New Games

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• Weekend Destructainment: Big head romance
• Shadows of the Damned and Mexican machismo
• BioWare unsure when it comes to unmasking Tali
• Anime Expo: Wakfu inspired by Final Fantasy
• Divnich Divines: Will the Wii U be a success?
• Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi trailer has butt lasers
• Uncharted was once a bit more like Bioshock
• MML3 is still MIA, so here's some cute Roll concept art
• Spoiler warning: non-final build of Gears of War 3 leaked
• Live Show: Hangover gives you Galaga Legions DX
• Professor Layton movie is bound for North America
• Ground control to Fox McCloud ...
• Follow us on Twitter to win some CoD: Black Ops map codes
• The Daily Hotness: Things you'll see on Japanator

Weekend Destructainment: Big head romance Posted: 02 Jul 2011 01:00 PM PDT more videos like this Fan-made Left 4 Dead 2 map that takes you to the Portal 2 world. Thanks, J.K! Sakura's theme doesn't go with anything, Mass Effect 2 gets some giant head loving, two Lara Crofts pole dance, check out the Left 4 Dead fan film, female armor isn't the greatest and PC gamers abuse their powers. Sakura's theme doesn't go with Ringu. Made by Dtoider Tray Ben. more videos like this Mass Effect 2 big head romance. more videos like this Two Lara Crofts pole dancing because why not? more videos like this Teaser for a live-action Left 4 Dead fan film. more videos like this Female armor isn't the greatest. more videos like this The Crying PC Gamer. more videos like this

