New Games |
- The Walking Dead has sold over 8.5 million episodes
- Valve's Steam Box will use Linux, debuting this year
- My greatest MAGFest 11 moment
- RIP: PlayStation 2 production has stopped worldwide
- Jessica Nigri becomes an Assassin with her latest cosplay
- Here's some footage from the canceled Blur sequel
- MAGFest: Day three with virt, Yuzo Koshiro, and A_Rival
- Review: Forge
- MAGFest: Streets of Rage 4 prototype rejected by Sega
- MAGFest: Bad Dudes to tackle EarthBound for next album
- Review: The Sims 3: Seasons
- Sup Holmes fights pretty with LA Death Disk's Beau Blyth
| The Walking Dead has sold over 8.5 million episodes Posted: 06 Jan 2013 03:00 PM PST Telltale CEO Dan Connors has told the Wall Street Journal that players have purchased more than 8.5 million episodes of The Walking Dead across consoles, PC, and iOS devices since release. As the WSJ states, at $5 per episodes that's more than $40 million in sales. A quarter of these sales all happened on the iPhone and iPad too. November and December saw the biggest sales for Telltale, thanks to the release of the finale episode, the retail version release, Apple's Hall of Fame promotion, and all the truckloads of Game of the Year awards it received, including Destructoid's. Many congrats to Telltale on their successes. Now hurry up and make season two of The Walking Dead happen already. Behind the Hit iPhone Game “The Walking Dead” [The Wall Street Journal] |
| Valve's Steam Box will use Linux, debuting this year Posted: 06 Jan 2013 02:00 PM PST Valve's electronics engineer Ben Krasnow reportedly gave a talk at the EHSM 2012 conference in Berlin recently where he gave out new details on Valve's Steam Box. According to German tech site Golem.de, Ben told the audience that Steam Box will run on Linux. Not surprising given Gabe Newell's stance on Windows 8, and Valve's foray with Linux recently. Additionally, we should be learning new details about the Steam Box this year at either the Game Developers Conference in March, or at E3 in June. I'd say E3 is more likely given that I know GDC frowns on any sort of product reveals done at the show. Either way, this is pretty exciting news and adds even more to the current disruption happening in this industry. Steam box without Windows [Golem.de, via PC Gamer] |
| Posted: 06 Jan 2013 01:30 PM PST This was my first MAGFest, and damn, it did not disappoint. So much hotness everywhere. For most people, it would be impossible to narrow down the greatest moment of the show. For me, it was simple. I'm at the main concert stage listening to Bit Brigade, the band that deftly fuses videogame covers with live speedrunning, as the group performed Castlevania. I'm there with my good friend Patrick Kulikowski, writer for Pixelitis and VGdrum hero, when Pat taps me on the shoulder and tells me to look to our right. Standing right next to us is Kinuyo Yamashita, the original composer for Castlevania. I am standing immediately next to the composer of a game for which the soundtrack is currently being performed on stage by a live band while another dude is playing the game whose soundtrack is currently being performed by the band as the original composer of said game's soundtrack is watching the game and its music being played live and... BOOM. |
| RIP: PlayStation 2 production has stopped worldwide Posted: 06 Jan 2013 01:00 PM PST Last week we found out that PlayStation 2s had stopped shipping in Japan. Sony has now officially announced that PlayStation 2 production has stopped worldwide, according to The Guardian. Yes, it's truly an end of an era. Hard to believe it's been 12 years since the PlayStation 2 was brought to life. In that time Sony sold 150 million units worldwide, and there were over 10,000 games created for Sony's dominating system. There's no denying that the PlayStation 2 won the last-generation, with its killer lineup of exclusives, and the brilliant idea of including a DVD player within the console. While it hasn't seen the light of day for the longest time now, I'm glad I own my PlayStation 2 plus handful of games still. |
| Jessica Nigri becomes an Assassin with her latest cosplay Posted: 06 Jan 2013 12:00 PM PST I love cosplay. A lot. It's always a blast seeing people go all out to dress up as characters they love and strut their stuff at conventions like Dragon*Con, PAX, Comic-Con, and way more. One of my favorite cosplayers to follow is Jessica Nigri, who most of you will know from her work on Lollipop Chainsaw. Jessica's latest sees her taking on the role of Connor Kenway from Assassin's Creed III. Her Facebook fan page features several shots, such as this one where's she about to tomahawk someone in the face. Or this one where she's reflecting on how awesome it was to smash a tomahawk into someone's face. My favorite from her photoshoot? Oh it's easily this one:  [Photo credit: Larry Alan] |
| Here's some footage from the canceled Blur sequel Posted: 06 Jan 2013 11:00 AM PST Remember Blur? It was that awesome racing game that was basically Mario Kart for adults by Bizarre Creations. Unfortunately that development studio was shut down shortly after Blur's release. Well new footage of the last title Bizarre was working on has been revealed by Chris Davie, former art director for the studio. While it's obviously some sort of sequel for Blur, Chris never states that this was officially a sequel. He just refers to his footage as "an announced, unfinished project." The first video showcases new visual effects the studio was tinkering with, such as how racing with intense weather effects would be like. The second bit of footage depicts a near complete stage set in Dubai. It also shows off a brand new engine that Bizarre had developed, but sadly never got to ship a game with. Despite the news of the studio closer, Chris continued to work on the Dubai stage as he felt it would be "a shame that nobody would get to play a finished track, even the dev team." He and a couple of others did what they could to develop the level right up until "the lights went out for good," but sadly never completed. I would have loved a Blur sequel. How about you? [Via @lucidcreate, @supererogatory] |
