Wednesday, February 1, 2012

New Games

New Games


BioWare announces the first SWTOR Guild Summit

Posted: 01 Feb 2012 03:00 PM PST

BioWare announces the first SWTOR Guild Summit screenshot

BioWare has invited Star Wars: The Old Republic guild leaders from around the world to the first SWTOR Guild Summit in Austin, Texas. While invites have already been sent out, there is still some space for other guilds to apply here. Participants can attend Q&A sessions with the developers as well as roundtable feedback discussions. They will also get sneaky look at some new content, damn them. BioWare wants to get direct feedback from players as well and give players the opportunity to hear about some of the reasons behind certain design choices.

I imagine that the feedback from this type of event will be more articulate than the lunatic ravings of some of the more rabid members of the game's community, although I do hope that there are some challenging questions. It would be superb if the event ends with Imperial guild leaders squaring off against their Republic counterparts, maybe in a game of Huttball? Surely BioWare could recreate it for such an occasion.

'Rise of the Martian Bear' out now for Iron Brigade

Posted: 01 Feb 2012 02:00 PM PST

'Rise of the Martian Bear' out now for Iron Brigade screenshot

The new "Rise of the Martian Bear" downloadable content for Iron Brigade is available as of today for 400 Microsoft Points. With it comes 80 additional pieces of loot, four defense missions, two survival missions, and a boss encounter. This seems like a must-download based on the premise alone.

In other titillating Double Fine news, Costume Quest and Psychonauts are half off on Steam right now, and Happy Action Theater is live for Kinect owners. We'll have a review up later this week. If you end up getting the game, be sure to reenact the ending of Terminator 2 in the lava activity.

The DTOID Show: Anthony Carboni's American Nightmare

Posted: 01 Feb 2012 01:30 PM PST

The DTOID Show: Anthony Carboni's American Nightmare screenshot

Happy Hump Day, fellow humpers! In celebration of humping, tonight's episode will be strictly devoid of humping. You're welcome.

On tonight's show, we relay the good and bad news surrounding Dragon's Dogma, give a run-down of Steam's new mobile app, and show off some of the neat things you can do with the Skyrim Creation Kit. On the second half of the show, Anthony Carboni from New Challenger joins us to talk about his hands-on time with Alan Wake's American Nightmare. I haven't seen it yet, but I hear it's downright nightmarish!

Location: You're such a beach!

Posted: 01 Feb 2012 01:00 PM PST

Location: You're such a beach! screenshot

[Hohojirozame writes about a personal favorite of mine: Dark Cloud 2! A great look at a fantastic location in the game as a part of the last weekly theme. As always, remember to load your own blogs into the Community Blogs and tag them with the "Bloggers Wanted Essay Response" tag, and you may see your blog promoted to the front page. - Kauza]

Picture a beach tucked away from society, hidden from the troubles of the world. This beach has white sands and calm crystal clear waters that crash and form the perfect background ambiance. To the east, a mysterious cave entrance emanating a Gooniesesque sense of adventure, to the west an inviting grotto awaits those who seek a view of a perfect sunset. Finally, a quaint port town sits on a pier - the townsfolk relax, fish, and enjoy the ocean breeze at night.

This is Veniccio from Dark Cloud 2 - my favorite gaming location. 



For those unfamiliar, the Dark Cloud series allows the player to rebuild towns, with materials gathered from nearby dungeons, in order to restore important people and places to the world. While the first game was limited to only one world, the second introduced the ability to go back and forth between two time periods allowing the player to see how his town changed in the future. The ability to allow the player to build their own town already adds great value as to why this is one of my favorite locations because it was my Veniccio. I built the town to my specifications and filled with whoever I wanted to live there. Although every future version of the town looks similar, the present town can be molded to fit anyone’s specifications. 



The reason I chose this area in particular has to do with it being a beach level. Having lived by the ocean for most of my life I tend to favor levels with a water theme. Veniccio did that for me by providing me with a tropical resort, similar to but much different than the beaches I was accustomed to. The secluded feeling of the area and the adventurous mood from the nearby cave network was something much different than the sprawling, populated beaches of South Florida. 

