New Games |
- PBS says Mario is the world's greatest surrealist art
- MMO in my RTS?! New C&C Tiberium Alliances trailer
- Street Fighter X Tekken DLC details: You cool with this?
- Gawk at some shiny new screens for Of Orcs and Men
- Preview: From a Solar Empire to the Sins of a Dark Age
- You do not f**k with Goldeen
- Luigi has taken over Club Nintendo, offering new 3DS case
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution made Warren Spector scream...
- Quick! Grab an in-game item code for Shoot Many Robots!
- Robo-MMO Perpetuum is not for me, but you may love it
- GameGadget aiming to be the 'iPod for retro games'
- Ireland's influence in videogames
- Gundam solve their problems violently in Battle Operation
- Big Bass Arcade: No Limit baits you with a new trailer
- The Daily Hotness: A very Moogle Dtoid birthday
- Wha' Happened: Niero's Birthday
| PBS says Mario is the world's greatest surrealist art Posted: 17 Mar 2012 04:00 PM PDT
It's weird to see something that you and your colleagues have known for your for your entire adult lives get announced by a mainsteam media outlet like it's a hot news, but there you go. PBS just told us that the Super Mario Bros. games are the most influential and well accepted pieces of surrealist art in the world. As Donald Rumsfeld would say, the fact that the Mario is the most popular surrealist icon in the world is a "known known". It is a thing we know that we know. We do all know that we know that, right? Was there ever any question that the Mario series is just as surreal as anything any painter or film maker ever came up with, or that it has influenced millions of people to both accept surrealism as a style, and to create surrealist art themselves. I hope this is just the start of PBS's look at how videogames fit into maintream culture. The shout out to the Katamari series towards the end has me hoping that this episode is just a warm up, and the really eye-opening insights are yet to come. I like the style of the video, and the presenter is a pretty amicable fella. I just hope they give us something a little less obvious next time. I really don't hope they go with the old "Pac-Man is a metaphor for man's continual consumption of the world around him in a vain attempt to fend of his inevitable death" routine. Not to sound snobby, but most of us probably figured that out around the same time we stopped (exclusively) pooping in diapers. |
| MMO in my RTS?! New C&C Tiberium Alliances trailer Posted: 17 Mar 2012 03:00 PM PDT
Continuing to add to their growing collection of free-to-play titles, EA studio Phenomic released a new trailer along with some screenshots for Command and Conquer Tiberium Alliances. Command and Conquer Tiberium Alliances combines the elements from both massively multiplayer online games and real-time strategy games, with just a dash of Tiberium to create a new way to experience the Command & Conquer universe. If you're looking for something to scratch that real-time strategy itch, check out the open beta for yourself. I have never been much of an real-time strategy gamer, but I always enjoyed the unit designs and gameplay of the Command & Conquer: Red Alert series. Who doesn't enjoy setting a bunch of Siberian attack Huskies to distract your enemies, while you flank them with your Tesla Troopers and watch them get slowly electrocuted? |
| Street Fighter X Tekken DLC details: You cool with this? Posted: 17 Mar 2012 02:00 PM PDT Capcom has announced their pricing plans for Street Fighter X Tekken's DLC, and it's hard to say how fans are going to take it. The good news is, a lot of the DLC will be free (including a bunch of new gems, some pre-set combos, additional palate swaps, a patch to get rid of many of the game's infinites, and more). On the other end of the spectrum you have the new "swap costumes" which outfit the Street Fighter side of the roster like Tekken fighters, and vice versa. Swap costumes are $1 a piece, or you can deck out the whole Street Fighter (or Tekken) team in swaps for $13. My second grade math skills indicate that it'lll cost $26 minimum to get every swap costume. That's about the same price as Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom, an entire (and arguably better) Vs. fighting game. The 12 "new" characters (including Elena, Alisa, Guy, Cody, and many others) are a little more reasonably priced. You can grab them all for $20. That's more content-per-buck than the 4 characters and handful of modes that made up the Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition DLC (which cost $14.99). Still, the fact that most of this content is already on-disc is sure to sour the deal for many of you. No word on if Pac-Man and Mega Man (two other characters already found locked away on the 360 edition of the game) will ever be officially released on that console. They may remain PS3/PS Vita exclusives, at least "officially". Speaking of the PS Vita, it sounds like all 12 of those DLC characters will be unlocked on the PS Vita version from the start for no additional cost. Including the 5 PS3/PS Vita exclusive characters, that gives SFxT on the Vita 17 more characters than the pre-DLC version of the "same" game on the 360. Does that have you leaning towards picking up the game on the Vita? If not, do you plan on getting all $46 dollars worth of SFxT DLC on consoles, or would you rather save that money to buy another game or two? Do you think Capcom should have made all this content free, or do you think people will gladly lay down their dough to get a whiff of these sweet, on-disc DLC cookies? New costumes, gems, patches and more coming to Street Fighter X Tekken [Capcom-Unity] |