| MAGFest: Day three with virt, Yuzo Koshiro, and A_Rival Posted: 06 Jan 2013 09:30 AM PST As previously mentioned, the Saturday's schedule at MAGFest was incredibly compact. There were tons of great acts scheduled as well as several impromptu performances that turned out to be some of the best of the show. As always, Jake "virt" Kaufman drew a huge crowd with his energetic chiptune performance that he split with coda. It was an amazing set and one of the best of the event. Also of note was Rare Candy's set that closed with an awesome Chrono Trigger medley. Yuzo Koshiro's highly-anticipated DJ set and had everyone in the room jumping and dancing with tracks from a mix from Actraiser, Streets of Rage, and Wangan Midnight. He even led the crowd for several Colossus screams which was a sight and sound to behold. An impromptu chiptune show took place at about 2:00am featuring new music by Zen Albatross and others, and A_Rival took to the stage and had a delirious crowd going until about 5:00am with his funky "Chemical Plant Zone" from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and TMNT. And that wraps up our music coverage from MAGFest. We hope everyone that attended enjoyed the event, and we hope to see you next year! And, as mentioned at our panel, please chime in and let us know what you want to read when it comes to game music and chiptune coverage! |
| Posted: 06 Jan 2013 09:00 AM PST Maybe it's just me, but it seems that every once in a while there is a game that comes out that makes a statement about MMORPGs. That the best part of those games is the player-versus-player segments. In 2007, there was the "glorious hit game" Fury, which made waves with truly innovative gameplay ... or not. The end of the year sees another group of developers making the same statement with Forge. Unlike Fury, Forge actually makes some sensible accommodations for the formula, but still pushes the same claim that you won't be grinding, and will be going straight into the action with everything you need at the start. You may be able to jump into the action early, but do all the claims laid forth hold up?
Forge (PC) Forge is a bit weird to me. I think I knew everything I wanted to say about the game within the first hour of playing. It's also technically incomplete, with some features missing currently, though the hooks are in the game for them already. I feel that it is complete enough to have loads of fun with, and there's enough included to still warrant a full review. The combination of a shooter and an MMORPG player-versus-player mode, Forge plays out with two teams engaged in arena-style combat, with a small variety of modes featuring different objectives. At its core, the shooter aspect influences these modes a bit more. Objectives range from killing enemies to capturing the other team's flag, or in Forge's case, a crystal. Teams are made up of players who can choose one of five character classes, each one falling more towards the MMO roles, such as tank or healer. There's the Assassin, a melee damage dealer with some stealth abilities; the Pathfinder, a ranged bowman than can lay traps; the Pyromancer, a magical damage dealer; the Shaman, a healing dwarf with some light offensive skills; and the Warden, a damage sponge and enemy distraction.
This fusion leads to interesting gameplay, as well as a control scheme that I just absolutely love. Forge controls less like a typical MMO and more like a shooter. You strafe with the A and D keys, not turn, and your mouse movements directly aim your viewpoint. Following the MMO formula, instead of swapping weapons with your hotkeys, they control your character's abilities. The biggest innovation here comes in how the default layout is set for the hotkeys. Eschewing the standard 1-9 keys that are used for weapon selection in shooters, and casting abilities in MMOs, Forge lays out the hotkeys on the keyboard buttons next to the WASD keys, and above the space bar. It takes a little getting used to, and perhaps a little rearranging, but the end result is that all your skills are easier to hit without having to compromise your movement or aim. This approach feels really cool and takes into account the fast pace of the game. MMORPG PvP isn't usually slow, but the pacing in Forge falls a lot closer to something like a Team Fortress or Unreal Tournament, but with the ability spam and cycling of World of Warcraft integrated. The choice in controls also allows for much more varied actions to be performed, such as wall jumping, which can be chained with no specific limit other than space or resource points. This brings me to the next point, stats. Each class has its own stats, including a unique "resource point." It sounds special, but it basically amounts to the mana or stamina for that class. These points substitute ammunition in shooter terms, though instead of governing how much you can use your weapon, they govern your ability usage. Not only do your abilities eat up this resource, but so does sprinting, jumping, and blocking. Resources do recharge at a quick rate, but the drain from skills and actions is fast enough that players still have to be conscious of their skill choices. After sprinting across the map, you may opt to hide in a corner for a bit to recover some resources before entering a fight, for example. It also can shut down popular shooter strategies such as bunny hopping, making the choice between fighting and fleeing more distinct in these cases.
