New Games |
- Scalable GUI, remappable controls next for Cube World
- Communitoid episodes 015, 016 and 017: Because we care
- Critter Crunch and other classic PSN games for a buck
- Earn Wii U eShop credit by adding funds to your account
- The DTOID Show: Wasteland 2, Borderlands 2, & Square Enix
- Stardock plans to reboot Star Control
- Steam who? Kentucky Route Zero half off for 48 hours
- Tonetta does Super Meat Boy ... YES YES YES!
- Live show: Civilization V multiplayer
- Assassin's Creed IV: Welcome to the Golden Age of Pirates
- Impressions: Sonic & Mega Man: Worlds Collide #7-9
- Vintage solo board game Chainsaw Warrior going digital
- What did you get during the Steam summer sale?
- Nintendo stock hits two-year high thanks to Western sales
- Review: Tiny Thief
- Eidos Montreal founder resigns
- That space-station janitor sim now has multiplayer
- New releases: You had me at isometric cyberpunk fantasy
- Upcoming Tomb Raider comic to 'lead directly' into sequel
- Hmm: Take-Two renews trademarks for Rockstar's Agent
- Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate gets 'Pop Idol' sets, new modes
- Game Freak's new mystery game is a Solitaire horse racer
- Fantasy Life Link gets an adorable new trailer
- Lords of Shadow 2 soundtrack will sound quite different
- First Ouya sales data isn't all that impressive
- New invention will let you feel virtual objects
- The Daily Hotness: R.I.P. Darkstalkers
| Scalable GUI, remappable controls next for Cube World Posted: 23 Jul 2013 04:00 PM PDT I'm not sure what Cube World is, exactly -- it seems like a lot of cool concepts rolled into a game that's impossibly ambitious for the size of its development team (a husband and wife, in this case) -- but the open-world RPG shows well on livestreams and YouTube channels. At the same time, discovering new elements and quirks can be half the fun of these titles. The buzz I've heard surrounding Cube World since the alpha went public has been mostly positive now that people are able to get their orders placed, but it's tough to get a sense for whether that's the vocal, passionate minority or the average player. Have you tried it yet? Offering a look ahead, the developers have written a blog post about what's in the pipeline:
In the past, I've gotten into work-in-progress games way too early to the point where, by the time they started getting major content updates and new features -- when they truly hit their stride -- I was already tired of the base experience. Not this time. Not with you, Cube World. |
| Communitoid episodes 015, 016 and 017: Because we care Posted: 23 Jul 2013 03:00 PM PDT [Communitoid is the Destructoid Community Team's official podcast. Want to join Aaron, Ali, Andy, Beccy, Conor, and Jo on a future episode? Send us an email!] We're a bit behind on sharing the latest episodes of Communitoid with you fine folks, and we couldn't be more sorry! I'd love to blame my fellow co-hosts, but truthfully... it's all Beccy's fault. Anyway, here are episodes 15, 16, and 17, featuring some of my favorite community members: ZombiePlatypus, TriplZer0, and ScottyG! Click here for full show notes for all three episodes, and hey, thanks for listening! If you like what you hear, why not subscribe to us on iTunes, RSS, Twitter, and the Cblogs, join our Facebook group, and talk about us in our Forums? We're pretty neat. Remember, we're always looking for people to record audio intros and other bits of fun to work into the show, so feel free to send something our way. Until next time: Be Better People! |
| Critter Crunch and other classic PSN games for a buck Posted: 23 Jul 2013 02:00 PM PDT When was the last time you barfed a rainbow? Has it been too long? Have you never barfed a rainbow? If you haven't, you should, and now you can without spending too much, because Critter Crunch is listed on PlayStation Network for only 99 cents. Joining the technicolor puzzle-vomiter at that price are a few other old PSN gems, including Everyday Shooter, Calling All Cars, and Blast Factor. These are a handful of great, simple games for less than a pack of Pop Rocks. If your bank account isn't strictly in recovery mode after the Steam Summer Getaway Sale, you may want to give these titles a look. PlayStation Store Update [US PlayStation Blog] |
