New Games |
- Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword has giant muppet things
- Dance Central DLC catalog discounted for Kinect birthday
- Minecraft playable on Xbox 360 at MineCon next month
- The DTOID Show: New releases, Skyrim, and BlizzCon 2011
- Blizzard shows off the Diablo III Collector's Edition
- Gabe Newell explains Valve's pricing and free to play
- New screenshots and details for Final Fantasy Type-0
- Inversion's going upside down in this new trailer
- Where is that Battlefield 3 review?
- EA: Syndicate remake a possibility
- High Flyer Death Defyer has Charisma
- Review: Pokémon Rumble Blast
- Celebrate Super Meat Month with an XBLA update and sale
- Contest: Win Battlefield 3 on the PC!
- Scrolls has free-to-play, but we're not calling it that
- Short film explores a rather deadly Duck Hunt
- Ecstasy of Order is the best videogame film in years
- Confuse, evade, frighten, and kill your captors in Warp
- Review: Serious Sam: The Random Encounter
| Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword has giant muppet things Posted: 24 Oct 2011 04:30 PM PDT What's it going to take to get more people interested in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword? It's already getting rave reviews, has a reported +100 of potential gameplay, and more new features than a Zelda game has seen in years. Still, that doesn't seem to be enough to get certain disenchanted gamers interested. It certainly isn't because the game lacks sky. Maybe it lacks rim? I'm not sure. Well, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata isn't going to take the situation lying down. He's got a new interview up about the game to spread the word of its wonders, complete with a video featuring never before seen wonders. There is first person bug hunting, mushrooms, maps, and a giant muppet thing. Seriously, this behemoth is HUGE! It's toes are about shoulder height on Link. And you can smack those toes around if you want! Smack 'em hard! I can't wait to smack dem toes come November 20th. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - more footage, info
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| Dance Central DLC catalog discounted for Kinect birthday Posted: 24 Oct 2011 03:30 PM PDT It's Kinect's birthday! I...I didn't get him anything. My week got so busy -- you know how it is. There is some kind of celebration going on, though. Dance Central's entire song catalog has been discounted on XBLA. Song packs start at 480 Microsoft points, and contain anywhere from 3 to 15 tracks. Get some of them to prepare for Dance Central 2's launch tomorrow! These discounted prices are good through November 5. Hit the jump to see all the discounted song packs. Dance Pack 01 – 640 Microsoft Points (640 MS Points in savings!)
Dance Pack 02 – 640 Microsoft Points (800 MS Points in savings!)
Dance Pack 03 – 640 Microsoft Points (640 MS Points in savings!)
Dance Pack 04 – 620 Microsoft Points (340 MS Points in savings!)
Dance Pack 05 – 480 Microsoft Points (240 MS Points in savings!)
Dance Pack 06 – 960 Microsoft Points (480 MS Points in savings!)
Dance Pack 07 – 960 Microsoft Points (480 MS Points in savings!)
Marathon Pack 01 – 1400 Microsoft Points (1960 MS Points in savings!)
Marathon Pack 02 – 1500 Microsoft Points (2100 MS Points in savings!)