| Gawk at some shiny new screens for Of Orcs and Men Posted: 17 Mar 2012 01:00 PM PDT Cyanide Studio and Spiders have put a lot of work into their new engine for Of Orcs and Men, and after taking a look at these new screenshots, you can tell all that hard work is paying off. Of Orcs and Men places you in the role of a veteran Orc warrior on a mission that will end this ongoing feud with Empire of Men. Along the journey, you will also take control of a Goblin to help you complete objectives that require a little more stealth and cunning, as opposed to a giant battle axe to the face of your enemy. So far, the game looks like it's coming together nicely; I especially enjoy all the detail and character they gave to the veteran warrior and his Goblin companion. What I would really like to see is some more of the world that Cyanide and Spiders have created. Of Orcs and Men will be releasing the hordes sometime later this year. |
| Preview: From a Solar Empire to the Sins of a Dark Age Posted: 17 Mar 2012 12:00 PM PDT I sat down with some people from Ironclad Games earlier today to discuss their new fantasy real-time strategy game, Sins of a Dark Age. After getting a good look at almost an hour of actual play, I can firmly and resolutely say that it is not a MOBA clone. Sins of a Dark Age is a forthcoming "hero and commander strategy" game from Ironclad. The project is an attempt to fuse the MOBA and RTS genres by having four players on each team take up the role of a hero (à la League of Legends, Defense of the Ancients, etc.) and another player working as a commander, doing typical RTS stuff (i.e. gathering resources, building a base and units, etc.). The commander also has global powers that can have an enormous effect on the field. These powers can be anything from turning large swaths of the enemy army into spiders or summoning massive dragons to tear them apart. Sins of a Dark Age (PC) A lot of the media out there about SoaDA is wrong. That's not PR spin, either. The game is a very different animal than either pure MOBA or RTS. I previously covered a few of the strategies that Ironclad is using to fix the glaring and apparently intrinsic flaw of the swarm of DotA clones: atrocious communities. The team is planning to encourage experienced players to help out new ones by having them join losing games if someone rage quits, and giving community-based recommendations for the best items and builds based on what the current state of the meta-game is. It is all designed to be more open and inviting to players that have been turned away from other MOBAs (like myself). Stylistically, Dark Age pulls away from its more cartoon-y semi cel-shaded counterparts. Drawing inspiration from surrealistic work, SoaDA has a myriad of truly varied playable characters -- more than just the smorgasbord of humanoid playables from other games. There are four-armed dudes, cave spider queens, and ridiculous snake-man creatures. All in a visually striking package. The total package reminded me of an artful patchwork of Age of Mythology, Rise of Legends, DotA, Sins of a Solar Empire, with a dash of Portal 2 co-op. There is real potential here, but I still have a lot of concerns. SoaDA is yet another free-to-play title, and I am genuinely unsure about the long-term viability of that model when pitted against so many others that are vying for the same space. The amalgamation of pieces they are trying to cram into the game is at once delightful and unsettling. We don't see too many studios taking on that kind of project and there's a good reason -- it's a huge risk. As with most other F2P games, Ironclad plans to sell skins, colors, and accessories as well as factions for the Commander (roughly equivalent to selling access to the different races of StarCraft, I am told). Look for Sins of a Dark Age to come out sometime this year. |
| Posted: 17 Mar 2012 10:00 AM PDT
Goldeen -- just above Metapod and Magikarp on the list of Pokémon that are better off dead. "But they evolve into much more powerful creatures!" Yeah, they're still turds. But when you get between a Goldeen and its love for sh*tty cover songs, you best watch yourself, son! This video comes from Newgrounds animator RedMinus and his partner Caxx, both who you may remember for their hilarious Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Dante video. I also gotta hand it to Caxx for her Ash Ketchum impersonation. Seriously, spot on. Goldeen Loves Guitar (Pokemon) [YouTube] BONUS: Pikachu's wicked air solo!