From a game play and story standpoint this area makes sense. It comes right after an area that is tough to build on, thus it gives the player a chance to relax and enjoy the scenery while building a town where the only gimmick is building on a pier. It also is the middle chapter of the story, so the relaxing nature is like a mid game respite; the player knows after this “break” the game is only going to get more difficult from here. It also represents pivotal moments in the main character’s, Max, life, for example seeing the ocean for the first time and reuniting with his mother. 



Did I mention this place was beautiful? No, then I’ll say it again: This place is beautiful. For a static environment where the only things the player can do are fish and walk in the water, it’s still a damn fine place to look at. It makes sense that an area so pristine is the prime procreation and vacation spot for legendary sea creatures. Level-5’s art team did a great job with the cel-shaded graphics in the game and it shows in the game’s environments. The nearby dungeon, Ocean’s Roar Cave, is also beautifully done with mystery and adventure being the main focal points of its design. The surface area is like an outdoor cave, with rock covering everything except for the eastern wall, where the cave opens up to give a view of the sea. The lower level is the opposite, dark and filled with ankle deep water. 



The area’s music ties it all together. The Veniccio theme is like the giant bow on top of a big present. This song coupled with the relaxing sounds of the waves is just glorious. Tomohito Nishiura did a great job composing all the pieces in this game, but this one stands out the most to me. I’ve hummed this song while walking to class, I’ve studied with this song on, and I’m trying to make this the first song I learn on the guitar. It even sounds good in Mario Paint. The Ocean’s Roar Cave theme is also just as relaxing, but not as memorable as the Veniccio theme due to the battle theme interrupting and overwhelming it when monsters are fought. 

At this point I feel like I’m gushing, but it’s hard not to. I love Dark Cloud 2 and I love Veniccio. The amount of time I spent here just listening to the music and perfecting my town until I could add no more is nuts. My second place choice, Dark Cloud’s Queens and its dungeon Shipwreck, was also a water based stage. Queens is a walled off port town, similar to a Moroccan market. Shipwreck had the player exploring an underwater shipwreck to uncover the hidden past of the dungeon and town. The somber back story (which was very well done) and the walled style of Queens made these areas second place to Veniccio. Mystery, beauty, adventure, and a great soundtrack are what make some of gaming’s well known water themed levels memorable to gamers, like Legend of Zelda OoT’s Water Temple, Donkey Kong Country’s Folies Corralliennes, and Mario 64’s Jolly Roger’s Bay just to name a few. To me though, Veniccio easily takes the cake.

[Kauza's note: Added bonus! A super pretty piano cover of the Veniccio theme! Woo!]

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The Simpsons Arcade Game hits XBLA and PSN soon

Posted: 01 Feb 2012 12:30 PM PST

The Simpsons Arcade Game hits XBLA and PSN soon screenshot

The Simpsons Arcade Game is set to grace Xbox Live Arcade on February 3 -- that's this week! -- and PlayStation Network on February 7. It's free for PlayStation Plus members and a reasonable $9.99 (800 Microsoft Points) for the rest of us.

I feel like I've been waiting to write this post for years now. Back when "Games you want to see on XBLA/PSN" lists were more prevalent, The Simpsons always seemed to make the cut. This version has online co-op and even contains the Japanese release as an unlockable. You've done well, Konami.

The Simpsons Arcade Game Confirmed [Game Informer]

D-Arts Zero Type 2 figure will cut you, mang

Posted: 01 Feb 2012 12:00 PM PST

D-Arts Zero Type 2 figure will cut you, mang screenshot

Bandai is alright by me. For some time now, the company has been been making high-quality Mega Man X action figures as part of its D-Arts line. So far, there have been about five bajillion versions of X alone (regular, armored, metallic, etc.) yet only a single version of the series' true hero, Zero. That's about to change with the upcoming release of Zero Type 2 -- whereas Type 1 was modeled after Zero's simpler, non-blade-wielding appearance from X1, Type 2 resembles his appearance from the sequels.

