New Games |
- Holiday music to jam to with your gaming family
- The big o' Steam, GMG, and Origin Winter Sale top pick roundup
- Destructoid's award for Overall Best Game of 2015 goes to...
- Sure, I'll take more Mario Maker costumes
- Black Desert Online has a lot of promise trapped in humdrum MMO conventions
- Super Mario Galaxy hits the Wii U eShop tomorrow
- There's a new Minecraft world champion, and I could totally beat him up
- Review: Amplitude
- Destructoid's award for Best Xbox Game of 2015 goes to...
- Uncharted 4 has been delayed again into April
- Nintendo is running another StreetPass Weekend for the holiday
- The Witness 'might' get a physical release
- Review: Batman: Arkham Knight: Season of Infamy
- Avenged Sevenfold is hosting a show on Guitar Hero Live this week
- Phantasy Star Online 2 will arrive in the spring on PS4 in Japan
- Fable Legends microtransaction prices leak
- PSN EU reveals its final 12 Deals of Christmas promotion
- FreQuency mode comes to Amplitude reboot
- The first Assassin's Creed was originally going to have multiplayer
- Noitu Love: Devolution is coming to Wii U and 3DS in 2016
| Holiday music to jam to with your gaming family Posted: 23 Dec 2015 11:00 AM PST Happy holidays, HAPPY HOLIDAYS! It is that time of year when you annoy entertain your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and unsuspecting opponents on Xbox Live with your holiday music. As a professional at annoying entertaining, I figured I'd gift you this virtual mixtape of my favorite ditties to liven up the mood wherever you are. |
| The big o' Steam, GMG, and Origin Winter Sale top pick roundup Posted: 23 Dec 2015 10:00 AM PST Yesterday the Steam Winter Sale went live, culminating in the year-end yuletide savings PC gamers have come to expect. Unlike previous years though, there are no flash sales or daily deals to worry about. While we're sure there are plenty of business factors at play over at Valve, we think refunds now being an option is one of the main reasons for the demise of those types of deals. Imagine the headache Steam's non-existing support staff will have to deal with as gamers refund titles that drop in price the day after their purchase. Beyond Steam, major digital retailers also have their respective holiday/winter sales up in gear. The second-largest digital retailer, Green Man Gaming, has been running its sale since December 18. New batches arrived today and we've listed choice picks below (GTA V, Warhammer Vermintide, etc.) Over at Origin and GamersGate, you'll find some decent deals too on big titles (Inquisition GOTY, Rainbow Six: Siege). Check back occasionally on this post as we'll update it through the Winter Sale period and toss in anything new/exciting (e.g., that 34 percent off Fallout 4 deal from yesterday that's now expired). |
| Destructoid's award for Overall Best Game of 2015 goes to... Posted: 23 Dec 2015 08:00 AM PST The downfall of Japanese game development has been greatly exaggerated. It sort of reminds me of what happened a century ago, when Dr. Kellogg introduced Kellogg's Corn Flakes in hopes that it would reduce masturbation. Kellogg devoted much of his energy to discouraging sexual activity of any kind, and was an especially ardent critic of spanking the blood-starved beast. In fact, he believed it could cause nocturnal emissions, impotence, epilepsy, insanity, and mental and physical debility as well as dimness of vision and moral corruption. Our Game of the Year for 2015 has had a similar affliction on our judges, and we just can't stop playing with it. Videogame awards are serious business, so let me not beat around the bush here. Many great games were released this year and quite frankly getting a bunch of maddened video game critics to decide on one was an exercise of madness (thank you, my EIC trifecta). Of course, there's no "best" game as everyone has different tastes and mental problems, but for those interested I do have a tally of what our collective elitist opinion averaged out to be. |
| Sure, I'll take more Mario Maker costumes Posted: 23 Dec 2015 07:00 AM PST So long as Nintendo continues adding costumes to Super Mario Maker, I'll keep unlocking them (except for the Fighter Fly; I simply do not have the skill or patience to beat Gnat Attack on hard mode). EarthBound's own Master Belch and Mr. Saturn, though? Don't mind if I do! Looking ahead, we're getting Captain Toad, Birdo, and Excitebike outfits next. They'll be offered as rewards for clearing Event Courses. In Europe, the levels will go up on December 25 (Toad) and December 31 (Birdo, Excitebike). I'd expect similar timing for North America. The post-launch support has exceeded my expectations, and it doesn't show signs of slowing down. That's not to say there aren't still things that could be improved in Mario Maker -- there assuredly are! -- but I'm very pleased with the game at this point. Heck, I was at launch. |
| Black Desert Online has a lot of promise trapped in humdrum MMO conventions Posted: 23 Dec 2015 06:00 AM PST Despite there being closed betas for it in Korea since 2013, Pearl Abyss’ Black Desert Online only recently finally made its way to the West, with its first English-language closed beta test. With an appealing action-based combat and a hugely detailed character creation system, I took a look to see whether this will be an MMO worth sticking with by the time it fully launches. |
