New Games |
- Kill your darlings, create a definitive list of your favorite games
- Oh hey, a Warhammer 40K game that looks okay
- I'm not an 'SJW,' I'm an anthropologist: Making the case for diversity in games
- Shantae shimmies her way into the world of Indivisible
- Handball 16 is a real game you can play
- It's a Sup Holmes for pigs with Soma co-creator Thomas Grip
- Portal crossover coming to Rocket League
- Lara Croft GO's new expansion is sadistic
- Chiptune musicians release album on Famicom
- Consoles lead Metal Gear Solid V's race to nuclear disarmament
- Cyber Monday deals on Wii U, Xbox One, & PS4 bundles over at eBay
| Kill your darlings, create a definitive list of your favorite games Posted: 29 Nov 2015 02:00 PM PST A test to sort your favorite games has been making the rounds on social media over the past few days. Normally I ignore this sort of thing, but when it seemed to push our own Jonathan Holmes into an existential crisis earlier today, I started paying attention. What could all the fuss be over? So I gave it a try myself. This test is evil. Seriously, how am I supposed to choose between Super Mario World and Half-Life 2? They both meant very different things to me at different points of my life. By what metric am I supposed to gauge the value of a classic like Final Fantasy Tactics against a co-op favorite like Portal 2? Why are you sticking poor KOTOR against amazing games again and again? I'm going to hurt somebody's feelings here! But when the dust settled, the corpses were carried off, and with the stink of betrayal hanging heavy in the air, I had to admit -- the test gave me a fairly accurate top 20. Metal Gear 3, Dark Souls, and Team Fortress 2 were all in my top five. The test was created by @MallowyGoodness (who I can only imagine is a sadistic evil genius) as a personal version of GameFAQ's best game ever poll. You can try it for yourself here, but be warned, it's going to hurt a little bit. |
| Oh hey, a Warhammer 40K game that looks okay Posted: 29 Nov 2015 10:00 AM PST Games Workshop isn't the most discerning of license holders. Ever since the demise of THQ, the company has allowed just about anyone to make a video game based on Warhammer 40,000. The situation has reached the point where Destructoid boss Jordan Devore and I, despite both being massive fans of the property, are having trouble keeping all these games straight and has us yearning for the good old days of Space Marine and annualized Dawn of War expansions. Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade looks like it might recapture some of that magic, at least if this alpha footage is any indication. It's almost looks like the sequel that Space Marine should have, but probably never will receive -- a grim reality that haunts my dreams every night. Of course, it's also an MMO in development at a studio best-known for making children's licensed games and Naughty Bear. Hopefully it will turn out alright, but I'm not holding my breath just yet. |
| I'm not an 'SJW,' I'm an anthropologist: Making the case for diversity in games Posted: 29 Nov 2015 09:00 AM PST [The discussion regarding diversity in games doesn't seem to be slowing down or becoming any less heated, but the discussion of its impact is still important all the same. In today's promoted blog, bacon1eggs touches on why the matter of diversity is important as a gamer and an anthropologist. - Pixie The Fairy] Let's clear the air first. I detest the term "SJW." The fact the gaming community has reduced the concept of fighting for social justice to a pejorative is, in a word, pathetic. I can understand that no one likes a keyboard warrior, however, framing the conversation in the pursuit of justice can make the endeavor sound holier-than-thou. What we are really talking about here is advocacy and, hopefully, advocacy is something that we can agree is an important process in our society. |
| Shantae shimmies her way into the world of Indivisible Posted: 29 Nov 2015 08:30 AM PST I had thought we'd seen all the cameo characters that Indivisible had to offer, but a few days ago, one the original "indies-on-consoles" icons of gaming was added to the already impressive roster of guest stars. Shantae has been around since 2002, which makes her the oldest character to appear in the game so far, though outside of that fact, she fits right in with the rest of the cast. Lab Zero animator Mariel Cartwright worked on both Indivisible and Shantae: Half-Genie Hero, so it makes sense that the hair-whipping heroine has found a home among these newly minted, upstart contenders. Lab Zero has also put together a video showing off Invisible's impressive visuals and fast paced gameplay. Smart move. While they've had a demo out for both Steam and PS4 for a while, the reality is that most people more likely to commit to watching the first 30 seconds of a video than downloading and committing to play an actual video game. I know a lot of you didn't like the idea the last time I brought it up, but if the team ends up shy of their goal before the campaign is over, I hope a major publisher like like Sony swoops in and funds the rest of the project. Hopefully they'll get there on there own, but if not, giving Sony 6 months of console exclusivity would be a lot better option than scrapping the game entirely. |