Shadows of the Damned and Mexican machismo Posted: 02 Jul 2011 12:00 PM PDT [bacon&eggs is a delicious breakfast combination. It's also the author of this great post about Shadows of the Damned and Suda51's fascination with Mexican culture. Luchadores! Want to see your own writing on the front page? Write something awesome and put it in the C Blogs. -- Kauza] As Shadows of the Damned is still a very new game, I’ve made a point to avoid the major story spoiler, so please feel free to read on if you haven’t played the game yet. Fair warning though, I still reveal quite a few key moments, so if you’d rather not spoil anything at all, you can stop here. If there was any doubt that Suda51 had an interest in Mexican culture, Shadows of the Damned clears that up right away. The first hint of Suda51's interest was in Killer 7, the first Grasshopper Manufacture game I had the pleasure of playing. I was surprised at the grenade-launcher toting luchador MASK de Smith. The trend continued in the No More Heroes series as Travis Touchdown collected luchador masks, luchador trading cards, and watched luchador wrestling matches in order to learn new moves. But Grasshopper went all out with Shadows of the Damned. Meet Garcia F**king Hotspur. Garcia Hotspur is not your typical video game protagonist. For one, he's Mexican. And barring Manny Calavera from Grim Fandango (since he is in fact a skeleton), Garcia is the first true Mexican video game protagonist. It’s clear that English is his second language, but whether he’s an immigrant or a citizen is not really clarified. If that wasn't enough of a risk for a game to take, Garcia is actually a culturally accurate portrayal of a Mexican man, and the game is full of other nods to Mexican culture. What makes Garcia accurate is his embodiment of the machismo attitude. Long a topic of interest to psychologists, anthropologists, and sociologists, machismo is a widespread and prevalent cultural attitude found in Latin American societies and originating in Spain and Portugal. Quite literally, machismo translates to a "superiority of masculinity over femininity" in Spanish and Portuguese. In this context, there is a lot more to Shadows of the Damned than initially meets the eye. Although plenty of people proclaim this to be Grasshopper's most accessible game, in true Suda51 fashion, the entire game really is a metaphor. It's just a much simpler and clearer metaphor than say, Killer 7. Seriously. I still have no idea what that game is about. Machismo is the reason Spaniards throw themselves into a ring with a raging bull with nothing but a cape. A lot of reviewers have pointed out that the game is riddled with dick jokes. And it is. Absolutely, way too many, some hilarious, some cringe-worthy, tiring, dick jokes. But that's what machismo is all about. It's about proving you're a man's man. And what better way to show that than by screaming "TASTE MY HOT BONER!" as you kill hordes of demons with your large, uh gun. Garcia goes out of his way to proclaim his bravado every time you fight a boss. "My name is Garcia Fucking Hotspur, and before you die, I will carve my name into your flesh." His unflinching attitude in the face of a 10 story tall Goat Demon pissing darkness is proof of his manliness. He is capable of this because, as he tells his floating skull companion Johnson in one scene, “I am a Mexican, not a Mexi-can’t”. In the beginning of the game, Fleming, Lord of the Demons, kidnaps Garcia's girlfriend Paula. Fleming offers Garcia a one-time deal. He can have Paula back if he atones for his sins of killing Fleming’s demons. "Admit that have met a greater power than your own. Admit that your endowments are not as large as mine. And you can have her back." But to do such a thing would mean admitting defeat. It would mean Fleming was more of a man than he was. Garcia flatly refuses by calling Fleming a “fucking asshole.” Later in the game, Garcia meets Mr. X, a fellow Demon Hunter tracking down the bastard that killed and skinned his wife. They are both "hard" men, and showing a grudging respect towards each other promise to stay out of each others' way. But later, when Garcia comes across Mr. X for the second time, he's been decapitated by the very demon he had set out to kill. Now Garcia claims that Mr. X was pathetic and weak. Mr. X couldn't avenge his wife. Garcia claims that, "I am a real Demon Hunter" and goes on to defeat the demon Mr. X could not. Fleming. The fucking asshole. By Act 4, Garcia is chasing Justine, a demoness who is taunting Garcia by dragging Paula around just outside his reach. In a rather humourous scene (since Garcia has trouble pronouncing the word) Garcia explicitly tells Justine that he is misogynistic and continues to shout obscenities at her. Garcia doesn't hide the fact that he thinks men are superior to women. He even claims that only men have the balls to be demon hunters. And yet Garcia's machismo also results in the odd paradox that he finds himself in. Although he believes women are weak and less than men, the fact that his woman has been stolen means he has lost credibility as a man. What kind of man cannot protect his woman? By the end of the game, Garcia must confront Paula, who is angry at him for letting Fleming have his way with her. She cannot forgive him. He has failed as a man. And so when Paula asks Garcia to die with her, he accepts, and his final act as a man is holding Paula in his arms as the darkness encloses around them. Paula. Garcia's angel. There are a few other cultural nods that I want to address, because they were rather endearing to me, but other opinions I have read found them to be rather annoying. The first of these are the storybooks you encounter detailing the back-story of the bosses. Yes, once you start reading them you are forced to listen to Garcia and Johnson read them, and it takes a good 3-5 minutes. Why anyone would be annoyed by this hilarious exchange of dialogue beats me, but these aren’t just backstories for bosses, they are the fairytales of the demons. They are the folklore of Garcia’s world. Mexico has a long tradition of oral story-telling of folklore and legend as do most cultures. These stories add authenticity to Garcia’s world and the demons that inhabit it, and I found myself thinking of the stories my grandmother used to tell me. The stories of el Cucuy (the Mexican boogeyman), la Llorana (the weeping woman doomed to walk the earth for eternity searching for her children), and el Chupacabra (the pesky goat eater). The second cultural nod are the paper-craft levels in Act 4. Most positive reviews listed these stages as a welcome change of pace, while others thought they overstayed their welcome by the third paper stage. What they did for me though, is again, add an element of authenticity. Papel picado (perforated paper) is a common decorative feature during Mexican celebrations, most notably during Dia de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead). Although the stages aren’t quite as colorful as typical papel picado, the influence is undeniable. Combined with the charming cantina music that plays during these stages, the paper aesthetic continued to contribute to the authentic Mexican flavor of the game. This stuff is seriously fun to cut out. I could write a lot more on this topic, but I realize this is a game blog and not a scholarly essay. If Garcia embodies machismo for example, it could be argued that Paula embodies marianismo. There is also Johnson's uncanny resemblance to sugar skulls (another Day of the Dead tradition), the goat lamps, and the general setting of hell. Of course, plenty of people believe no matter how creative a game is, if the gameplay is lacking than it doesn’t matter. Fair enough, I do not intend to change anyone’s mind if they believe Shadows of the Damned is a poor game. But hopefully I’ve highlighted a few points that help to explain WHY the game is designed the way it is. Suda51 does not set out to annoy gamers with excessive dick jokes, cheesy dialogue, odd design, or bad gameplay. There is a method to his madness. In my opinion, Suda51 and Grasshopper Manufacture do more to prove that games are art and culturally relevant than any “art game” ever could.

