New Games |
- This is Doom as an Aliens game
- Final Fantasy Tactics director's studio considering refunds for mismanaged Kickstarter project
- Looks like Jynx was 'purplewashed' for the Pokemon Yellow 3DS re-release
- Ryu can also slap his butt in Street Fighter V
- Review: Slashy Souls
- Sony patents new Power Glove for PlayStation VR
- See new Guilty Gear Xrd: Revelator fighters in action
- What would it take for you to buy the next Zelda on the Wii U and the NX?
- Gish, Sub Rosa, and when not to skate with Alex Austin
- HTC Vive will cost almost 700 British Pounds, 900 Euros
- EA backs down in 'Ghost' trademark squabble with Ubisoft
- Review: Soul Axiom
- There's a whole host of new NX rumours floating around
- My time underground with Buried: An Interactive Story
- Shantae and the Pirate's Curse jumps to Xbox One next month
- Uncovered voice files reveal how Valve makes games funny
- PlayStation Vita TV discontinued in Japan
| This is Doom as an Aliens game Posted: 28 Feb 2016 12:30 PM PST I'm of the opinion that all video games should have Alien in them. I've gone on-record saying as much (a piece that Darren continually prodded me to actually write). Maybe it's completely unreasonable, but goddamnit did I ever legitimately expect a Xenomorph to come around the corner while I was in The Witness' desert temple. It's just that Alien makes everything better. Modder Kontra Kommando is working on doing just that with the classic Doom games. Tough task; those games were pretty fantastic already. Late last week, this video was released to show progress on Aliens: The Ultimate Doom beta 9.0. The Doom engine is pretty immediately recognizable, but the rest of it looks largely different. It has that survival-horror edge to it, and that's absolutely crucial for anything Aliens-inspired. And, the Xenomorphs are quick and largely unpredictable -- just like they should be. If all this has your curiosity piqued, I'd recommend checking out this video too. It seems a bit more dated (especially with regard to the HUD), but it has way more action. Turns out that aliens are scary even when run through a 1990s video game filter. Guess they really are the perfect organism, eh? Aliens: The Ultimate Doom [BETA 9.1] [Mod DB via reddit] |
| Final Fantasy Tactics director's studio considering refunds for mismanaged Kickstarter project Posted: 28 Feb 2016 12:00 PM PST Unsung Story, the crowdfunded SRPG from Final Fantasy Tactics director Yasumi Matsuno, was delayed indefinitely earlier this month after diminishing finances and departing staff forced the company to shift its focus to another project in order to stay afloat. Many of the people who supported the project, raising more than $660,000 for the developer, Playdek, in 2014 were understandably upset by the news and asked for refunds. That's something the studio is now considering, saying "As a company, we wouldn't want to hold anyone hostage so to speak to a project that they have lost faith in. This doesn't help anyone -- company or consumer alike." However, before Playdek can even consider issuing refunds, the developer maintains it first needs "get to a position of stronger financial health." "We have new agreements with our secured creditor in place that has enabled us to map out how we will continue progress on the previous development plan we shared," Playdek said, adding, "Our secured creditor has been tremendously supportive tremendously supportive through our company [sic] financial and development struggles, and is a team player in our good faith effort to remain a viable company and fulfill our development commitments and company obligations. "We know that as a backer supported project, our struggles with completing this project have been very trying for you, and we truly wish that development of this game had gone smoother," Playdek also mentioned. "Unfortunately, there are unexpected financial hardships that companies sometimes find themselves facing, and as difficult as they may be, we are thankful that we have been able to work through them and can keep the company viable and Unsung Story development on track." Unsung Story [Kickstarter] |
