New Games |
- Child's Play raised $7.6 million in 2013
- Review: Knytt Underground
- PS4 users watch three times more porn than Xbox One users
- Live show: Bad NES games based on old movies
- One man has spent over $3,000 on Steam Holiday badges
- Cuphead could be this year's big run-and-gun game
- Review: Valdis Story: Abyssal City
- Video Game Clubhouse: A good 'Games for Gold' game!?
- Don't miss Awesome Games Done Quick 2014 next week
- Ska Studios snuck one last game into 2013
- Watch 2 hours of Vita Final Fantasy X remaster gameplay
- Steam's most popular holiday deals have returned
- Sega's All-Stars Racing on iOS is fun, but has horrid IAP
- The Xbox One could've released without a disc drive
- Nintendo Download: Bravely Default demo
- Steam: PixelJunk Eden doubles to-date income in 8 hours
- YES YES YES! BRAVELY DEFAULT DEMO
- Cannons Lasers Rockets is a MOBA in space
- Valkyria Chronicles 3 gets an English fan translation
- Those Club Nintendo Luigi statues are all gone
- Battlefield 4 double XP event delayed
| Child's Play raised $7.6 million in 2013 Posted: 02 Jan 2014 11:00 AM PST Charitable organization Child's Play has published their year-end total of donations, which comes to a whopping $7.6 million. The organization, which puts entertainment media into the hands of children in over 90 hospitals worldwide, plans to expand their operations in 2014 to include domestic abuse shelters following a pilot program run last year. It's great to hear that he organization is continuing to branch out and expand, and comforting to know that there are enough people out there dedicated to the hobby of gaming who can recognize what a great cause it is. Here's hoping they can continue to grow on that and bring a little happiness to more kids when they need it most. And the total is… [Child's Play] |
| Posted: 02 Jan 2014 10:30 AM PST A lot of you kids may not remember this, but there was a time when new 2D platformers were hard to find. Game Maker didn't exist yet. Home console publishers didn't want to back the genre because it lacked the "wow factor" and did little to show off the ever-growing power of the polygon. That started to change a few years ago. People noticed that clean, simple-looking simple- playing 2D platformers were marketable in a way that defied the need for "wow factor." Games like Braid, N+, Super Meat Boy, Fez, Mega Man 9, Cave Story, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and countless others drummed up more money and attention than most "next-gen"-obsessed industry fat cats may have predicted. Buried under all that was the Knytt series from Niffalis. They were even more "anti-wow factor" than the previously mentioned 2D platformers, maybe to the point where they anti-wowed themselves into obscurity. That brings us to Knytt Underground -- a game that takes the core of the Knytt series, paints over it in the lush, beautiful art direction of Niffalis's NightSky, and adds new play mechanics and Metroid-style elements. With Underground, the series has taken a huge step towards potential mainstream success, though its still far from ever gaining the kind of marketability enjoyed by Meat Boy and Mario. Still, there's still plenty of pleasant surprises here for anyone willing to take a chance on this strange little game. |
| PS4 users watch three times more porn than Xbox One users Posted: 02 Jan 2014 10:00 AM PST Pornhub shared with us how console users experience porn across the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, and PlayStation 4. The results were interesting to say the least, and now SugarDVD has shared how porn is viewed between the two new next-generation consoles. These stats are based on December 2013's viewership, and the results are that PlayStation 4 owners are watching three times as much porn than those on the Xbox One. SugarDVD didn't provide exact percentages that we could turn into fancy pie and bar graphs, but they did share what the top viewed movies and categories were. PS4 Owners Are Watching Three Times As Much Porno As Xbox One Owners [BuzzFeed] |
| Live show: Bad NES games based on old movies Posted: 02 Jan 2014 09:30 AM PST [Mash Tactics airs Monday through Friday at 4p.m. Pacific on Dtoid.TV. Watch Rick 'King Foom' Olson 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.] As you may know, each and every Thursday on Mash Tactics, I go back to the past, in order to show off the best games from days gone by. Well, tonight, instead of playing some of the greatest, we'll be taking a turn for the terrible as we showcase a variety of games for the NES, that are based on old-school movies. Please, pray for my sanity this evening, I'm going to need it. Now, while you might remember that I've run a show like this in the past, I've never brought it to Dtoid.TV, and thought that you guys might enjoy watching my misery as we go through some horrible licensed games, and watch crusty old movie trailers for the titles being played. Games will include, The Karate Kid, Total Recall, Predator, Home Alone, Back to the Future, Rambo, and many, many more. If you've never seen these abominations in action, or for some reason you just want to relive childhood trauma, be sure to join us for a full evening of licensed assery! QotD: What are the best, and worst licensed games that you've ever played? |