BioWare unsure when it comes to unmasking Tali Posted: 02 Jul 2011 11:00 AM PDT Forget about who Liara's father is, or where the Illusive Man is located. The big mystery of the Mass Effect franchise has to be what one specific Quarian looks like: Tali'Zorah. What's underneath the mask? Many of the characters in the franchise will see a makeover for Mass Effect 3 -- Jack, for example, will wear more 'mature' attire, and Ashley will let her hair down. Tali will see a redesign too, but according to Casey Hudson, the executive producer of Mass Effect 3, BioWare is still debating whether or not they'll unmask her. The unmasking is seen almost like a lose-lose situation. "A lot of people want to have her face revealed and obviously people are going to be pissed off either way," says Hudson. Though they dread the decision right now, they know that it's something they'll have to eventually decide upon. In the meantime, fans can keep making ridiculous shops of Tali's unmasking. Some of my personal favorites include Wrex, the Na'Vi and creepy pedophile Shepard.  Mass Effect 3: Bioware on surprises, inspiration and tough decisions [CVG]

Anime Expo: Wakfu inspired by Final Fantasy Posted: 02 Jul 2011 10:00 AM PDT Square-Enix may have a little more to do with the world of Wakfu than just publishing the French-developed MMORPG that is set for open beta later this fall. During the Anime Expo panel “An Introduction to the World of WAKFU” Square-Enix producer Franko Fonseca mentioned that Wakfu’s cute little chicks called Tofu’s resemblance to Final Fantasy’s avian friends is no accident. “Talking to the artists over at Ankama, they were inspired by the Chocobos,” Fonseca said. “For the design guys Final Fantasy Tactics did play a really big part in their first title Dofus and [was] also something they really looked at when they were coming out and deciding what they wanted to do.” The closed beta for Wakfu will be open for enrollment through the duration of Anime Expo. If you haven’t checked out Wakfu yet, now’s your chance as registration closes Monday, July 4 at 11:59 p.m.