| Looks like Jynx was 'purplewashed' for the Pokemon Yellow 3DS re-release Posted: 28 Feb 2016 11:00 AM PST For whatever reason, a lot of characters from Japanese games and cartoons who have dark, decidedly human-colored skin in their original designs are given inhuman, almost tumorous-looking purple skin when their visages are localized for outside territories. Oil Man from Mega Man: Powered Up, and Mr. Popo, from Dragon Ball Z are a couple of examples of this very specific, very strange editing process. While I get that this practice probably comes from an effort to be culturally sensitive, it also effectively erases the appearance of dark skinned people (or Pokemon) with pronounced lips from their respective stories. Though there's definitely exceptions to this rule, I think that it's most often better to allow some potentially "problematic" representation marginalized groups into a game than to offer no representation at all, especially when it comes to race. For example, Barret from Final Fantasy 7 may be a cartoonish stereotype, but like Amos and Andy before him, he paved the way for the inclusion of better defined Black characters in the years that followed. That's part of why I thought it was cool that Jynx retained her black skin in the original Western release of Pokemon Yellow, and am sad to see that Nintendo reversed that decision with the game's re-release on the 3DS Virtual Console. |
| Ryu can also slap his butt in Street Fighter V Posted: 28 Feb 2016 10:00 AM PST Street Fighter V's ongoing butt-slap saga took a turn for the amazing today. A quick refresher for the folks at home: At one point, R. Mika had an animation in which she smacked her mostly-exposed behind for the camera, but then Capcom decided to obscure the gesture out of fear that it might make some players "uncomfortable," but then #TeamBooty fans just figured out a way to re-enable it in the PC version of the game anyway. Now, following those model swaps that brought mangled beauty to the Street Fighter cast, we have Ryu, beard and all, taking over for R. Mika's moveset. "Hot Ryu," indeed. And for your future Destructoid comment needs: [Video and gifs by Tommy Mac (via @Nibellion)] |
| Posted: 28 Feb 2016 09:00 AM PST Have you ever been in a GameStop and looked up at the monitor to witness that awful rabbit mascot ad? Slashy Souls is a lot like that, but somehow worse. It's one giant ad that disgraces the Souls name. |
| Sony patents new Power Glove for PlayStation VR Posted: 28 Feb 2016 08:00 AM PST One challenge facing virtual reality designers is what they should do with the player's hands. Some games, like flight simulators, have it relatively easy. A joystick and throttle can easily mirror what's going on in a cockpit. But for most everything else, some sort of new controller is needed to avoid creating a disconnect between what players see and what they feel. Up until now, Sony has utilized PlayStation Move wands when demoing PlayStation VR, and while they work better than a DualShock controller in this circumstance, it seems the company is testing out other ideas and looking to push things further with new technology. With that in mind, the electronics giant has filed three patents for a glove controller that would track individual finger positioning, include contact sensors, and send data back to the headset display so what your hands are doing is reflected on-screen in real time. The patents also include notes regarding sensors for detecting pressure and wrist movement, as well as haptic communicators (rumble) to provide a sense of touch to pair with the visuals. Who knows if the gloves will ever see the light of day. Companies file patents for products that never come out all the time, but I for one, think it would be so bad to see VR gloves work like the Power Glove was advertised to in The Wizard, as opposed to the barely functional real thing. Glove Interface Object [USPTO [1] [2] via NeoGAF] |
| See new Guilty Gear Xrd: Revelator fighters in action Posted: 28 Feb 2016 07:00 AM PST Arc System Works has unleashed a new trailer for Guilty Gear Xrd: Revelator and with it comes our first look at couple of the new roster additions in action, Kum Haehyun and Raven. In addition to showing off those two, along with Jam Kuradoberi, Jack-O, and Johnny Sfondi, the video includes yet another tease for Dizzy, who is essentially confirmed at this point. The PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 fighting game is currently planned for a May 26 debut in Japan, followed by releases in North America and Europe on June 7 and June 10, respectively. Its predecessor, Guilty Gear Xrd: Sign, has been available for PS3 and PS4 in both Japan and North America since December 2014, and has since come to Europe and PC via Steam. |
