New Games |
- Skyward Sword 'patch' is an entire fricken Wii Channel
- The DTOID Show: Kingdom Hearts 3D & Star Wars: TOR
- Free Holiday Song Pack out now for Rocksmith
- Testament of Sherlock Holmes vid has a lovely ambiguity
- Anomaly: Warzone Earth ported to Kindle Fire in two weeks
- Santa Rockstar HD: Pay what you want for a metal Xmas
- Year-end GameFly sale: Portal 2, Kirby's Epic Yarn, more
- OCReMix's ARMed and DANGerous is a 4-hour Wild Arms album
- LOL @ Atlus: 'Can you guess our NEXT game reveal?'
- All Mega64 wants for Christmas is Just Dance 3
- Live show: Mash Tactics proves adults play Skylanders too
- New Atlus game is Gungnir, coming June 12, 2012
- 25 Days: Win Final Fantasy V and VI on PSN!
- SSX sees slight delay to late February in North America
- Q & A with Michael Winslow, the "Man of 10,000 Sounds"
- Vita game Shinobido 2: Revenge of Zen looks intense
- Square Enix's half-off Holiday iOS sale
- VVVVVV for the 3DS is... well, it's VVVVVV
- Review: Fate/EXTRA
| Skyward Sword 'patch' is an entire fricken Wii Channel Posted: 21 Dec 2011 03:00 PM PST Well... that's one solution, I suppose. To recap, Nintendo acknowledged the game-breaking bug in Skyward Sword and started making plans to correct it. You could mail your hardware to the company directly (ick!), or you could wait for a promised patch. Now, Wii games aren't exactly patch-friendly thanks to the console's infrastructure, but when one the company's marquee titles is on the line, you know Nintendo will bend over backwards to FIX IT. Available now in Japan is the "Zelda Data Restoration Channel." That's right. An entire channel to fix one little thing. You run the channel and follow the instructions, then your save data will be corrected. I'm going to assume that this is a one-time deal and that you don't have to keep the channel installed once the patch is applied. No word on when we'll see the channel over here, but it shouldn't be long. Fix Your Zelda Save File with the Zelda Data Restoration Channel [Andriasang] |
| The DTOID Show: Kingdom Hearts 3D & Star Wars: TOR Posted: 21 Dec 2011 01:30 PM PST Hey guys! Here's our last regular episode of The Destructoid Show of 2011! We're still gonna have episodes going up next week, but this is the last one that's our usual news-related journalism-program TV format. Today's topics included the new Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance trailer, how the PS Vita's battery life stacks up to the 3DS, Battlefield 3's DLC is now available for everyone, and Skyrim is not only selling well, but it is also patched on PC. The lovely editors of Destructoid.com (don't click that link, you are already on that website) were kind enough to submit a little office chat video of them talking about Star Wars: The Old Republic and dinosaurs. |
| Free Holiday Song Pack out now for Rocksmith Posted: 21 Dec 2011 01:00 PM PST Rocksmith owners can nab three holiday tracks from PlayStation Network and Xbox Live for free, right this very moment. Contain your excitement, please.
I don't know how many people would have paid money for these songs, but given the overwhelming power of Christmas, the interest is surely there. If you have the game and the hard drive space, might as well. |
| Testament of Sherlock Holmes vid has a lovely ambiguity Posted: 21 Dec 2011 12:30 PM PST
I love a good mystery and, as a result, I'm a big fan of Sherlock Holmes stories. I haven't played a game yet which I felt did a truly great job of putting me into a Holmes mystery, but The Testament of Sherlock Holmes may well break that trend. Take a look at this most recent teaser for the title. It's painting Holmes in an awfully negative light and even his dear friend Watson seems to have some doubts as to who London's greatest detective really is. I'm digging the writing and acting here in a big way. Plus, there are guys who have their eyes sewn shut and that's always a good time waiting to happen. |
| Anomaly: Warzone Earth ported to Kindle Fire in two weeks Posted: 21 Dec 2011 12:00 PM PST
Anomaly: Warzone Earth is quite an interesting game with its unique "anti tower defense" sort of formula which basically turns the genre the other way around and has the player attack bases instead of defending them. The change seems to have been a good one, with Maurice Tan finding the game to be "one of the most enjoyable strategy games in recent history." The game has already graced the PC, iOS and is making its way onto Xbox LIVE Arcade in Spring of 2012, and has now even arrived on the Kindle Fire (or any other Android 2.3 device via the Amazon App Marketplace). 11 bit Studios' lead programmer, Bartosz Brzostek, ported the game from iOS onto the Fire in just two weeks. You can view the struggles and triumph of Brzotek as he does so in the above video. Wspaniala pracy, Brzotek!
