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- Here are all of Destructoid's Game of the Year 2014 editorials
- Destiny Ghost Hunter is a really cool third-party site to track secrets
- Sakurai: Super Smash Bros. cannot sustain itself with just competitive players
- Board Game Review: Evolution
- Jawless Diddy Kong amiibo sells for $400
- Keiji Inafune reveals new stage for Mighty No. 9, game 'almost done'
- What are you hoping for in the next Bayonetta game?
- Sony apologizes for recent PSN outage, gives us a few goodies
- PC Port Report: Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
- Heads up amiibo collectors: Fox and Samus may be gone soon
- Nintendo Download: Pokemon Pinball
- Microsoft's Kinect for Windows sensor will be gone in 2015
- Tekken 7 producer reveals Shaheen, a Middle Eastern fighter
- January's PlayStation Plus lineup is pretty amazing
- Person offers to 'show boobs' for Captain Falcon or Pit amiibo
- Mr Andy Dixon's top 10 games I played drunk in 2014
- Devolver asks Sega to let Seaman loose
- Gaming resolutions I'll strive to keep in 2015
- Cblog Recaps End of the Year Recap 2014 Super Ultramax: Tournament Edition
- 2014: I want to make love to you. Seriously.
- Laura Dale's attempt to nail down some Game of the Year 2014 winners
- GOTY 2014: Best evidence that we should go full communism
- Alessandro Fillari's personal picks for Game of the Year 2014
- Trade in old, bad games and get (almost) free games at Microsoft Store
- What game will you ring in the New Year with?
- Friendly reminder: Last chance to buy a discounted Xbox One bundle
- Patrick Hancock's personal picks for Game of the Year 2014
- Adam Tierney's favorite games of 2014
- Destiny is the most fascinating game of 2014, mostly for negative reasons
- Platinum wants 'more Bayonetta in 2015,' starts work on another project
- TruForce Collectibles gives us a little taste of their Mega Man X figure
- Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire Contrary Serperior code revealed
- FUNimation will stream the Samurai Warriors anime soon
- Don't count on a Disgaea 5 Vita port anytime soon
- 'Flinch' being removed from Halo 5
- 2014: Go F*ck Yourself
- Square Enix job posting hints at Final Fantasy XV related PC project
- You can rob shops in GTA V with a single snowball
- 2014 recap: The 15 most popular posts on Destructoid this year
- This new Yoshi Figuarts toy is dawwwsome
- Disgaea 5's newest trailer is pretty lengthy, still crazy
- Sony says goodbye to 2014 with a PSN flash sale
- These Rockman Utopia music samples are so good I want to buy it
- You only have two more days to earn your Wii U Deluxe points
- Talos Principle pirates trapped in eternal elevator
- Check out all the doujin games from winter Comiket
- Pixar's Up coming to New 3DS in Japan
- Destructoid's Game of the Year 2014 Community Choice Award!
- Click here for a Brawlhalla closed beta key!
- Catgirl visual novel Nekopara out today on Steam
| Here are all of Destructoid's Game of the Year 2014 editorials Posted: 01 Jan 2015 11:00 AM PST With so much to organize and help put together, I didn't get a chance to do my own personal Game of the Year list for 2014. It's probably for the best, as picking favorites games is very difficult for me. It's like picking favorite people. I like a lot of people, and they are all so different, but all so important to me. I'd have an easier time picking a favorite finger. I'd probably go for the left pinky, as that's the one with the coolest freckle. Still, I can safely guess that I spent more time in 2014 playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf, 1001 Spikes (Wii U), Pokemon Puzzle Challenge (3DS VC), Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (Wii U VC), Advance Wars (Wii U VC) Rouge Legacy (PS3), Skullgirls: Encore (PS3), Rhythm Heaven Fever (Wii), Super Smash Bros. for the 3DS (Smash Run mode), Bayonetta 2 (Wii U), Luftrausers (PS3) and the God damn Maverick Bird than just about anything else. I didn't have to play any of them, for work or otherwise. In fact, I probably shouldn't have played them at all, as I always have time sensitive work breathing down my neck. Yet these games kept pulling me back, whether I liked it or not. I think it's because they all utilize a rigid structure to house a huge amount of potential variables and surprises. That seems to be the best way to keep me fascinated these days. How about everyone else at Destructoid? What did True Detective's Rust Cohle think of 2014? How about The Badger? Game developer Adam Tierney? Read on to find out! |
| Destiny Ghost Hunter is a really cool third-party site to track secrets Posted: 01 Jan 2015 09:30 AM PST Since I already explained why Destiny is both bad and good, let's cut to the chase without talking about the game's shortcomings, shall we? A lot of the lore is actually pretty cool, and this tool is dead simple. Just input your PSN or Xbox Live name in the top bar, hit submit, and it'll not only tell you which locations you need to head to, but where they are in detail. Destiny Ghost Hunter [Destiny Ghost Hunter.net] |
| Sakurai: Super Smash Bros. cannot sustain itself with just competitive players Posted: 01 Jan 2015 08:45 AM PST Now that Super Smash Bros. has been out and about for quite a while on the 3DS and Wii U, it's time to start looking at the big picture. Sakurai recently spoke to Japanese magazine Nintendo Dream, and opened up about his thoughts on the series. He talks a bit about patches, his personal plans, and where the series may be headed, but the most interesting tidbit pertains to the actual fanbase. Sakurai states, as translated, "if we direct Smash only at the competitive players, it will have no future." Sakurai says that if he wanted, he could make a hardcore-only Smash with faster speeds and more inputs, but beginners would be alienated. Everyone needs to be accommodated and while there is some technical skill involved, it should be easy to pick up. Makes perfect sense -- the Smash series has always attracted both crowds. Personally I find myself loving both ideologies. I can get down with a hardcore no items Final Destination match just fine and hold my own, and play with Pokéballs jacked up, Pokémon Stadium, Pokémon fighters only all day. It's for this core reason that I love the franchise -- there's so many ways to play. Really long Japanese interview with Sakurai [Reddit via Smash Boards] |
