LeChuck’s Revenge (the game’s direct sequel), opens with Guybrush and Elaine in an odd situation. Both are hanging from ropes above a huge, deep hole. From one hand, Guybrush is holding a giant treasure chest. Elaine, annoyed with Guybrush, asks him how he got into this crazy situation. (The attitude between them proves something the player is not aware of has happened between the two. This is not the same Elaine and Guybrush that were in love at the end of the previous game!) Guybrush, in his witty way, says it is a long story. Elaine tells him she has time. Guybrush sighs, and then begins to tell his story of how he ended up hanging from a rope, above a pit, with a giant treasure chest in his hands. “Well, it all started on Scabb Island ... “ With this, the game fades out to weeks earlier. Guybrush is sitting around a campfire with another group of dastardly-looking pirates. He is telling them the story of how he defeated LeChuck at the end of the first game. With Elaine nowhere in sight, Guybrush further explains that he left her on Booty Island to set off on an adventure to find the legendary treasure Big Whoop and a ship to help him find it. As he starts his quest for the treasure, Guybrush inadvertently gives away a piece of LeChuck’s beard, resulting in his mortal enemy being revived as a zombie. (Nice one, Guybrush!). But in a fortunate coincidence, the only way LeChuck can be defeated this time around is by using the power of Big Whoop. Determined to find the treasure now more than ever, Guybrush embarks on his epic quest to retrieve Big Whoop and defeat his ghost, er, zombie pirate rival once and for all. Along the way, he meets up with a cartographer named Wally who helps him put together four pieces of an ancient map. An ancient map that will lead Guybrush to Big Whoop! Unfortunately (does anything go right for Guybrush?), Wally and the map are taken by the zombie LeChuck. Dag! Stowing away in a crate of voodoo supplies, Guybrush makes his way to LeChuck’s fortress, determined to rescue Wally and get back the map that will lead him to the fabled treasure. It is here in LeChuck’s fortress when this week’s Memory Card moment occurs: Death is impossible. The Moment LeChuck’s fortress is a massive stronghold, covered in ornate stone carvings and numerous amounts of skeleton-themed decor. After travelling though a confusing maze (seriously, how to people live in places like this?!), Guybrush finds the key to Wally’s cell. As he reaches out and grabs the key, a cage falls from the ceiling and traps Guybrush. LeChuck emerges from the shadows and gloats about his excitement over capturing him. Without hesitating, LeChuck summons his first mate Largo. He instructs him to take Guybrush and Wally to the torture chamber. From here, the game cuts to said torture chamber, with Guybrush and Wally strapped to a huge, complicated machine. Their arms are tied to chains; their bodies left uncomfortably dangling in the air. LeChuck walks in and tells his prisoners what is about to happen to them. In a hilarious monologue, the zombie pirate explains what the machine does. He points at a candle, saying that once it burns the rope above it, a bag will fall on a set of bellows. The bellows will shoot a single lead bullet, which will ricochet off a pan, then off two shields at the other side of the room, and finally popping a green balloon. Once the balloon pops it will lower a lever, releasing a ratchet on a wheel, and lowering Guybrush and Wally into a glowing pit of acid beneath them. With this, LeChuck leaves. At this point, players have to act fast. After several minutes, the machine will activate and Guybrush and Wally will be dipped to their death! To escape, Guybrush must spit into the shield, using its trajectory to extinguish the candle, allowing him and Wally to escape! If this is not done in time, however, Guybrush is lowered into the acid, killing him. But in an unbelievably genius twist, if this happens, the game cuts back to the scene from the very beginning, with Guybrush telling the story to Elaine, hanging over the hole. Elaine stops Guybrush. “Horse hockey,” she awesomely says. “You honestly expect me to believe you were disintegrated in acid.” Guybrush is at a loss for words. Elaine then goes on to correct Guybrush, saying that if he had been killed in acid, he would not be alive, hanging from a rope in front of her. Guybrush agrees that he may have embellished the story a little, and starts to tell that part of the story again, making sure to amend his error. “As I was saying, we were hanging over a pit of acid ... “ At this point the game returns to the beginning of the last scene, with Guybrush and Wally about to be lowered into the acid. The player is given another shot to complete the puzzle again without being killed. Once successful, Guybrush and Wally make their escape, continuing their journey to find Big Whoop. Eventually, the story lead Guybrush to the location of the mystical treasure and to the exact same moment the game starts with: Guybrush hanging over a hole, holding Big Whoop in one hand, and telling the story of how he got there to Elaine. Everything comes full circle. And, using the trademark sarcastic humor Monkey Island does best, Elaine looks at Guybrush with a straight face: “That was the longest story I’ve even heard!” Well played, Monkey Island 2. Well played. You can watch what happens when Guybrush “dies” right here: The Impact I love this sequence for so many different reasons. First off, let’s all take a moment, bow our heads, and pay tribute to the greatness that is a Ron Gilbert and Tim Schaefer pairing. They are both incredibly talented individuals, but when they work together ... my God, when they work together, games like Monkey Island 2 happen. Let’s hope they work together again soon. Okay, now back to the business at hand. This moment is easily one of my favorite moments in an adventure game. It all comes down to remarkably clever design and absolutely stellar writing. Setting the game up as a giant flashback has been done before in many movies, television shows, and even videogames. While still a refreshingly creative narrative structure, it is nothing that out of the ordinary. As the game progresses, it becomes pretty obvious that the story will eventually lead to the moment at the very beginning. But then the scene in the torture chamber happens. Now, as mentioned at the very beginning of the article, LucasArts was in the business of creating games where you couldn’t die (with a few exceptions). Knowing this, it was a fair guess that Guybrush would never perish in Monkey Island 2. But as you work through the torture chamber, you realize it is a distinct possibility that he may meet his end. For the first time in the game, this set piece offers a time limit, which is unlike most sections in LucasArts games. When you don’t complete the puzzle in time, Guybrush and Wally really do descend into the vat of acid. “Ahhhhh, I didn’t save my game!” you think to yourself. But then the brilliant twist happens. Of course Guybrush can’t die! The entire game has been a flashback! That would make no sense. GENIUS! To top it all off, Elaine’s reaction to Guybrush’s death is priceless. She doesn’t reel back in shock or confusion. She dryly remarks that he must be mistaken. His story makes no sense and he must be telling it wrong. In a way, she is speaking for the audience, who may be wondering exactly why and how this is all happening. The inability to die in many LucasArts adventure games is similar to “invisible walls” in other videogames. Both succeed as useful mechanics for keeping the player focused on one specific way of playing, but not without a complete sacrifice of logical explanation. With this one moment, Monkey Island 2 not only offers a reason to why Guybrush can’t die, it does so in a unique and very memorable way.