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| Santa Rockstar HD: Pay what you want for a metal Xmas Posted: 21 Dec 2011 11:30 AM PST
I don't know about you folks, but Christmas music tends to send me to sleep, well that and the copious amount of festive liquor I imbibe at this time of year. Old St. Nick seems to share my lack of enthusiasm for it and he's giving us the gift of metal this year, in the form of a seasonal rhythm game. Rockstar Santa doesn't bring festive joy to spoiled brats the world over, he's more interested in rocking out. Santa Rockstar HD comes with fifteen rock and metal infused Christmas jingles, five stages and two different modes, Basic and Rockstar. It's guitar controller compatible, so you don't have to look like a tit doing solos on a keyboard. Bekho Team, the game's developer, have caught some of that Christmas spirit I keep hearing about and you can pay what you want for it for a limited time.
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| Year-end GameFly sale: Portal 2, Kirby's Epic Yarn, more Posted: 21 Dec 2011 11:00 AM PST For the gamer who straight up asks for cash as a gift, GameFly has a sale on used games that will help fill out that backlog. Now through January 3, they're even including shipping at no additional cost. Some highlights:
Give that first link a look, because there's much more worth considering than the games I listed, particularly when it comes to older releases. |
| OCReMix's ARMed and DANGerous is a 4-hour Wild Arms album Posted: 21 Dec 2011 10:30 AM PST Sonuva... relax, OverClocked ReMix! This is your third album in a 30-day period! Do you guys need a cold shower? A punching bag to let out all that surplus energy? Seriously, you guys need to get a grip! The guys who never know when to take a rest are back with an arrangement album that covers some relatively uncovered territory. ARMed and DANGerous is a celebration of the music of that Old West-influenced RPG series, Wild Arms. It's a 58-track beast with a total runtime of over four hours. That's... a lot. Hit the link below to grab the free album, which promises to feature the same eclectic range of genres and styles as you'd come to expect from an OCR production. Wild Arms: ARMed and DANGerous [OC ReMix] |
| LOL @ Atlus: 'Can you guess our NEXT game reveal?' Posted: 21 Dec 2011 10:15 AM PST It starts with a "G." Wait, didn't we already do this? What other "G" games could be it? Should we go back to our original post and look through the comments again? My favorites were Gin Megami Tensei and Gersona 5. LOL'd heartily both times. |
| All Mega64 wants for Christmas is Just Dance 3 Posted: 21 Dec 2011 10:00 AM PST When game publishers ask Mega64 to make a commercial for one of their upcoming titles, do they go in with any knowledge of Mega64's body of work? Do they just think, "Oh! Funny Internet people! Here's some money. Send us the video by Wednesday"? Anyway, here's the Mega64 Just Dance 3 commercial. I said, "What the fudge?" at the 1:38 mark. |
| Live show: Mash Tactics proves adults play Skylanders too Posted: 21 Dec 2011 09:30 AM PST Today, the Mash Tactics are like kids again as they plug into Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure. Part Spyro sequel, part Christmas toy craze; Skylanders has raised a few eyebrows by actually being "a solid title married to a very clever concept". Tune in to see how Wesley and Carnage take to the magical realm of the Spyro and friends. Mash Tactics airs Monday through Friday at 4pm Pacific. Watch Jon Carnage and Wesley Ruscher down energy drinks and freestyle rap about the human perineum 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. |
| New Atlus game is Gungnir, coming June 12, 2012 Posted: 21 Dec 2011 09:15 AM PST
Atlus had us play the guessing game to figure out what their upcoming title that started with a "G" would be. We guessed it a long time ago, but here's the official confirmation. Gungnir [how do you pronounce that?] is coming to the US on June 12, 2012. It comes from the awesome folks at Sting, makers of other fine titles like Yggdra Union and Knights in the Nightmare. Gungnir is a strategy RPG for the PSP, so it's like they were thinking of me when they secured the publishing rights. I appreciate that, Atlus. Atlus has put a new page up for Gungnir, so poke around there if you want a better idea of what we're getting next summer. We also have some screenshots from the Japanese version in our gallery below. It looks I'll be playing this on my Vita. What about you? Are you ready for some Sting SRPG goodness? |
| 25 Days: Win Final Fantasy V and VI on PSN! Posted: 21 Dec 2011 09:00 AM PST Not only is it the 25 Days of Giving on Destructoid, but it's also the Winter of RPGs for Square Enix! Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI have all finally made their way to the PlayStation Network and we're doing a giveaway for each game all this week. Today we're giving out Final Fantasy V AND Final Fantasy VI to three lucky people. Just leave a comment below telling us how Kefka is a far superior villain than Sephiroth and you're good to go. We'll be picking three random people after the contest closes tonight at 11:59PM CST. Contest is open to everyone! Be sure to check out our Square Enix PlayArts Kai figure giveaway where we're giving out ten figures based on Deus Ex, Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and Super Street Fighter IV all this week for more Square goodies.