| Posted: 01 Jan 2015 08:00 AM PST [Note: We've been known to do board game reviews from time to time, and although this one isn't exactly based on E.V.O.: Search for Eden on the SNES, it's close enough. Happy New Year! --Chris Carter] Two things that define my tastes more than anything else are science and games. Naturally, when something shows up that combines the two, I take notice. Evolution was one such game. Though I did not back its extremely successful Kickstarter campaign, I did have an eye on it. After my first game, I was a little disappointed with it. Gameplay felt strictly mechanical and uninteresting. A funny thing happened after that game when I sat down to collect my thoughts for review: though I knew I didn't have much fun with my first game, I could only think of good things to say about it. There must be something here that we missed. We played again a few days later. After that game finished, we immediately played another. It takes some time to click, but when it does Evolution reveals itself as not just a great set of mechanics to match its theme, but also a fun, if uneven, way to spend time with a few friends. |
| Jawless Diddy Kong amiibo sells for $400 Posted: 01 Jan 2015 06:30 AM PST I don't get the whole defective amiibo scene. Maybe if the figures have been out for longer and were bonafide super rare collector's items on their own, but right now you can still get pretty much every figure for under $100. The dual-wielding Samus figure auction for $2500 was pretty crazy, but the newest one is the jawless Diddy Kong listing that ended up selling for $400. Oddly enough this dual-wielding Pit is struggling to reach $100. Why did Samus sell more than Pit? We'll probably never know. For whatever reason though some defective amiibo are doing well, so if you see something wrong with yours, no matter how small the problem, consider not opening it up. Diddy Kong [eBay via Nintendo Life] |
| Keiji Inafune reveals new stage for Mighty No. 9, game 'almost done' Posted: 01 Jan 2015 06:00 AM PST Mighty No. 9's Keiji Inafune is ringing in the New Year with a look at a new stage for the game. It seems to have a castle-like feel to it, with red carpets and fancy chandeliers. According to the producer/director, the game is "pretty much finished" and they are heading into the porting and promotion stage. So that's how the finished product is going to look, I guess? I'm digging the gameplay based on the beta, but the visual style still looks really meh to me. No, it doesn't need to look exactly like the unrealistic concept art, but the engine itself is very uninspired and bland. I'm wondering how this project will turn out as a whole in the end. To get a better view of the game in action, check out my playthroughs of all three beta stages below. |
| What are you hoping for in the next Bayonetta game? Posted: 01 Jan 2015 05:00 AM PST [Art by jnkboy] Bayonetta 2 won Destructoid's overall best game of the year award, its community choice award, and multiple personal game of the year awards. While I'm sure Platinum appreciates the praise, chances are that the studio doesn't need us to motivate it to move forward with the character. She's clearly its favorite, as evidenced by her starring role in two games, her own animated movie, and guest appearances in other Platinum titles like The Wonderful 101 and Anarchy Reigns. Platinum has already teased more Bayonetta for 2015, and seeing as its the first day of that year, I suppose it's possible that a new Bayonetta game could be announced any second now. Sadly, those possibilities will inevitably be tempered by the reality that Bayonetta is not a proven money maker. Though the original game got plenty of press and sold well by some standards, it apparently didn't do well enough to earn the confidence of most publishers. It's well documented that if it weren't for Nintendo swooping in to the rescue, Bayonetta 2 would never have happened. While the sequel clearly has its fans, we haven't heard much regarding the game's sales, making it easy to guess that Nintendo isn't particularly proud of how it performed. So where does that leave the future of Bayonetta? Do you think Microsoft or Sony will bankroll Bayonetta 3 after the second outing's critical success? Maybe Platinum and Sega will pull back on the budget a bit and make a 2D action title for Bayo on the Vita or 3DS, perhaps in the style of Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia or Viewtiful Joe? |
| Sony apologizes for recent PSN outage, gives us a few goodies Posted: 01 Jan 2015 04:30 AM PST Sony has responded to the PSN outage that happened over the holidays, and you're probably getting something extra because of it. For starters, all PlayStation Plus members will have their membership extended by five days automatically in the near future. Additionally, "sometime this month" the company will provide you with a 10% off coupon for a total cart purchase for anything on PSN. While this was mostly a result of an alleged distributed denial-of-service attack (stop calling it a "hack" guys), Sony's system was down for days on end while Microsoft had their service back up and running in under 24 hours. Hopefully Sony will have better preventive measures whenever this happens again. Because you know it will happen. A Holiday Thank You [PlayStation Blog] |
| PC Port Report: Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes Posted: 01 Jan 2015 04:00 AM PST It's hard to know what a PC Port of a Metal Gear Solid game will look like in 2014. Revengeance had a decent port, but that was done by Platinum. The last Metal Gear game to hit our Home Computers was over a decade ago, so they aren't anything to go off of, either. Well, coming out of retirement, Kojima and company have stepped up to the plate and hit a home run! In fact, like Jordan, this was my first Metal Gear Solid experience. It was thoroughly enjoyable, largely because of how smooth it was. It's easy to recommend this title to pretty much anyone, since it's proven to capture the hears of newbies like Jordan and myself, while being a great enough overall experience to satisfy long-term fans. |