| One man has spent over $3,000 on Steam Holiday badges Posted: 02 Jan 2014 09:00 AM PST Meet PalmDesert, a Steam power user who just spent $3,160 on Steam Holiday cards. The level 260 Steam user reached level 1,000 on the Snow Globe from this year's Steam Holiday sale, earning him 100,000 XP. Impressive, given that he's had to collect cards for a ton of games ten times each, all with the holiday cards that are generated through purchases during the sale and community voting. I wonder if he was able to make these purchases purely through selling off the cards he already owned on the marketplace. At first you may think of him as insane, but looking through his profile you'll see that PalmDesert is just a very passionate gamer. The 32-year-old from Tokyo, Japan owns 2,086 games on Steam, along with 2,058 pieces of DLC in his library. Guy spent (still going) ~$3,000 on Steam Winter Sale Badges #1 [NeoGAF] |
| Cuphead could be this year's big run-and-gun game Posted: 02 Jan 2014 08:30 AM PST That's my hope, anyway. Cuphead is one of those games I feel bad for not noticing sooner. Sporting a remarkable sense of style and animation, this looks to represent the best of the run-and-gun genre, with developer Studio MDHR citing influences like Gunstar Heroes, Contra Hard Corps, and the Mad Hatter boss fight in Batman & Robin. These people know their stuff. "With Cuphead, we aim to evolve the genre by adding new features such as: super arts, infinite lives, a playable world map and hidden secrets," writes the team. "In addition to that, we will have refined controls, additional boss patterns on harder modes and balanced weapons to equip (that you don't lose!). We plan to release 10-15 bosses per episode and end up with over 30 bosses." The full introductory blog post, linked below, is an insightful read about the design intentions. The game is expected to hit PC first, followed by Mac and Linux releases and, eventually, PlayStation 4 and/or Xbox One versions. What kind of game is Cuphead? [Studio MDHR via Digital Trends] |
| Review: Valdis Story: Abyssal City Posted: 02 Jan 2014 08:00 AM PST I played just about every major release under the sun in 2013 -- but naturally, some of the smaller titles escaped me. Interested in seeing what I may have missed, I shared my total "games played" list the other day, and was met with a pretty interesting inquiry from a reader, simply stating, "No Valdis Story?" I'm really glad they brought it to my attention. |
| Video Game Clubhouse: A good 'Games for Gold' game!? Posted: 02 Jan 2014 07:30 AM PST Sure, tons of people often bash Microsoft's offerings when it comes to their Games for Gold promotion. But, ladies and gentlemen, it seems they have stepped their game up! Because, for FREE, right now, you can download Sleeping Dogs onto you Xbox 360 home entertainment console! "But PSN already did that game, Microsoft is too late!" you may say, and while that may be true, it does show that Games for Gold is becoming something better. And as fans of videogames, NOT consoles, can we not agree that this is a good thing? So please, come join Bill Zoeker, the kung fu movie aficionado, and me, the guy who plays "Wei" too many games, as we jump into one of my personal favorites from 2012. What did you think of Sleepy Puppies? Also, Give me your best "Wei" pun below in the comments. I need puns. Puns are the best jokes. P.S. Spencer is still being a punk and staying at home with his family. He should be back next week. |
| Don't miss Awesome Games Done Quick 2014 next week Posted: 02 Jan 2014 07:00 AM PST If you're relatively new to the world of watching people fly through games as quickly as possible, you'll want to clear time next week to watch Awesome Games Done Quick 2014. It's one hell of an introduction to speedruns and it's for a great cause. This is a yearly charity marathon which benefits the Prevent Cancer Foundation and features some 900 games, many of them beloved or otherwise a joy to watch someone play masterfully. The event kicks off on Monday, January 5 and carries through Saturday, Jan. 11. For the schedule of games, run times, and commentators, head over here. |
| Ska Studios snuck one last game into 2013 Posted: 02 Jan 2014 06:30 AM PST Ska Studios came into the gaming consciousness with one of the most successful Xbox Live Indie Games, I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MBIES 1N IT!!!1. Now they have returned to that platform one more time to put the final nail into 2013 with TIME VIKING!!!!!ANDSPACERAPTOR, a shoot-em-up starring a time-traveling viking who fires electrical bolts from his helmet at enemies which descend from the skies. The trailer makes it look pretty sweet, and the game once more features a title song which describes in simple detail that you are controlling a time-traveling viking again and again. It's charming, fast, loud and only a buck. TIME VIKING!!!!!ANDSPACERAPTOR [Xbox via IndieStatik] |
| Watch 2 hours of Vita Final Fantasy X remaster gameplay Posted: 02 Jan 2014 06:00 AM PST YouTube user m00sicianEN "accidentally" bought the Japanese Vita version of Final Fantasy X HD Remaster and decided to play it for a couple of hours to show us how it looks and works. I haven't watched all of it, but I've had it on playing while working this morning, so I've seen a fair bit of it. Here's my take. Keep in mind that this was captured from Vita, so it'll look much better on your OLED screen.