Single – 160 Microsoft Points (80 MS Points in savings!) The Black Eyed Peas – “I Gotta Feeling”
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| Minecraft playable on Xbox 360 at MineCon next month Posted: 24 Oct 2011 02:30 PM PDT Our first opportunity to play Minecraft for Xbox 360 is naturally going to be offered at MineCon 2011. The Las Vegas convention, which takes place November 18-19, is being partially sponsored by Microsoft. Of course! In addition to the aforementioned preview, Microsoft is set to show other "cool stuff" in the exhibition area of MineCon. Not to knock it or anything, but are you (or anyone you know) actually making the trip? Seems like one of those events that'd be hard to warrant as a non-Las Vegas native. |
| The DTOID Show: New releases, Skyrim, and BlizzCon 2011 Posted: 24 Oct 2011 02:08 PM PDT Good evening, children! Let's all gather around Auntie Tara's arms as she tells you the tale of a far-off land - a peaceful, pungent place where elves and trolls and all manner of basement dwellers roam free from the persecution of popular society. That place is, of course, BlizzCon, and that troll is me. Yes, I'm back from Anaheim and eager to talk all about my BlizzCon experience during the second half of today's show. It wouldn't be a news program without news, though, and fortunately we have some of that, too. Bethesda released an incredible live action Skyrim trailer, and some video games came out this week. We're also giving away a War of the Worlds prize pack on our live show this Friday. Watch today's episode to find out how to win! |
| Blizzard shows off the Diablo III Collector's Edition Posted: 24 Oct 2011 01:30 PM PDT As terrific as digital distribution can be, you can't help but miss the days when games -- particularly PC titles -- came in large boxes with novel-sized manuals. Those wanting a physical version of Diablo III can optionally go for the Collector's Edition of the game, which Blizzard has detailed:
The CE will be available for both Mac and Windows (XP, Vista, 7) users. The price hasn't been disclosed yet, much like the release date. I'm digging that white box quite a bit. |
| Gabe Newell explains Valve's pricing and free to play Posted: 24 Oct 2011 12:30 PM PDT Steam sales are both a blessing and a curse to most gamers; they're great because they offer value, but they suck because most of the time you never play the games you buy in the sale! In a recent appearance at a videogame conference, Valve's Gabe Newell explained some of the facts behind videogame pricing on Steam. Once again, Gabe claimed that piracy isn't a problem caused by pricing, it's the service that's the issue. "The easiest way to stop piracy is not by putting antipiracy technology to work," Gabe said. "It’s by giving those people a service that’s better than what they’re receiving from the pirates." He then gave the example about how people said Steam wouldn't work in Russia but that is now the Valve's second biggest market in continental Europe. Gabe also talked about how surprising information Valve got from free-to-play games, namely how "free" and "free to play" are perceived differently. "We don’t understand what’s going on," Gabe admitted after Valve's data didn't give any conclusive answers for growing a game's audience. "All we know is we’re going to keep running these experiments to try and understand better what it is that our customers are telling us." It's some really interesting stuff and it's exciting that Valve are taking chances. How Valve experiments with the economics of video games [GeekWire] |
| New screenshots and details for Final Fantasy Type-0 Posted: 24 Oct 2011 12:00 PM PDT With Final Fantasy Type-0 soon to be released to the masses of Japan on October 27, a new influx of screenshots and details on characters have arisen. Along with new details for the characters and a look at the cinematics, we still get to see some classic Final Fantasy creatures make some cameos. If there is one thing that Square Enix know how to do well in recent years, it is making a PSP game look fantastic. The character textures are crisp and locations are unique and full of smaller details. I can't wait until the demo get localized for North America audiences, not that I mind jumping through hoops to download a demo. I just prefer to play my RPGs with some idea of what is being said. In these screenshots we are introduced to the secondary characters Emina, Kazuka, Quon, Mtsuki, Ryid, Tiz and Lean. Emina is the former student turned officer, and has the odd hobby of collecting swimsiuts..Kazusa is a researcher at Suzaku school who is known for his strange theories, and his friendship with Emina has become strained, since they haven't gone on a mission in a very long time. Quon is a mage to his core; he is the most knowledgeable mage at Suzaku and lives to find new and more powerful magic. The fashionable Mutsuki is known for more then her ridiculously long sleeves. This genius inventor carries her death-dealing tools everywhere she goes. Ryid is a Genbu fighter that trains hard to develop the strength he needs to protect what matters to him. The mysterious Lean and Tiz (in the cloak) are the only two characters in this group that have a connection to Class 0. As for there intentions, not much else is known. Final Fantasy Type-0 Update [andrisang] |
| Inversion's going upside down in this new trailer Posted: 24 Oct 2011 11:30 AM PDT
Aside from its most recent trailer a couple of months back and our preview of the game's multiplayer not too long after, there really hasn't been much news on Saber Interactive's third-person shooter Inversion that allows players to manipulate gravity. This new trailer, then, should put a smile on those anticipating the game's February 7 & February 10 release in North America and Europe respectively. Well, either that or give them motion sickness. |