| Heads up amiibo collectors: Fox and Samus may be gone soon Posted: 01 Jan 2015 03:30 AM PST Marth, Villager, and Wii Fit Trainer amiibo are rare at this point -- it's just a fact. Although Nintendo noted that the "core" figures will always be available (citing Mario as a staple), some of them will phase out. According to a rumor, Fox and Samus may be on the way out. The Tanooki has located a picture of Target's inventory system, which notes that the pair have been discontinued at the T-1007 Laurel Maryland location and the overarching distribution system. Note that even if other stores are in the same boat, there will be some overstock still floating around. Check Amazon and GameStop.com first and foremost in the near future, as they are your best shot -- at the time of this writing Samus is in stock at both outlets. Super Smash Bros. amiibo of Samus and Fox officially discontinued at Target stores Read more [The Tanooki] |
| Nintendo Download: Pokemon Pinball Posted: 01 Jan 2015 03:00 AM PST Death, taxes, and the Nintendo Download update are always inevitable. Nintendo waits for no holiday -- Christmas, New Year's -- it doesn't matter, they are going to update the eShop on Thursday. Sadly today isn't all that great. The Wii U is getting Pokemon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire, as well as a discounts for Shovel Knight ($9.99 until January 8th), and Unepic ($6.99 until January 29th). The 3DS is getting Bionic Commando: Elite Forces on the Virtual Console, as well as an identical Shovel Knight discount. That's it, guys. Although Shovel Knight is easily worth $14.99, I recommend picking it up at the sale price if you haven't already. Both systems are great but the Wii U is my platform of choice mainly thanks to the GamePad and extended control options. Note that the 3DS has an extra asynchronous multiplayer mode though. |
| Microsoft's Kinect for Windows sensor will be gone in 2015 Posted: 01 Jan 2015 02:30 AM PST Microsoft has announced that they will be ending sales for the original Kinect for Windows sensor in 2015. Since the "v2" edition (Xbox One) is available, it makes sense to phase out the original. They've reminded developers that the new sensor boasts 1080p video and an expanded field of view, and the SDK 2.0 development kit has been far expanded past the inagural effort's capabilities. It also calls the Kinect a "milestone achievement in the world of natural human computing." Note that the word "game" or "gaming" wasn't used anywhere in that phrase. Original Kinect for Windows sensor sales to end in 2015 [Microsoft] |
| Tekken 7 producer reveals Shaheen, a Middle Eastern fighter Posted: 01 Jan 2015 02:00 AM PST Bandai Namco's Katsuhiro Harada has announced a brand new fighter for Tekken 7 -- Shaheen. He's a newcomer to the series, and happens to be Middle Eastern. His creation was hinted earlier this year, and was spurred by Harada's trips to Saudi Arabia. While Shaheen is looking pretty cool so far, I'm still sad that the US might not get Lucky Chloe. Harada is teasing more characters though, so stay tuned. Katsuhiro Harada [Twitter] |
| January's PlayStation Plus lineup is pretty amazing Posted: 01 Jan 2015 01:00 AM PST Sony is kicking off the new year with with a bang, as this month's PlayStation Plus lineup is flush with great games. Here's everything Plus subscribers can download for free starting January 6:
Yes, Woah Dave! is coming to Vita and there's a PS4 version in the works as well, which developer Choice Provisions confirms will be cross-buy whenever it arrives. So just go ahead and download the Vita version if you think you might want it on PS4 later on. PlayStation Plus: January’s Free Games [PlayStation Blog] |
| Person offers to 'show boobs' for Captain Falcon or Pit amiibo Posted: 31 Dec 2014 03:59 PM PST Depending on your time zone, this may be your final Destructoid post of 2014. If the doomsday predictions of 2012 come true two years late and this is the final thing you ever read, then I'm sorry, and you're welcome. A Craigslist Miami listing is offering to exchange the sight of "boobs" for "Captain Falcon or Pit amiibos - $5." The amiibo fan goes on to offer "more for Marth, Villager or Wii Fit Girl" as they "really want those amiibos." There are a lot of things wrong with this situation. For one, the original ad makes absolutely no attempt to make an "amiibo-ob" or Captain Falcon-esque "Show me your boobs!" joke. There is also the fact that the Marth, Wii Fit Trainer, and Villager amiibo are relatively cheap purchases from Japanese import sites. Then when you go really far down the rabbit hole, you'll see that someone is trying to tempt people into paying to see boobs by showing you one of the (probably) two boobs for free. That's a little too generous. Kirby may be craftily covering the areola here, but you could easily use Photoshop and Wikipedia to get the little nipple-looking fella out of the picture, copy, mirror and paste the image, and presto change-o, the once lonely uni-boob has become a truly erotic pair. That's the easiest way to get a picture of boobs on your computer, right? |
| Mr Andy Dixon's top 10 games I played drunk in 2014 Posted: 31 Dec 2014 03:00 PM PST Confession #1: I don't play a lot of videogames. Confession #2: The ones I do play, I play drunk. Huh huh. Number two do do. Here are the games I liked the best this year, and what I was drinking when I played them. |
| Devolver asks Sega to let Seaman loose Posted: 31 Dec 2014 02:00 PM PST We at Destructoid have been clamoring for a new Seaman title for years now. From denied iPhone spin-offs to teased holiday appearances, Nintendo trademarks, newspaper reports, and appearances on the Dtoid Show, Seaman is never far from our minds. The problem is, being pregnant with thought doesn't always lead to the birth of a talking fish-man. Destructoid has aided in the development of a game here and there, but we don't have the gumption to pump out a Seaman of our own. If we did, we'd probably be on Seaman: Part 8 by now. Fork Parker over at Devolver Digital is another story. He's a powerful force in the videogame development world. Though his Twitter-based request to take on the Seaman license may not have yielded immediate results, we can hope that things will come together for Devolver Seaman Evolution in 2015. Maybe reaching out to Yoot Saito directly would. help. The Yoot/Fork 2015 ticket would look great on a bumper sticker. |
