New Games |
- The Daily Hotness: Starscream vs. Rainbow Dash
- We don't go to Katmai: New Cabela's Survival trailer
- Live show: Bowerstone will rise again on Backlog
- New Professor Layton vs Ace Attorney video is juicy
- The DTOID Show: Diablo III beta playthrough!
- Irrational Games shows off canned RTS Dungeon Duel
- Play Uncharted 3 early at select AMC Theatres
- This weekend on TwitchTV: Gears of War 3!
- NVIDIA: PC game sales will surpass console game sales
- Capcom JP's girls in bikinis playing Dead Rising 2 OTR
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution DLC, no more outsourcing
- Fanatec Forza Motorsport CSR Wheel open for pre-order
- Live show: Community picks on Mash Tactics
- Hard Reset patch adds much-needed tweaks, features
- Review: ClaDun X2
- Old City of Heroes accounts slowly being reactivated
- Divnich Divines: What makes an original IP successful?
- Friday Night Fights: Taste the rainbow!
- Wizorb headed to the Xbox Live Indie channel next week
| The Daily Hotness: Starscream vs. Rainbow Dash Posted: 23 Sep 2011 04:59 PM PDT ScrewAttack's newest Death Battle went up today and, to my immense enjoyment, our own Jim Sterling voices a few lines as Starscream. Also, Rainbow Dash for life! We reviewed Frogger 3D, ClaDun X2, and NHL 12, Conrad unveiled a new daily wrap-up series, Irrational Games showed off a cancelled project, and more happened on 9/23/2011. Destructoid Original: |
| We don't go to Katmai: New Cabela's Survival trailer Posted: 23 Sep 2011 04:00 PM PDT
No, I don't have any sincere expectations for Cabela's Survival: Shadows of Katmai, but I do have a minor obsession with the game after seeing its box art. These new screenshots and trailer are more or less in line with what you would expect this to be: a hint of survival, some fairly realistic action ... all of nature's Alaskan branch hell bent on killing the protagonist -- you know, the usual. Shadows of Katmai does make use of the Top Shot Elite gun peripheral, after all. Gotta shoot something. And the freezing text effect that miraculously happens every time. Can't pass on mentioning that. |
| Live show: Bowerstone will rise again on Backlog Posted: 23 Sep 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 Twitch.tv channel every weeknight at 8pm Pacific] We're visiting scenic Bowerstone, the once great city of Albion, where Reaver has been given free reign. This gives me great joy, as there isn't a single character from the Fable series I enjoy more than that rapscallion. He's just so deliciously self-centered and uncaring. I can't wait to see how he foils my plans to foil his plans. Come and join me for Backlog as we continue to play Fable III and win the hearts and minds of a rebellious people. I'll be playing live, hanging out with you and the chat goons over on Destructoid's Twitch.tv channel! |
| New Professor Layton vs Ace Attorney video is juicy Posted: 23 Sep 2011 02:30 PM PDT Remember that Professor Layton, Ace Attorney crossover news that happened a while ago? Well not only do we have screenshots for it, there is even a video! Sadly all the text is in Japanese, but Bolt2nd, the person who uploaded the video, was nice enough to translate, for those of us who don't understand Japanese. I have no idea what the deal is or why they're having a witch trial (didn't those always end badly for the accused woman?) but Layton and Luke are teaming up with Phoenix and Maya so who cares. There is still no definite word on whether the game will make it here, but I don't see why not. Fingers crossed! |
| The DTOID Show: Diablo III beta playthrough! Posted: 23 Sep 2011 02:13 PM PDT Okay, maybe not an entire playthrough - but hey, it's a guaranteed ten minutes! If you've been curious how the Diablo 3 beta is stacking up, Max led us through the first ten minutes of it today while I had a discussion with myself about some of the game's finer attributes. Later on, I answered some of your most pressing questions, such as, "can you customize the barbarian to have max's hair." The answer is no. In non-Diablo news, CS:GO won't be getting a console demo but will be getting 2 new Arsenal modes, PS3 owners will get their Battlefield 3 DLC a week earlier than the other suckers, Dota 2 may be coming sooner than we expected, and Jim FINALLY F*CKING REVIEWED RESISTANCE 3. Oh yeah, and the latest trailer for Batman: Arkham City introduces us to the Joker. It's about time, Rocksteady! |