| Where is that Battlefield 3 review? Posted: 24 Oct 2011 11:15 AM PDT [Update: A number of reviewers from other outlets informed me that there wasn't a review event and the info we had was wrong. So, it seems more likely Electronic Arts just had a favored list of reviewers and sent them code before the weekend. A number of reviewers took personal offense to this post, so sorry to them for that. Nothing malicious was intended -- especially since review events are getting so common, it can barely be considered an insult.] Battlefield 3 reviews have started going live on a number of sites, and you might be wondering where ours is. In fact, I know some of you are because you've already pestered me about it. Don't worry! The review's on its way, folks. Basically, the reviews you saw go live this morning were based on a three-day review event that writers were invited to. Destructoid recently adopted a policy of not attending such events for a number of reasons beneficial to editorial (it was an informal rule for almost two years before we decided to officiate it). For the record, we weren't invited to this one, but since we've refused to write reviews based on events for Call of Duty, RAGE and many others in the past, it wouldn't have mattered. Review copies for the console versions arrived today and I am downloading the PC version as I type. The PC version unlocks at midnight tonight. I am hoping to get it all played by tomorrow afternoon, though it may go through to Wednesday if I don't feel I've played enough. Depends on how much there is to do. So that's where we are with the review, and why we're not being lazy when you see other reviews go up in the meantime (reviews that were written anywhere up to several weeks ago!) |
| EA: Syndicate remake a possibility Posted: 24 Oct 2011 11:00 AM PDT Starbreeze's reimagining of the classic strategy game, Syndicate, might have ruffled some feathers with its switch to a first person perspective, but EA isn't writing off a proper remake. Speaking with Eurogamer, EA executive producer Jeff Gamon said he believes that there is scope for such a project
In our outrage at seeing beloved games from our past mutilated and mangled to satisfy a contemporary audience, it's easy to forget that this is potentially just the first step in reestablishing a franchise. The FPS genre is a safe bet. While it's getting to the point of being saturated -- some would suggest it's already past that point -- it's still a massive market, far larger than the one populated by fans of isometric tactical games. Big publishers like EA aren't looking to make one-offs, they want all of our money, not just a wee bit. I'm more than willing to abide seeing wonderful strategy games squeezed into a sleek modern FPS if it will give developers and publishers more confidence to expand the franchise and perhaps take it back to its roots. EA: "there is scope" to remake Syndicate [Eurogamer] |
| High Flyer Death Defyer has Charisma Posted: 24 Oct 2011 10:30 AM PDT
Which is to say that the game has a character named Charisma, a free-falling freedom fighter trying to save her people. She's the female lead of High Flyer Death Defyer and can be purchased as a playable character in the iOS falling game for $0.99. I haven't yet picked up High Flyer, but I'm thinking I probably will. I enjoy AaAaaAaAAA!!! -- A Reckless Disregard for Gravity, which this is similar to, but I'm interested to see the gameplay implemented in something more than just an arcade game. Anybody tried this out yet? |
| Posted: 24 Oct 2011 10:00 AM PDT Pokémon Rumble was launched on WiiWare in 2009 and apparently did well enough to justify a retail appearance. Pokémon Rumble Blast is the mildly anticipated sequel and first official Pokémon game to come to the Nintendo 3DS -- not counting the Pokédex that was offered as a free download earlier this year. One would assume that the legendary franchise's first appearance on a Nintendo system would be a red carpet affair. It is not. Pokémon Rumble Blast (Nintendo 3DS) Pokémon Rumble Blast changes little from its WiiWare predecessor. Taking place in a world where Pokémon toys are living creatures in their own right (because of reasons), it's a top-down dungeon crawling affair that shares quite a few things in common with mindless arcade titles like Smash TV and hack n' slash RPGs such as Diablo, only simplified to a rudimentary degree. Simple perhaps doesn't begin to explain exactly how bereft of complication Rumble Blast is, because it's as basic as basic gets. The thrust of the game is in mashing one or two buttons to perform singular attacks against marauding Pokémon who are ostensibly doing the game thing. Each Pokémon has a power level to determine its general combat strength, as well as its own set of moves -- and by "set" I mean up to two because no monster can have more. When defeated, there's a chance that enemies will remain on the field as collectible toys which can be collected to grant the player control of that particular monster. This achieves the "gotta catch 'em all" philosophy of the Pokémon games, albeit in an incredibly shallow way. More than usual, at any rate. Once collected, a Pokémon cannot be leveled up at all, so the only way to improve one's chances of beating tougher opponents is to collect new Pokémon. While this ensures that players are constantly switching their characters, it also means that there's no point getting attached to a single creature. One can use in-game coins to buy new moves for their Pokémon, there's no point because you'll rarely be keeping a roster of characters for more than one dungeon. Speaking of moves, some Pokémon will remain worthless regardless of power level thanks to whatever attacks they randomly possess. A staggering amount of attacks are horrible, forcing Pokémon into lengthy animations that