| Super Mario Galaxy hits the Wii U eShop tomorrow Posted: 23 Dec 2015 05:30 AM PST Super Mario Galaxy 2 was made available for download on Wii U at the beginning of the year, and now Nintendo is closing out 2015 with the first game. Super Mario Galaxy joins the Wii U eShop on December 24 in North America. It'll be $19.99, right in line with the disc-based version. Like many of you, I also prefer the first Galaxy. It just feels right, y'know? My disc is scratched to hell (and also lost, anyway), so I may wind up downloading this eventually. Super Mario Galaxy [Nintendo via Nintendo Everything] |
| There's a new Minecraft world champion, and I could totally beat him up Posted: 23 Dec 2015 05:00 AM PST Ten year old Julien Wiltshire is on the top of the tall blocky mountain, as he's the new world champion of Minecraft. That's a big accomplishment for such a little dude! And, I could totally beat him up if I wanted. "But Brett, why would you -- a relatively healthy and handsome 20-something year old -- want to pulverize a small child?" I wouldn't, you monster! I'd be more likely to throw him on top of my shoulders and run a victory lap as the American flag is draped around him! But, I'm also saying that if push came to shove, I would defeat him in hand-to-hand combat. And I would be doing all the pushing and shoving. Really, the little tyke wouldn't stand a chance. Ankle picks, spinning backfists, savage noogies -- they'd all be Julien's undoing. Atomic wedgies and horrific swirlies are in my arsenal too. I'm not a bully; I'm just doing what's necessary to survive. In fact, I'm confident that I could destroy you and no less than four more of your friends at the same time. (Caveat: Ages ten and under; no recruiting a 20 year old linebacker from the nearby university to be your "pal.") If you and your gang of prepubescent street urchins somehow overcame me, I'd suddenly erupt upward and send you all flying haphazardly in every which direction. You're ten, Julien. Ten! Probably 75-pounds soaking wet. It'd be so easy. Me, a full-grown games-blogging man, versus a pre-teen who hasn't even felt the devastating crush of the real world yet. Think of this theoretical beatdown (that I'd never actually dish out) as a lesson, bud. There's so much disappointment and confusion in this life, wondering why this mean person is giving you vicious charlie horse after vicious charlie horse would be a good warm-up. The point is that you shouldn't pick a fight you can't finish, Julien. It'd hurt me more than it'd hurt you, and it'd hurt you a whole lot. (Please don't come looking for me in seven years. I'm so sorry, Julien.) |
| Posted: 23 Dec 2015 04:30 AM PST Before there was an abundance of rhythm games out there with plastic peripherals, there were developers like Haromix leading the way with controller-based experiences. Along with some long sessions of Gitaroo Man and PaRappa, Frequency and Amplitude were a few of my favorites. Nearly everyone I showed them to fell in love with them all the same. Harmonix's newest Amplitude reboot gets the foundation right, but some of its soul has been lost in the process of remaking it. |
| Destructoid's award for Best Xbox Game of 2015 goes to... Posted: 23 Dec 2015 04:00 AM PST Before Nathan Drake, there was Lara Croft. This is important to note because recently, for a good number of years, Nathan Drake was Lara Croft. Shrewdly, developer Naughty Dog took the cinematic action baton and ran far, far away with it. The Sony subsidiary was so effective in copping from Tomb Raider that it actually made Lara feel like a relic of a bygone era, just as old as the treasure she was always chasing. Square Enix eventually reinvented the Tomb Raider property under the tutelage of the Crystal Dynamics studio. Ironically (or maybe just fittingly), this was done by, you guessed it, copping from the Nathan Drake Uncharted formula. So, if you're keeping score at home, the Uncharted franchise was hugely successful for being better Tomb Raider games and then Tomb Raider later took that influence to become even better versions of Uncharted games. Crazy, eh? The parallels between the two aren't exactly tenuous either. Just a month back, Steven was moved to write an editorial wondering if the newest Crystal Dynamics game, Rise of the Tomb Raider, is simply the best Uncharted. It probably is, because, if nothing else, it has the benefit of coming out a few years after the latest Uncharted. That's how cyclical this relationship will likely be as long as both franchises continue to see success. It's enough to make you wonder why exactly Crystal Dynamics isn't held in the same public regard as Naughty Dog. It's certainly making games that are the same quality. The pedigree is there. That's nowhere more evident than in November's Rise of the Tomb Raider, the developer's best title yet. We're giving Rise of the Tomb Raider some hardware as the Best Xbox One Game of 2015. In a year where so many of Xbox One's best experiences could also be found elsewhere, Rise of the Tomb Raider is a true (timed) exclusive that helps justify owning the big black box. It's not just good under the qualifier of "...for an Xbox game;" it's one of 2015's standouts, period. It seems right to saddle Lara, an adventurer who spends so much of her time after fortune, with the treasure of an end-of-year award. And, because Uncharted 4 doesn't come out until 2016, this is one of the few times Lara Croft and Nathan Drake won't have to jockey for position. |