Overall, this looks very nice. I can't wait to put my face in it. |
| Steam's most popular holiday deals have returned Posted: 02 Jan 2014 05:30 AM PST The most popular deals of the 2013 Steam Holiday Sale are back for encore day. Consider this your last chance before the promotion ends tomorrow and do note that yesterday's daily discounts, including Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition for $10.19, are still available for the duration. There are 24 featured titles, with standouts like Skyrim ($7.49), Dark Souls ($5.99), Tomb Raider ($9.99), Saints Row IV ($19.99), Far Cry 3 ($7.49), Counter-Strike: Global Offensive ($3.74), BioShock Infinite ($9.99), Payday 2 ($13.49), and Metro: Last Light ($13.59). I like how the DayZ alpha is the top-selling game on Steam despite receiving no discounts. |
| Sega's All-Stars Racing on iOS is fun, but has horrid IAP Posted: 02 Jan 2014 05:00 AM PST Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is a bona fide hit in my mind. I've had more fun with it this past year than any recent Mario Kart, and there's so much content to find, it's insane. Sumo Digital really did a great job with the game, and I can't wait to see what they come up with next. Today marks the day that the mobile version of the game finally hits Android and iOS, and I'm sure some of you out there are pretty skeptical of how it runs. I'm here to tell you that it's actually pretty damn smooth, outside of the dreaded IAP (in-app-purchases, basically the mobile word for "DLC") that rears its ugly head throughout. |
| The Xbox One could've released without a disc drive Posted: 02 Jan 2014 04:30 AM PST In the what-if scenario of the day, Microsoft Studios head Phil Spencer tells OXM that the company considered making the Xbox One a "purely disc-less console." Another forward-looking idea for the system that didn't pan out, then. Probably for the best. "There was a real discussion about whether we should have an optical disc drive in Xbox One or if we could get away with a purely disc-less console, but when you start looking at bandwidth and game size, it does create issues," he commented. "So we decided -- which I think was the right decision -- to go with the Blu-ray drive and give the people an easy way to install a lot of content. From some of those original thoughts, you saw a lot of us really focusing on the digital ecosystem you see on other devices -- thinking of and building around that." Even as someone who doesn't feel too strongly one way or the other about owning physical copies of media, I think the lack of a disc drive in the Xbox One would've been a scary step forward for many consumers. We're just not ready for it. Game consoles largely aren't ready for it, either. Microsoft considered removing Xbox One's disc drive [OXM] |
| Nintendo Download: Bravely Default demo Posted: 02 Jan 2014 04:00 AM PST This is a pretty bizarre issue of Nintendo Download. Nintendo sent over the exact same listing as last week, with the sole addition of the Bravely Default 3DS demo and Mega Man X2 for the Wii U. Those are two killer additions for sure, but one demo and an old game is hardly a cause for celebration. At least, for most people it isn't, because I'm just happy another Mega Man game is hitting the Wii U. I have a friend who I speedrun the series with frequently, and we use two GamePads side by side -- it's perfect for playing on a whim, since we don't have to drag multiple TVs out into the same room. So instead of talking at length about the two new additions, I'll just dedicate this one to Green Biker Dude, who died unceremoniously in the intro to Mega Man X2. Here's to you, dude. |
| Steam: PixelJunk Eden doubles to-date income in 8 hours Posted: 02 Jan 2014 03:30 AM PST Do you want to see the power of a Steam sale? What happened this week for Q-Games is a perfect example. Their PixelJunk Eden (amazing game, by the way) is part of a flash sale on Steam, priced at 75 percent off the normal price. Q-Games' Dylan Cuthbert said that the sale was so successful that they managed to double their to-date income from the game in the first eight hours of the sale. So, in eight hours they've made just as much as the game had earned to date. Wow. Damn. I need to sell something on Steam. We just made our income to date, again, in just 8 hours [Gamasutra] |
