The NES Classic and it's Japanese counterpart are already incredibly cool -- but you know what makes an awesome toy even better? A secret message. Apparently, developers that worked on the Famicom Mini emulator left a short, hidden message in the code: "Please," it says, "don't break everything!"
Via: Siliconera
Shivercliff is an ominous name for a town. Some places, like Raccoon City or Bright Falls, have negative stigmas because of our past experiences in them. Others, like Silent Hill, get that stigma before we ever have to go there. Shivercliff is squarely in that latter category.
Shivercliff, a town where bad things surely happen, is the setting of Husk. This is a Polish-developed horror game that we had a chance to try a few months ago. Zack found it fascinating in its take on American places, mixing creepy small town tropes with large city features. That aside, Husk seems like it's comfortable in its horror roots.
The reason we're talking about Husk again is because it just received its release date (and this trailer to commemorate the occasion). Husk will launch on February 3 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Developer UndeadScout hasn't mentioned a price, but the game's Steam page says it's a four to five hour experience. Set your expectations accordingly.
As for me, I'm expecting the worst (in a good way). You see, this trailer has a shot of a conveyor belt of plastic doll parts. Dolls freak me out, man. I think it's because of that one scene in Red Dragon when Edward Norton's investigating the murder at the Leeds' house and it suddenly flashes between the little girl's dolls and the dead family with mirrors in their eyes. Messed me up real good. Stay away from dolls. They're nothing but trouble.
Have any room left on your shelf for Zelda merch? There's yet another sweet statue to consider.
This is a 25" tall, "life-size" replica of the iconic Majora's Mask, open now for pre-orders from First 4 Figures with an expected Q3 2017 release. What's the damage? The regular model is $355, while the bright-eyed, LED'd version is $385. The latter looks genuinely freaky while shrouded in darkness.
Pirating isn't a one-man operation. It requires a whole crew of like-minded scallywags all working together. A lone wolf isn't an efficient pirate; that's just an idiot waiting to get pirated.
Sea of Thieves developer Rare points out the necessary no-I-in-Team mentality that a good crew will have. For instance, whoever's steering the ship will need to communicate effectively with whoever's navigating via map because it's impossible to do both at once. Or, everyone will have to help safely transport a treasure chest; if people don't pull their weight, rival pirates won't have much trouble plundering your hard-earned booty.
For 50 years, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has shown off innovations and inventions, demonstrating how technology can be harnessed to improve our lives or just make things a little more fun. I got to check out the show on behalf of Destructoid this year to see what we can look forward to in gaming tech.
CES isn't like some of the other conventions you might be familiar with, like E3 or PAX. Instead of focusing on gaming, anything electronic is fair game, from drones and 360-degree cameras to 3D printers and e-cigarettes. As a result, CES is enormous, completely engulfing the Las Vegas Convention Center and taking over the Venetian and Westgate hotels as well. It's way too big for one person to cover, but I did manage to see a lot on the show floor. In no particular order, here are the four coolest game related things I saw at CES this year. Each of the winners was given one of the handsome plaques you can see in the header image.
Veteran gamers will have more than a few fond memories of Starcade, the first video game-oriented TV show. Well, it's about to come roaring back: Shout Factory has bought the rights to create a reboot of the series. It's too early to say how they'll modernize the format, but the early '80s original had a mix of game-specific trivia questions and competitive play -- we'd expect something in that vein. The new team is working with the original production company and creators, too, so it's not just a token nod to a familiar name.
Via: Kotaku
Source: Shout Factory (Twitter), Deadline
Nintendo's big presentation about the Switch is Thursday night, but first, more leaks!
Images of unannounced Hori accessories for the console have started surfacing online, some of which are utilitarian and expected (carrying cases, a charging station, stands) and some of which are exciting (an arcade stick, a Zelda skin that seems to suggest a March 2017 release for Breath of the Wild).
Most of the photos are of printed product sheets, but a handful of the shots are high-res and in color.
From the name alone, I briefly thought this latest Humble Bundle was about games with happy vibes, but it's better than that -- it's a play on Steam's user reviews. All of the featured games have attained the platform's coveted "Overwhelmingly Positive" rating. Looking over the list, I'm not surprised.
Pay $1 or more:
Pay more than the average:
Pay $10 or more:
"Overwhelmingly positive" doesn't necessarily mean "widely played," and that's what makes this a special group. I can vouch for Deadbolt. Lots of us on staff are into VA-11 HALL-A. What are those bonus games going to be? I'm curious to find out. Regardless, I'd recommend this one.