| Uncharted 4 has been delayed again into April Posted: 23 Dec 2015 03:55 AM PST [Update: Breaking news everyone -- our own Zack Furniss wanted to show off his cosplay of Nathan Drake, which you can view in the gallery below.] Following a previous delay into 2016, Sony has announced that Uncharted 4: A Thief's End has been delayed yet again into April 26, 2016. Previously, the game was set for March 18, but now Naughty Dog has essentially pushed it into the last possible date that would accommodate its "Quarter 1, 2016" target. The reasons given include "a few more polish passes." The developer conducted a beta test earlier this month for the multiplayer component, which concluded on December 13. It was okay. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End Arrives on April 26, 2016 [PlayStation Blog] |
| Nintendo is running another StreetPass Weekend for the holiday Posted: 23 Dec 2015 03:30 AM PST Although I wasn't thrilled with the StreetPass functionality on the 3DS at first (literally no one I knew had one), the popularity of the system has increased my enjoyment of it tenfold. This also goes for the StreetPass events and special Miis Nintendo throws our way, and there's another of the former starting this week. From December 24 to January 4, Nintendo will be running another StreetPass "Weekend." You'll be able to participate by way of any of the 29.000 Nintendo Zone hotspots across the US, which could net you up to six tags per stop. A gift for you: Holiday StreetPass Weekend from 12/24 - 1/4 [Nintendo] |
| The Witness 'might' get a physical release Posted: 23 Dec 2015 03:00 AM PST Although The Witness is set to release next month, Jonathan Blow is still putting on the finishing touches as we speak. Voiceover is apparently done outside of some minor work in early January, at which point the team will reveal the final voice cast. You can also get a look at the near final build above. Finally, there may be a physical box coming, and Thekla Inc., the developer, has been in talks with "a couple of parties for a while" on that subject. The announcement probably wouldn't come until after the digital release though. I'm not sure what I think about The Witness yet, but I'm definitely interested. |
| Review: Batman: Arkham Knight: Season of Infamy Posted: 23 Dec 2015 02:30 AM PST I've refrained from reviewing most of the DLC for Batman: Arkham Knight outside of the Batgirl add-on, because of the short nature of the mission-based tales. But Season of Infamy has four missions, so that means it's four times as good, right?! |
| Avenged Sevenfold is hosting a show on Guitar Hero Live this week Posted: 23 Dec 2015 02:00 AM PST I'm still rocking out with Guitar Hero Live, mostly because of the constant free content that comes my way by way of Guitar Hero TV. Sure there are microtransactions under the surface, but for weeks now, I've played the TV function without paying, and I have over 100 free plays under my belt that I don't even use. This week Activison is trying something a little different, as Avenged Sevenfold is hosting a live show that discusses and displays some of their favorite bands, like Pantera and Megadeth. You can find the schedule below! |
| Phantasy Star Online 2 will arrive in the spring on PS4 in Japan Posted: 23 Dec 2015 01:00 AM PST Ah Phantasy Star Online 2. Why did you have to be so good when I played you at TGS on PS4? Will you ever see a true western release? It's a possibility, but in the meantime, Japan will enjoy the PS4 version this coming spring, Sega has announced. Players will be able to enjoy a beta test in February, and a few months after that if all goes well, the full game. Evidently you will not need a PlayStation Plus membership to play, which is great news! Does anyone remember paying for Xbox Live Gold and a PSO Hunter's License back in the day? Phantasy Star Online 2 [Twitter] |
| Fable Legends microtransaction prices leak Posted: 22 Dec 2015 11:30 PM PST Fable Legends is currently in closed beta under NDA, but that hasn't stopped this reddit user from disclosing the in-game microtransaction prices. They range from $4.99 minimum all the way up to $59.99, which is simply called a "ton of gold." What I'm really interested in seeing is context behind these prices, as I'm not willing to get out my pitchfork having not played it. Is it possible to play through the entire game without spending money, and without feeling gated? Will the $60 level essentially buy out the game? I doubt it for that last bit, but again, I'm going to check out the full version first before I make a judgment. It doesn't look good though! Here's one reason Fable Legends is going to suck [reddit] |
