New Games |
- Star Citizen breaks crowdfunding record for games
- Don't play poker or go drinking with Far Cry 3's Vaas
- Nuketown 2025 playlist pulled from Black Ops II
- The DTOID Show: Wii U Roundup, The Uncharted TCG & GTA V
- Upcoming League of Legends preseason update detailed
- Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault for Vita delayed
- Double Fine opens up voting on its next game prototypes
- Battle against Pokemon World Champions' finalists
- Take a ride with Ubiktune's Motorway and Interlude
- Sledgehammer hiring for new Call of Duty title
- Another Sonic graphic novel revists the good ol' days
- OpenFeint shuts down on December 14
- Live show: Who has the Wii U? We do!
- Review: Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz
- Destructoid logo shirts are back!
- Vita 2.00 update: Won't have to quit games to use browser
| Star Citizen breaks crowdfunding record for games Posted: 19 Nov 2012 03:00 PM PST Chris Roberts and the rest of Cloud Imperium probably had a good day. The studio's space sim, Star Citizen, set the new record for crowdfunded videogames by raising $6,238,563 through Kickstarter and Roberts' website. That may not seem like a lot in the context of large-scale development budgets, but for an unreleased product paid in part by people on the Internet? Crazy. Stretch goals be damned. "I am absolutely elated by the incredible outpouring of support for this project," stated Roberts. "It's clear that space sim fans have just been waiting for a game like ours to come along and rekindle some of the excitement that's been missing from PC games and the space sim genre. With the resources that our fans have provided, it means the team will be able to provide more features in Star Citizen and deliver an even better game." The alpha play test for Star Citizen backers won't be released until next winter, so for now, there's plenty of waiting left on the schedule. For those who missed out during the initial push, pledges are still possible, though the contribution tiers have become more expensive. |
| Don't play poker or go drinking with Far Cry 3's Vaas Posted: 19 Nov 2012 02:30 PM PST
Because if you do, you'll have a sweet barroom firefight in your mind. Actually, that doesn't sound all too bad! Freddie Wong offered his own Far Cry 3 tribute the other week, so of course the Corridor Digital boys would want a crack at it as well. Enjoy, you filthy monkeys! Far Cry Happy Hour [YouTube] |
| Nuketown 2025 playlist pulled from Black Ops II Posted: 19 Nov 2012 02:00 PM PST Treyarch has removed the multiplayer playlist containing the Nuketown 2025 map that was used as a pre-order bonus for Call of Duty: Black Ops II. As a result, those who "own" the map and would like to play it will have to resort to running a custom game, meaning no public matchmaking with experience points. Game design director David Vonderhaar announced the move, tweeting that "Double XP weekend is official over. That means Nuketown 2025 / 24-7 is as well. I know. RIGHT? Don't kill the messenger." Continuing in a second tweet: "Nuketown 2025 / 24-7 will be back for special events. You can always play it with your friends in Custom Games." Understandably, some players feel misled -- rightfully so, in my opinion. I'm not entirely sure what Treyarch or Activision had to gain from this decision that was worth risking public outcry, even if only a minority of Black Ops II players become involved. Let's hope they add the map to a public playlist before long. That seems like a possibility. Treyarch pull Nuketown 2025 Playlist (pre-order bonus map) in Black Ops 2 [NeoGAF] |
| The DTOID Show: Wii U Roundup, The Uncharted TCG & GTA V Posted: 19 Nov 2012 01:45 PM PST In other news, there's some new info/rumors about GTA V, as well as that Uncharted: Fight For Fortune PS Vita card game which everyone's upset about, and a rundown of Conrad's Hitman Absolution review. |
| Upcoming League of Legends preseason update detailed Posted: 19 Nov 2012 01:30 PM PST It seems like we can't go too long without there being some big news about League of Legends. It can be something small like a record-breaking number of users, or perhaps a map with a new mode, or even a holiday getting the full works in the game. This time, an update dubbed "the preseason update" seeks to bring about variety to the game through an overhaul of the jungle, items, and some global tweaks to the champions. To accompany this news, Riot hosted another "Ask Me Anything," or AMA, event over on Reddit about the update. The gist of these updates are to bring a greater variety to the game. More items means more builds, which in turns means more opportunities for new play styles to arise. At the same time, they didn't want to completely removed what already worked. Morello, the lead content designer at Riot, stated that "a strong effort was made to keep all your old builds relatively consistent in function (if not slightly stronger / smoother) than before." This mentality also transfers into the reasoning behind the jungle changes. "We want to see different types of junglers," responds Morello to a poster asking which champions he would like be able to handle the jungle again. One of the prominent item changes that backs this up is the addition of new items to help champions survive better when tackling jungle creatures: the Hunter's Machete and the Spirit Stone. These items will even build into new and some existing items, which should allow for the "jungler" to have an easier time transitioning into the later stages of a match.