| Gaming resolutions I'll strive to keep in 2015 Posted: 31 Dec 2014 01:00 PM PST No one ever keeps resolutions. I tell myself every January that I'm going to stop inspecting cheese for fingerprints before putting it on a sandwich or that I'll actually start wearing something other than sweatpants and a hoodie out in public when it's cold, but it never happens. And it never will happen. What would I even wear? A pair of Uggs and leggings with some kind of lame scarf? How do you even wear a scarf? And what if my tongue somehow detects the wrongness of a fingerprint on the surface of my Deli Deluxe cheese slice? There are some questions we're just not meant to know the answers to, just like there are resolutions that we'll make and break in the span of 24 hours. While sitting on my lunch break today I ruminated on the deeper meaning behind player agency, the male gaze and how it pertains to gaming, and whether Hatred should or shouldn't remain on Steam. After giving a glut of heady topics much thought, I decided I didn't care about any of them, so I started to write an article about my video game resolutions for 2015, none of which have anything to do with those concepts. Here's to being a better |
| Cblog Recaps End of the Year Recap 2014 Super Ultramax: Tournament Edition Posted: 31 Dec 2014 12:00 PM PST [Note: I cannot thank the dedicated Dtoiders on the Cblog Recaps team enough for all their hard work. Here's to another fantastic f*cking year! --Mr Andy Dixon] Welcome to the Cblog Recaps 2014 Yearly Recaps Super Ultramax: Tournament Edition. Where all the recappers look back on the year's cblogs and give the community the ultimate gift: PAGE VIEWS! As with the usual mantra of the recaps team, each individual recapper is a special snowflake with their own opinions as to what their favorite blogs of the year were, or their BOTY. But if there's one thing we agree on, it's that you guys are awesome. But Phil would probably replace "awesome" with "dicks" in his compliment. You have to maintain after all. Before we start, let's throw out some golden high fives to people who've earned it, whether from impressive engagement of the community or Herculean effort that's been widely recognized. Redheadpeak was mentioned multiple times amongst us and it's not hard to see why. He's both a guy we can have a beer with and talk shitty Steam games, while also being the trusted educator of our children who uses video games as a contextual stepping stone to open the minds of our youth. And that all certainly leads to interesting stories. |
| 2014: I want to make love to you. Seriously. Posted: 31 Dec 2014 11:00 AM PST [Enter the anti-Badger. --Mr Andy Dixon] Note: The Wombat could be anyone -- a Destructoid community member, a gaemz jurnalizmer, even some random Dutch guy. They could be just one person or Legion. You'll probably never find out who they really are, which is a thing I typed for no other reason than to keep up with the joke. Welcome The Wombat to Destructoid everybody! I've never loved so many people in the gaming community in all my life. Because of 2014, I learned to love the game developers who have earned the goodwill of a loyal consumer following by continuing to put out great video games, supporting fan-requested games (one of which ended up becoming the game of the year for many people), and finding new ways to bring beloved characters to life both digitally and in the real world. I've learned to love both old and new indie game developers who put their most brilliant ideas into a game, and who manage to keep up direct interaction with their fanbase all while slaving away on their projects. I've learned to love fun-loving, open-minded game enthusiasts who treat anyone who enjoys playing video games like close friends. I've learned to love the gamers who don't mind what you play as long as you have fun. I've learned to love the gamers who try to find ways to make their favorite pastime more accessible to a wider variety of people. I've learned to love that Hatred can be both something that raises interesting free speech issues to think about, and something that can just be ignored entirely. I've learned to expect that even when people on the Internet are being dicks to one another, I'll be able to filter out the bullshit from the thoughtful comments. I've learned to love how getting people to talk calmly with you is surprisingly easily if you take the first step and don't descend into namecalling. I love that I'm able to love all these things, while continuing to enjoy video games for their own sake. I love myself for it and sometimes I masturbate to myself a little bit. Liking things gets me so fucking hot you guys. So I'm going to start thanking people, including myself, and see if that helps me cum harder. |
| Laura Dale's attempt to nail down some Game of the Year 2014 winners Posted: 31 Dec 2014 10:00 AM PST It's that wonderful time of year again where I'm expected to sum up my thoughts on an entire year of videogames in one digestible list of what was objectively best and what I enjoyed subjectively in various categories. It's time to take all the videogames I loved and pit them against one another, forcing them to fight to the death until one one comes out as an award winner. You know what? Screw that! Everything I loved is getting an award this year, even if it's horribly flawed and objectively worse than something else it would normally be up against. These are my Game of the Year picks, all my weird tastes are getting the awards they deserve. Let's do this, these awards are totes legit. |
| GOTY 2014: Best evidence that we should go full communism Posted: 31 Dec 2014 09:00 AM PST You thought Steven Hansen's Destructoid's 2014 GOTY awards were done at three, come sambuca con la mosca? That we want health, happiness, and prosperity, rather than four (death)? We're up all night to get unlucky my friends. And to drink a bottle of Chartreuse so that our New Year's Eve vomit looks like Ecto Cooler Hi-C and the Streets of San Francisco run green with ghost spume. I believe it was communist philosophers Groucho Marx and John Lennon who said, "The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas," and that's, like, so true! A distanced citizenry treated as targets (consumers) versus an engaged citizenry treated as co-conspirators and friendos can lead to anti-consumer practices. That's why the open nature of crowd funding and early access development has been big this year, as invested fans have helped bear titles that did not need mass market appeal. Sometimes you can use a little help from your friendos, because we're all in this together, man. Invisible Inc. is das kapital example of Early Access success and the winner of the Steven Hansen's Destructoid's 2014 GOTY award for Best evidence that we should go full communism. It is, by a wide margin, the game I have played most this year, and it's not even "finished." And, hey, maybe it sits on the wrong side of its tekno-Cold War-era aesthetic (the English-speaking side), but that angular 2D art and XCOM-like turn-based stealth are fresher than you might think given I just used a 20-year-old game as a reference point. Seriously, though. Turn-based stealth. It's amazing. |