| Earn Wii U eShop credit by adding funds to your account Posted: 23 Jul 2013 01:00 PM PDT Is there $100 worth of games you want to buy from the Wii U eShop? How about $50? Either way, load that sucker up -- Nintendo is giving out promo codes good for eShop credit on August 2, 2013. Add $50 to $99.99 to your eShop account to get $5 back, or go all out by adding $100 to receive $10 in store credit. Just make sure the funds are in there by July 28, 2013. It's worth mentioning that, in addition to using a credit card, pre-paid Nintendo cards are also valid. And, to be clear, you don't actually have to spend the money yet. Save it for Pikmin 3! Let's do this. Let's come up with $100 in games that Wii U owners should have in their library. The recently-released EarthBound seems like an obvious one. What else? |
| The DTOID Show: Wasteland 2, Borderlands 2, & Square Enix Posted: 23 Jul 2013 12:30 PM PDT Since my intrepid co-host is still off in Hawaii, undoubtedly contracting several deadly strains of bird flu, Adam Sessler stepped in on today's show again to talk about Steam's new exclusive daily challenges for Spelunky, the Ouya's disappointing sales numbers, and the upcoming compendium of DLC for Saints Row IV. We also discuss the new season of DLC for Borderlands 2, the (rather unsurprising) delay of Wasteland 2, and the drama surrounding Eidos Montreal and Square Enix. I've said it once, and I'll say it again: Can't we all just get along? No? Oh, okay then. |
| Stardock plans to reboot Star Control Posted: 23 Jul 2013 12:00 PM PDT Galactic Civilizations developer Stardock is set to take on Star Control, a classic series by any measure, after picking up the rights from Atari. What are the studio's plans? CEO Brad Wardell has some reassuring words: "We expect the new Star Control to come in the form of a reboot, similar to what Firaxis did with the XCOM series last year. We are looking at Star Control II as a major source of inspiration." Wardell writes that "We won't be making any changes to the existing Star Control games. And Atari doesn't actually own the copyright on Star Control 1/2 so it's not like one could make a Star Control 2 HD or what have you without a license from Paul Reiche. And even if we did have rights to SC 1/2 I wouldn't touch them without his blessing." The CEO believes fans "want a game with fun, adventure and top-down ship battles like in Star Control 2 that all play within a fun sci-fi universe. Preferably one with Ur-Quan and Spathi and lots of insults." So, that's the direction Stardock will ideally go in. You down? |
| Steam who? Kentucky Route Zero half off for 48 hours Posted: 23 Jul 2013 11:00 AM PDT Kentucky Route Zero was an option during one of the Summer Steam Sale's "Community Choice" sales, but did you guys choose it? NO! Everyone picked freaking Dragon's Lair. Seriously? Dragon's Lair. What the heck, everyone else. Anyway, Cardboard Computer says whatever and is holding their own sale: 50% off for two days, making all five acts cost a measly $12.49. I have absolutely loved the first two acts that have been released, and I urge you to pick them up if you even remotely like bizarre and unique stories that will keep you thinking. I'm not the biggest fan of traditional point-and-click games, but Kentucky Route Zero is in a league all its own. |
| Tonetta does Super Meat Boy ... YES YES YES! Posted: 23 Jul 2013 10:45 AM PDT Tonetta, the greatest living human, has finally done a song with enough of a connection to videogames to let me get away with posting it as "news." The criminally underappreciated singer/songwriter has produced a song called Super Meat Boy #2. It is your new fantasy. Sit back, relax, and if you're not yet familiar with this wonderful man ... prepare your soul for entry. [Thanks, Vid!] |
| Live show: Civilization V multiplayer Posted: 23 Jul 2013 10:30 AM PDT [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.] I've been on a bit of a strategy kick as of late, and thanks to the recent Steam summer sale, I was able to pick up quite a few awesome titles that I've been missing out on, one being Civilization V. While I've honestly not played a Civilization game in years, that's not going to stop me from diving in head first tonight on Mash Tactics. I'll be firing up the game, and re-learning as I go with a little help from the live crowd, as we jump into some casual multiplayer matches with the Dtoid.TV community. Be sure to come by and watch as my nation crumbles under my rule, or if you have the game, join in on the action by either helping defend my pathetic cities, or by stomping them into the ground. Either way, it's bound to be a great time! QotD: What is the best 4X game that you have ever played? |