Beyond that, there are some particularly neat ideas behind some of the new items as well. New consumables are being added that have a set of charges which can be refreshed whenever you return to your base. Items for support characters are being added, with new activatable skills to aid teammates, such as Kage's Last Breath, which grants an ally a temporary aura that slows down all enemies around them. One of the coolest ideas, though, are items that transform when certain conditions are met. Elisa's miracle, for example, will actually disappear from your inventory after you level up three times with it, but still give you its bonuses. On the other hand, Manamune and Archangel's Staff will both turn into new items if you spend enough mana on them, with better stats and a new skill each. The champions themselves are getting a small tweak across the board -- faster movement speeds. To counter this, the movement-boosting boots that can be bought will offer less of a bonus. As Morello puts it, "What this means is boots aren't 100% required as your first buy," allowing you to start by putting your gold in other areas. "We increased overall movement speed of all champions because there was a very strong opinion among pro players that the minimum movement speed for lanes to be dynamic and fun was not 300. We've felt like Boots 1 was game-warping for quite a long time so this seemed like a good time to readjust things like Boots."
The masteries (basically perks) are also being reworked, as with the items, to allow for more variation in builds. More masteries in general will provide further options, and there are also some generally fun-sounding masteries as well. For instance, one of them grants you bonus gold whenever you attack an enemy champion. Others will even give you some starting items without spending gold, such as the "Biscuiteer," which lets you start with a biscuit to heal yourself with. Hooray for biscuits! Of course, these changes are very, very large in scale. Though they have been talked about for a little while now, there is no release date hinted at save for "soon." The changes are currently being tested on the public beta environment (the public test server). While the stats for the items on the test server have been leaked, those numbers are not final, and much of it is subject to change. It's hard to tell if any of these changes will really bring more variety to the game, or if even past the release, people will still flock to a few builds that are proven to be successful. On the surface at least, Riot appears to be doing all it can to ensure that these changes are not a major miss. |
| Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault for Vita delayed Posted: 19 Nov 2012 01:00 PM PST While the next Ratchet & Clank game will be available digitally on both PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita, the latter version won't be released until January 2013 due to a delay for what sound like quality concerns. In SCEA producer Greg Phillips' words, the push is "to provide the best gameplay experience possible." By purchasing Full Frontal Assault for PS3, which launches on November 27, players will still get the portable edition for Vita with cross-save and cross-play functionality when it's done next year. To make up for the delay, the first downloadable content -- the Mini-Boss Skin Pack, pictured below -- will be given out as a freebie to those buyers. Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault Coming to PS Vita in January [PlayStation Blog] |
| Double Fine opens up voting on its next game prototypes Posted: 19 Nov 2012 12:30 PM PST