| Irrational Games shows off canned RTS Dungeon Duel Posted: 23 Sep 2011 02:00 PM PDT It's easy to like Irrational Games, especially when the studio behind System Shock 2 and BioShock gets up front about its canceled games. One such title, a fantasy-themed real-time strategy game built for consoles and centered around collectible cards, dates back to 2002. No, really, you can see the original pitch in .pdf form, complete with a Sun Tzu quote. It's a real treat to see if you're into game design or like having lesser-known industry facts to drop on unsuspecting friends. |
| Play Uncharted 3 early at select AMC Theatres Posted: 23 Sep 2011 01:00 PM PDT Next month, Uncharted fans are getting a cool opportunity to play the latest installment -- in 3D, no less -- before the rest of us at select AMC Theatres. The scheduled festivities include multiplayer tournaments, Sony giveaways, and the main event, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception on the big screen. Perhaps best of all, you can score a copy of the game before it officially launches on November 1. General admission is $25 (yikes), but for $60, you'll get a premium pass which includes Uncharted 3 being sent to your home on October 25. Might be worth attending if you're really into the series and will be in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., New York City, or Dallas between October 18-20. [Thanks, Vallanthaz] |
| This weekend on TwitchTV: Gears of War 3! Posted: 23 Sep 2011 12:15 PM PDT Destructoid's Twitch.tv channel is committed to bringing lots of great gaming-related entertainment even during the weekends. From playing games on the stream, to discussing them in a talk show format, we bring a wide range of entertainment with that unique Dtoid flavor. This weekend, the highly anticipated game Gears of War 3 is on deck on Skill with Phil! Watch as Philanthr0py and guest Johnnyviral play Epic Games' newest release. Check below for the rest of this weekend's programming!
Saturday Morning Hangover with Conrad Zimmerman and Jordan Devore airs from 10:00am to 12:00pm Pacific. Come watch as they play the latest Xbox Live Indie Games demos for your enjoyment, and revel in the beauty of Conrad's mustache!
Skill with Phil is a hardcore gaming show starting at 4:00pm Pacific, where community member Philanthr0py plays the latest games with special guests and shows just how good (or bad) he is at games. This week, join Phil as he plays the just released Gears of War 3 with Johnnyviral!
321gocast is Destructoid's only live show/podcast hybrid airing on Sunday, from 2:00-4:00pm Pacific starring Johnnyviral, Jesse Cortez, Analoge, and Ryu89. This week, community member Spaceburrito makes his 321gocast debut to chat with the regular cast about this week's gaming news!
Destructoid's live community talk show, Also, Talks, starring Bill Zoeker and Johnnyluchador is committed to bringing interesting conversations about videogames, Destructoid, and other stuff on Sunday at 4:00pm Pacific. This week, Brett Zeidler joins the guys for awesome discussions! Catch these shows and more on Twitch.tv/destructoid! |
| NVIDIA: PC game sales will surpass console game sales Posted: 23 Sep 2011 12:00 PM PDT Fanning the flames of the format-wars, NVIDIA made a bold claim to Techgage about the state of the PC. You might as well throw out your consoles now, because PC games revenue will be greater than console games revenue by 2014. While consoles are stuck with the same hardware for most of their life cycle, PC hardware is constantly improving. Digital distribution, free-to-play games and shinier graphics are all partly responsible for PC games' increased sales in the future. Here's a prophetic graph NVIDIA made. Irrefutable, right? They made a bunch. If technology and power drives sales it does make me wonder what the hell is going on with Nintendo. The GameCube should have been the king of the consoles while it's successor should have been shown nothing but disdain by everyone. PCs are always more powerful and flexible than consoles, you don't have to look to the future to see that. But it's not about power. Sure, pretty graphics are splendid, but it's convenience that tends to win out. I spend almost the same amount of time on my DS as I do on my PC, that's not because they are equally powerful. It's because I can play my DS on the train or in bed and because the games kick-ass. I don't think that it's beyond the realm of possibility that PC games could start to dominate the market again and some of the reasons like digital distribution would certainly play a role in it, power won't. PC gaming won't get back on top with dick measuring. NVIDIA Talks PC Gaming Trends... [Techgage] |