Humble Overwhelmingly Positive Bundle [Humble]
It's not hard to figure out your motivation in For Honor. It's eponymous, it's right there in the name. You fight for honor, a prize of the spirit that transcends anything material. Honor isn't easy to attain, though. It's one of those coveted qualities like glory or heroism that take a lot to achieve; but, once you have it, it takes a monumental fuck-up to lose.
For Honor has a taste for the valiant, but it's not enough to call yourself honorable. There's a beta running from January 26 through January 29 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Sign up here if you're interested.
The premise of the beta is a War of the Factions event where vikings, samurais, and knights battle each other for supremacy -- but not yet for honor. That's a more arduous road, one that can't be traveled in a single weekend.
Over the years, I’ve grown to have almost an obsession with Edmund McMillen’s games. They typically are fiendishly simple ideas with tremendous complexity in execution. Super Meat Boy is just a platformer, but the level design follows a Mario Bros. style approach to teaching through mechanics and the art design reflects a personal belief that McMillen felt games were failing to live up to. Any meager description doesn’t do the game justice.
The same can be said for The Binding of Isaac, which is almost like an autobiography of McMillen’s childhood. While he obviously wasn’t killing weird creatures (or his own mother) in a disgusting basement, the naivety of childhood shows in the grotesque depiction of biblical figures taken through an almost literal description.
And while the remake for Isaac, dubbed Rebirth, felt like a definitive edition of McMillen’s magnum opus, we eventually saw the release of an expansion that basically doubled the game’s content. A little over a year after that and we’re being treated to a second, and supposedly final, expansion called Afterbirth+.
Does this final chapter live up to fan expectations and is it worth getting for the uninitiated?
Don't expect to play Pokémon Go in Shanghai any time in the near future. China's official censorship body has declared that it won't license any augmented reality games until it has had a chance to determine whether or not they're a danger to personal safety and "national security." That last part is likely the real showstopper -- the government doesn't want you wandering near sensitive areas just because you're looking for a wild Pikachu.
Source: Reuters
A couple years back, Sony sold a limited-edition "Glacier White" PlayStation 4 bundled with Destiny, and now that color variant is returning for the PlayStation 4 Slim in Europe (January 24) and Japan (February 23) and hopefully over here in North America some day soon as well. The 500GB console is priced at €299 / £259 / 29,980 Yen, and Japan will also have a 1TB option for 34,980 Yen.
I'm still a fan! I've actually been meaning to snag an extra controller in that color. This news also has the added benefit of reminding us of that "Nintendo's White PlayStation 4 debuts" story.
Introducing the new Glacier White PlayStation 4, out 24th January [PlayStation Blog EU]
Rage quitting isn't just a problem in fighting games. There's a good chance you've played shooters where teammates drop the very second it looks like they'll lose, dooming your team to defeat. And The Coalition wants to do something about it in Gears of War 4. The developer is rolling out Title Update 3 in January, and it'll introduce the first phase of efforts to punish those who bail prematurely. If a player quits a Core or Competitive round, they'll face a temporary matchmaking ban to "discourage drop out behavior" -- and the more they do it, that longer that ban persists. Moreover, Squads with a suspended player won't be allowed to do matchmaking until the offending player's penalty is over.
Source: Xbox Wire
From the start, we knew that Pokemon Go probably wouldn't release in China. The government is just too paranoid about it, and as we've seen in other regions, they don't want folks wandering around where they shouldn't be roaming.
As of this week, nothing has changed. Reuters reports that China is still citing a "threat to geographical information security and the threat to transport and the personal safety of consumers." They're not just piling on Go, either, as the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film, and Television does not allow any augmented reality apps -- even though tracking still slips by every so foten.
While they don't have the same exact features, people in China can access any number of knockoffs, including City Spirit Go, pictured above.
With one million dollars on the line, cheering crowds and drivers from the likes of McLaren and Ferrari, the inaugural Visa Vegas e-race did a good job of conveying at least some of the spectacle of a physical motor rally. Held on the final day of CES 2017, the competition saw 30 competitors take to the tracks in race that was streamed on Twitch, with a live audience numbering in the hundreds. The spectators, a mix of fans and corporate sponsors, cheered, winced and applauded the challengers, which included 20 professional Formula E racers and the world's 10 best simulator drivers.
Source: FIA
Maybe in a move to compensate for the cancellation of Scalebound, Microsoft has updated the backward compatibility service on Xbox One with a whopping seven games today. Announced through Twitter by Major Nelson, gamers will be able to experience some older Battlefield titles along with Live Arcade games I've honestly never heard of. Note that Battlefield 3 is disc only for the time being.
