Sunday, October 2, 2016

News:: Margaery Tyrell, Is That You?

This is Russian cosplayer Xenia Shelkovskaya, doing one hell of an impersonation of English actress Natalie Dormer/Westeros Deal Wheeler Margaery Tyrell.

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News:: Modern Warfare Remastered will most likely need the Infinite Warfare disc

An interesting detail about Modern Warfare Remastered has come to light; according to the official website, a disc is required to play the downloadable update. Wait, MW Remastered is being released on disc? Doesn't that kind of contradict the designation of digital download?

Well, it turns out that anyone who opts for the Collector's Edition of Infinite Warfare (to grab the remaster) will be shackled to that disc if they want to enjoy the remaster. Call it an asinine method of DRM or one of those ill-fated attempts to prevent trade-ins, but the text makes no other mentions of which disc or why there is even a requirement.

Obviously people who opt for the digital version of Infinite Warfare will not need some random disc spinning in their console, but what does this mean for the chances of this remaster being released as a standalone purchase? Will those arbitrarily require a disc, or is this just some lame way to lock people out for going physical?

Honestly, I don't know why Activision doesn't just allow an individual purchase of Modern Warfare Remastered. A bunch of people have given up on the series, but would gladly drop $50 for the "remake". Hell, Activision would probably end up making more money going that route instead of shackling this to the new game that probably won't sell as well.

New legal wording on Call of Duty site suggests Infinite Warfare disc will be required to play Modern Warfare Remastered [Charlie Intel]

Modern Warfare Remastered will most likely need the Infinite Warfare disc screenshot

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News:: Pro Gamer Killed In Car Crash

Phillip “Phizzurp” Klemenov, a professional Call of Duty player and streamer, has died in a car accident in Colorado. He was 23 years old.

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News:: The Week In Games: Don't Drink The Paint

The Paper Mario series got started fifteen years ago on the N64. In light of the fact that Super Mario RPG never received a proper sequel, it was welcome compromise. Even if the series seemed to have lost its way during the Wii era and more recently with Paper Mario: Sticker Star for the 3DS, I’ve always appreciated how the games let Nintendo’s darker quirkier side come out.

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News:: How to Stay Fresh in Japan

I make no secret about my love of Splatoon. I've thanked Nintendo on several occasions for creating a product specifically for me, and I hope they get around to making something specifically for each of you in turn. Thanks to Nintendo's Badge Arcade, my 3DS home screen is an ocean of squids, kids, and some stuff that's a little of both.

Long story short, Splatoon may have been the game I put the most time into last year. That's why I was interested to find out a little about how the game was localized in other regions. 

Clyde Mandelin, better known as Tomato, is a well-known figure in the field of localizing games from one region to another.  He's probably best known as the head of the Mother 3 patch that makes that game's ROM playable in English. He also runs the website Legends of Localization, which occasionally answers fan's questions about how something was altered in translation.

The most recent question answered on the website explains how Callie and Marie's catchphrase, "Staaaay Fresh!" was written in Japan. For English speaking territories, the phrase has a dual meaning. Fresh can mean youthful and stylish, and can also refer to freshness as the opposite of being canned or processed, one of the game's many fishy references.


Image by TheRockinStallion on DeviantArt.

In Japan, the wordplay of Fresh didn't work quite as well. So in Japan, the sisters close their broadcasts by saying イカ、よろしく!(“ika yoroshiku!”)

As Mandelin explains in the post, "Ika" can mean squid (as in Nicalis's proto-Cave Story game, Ikachan), but there are also several other words in Japanese that also sound like Ika. Mandelin continues: "Unfortunately, “yoroshiku” doesn’t have a strong English equivalent, which makes the catchphrase difficult to translate. Basically, “ika yoroshiku” roughly means something like “I appreciate your help following this”, “Let’s do well together in the thing that’s coming up”, or “I have high hopes for you coming up”, but in this case it also has a squid pun."

As you can see, Marie has some tildes after her phrase, something you might see if you're into anime. The tildes indicate a cute trailing off rather than an abrupt stop, sort of like the extra A's in the English version. This fits in well with the sister's sense of style and Splatoon's general fish-themed anime aesthetic.

Anyway, that's how "Stay Fresh" was localized from Japan. Be glad this is what we got, some of the alternatives are much, much worse.