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| SSX sees slight delay to late February in North America Posted: 21 Dec 2011 08:30 AM PST "Over the course of more than 10 years of making games I have not worked on a single project where our team did not wish, coming down the home stretch, that we could have just a bit more time," writes SSX creative director Todd Batty in announcing the game's delay to February 28 in North America (March 2 everywhere else). "Time to do all the little things that may not be noticeable during the first hour or two playing the game, but are appreciated over the course of days, weeks, months and beyond." Batty reminds that "There is a reason why Tricky and SSX3 are still among the highest rated games of all time, and it is because even playing them today they still stand the test of time. Our goal from Day 1 was to re-launch this amazing franchise with a new SSX game that could live up to that legacy." Have you seen the most recent video? I'm feeling good about this one. |
| Q & A with Michael Winslow, the "Man of 10,000 Sounds" Posted: 21 Dec 2011 08:00 AM PST If I could be said to be anything, I am a man obsessed with sound (listening, not production; I'm not cool enough to be Dale North). So when the opportunity to talk to Michael Winslow (aka that badass from Police Academy and the radar dude from Spaceballs), I jumped on that. Why Michael Winslow? Well, besides the fact he is awesome, he provided all the sound effects for iOS game Wizard Ops. Yeah, like I said ... awesome. Given the unique nature of the interview, we decided to post the whole thing up so you folks could hear it. I probably come off sounding like a giggling idiot and I apologize for that. But he was pretty freaking hilarious.
On the interview we have Kunal Patel and Justin Lynch from Phyken Media, an indie developer in Orlando FL, as well as the "Man of 10000 Sounds" Michael Winslow and, of course, me Daniel Starkey. The first chapter of Wizard Ops is available on the iPhone app store, with an Android release coming soon. |
| Vita game Shinobido 2: Revenge of Zen looks intense Posted: 21 Dec 2011 07:30 AM PST
I only got a small, early taste of Shinobido 2: Revenge of Zen earlier this around E3 year, so it was hard to see where Acquire was going with this Japanese stealth/action title. This new trailer gives us a much better look, and I'm thinking that it's looking pretty intense. And good. In this trailer, Zen is pissed. My pissed is kicking things and sighing a lot. Zen's is speed cutting, slitting necks, flipping off walls, all done with style. Shinobido 2 looks pretty deep, but I did have issues with the control when I played an early build. Let's hope they get that fixed. Also, be sure to check out the new screenshots in our gallery below. |
| Square Enix's half-off Holiday iOS sale Posted: 21 Dec 2011 07:00 AM PST Let me tell you of a horrible side effect of running these iOS sales stories on Destructoid. I always see something I "need" when I'm putting them together, and I always end up buying something. This job always finds more ways to eat at my wallet. Square Enix makes my favorite iOS games, and this week they've put just about everything they make on sale, with most of it coming in at about half price after discount. From now through January 4 you'll find that their best stuff will be marked down on the App Store. Chrono Trigger isn't on there, but just about everything else is. There's a full list after the jump, but let me recommend a few to you. I really like the fast-paced strategy game Hills and Rivers Remain. It's like crack. Also, Chaos Rings and its sequel, Chaos Rings Omega, are solid, console-like RPGs that are hard to find fault with. There's lots of good stuff here. |
| VVVVVV for the 3DS is... well, it's VVVVVV Posted: 21 Dec 2011 06:30 AM PST During the eShop preview event, Tyrone Rodriguez of Nicalis was on hand to demonstrate the 3DS iteration of the revered, renowned, and hard-as-balls VVVVVV. I can confirm here officially - the game is still as insanely difficult and as infuriatingly addictive as ever. As for new additions to the VVVVVV gameplay structure, well... VVVVVV(Nintendo eShop) If you've never experienced the gloriousness of VVVVVV, I can assure you right now that this is a worthy addition to your 3DS library, even if it happened to be a lazy 2D port. In a nutshell, VVVVVV is a platforming game with the seemingly simple mechanic of switching gravity so that your character is either traversing on the ceiling or on the floor. Except, as you quickly learn whilst traveling through the Metroidvania-style levels, this simple mechanism is exploited in every imaginable way to make the game as difficult as possible yet still somehow addictive enough to seem like the next checkpoint is just... within... reach... Fortunately, VVVVVV is not simply a port. While the graphics stay as steadfast and simple as ever (with pretty much everything rendered in a rudimentary ASCII art style), the addition of a third dimension does make the game pop out a little more and give you just a little bit more depth perception. Just don't go into this game expecting a Super Mario 3D Land abundance of depth detail, or even the same