My first ever experience with the SMT series was with its spinoff, Persona, back in 1996. My older cousin randomly picked it up because of the demonic imagery, and we spent hours huddled around a crappy TV playing it, switching off at key points in the story.
It was here that I discovered that it was part of the larger Megami Tensei umbrella, which had started nearly a decade before in Japan, and by the time Nocturne came out on the PS2 I was embedded in the series. Thankfully Atlus is not pulling a Nintendo and ignoring such a massive part of their history, as they've just opened up a 25th anniversary site for SMT.
The wording seems to suggest that SMT V will be announced sometime soon, but we also have Persona 5 coming out in the west as a celebration of sorts!
25th [SMT via Nintendo Everything]
I remember forgetting the word for female ninja, "kunoichi," when talking with a Japanese friend once. No matter how much I explained the concept and how much of a basic word it was, she couldn't think of it. When I finally remembered she laughed and called me a nerd because its actually a modern word that isn't really used outside games and anime. Whatever, its still cool to me and Koei Tecmo apparently.
One such female ninja named Okatsu will appear in Nioh. Like all real female ninjas in the 17th century, she speaks English, wears makeup, does her hair up nice, shows her face, wears revealing bright blue clothes, and is referred to by the modern term "kunoichi." The cool part is she is voiced not by an English speaking westerner, but by Japanese voice actress Emi Takei which gives an authentic feel to an otherwise ridiculous concept.
Is it possible our weeaboo William has found a waifu?
No More Heroes really shook up the action space.
Although I prefer the sequel's 2D retro minigames over the first's "job" system, the original really nailed it when it came to characterization. It has some of the best bosses in gaming, period, and was one of the few instances where waggle was not only hilarious, but justified.
VG247 spoke to the game's creator, Goichi Suda (Suda 51) recently, and he noted that he wants to do the same thing on the Switch, if possible. Talking about the subject, he explained, "Nintendo always makes really cool, interesting hardware that gives us new things to do. On the Wii, not to brag, but I feel that I made a game that used that Wii technology in one of the best ways. I want to find a cool new way to play using what Switch offers.”
But, he is still focusing on his recent passion of working with small teams. Evidently, he doesn't "really think so much about the industry at large," just what Grasshopper is doing or responding to at the moment. Well that, and the fact that he thinks that the "biggest hit" console era "might be over." The whole shebang is worth reading if you're into Suda and his games, and it helps explain why he hasn't been as active lately (with a light dive into Japanese culture and how the gaming market has shifted into mobile -- something I noticed during my visit in the past few years).
Suda 51 wants to make a game as distinctive as No More Heroes for Nintendo’s Switch [VG247]
Ever wanted to be live or be in a game world? You probably don't want to be in Nippon Ichi's newly announced PS4/PS Vita game Tsuiho Senkyo, which roughly translates as Exile Election. The "election" in the game occurs in a theme park among 12 trapped people who will campaign for one another's death.
Like many Japanese games, this visual novel will feature anime characters including a mascot named Alice which is that demonic rabbit-looking thing on the left page. The dude next to it with the Cruella de Vil 'do is your protagonist.
I vote Alice to go first. I'm getting real sick of every game trying to have its own "cute" little sidekick mascot, even if it's more ingrained in Japanese culture than exorbitant apartment fees.
New Adventure Game from Nippon Ichi titled Tsuiho Senkyo [Famitsu]
As I made my way to my second Awesome Games Done Quick speedrun marathon, I couldn't help but smile. This is a collective of some of the most passionate participants in gaming, engrossed in a week long 24/7 celebration of the hobby.
This Games Done Quick (AGDQ, hosted in the DC area) is a relatively small event, and if you can get in, you'll probably find it to be a nice respite from the 20,000+ conventions as of late. There's a casual gaming area, an arcade, the iconic main room (pictured above), and a tabletop section. But my favorite place to chill is probably the prep room, where all of the runners get ready for their streams on the floor. It's crazy, as you can just waltz right in and see some of the best players in the world at any given game (I thought I was the only person who did speedruns for Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers on the NES).
Digitally GDQ keeps growing year over year, and they've hit well over 100,000 concurrent viewers, consistently, since the start of the event on their Twitch channel. They also intend to clear over a million dollars in donations for the Prevent Cancer Foundation...again. According to a rep for GDQ, they want to keep the DC event capped at a reasonable number and have no plans to move to another venue in the immediate future. Right now that cap is 1,600 people on location -- last year it was 1,500.