The figure will be available this May for 3500 yen (about $46)... BUT WAIT! Here is a rare instance where normally Japan-exclusive goodies are brought to the West. The entire D-Arts Mega Man X line (save one), as well as many other Bandai figures, are available through Bandai's US distributor Bluefin. If you are willing to wait a few extra months, you can snag your prizes for less money and hassle!

Oh, and look who's next in the lineup.

Step into this pre-order for Rockman X D-Arts Zero Type 2 [Tomopop]

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Take a chance with this Russian roulette Kinect hack

Posted: 01 Feb 2012 11:30 AM PST

Take a chance with this Russian roulette Kinect hack screenshot

In The Gunstringer for Kinect, players got to point their fingers at the TV and go "pew pew pew!" Know what was missing? The ability to point the fake gun at your own head and pull the trigger. Don't know why that feature wasn't included!

Theo Watson has you covered. For Art Hack Day at 319 Scholes in Brooklyn, he tinkered with some PC modding tools to create a rudimentary Russian roulette game using Kinect. Simply mimic the pulling of a gun's hammer with your thumb to "spin the wheel." The chances of there being a bullet in the virtual chamber are either 1:6 or 1:8; if you hit the "jackpot," your head will explode in a satisfying mess of pixels.

Fun for the kiddies!

Kinect Russian Roulette Prototype @ ArtHackDay [Vimeo via Geek.com] (Thanks, pedrovay!)

Your new February Club Nintendo games are here

Posted: 01 Feb 2012 11:00 AM PST

Your new February Club Nintendo games are here screenshot

As you may have heard, Club Nintendo has raised their excitement level to eleven this year, and started offering actual games in exchange for play-coins. Step right up to Club Nintendo and pick up your two new digital offerings: Mario Party 2 for the Wii's Virtual Console and Art Academy: First Semester for DSiWare (though you oddly need a 3DS to redeem it).

I always thought Mario Party 2 was the best in the series -- I can't tell you how many wacky evenings I've spent with friends playing that game. Everything was kind of a blur, but I distinctly remember obscenities being flung casually into the wind every time someone would find a hidden star, use a magic lamp, use a Boo to steal coins, or win by the "Happening Star" -- that game can end friendships, man.

So we all know Mario Party has its niche, but can anyone out there vouch for Art Academy? The biggest plus I can find for it is that it's a "pleasant diversion."

THQ lays off 240, board of directors takes 50% pay cut

Posted: 01 Feb 2012 10:15 AM PST

THQ lays off 240, board of directors takes 50% pay cut screenshot

The hits just keep on coming for THQ. Last week, the publisher announced a shift away from licensed kids' games, likely related to poor multiplatform uDraw tablet sales. Yesterday, NASDAQ warned THQ that its underperforming stock, which is currently trading at $0.72/share, could be delisted in six months.

Today, THQ revealed in an SEC filing that it will be laying off up to 240 "selling, general and administrative personnel" worldwide as a result of the corporate restructuring brought on by the aforementioned business strategy change. When reached for comment, a THQ representative confirmed to Destructoid that the layoffs won't affect any of the publisher's five internal studios: THQ Studio San Diego (WWE); THQ Studio Montreal (unannounced new IP); Volition, Inc. (Saints Row); Relic Entertainment (Warhammer); and Vigil Games (Darksiders).

THQ expects that the layoffs will cost about $8.5 million -- $8 million in severance for affected employees, and $0.5 million in contract terminations -- and that the company will incur additional costs of $2.5 million for abandoning other "fixed assets." Most of the layoffs will come before the end of the company's 2012 fiscal year on March 31, and the rest will occur between then and the end of the fiscal second quarter on September 30.

The same SEC document noted that THQ president and CEO Brian Farrell's base salary will drop by 50%, from $718,500 to $359,250, for one year as of February 13, 2012. In addition, if THQ fires him "without cause" or if he resigns for "good reason," the bonus-based part of his severance package will now match his highest-ever annual bonus, instead of being three times as much as that previous high. The non-employee members of the company's board of directors (i.e., everyone except Farrell) are also taking a 50% pay cut for a year, although their cuts go into effect today.

