Lisa (the painful, boundry-pushing RPG) really sparked conversation when we posted about it last week. It seems to have picked up quite a few supporters since then as well. As of Thanksgiving, the game has been fully funded and has moved on stretch goals. The first is for additional content starring Buddy -- the last woman alive. Should the game reach $10K, we'll be graced with the opportunity to play as Buddy as she works to discover the events that caused Lisa's world to transform into the disgusting, dismal, disturbing place that it has become.
Speaking of dismal, I'm proud to announce that Jim Sterling, Conrad Zimmerman and I will all be appearing in the game as NPCs. We'll be located in a place called Dismal Island, which will probably be a terrible place. From the looks of those silhouettes, we'll be joined by at least two other fixtures from our feel-bad comedy/videogame podcast. My bet is on Freaky Constantina and Willem Dafoe, but your guess is as good as mine. Other than what I learned from playing the demo, I don't have any inside info about Austin's plans for the game, and I want to keep it that way. I'd like to be as surprised as the rest of you the first time I boot up the game.
I'm particularly excited to discover what Jake "Virt" Kaufman will be bringing to the table. While Lisa's creator/programmer/artist will be providing most of the game's soundtrack, Jake has signed on to contribute music to the game in some capacity. What started as a small passion project from a professional martial artist is slowly turning into a star-studded extravaganza. Just goes to show what's possible when you're unashamed of your weird ideas, and are willing to put time and effort into making them a reality.
Prison Architect was one of the first games to appear on Steam's Early Access category and I think it's the game that's been best suited for the service. There's been a steady stream of updates since April and Alpha 15 is one of the best so far. There's been a big improvement in the performance of the game, specifically when it's a large map with a lot of prisoners present. I've not created a really big map so far so I can't say I've seen Prison Architect running slowly but this is a welcome update nonetheless in case I fancy running a really big prison.
Some neat additions are that your all your prison staff will now suffer from fatigue, so you'll need to built a staff room so your guards and workers can recharge their batteries. Of course, it's not like I need an excuse to put a pool room in a prison because that's only going to lead to those pool cues being stolen and used a weapons by resourceful prisoners.
Also added is the ability to speed up the game to a crazy speed, new ways to track contraband and new grants to improve your income. The big feature that's been added in Alpha 15 is a new way to support mods making it easier for user created add-ons to be used in game. No more altering text files, just drag and drop the mods into the relevant folder and you're good. I'm glad to see Prison Architect getting better and better; as I've mentioned before, there's a perverse glee to be had in making your prison-less-than secure. There's comedygold in that approach that offsets the dark thoughts that come with running a prison.
After THQ's dissolution, the Warhammer 40K license was scattered to the winds. We've ended up with an apparently disappointing Space Hulk remake and this upcoming Space Wolf game. What's interesting is that this game is going to be a turn-based combat game with a card collecting side too. The fact that it's featuring my favourite Space Marine legion is a definite plus; Space Wolves are like regular Warhammer 40K Space Marines mixed in with a dash of vikings. A winning combination if ever there was one.
Whilst the combat in the trailer doesn't look the most scintillating thing I've ever seen, the idea of a deck-building Warhammer 40K game is appealing. I've been getting into card games recently and the only thing that's stopped me playing more is the lack of a regular human opponent. A version of the game I can put on my phone sounds pretty appealing too but I'll have to wait until Q2 2012 when Space Wolf is due for release.
Gazillion Entertainment has, to the joy of some, added X-Men's Gambit to Marvel Heroes' head count. Gambit can be purchased from the in-game store for $17.99 (bloody hell) or for 400 Eternity Splinters.
Battlefield 4, at launch, was a pretty hectic experience on the PC, but the same can't be said about the watered-down 360 and PS3 versions of the game. Simply put, the maps are built around the concept of huge 64 player battles, and with a paltry 24-player limit, it turned them into ghost towns.
The Xbox One and PS4 editions are attempting full feature parity with the PC game, bringing the count back to a rightful 64, with some enhanced visuals in tow. But the "next-gen" consoles also have some nasty stability issues despite the fact that the experience is upgraded in almost every way possible.
Short post will be short.
To all of you who celebrate Thanksgiving, we sincerely hope that you've had a great one so far. For those of you who do not celebrate, we also sincerely hope that you've had a great day so far doing whatever it is you do!
Now if you'll excuse me, I have leftovers to demolish, all this food aint gonna eat itself ya know!
My family is very musically inclined. My father sings, and my mother sings and plays guitar. My wife's family is also musical; playing piano, guitar, drums, etc. between her, her brother, father, aunt, and so on. When I was about 12, I got an acoustic guitar for my birthday. I didn't start taking lessons for it until I was 17, in high school, once they finally started offering classes.