The stats extend beyond simply health and resources, with a usual bevy of RPG statistics that vary per character. Unlike an MMO, you don't "level up" to gain any new points to grow these stats. Each character starts with all the abilities, and all the stats that they will ever have. This means two things. Firstly, that skill in gameplay is the major distinction between levels of play. Second, it means that anyone who enjoys the feeling of growing in power will be disappointed. Characters do level up, though the usual association with what happens does not apply here. One of a few things can happen: you can rearrange some statistics, reallocate your armor's points, or you'll unlock something unimplemented yet. While there is no gain of power in Forge, you can make each character into a specialized version of that character by rearranging the points that it has at the start of the game. So if one really wanted to, they could make a Warden that dies more quickly than others, but is faster and deals more damage. The idea of specializing is something that I really enjoy in most games. That's no exception here, and it still helps keep the playing field even across the board, as becoming strong in one area takes away from another. Leveling goes back on one of the major claims in the marketing -- that there is no grind. There's a general pool of experience, earned from performing specific feats in a match, such as capturing flags and surviving for extended combat periods. The experience can then be distributed to a character to level them up. Earning experience takes a good few matches early on, and only continues to take longer with each new level. Add in varying performance each match, 99 listed levels per character, and you have a grind!
Of course, this leveling can be ignored. Much like Team Fortress 2, one can hop between characters and still do well, even without having a lot unlocked for each of them. Similarly, it feels like the game emphasizes playing characters as the match calls for them, rather than just sticking to one familiar class each time. This specialization is the only small thing that feels counter to that idea, as it rewards you more for pouring all your experience into one character. Graphically, Forge manages to hold up to the standards of today, despite being an indie game. The environments of the levels vary wildly, from a medieval city square, to a forest outpost with cave network underneath, as well as a couple of massive temple ruins with a valley and single bridge between them. The characters are also intricately designed, with each one having a very distinct look, yet they all look like they fit with everything else in the game. I only counted three maps, not including the tutorial map, but each feels well designed. They are all large, offering multiple paths, and have a nice amount of "verticality" to them, such as underground caverns or high-laid rooftops. The nature of having each map need to apply to all of the modes in Forge shows -- each one has two distinct "bases," but given that all the modes are team-based, it works as a strength. The bases also usually have healing totems in them, which help fight back against spawn camping most of the time. The audio design is good too, once again fitting around a single theme, or a single track in this case. What is there is well composed, but at the same time, there's not too much variety in music or sound effects. I think I heard maybe two or three footstep sounds, and what feels like only one background track. Some skills even seem to use the same sound effects.
The game performs well, even on my now aging laptop. The framerate with everything maxed out, running at 1366x768, the maximum resolution my screen supports, remained stable and smooth. The network connection also prove to be sturdy, as I noticed lag maybe once in my initial hours of playtime. Load times were fairly quick for me, taking roughly 20-30 seconds when changing maps. All in all, Forge is quite enjoyable. At the same time, I did find myself struggling to want to continue playing. I'm not sure if maybe it's that the game is more of a shooter than I expected, or how it lacks that progression and stat growth, or if it is just because it's incomplete. When I do play, I enjoy Forge, but I wish that I was playing an MMORPG with the same gameplay setup instead. In the end, unless you're someone heavy into shooters who is looking for something different yet familiar, or are into MMOs for the PvP mainly, then it would be worth waiting for the game that will be "forged" a few months down the road. |
| MAGFest: Streets of Rage 4 prototype rejected by Sega Posted: 06 Jan 2013 08:30 AM PST You probably know by now that composer Yuzo Koshiro was one of several special guests at MAGFest 11 this weekend. While his DJ set last night was amazing, we did get the chance to talk to him before the show and immediately asked him about the possibility of a Streets of Rage 4. He explained to us that he was contacted about the project about ten years ago, at which point the team made a prototype that was subsequently rejected by Sega, and he hasn't heard any rumblings about it since. I took the opportunity to ask him what kind of soundtrack he would envision for a new Streets of Rage game if it were to be made, to which he responded, "Modern club music," but more emotionally varied than the high-speed trance music found in the street racing Wangan Midnight franchise. Are you still waiting for Streets of Rage 4? Would you prefer a retro FM soundtrack, or would you trust Koshiro's instincts to go with modern electronic music? |
| MAGFest: Bad Dudes to tackle EarthBound for next album Posted: 06 Jan 2013 07:30 AM PST Despite numerous scheduling conflicts yesterday at MAGFest, we did get the chance to pop in on the Bad Dudes panel where they announced that their next project will be a physical remix album dedicated to EarthBound. We've been told to expect a vocal performance by our own Dale North, and my favorite track from the game, "Paula's Prison," will also be featured. It should be ready before next year's MAGFest rolls around. Additionally, Fangamer, who is now distributing Bad Dudes merchandise, will have an entire product line dedicated to EarthBound, of which this CD is just one part. In other news, A_Rival was initiated into the fold as the latest Bad Dude, so get ready for even more awesomeness from the group moving forward. Will you be picking this album up? Do you have any requests that you'd like passed along to the team? |
| Posted: 06 Jan 2013 06:30 AM PST The Sims series will always have expansion packs. It's part of the experience to slowly add more content to the game. Usually these packs add active content like new town locations, new interactions, or new career paths for your sims. Seasons adds a little bit of this stuff, but it's mostly a passive expansion in that it adds things to the background of the sims' lives. Seasons mostly does what you would expect. It adds seasons, weather, and holidays to the game. While it's neat to have these features, I'll just come out and say that it's not worth forty bucks.