THQ has promised further details in its third-quarter conference call, scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.

THQ Investor Relations - SEC Form 8-K, 02/01/2012 [THQ]

Preview: Mortal Kombat Vita has more ways to Finish Him

Posted: 01 Feb 2012 10:00 AM PST

Preview: Mortal Kombat Vita has more ways to Finish Him screenshot

The last half of this generation has been extremely kind to fighting games. Street Fighter IV returned the series to form, newcomers joined the fray with BlazBlue, and my personal favorite fighting franchise experienced a much needed rebirth with last year's Mortal Kombat.

The trend doesn't show any signs of stopping, and continues on the handhelds with Mortal Kombat for the Vita. This isn't a simple port, mind you. With all the costume and character DLC, as well as new outfits, modes, and Vita-specific controls, the only thing holding it back from being the definitive version is its gutted online play.

Mortal Kombat (PlayStation Vita)
Developer: NetherRealm Studios
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Release: Spring 2012

If you played the last Mortal Kombat, you should have a basic understanding of what to expect from its Vita iteration. Mortal Kombat 9 returned the series to its 2D roots, retold the story of the first three games, and brought a polished fighting system while keeping all of the gory hyper-violence intact. 

Right out of the box, Mortal Kombat comes with all the DLC from the console version. That's four characters, eight retro costumes, Kratos, and Sub Zero's MK3 costume, all unlocked from the start. Also, players are not required to complete story mode to unlock Cyber Sub-Zero or Quan Chi, as they are also playable from the beginning. The biggest addition, in terms of content, is the Bonus Challenge Tower.

The Challenge Tower from the last MK tasked players with completing 300 challenges for Koins, and a promised secret prize upon completion. With its creative challenges, and difficult (sometimes excruciating) missions, it quickly became a fan favorite. Bonus Challenge Tower aims to accomplish the same, focusing exclusively on challenges that incorporate the Vita's touch screen and accelerometer.

The first mission NetherRealm showed, called Missile Mayhem, cast players as Scorpion fighting against Sektor. The twist was that players are constantly attacked by falling missiles, that you either must dodge or detonate prematurely by tapping them. Now while this part of the demo was hands off, it warrants mention that moving your fingers back and forth from the d-pad to the screen looked awkward. Especially considering that you still have to focus on fighting.

The next challenge we played was another versus match, except whenever your character would land a hit or take one, blood would splatter on the screen. The only way to restore your view is to make quick wiping motions across the screen. This is actually a pretty clever idea, being both a smarter way to use touch controls, and a good fit to Mortal Kombat's hyper-violent tone.

Our final look at the Bonus Challenge Tower was an interesting one, a new addition to the "Test Your" series called Test Your Balance. This challenge has your characters high up on a plank above a pit. Using the Vita's accelerometer, players will have to tilt the Vita to balance their character as body parts are thrown at them. Fail and you fall into the pit, where a unique death sequence waits for you each time. In this particular challenge, failure meant watching Jade fall into a giant saw blade, cutting her into two clean pieces.

Overall, Bonus Challenge Tower is a welcome addition, and actually has a better-structured rewards system. The Tower in Mortal Kombat 9 offered Koins for each successfully completed mission, but only one prize awarded at the very end. The Bonus Challenge Tower offers Koins in addition to a total of sixteen extra costumes, awarded over the course of 150 challenges. The additional costumes also include -- long overdue -- alternates for the DLC characters. Personally, my fingers are crossed that NetherRealm will bring them to the console versions as well.

The fighting system in Mortal Kombat remains as fast and intense as it did on consoles. Running at a constant 60 frames per second, the game mirrors its console brethren. Button for button, all the combos that you spent time mastering can be pulled off here. In my hands-on time with the game, I had no difficulty performing any of my Scorpion or Kung Lao combos. Mortal Kombat on Vita will also come with the same gameplay tweaks and patches that the console versions are running on now. There are no block infinites, 77% Cyrax combos, or overpowered Kung Laos to be found here.