| PSN EU reveals its final 12 Deals of Christmas promotion Posted: 22 Dec 2015 09:00 PM PST The final deal in Sony EU's 12 Deals of Christmas promotion will bring you discounts for Fallout 4. From now until 11.59pm GMT tomorrow, December 24, 2015, you can grab the standard digital version for €45 (was €70), or the fancy Digital Deluxe Edition for €65 (was €100). Unlike some of the other offers, there's no mention of additional discounts for PS Plus members. Have you picked up any of the 12 Deals of Christmas offers? They've included PES 2016 and Assassin's Creed Syndicate. My eyes still water at the price of digital-only games, so I've not seen much to tempt me - no matter how "cracking" Sony insists the deals are. What do you think? Standard disclaimer: No, I'm not paid to tell you about this. No money or gifts have been offered nor received. Just sharing deals as I find 'em (although I need to tell you that some links that point to Amazon or whatever may directly support our site). This is my last post before I disappear for Christmas, so have a fantastic holiday and a wonderful New Year, friends. I'll see you in 2016. HAPPY CHRISTMAS! <3 |
| FreQuency mode comes to Amplitude reboot Posted: 22 Dec 2015 08:00 PM PST The rebooted Amplitude will feature a FreQuency mode which turns the otherwise flat tracks into 3D tunnels. "In the original Amplitude, we got away from the tunnel design of FreQuency and flattened out the tracks," Harmonix explained. "We did this with the intention of better track recognition, allowing the player to have a better mental map of the music. We felt flattening out the tracks allowed the players to recognize that, in a certain song, the drums were always the leftmost track." But the decision divided players - and developers - alike. "Little did we know this change would divide gamers (and the in-house team) into two camps: those who thought the tunnel was superior and those who preferred the wide highway of tracks. "Even after 12+ years we are still divided! So, with some slick engineering work, we thought we’d make it an option to play either way. It’s up to you now to decide which mode is more fun." Amplitude will release on PSN and PlayStation 4 next month. Initially scheduled for release in March after raising more than $844,000 on Kickstarter, the game’s was pushed back several times. Amplitude reboot gets FreQuency mode [VG24/7] |
| The first Assassin's Creed was originally going to have multiplayer Posted: 22 Dec 2015 07:00 PM PST Here’s a fun little bit of game history for you. According to DualShockers, who attended a talk by Julien Merceron in Paris, Assassin’s Creed was originally going to have a multiplayer mode. While this feature was removed at some point in development, a bug was found much later on where if a second controller were plugged into the console, a second Assassin would appear. This hints that the multiplayer was going to be local, and more than likely some sort of co-op. Narratively, co-op in the first Assassin’s Creed would’ve been interesting. The game saw Altair demoted to the bottom rung of the Brotherhood, and he was incredibly unpopular with his peers due to his arrogance. Trying to fit another Assassin into that would’ve been tricky. Ubisoft has been toying with different types of multiplayer for most of the series’ history. Brotherhood was the first to have a fully playable competitive multiplayer mode, which lasted until Unity, which swapped that out for a four player co-op mode instead. Syndicate completely removed all traces of multiplayer, returning the series to the purely single-player experience it was for the first two games. Still, co-op in Assassin’s Creed is definitely something Ubisoft should consider for future games. I couldn’t try it in Unity thanks to the many, many bugs, so while I would love to, I’ve yet to take on the Templars with a friend… Original Assassin’s Creed Had a Bug Revealing Unfinished Multiplayer Mode [DualShockers] |
| Noitu Love: Devolution is coming to Wii U and 3DS in 2016 Posted: 22 Dec 2015 06:00 PM PST Way back in 2008, a rad little game called Noitu Love 2: Devolution came out. It was loud, it was fast-paced, and above all, it was ridiculously fun. Seriously, it’s on sale on Steam for £1.59 right now if you want to see what it’s all about. Almost eight years later, MP2 Games has announced that it will be porting the game to 3DS and Wii U in Q1 2016 under the name Noitu Love: Devolution. Seeing as the game uses the mouse for almost everything on PC, the touchscreens on the Nintendo platforms seem like a perfect fit for it. You can watch the trailer up top. I am seriously excited for this one, as I always found the mouse controls a bit exhausting after a while. But on the 3DS, I can see myself having a lot of fun with it. Way back in 2012, a rad little game called Noitu Love 2: Devolution came out. It was loud, it was fast-paced, and above all, it was ridiculously fun. Seriously, it’s on sale on Steam for a ridiculous £1.59 right now if you want to see what it’s all about. Almost eight years later, MP2 Games has announced that they will be porting the game to 3DS and Wii U under the name Noitu Love: Devolution. Seeing as the game uses the mouse for almost everything on PC, the touchscreens on the Nintendo platforms seem like a perfect fit for it. You can watch the trailer up top. I am seriously excited for this one, as I always found the mouse controls a bit exhausting after a while. But on the 3DS, I can see myself having a lot of fun with it. |
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