| YES YES YES! BRAVELY DEFAULT DEMO Posted: 02 Jan 2014 03:00 AM PST I think that RPG demos are usually bad. They're never enough. The only one I liked recently was the Etrian Odyssey IV demo because it was just the first section of the game, and let you carry over your save file to the full game. But RPG demos are usually just a quick taste, and the way I see it, the people that already decided to buy the game are just excited, so the demo calms them down a bit. Like an appetizer. That's the case with me and Bravely Default. Its demo is up on the 3DS eShop today. Like you, I'm super excited for the release of this RPG, coming this February. My day has been cleared for this demo. What's neat is that this demo features a side quest that is not available in the full game. Enjoy, fellow RPG fans. |
| Cannons Lasers Rockets is a MOBA in space Posted: 02 Jan 2014 02:00 AM PST It looks like yet another MOBA is about to hit Steam in the form of Cannons Lasers Rockets, and that's just fine with me. This one looks a bit different, as it's a (cue thunderous voice) -- MOBAAAA innnnnn spaaaaaaaace. Soon, you'll be able to grab the game as a part of the Early Access Program, but it's also a free-to-play title. Evidently it sports a "simplified" control scheme that makes it easier for newer players to acclimate, while veterans will still have the opportunity to discover the game's depth. It's interesting to say the least -- let's see how it pans out. Cannons Lasers Rockets [CLRgame] |
| Valkyria Chronicles 3 gets an English fan translation Posted: 02 Jan 2014 01:00 AM PST Valkyria Chronicles was one of the best tactical games I had played in a long time when I picked it up at release. So when a sequel was announced (and subsequently localized), I was floored. Sadly, the third game in the series wasn't so lucky, and hasn't budged out of Japan. That's where the fan translation project for the game comes in, and now, the team is finally done with their English translation patch. It'll work on either the PSP or the Vita, but you still need the Japanese version of the game to run it. As an added bonus, there's a sale going on until January 8th for Valkyria Chronicles 3 on the Japanese PSN. Valkyria Chronicles 3 [VC3translationproject via Dualshockers] |
| Those Club Nintendo Luigi statues are all gone Posted: 02 Jan 2014 12:00 AM PST After announcing that the Year of Luigi had been extended into 2014, Iwata nonchalantly dropped an amazing Dark Moon themed statue on us. Saying it would be "available soon," all of us assumed that it would arrive sometime into the (at the time) next year. But it actually showed up on Club Nintendo later that day, and for 1500 coins nonetheless in the US. Sadly, it's now sold out, with no word on when a new shipment will show up. I had also missed out due to having just purchased a green 3DS XL charging cradle, another gold Nunchuk, and the Pikmin tote. Maybe next this year! Luigi's Mansion Figurine [Club Nintendo] |
| Battlefield 4 double XP event delayed Posted: 01 Jan 2014 11:00 PM PST As many Battlefield 4 Premium players are aware, the double XP event that was scheduled to occur at the end of December never actually happened. As it turns out, said event, which the Premium calender still shows as having commenced on December 30, has been pushed back by DICE. "The end of December 2XP event for Premium members has been postponed and will be run at a later date. Stay tuned for more information. We apologize for the inconvenience," reads a message posted on the Battlelog site. If you've been keeping up with the DLC delays and the constant updates being pushed out by the development team, you'll know that Battlefield 4 has been suffering horrendously from issues since launch day -- and while DICE have not provided a reason for this latest delay, I have a feeling that it has something to do with the many glitches and bugs that still plague this game. |
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