| Capcom JP's girls in bikinis playing Dead Rising 2 OTR Posted: 23 Sep 2011 11:45 AM PDT Capcom, I'm confused. You could have gave us actual game footage, or in-depth analysis of gameplay, or even just a features list, but instead you give us idols in bikinis playing your game, Dead Rising 2: Off the Record. Are these your game specialists for the demos? Was it particularly hot that day at Capcom HQ? Am I missing something? I watched both videos twice to make sure I wasn't missing...any important game details. This is my job, you know. But I didn't find any game news interspersed between zoomed in footage of a girl bouncing on a balance ball while squealing at a television. I'm confused at your focus here, Capcom. There were actually sections of your 10 minute promo videos that only showed tight shots of body parts of the game player, and nothing of the game being promoted. Why would you do that? Maybe I missed something. I guess I'll have to watch again. |
| Deus Ex: Human Revolution DLC, no more outsourcing Posted: 23 Sep 2011 11:30 AM PDT Good news, everyone! The upcoming DLC for Deus Ex: Human Revolution -- The Missing Link, is being made completely in-house. There will be a boss battle, but Grip Entertainment aren't having anything to do with it. It will take into account the variety of ways players approach combat so you won't have to run about throwing grenades while hoping for the best. Speaking with Eurogamer, The Missing Link's producer, Marc-Andre Dufort promised that the boss fight will be less frustrating.
Dufort acknowledged that the main game's boss battles were a problem for some players. But he glossed over the main issue.
It's all well and good for boss battles to be less frustrating if you take a more combat focused route. But when they completely ignore all the other play styles that's plain shitty design. It's in total opposition to the freedom we have throughout the rest of the game. It's great that The Missing Link won't be crippled in such a fashion, but it's a shame the main game remains marred by the shoddy efforts of Grip. Deus Ex DLC includes new boss battle... [Eurogamer] |
| Fanatec Forza Motorsport CSR Wheel open for pre-order Posted: 23 Sep 2011 11:15 AM PDT What are you going to be playing Forza Motorsport 4 with? Xbox 360 game pad? Psssh. I'm kidding. That's what I use, too. But there's a few other really nice controller options for this racer that you use, and the Fanatech CSR wheel and accompanying gear are probably the nicest of them. The wheel itself is now open for pre-order. Fanatec has worked with Microsoft and Turn 10 to make the extreme high end option for racing controllers. If you're super serious about racing and what the full set-up, you'll need to plunk down some serious cash. The Forza Motorsport CSR Wheel is $249.95, the CSR Elite Pedal Set is another $149.95, and the CSR Shifter Set tacks on another $59.95. That's about $460 in all. What do you get for that cash? A Forza-branded three-motor force feedback wheel with paddle shifters, an LED display that shows turn angle, and multiple settings for drift modes. The pedal set is made of aluminum, and uses Load Cell tech to simulate the feel of braking in a real car. Finally, the metal shifter is a 6-speed, H-pattern affair that can be mounted on either side of the wheel. I'm going to give this wheel a spin soon, and I'll let you know what I think of it. |
| Live show: Community picks on Mash Tactics Posted: 23 Sep 2011 10:30 AM PDT [Not sure what Mash Tactics is? I've included a clip from a recent episode to show you just a glimpse of what you've been missing, you daft fool! You can see all of Destructoid's previously-aired live shows in our archives.] Today, Mash Tactics is playing whatever you want us to. The end of the week is what we affectionately call "A.D.D. Fridays." We take suggestions on what to play, and play along with the people watching at home. If you can't wait for the show to start, shout out some games you'd like to see in the comments below. Mash Tactics airs Monday through Friday at 4pm Pacific. Watch Jon Carnage and Pico Mause let loose with off-the-wall humor and discuss the issues of the day in the live chat on Destructoid's Twitch.tv channel. Also, there are videogames being played. Join us for your chance to win prizes, talk to industry guests, and witness all of the glorious antics.