| Assassin's Creed IV: Welcome to the Golden Age of Pirates Posted: 23 Jul 2013 10:00 AM PDT Your journey as an Assassin's Creed player has been a vast and varied one so far. Time travel has taken us through some of the most exciting times in human history. But, at first glance, the setting for the franchise's next stop sounds a bit banal in comparison to previous games. A bunch of pirates in the Caribbean? We've already seen that movie. Four times. From what we've seen of the game, I'll tell you that this isn't some cheesy kids' flick. Ubisoft have dug deep into the treasure chest that is the history of the golden age of piracy. They have used what they've found to build an original and highly-detailed world that we can expect to get lost in once more. It's less about eye patches and peg legs and more about the realities of being a pirate in the late 1600s. It's way cooler than it sounds at first. |
| Impressions: Sonic & Mega Man: Worlds Collide #7-9 Posted: 23 Jul 2013 09:00 AM PDT In the first three issues of Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog / Mega Man mini-series "Worlds Collide," Sonic and Mega Man crossed paths for the requisite "hero crossover battle." In the second three issues, they invaded Eggman and Wily's Skull Egg Zone and mixed it up with the Roboticized Masters, Sonic's captured friends mechanized to do the evil doctors' bidding. We're over the halfway hump and racing towards the final battle as the last of the Roboticized Masters are defeated. Parts Seven (Mega Man #26), Eight (Sonic Universe #53), and Nine (Sonic the Hedgehog #250) feature some of the best fan service from any comic I've ever read, which makes it all the more saddening that this adventure can't last forever. If you were on the fence thus far -- how is that possible even if you're just a casual fan of either property? -- these next chapters demonstrate just how amazingly compatible our two blue heroes and their universes can be. |
| Vintage solo board game Chainsaw Warrior going digital Posted: 23 Jul 2013 08:30 AM PDT Joining the ever-growing list of board games turned videogame is Games Workshop's 1987 solo adventure Chainsaw Warrior. In the solo affair, one man is tasked with saving New York from an evil presence known as the Darkness. As expected from the title, he primarily fights evil with a chainsaw, and as expected from that, he fails at his task more often than not; like most solo or cooperative board games, the title is known for being brutally difficult. Though the original version has somewhat middling ratings on BoardGameGeek, developer Auroch Digital seems pretty passionate about the project, with Design and Production Director Tomas Rawling citing it as a game he played and loved as a child. We'll see how it's received by today's audiences when it releases later this summer on mobile and tablets. PC and Mac releases are slated for even later this year. |
| What did you get during the Steam summer sale? Posted: 23 Jul 2013 08:00 AM PDT As this long summer rolls on, many of us are left with a bunch of games we may never touch again and a hollow bank account. Yes, the 2013 Steam summer sale has come and gone. How'd you do? We'd love to hear which titles you nabbed last week. For me, it was: Rogue Legacy, Triple Town, System Shock 2, Dust: An Elysian Tail, Super House of Dead Ninjas, Runner2, FTL: Faster Than Light, Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack, Surgeon Simulator 2013, Thomas Was Alone, and Strike Suit Infinity. There were a few games I nearly bought -- but didn't! -- that I surely would've regretted, so I don't feel terrible for once. I do, however, feel bad for waiting this long to get into System Shock 2. For shame. And since I've gotten a few inquiries about it, no, I'm not still hopelessly addicted to Steam Trading Cards -- for now. It seems that writing about them was therapeutic. It's only a matter of time before I'm back in it, however. Level 30 is calling my name. Also, if you've got games you'd like to trade in the comments, do it up. |
| Nintendo stock hits two-year high thanks to Western sales Posted: 23 Jul 2013 07:30 AM PDT Nintendo shares rose to two-year high Monday, increasing four percent to close at 14,050 yen on the Tokyo Stock exchange. The jump in price is attributed to speculation that hot new international releases will carry the company in terms of revenue this quarter. Animal Crossing: New Leaf has been key to Nintendo's recent success in North America. Released last month, the title was an instant success, setting a record high for launch day sales via the Nintendo eShop. To date the game has moved more than 500,000 units in the United States, boosting Nintendo 3DS hardware sales to 225,000 in June, making it the best-selling system in the country for the second consecutive month. Recent reports that China may finally lift the ban on consoles is another factor driving stock prices, argues Okasan Securities senior strategist Takashi Oba. Investors are likely chomping at the bit for Nintendo to bring its wares to the untapped market, which boasts a population of more than one billion souls. Nintendo rises as new titles spur overseas sales: Tokyo Mover [Bloomberg] |