I'm the mutant of the family. I have no real discernible musical talent. While I do a passable job at singing, I can't really play any instruments. And yet...I own four guitars. Real ones. I also own four plastic guitars for games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band. That's how you'll get me to learn and play: make it a game.
BandFuse: Rock Legends was made for people like me. And people like my family. And sometimes, both at the same time.
MAGFest 12 is slowly inching its way toward us as I turn the pages of my word-a-day calendar (today's word is "gluttony"). Next year's event goes down January 2nd through 5th, and the second stage and MAG Prom line-ups have just been announced!
Here's what's in store:
Thursday - MAGFest Prom (12am - 2am)
Friday - Stage 2 (11am - 5pm)
Saturday - Stage 2 (11am - 5pm)
(You can view the chiptunes and DJ line-up here.) So are you going this year? I've never been myself, but my buddy Conor never stops talking about it. I guess that's why Destructoid is one of MAGFest's favorite communities?
Anyway, let us know in the comments if you'll be in attendance so I can remind Conor of your names after he's had 12 too many beers!
Despite the fact that it wasn't on my radar until this week, I'm intrigued by the Kickstarter project The Girl and The Robot , which just hit its Wii U stretch goal today. Billed as "Ghibli meets Ico," the game features a story involving a girl who's trapped in a castle, on a quest to escape with the help of a noble robot knight.
You'll be able to switch between the girl and the robot at will, and both characters have unique abilities to help solve puzzle and battle situations. The art is breathtaking to say the least, and although nothing is guaranteed with a Kickstarter campaign, I'm stoked to try out the eventual Wii U version.
The Girl and the Robot [Kickstarter]
It's a crying shame to see Rare reduced to producing Kinect games. With so much talent and so many IPs ripe for the taking, Microsoft has reduced one of the best retro studios of all time to a motion control factory.
But every now and then the "new Rare" will have flashes of greatness, as evident in Viva Piñata. Although Kinect Sports Rivals is far from what I'd call "great," it's a huge step up from the original Kinect Sports, and a vast improvement upon prior motion control technology.
Even with the early store openings they're calling Gray Thursday, Black Friday is really only one shopping day, so it's understandable that you'd want to maximize your time. We've done the footwork for you so you can go straight to the cheapest place for whatever you might be looking for. We've sorted the list by the top gaming items for Black Friday 2013 so you can see who has what for the best price, with the main link taking you to the lowest price we've found.
Please note that these items will switch over to their lowest price on Black Friday, so you may have to revisit some of these links on Friday morning. As for the unlinked products, you'll have to wait in line at the store for those.
As always, if you find something we've missed, or you've found a better deal than we have, let us know.
Happy shopping!
If you've been playing Forza Motorsport 5 , you're probably very familiar with the game's awful microtransactions. If not, basically the game uses tokens you buy in-game that can be used to purchase cars if you don't have enough credits. The problem is it's severely broken and takes advantage of consumers, specifically with the value of said tokens being misleading.
Players are not happy, and Turn 10 responded to both their feedback and in-game data with programs to be implemented this week as a means of tiding players over for the supposed permanent changes to come to the Forza 5 economy.
You've read the Games Guide, you've read the Hardware and Accessories Guide. I know what you're thinking. "Steven, you goofy-haired jerk, tell me something I don't know."
Fine, smart guy.
Here are a bunch of arbitrary suggestions.
Final Fantasy IV: The After Years is a direct sequel to Final Fantasy IV starring Cecil and Rosa's progeny. If you missed out on the Final Fantasy IV: Complete Collection and its weirdly smoothed out sprites, you can check out The After Years in full 3D on your mobile device of choice for $16.
So Final Fantasy IV goes chibi 3D on the DS, back to a weird, cartoony 2D on the PSP plus The After Years in 2D, and now The After Years has gone chibi 3D on mobile devices.
You do you, Square Enix.
Final Fantasy IV: The After Years Is Out On iOS And Android In Full 3D [Siliconera]
The votes are in for the 2013 Saxxy Awards and, thank goodness, the phenomenal short Patrick recently posted, "Lil' Guardian Pyro," took top honors. It's embedded above and I urge you to make time today to see it. I'm fighting the urge to watch a third time right now.
The full list of nominees and winners for best Short, Action, Comedy, and Drama are viewable here. I've also included the winners for each of those categories below. Enjoy!
The Winners for the Third Annual Saxxy Awards are Announced! [Source Filmmaker]