| What would it take for you to buy the next Zelda on the Wii U and the NX? Posted: 28 Feb 2016 06:00 AM PST A couple of nights ago, I had a dream that I was playing an alternate release of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD that starred the cast of Seinfeld. There was one bit where Jerry, dressed as Link, was riding some sort of demon bird and used a hookshot to try to steal a battle axe from a burly orc woman. After Jerry got the axe back, he and the orc got feisty and started french kissing. While this re-imaging of Twilight Princess is probably too good to be true, it did get me thinking about what Nintendo might be planning for the series in the future. Nintendo has been in the practice of releasing two, sometimes three SKUs of each Pokémon title since day one, and lately, the company has applied a variation of that tactic with a few of its other franchises. Sometimes these are simultaneous releases on the same console, like with Fire Emblem Fates. Other times they're spread across two platforms, like with Hyrule Warriors and Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U and the 3DS. Either way, the goal appears to be the same -- to give consumers just enough additional content to convince them to buy two different versions of the same game. It makes me wonder if Nintendo would try this with the upcoming Zelda title for the Wii U, which is also rumored to be coming to the NX. If each iteration shares the same engine, world, and soundtrack, but stars different versions of Link, each with its own story and a few unique weapons and areas to explore, would that be enough to get people to buy the both? If this is direction the game heads down, we can also guess that there would be some unlockable content for those who own both games, and that the NX version would look better and have some console-specific features like push-back analog sticks, thought it's arguable that some fans wouldn't even need all that in order to justify a double dip. Are you one of those fans, or would it take more for you to spend full price for two the-same-but-different The Legend of Zelda games? |
| Gish, Sub Rosa, and when not to skate with Alex Austin Posted: 28 Feb 2016 05:20 AM PST [Sup Holmes is a weekly talk show for people that make great video games. It airs live every Sunday at 4:00pm EST on YouTube, and can be found in Podcast form on Libsyn and iTunes.] [Update: Thanks so much to Alex for being on the show! Rerun should be up soon. In the meantime, here's some popular young men playing Sub Rosa and going bananas. Today on Sup Holmes we're happy to welcome Alex Austin of Cryptic Sea to the program. Alex is one of the old pros of indie development with a long list of games under his belt, such as the award winning games Gish and the award pre-winning Sub Rosa to name a few. We'll be talking to Alex about all that, the pros and cons of doing your own art, what it takes to make a hit in today's modern marketplace, and a lot more. Tune in live at 2:30pm for the whole she-bang. |
| HTC Vive will cost almost 700 British Pounds, 900 Euros Posted: 28 Feb 2016 05:00 AM PST A week ago, we learned the HTC Vive price was going to be pretty steep ($799 in the USA). Since then, people in other countries have been eagerly awaiting news on how the local pricing would stack up. Simply put, the HTC Vive is going to be pricey no matter where you live. The Valve co-developed VR headset and motion controllers are going to cost £689.00 at launch in the United Kingdom, €899 in Europe, CAD 1149 in Canada, and ¥111,999 in Japan. Yep, brace your bank accounts. If you have the cash and are interested in early adoption, you can pre-order one starting February 29, with orders shipping April 5. International pricing for Vive pre-order [HTC] |
| EA backs down in 'Ghost' trademark squabble with Ubisoft Posted: 28 Feb 2016 04:00 AM PST In January, Ubisoft filed a complaint with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, threatening Electronic Arts with legal action over a trademark application for the word "Ghost." EA presumably wanted exclusive rights to the word, at least as it pertains to video games, to protect the brand of its subsidiary Ghost Games, the new studio behind Need for Speed. But, apparently the trademark wasn't that important to EA. Rather than go to court and spend a bunch of time and money dealing with lawyers, the publisher formally abandoned the trademark application without prejudice on Wednesday, February 24 with Ubisoft's consent. In Ubisoft's Notice of Opposition, the company maintained a "Ghost" trademark would cause the French publisher harm, as consumers were likely to mistake EA's products for Ghost Recon. Now that may sound silly, people confusing racers for Tom Clancy shooters, but trademark law is inherently silly. If companies don't constantly fight for their rights, they'll lose them. Withdrawl of Application [USPTO via NeoGAF] |
| Posted: 28 Feb 2016 03:00 AM PST On paper, Wales Interactive’s Soul Axiom sounds like a really cool idea. Take an interesting plot about a digital afterlife, throw in some puzzles, add a heck of a lot of exploration across a variety of landscapes, and the result easily could’ve been a great and memorable experience. Sadly, it manages to fall woefully flat in almost every single way. |