The Memory Card Save Files Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 Season 5 |
| Viva la Mexico! Hideo Kojima will visit Mexico City Posted: 30 Jun 2011 08:40 AM PDT Kojima Goes To Mexico! That sounds like the title of a great movie. I wish that one day I'll be important enough to have press releases go out to announce my travel plans. BREAKING: Dale North goes to Walmart to purchase Oreos, Cheez-Its. I'm not there yet, but Metal Gear Solid daddy Hideo Kojima is. Konami sent me a release that says that they will host a special autograph signing session with the legendary videogame creator in Mexico City next week. Mr. Kojima will make a special appearance at the Plaza Perisur where he will be available to sign autographs for fans. I know we have a fair bit of Mexican readers, so here's the location and event information for you folks:
Te gusta? No? |
| James Pond makes grand return, comes to iOS Posted: 30 Jun 2011 08:20 AM PDT James Pond is one of the earliest games I ever remember playing and I have a distinct fondness for it, so I'm quite pleased to see that the British platforming series has made a comeback with the iOS platform as its new home. James Pond in the Deathly Shallows is on the App Store for a mere $0.99 and seems to keep the spirit of the original titles alive, as if the terrible and only vaguely fish-related punnery wasn't enough of a clue. This time around, Pond is navigating underwater mazes rather than platforming. While I'd love to see a game in the vein of the old ones, I'm glad to see the character back, if only for pure nostalgic reasons. |
| Bethesda parent company trademarks 'Dishonored' Posted: 30 Jun 2011 08:00 AM PDT Dishonored? What a depressing name! I'm sure it'll be a good game as it's likely coming from Bethesda. Parent company Zenimax filed a trademark on June 17th for the name. CVG says that the filing covers "computer game software for use with computers and video game consoles" and "downloadable computer game software offered via the internet and wireless devices." It's a game, folks. Back in February URLs for DishonoredGame.com, DishonoredGame.net, DishonoredTheGame.com and DishonoredTheGame.net were snapped up by web marketing specialist Rokkan. They wouldn't go to all that trouble if they weren't working on a game called Dishonored. Bethesda, I'd be honored if you'd show me this Dishonored. |
| Free App of the Day: Super Mega Worm VS. Santa Posted: 30 Jun 2011 07:40 AM PDT Both Super Mega Worm and Super Mega Worm VS. Santa (iOS) have received an update that introduced the Mecha Wojira paid DLC. More importantly for you right now, Super Mega Worm VS. Santa is now free so you should grab that right here. The Mecha Wojira paid DLC gives you a mecha worm that won't lose health if it doesn't keep eating creatures, plus it has an infinite Death Beam, homing missiles, instant space jump and a special theme song. Basically you get an über mode for $0.99. The main difference between the regular and Santa versions is that instead of being a giant worm who eats meatwads in order to grow and be able to spit bolts of death, you eat elfs in a Christmas environment and fight Santa. And one is free right now, while the other is $0.99. Just look at it as one being a Christmas themed visual makeover for the other. Whichever version you play, the Super Mega Worm games are fun pixel art arcade games that are small enough to keep on your iDevice at all times. Go check it out! |
| Street Fighter IV: Volt is out now, temporarily cheap Posted: 30 Jun 2011 07:20 AM PDT Capcom is rewarding early adopters of Street Fighter IV: Volt, which is out now for iOS. This new iteration adds online multiplayer for versus mode, plus new playable characters: Balrog, Vega, and Cody. So, here's the deal on the pricing. If you get it today, the game is only $0.99. Sure, why not? From there, the price will increase daily until it settles on a fixed price on July 6.
Any plans to get this while it's cheap? |
| Adult Swim slashing prices on iOS games for July 4 sale Posted: 30 Jun 2011 07:00 AM PDT It's almost independence day, the day that America freed itself from my own personal rule (according to my stepkid), and Adult Swim is celebrating by knocking all its games down to the lovely price of $0.99. Popular games such as Robot Unicorn Attack, Amateur Surgeon, 5 Minutes To Kill (Yourself) and My Li'l Bastard are all included, so if you've been interested in any of them, now's the time! iPhone
Adult Swim hold Independence Day sale, all iOS games 59p/99c [Pocket Gamer] |
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