| Alessandro Fillari's personal picks for Game of the Year 2014 Posted: 31 Dec 2014 08:00 AM PST What a ride 2014 has been, right? There's definitely been a few ups and downs for everyone, including some that wanted to get their last licks before the year closes out. Still, we got to see some pretty exciting titles released, some that delivered and others not so much. Regardless of what your feelings are of the games, you can't deny that we've had plenty to play this year. So with that, I've decided to take a shot at talking about my noteworthy, standout, and otherwise memorable games of this year. |
| Trade in old, bad games and get (almost) free games at Microsoft Store Posted: 31 Dec 2014 07:30 AM PST Yesterday, I bought new copies of Sunset Overdrive and Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor at Microsoft Store. My out-of-pocket total came to $6.79. And, I got the added bonus of clearing off some shelf space that was occupied by terribly old games I never had any intention of playing again. Here's how I did it. This week, Microsoft Store is offering a trade-in promotion where it'll give you a minimum of $10 credit for (most) any Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, or PS4 game. Better yet, the offer allows up to five games per transaction. However, it has to be put toward the purchase of a new Xbox 360 or Xbox One game. (See image at bottom for full details.) All this means that you can trade in five very out-of-date games for $50 toward a brand new title. Some of the ones I traded in were Bullet Witch, NHL 2K7, and King Kong -- three titles that I'm sure I didn't collectively pay $10 for and have had lying around for years. It's unclear as to what games are accepted, but for some reason, Wal-Mart's list of titles it'll buy off customers seems to be accurate for Microsoft Store. Because there's the limitation of five games per customer, I brought my roommate along to trade in another five. The representative was completely fine with it as long as the games were in good condition with original boxes (as they were). After all ten games were appraised, I grabbed the two new ones I wanted. They came out to $100 (Shadow of Mordor's on sale for $40), and all I had to pay was sales tax. Anyone that has to fly solo won't come out quite as neatly as I did. A $60 game will usually end up being around $65 after sales tax. Still, $10-$15 for the season's newest releases isn't a bad deal at all -- especially with the added bonus that you can get rid of at least five games you don't want anymore at a surprisingly decent return. As with any deal like this, your mileage may vary a bit. The promotion worked for me exactly as intended. However, after scouring the Internet for a bit, a few others had different results. One person reported being told that they could trade in five games, but each $10 credit had to be put toward the purchase of a different title. Another reported that the representative let them trade in as many games as they wanted and could use the credit toward anything in the store. Those are certainly the extreme ends of the spectrum. Hopefully you can find some use out of this generous promotion. If you plan on checking it out, take note that it ends on Saturday January 3. And, in the event that you end up taking advantage of it, enjoy ringing in the new year with some seriously cheap new games. |
| What game will you ring in the New Year with? Posted: 31 Dec 2014 07:00 AM PST New Year's Eve was always my favorite holiday growing up. Not only were there yummy snacks galore at whatever party my parents dragged me to each year, but the adults were normally so preoccupied with drinking and pretending to enjoy each other's company that they didn't care what us kids were up to... which meant we could stay up playing videogames ALL. NIGHT. LONG. Battletoads, Bubble Bobble, Ikari Warriors; a lot of the games my brothers and I ended up mastering as kids were owed to late night gaming sessions on December 31st. As I grew into adulthood, I tried the whole party thing, but watching New York City enter puberty every goddamn year while you stand awkwardly in a crowded kitchen just trying to get to the goddamn cocktail wieners kinda loses its appeal after a while. So instead, this year I will trick my kids into thinking midnight is about 9 o'clock, pour myself a whiskey, and boot up Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare (my most recent obsession). And I couldn't be more excited. What about you? Skipping the whole party scene this year in favor of playing a good game? Tell us which one! Who knows, maybe you multiplayer-minded folks might even find a good buddy to play with here in the comments. No matter what you end up doing, we at Destructoid hope you have a safe and happy New Year! |
| Friendly reminder: Last chance to buy a discounted Xbox One bundle Posted: 31 Dec 2014 06:30 AM PST Now that all the gift-giving and present-receiving is done, do you have some extra cash lying around? If so and an Xbox One's in your near future, you might want to buy that sooner rather than later. Waiting will just cost you (at least) an extra $50. January 3 is the last day of Microsoft's $350 Xbox One bundle deal -- a promotion that's been in effect since early November. The beginning of next week will mark the console returning to its original $400 (or $500 with Kinect) price point. Despite a two-month discount leading many to believe the Xbox One would be permanently price-slashed, Microsoft hasn't shown any indication that this is the case. In fact, it recently posted its own PSA on Xbox Wire warning of the imminent return to original price. Although there isn't much time left, several retailers have decent deals happening now. The best is probably Newegg's Assassin's Creed Unity bundle, as it comes with an extra controller and a year of Xbox Live Gold for $350. Elsewhere, several stores such as Amazon and Best Buy offer a $50 gift card with the bundle. (Thanks for the NewEgg tip, Captain 'Merica!) |