often send them directly into the path of enemy assaults. It soon becomes apparent that projectile-based attacks are the most useful since they don't place player characters in danger, which ultimately turns Rumble Blast into one of the slowest shooters on the planet. It doesn't help that the vague auto-targeting is slightly off, so attacks miss as often as they hit. The brainless button mashing is certainly not the most unpleasant of experiences, but it's thoroughly pointless. This is hammered home by the fact that there is almost zero variety to be had, with a dreary formula that plays out repeatedly during the course of the game. You visit a dungeon, hit the same button over and over again across several floors, then fight a large boss. This happens over and over again until you fulfill some arbitrary requirement to take on a Battle Royale. In a Battle Royale, you fight against yet another swarm of Pokémon with a time limit in place. Once you win a Battle Royale, the game acts like a broken record and skips back to the beginning, expecting players to do it all over again on a slightly different map. The only other battle variant is the "Team Battle" which lets you choose two CPU-controlled allies from your roster and progress through a sequence of rooms. It's still exactly the same type of combat, exactly the same type of formula, just with two idiot Pokémon getting themselves killed all the time. The only thing driving the player forward is some inane story about healing "Glowdrops" being stolen from fountains. I'll be honest, I did not will myself to draw this story out to its conclusion, but I will bet real money that the story ends by having our randomly collected heroes traipse their way through a dungeon that looks fairly similar to the dozens of other dungeons before fighting a boss and recovering the Glowdrops. For bonus points I'll bet the bad guy was good at heart. Every now and then, the bitter cycle of vapid combat is broken up by some random inanity, such as "Charge" sequences. In a charge, you gather your whole collection of Pokémon and use them to bust through enemy defenses by hammering a single button and watching the canned animation repeat itself several times. There's also a Street Pass feature in which other 3DS owners can visit your game and give money, or provide new Pokémon to battle. It's a neat little extra, but nothing astounding. Later in the game, you can also fill a meter that temporarily allows you to mash three Pokémon together. In this state, they'll recharge health and do more damage, though the boost isn't significant enough to be anything special. That's pretty much what Pokémon Rumble Blast is from beginning to end -- nothing special. It looks fairly pretty and the game is decently put together, but it's barely even a videogame when you truly consider what it offers. With a combat system that's hollow even by brawler standards and a structure so blatantly circular that even gullible children would soon detect the pattern, Rumble Blast is a game that not even ardent fans should bother with. In a world crammed full of lackadaisical Pokémon cash-in products, this is up there with the laziest and I struggle to summon up any feelings for the experience outside of cold indifference. Going to sleep is a more interesting prospect than playing this exercise in insignificance. |
| Celebrate Super Meat Month with an XBLA update and sale Posted: 24 Oct 2011 09:30 AM PDT It is hard to believe that a year has passed since the lovable little red bundle of muscle and sinew jumped on to XBLA. So, to help celebrate this momentous occasion, Team Meat has decided to make November Super Meat Month. Artist and Designer Edmund McMillen said after having, "patched things up" with Microsoft, they have decided to put the past behind them and to focus on what is best for both Super Meat Boy and its fans. Part of the Super Meat Month celebrations will include a sale on Super Meat Boy for XBLA sometime during November. As well as, a large addition of new levels that will be added to Teh Internets, for you Super Meat Boy XBLA fans who have been craving a new challenge. Through Super Meat Month, Team Meat will be holding contests, releasing more updates, revealing secrets and giving away free copies of the game. Right now, just in time for Halloween, Team Meat is challenging its community to dress as something Super Meat Boy related and to post it on their Twitter. The winners will receive a copy of all three Super Meat Boy comics. I almost have my costume ready, I just need a fetus and a monocle and I'm set. Our Boy Turns One! [Team Meat blog via Shacknews] |
| Contest: Win Battlefield 3 on the PC! Posted: 24 Oct 2011 09:15 AM PDT The big new release this week is Battlefield 3 and we have eight codes for the game to give away redemable through EA's Origin service on the PC! Want to win a code? Then just leave a comment below letting us know what you're most looking forward to in Battlefield 3. No limit to entry, but you must space out your replies so that at least five other people have entered before you can comment again. We'll be randomly selecting eight comments to give a code to after the contest closes on October 28 at 11:59PM CDT. Note that the codes are only good to those of you in North America. Good luck! |
| Scrolls has free-to-play, but we're not calling it that Posted: 24 Oct 2011 08:30 AM PDT Apparently Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson is not a fan of the moniker "free-to-play," though he is, apparently, interested in testing the teeming free-to-play waters. Jokingly, he suggests we call it "as expensive as you want it to be" but goes on to say that "people who think 'free to play' is a great future are mostly game developers, not game players." To a certain extent he's right and I'm really a fan of his description of the model.