| Handball 16 is a real game you can play Posted: 29 Nov 2015 07:30 AM PST Every Sunday, Sony posts a lineup of new releases coming to PlayStation systems that week. It's something I check religiously, hoping to discover a gem hidden amongst the big blockbusters. No gems this week, but Bigben Interactive, publisher of fine products like I Love My Pony, I Love My Dogs, I Love My Cats, I Love my Horse and Flap Flap, is putting out something called Handball 16. On its Steam page, Bigben Interactive is calling Handball 16 is "the first handball simulation," which (at best) is a curious statement, considering it previously published IHF Handball Challenge 14. Perhaps the company is looking to rebrand after IHF Handball Challenge 14, advertised as "the best handball simulation," elicited mostly negative responses from players and critics. Well, one critic. Regardless, Handball 16 apparently allows players to "use all the real handball moves and tactics: the spin shot, hip shot, fake, dodge, jump shot" and "play with all 68 teams from the three biggest European leagues, with all the players, kits and official statistics of the 2015-2016 season." Handball 16 is already available on Xbox One, Windows PC, and Xbox 360. It will launch digitally for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita in North America this Tuesday, December 1. |
| It's a Sup Holmes for pigs with Soma co-creator Thomas Grip Posted: 29 Nov 2015 05:30 AM PST [Sup Holmes is a weekly talk show for people that make great videogames. It airs live every Sunday at 4pm EST on YouTube, and can be found in Podcast form on Libsyn and iTunes.] [Update: Show's over everyone! A lot happened, including the dual declaration that Brain Dead/Dead Alive is Peter Jackson's second best film ever. That was just one of many surprising treats you won't want to miss. The rerun should be up soon, so you won't have to wait long. In the meantime, here is popular Youtube personality Markiplier playing Soma. He's got pink hair, which is nice.] Horror! It can be more fun than conventional logic would dictate, which may be why AAA publishers like Capcom and Konami don't seem to have the same confidence in the genre as they once did. While both the Resident Evil and Silent Hill franchises may have fallen from grace in the eyes of many of today's horror fans, smaller publishers like Frictional Games have done well to fill the void left in their wake with highly successful titles like Soma and Amnesia: The Dark Decent (currently on sale for $4.99 until December 1st). We'll be talking with Thomas Grip, co-founder of Frictional Games, about the studio's rise to success, his influences, working with The Chinese Room on a sequel to the original Amnesia, his thoughts the state of horror games in the industry today, and a lot more. Join us here at 2;30pm EST for the live show as it transpires. There may even be a spooky surprise or two (but probably not). |
| Portal crossover coming to Rocket League Posted: 29 Nov 2015 04:45 AM PST Portal-themed content is coming to Rocket League next month, Psyonix has announced. Starting December 1, the following items will be awarded to players at random after matches:
All of the ornaments are free and will be available to both PlayStation 4 and PC users. Official Portal/ Rocket League crossover this December [Steam, Psyonix] |
| Lara Croft GO's new expansion is sadistic Posted: 29 Nov 2015 02:00 AM PST Lara Croft GO might just be my favorite mobile game of the year. Having played through the campaign twice now, I can safely say there isn't much I'd change about Square Enix Montréal's minimalist puzzler -- though the same can't be said for everyone. One criticism many players levied at the turn-based Tomb Raider was the puzzles might have been a tad too easy. Even in our official review, Destructoid's own Zack Furniss asserted his one issue with Lara Croft GO had to do with a lack of challenge, arguing the difficulty never ramped up in a satisfying way or left him stumped for very long. Well, guys, be careful what you wish for. |