| There's a whole host of new NX rumours floating around Posted: 28 Feb 2016 02:45 AM PST While any rumours before an official announcement should be taken with a major grain of salt, a new batch of Nintendo NX hardware rumours are doing the rounds from a source who has leaked correct information in the past. Geno, who has previously leaked new Pokémon forms and Microsoft's Illumiroom project, spoke to Dual Pixels and dropped a large amount of supposed hardware information about Nintendo's upcoming hardware. |
| My time underground with Buried: An Interactive Story Posted: 28 Feb 2016 02:00 AM PST As you might have guessed from its title, Buried: An Interactive Story is less about gameplay mechanics, and more about narrative. That's not a bad thing. Personally, I occasionally enjoy a less demanding experience where I can kick back, soak in a story and some ideas, and occasionally make a choice about where the events are heading. For an experience like that to hold up though, the narrative has to be on point, and sadly, it's at this fundamental level where Buried stumbles and never really recovers. |
| Shantae and the Pirate's Curse jumps to Xbox One next month Posted: 28 Feb 2016 01:00 AM PST WayForward's Shantae and the Pirate's Curse is coming to Xbox One on March 16. The third entry in the indie platformer series was originally released on Nintendo 3DS and Wii U in late 2014, and came to PC last year. It builds on the story of its predecessors, the Game Boy Original and Shantae: Risky's Revenge, seeing Shantae form a reluctant alliance with her longtime nemesis Risky Boots to save the land from the evil Pirate Master. Heavy stuff! A PlayStation 4 release of Pirate's Curse as well as its crowdfunded sequel Shantae: Half-Genie Hero (Wii U, PSN, Xbox, PC) are also both expected to release sometime this year. |
| Uncovered voice files reveal how Valve makes games funny Posted: 28 Feb 2016 12:00 AM PST Comedy is hard at the best of times, in a video game, it can be damn near impossible (looking at you Matt Hazard). The magical elixir of expectation, subversion, and timing that makes a joke funny is hard to nail down when working against the random behavior of a jerkass player who may not even be looking in the direction of the punchline. Its one of the reasons Valve's Portal series stands out as such a success, those games manage to be consistently hilarious while so many imitators try and fail to make gamers even crack a smile. The secret to Valve's success is a little less of a mystery today though. Diligent fans digging deep into an early version of the Steam VR Performance Test managed to ferret out some unused audio files of raw voice acting sessions of narrator Joe Micheals running lines with a few Portal 2 writers, including Erik Wolpaw. YouTuber Tyler McVicker of the Valve News Network channel went to the trouble of cleaning up the audio files as much as possible to bring out Wolpaw's direction with interesting results. |
| PlayStation Vita TV discontinued in Japan Posted: 27 Feb 2016 10:00 PM PST The PlayStation TV is a wonderful little device. At least in theory. The PlayStation Vita variant provides a great way to play portable games on a larger screen. It also costs significantly less than the handheld, and supports PlayStation Now streaming and PlayStation 4 Remote Play. Trouble is, it also inherited the Vita's problems. The memory cards are still far too expensive and other than small Japanese studios and indie developers, there aren't many game makers interested in producing original software for the device. And to make matters worse, many Vita titles do not offer any sort of compatibility with the PlayStation TV. For whatever reason, the PlayStation TV never caught on in Japan. According to the latest data from Japanese sales tracking outfit Media Create, as of this January, the machine had only amassed a total of 185,000 domestic sales in its lifetime since launching in November 2013. So perhaps it comes as little surprise that Sony has decided to discontinue the microconsole in Japan. According to the official product page, the electronics giant is finished shipping new units to Japanese retailers. While there's currently no word if Sony intends to do the same elsewhere in the near future, you might want to strike now if you're keen on owning one of these things. PlayStation Vita TV [Sony via NeoGAF] |
| You are subscribed to email updates from destructoid. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