sort of detail given to Pushmo. The game is still simple ASCII art, after all. Expect a nice level of layered 3D much in the same vein of Nintendo's 3D Classics and you'll be fine. The biggest addition to VVVVVV for the 3DS comes in the extra "player-created" levels that are accessible at any time in the main menu screen and are never locked out to you or dependent on your progress in the game. There are tons and tons of levels in this list, including levels created by indie designers such as Minecraft's Notch. I got a chance to check out some of these levels, and I can assure you that they are all ridiculously hard and you will die many, many times. I asked Tyrone if there would be a level editor to create even more levels, and he told me that while no plans for such were in place just yet, it really depended on fan feedback and how popular the game becomes on the eShop. Will VVVVVV be as glorious on the 3DS as it has been on PCs and Macs across America? Possibly. It will definitely make you want to either throw your 3DS across the room or try that damn level just one ... more ... time ... |
| Posted: 21 Dec 2011 06:00 AM PST The PSP, along with the DS, has sort of been a last haven for Japanese RPGs. Companies like Atlus, XSEED, and Aksys Games have kept these handhelds, as well as the abovementioned genre, alive by continuing to feed American gamers with some its best experiences -- even in the wake of their demise. Fate/EXTRA (PlayStation Portable) Because of its ties to its visual novel past , Fate/EXTRA is a very text heavy endeavor. While the Japanese audio is left in (voiced by many of the original Fate/stay night's performers) not all of the dialog in the game is spoken. Luckily the game benefits from having one of the best written localizations I have read in quite some time -- which makes the semi-lethargic pace of the introduction tolerable. It's a strange and bewildering ride into the game's main narrative, but once the opening events unfold and set up the proceedings for the next Holy Grail War, Fate/EXTRA begins to shine as a unique RPG experience for the PSP. There's a very Persona 3-light feeling given off at first (in terms of aesthetics and some mechanics) but as the hours begin to melt away it becomes ever apparent that this is a beast all of its own. Once the intro is complete, players will be given the chance to chose one of three different servants to use through the games adventure: Saber, Archer, and Caster as well as decide the protagonists gender. The Saber class is your typical up-close melee fighter, the Archer is best for ranged combat, and the Caster is best with magical abilities. I went with Saber in my play through -- as I wanted to make my experience as close to the anime as possible -- but choosing any of the other classes not only affects the games difficulty, but also the way the story unfolds. With each servant housing their own unique personality, I really appreciate the fact that not every player will experience the same journey to the end. As the main narrative unfolds, you find yourself in a strange virtual world -- identically resembling Tsukumihara Academy -- and as part of the Holy Grail War. A tournament, to the death, for the fabled artifact of legend that will grant the winner their deepest desire. With no recollection of your past, winning the tournament is a must as failure results in death in the real world. It's a simple motivation to compel one to fight, but eventually the desire to know oneself -- a brilliant dissection of the human psyche by the writers of Fate/EXTRA -- serves as ample incentive to press on, even when the combat begins to fall mundane. Acquiring as much information, as possible, may be the single most important aspect for a servant battle. The more one knows, the easier their attacks are to predict with the game's very simple rock-paper-scissor battle system. There are three basic moves: attack, block, and break ;which when planned accordingly will counter an enemy's move and negate any possible damage received. Outside of the servant battles, regular enemy fights move quite quickly once a foe's pattern is discovered. Combat is very enjoyable in Fate/Extra, but with only one character in your party and a very limited amount of adversaries per arena, they can become slightly tedious overtime. Thankfully, battles are not random -- allowing them to be dodged with a little skill -- but when you're making your third of fourth trip through an arena that looks practically identical to the last one, the game can begin to drag. Visually though, the game looks very sharp. The characters models and art all look strikingly accurate and really capture the games anime essence, especially in combat. In fact combat, has some of the best looking visuals I've seen in a PSP game. Sadly the environments -- the arena and Tsukumihara Academy -- are fairly plain and devoid of any real presence. Fate/EXTRA's music is enjoyable, for the most part, but with the story revolving around the same few areas, the music finds itself essentially on repeat. It fits well, but like the rest of the game will make you feel like Bill Murray in Ground Hog's Day. |
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