So he doesn't like the term free-to-play. He is, however, curious and tweeted today that there will be an implementation of the model in Mojang's legally-troubled Scrolls though Notch is quick to emphasize that the game itself will not be free. Micro-transactioned character customization is on top of the list, I'm sure; beyond that it's all up in the air. Regardless, I really want to see what Scrolls is all about. Scrolls Will Include "Aspects of Free to Play" [The Escapist] |
| Short film explores a rather deadly Duck Hunt Posted: 24 Oct 2011 08:00 AM PDT G4 is getting us geared up for All Hallows Eve with a series of short films which give a dark spin to classic games. This first film, The Hunt, is about two city boys who go hunting in the wrong field. It's a clever (and violent) twist to an experience every Duck Hunt player can identify with. |
| Ecstasy of Order is the best videogame film in years Posted: 24 Oct 2011 07:45 AM PDT While checking out movies at Austin Film Festival for Flixist.com (Dtoid's film sister-site), I had the oppurtunity to attend the world premiere of Ecstasy of Order: The Tetris Masters. Much like King of Kong and Chasing Ghosts, it's documentary that focuses on the craziest, most talented competitive players of an established videogame classic.
Visit Flixist to read my full review and other festival coverage. The film doesn't have a distribution deal, but it will most likely come to DVD next year. Keep an eye out for it! |
| Confuse, evade, frighten, and kill your captors in Warp Posted: 24 Oct 2011 07:30 AM PDT When I checked out the upcoming indie puzzle-platformer Warp at PAX East earlier this year, I saw a short demo that its developer, Trapdoor, had designed to show off the game at the show with two powers, “Warp” and “Frag.” They’ve since unveiled two more, “Echo” and “Swap,” and I recently got to spend some time playing around with them. Warp (PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade [previewed], PC) The “Echo” power entails a bit of astral projection: he can spawn an ethereal doppelgänger and use it as a decoy. Note that I didn’t say “doppelgänger of himself” -- in fact, you can Warp into humans and create Echoes of them, too. Humans pretty much believe that your Echo is you, so if your Echo catches a guy’s eye, he’ll come and investigate -- the power is a great way to startle scientists and lure guards. The only limitation on an Echo is distance: it can’t go farther than a certain radius from your corporeal form. If an Echo gets shot, it simply evaporates and leaves your body unharmed. In the demo I saw, Zero came upon a room filled with chambers that scientists had clearly been using to inflict pain and suffering on test subjects. Equipped with Echo and Swap, Zero was prepared to exact a measure of revenge... and then some. He Warped into a scientist, then created an Echo of the man and crossed into a chamber that looked like something out of MadWorld: two bloody spike-bearing walls periodically slammed together, pulverizing anything unfortunate enough to get stuck between them. Many of Warp’s puzzles will test your intellect, dexterity, and speed, so the game also offers challenge rooms to measure your skills against other players on online leaderboards. (The developers have established the gold-medal times.) Small collectible creatures, called “grubs,” will let you upgrade your abilities -- you’ll be able to Warp silently and Frag without a bloody trace, or move twice as fast. |
| Review: Serious Sam: The Random Encounter Posted: 24 Oct 2011 07:00 AM PDT The value we see in things is based on what we get out of it, rather than what we put into it. This is true in all aspects of life. This is also why I don’t factor cost into my reviews, because a 99-cent game is too much for a homeless person and $100 is nothing for a rich person. Time is the only investment that matters to everyone.
Serious Sam: The Random Encounter (PC)
It’s a fun novelty that you’ll want to spend an hour with. Yet, at its end, I didn’t want any more and I didn’t care to revisit the game’s Endless Mode. I enjoyed The Random Encounter for the hour or so it lasted, but the fact that I don't want any more pretty much says it all. |
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