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| Luigi has taken over Club Nintendo, offering new 3DS case Posted: 17 Mar 2012 08:00 AM PDT Without the contributions of the Irish, we would have no color green in videogames. Without green, we would have no Luigi. You all should be so grateful to have Luigi in your lives, which is why he has kicked Mario off the front page of Club Nintendo and replaced the logo with something a little more festive. In addition to claiming what has always been rightfully his, he's also made available a new reward item. The Nintendo 3DS Pouch: Luigi Edition is exactly like the original Mario one, only a billion times better. Who knows how limited this 7.5" x 5.25" case is, but if you want to snatch one up, be prepared to part with 450 hard-earned coins. |
| Deus Ex: Human Revolution made Warren Spector scream... Posted: 17 Mar 2012 07:00 AM PDT ... but he still liked it. Everyone who knew how beloved the original Deus Ex was also knew that Human Revolution had a lot to live up to. As a huge fan of the first game, I thought DE:HR was flawed but still really enjoyable. Looks like Warren Spector, lead designer of Deus Ex, thought so too. "It was one of the few games I finished," he said to GamesIndustry.biz, "and I know the guys on the team and I know how dedicated they were and how respectful of the original they were; their hearts were in the right place and they did a wonderful job." But that's not to say it was a perfect Deus Ex game; Spector found himself screaming at his television on more than one occasion: "... because there were two, three, four things they did where I just said 'Nooooo, why did you this? Noooo!' and, and it wasn't that it was right or wrong, it was different than what I [expected]." I'm sure it must please the team at Eidos Montreal to know the creator of the franchise enjoyed their long-awaited sequel. Now if only they would give us some details on Thief 4. Warren Spector on Deus Ex Human Revolution [GamesIndustry.biz] |
| Quick! Grab an in-game item code for Shoot Many Robots! Posted: 17 Mar 2012 06:50 AM PDT Shoot Many Robots is the latest downloadable title for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 where you shoot many, many robots. It's a fun, hectic sidescroller and even features a Mr. Destructoid mask! In fact, there's a variety of clothing and weapons you can equip your Shoot Many Robot hero with and we're giving a bunch of them away right now. Just head to our redeem page where you'll be randomly given a code for one of the following. Note that these codes are only good for the Xbox 360 version of the game!
Just head to redeem page, click the "Get My Code" button and enter it into your Xbox 360. We have 600 codes total so you better act fast! |
| Robo-MMO Perpetuum is not for me, but you may love it Posted: 17 Mar 2012 06:00 AM PDT Perpetuum is an MMO that allows you to customize your very own robot to your liking. Whether you want to be a transport robot or a combat robot, Perpetuum has you covered. The world is shaped by the players and their corporations (similar to guilds). Territories will fluctuate, robots will be lost, and people may abandon you -- only time will reveal these things. So why don't I like Perpetuum? Perhaps it's because I spent a lot of my time walking around and harvesting minerals to turn in for robo-bucks to try and get a better robot. It's not that I don't like that type of gameplay, I fondly recall hours spent in Freelancer convoying minerals from one space system to another. The problem I had with Perpetuum is that it's just so ... esoteric. I completed the tutorials, tinkered with my robot's gadgets, took a few missions, and came away feeling a bit empty. Perpetuum is not for me and I could tell that right from the beginning, but it could be right up your alley, and if it is, I urge you to give it a shot. For once, this is not a free-to-play game, but there is a 15-day free trial for you to jump into. The tutorials do a decent enough job of introducing you to the basic mechanics at play. Unfortunately, as soon as you finish them, you'll be left wondering "What do I do now?" NO WORRIES! I'm here to tell you: join a corporation, take assignments, ask the chat. Joining a corporation allows you to have people to play with, and more importantly, gives you incentive to play PvP. Although I didn't experience any PvP in my brief stint with Perpetuum, from what I hear, that's where the meat of the game is at. I'm just not into PvP in MMOs since they all too often boil down to min/maxing. You at least get to control your robot during combat instead of simply playing a numbers game. Perpetuum encourages you to use your environment to hide from sight if you need a moment to rethink or reload. You can even equip your robot to multitask: at one point, I was harvesting a plant AND shooting a robot at the same time. If only my childhood robo-friends could see me now! Oh, and there's menus. LOTS of menus. Not all of them are explained to the player in the tutorials, but there's an in-game guide -- with a search function! -- that I found completely amazing. Seriously, any time I had a question, that guide pointed me in the right direction. I almost feel guilty for not enjoying the luscious and beautifully crafted world. Part of me just