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| Hard Reset patch adds much-needed tweaks, features Posted: 23 Sep 2011 10:15 AM PDT Props should be given to Flying Wild Hog for its new Hard Reset patch, which addresses many of the common criticisms brought up by reviews, and of course, players like you. The full notes can be found here, but these are a few of the highlights:
Expect to hear about a new mode for Hard Reset plus "further improvements" in the near future. |
| Posted: 23 Sep 2011 10:00 AM PDT A good dungeon crawler is hard to find these days, and bedroom programmers seem to be the only ones making them. Developer System Prisma decided to meet them halfway with ClaDun X2. It's an action-RPG that is part Roguelike and part RPG Maker, offering enough customization options to keep players entertained within its miniature world. With complex leveling systems, intuitive combat and procedurally generated dungeons that can last a day to explore, ClaDun X2 is an oddball release for a diminishing audience. However, it’s one worth seeking out if you fancy an old-fashioned dungeon crawl. ClaDun X2 (PlayStation Network) As with the original, ClaDun X2 throws you into a world of dungeons, item shops and townsfolk with single-sentence responses. Arcanus Cella’s modest size and economic layout (every location has a purpose) is inductive of the adventure to come. After creating your character and class of choice, you enter your first series of dungeons that act as a tutorial to the game’s unique design. Each dungeon has the primary goal of reaching its exit with a secondary time-based goal -- get to the exit within the designated time and you’ll acquire “fame” which unlocks bonuses within the town hub. Although there are a couple floors you’ll be able to race through on your first try, most require significant knowledge of the dungeon’s layout and well-leveled characters. Dedicating yourself to beating all the trials can be a daunting task in itself. Racing through the dungeons lends the game a unique feel akin to Half-Minute Hero, but generally speaking, you’ll be taking your time. As you should, since the dungeons are full of traps. You can only see these traps faintly, as you approach them. Since these deal out mostly projectiles, you can use them to your advantage: step on an arrow trap and let it hit an enemy, dealing out significant damage. However, be wary that the same is true of the healing traps, which you will rely heavily on throughout the dungeons. Each dungeon is made up of four floors. The final floor usually culminates with a boss battle and a brief cutscene that progresses the story. The story is paper-thin but the dialogue in these scenes is charming in the way you expect of an NIS title. It’s mostly cutesy, meta-JRPG dialogue that pokes fun at tropes. You either are into or not, but skipping all of it is an option and one the game won’t punish you for. It’s a pretty straight-forward game but you’ll still need to dedicate some time to understanding the combat and character systems. What keeps the ClaDun X2 interesting through the constant grind of dungeons is the Magic Circle system that dictates your party formations and character progression. At any time in the game, you can create new characters. The options are very limited but you can always create your own pixel art if you are tired of your party members looking too much alike. The important customization features come with creating a diverse party and giving them important roles within your magic circle formation. Each class has their own magic circles they unlock, which dictates all their stats, abilities and experience points. Every circle favors a certain type of play style: do you want to level your Ranger, or give your Warrior brute force for a boss encounter? The details in these setups are important, as sub-characters' position on a grid will dictate all your buffs and health bonuses. If they die, you lose it all. Properly building these formations can be time consuming, but you can thankfully save them and swap them out before each dungeon. A couple hours into ClaDun X2, you’ll unlock access to the game’s procedurally generated dungeons which are designed to challenge and steal hours of your life away from you. Along with the 99 floor neo-geons of the first game, the sequel adds in tri-geons which make random floors really easy (with great loot) or really hard. You can easily become obsessed with reaching the end of these and completely forget about the game’s main campaign and the time trials. The combination of all three gives the game a surprising amount of variety, all things considered. Along with these endless dungeons, you have an endless amount of characters, music and equipment to play with due to all the editing tools within the game. It’s a shame that NIS didn’t implement better sharing features. Sure you can find message boards filled with people sharing saved edits via file