| Chiptune musicians release album on Famicom Posted: 29 Nov 2015 01:00 AM PST We've seen new releases for the Sega Dreamcast come to fruition in the past few years, but a brand new Famicom cartridge is an even more potent throwback. 8-Bit Music Power is a chiptune music compilation from Japanese artist RIKI and games retailer Columbus Circle, featuring artists known for their work on Dig Dug, Pac-Land, Ape Escape, and more. You can pre-order the cartridge from Amazon's Japanese site for a cool $33 USD, but it currently doesn't look like it'll ship to an address outside of Japan. In theory, this is a great product for a niche market. But -- and this is entirely the fault of my recent viewing habits -- this also feels like a Nathan For You idea. For the unaware, the show features comedian Nathan Fielder "helping" small businesses with ideas that seem just crazy enough to work, like transforming a coffee shop into an art installation named Dumb Starbucks. Or, say, releasing an album comprised of tracks from a relatively underground style of music released exclusively on a console that many people do not own. Kind of like that Wu-Tang Clan album! Although the Venn diagram between Famicom owners (or Famicom adapter owners) & chiptune fans is assuredly sizable, it's hard to believe that group is too large to accommodate supply. The concept of scarcity is almost more potent than scarcity itself. Even though a mere "several thousand" cartridges will be made, I find it difficult to believe anyone who wants one of these albums will be unable to get one*. We're probably two or three weeks away from a monotone Canadian explaining to a Japanese video game company that video games are huge, and they should release an album for a video game system. The twist? A console nobody owns, with dirt-cheap production values. 8-Bit Power comes to the Nintendo Famicom on January 31. |
| Consoles lead Metal Gear Solid V's race to nuclear disarmament Posted: 29 Nov 2015 12:00 AM PST In case you missed it, the Metal Gear series has always had a pretty strong anti-nuclear message, and it's never been more literal than in Metal Gear Solid V, the multiplayer "FOB" component of which allows players to develop and store their own nukes, as well as steal and disarm them from other players. Now Konami's kicked off the anti-nuke fervor with its official "Secret Nuclear Disarmament Event", challenging players to disarm their own (or each others') nukes for the good of mankind. That's actually asking a bit much, given that developing a nuke takes obscene amounts of resources, and makes a player effectively immune to FOB invasions, except from other nuclear-equipped players or "true heroes". But it is happening, according to Konami's announcement. Ever since the company started counting on November 1st, nuclear stockpiles on all six platforms have dropped dramatically. As of Friday's count, the Xbox 360 leads the charge to peace, with just 65 nukes left in circulation from a high of 1,011, a disarmament rate of almost ninety-five percent. The Xbox One's mere 50 nukes, from 525 at the beginning of the month, is no figure to sneeze at, either. The PS3 and PS4 communities have also boasted impressive disarmament rates, of about 90% and 82%, respectively, despite a larger total number of nukes present. Unfortunately, it looks like total disarmament will be longer in coming for Private Forces playing on Personal Computers, as the PC servers report over thirteen thousand nuclear weapons still in service, down from a staggering thirty-six thousand as of November 1st. As a point of comparison, even with half of its WMDs out of commission, PC users still possess more nuclear weapons than are currently estimated to exist in service with all the nuclear-armed nations in the world, combined. Now, I'll leave you with my favorite anti-nuclear song (which I try to mod into any Fallout game I play), as well as the criteria for participating in the event, in case you too want to make Paz's dream come true. Metal Gear Solid V Official Site [Konami] |
| Cyber Monday deals on Wii U, Xbox One, & PS4 bundles over at eBay Posted: 28 Nov 2015 05:00 PM PST Its not quite Monday yet but eBay deals are flooding with various Cyber Monday deals on Wii U, Xbox One, and PS4 console bundles. If you slept pass Black Friday and have decided now that an 8th gen console needs to be in your life (and you're glued to your laptop looking for deals), then you're in luck as the deals are starting as early as Saturday night.
From Toys R Us, they're offering the Wii U Deluxe Mario Kart 8 bundle for only $249.99 with free ship. Over at Antonline, they have both the Xbox One Lego Movie bundle for $289.99 and a PS4 Battlefront bundle for $329. In fact, Antonline actually has the same Mario Kart 8 bundle but at a higher $279.99 price tag, so there's little point grabbing from them tonight. For the PS4, the deal won't start until Sunday morning at 8AM Pacific. |
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