The Sims 3: Seasons (PC [reviewed], Mac) Fall, winter, spring, and summer. Sims will get to experience all four seasons and the changing weather. Winter is cold and full of snow, and sims can make snowmen or snow angels, they can snowboard, or they can build an igloo for a little winter "Woo-Hoo" (that's gotta be cold and uncomfortable). A new outerwear section has been added to clothing options, which sims will automatically change into when they go outside depending on the temperature. If they don't wear outerwear in the cold, they can start to freeze and they will eventually die (I checked, of course). Sims can also catch a cold now and spread it around with germs.
In the summer, your sims can get a tan if they stay outside in the sun for long enough, and if it is really hot, they will switch to their bathing suits to keep cool. Jumping into water can also help sims keep cool. This is worth knowing, because sims can get sunburned and eventually burst into flames if they stay out in the heat for too long (I checked this too). As for fall and spring, these seasons are really bland and serve as transitions between the other ones. It's pretty much just like real life. Weather effects are very nice to look at, and sims respond to them well. When it's raining, they pull out umbrellas and are afraid of lightning, and when it's snowing, they leave footprints in the snow. It's a welcome visual upgrade to the game's engine. Holidays that match real-world holidays have been introduced. Sims can go on dates on "Love Day," exchange presents on "Snowflake Day," or go trick-or-treating on "Spooky Day." Holidays are fun and it's neat to have some day-specific actions that you can do. It's a good touch that helps make the feeling of these seasons more meaningful to the lives of your sims. Winter would be lame if it didn't involve Christmas.
When you install Seasons and run it for the first time, one of the parks will be converted into a festival ground. Each seasons has a festival where sims can go and win prizes by completing events like hot-dog eating, ice-skating, playing soccer, or bobbing for apples. The problem with these festivals is that they are too alike. The events change, but if a sim goes once and does everything, there really isn't a need to go back again. This actually highlights a really big issue I have with The Sims franchise in general: any action is merely a new contextual menu option. I never feel like I am doing anything new. Sure, there are new animations, but the gameplay is always the same. Click on a thing, pick the thing you want to do, and watch something happen. A lot of the time the resulting actions are never that visibly different. It's great that the sims can do new stuff, but I really want EA to make me feel like I am doing something new.
Each of these features adds a nice layer of depth to the game, but they really don't add a lot of new gameplay. There isn't any new career to follow, there aren't any exciting new public lots, and while playing, I pretty much just goofed around waiting for the seasons to change. If you find yourself playing The Sims 3 a lot anyway, then Seasons will add something to the experience. If you are waiting for a new expansion to make you get back into playing The Sims 3, however, skip Seasons and wait for the next one. |
| Sup Holmes fights pretty with LA Death Disk's Beau Blyth Posted: 06 Jan 2013 03:40 AM PST [Destructoid's Director of Communications Hamza Aziz asked Jonathan Holmes to make a show called 'Sup, Holmes?' so that Destructoid could later sell a t-shirt that says 'Sup, Holmes?' on it. This is that show. Subscribe to the podcast feed and find more episodes here.] Local competitive multiplayer has made a big comeback in recent years, especially among game developers. One the devs leading that movement is young Beau Blyth, Batman fan artist and developer of Fish Face, Samurai Gunn, 0Space, and the LA Game Space headlining title LA Death Disk. Also, LA Death Disk features dancing men with giant flat tops, and that's pretty great. We'll be talking to Beau about the advantages and disadvantages of making competitive games, what it's been like developing on his own in the current state of games today, why his games have resonated so well with other developers, his definition of "fighting game," and much more. Join us at 1pm PST/4pm EST to get to know this strange young man! |
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