wanted to walk around forever to take it all in, if only the initial walk speed wasn't incredibly slow. I really wanted to do enough missions to upgrade my robot, but all of the decent looking ones were incredibly expensive. Perhaps if you stick it out with a corporation they will be grateful enough to loan you some robo-bucks? I'm not sure, really. Perpetuum is not my kind of game, though I almost wish it was. It is a true sandbox MMO, something that carries a lot of weight with it. One thing I thought was incredibly great was that you could be a robot specializing in cargo transporting and play the game just fine! More MMOs (and games in general) need to give the play that kind of freedom. Reading stories of what the corporation side of the game holds is what initially intrigued me; sadly, they'll have to remain just that: other people's stories. Everyone from the in-game chat was really helpful when I asked my many game-related questions, so that should be your go-to resource if you get as confused as I did. If what I struggled with sounds intriguing, give the 15-day free trial a whirl! |
| GameGadget aiming to be the 'iPod for retro games' Posted: 17 Mar 2012 04:00 AM PDT
Due out March 30th, there's a new portable gaming device aiming to grab your hard earned cash. Calling itself the GameGadget, it's trying to become the "iPod of retro games" by providing legal and secure downloads of games users can purchase through an iTunes-esque application. The platform will not just offer classic titles, as it's also an opportunity for developers to put their newest creations on a dedicated handheld market. That seems a bit silly though, considering that iOS, Android, 3DS, and PS Vita all have established markets. The GameGadget is up for pre-order at £99 (approximately $157). That's a fair price I'd say, but it's a bold move to launch a handheld when there are two giant handhelds already out, especially when that new device aims to sell games to users who played them twenty years ago. It'd be easier to just emulate on an already existing device. Maybe some truly creative developers will set up shop on the GameGadget marketplace to give it a bit more incentive for purchasing other than as a portable retro game player. |
| Ireland's influence in videogames Posted: 17 Mar 2012 03:00 AM PDT Well, it's Saint Patrick's Day, and what better way is there to mark the occasion than by doing something flippant and pointless? Naturally, the Irish are fantastic at everything they do (and they're handsome, too), so it's no surprise that a huge amount of the videogame ecosystem can be credited back to the weather-worn shores of Ireland. It is in this spirit of talent and modesty that I present to you a magnificent list detailing all possible Irish contributions to the industry, with varying degrees of tenability. I'm from Kildare, so it's ok. Irish stereotypes Oh atoy atoy, sure it's all in good fun. I've seldom come across a halfway decently portrayed Irish character myself, but I can take turns laughing and scorning the many caricatures that pop up from time to time. As with most liberal interpretations of Irish culture, they usually shift unconsciously between the offensive and ridiculous. From the cowardly drunkard Irish in Red Dead Redemption to The Saboteur's thuggish Sean Devlin, the rootin' tootin' half of the stereotype is well covered. On the other hand, I can't think of many examples who fall into fits of poetry, although I'm sure there's an FPS sergeant somewhere who gave his dramatic last stand the "isn't it terrible, terrible" treatment. Honorable mentions include BioShock's Atlus, husband to Moira, father to Patrick; Catherine O'Hara from Valkyria Chronicles, for being more competent than most; Mercenaries 2's Ewan Devlin, whose constantly changing accent had him traveling the whole of Ireland mid-sentence. Shenanigans. Alcohol It wouldn't be St. Patrick's Day without a sardonic reference to drinking. Just like in real life, alcohol in games often grants drinkers powers beyond their natural capabilities. Surely there isn't a more socially acceptable way to artificially increase your Charisma or Strength at the cost of a little Intelligence. In some cases like BioShock, it even restores your health. Although consuming virtual alcohol lacks the potential for craic in comparison to its real counterpart, you can still enjoy a diverse range of visual distortions and collapsing animations from game to game. My fondest memory of Red Dead Redemption involves John Marston plunging head-first into the ground, as such as he deserved. Drink responsibly, kids! Havok Engine Perhaps the most significant Irish contribution to the world of videogames (and the most legitimate thing on this list) is this physics engine. If you've played Assassin's Creed, Dark Souls, Half-Life 2, Uncharted 3, BioShock, Fallout 3, or a slew of other titles, you might have come to recognize this software from the way it feels in-game. Probably because of how little Ireland has actually contributed directly to modern gaming, I always feel a glimmer of joy whenever the Havok logo appears in a new game. It's wonderful to see this Dublin-based company rise to such an accomplished place in the industry in the short time it has been around. Irish Mythology I'm always surprised by how