Double Fine Productions has been pretty vocal about its Amnesia Fortnight prototyping process that ultimately resulted in games like Costume Quest and Iron Brigade. This time, they're going a step further, and you'll have an opportunity to participate -- Double Fine has teamed up with the Humble Bundle folks to make the activity public. Instead of CEO Tim Schafer selecting which projects get to move forward himself, that decision will be up to contributors (the minimum amount is set at $1). Various would-be project leaders at the studio have posted their pitches which viewers can vote on. The top four ideas will see finished prototypes, downloadable for Windows once completed, and 2 Player Productions is going to be filming this all similar to their work on the Double Fine Adventure documentary. Additionally, this bundle includes Happy Song, the precursor to Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster, and the prototype for Costume Quest. Interesting premise overall, and some of these pitches seem potentially great. Go give them a look if you have time to spare. |
| Battle against Pokemon World Champions' finalists Posted: 19 Nov 2012 12:00 PM PST Before the launch of Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 it was revealed that select winners from this year's Pokémon Video Game World Championships (which ended back in August) would have their characters and teams put into the game via Wi-Fi where players would be able to go up against them in the Pokémon World Tournament arena. Well, beginning today, Black 2 and White 2 players will be able to do just that, with 4 players from the Masters, Seniors and Juniors divisions being digitized. We also know their Pokemon teams, listed below. Is anyone planning on taking these guys on? 2012 MASTERS DIVISION CHALLENGE World Champ Ray - Tyranitar, Garchomp, Cresselia, Hydreigon, Rotom, Metagross World Runner-Up Wolfe - Hitmontop, Cresselia, Thundurus, Terrakion, Heatran, Exeggutor World Finalist Abel - Thundurus, Hitmontop, Latios, Cresselia, Metagross, Tyranitar World Finalist Joe - Excadrill, Tyranitar, Gastrodon, Salamence, Rotom, Cresselia
2012 SENIORS DIVISION CHALLENGE World Champ Toler - Garchomp, Ludicolo, Cresselia, Hydreigon, Rotom, Metgross World Runner-Up Jaime - Thundurus, Tyranitar, Metagross, Hitmontop, Latios, Swampert World Finalist Nitesh - Heatran, Cresselia, Amoonguss, Metagross, Gyarados, Gastrodon World Finalist Henry - Tyranitar, Excadrill, Thundurus, Volcarona, Latios, Hitmontop
2012 JUNIORS DIVISION CHALLENGE World Champ Abram - Cloyster, Thundurus, Volcarona, Landorus, Tyranitar, Hitmontop World Runner-Up Brian - Sableye, Tyranitar, Hydreigon, Metagross, Hitmontop, Rotom World Finalist Brendan - Metagross, Tyranitar, Hitmontop, Cresselia, Zapdos, Gastrodon World Finalist Kippei - Garchomp, Tyranitar, Scizor, Thundurus, Hitmontop, Cresselia
|
| Take a ride with Ubiktune's Motorway and Interlude Posted: 19 Nov 2012 11:30 AM PST Fancy a swing on the funky road of chiptunes this week? Ubiktune's got you covered with another excellent set of releases on their never-ending chiptune label. Motorway is a jazz-funk chiptune album composed with changing times and new adventures in mind, taking inspiration from the fact that artist Fearofdark has left for university and is away from his family for the first time in life. The album captures this feeling rather well with superb melodies and great pacing. 505's Interlude is a different kind of beast, combining Atari sound with modern soundscapes for a more artistic musical experience. Motorway is available for $1.59 while Interlude is available for $5.
|
| Sledgehammer hiring for new Call of Duty title Posted: 19 Nov 2012 11:00 AM PST A new Call of Duty title? No one would be surprised. But one for the Xbox 360 and PS3? Hmm. Sledgehammer Games, the co-developers of Modern Warfare 3, are hiring a Senior Environment Artist for an upcoming Call of Duty franchise title. It's hard to tell what the target platform will be from the job listing, but it does specifically list the Xbox 360 and PS3 as "relevant platforms." Could this be Modern Warfare 4? Wouldn't you want to save that for next gen? Woah. I'm getting deja vu.