sharing services, but that’s hardly convenient. The game’s offerings seem a bit bare without these additions. As with the original, you can switch between an orchestral soundtrack and retro 8-bit version on the fly, but you’ll find the limited selection of tunes grating after a while. ClaDun X2’s combat and world feel a bit generic and small in comparison to Quartet’s masterful SNES titles and similar action-RPGs, but the customization, Magic Circle system and endless dungeons make ClaDun X2 a recommendable title for RPG-lovin’ PSP owners. With such small goals, there can only be a faint amount of praise to compliment the game. It’s good, it works, and it’s on a system that I rarely find an excuse to power on anymore. The fact that I kept my system dust-free for a week because of ClaDun X2 is an accomplishment in and of itself. Now, I’d just like to see a console sequel with improved combat and the production values of 3D Dot Game Heroes. |
| Old City of Heroes accounts slowly being reactivated Posted: 23 Sep 2011 09:30 AM PDT If you're not yet aware that City of Heroes is going free-to-play, well, now you are. In fact, current subscribers have had access to the new content for a little over a week now! A forum post came up the other day stating that their old account now had access to the servers with a "Premium" status and a community member confirmed that old accounts were slowly but surely being reactivated. Today, NCsoft declared officially that inactive accounts are indeed being reactivated. This is a gradual process, so if you're like me and haven't had your account switched back on yet, don't worry. If you've never had an account but want to get in on the free-to-play action, you'll have to wait a little bit longer as you'll be given access in the upcoming week. City of Heroes remains one of my favorite MMOs of all time and I cannot wait for my account to be reactivated. I have so many questions form my absence! Who is this guy with the gun hand? Where's Lord Recluse? Should I "Go Rouge?" Can I still farm Rikti Monkeys over by Monster Island? I must know! |
| Divnich Divines: What makes an original IP successful? Posted: 23 Sep 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] It seems to be a dilemma as old as the modern entertainment industry itself. Sequels to successful titles sell, but people get tired of them. Everyone wants new IPs to succeed and provide diversity to the gaming landscape, but when someone actually tries to do so the reward can range from success to utter failure at retail. Meanwhile developers, publishers, and gamers alike lament the state of an innately creative industry where creative innovation is more often than not punished by consumers. But what does it actually take for a new IP to succeed? Setting aside our personal preferences for a moment, let's take a look at the business side of things for a change. Analyst Jesse Divnich pitched in on a seemingly eternally relevant question: What does it take for an original IP to succeed at retail? Divnich: "There are literally thousands of factors that determine whether an original IP will fail or succeed at retail, but the majority of factors can be broken down into four categories.
"One large factor I've neglected to talk about is how original IPs (whether new or existing) become successful in the first place. It all has to do with being the first to excel at taking advantage of a new technology or software feature. Every new hardware launch (or major software update) opens up new features to developers and if we look back the last 15 years, we see a pattern where the top brands of today where the first to exploit those new features successfully. "Why did the Call of Duty series catapult in sales between Call of Duty 3 and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare? Because it was one of the first titles to take advantage of the new Xbox Live and PSN multiplayer features. Halo, the first great shooter game to bring first-person shooters to the consoles; Wii Fit, the first fitness game to take advantage of a new technology (Wii Balance Board); Guitar Hero, plastic guitar peripherals; Grand Theft Auto 3, first great 3D sand-box game; Just Dance, the first to incorporate licensed music into a rhythm based Wii game. The list can go on and on." "A Kingdom for Keflings is another great example. In November of 2008, Microsoft updated its Xbox Live platform to allow the use of avatars inside games. By no coincidence, at the same time A Kingdom for Keflings was released, which made use of the new in-game avatar feature and despite moderate review scores (76/100) it is one of the top 20 selling XBLA games of all time. I simply have to ask myself, would A Kingdom for Keflings have been as successful without the in-game avatar feature and the marketing power Microsoft supported it with as a result? The answer, of course, is no. "This same rule applies across all entertainment as well. Take the movie Avatar for example. If Avatar was launched today, would it have achieved similar box office success? Keeping in mind that all the other 3D titles have already launched (e.g., Piranha 3D, StreetDance 3D, Disney movies, etc.)