| Patrick Hancock's personal picks for Game of the Year 2014 Posted: 31 Dec 2014 06:00 AM PST What a magical year this was! It's hard coming up with a GOTY list, especially if you force yourself to pick only 10. That's why I didn't, I picked as many as I needed to! It's thirteen; I picked thirteen games. There would probably be even more if I had played some of the games I really wanted to. But hey! Splitting time between fun and work is part of life, and it's a part we all strive to perfect. So anyway, here's the only list that matters this year: mine. |
| Adam Tierney's favorite games of 2014 Posted: 31 Dec 2014 05:00 AM PST [Game developer Adam Tierney took to our Community Blogs to share his short list of 2014 favorites. Want to share your own GOTY stories? Go write something! --Mr Andy Dixon] Hey Destructoid! I'm Adam Tierney, a videogame designer/director from Los Angeles, CA (I also wrote a cartoon once). Check out my appearance on 'Sup, Holmes? if you wanna hear me talk about games and life and things! I've been in the games industry for about 12 years and here is a short list a some of my favorite games of 2014. Go buy 'em! They're great. |
| Destiny is the most fascinating game of 2014, mostly for negative reasons Posted: 31 Dec 2014 04:00 AM PST I have roughly seven days of playtime logged into Destiny. I have a level 31 Warlock, Titan, and Hunter who are all one piece away from level 32 -- the current cap. I've completed the new Crota's End raid roughly 20 times, 10 of which I ran the sword for our group. You could say that I've played a lot of Destiny. Even still, I find myself disliking most of the design decisions Bungie has made, and my opinion of the company has really gone downhill in general. The game is not only a Skinner box style loot-treadmill, but it also has a bunch of mind-boggling issues, made worse by the lack of communication by Bungie. It is a textbook example of an overhyped AAA game that failed to meet said hype. With any luck, the developer will learn from its mistakes, and the game will be worth picking up in 2015. But before that time, I've had a great time experiencing the phenomenon, warts and all. |
| Platinum wants 'more Bayonetta in 2015,' starts work on another project Posted: 31 Dec 2014 03:00 AM PST We were recently teased something special that was Bayonetta related during Christmas, but it ended up being a calendar. Bummer! No worries though as Platinum Games recently confirmed to 4Gamer that they want to do more Bayonetta related things in the future. Speaking to the outlet, Platinum's Akiko Kuroda stated “I hope that we can do something related to the Bayonetta series in 2015 as well, so please keep an eye out for more from Bayonetta!” Another project is reportedly in the works, which is in addition to the already announced Scalebound on the Xbox One. Another project? I could really go for Revengeance 2. Bayonetta [4Gamer via Siliconera] |
| TruForce Collectibles gives us a little taste of their Mega Man X figure Posted: 31 Dec 2014 02:30 AM PST Thanks to fan demand, TruForce Collectibles is crafting a new Mega Man X figure. Before this week we haven't had the slightest clue of what it looked like, but thanks to a recent Facebook posting we now have a better idea. So what do you think? I'm a little torn personally. While the figure does look better than other lines, the excessive use of the "energy" look is a bit tacky. Still, for the right price I would be interested. TrueForce Toy [Facebook] |
| Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire Contrary Serperior code revealed Posted: 31 Dec 2014 02:00 AM PST Itching to get your hands on the special event Contrary Serperior? You'll get your chance soon, as Pokemon Get TV has revealed the process, which will require Pokemon Omega Ruby or Alpha Sapphire. Basically, you use the code POKEMON497 in the code section and you can net your own Serperior. The catch is that it isn't active until January 9th, 2015, though it will run until November 30th, 2015. Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire Coverage [Serebii.net] |
| FUNimation will stream the Samurai Warriors anime soon Posted: 31 Dec 2014 01:00 AM PST Samurai Warriors 4 came and went earlier this year, and for Warriors fans, it was definitely worth picking up. The Samurai train isn't over though, as an anime called Sengoku Musou will be debuting next year, and FUNimation has acquired the rights to it. The anime will take place after the TV special -- which was included in some copies of the game. The show is basically a re-imagining of the same setting and characters from the series. It will debut on January 11th, and you can catch it by subscribing to FUNimation's streaming service, or using the 14-day free trial once all of the episodes have aired -- then binge! FUNimation acquires rights for Samurai Warriors [FUNimation] |
| Don't count on a Disgaea 5 Vita port anytime soon Posted: 31 Dec 2014 12:00 AM PST Disgaea 1 and 2 were ported to the PSP, and Disgaea 3 and 4 were ported to the Vita, allowing handheld gamers to enjoy the series. Unfortunately it doesn't look like the PS4-bound Disgaea 5 will get that same treatment -- at least, not anytime soon. Speaking to Dengeki PlayStation magazine, Nippon Ichi Software president Sohei Niikawa informed the public that a Vita version was essentially not possible due to how much they would have to compromise the PS4 version. Elaborating further, he stated:
That doesn't mean a port will be impossible, but unless NIS can fit all of that content on the Vita format or compromise enough material to justify it, I wouldn't hold your breath for a port until the next PlayStation portable. NIS President: 'PS Vita Version of Disgaea 5 is Impossible [Anime News Network] |