The only addition to the fighting system are the touch controls. Since fighting games require accuracy and precision more so than other genres, NetherRealm has, thankfully, kept the touch controls to a minimum. When you have a full meter, players can simply touch their meter to perform an X-ray. It's not ideal for comboing into an X-ray, but the touch controls (in actual combat) were made with casual players in mind, exactly who you wouldn't see leading into an X-ray with a combo. Rest assured, you can still press the shoulder buttons to perform an X-ray.

Fatalities can also be performed with touch controls, and are pretty simple to use. So if you win a match with, say, Scorpion, you can swipe your finger, back, forward, back, and then tap the X button to perform his fatality if you don't want to go for the standard input. The screen reads your swipes accurately, so either option is viable.

It's nice to see thoughtful use of the touch controls, rather than cramming them in because you can, which is actually why Mortal Kombat for Vita will not be using the rear touch pad, or use the touch controls to pull off enhanced supers. When asked why, NetherRealm stated that they did not want any touch controls that would interfere with the moment-by-moment fighting. Using the back touch pad lead to people performing moves they didn't intend, and using the touch pad for enhanced supers yielded similar results, so they were both cut.

Finally, there is the multiplayer. Mortal Kombat on Vita supports local ad hoc via Bluetooth in addition to online over PlayStation Network. While player and ranked matches make their return, the lobby and King of the Hill modes that made the console version such fun are not making the jump. I'm not going to lie, that really sucks to hear. As a player who logged a good 5,000 matches into the console iteration, I am really disappointed to see the King of the Hill lobbies go away. It's how I spent most of my time online, and I fear that the Vita's MK online experience will be the lesser for it. 

Still, with all the great new additions to this version, you can not argue that NetherRealm isn't working to do right by fighting game fans who plan on getting the Vita. If you didn't like Mortal Kombat 9 (crazy talk, I know) when it was released last year, there's nothing here to change your mind. But if you're getting a Vita and enjoy fast-paced, gory, accessible fighting games with plenty of depth to master, you'd be a fool not to keep this portable version on your radar.

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Review: Zack Zero

Posted: 01 Feb 2012 09:00 AM PST

Review: Zack Zero screenshot

If the alliterative title Zack Zero makes you think of a bad '90s edutainment cartoon (whose mere existence is made even more egregious by the staggering amount of entirely JAWESOME '90s cartoons), then you actually already have some idea of what to expect.

What purports to be a callback to retro, side-scrolling, 2D gameplay ends up being a cheap imitation of the style -- a sometimes broken imitation at that -- that was gussied up and hurriedly trotted out. At first glance, nostalgia may make it seem enticing, but closer examination exposes a lot of issues, both in execution and concept.

Zack Zero (PlayStation 3)
Developer: Crocodile Entertainment
Publisher: Crocodile Entertainment
Released: January 17, 2012
MSRP: $12.99

The presentation of Zack Zero left me leery at the onset. The main menu didn’t look good at all, to start, but I excused it for being functional, if nothing else. When I started a new game, I was taken to a screen that had four separate fonts on it. Similarly, the in-game text boxes you’ll ignore from Zack’s helper lady are bulbous and excessively big, while the game also feels the need to continuously update you, in real time, with useless leaderboard statistics housed in tacky, pixelated notification boxes that only serve to clutter up the screen and make everything look a little more unsightly.

The story behind the game is paper thin. With that, you might think it isn’t worth talking about. Unfortunately, it’s also horrid enough to warrant discussion. Frankly, it’s embarrassing. Despite being relegated to a handful of awkwardly drawn, partially animated 2D cut scenes set to narration, it stands out -- and the contrived plot (Zack’s girlfriend was kidnapped) is the least offensive thing about it.

The narrator provides some of the worst voice acting I’ve ever heard. His delivery is stilted and flaccid, rife with inorganic, forced enthusiasm. If there were more signs of life behind his words I would have assumed he simply chose to record in a drunken stupor because of how awful the writing is, but his performance is depressingly sobering. Still, the writing manages worse. With gems like, “[the bad guy’s brother, whose name I forget], irate, did not hesitate to shoot at them with his powerful neutron gun,” it doesn’t even sound like something written for an eleven-year-old, but rather something written by one. To top it all off, the game ends in a hilariously unsatisfying cliffhanger, wherein nothing is resolved and we’re told, “See you in the next adventure of Zack Zero,” unflinchingly and without a shred of irony.