? Of course not. What about if Avatar launched in 2009, as it did, but did not make use of 3D technology? Again, no. Avatar was successful for one reason, it was a great movie that made use of a new technology that had a high market size potential. "For a recent presentation in San Jose on Cloud Gaming, I went back and labeled each new IP as launching early, mid or late in a technology cycle, and to no surprise, 30% of new IPs that launched early in a technology cycle were successful, 9% if launched mid and only 4% if they launched late. Divnich's insights provide a clear picture for those of us who complain loudly whenever a new IP tries and fails at retail. But whether we like it or not, games are still entertainment products bound largely to the same business rules and practices seen in other branches of entertainment. You have your audience, your budget, and your good old marketing mix to considera alongside a wealth of other factors. That doesn't mean there is no room for a great and original IP, however. It just means there are key factors to consider if you actually want to sell enough units to start a new franchise. If we take a look at Minecraft using Divnich's four categories, it becomes a bit clearer how it was able to become a runaway success before the game is actually finished. Minecraft had little to no practical competition, benefited from a savvy business model that in turn created a wealth of word-of-mouth buzz that spread like wildfire, has an audience that is willing to forgive its "shortcomings" in quality (selling in alpha and beta stages) due to the enjoyment of the product in their hands -- and a promise of more to come -- and can be played properly on most PCs. Perhaps Notch didn't think of this beforehand, but his game fits the requirements for competition, marketing, quality, and market potential which can help explain how he was able to sell millions of copies of an unfinished game. Compare that to Enslaved, which was positioned in a genre where people are less willing to forgive the slightest shortcomings, launched at a terrible time with a lot of competition from established action/adventure franchises, suffered from a lackluster marketing strategy that didn't capitalize properly on the game's strengths that set it apart, and failed at retail despite critical praise. With these tools in hand, we can still lament and complain about a lack of original IPs because this is the Internet. But the next time a publisher, developer or studio complains about the state of the industry with regard to new IPs, while in retrospect their decisions and strategy may have doomed their previous games' success at retail from the start, we can be armed with more than just a snappy comment and a funny picture. |
| Friday Night Fights: Taste the rainbow! Posted: 23 Sep 2011 08:45 AM PDT Yep, I bought one. Wanna fight about it? New to FNF? Read this! Each week, a bunch of us Dtoiders get together to play videogames online! It's a 100% community-run event, so feel free to join in or even host something yourself! The planning for FNF starts in the forums, where community members pick a game to host, set a time, post their Gamertag, etc. Then, every Friday, reminder posts go up in the community blogs followed by a recap post here on the front page where any last-minute planning can take place. To join in, simply send a friend request to the match host! (Don't forget to say you're from Dtoid!) If you'd rather host something yourself, just post the pertinent details in the comments section below! We hope to see you online! Tonight's Hosts:
Tonight's Hosts:
Check out the 360 FNF community blog for more details! Tonight's Hosts:
Check out the PS3 FNF community blog for more details! Tonight's Hosts:
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| Wizorb headed to the Xbox Live Indie channel next week Posted: 23 Sep 2011 08:30 AM PDT There may be very few Xbox Live Indie Games worth actively anticipating, but when one does come along, it's on us to beat you over the head until you either get it on your radar or, understandably, run away. My current focus is on Tribute Games' Wizorb, which releases September 29. Inspired by Devil's Crush and other delightful titles, Wizorb is a block-breaker game with a fantasy theme. Fun as no-frills Breakout gameplay can be, it's not always enough, which is why the melding of genres is appreciated. News of the PC version is supposed to come "soon." The one-two punch of XBLIG followed by PC seems to be the way to go at this point. Tribute Releasing The Wonderful Wizorb To XBLIG On September 29 [GameSetWatch] |
The DTOID Show: Diablo III beta playthrough!
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