| 'Flinch' being removed from Halo 5 Posted: 30 Dec 2014 09:45 PM PST If you've ever played the Halo series in any sort of competitive setting you're probably aware of 'Flinch', a mechanic where your aiming reticule moves up slightly when you're hit. First introduced as a replacement for de-scoping, a mechanic where players looking down a scope would be kicked back to their primary aim when hit, many Halo players disliked the loss of accuracy that flinch brought with it. While flinch was meant to be removed for Halo 5 in favor of a return of de-scoping, many players of the Halo 5 Beta have complained of a flinch like movement in their aiming reticule when shot. Thankfully, it seems this was not by design. According to Halo 5 studio head Josh Holmes this flinch effect in the beta is simply an animation bug that is going to get fixed post beta. Thank goodness, you'll be back to getting shot without having to react at all before you know it. |
| Posted: 30 Dec 2014 08:00 AM PST [Note: The Badger could be anyone -- a game developer, a member of the gaming press, even a writer for another game blog. They could be just one person or multiple people. You'll probably never find out who they really are, which is part of the fun. Welcome The Badger to Destructoid everybody!] I've never hated so many people in the gaming community in all my life. Because of 2014, I learned to hate do-nothing, two-faced AAA game developers who have crafted a culture of brand loyalty that rewards consumers with self esteem points every time they stand up for one of these mega-million companies every time they sell us another pile of stale junk food hamburgers disguised as a "must have experience for every hardcore gamer". I've learned to hate prima donna indie game developers who put their ego before their work, spending more time mouthing off on Twitter than actually making anything. I've learned to hate self righteous, victim-blaming game enthusiasts who treat anyone who dares not to cater to their particular tastes like a violator of their civil rights. I've learned to hate that Hatred is something that we think is worth talking about. I've learned to expect that everyone else in the vocal minority who bothers to use the Internet to talk about videogames is similarly filled with hate, and is fueled by all the self interested thinking and monstrous behavior that comes along with it. I hate that I am preoccupied with hating all these things. I hate myself for it and I don't know what to do about that. So I'm going to start blaming people, including myself, and see if that helps. |
| Square Enix job posting hints at Final Fantasy XV related PC project Posted: 30 Dec 2014 07:00 AM PST I'm really excited for Final Fantasy XV. The Kingdom Hearts influences, the beautiful engine, the idea of a bro-road trip with dinosaurs. I'm in. Square Enix might be planning a "XIII"-like mini-franchise too, as it turns out that they've posted a job listing for a "FFXV-related online game." The requirements for the job apparently relate to PC games and "games with fees." Don't all foam at the mouth at once! But seriously, I hope that XV is a great standalone game, and everything else that comes along with it can be addressed separately. Square Enix [Jpost via Gematsu] |
| You can rob shops in GTA V with a single snowball Posted: 30 Dec 2014 05:30 AM PST It's been snowy in Los Santos lately, thanks to Grand Theft Auto V's "festive surprise." In celebration of the most wonderful time of year, Rockstar blanketed the city in snow, allowing players to engage in some good old-fashioned snowball fights. Or, alternatively, you can wield snowballs like this dude Harry, who uses the icy orbs to rob corner stores. To each his own. Grand Theft Auto V snowball armed robbery [Harry - PSN via Kotaku] |
| 2014 recap: The 15 most popular posts on Destructoid this year Posted: 30 Dec 2014 04:00 AM PST We post a lot of stuff here on Destructoid. News, reviews, opinion editorials -- you know the drill. Every now and then, a post will catch fire and get ridiculously popular. Sometimes it's a complete mystery as to why; sometimes it's very obvious (as is the case with number one on this list). Still, it's fun to look back at the end of the year and see what performed particularly well. These are the 15 posts that performed best from a traffic standpoint in 2014. Because reviews are kind of in a league of their own, I've also included the top five toward the bottom. And, just for funsies, there are another five bonus posts that the staff enjoyed the most this year. |
| This new Yoshi Figuarts toy is dawwwsome Posted: 30 Dec 2014 03:00 AM PST I have a general rule when it comes to getting merchandise for games. If it's a series I really love and have a collection for, I'll get a moderate amount of goods for it. Mario happens to be one of those series, and man do I want this new S.H. Figuarts Yoshi figure. It'll run you about $37, and will include a tongue piece, an egg, and back replacements to stick on the separately sold Mario and Luigi. You'll find it on sale in May in Japan, but Figuarts almost always are sold retail overseas a few months later. Yoshi [Tamashii.jp] |
| Disgaea 5's newest trailer is pretty lengthy, still crazy Posted: 30 Dec 2014 02:00 AM PST NIS has released a new video for Disgaea 5, and the animations and insane special attacks are as crazy as ever. I'm really loving the landscapes this time around, as there seems to be a lot more diversity when it comes to the actual battleground locations. Like most of NIS' trailers, you'll get a great look at nearly every supporting character, as well as a ton of gameplay and cutscene goodness. And like every Disgaea trailer before it, it looks like it's true to the series' off-the-wall pedigree. |
| Sony says goodbye to 2014 with a PSN flash sale Posted: 30 Dec 2014 01:30 AM PST [Update: The sale has been extended until 12pm PST on December 31.] Find any PSN gift cards under your Christmas tree this year? Well, as luck would have it, there's a flash sale going on right now to help you stretch that newly acquired credit as far as possible. The deals aren't overly stellar, outside of perhaps The Walking Dead Season 2 for $6.25. You can also grab Akiba's Trip 2 for $24, Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris at $13.39, and a smattering of hot games like The Evil Within and Dragon Age: Inquisition in the $30-40 range. The sale draws to a close at 9am PST on Monday, December 29. See the full listing right here. Flash Sale: End of Year Discounts on 30+ Games [PlayStation Blog] |