At least the game can only go up from here. Zack has to traverse a number of distinct and perilous environments over the course of the game, most of which are pleasantly vibrant and nice to look at, the derivative lava and industrial sci-fi levels notwithstanding. Anyone hoping to simply ignore anything that attempted to resemble a narrative and indulge in some good ‘ol action platforming will still be left a bit wanting, however.

Zack appears gangly and doesn’t seem to fit in with his otherwise appealing 3D environments, which is reflected in the plodding, occasionally unwieldy platforming. At its best, the platforming is plain and competent, without the innate satisfaction of speed or precision. At its worse, it leaves you cursing a temperamental double jump and is merely a dull, much too slow means of conveyance for Zack to go towards the next group of enemies.

The game also sports LittleBigPlanet-esque depth of field wherein Zack can move between planes in his otherwise left-right travel. However, these instances are infrequent and there is a lack of visual clues to differentiate these planes. This causes a lot of awkward jumping downward and upward, hoping to move between these planes of travel, and the game doesn't always want to oblige. It’s also remarkably easy to accidentally jump into the wrong plane and fall to your death. Fortunately, a forgiving checkpoint system alleviates any concern over excessive wasted progress due to the imprecise platforming.



The biggest draw to Zack Zero seems to be its titular hero’s suit, which has three different elemental forms in addition to its standard form. These forms are occasionally used for what I hesitantly call elementary puzzle solving (depress the switch; depress two switches; depress three switches), in that you need to be in a certain form to activate certain things in the environment.

Otherwise, their main use is in combat. While using different powers and moves counts towards a combo gauge, the powers don’t have much in the way of direct interaction or cooperative use. They can be fun to use, but you’re stripped of almost all of your powers in the game’s opening chapter, and you have to level up to slowly get them back.

The actual combat works well enough. The 3D environments in 2D allow for enemies to come from ahead and behind, both from off screen and from foreground or background areas that Zack isn't running in, though when enemies rest on different planes, Zack's attacks sometimes fail to target them, as they are automatically aimed. Enemies are also either particularly fierce or Zack is simply frail, as peons are able to best, or at least heavily damage Zack. Evasion, in the form of jumping and running are a must, though the hit and collision detection isn’t always on the player’s side.

Any sense of progression in the combat always rings sort of hollow because all of the powers were unlocked at the beginning. When you level up, the game pauses and a bright light, combined with almost mocking “Level Up!” text obscure the screen (which led to multiple deaths for me). The abilities that level up are then chosen for you, forcing you to continue to play with a limited skill set. It comes off as rather self-indulgent, watching the game enthusiastically pause and make a big show of automatically leveling up abilities as it sees fit as you watch some of the little blips that represent your abilities go up a notch.



More important than any slight I might’ve felt, however, is that keeping you from your full potential early on renders the game’s biggest draw moot. The ice and earth forms are practically useless for much of the early portions of the game, and the fire form isn’t much better than the normal form, save for its faster running allowing you to traverse barren portions of the landscape more quickly. Had the game been balanced for all these powers in mind, it could have been at least been more interesting to play.

In addition to any I’ve specifically mentioned, be sure to expect a few more technical hiccups here and there. In one boss fight, Zack’s running animation didn’t work properly; instead, he slid, legs in place, unable to jump until I got hit (or, as I later realized, switched to another form). In the final boss fight, the effect for the damaging seismic waves that came from the boss’s ground pound sometimes didn’t even show up on screen at all, so I had to try and gauge where I thought they might be. Effects disappearing in such a manner was the most frequent issue I came across.