| Posted: 23 Jul 2013 07:00 AM PDT The mobile market never ceases to surprise me. Amidst a sea of heavy in-app-purchase exploitation, pay-to-win games, and clones, there are still a large number of modern classics that brave the choppy waters and come out on top. Tiny Thief is the latest example of this triumph. It knows its roots, it looks unique, and it executes the touch-screen setup flawlessly. It's also extremely adorable. |
| Eidos Montreal founder resigns Posted: 23 Jul 2013 06:15 AM PDT Citing a lack of leadership following the failure of Tomb Raider, Hitman: Absolution, and Sleeping Dogs to meet sales expectations despite all three games being well received, Eidos Montreal founder and general manager Stephane D'Astous has resigned. "Since last year's financial short-coming performance of Square Enix Europe, we (HQ London and GM Eidos Montreal) have had growing and divergent opinions on what needed to be done to correct the situation," he said in a statement to Polygon. "The lack of leadership, lack of courage and the lack of communication were so evident, that I wasn't able to conduct my job correctly. I realized that our differences were irreconcilable, and that the best decision was unfortunately to part ways." Speaking to the outlet, D'Astous went on to say that Square Enix "has some things to learn about how to sell their games. We are in a situation that we have great games that could have sold more. They need to attack that very, very seriously. Last year was supposed to be a home-run season, but we didn't hit a single home run; maybe a double or a triple, but they weren't home runs. I think in those situations when people are put into immense pressure they sometimes change." Commenting that he's "quite confident in the developer side of things" at Eidos, D'Astous explained that Square Enix's new strategy came from the top down instead of being crafted alongside studio heads. "I've been really communicating my concerns, communicating my suggestions, my recommendations, since March," he said. "It has been quite tense." Ultimately, the founder wasn't able to make it work and, after six-and-a-half years at Eidos Montreal, resigned. Eidos Montreal founder: Square Enix makes great games, but needs to learn how to sell them [Polygon] |
| That space-station janitor sim now has multiplayer Posted: 23 Jul 2013 05:45 AM PDT The impressive effort of a game jam, Viscera Cleanup Detail is another one of those inherently funny simulation games that's actually in on the joke. As you've hopefully heard by now, it stars you as a determined janitor who must clean a space station post-alien invasion. It's a bloody mess and for once we're the ones who have to deal with the gory consequences -- using the world's goofiest mop, no less. Developer RuneStorm was surprised by the response the game got so it spent another week to add in co-op support, a common request among players, as well as two additional maps. You can try Viscera Cleanup Detail alone or with a friend by downloading the free alpha prototype. If you like what you see, there's a Greenlight page to upvote and a $5 pre-order to consider. |
| New releases: You had me at isometric cyberpunk fantasy Posted: 23 Jul 2013 05:15 AM PDT New releases is a day late this week, as my ISP got so excited by all of these games coming out that they decided to screw with my connection. Well, that's what I pay them for. This week's actually a bit quiet, with only a couple of standouts. Shadowrun Returns finally arrives after a short delay, and it all sounds a bit too good to be true. Like someone dug up my youth and pumped it full of electricity. An arcane cyberpunk tactical RPG? I'm drooling. Also launching this week, we have Teleglitch: Die More Edition, an upgraded version of the delightfully cruel sci-fi roguelike; Runescape 3, which launched today, and seems like a substantial improvement over its forebearer; and The Smurfs 2, because bad sequels of bad films need bad games too. And although New releases only covers US launches, Pikmin 3 arrives in blightly this week, and that's definitely something I'll be celebrating. Anything titillating you? |