What is Splatoon's Stay Fresh Catchphrase in Japanese? [Legends of Localization]

How to Stay Fresh in Japan screenshot

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News:: Review: Gotta Protectors

There are a lot of video games these days. Perhaps too many. Between the PS4, Xbox One, Wii U, Vita, 3DS, Steam, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, iPhone, Android, Apple TV, Fire TV, and the Dreamcast, it can be easy to miss a game or two. Or three. Or thirty. Hell, each week here on Destructoid we talk about new titles releasing on the eShop only to never speak of them again.

For the most part, I think we feel comfortable skipping over a lot of these. There's a reason we didn't review something like The Letter or Sweet Memories Blackjack. Why spend what limited time we have playing those when there's a game we can play we know you'll want to hear about? Of course this means there's always a chance we might miss out on something worthwhile, either because we simply didn't have the time to look into it or it was overshadowed by something bigger. That happened this past July when we glossed over the release of Gotta Protectors because it came out the same day as a bunch of Kirby Virtual Console ports.

We're not the only ones. When I first received a review code from Ancient (along with a nice letter asking me to please try it out), it didn't have a single review. That was more than a month after its initial release. A part of me felt bad for the game, so I decided to give it a whirl. You should too because it's amazing.

Review: Gotta Protectors screenshot

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News:: Valve's Latest Dota 2 Patch Is Chock Full of Nerfs

It’s been more than a month since TI6, Dota 2's largest tournament of the year. After a number of team roster shake-ups and the conclusion of the MDL Autumn 2016 tournament in China this weekend, which saw the newly formed Evil Geniuses beat Team Newbee 3-1, Valve decided it was time to drop the latest update to the game’s meta with patch 6.88e.

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News:: Lego Island is nineteen and vaporwave approved

Lego Island is 19 years old. If that little tidbit of information doesn’t make you feel either super old or wistfully nostalgic, it’s safe to assume your childhood was deprived of true happiness.

Lego Island came along at the perfect time. It had no real objectives, outside of potentially apprehending a career criminal named ‘the Brickster.’ He was a constant pain in the ass, who spent most of his time stealing ambulances and deconstructing buildings with reckless abandon. The game never made players put an end to the Brickster’s crime spree, however, and instead encouraged them to spend their time exploring and generally just chilling out. You could build cars, ride jet skis, or spend a few hours slinging pizzas to hungry island residents.

Lego Island is nineteen and vaporwave approved screenshot

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News:: Counter-Strike Pro Takes Bomb Site By Throwing His Sniper Rifle

In the ESL One New York 2016 semi-finals for CS:GO, European powerhouse Natus Vincere took a three game series against the previously unstoppable Team Liquid 2-1. Despite Ice-T telling everyone not to fuck with Team Liquid, NaVi dared to and came out the other side looking better than ever.

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News:: Hit side-scroller 'Axiom Verge' lands on Xbox One

Not surprisingly, Axiom Verge has taken a while to spread across platforms -- Thomas Happ designed the entire Metroidvania-style shooter by himself, so even a straightforward port was bound to take a while. At last, though, you don't have to be picky about where you play. Happ has released a version of Axiom Verge for the Xbox One, making the mind-bending side-scroller available on every modern TV console (the Wii U version arrived on September 1st). So what took so long for this release, especially since it was available on PCs ages ago?

Source: Microsoft Store, Xbox Wire



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News:: Russian Wildcard Pummels Opponent Into Submission In Another Worlds Upset

Counter Logic Gaming has a history of performing unevenly at big League of Legends tournaments, and Worlds is no exception. Founded back in 2010, the veteran LoL team exited the 2015 World Championship before the knockout phase, finish 2-4 during the group stage. After falling to Albus Nox Luna in last night’s match, they now have the distinction of losing to a wildcard in three consecutive international tournaments.

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News:: Digital Homicide looking to drop lawsuit against Steam users

Steam users can rest easy knowing they won't have to appear in an Arizona courtroom anytime soon. Members of the Digital Homicide Steam group found paperwork filed last week with the district court of Arizona asking for a dismissal of Digital Homicide's case against 100 Steam users without prejudice. According to the motion, Digital Homicide was "destroyed completely financially disabling The Plaintiff [James Romine Jr.], destroying usability of all current work effort, and other untold damages."

Speaking with TechRaptor, James Romine says the reason he is asking the case to be dismissed is because it's no longer financially possible with all of Digital Homicide's games being dropped from Steam. Romine believes his case does have merit and if a judge agrees to drop it without prejudice, he can refile down the road.

The TechRaptor piece is interesting and Romine does bring up a fair point or two. Steam has a problem with shovelware, Greenlight still needs a lot work, and online harassment can get out of hand. That I think we all can agree on that, but Romine also paints himself as a champion for consumers, saying he's been fighting for lower prices and a more open marketplace. I guess he succeeded because games have never been as cheap as they are right now and with so many different marketplaces to choose from, it's never been easier to get your art into the hands of players. 