The one wholly positive thing I have to say about the game is that the enemy designs are largely cute, unique, and fit well within the game's vibrant aesthetic. During one segment of the game, I came across these adorable, giant frog creatures with wry grins on their faces. I hoped I wouldn’t have to kill them, but then one spat acid in my face and actually started pointing and laughing at me. I killed him with fire. The best part is that the frogs’ heads decapitate when they’re killed and briefly remain in the environment, rolling around, that wry grin never leaving their faces.

Zack Zero feels like it was made by going down a checklist. Lava level? Check. Rudimentary puzzles? Check. Arbitrary baubles and hidden treasures to collect? Check. Boss fights at the end of levels? Check. There’s no charm, save for the enemy designs and certain environments, and no sense of identity. The game alternates between being an unexciting, stale, middling affair, and being a somewhat broken game that hits some remarkably low lows. I don’t know which is worse.

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Get your Starhawk beta code here! (Update: all gone!)

Posted: 01 Feb 2012 08:45 AM PST

Get your Starhawk beta code here! (Update: all gone!) screenshot

LightBox Interactive has been running a private beta for its upcoming PS3 shooter, Starhawk, for a few months now. The studio is gradually opening up access over the course of the next few weeks, with a fully public beta scheduled for February 21.

But forget all that -- you can get in right now. Destructoid has received 15 Starhawk beta codes, and instead of divvying them up among the staff, we're giving them away to you! Every tenth comment on this post wins one of the codes, until we run out of them (that'll happen once we reach 150 comments, in case you've forgotten your times tables). We'll be sending the codes to the winners via email, so make sure that the email address that's tied to your Destructoid user account is current.

These beta codes are only valid in North America (sorry!), so please don't bother commenting if you're outside the US or Canada. Now that that's out of the way... go, go, go!

[Update: As of now, the post is at 165 comments, which means that all the codes are gone! The winners are: Ralek, Zarwid Thwic, Dr Scheme, Los255, Kevin Ould, JQM78, elyfant422, Bibbly, Drakonin, Jeniken, chinspecial, BrowneyeWinkin, Fugly Duckling, Bufflkill, and Fr33Kye! Watch your inboxes. Thanks for commenting, everybody!]

Club Nintendo's 3DS Card Case 18 is nice, customizable

Posted: 01 Feb 2012 08:30 AM PST

Club Nintendo's 3DS Card Case 18 is nice, customizable screenshot

New Club Nintendo item Nintendo 3DS Game Card Case is shaped just like a 3DS game case, but it holds 18 games instead of one. Nintendo was nice enough to send this one along for us to check out, so now I can stop sticking my games in an old Altoids case when I go out. It holds 18 3DS or DS games and looks great doing it.

You'll see in our gallery that this case comes with four double-sided case covers, each blanketed with Nintendo characters and graphics. I really like the minimalist graphics/buttons one, but the Luigi with attitude pose on another comes in a close second. 

If you dig this, the Club Nintendo site has them ready to ship for only 250 points.

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Come duke it out at Capcom's Fight Club tomorrow

Posted: 01 Feb 2012 08:15 AM PST

Come duke it out at Capcom's Fight Club tomorrow screenshot

I've been fortunate enough to play Street Fighter X Tekken throughout its development, including defeating Seth Killian in a grudge match. So it's little surprise that I'm really excited for this game. If you live in the SF Bay Area, you'll have the chance to experience the game yourself this Thursday, February 2nd!

Capcom will be hosting its Fight Club event (21+) at The Mighty starting at 8:00pm. Not only will there be the latest build of Street Fighter X Tekken on display, but you will also get the chance to play the PlayStation Vita edition of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. So if you are a fan of fighting games, this is an event you definitely don't want to miss!

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Syndicate's DART 6 allows you to grief your enemies

Posted: 01 Feb 2012 07:45 AM PST

Syndicate's DART 6 allows you to grief your enemies screenshot

A new trailer for Syndicate went up today, detailing the "DART 6" abilities that players will have at their disposal. The video details a lot of the stuff that yesterday's demo simply didn't have, making me feel much more confident in the game again. 

With DART 6, players can ruin enemy guns, turn them suicidal, or even convince them that their allies are the enemy. It's all about screwing with their heads, which sounds like a bloody good laugh. 