|
| Another Sonic graphic novel revists the good ol' days Posted: 19 Nov 2012 10:30 AM PST Whoa, now! More!? Yes, more! Because why not? The Sonic Legacy Series is another re-release of past Archie StH comics, but while the Sonic Archives usually collect four issues at a time, Legacy packs 20 in a single 500+ page tome. Unfortunately, the reprints are in black and white, so it's more of a way for casual readers to catch up without blowing money out the yin-yang -- each Legacy is only about $15. The Legacy #2, compiling issues #17-36, arrives on Wednesday. These are some of the earliest stories in the StH series, back when it still greatly resembled Sonic SatAM and Robotnik was still "Robotnik." That should make some of you guys pretty happy, no? Also out on Wednesday is Sonic Universe #46, a new story arc that revolves around the Chaotix and the search for their missing pals, Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel. A lot of OG game series representation right there! Check out some sample pages for that in the gallery below, along with the Legacy preview. |
| OpenFeint shuts down on December 14 Posted: 19 Nov 2012 10:00 AM PST While it probably won't change the day of any gamers out there, you should still know that GREE, OpenFeint's parent company, plans to shut down the OpenFeint mobile social connection service on December 14. Many of mobile gaming's most popular titles use OpenFeint for achievements and networking. A shutdown FAQ on GREE's page says that after the cutting off of service, games could be disrupted if not reworked. They recommend retooling to work with the GREE Platform. What sucks about this sudden announcement is that developers have a very short time to rework their games to have them submitted before the cutoff date. I'm betting a lot of older games will remain untouched, though. We knew this was coming as iOS has Game Center. |
| Live show: Who has the Wii U? We do! Posted: 19 Nov 2012 09:30 AM PST [Mash Tactics airs Monday through Friday at 4p.m. Pacific on Dtoid.TV. Watch King Foom play a variety of games, each day with its own theme. With a heavy focus on community and viewer interaction, you can be as much a part of the show as anything else.] So it seems a lot of people are all over the place with the launch of the Wii U. Some people are very excited to grab one and dig right in, some people couldn't care less, and others are simply on the fence until they see a little bit more out of the system. No matter what camp you're in, if you want to know what the Wii U buzz is all about, be sure to drop by Mash Tactics this evening and see for yourself! QotD: Wii U. Got one, getting one, or just don't care? |
| Review: Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz Posted: 19 Nov 2012 09:00 AM PST Monkey Ball hasn't done much to change up its tried-and-true formula in the past decade, and tends to play things fairly close to the chest. You're a monkey, you're in a ball, and you have to roll around to collect bananas. Full stop, you know what you're getting here when it comes to most of the franchise. After a number of ports, rehashes, and eventually a culmination of a $2.99 mobile game (that's constantly on sale for $0.99), even as a fan, it's easy to become disinterested. So what did I find after playing the Vita's first ever Monkey Ball game? Yep, this is pretty much the same thing you played all the way back in 2001. Just worse.
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz (PlayStation Vita) The "story" in the Monkey Ball franchise is basically meaningless, as the setup continues to be simple: you get to roll around in various courses in a manner similar to Marble Madness, grab collectibles, and make it to the end before running out of time. Survival isn't the core goal, however -- it's also a score-attack game, as you race for the highest point total possible in the shortest amount of time. Of course, you're only going to get as much enjoyment out of beating your own scores as you put in. The controls are mostly a non-issue. You can (thankfully) utilize the left analog stick to roll around in lieu of using gyroscopic controls. The camera takes some getting used to since it's placed very close to the ground and can't be changed, but rolling around is easy enough -- literally the only button or directional device you'll need to ever use is the left analog stick. As you roll around the 100-ish levels in Banana Splitz, everything will feel pretty familiar. There will be twists, there will be turns, and you'll most likely go flying over the edge a few times. But somehow, someway, it's still mostly fun. Over the course of the game, pretty much every level serves its purpose without feeling too difficult or too easy, and the game's vibrant colors really pop on the Vita's OLED. In essence, the single-player portion is an utterly inoffensive, if very safe portable version of Monkey Ball, with a solid amount of level diversity between maps. There's not much else that can be said about it.