| Upcoming Tomb Raider comic to 'lead directly' into sequel Posted: 23 Jul 2013 05:00 AM PDT Having only recently finished up my first and only Lara Croft adventure outside of Guardian of Light, it was heartbreaking to remember that at 3.4 million copies sold as of March, Tomb Raider didn't live up to publisher Square Enix's expectations. There's hope yet, it seems. Dark Horse has a new Lara Croft comic coming out on February 26, 2014, and speaking with Kotaku, writer Gail Simone suggests that the series will tie into a sequel. Picking up "just a few weeks after the end of the game," Simone says the comic "will be Tomb Raider canon, and lead DIRECTLY into the sequel. This is what got me excited; we get to be part of Lara Croft history." Now that we've made it through her origin story, I'm eager to see where developer Crystal Dynamics might go next. And for those of you potentially interested in the comic, know that according to Simone, "The biggest difference is, the game told a claustrophobic story in an isolated setting. We are going globetrotting." A New Tomb Raider Comic Shows What's Next for Lara Croft After Hit Game [Kotaku] |
| Hmm: Take-Two renews trademarks for Rockstar's Agent Posted: 23 Jul 2013 04:30 AM PDT Rockstar North's big PlayStation 3 exclusive, Agent, hasn't been talked about by the developer in far too long. A real shame considering the game's setup, which involves Cold War espionage in the late 1970s. C'mon! We need this to exist! Announced at E3 2009, Agent has seemingly been on the backburner for a while now, to the point where looking back at what we've said about the game is an exercise in tiny header images and ... let's just stick to this article, which reminds us that the PS3 title was still publicly in development as of 2011. Rockstar parent company Take-Two Interactive was recently found to have renewed trademarks for Agent, suggesting that its day may still come. Talk about rolling up on next-generation consoles with a system seller. If only. Rockstar's Agent Might Not Be Dead, Take-Two Interactive Files New Trademarks [Siliconera] |
| Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate gets 'Pop Idol' sets, new modes Posted: 23 Jul 2013 03:50 AM PDT Here's a fat update on Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate, coming this September for Xbox 360 and PS3. First, a Pop Idol character costume set has the girls of DOA dressing up like music stars. Ayane and Kasumi go J-Pop, while Hitomi, Kokoro, Leifang and Mila do the schoolgirl thing. Helena, Momiji, Lisa, Rachel, Tina, and even Sarah get "bad girl" getups in this set. The newly revealed Team Fight has you picking a team to go up against waves of enemies. A Combo Challenge in the tutorial mode will let you practice moves like Power Launchers and tag combos. And Survival Mode is exactly as it sounds, though it features dropped items that cna be picked up for special benefits. For example, a watermelon will restore health. It's not a gameplay mode, but "Movies" sounds like it'll let you play dress-up, with the ability to change characters' hairstyles, costumes and more. The image in our gallery shows Helena's chest selections. Finally, preorder people out there can expect exclusive costume packs from GameStop and Amazon at launch. In our gallery you'll find pictures of it all, including the new costumes, pre-order costumes, and all of the new modes listed here. |
| Game Freak's new mystery game is a Solitaire horse racer Posted: 23 Jul 2013 03:30 AM PDT Remember that huge buildup for that mystery Game Freak game, where we all thought it might have something to do with a major IP? Well, provided this newly discovered project is one and the same, it turns out it's a lot simpler than that -- Game Freak is developing a 3DS eShop game that features one part Solitaire and one part horse racing, called Soriti Horse. Yep. You literally playing Solitaire to improve your relationship with your hose, then race it. Interestingly enough, this will be Game Freak's first published game. Soriti Horse is set to hit the Japanese eShop on July 31st for ¥500, and there's no word on a localization. Soriti Horse [4Gamer via NeoGAF] |
| Fantasy Life Link gets an adorable new trailer Posted: 23 Jul 2013 02:00 AM PDT Last we heard, Fantasy Life wasn't up for an international release just yet, but that didn't stop the game from being insanely popular in Japan, and with the newest "Link" expansion, it's only getting bigger. Link offers up online co-op, messaging, and more content, some of which is featured in this new trailer. With the recent localization of both the Guild01 and Guild02 collections, one can only assume Level-5 is waiting for the right moment to bring this over. As long as they do it at some point, I'm totally cool with that. |