I'm still really hopeful that this turns out well.

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Super Mario World theme for piano and tap dance

Posted: 01 Feb 2012 07:30 AM PST

Super Mario World theme for piano and tap dance screenshot

Here's a really cool collaboration between pianist Scott Bradlee and his friend, tap dancer Alex MacDonald. Watch as Alex taps out the Super Mario World theme song while Scott accompanies him on the piano. Early on he taps out the rhythm of the melody, which is already impressive, but then they step it up a bit with some really cool solo sections.

Nice work, guys. Very original. Could I maybe request some different covers? How about Phantasy Star II's shop music? Or Sephiroth's theme? Maybe something from the Kirby games?

Gotham City Impostors due out next week

Posted: 01 Feb 2012 07:15 AM PST

Gotham City Impostors due out next week screenshot

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has announced the new release dates for Gotham City Impostors. It's launching first for PC and North American PlayStation Network on February 7, followed by Xbox Live and the rest of PSN a day later.

I wanted to like Gotham City Impostors, and it sounds like at least some of you share this sentiment, but technical issues in the beta didn't make that easy. The game's delay will presumably have addressed many of these problems. I'll give it another shot if you will.

Developing Binary Domain for the western market

Posted: 01 Feb 2012 07:00 AM PST

Developing Binary Domain for the western market screenshot

[This is the fourth entry in a series of exclusive guest blogs from the development team at Yakuza Studio on Binary Domain. Lead Game Designer Hiroyuki Sakamoto describes the combat in the game. Binary Domain will be out on February 28 on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Stay tuned to Destructoid for more guest blogs up to the release!]

Hiroyuki Sakamoto – Lead Game Designer

Binary Domain is set in 2080 Japan, where the country has become very exclusive. It’s a cover-based shooter, which is the most popular in the third person shooter genre. However, third person shooter games sell a lot less in the Japanese market compared to the Western market, and I feel it’s a shame that such a highly developed genre is not accepted in Japan. Our Yakuza series has been a big hit in the Japanese market, and I think this is because the story-oriented style that the Japanese players tend to like worked well to encourage the players to go deeper into the game world, resulting in making the game something unforgettable for the players. We’re very excited to see how all the knowledge we obtained through the Yakuza developments would be accepted from the Western players.

However, currently the Western game market does not favor long movie scenes, so with Binary Domain we worked very carefully to not to slow down the pace of the gameplay.

The game provides a high-pace gameplay style while unfolding the story in playable areas as much as possible. These are, of course, the basics of a good video game, and we have developed Binary Domain by pushing such basics to a higher level and introduced the Consequence System with voice recognition to offer a new squad combat system that allows ally NPCs to be used to the fullest extent. In other words, Binary Domain offers the ultimate strategic gameplay that is possible only for a squad shooter; one that has not been done for a game where you only control the main character. This will be the big key for Binary Domain when we introduce ourselves to the Western market.

Binary Domain takes place in the future, but the game mainly uses advanced versions of current realistic weapons rather than wholly unknown futuristic weapons. This way, the squad combat will feel familiar, while you are also experiencing the new Consequence System. The game will of course offer some unique weapons in addition to the traditional weapons, like EMP grenades that will confuse the enemy robots’ AI.

We have also created the game world that includes a wide variety of level designs and features, such as highway car chases in the future version of Tokyo, or battles on jet skis. I hope you enjoy all of them!

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Skyrim's Creation Kit is awesome, way over my head

Posted: 01 Feb 2012 06:45 AM PST

Skyrim's Creation Kit is awesome, way over my head screenshot

Bethesda is giving you almost endless power with their Skyrim Creation Kit. This new video briefly goes over how deep this mod tool really is, as well as how seamlessly it works with Skyrim Workshop on Steam for uploading and sharing mods. I don't think I could ever figure out how to use this with its scene editors, dialogue views and artists tools, but I'm looking forward to seeing what the modding community does with it all. 

Crazy Skyrim mods are coming soon as Bethesda says that the Skyrim Creation Kit will be available soon as a free download via Steam.

 

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