| These Rockman Utopia music samples are so good I want to buy it Posted: 30 Dec 2014 01:00 AM PST For the most part I'm pretty mellow when it comes to videogame music, but every so often something will come along that excites me. E-Capcom put up a few samples for the upcoming Rockman Utopia remix CD, which samples tracks from classic Mega Man tunes, and it's just what I needed. You'll find new mixes for songs like Clown Man's theme, Elec Man, Centaur Man, and Freeze Man, and all of them are arranged in a pretty unique way. The full CD will be available in Japan in January for $30. Rockman Utopia [E-Capcom] |
| You only have two more days to earn your Wii U Deluxe points Posted: 30 Dec 2014 12:00 AM PST This is your last reminder for 2014 -- if you bought a deluxe version of the Wii U, you were opted into a Deluxe Digital Promotion that Nintendo rarely ever talks about or mentions by name. You'll earn 10% back for every game you buy digitally on the eShop, and you can trade-in those points for eShop credit coupons. Keep in mind that although the coupons themselves will stay valid until March 31st, 2015, you'll only earn points on purchases through December 31st -- which is coming up tomorrow. So go ahead and log in now and check out your point situation, as you may just need a few more bucks to bump up to a $5 coupon. Wii U Deluxe Digital Promotion [Nintendo] |
| Talos Principle pirates trapped in eternal elevator Posted: 29 Dec 2014 09:30 PM PST You bought a new game and within minutes you encounter a bug where you enter an elevator and it eternally loops with no way to escape. What do you do? You obviously go and complain about it to the developers, right? Maybe not, because The Talos Principle is the latest in a long line of games to add features to the game that highlight who is and is not pirating it. Early in The Talos Principle players will come across an elevator. Players who purchased the game will be brought to the next area of the game, while pirates will be locked in the elevator for all of eternity. Interestingly, this is not the first time developer Croteam have done something like this. Players who pirated Serious Sam 3: BFE would be met with an immortal, high speed, rifle armed giant scorpion that would hunt them throughout the game. It's certainly an interesting way to deal with piracy. Pirating 'The Talos Principle' Will Trap You in an Elevator [NeoGAF] |
| Check out all the doujin games from winter Comiket Posted: 29 Dec 2014 04:30 PM PST Comiket, the largest independent media festival on the planet, is winding down its winter festivities. Over the past three days, hundreds of thousands of folks have flocked to the Tokyo Big Sight exhibition center to acquire self-published manga, anime, and games straight from the source. As has become custom, Edelweiss, the team behind Astebreed, has put together a lengthly highlight reel showcasing all the hot games on sale there. See something you like? Let us and the usual suspects, doujin game publishers like Playism and Nyu Media, know which ones caught your eye. Yell loud enough at the right people and maybe some of these will get localized. コミケ（C87）同人ゲームまとめ動画 [Edelweiss] |
| Pixar's Up coming to New 3DS in Japan Posted: 29 Dec 2014 12:00 PM PST Back when Nintendo thought the 3D part of the 3DS was a marketable, they promised that we'd all be watching 3D movies on the thing all the time and everyday. While there are a few cool shows like Bee and Puppycat on Nintendo Video, and Netflix and Youtube run on the console just fine, I think it's fair to say that 3D video playback is far from the 3DS's killer application. Maybe that will change when the New 3DS comes around. With an improved 3D display and better processing power, it's much more capable 3D video player, but in the end it all comes down what the install base wants. Are the people who care enough about gaming to buy this mid-generation upgrade also the people who really want to watch Up again, but this time on a 3D handheld? In the past I would have said "not a chance", but I also would have never guessed that normcore would take off, so I stopped saying that forever. |
| Destructoid's Game of the Year 2014 Community Choice Award! Posted: 29 Dec 2014 11:00 AM PST What a wild year it's been for us gamers. In spite of all the insanity this industry inevitably attracts, when we look back on everything that has happened over the last 12 months, I think there's one thing we can all agree on: there were a lot of really, really good games released in 2014! To help pay tribute to the thing that has brought us all together, over the past week Destructoid shared its official picks for best multiplayer design, best mechanics, best world design, best narrative design, and our overall game of the year, and several of our staff have shared their personal picks as well. But now, it's the moment you've been waiting for! We're finally ready to unveil YOUR pick for the best game of 2014! And for the first time in a long while, the stars have aligned... |
| Click here for a Brawlhalla closed beta key! Posted: 29 Dec 2014 10:00 AM PST Destructoid has partnered with our friends at Blue Mammoth Games to give away a TON of closed beta keys for their upcoming brawler Brawlhalla! Brawlhalla is a super fun, fast-paced, 2D platform brawler for the PC where champions from across history battle it out in an eternal tournament. Throw down in local or online play with up to four players and send your opponents flying off stage to claim victory! As a member of the closed beta, you'll help developers shape the game for launch! To claim your code, just head on over to our code redemption page and click the big red button! (HUGE members, visit your HUGE perks page for your reserved codes!) Then just login to your Steam account, activate it, and you're ready to start downloading! Have fun! And if you weren't quick enough to get a code, why not sign up for a HUGE membership? You'll get automatic entry into all contests (and double entries if you enter one manually), guaranteed beta code access, ad-free browsing, monthly newsletters from the staff, and more! And most of all, your $3 a month helps directly support the site you love! |
| Catgirl visual novel Nekopara out today on Steam Posted: 29 Dec 2014 09:00 AM PST Nekopara Vol. 1 tells the tale of Kashou Minaduki, a young baker descended from a long line of Japanese confection makers who sets out on his own to open a patisserie. Of course, a couple of catgirls show up, as catgirls are wont to do, and hijinks ensue. Naturally. The visual novel is slated to debut on Steam today with a $10 asking price. Nekopara Vol. 1 [Steam] |
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