Okay, so part of Splitz is your run-of-the-mill Monkey Ball experience -- so far so good, right? Well, while the Solo Play portion is mostly fine, everything else is fairly miserable. Firstly, the menus are a huge drag -- and there are a lot of them, which makes very little sense given the game's simplicity. Since you can't use button inputs on the menus, you have to drag to different options, and they're hyper sensitive. I found myself groaning on more than one occasion -- for god's sake, developers, just let me use the d-pad on menus. The minigame collection is also fairly disappointing, and can barely be called a distraction. Some games, like Monkey Rodeo, use a poor, forced implementation of the rear touch pad that's painfully shoehorned in. Number Ball is basically a rehash of the number-tapping game already found in Welcome Park (which comes pre-loaded on every Vita). If you're looking for fun, you won't find it here, as Banana Splitz continues on that same pattern for all of the scant eight included minigames. Outside of Love Maze, where you control two monkeys (one with each stick) with an overhead view, none of them are worth playing more than once. Love Maze is so good that it may be worth picking Splitz up from the depths of the bargain bin one day just to check it out. While Monkey Target, Bowling, and Billiards can be played asynchronous manner with one Vita, they're so woefully generic that odds are you won't want to. With some ingenuity, multiplayer Love Maze could have easily been playable on one portable and added some credence to the minigame collection, but all we have in the end is a wasted opportunity.
The final massive disappointment is the highly lauded Create-a-track mode, which makes use of the Vita's camera to construct a track. Don't get your hopes up here; it's pure garbage. You're supposed to be able to take a picture of something and create a new course, but it just plain does not work. Very rarely will the created track actually resemble anything you took a picture of, and sadly, the game doesn't allow you to customize the level (such as setting it to an easy, medium, or hard predisposition). Most of the time, the track will turn out to be a snooze-fest, which makes you even less likely to return and use it more than a few times. Whoever designed this portion of the game needs to go back to the drawing board, as a fully fleshed out create-a-track mode could have some real potential on the go, as would a QR code system, such as the one in Nintendo's Pushmo. If you really love Monkey Ball, have no intention of playing anything outside of single-player, and come in with low expectations, you might enjoy Banana Splitz if it ever goes on sale one day. While it's not offensively bad like Super Monkey Ball Adventure, you'll most likely want to roll right on past this one. |
| Destructoid logo shirts are back! Posted: 19 Nov 2012 08:45 AM PST Yes, finally! Destructoid logo t-shirts have finally joined our ever growing collection of tees. Now that that's back, how many of you want some kind of Destructoid sweater? And if we were to make a sweater, where would you want the logo? Front, back, on the sleeves? Tell us in the comments, and feel free to mock something up too. We'll even reward you with some freebies if you make something we like. We've also added three new designs, all of which are by the amazingly talented Drew Wise. Holiday Invaders is a nice Space Invaders spoof just in time for the holidays. Then you have two more Metal Gear designs, one combining the exclamation mark and iconic box, and then another merging the world of Star Fox and Fox Hound together. Each shirt is going for $19.95, and come in guy and girl sizes. Plus, if you order over $60 worth of shirts you will get free shipping anywhere in the world! |
| Vita 2.00 update: Won't have to quit games to use browser Posted: 19 Nov 2012 08:30 AM PST Having to quit a game to use a game system's web browser is the silliest thing I can imagine. That was the reality for Sony's PlayStation Vita, but that changes this week with the ver 2.00 update. A tweet by PlayStation boss Shuhei Yoshida lets us know that the update will turn the browser into a "small app," meaning that you can open it while playing a game. Finally! If you haven't heard, the update also improves the browser's performance. Visual performance has been tweaked, and the HTML5 and Javascrpit engines have been upgraded. There's also a neat Tweet button for the browser. Better late than never, right? |
| You are subscribed to email updates from destructoid To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