Divnich Divines: Will the Wii U be a success? Posted: 02 Jul 2011 09:00 AM PDT [In Divnich Divines, EEDAR Vice President and videogame analyst Jesse Divnich traverses the bogs of sales data, hype, and good old fashioned game geekery to give you his two cents on hot topics in the game industry] Despite months of concept art "leaks" and other rumors surrounding Nintendo's Project Café, the gaming juggernaut was still able to catch us off guard with its Wii U announcement at E3. But will the Wii U be enough for "core" gamers, who perhaps already own an Xbox 360 or PS3 to fulfill their HD console needs? In this new regular feature on Destructoid, I poll Jesse Divnich for his analyst perspective on current and ongoing developments in the game industry. With the initial skepticism of a multiple console owning gamer in mind, this edition's question is: "What will it take for the Wii U to become a commercial success at this stage of the console generation lifecycle?" Divnich: "The Wii offered a completely different style of interactive entertainment versus the traditional consoles, which leads me to consider that the Wii was never a part of the "7th Generation" of consoles. I'd argue that very few consumers ever had to decide between an Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, or Nintendo Wii; rather, it was an HD experience (Xbox 360 or PS3) vs. the Wii. Just looking at the top selling Wii games makes it clear that the Wii truly offered a differential experience, since 90% of those titles can only be experienced on the Wii. "Now this is not to say that the Wii wasn't a 'core' platform, since any true core gamer owns a Wii in addition to at least one HD console [By which Divnich means to say that most core gamers can admit to enjoying a casual gaming experience, and it's likely one of the reasons why a lot of traditional gamers own a Wii (see the comments section) -- Ed.], but we have to admit the expectation of experience on the Wii is vastly different than what one would expect on the HD consoles. "I would caution Nintendo to stray from labeling the Wii U as a platform that delivers a core experience as its primary function. It just doesn't need to compete with the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 when they've already carved out a rather large niche market for themselves.   "The problem with the Wii U is that the platform will offer the capability of delivering a traditional HD experience, and it may give publishers an 'easy out' from having to create a truly differential experience." "My biggest fear is that third-party publishers will simply 'port' their PS3 and Xbox 360 library over to the Wii U, while adding minimal unique features to the Wii U version. Simply put, I don't think the core community will fall for it and no one can honestly say they would purchase Assassin's Creed III for the Wii U, when they've already built a strong loyalty to the series on another platform. If someone told me they own every console and have purchased every Assassin's Creed iteration, I can bet with a high degree of certainty they likely own all iterations for the same console.   "Third-party publishers underperformed on the Wii and it took them years to finally figure out that even though the vast majority of the core community owned a Wii, we didn't want a traditional core experience. The divergence in the technology created this disparity in desired experiences. The same is true for the iPhone. "Our data shows that over 55% of Xbox 360 consumers who play more than 10 hours a week of core gaming are also engaged in the mobile markets, yet when we look at the top-selling iOS titles, they are all casual or bite-sized experiences that would only be enjoyable on the iOS devices due to the specific technology inherent to the platform (touch screen, etc.)." "The idea that the 'core' or 'casual' classification of a gamer is static is ridiculous. When I go to the theater, the movie I watch depends entirely on the experience I am looking to enjoy. If I am with a group of guys, we want to see something with high octane action; when I am with my wife, a romantic comedy. I believe consumers act similarly with video games. "I am not suggesting that core ports to the Wii U will be unprofitable since the costs of porting, plus minimal Wii U integration, is likely minimal; however, what I am suggesting is that core ports have minimal reward and with our industry being risk adverse, I fear that publishers would rather make a sure penny over a potential dollar. Two years from now, when we look at the top 25 best-selling Wii U titles, I have no doubt that 90% of them will be unique in some fashion to the Wii U. "The Wii U will be a successful platform. The question remains, however, aside from Nintendo, who else will be rolling in the profits? My guess, the ones that take full advantage of the differentiating Wii U technology." When the Wii was first announced, many of us may have rolled our eyes but we still had slivers of hope for truly novel and unique gaming experiences. We've seen a few great games on the Wii that made good on this promise, like Zack & Wiki, although the Wii will never be remembered for its huge lineup of amazing games that absolutely required motion controls. Let's hope third-party developers and publishers will learn from the best and most creative titles the Wii library has to offer, and that they will apply those lessons when developing for the Wii U. Not that anyone will care about shovelware and shoddy ports once an HD Zelda or Mario game is announced, of course.

Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi trailer has butt lasers Posted: 02 Jul 2011 08:00 AM PDT more videos like this The Dragon Ball Game Project Age 2011 we told you about a couple months back has (thankfully) been renamed Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi. It's... well, it's Dragon Ball. You fly, you fight, you shoot powerful blasts of energy out of every orifice, and yadda yadda. How do these games still get made? They just rotate the same cast of characters! I've got an idea: make some up! The movies did it, so I don't see why they can't give me someone else to fight instead of Raditz again. At least try to hide the fact that this is just a quick crash grab! Above is the US trailer, while below is the slightly longer Euro trailer featuring gratuitous moon babble. Watch it if you care. [PS360] Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi Trailer (Spike x Manga style) [NeoGAF]   more videos like this

Uncharted was once a bit more like Bioshock Posted: 02 Jul 2011 07:00 AM PDT Early in the game's development -- when it existed as nothing more than a tech demo, even -- Uncharted existed differently than what we've come to know. Evan Wells, the co-president of Naughty Dog, recently revealed that an initial iteration of Uncharted made it so it took place in an underwater facility. The comparison to Bioshock comes from Wells himself, who notes that it's curious that he's heard Ken Levine say that one of the early concepts for Bioshock was a tropical island. That tech demo with the underwater facility was what Naughty Dog used to pitch the game to Sony. The rest, as they say, is history. Evan Wells walks us through the past, present and future of Naughty Dog [Game Informer]

MML3 is still MIA, so here's some cute Roll concept art Posted: 02 Jul 2011 06:00 AM PDT Mega Man Legends 3 is floating about in a cloud of uncertainty, and the Prototype Version eShop download still hasn't received a new release date following its delay. How ever can we cope with the harsh realities of developer / publisher bureaucracy? With concept art of series heroine Roll, of course! We've already seen Roll's new duds previously, but now art director Yuji Ishihara has chosen to share two sets of illustrations showcasing Roll's various facial expressions. Oh, Roll! You and your crazy oversized hat and zeal for all things mechanical! I don't feel so bad about Legends 3's capricious future anymore! No, wait. I still do. Dammit. Another Look at Roll's New Design [Capcom-Unity]

Spoiler warning: non-final build of Gears of War 3 leaked Posted: 02 Jul 2011 05:15 AM PDT It appears an early build of Gears of War 3 has leaked to the Internet, which allegedly includes the full campaign and multiplayer modes and may be an E3 build. After looking around, this turns out to be a developer build or "JTAG" version of the game, which means you need to have a special modified Xbox 360 or a dev kit to run it. While this doesn't mean the game can be pirated in the traditional sense of the word, as it's not exactly easy to JTAG your console for the average person, it does mean that places like YouTube and streaming sites may become a haven for spoiler-rich Gears of War 3 content. So be warned guys. If you want to remain spoiler-free, know that you may not get what you wish for when you click on a Gears of War 3 titled video or stream from now on. Even scrolling through the NeoGAF thread that first alerted us to the issue showed some potential spoilers, although I can't verify if they are real or not. I'm just going to pretend I never saw them. Warning: Gears of War 3 leaked! [NeoGAF]

Live Show: Hangover gives you Galaga Legions DX Posted: 02 Jul 2011 05:00 AM PDT [Tune in to Saturday Morning Hangover every Saturday at 10am Pacific for the latest Xbox Live Indie Games, co-op play and assorted hijinks. Hosted by Conrad Zimmerman, Jordan Devore and the lovely Katrina. We have a couch! Come join us live on Destructoid's Justin.tv channel!] So sleepy. Do you ever get tired? I'm not talking about "at the end of a long day," tired. I mean, "in the middle of the day," tired. How tired am I? I'm drawing inspiration from 5-Hour Energy commercials. Yeah, I found the bottom of the barrel but I'm convinced that if we bring a drill and a little elbow grease, there's gold under there somewhere. Catch all that? Tune in for Saturday Morning Hangover and maybe you can make sense of it all. We're playing the latest Xbox Live Indie Games. Then, in the second half of our show we'll be giving away codes for Galaga Legions DX. So come tune in for some very exhausted madness right now on Destructoid's Justin.tv channel!   Watch live video from Destructoid on Justin.tv more videos like this more videos like this