| Lords of Shadow 2 soundtrack will sound quite different Posted: 23 Jul 2013 01:00 AM PDT In a recent chat with producer Dave Cox at San Diego Comic Con, we learned that composer Oscar Araujo is busily working on the soundtrack, and that it will sound very much different compared to those of Lords of Shadow and Mirror of Fate. "It’s a much more electronic score than last time. It still has orchestra and choir, but we wanted to give it a more electronic feel because it’s set in the present day [...] The castle is much more dream-like, visually and with orchestral and melancholy music. The city is much more electronic, driving, and still epic [...] It’s quite a different score, but I think it’s so much better." We were asked to refer to the E3 trailer for an idea of what to expect, but I'll say that what I've heard so far is fantastic. Finally, Cox wanted to draw attention to how the music reflects Gabriel Belmont as a character by noting, "Bad people don’t always think they’re doing bad things. We wanted to present that melancholy tragedy of Gabriel in the music and Oscar has really done that and set the standard." We'll be looking forward to hearing more. Do you think this is a change in the right direction? |
| First Ouya sales data isn't all that impressive Posted: 22 Jul 2013 09:00 PM PDT Ouya hasn't been on the market all that long, but those developing games on the Android-powered platform are already weighing in with their experiences. The general consensus is that Ouya isn't generating a ton of revenue for most developers, but that might not be necessarily terrible given the nature of the console. According to figures obtained by IGN, most Ouya games have seen sales that have translated to somewhere between $500 and $6,000 in revenue. TowerFall, by far the console's biggest hit, has sold 2,000 copies at $15 each, which works out to about $21,000 after Ouya takes its cut. Even though the bulk of this data looks dismal, it's only based off of one month of availability. Despite the seemingly low money-making potential, a lot of Android developers appear content with the results. This is because it looks to be ridiculously easy to port games over to Ouya, especially if it was originally designed with a controller in mind. Many claim that it only takes one developer a few days to have the Ouya version of its game ready. That means that almost any sales tacked-on from the new console are worth the time of smaller companies. This is a crucial period for Ouya, as the experiences of the early-adopter developers will certainly influence the decisions of those that are interested in moving their games to the platform in the future. If things remain consistent, it looks as if Ouya won't be a console that's worth the time of the likes of EA and Activision, but could be enticing to a lot of the smaller guys in the Android market. Ouya Developers Reveal Modest Sales [IGN] |
| New invention will let you feel virtual objects Posted: 22 Jul 2013 07:00 PM PDT Virtual reality is cool and all, but you can't actually physically feel what's happening in these experiences. It's all happening in your head, but Disney is looking to change that with Aireal, a new invention that blows puffs of air at people to simulate a tactile experience. The little device was created by PhD student Rajinder Sodhi and Disney Researcher Ivan Poupyrev, and it can be placed on your television or even on a iPad. Fast Company claims Aireal is able to simulate anything, from buttons to touch in midair, to mimicking the feel of water, stone, and sand. "The sensation is quite pleasant," Poupyrev stated. "It’s not like air blowing onto your body. The air ring is a traveling low-pressure bubble. When it collapses, the air from outside rushes in, and it creates force at this particular point. It’s [a] very localized, sharp puff of air." The tech is in its early phases, so the response time is rather low right now. Of course that will improve with further advancements, and I'm obviously quite interested to see how this could work with gaming. Disney’s Crazy Invention Lets You Feel Phantom Objects Floating In Air [Fast Company] |
| The Daily Hotness: R.I.P. Darkstalkers Posted: 22 Jul 2013 04:59 PM PDT Well, it looks like a new Darkstalkers title is definitely not happening anytime soon, with Capcom citing poor sales of Darkstalkers Resurrection as the core reason. It wasn't the word we wanted, but at least we got some sort of confirmation instead of waiting in the dark. If anything, I feel more convinced than ever to finally pick up Resurrection myself... I see what they're doing here. In less depressing news, Nidhogg is finally releasing this year (finally!), Dead Rising 3 is reportedly still a Dead Rising game as we know it, Spelunky will get daily challenges exclusively on the Steam version, and so much more happened on 7/22/2013. Destructoid Originals: Community: Events: |
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