If you're wondering about the case against Jim Sterling, there is no update on that just yet.

Digital Homicide Files To Dismiss Case Against Steam Users [TechRaptor]

Digital Homicide looking to drop lawsuit against Steam users screenshot



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News:: What if Nate from Yo-kai Watch and Don Chan from Taiko Drum Master were... closer?

A good sexual innuendo joke can disguise itself in ways that won't potentially come off as suggestive to children, while meaning something more to adults. Such is the beauty of Don Chan's appearance in Yo-kai Watch 2,  If you end up asking yourself "do the people who wrote this know how this sounds?", then they did their jobs right. 

Now it's up to Pokemon Sun/Moon to try to one-up this suggestive cameo from a relatively obscure Japanese rhythm game icon. I nominate a horny blue Hustle Kong as tribute

What if Nate from Yo-kai Watch and Don Chan from Taiko Drum Master were... closer? screenshot



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News:: Artist Yusuke Naora announced yesterday on Twitter that he has left Square Enix.

Artist Yusuke Naora announced yesterday on Twitter that he has left Square Enix. Naora, who was art director on a number of Square Enix games, including Final Fantasy XV, got his start as a field graphic designer for Final Fantasy VI. According to Nova Crystallis, who translated the tweets, Naora will still work with Square Enix in the future independently.

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News:: Do you want gaming and related media to be your 'safe space'?

When I first started here at Destructoid, content creation was the key to maintaining a successful website. Update the site as often as possible, with as much high quality, unique content as possible. These days, the story has changed. Content is everywhere. No one is thirsty for more. They're literally drowning in it. Instead, people are looking for curation to help dam the ever rising flood of information sent into their brains each and every day into something they can control. Netflix, Steam, etc. 

Over the past few years, I've witnessed more and more people try to take on the task of curation themselves by using the internet's endless capacity for the free exchange of information to control how others exchange information. The ever-increasing demand for trigger warnings, spoilers warnings, and various other forms of content warnings. The attempt to publicly humiliate and stifle people based on their tastes or opinions. Using various labels, and the counter-labels used to try to humiliate and stifle those who are suspected of trying to humiliate and stifle others. The organized "raids" on online personalities and pundits who have "wrong opinions" in order to try to intimidate and exhaust them to the point where they stop talking. The list goes on

Sadly, gamer culture has been prey to all of these wholly undemocratic and unfriendly practices. Seeing as how AAA game marketing has worked to shape gamer culture into a petty, excluding, turf-war obsessed, "Bad Boy's Club" for more than 20 years, I don't blame a lot of younger gamers for falling prey to this nonsense. Still, I have faith in you, dear reader, and your capacity to self reflect. So tell me, do you want Destructoid to become a "safe space", where you do not have to run the risk of feeling challenged, criticized, or potentially made to feel less than perfect? If not, where exactly do you think the line should be between being honest and uncensored editorial and editing your work in an effort to cater to your audience? 

Do you want gaming and related media to be your 'safe space'? screenshot



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News:: Shaq Shows Up On Twitch, Kisses Pro Players

It’s not every day that a sports legend shows up to your hotel room to briefly chat about video games and then try to eat your head. While Shaq might not have actually eaten anyone, you could be forgiven for mistaking the above gesture as something other than a friendly kiss.

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News:: Sunday Comics: Sacrifices Must Be Made

Welcome to Kotaku’s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon.

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News:: Sunday's Best Deals: Amazon Tap, $50 Sony Bluetooth Headphones, Pyrex, and More

$30 off the Amazon Tap, $50 Sony Bluetooth headphones, and Pyrex measuring cups lead off Sunday’s best deals.

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News:: Fighting game's 'useless' add-ons help its creators

Steam has a wide range of ways to support game developers, ranging from buying early releases through to countless add-ons. But it doesn't have a way to pay developers out of sheer kindness. How are you supposed to donate short of visiting a website? Pehesse has a way: turn those donations into add-ons. The developer's Honey Rose: Ultimate Fighter Extraordinaire is available for free, but includes eight DLC purchases that do absolutely nothing besides reward the team for its work. The creators of this brawler/visual novel hybrid are very explicit about their pay-what-you-like model, too -- tier labels even offer suggestions, such as "symbolic," "2016 standard" and "above and beyond."

Via: Kotaku

Source: Steam



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