Professor Layton movie is bound for North America Posted: 02 Jul 2011 04:00 AM PDT You cheeky Brits have been enjoying Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva for almost a year now. Now it's time for the filthy Yanks to get our cryptic on! At the Anime Expo in Los Angeles yesterday, anime distributor Viz Media announced that it would be bringing the Layton movie to our shores this fall, although no release date was specified. I can't wait! I'm gonna celebrate by posing my Revoltech Layton figurine in obscene positions! AX 11: Viz adds Professor Layton to its retinue [Japanator]

Ground control to Fox McCloud ... Posted: 02 Jul 2011 02:00 AM PDT This is one of the oddest, but most awesome videos I have seen in a long time. I don't even know how to describe it. It is a short (the first of a series?) starring the Star Fox characters as stuffed animals, walking, talking, and singing in front of sets made entirely out of construction paper. I kind of love everything about it. I love the music. I love the voices. And I especially love the posters on the walls of all the various characters' Arwings. I mean, Falco has an autographed picture of Denis Leary, for crying out loud. So amazing. DO A BARREL ROLL!

Follow us on Twitter to win some CoD: Black Ops map codes Posted: 01 Jul 2011 11:30 PM PDT more videos like this The new Call of Duty: Black Ops map pack was released this week for the Xbox 360 and we have eight codes to give out! These normally go for 1200 MS Points but you can possible win one for free if you simply follow us on Twitter and Retweet this Tweet. The codes will be given out tonight at 11:59PM CDT. Hate Twitter? Then go enter our 3DS giveaway instead!

The Daily Hotness: Things you'll see on Japanator Posted: 01 Jul 2011 04:59 PM PDT Yup. You should go visit Japanator. Check out the Deus Ex QR mission reveal, we spoke with Tomonobu Itagaki on Devil's Third, Gearbox almost made a Blade Runner game, there's 12-minutes of Batman: Arkham City gameplay and more happened on 07/01/11. Destructoid Original: Win Deus Ex QR mission prizes with help from Destructoid Dtoid community meetups for the month of July BritToid Ep 11: Keep calm and plug the flow The Question: Should Last Story, Xenoblade come to NA? Friday Night Fights: Steam sale edition Interview: Speaking to Tomonobu Itagaki for Devil's Third Interview: Talking pagans and Starhawk with Dylan Jobe New Destructoid Episode: Now with 100% less Max Scoville Live Show: Backlog wakes the Pikmin up early This weekend on JTV: July 2-3rd Tomopop: New Mario keychains to light your way! Show and Tell: Jin Saotome's custom Shyguy Jazwares reveals five klassic kombatants which are just two kharacters re-kolored Community: Community blogs of 6/30 Forum thread of the day: Team Fortress 2 Contests: Sell and buy used games (gasp) & get entered to win a 3DS Follow us on Twitter to win some CoD: Black Ops map codes Reviews: Review: James Pond in the Deathly Shallows Review: Lucha Fury News: Ubisoft launches Ubicollectibles merchandise Electronic Arts holds summer sale, not as good as Steam Drink, relax and play in South England Pac-Man is king of the arcade, says survey Original Crysis may be coming to PS3, Xbox 360 Gearbox was going to make a Blade Runner game Split/Second developer Black Rock closes Club Nintendo reward: Commemorative Mario pins Legion of Doom, Ted DiBiase, more coming to WWE All-Stars Infinity Blade God King shirts hit Hot Topic Nintendo pumps money into new Kyoto R&D building Sony: Only the most hardcore gamers use PlayStation Home Calibur11 reveal Gears of War vault for Xbox360 PS Vita facial technology demo impresses Final Fantasy Tactics iPhone pushed to the end of July Okay, now Fieldrunners HD will be free on Amazon Appstore Bodycount dev: There's room for FPSs beyond Call of Duty Would you like the Source SDK for free too? Okay! Games for Windows Marketplace merging with Xbox.com Offbeat: Corgi cosplays Epona from The Legend of Zelda series! Meet the world's oldest Battlefield player Media: Dynasty Warriors 7: Xtreme Legends screens Happy day: 12 minutes of Batman: Arkham City gameplay

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