much of Irish legends can be found in videogames from all across the globe. To my knowledge, the Japanese-made Folklore, based in a small town in the west of Ireland, delves heavily into the Celtic bestiary. The shape-shifter Morrigan from Dragon Age: Origins has her beginnings in Irish mythology, which might shed some insight into her relationship with her mother Flemeth. Korean MMO Mabinogi, set in the real Irish location of Tír na nÓg, is another game steeped in Irish folklore, although at times it can be insulting rather than endearing. Final Fantasy games have long had some form of Cait Sith, and Cú Chulainn was an Esper in Final Fantasy XII. Both have also featured in the Megami Tensei series. Speaking of Cú Chulainn, it's worth noting how his character and adventures could be easily sourced into the most ostentatious videogames. He's essentially the prototypical Super Saiyan/Kratos-like ultimate warrior. It would take more effort than this list is worth to account for all instances of Irish myth in games, but here's one for the road: the modern incarnation of Dracula, created by Bram Stoker and probably inspired by the dearg-dua, without whom we definitely wouldn't have had the Castlevania series. (Cheers to Matt for helping with that one!) The Ending Theme to Metal Gear Solid The Color Green Since it's well known that Ireland invented green, without green pastures, Videogame Land would have missed out on some of its most significant icons. There would be no The Legend of Zelda -- you can't have a naked Link running around the place -- nor would there have been a Sonic the Hedgehog -- the first level is called Green Hill Zone. We wouldn't even have Shadow of the Colossus, since the cover of the European box is mostly green. So in the true Irish spirit of talking utter shite, cheers to the color green! These are but six of the many wonderful things Ireland has brought to our fair hobby. As I'm sure you can imagine, the original article was quite a bit longer, but austerity affects blogging, too. Since we can of course keep the Irishness alive through casual begrudgery, what would you rather have seen be included this list? Let us know in the comments! |
| Gundam solve their problems violently in Battle Operation Posted: 17 Mar 2012 02:00 AM PDT
Mecha fighting each other. Again. Why do we never see these mechanical behemoths hugging it out or discussing their problems like reasonable adults? I suppose the main problem there would be that most of those things seem to be piloted by emotionally unstable teenagers. Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle Operation has a very long name, but more importantly it's a free online 6 vs. 6 mecha battering game. Sliding about, bumping into other mecha, wrestling moves, it's got the lot. It goes live in Japan this June on PSN. |
| Big Bass Arcade: No Limit baits you with a new trailer Posted: 17 Mar 2012 01:00 AM PDT
Check it out! There's totally a new trailer for Big John Games' Big Bass Arcade: No Limit for the Wii featuring those ooh-so-stunning graphics! I respect the Wii, I use mine quite a bit, but I've never understood why developers use graphics as a selling point for Wii games. That's obviously not where the system's strength lies. One of No Limit's bigger selling points, in my humble opinion, is that it "takes all the best features of a fishing game and gets you right into the action." I'm only marginally interested in the idea of fishing games, but a lot of times the equipment management and nitty-gritty of it can be a bit of a turn off. So much of a turn off, in fact, that I cringe noticeably every single time I hear about a new fishing game (this one included). If that's your thing, though, this one's coming out later this month. |
| The Daily Hotness: A very Moogle Dtoid birthday Posted: 16 Mar 2012 04:59 PM PDT Destructoid turned six today and, apparently, we're not the only ones celebrating. Square Enix's Laura Shiraishi threw us aan email earlier complete with this totally rad drawing of Mr. Destructoid. So a BIG thank you goes out to Laura and Square. Once again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DESTRUCTOID! Seriously, the Moogle and Chocobo are way too cute. Microsoft says that there won't be a new Xbox at E3, Bioware adds "Talk to disgruntled fans" to their to-do list, Shenmue HD has been a real thing for way too long, and more happened on 3/16/2012. Destructoid Original: Reviews: News: |
| Wha' Happened: Niero's Birthday Posted: 16 Mar 2012 04:00 PM PDT What? The birthday of this entire wonderful network's founder is totally a holiday. You wait and see. 100 years from now we'll all be getting this day off in celebration. Also, we will be living a lot longer so that we can celebrate. So get ready because Modern Method is going to take over the world and then institute this national holiday and rule the world with an iron fist. In celebration of Niero's birthday we wrote lots of great stuff. Check it out. Flixist Reviews: 21 Jump Street, Casa de Mi Padre Tomopop Valve and ThreeA Toys to work together. Imagine awesome meeting awesome and making a toy. Japanator Go West Week 8. This week featuring a game called If I Were in a Sealed Room With a Girl I'd Probably XXX. |
Destructoid turns six
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