Feel free to watch the stream below or check out the schedule here. AGDQ will be running throughout the weekend, ending late Saturday night/Sunday morning.
Film and television production company Lionsgate has invested an undisclosed amount into Immortals, an eSports organization with teams competing in League of Legends, Overwatch, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Super Smash Bros.
Source: Lionsgate
Failure is just as sour the second time around, and that's just what we did, folks -- fail.
The first Pokemon Sun and Moon global event tasked players with catching a certain number of 'mons -- 100 million, in fact -- and we only managed to grab 16 million. This time things were a little easier, as we all had to collectively scan one million Pokemon, but in the end, we barely managed to clear 660,000. The good news is that if you participated, you'll still get your pity reward.
My guess? A lot of folks don't even know how to access this convoluted system. I know some of the people I play with rarely, if ever have deciphered that lobby area and even check it out on a regular basis. Either Nintendo and Game Freak need to streamline the process by moving the global mission to the Pokemon Center (or make it more obvious where it is), or lower the goals.
Serebii [Twitter]
Hasbro is no stranger to taking votes on new Monopoly tokens, but this time around everyone's favorite tiny images are among the options. Between now and January 31st, you can select which of the 56 new game pieces you would like to see make the cut. Yes, you can vote for any of the current tokens to remain or replace them entirely as you make your picks for the final 8. The company plans to announce the results of the public vote on World Monopoly Day that takes place on March 19th.
Via: Entertainment Weekly
Source: Monopoly Token Madness
It's hip to be Square nowadays, as Square Enix's Final Fantasy XV is now reported to have exceed six million total worldwide shipments including digital sales. It won't break any records for Final Fantasy let alone video games as a whole, but selling an extra mil after the first day five million is a success.
The DLC and updates that will be ongoing through 2017 should keep people interested. Not that it would be a significant number or anything, but I am personally curious how many people are just waiting for either all the content to release and/or a price drop on the game.
Final Fantasy XV total shipments top six million [Gematsu]
I think Kuja is a pretty underrated villain in the Final Fantasy stable. He has one of the best themes, and along with Kefka, is one of the most formidable antagonists in the series. Kuja also has a great little moment with Zidane at the end, as opposed to being obliterated like a lot of other villains.
Where am I going with this? Oh, he was just announced for Dissidia Final Fantasy arcade, representing Final Fantasy IX along with Zidane and the Alexandria stage (shown in his trailer below). He's the 21st character to be added to the roster, and the developers have no signs of stopping.
Hopefully by the time they're done it'll still be relevant enough to port to the PS4 (and localize).
The idea of Japanese role-playing games releasing day one on PC is still pretty foreign to me, so I had forgotten Tales of Berseria was doing just that. It's a good trend, but the bad news for some is that it will use Denuvo, Bandai Namco revealed along with technical specifications. Of course it spells trouble for pirates, but I've heard lots people having difficulty getting through or around this seeming heavy DRM to get to their games. I've either never played a game with Denuvo or didn't notice I did, so I can't comment either way on that.
Bandai Namco explains this decision quite openly; "We love the community: it is you guys that ensure that we continually bring more Tales games out, and to a high caliber. It wouldn’t be fair to you if we didn’t put any systems in place to prevent people who try to acquire the game through illegitimate means as it eventually will slow us down bringing games onto PC. Denuvo has been proven to be a reliable way to fight piracy. So far, no conclusive evidence is proven to disrupt the player experience."
Requiring just a minimum of 2GB of RAM and a Radeon HD 4850 or GeForce 9800 GTX (recommended 4GB of RAM and a 7870 or GTX 560), even people with lowly computers like mine will be able to run it. My 5850 might not be enough to play this game at its default 60fps, but luckily flabby-armed graphics cards like mine will have the option to set it to 30fps.
Bandai Namco also adds that it will support 4K but that it will be upscaled. At least they're upfront and honest about it.
Details about the PC version of the game [Tales Blog]
Following the reveal of its new IRL section, streaming giant Twitch is hoping to attract more international visitors to this year's TwitchCon by moving to a new, better-connected venue.TwitchCon 2017 will be held at the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center in California from October 20th to 22nd.
Scalebound is no more. Platinum's Xbox exclusive has been cancelled by Microsoft, killing the dream of a Devil May Cry meets Last Guardian mashup. What a shame. I saw the game behind closed doors on two separate occasions, and was left positively smitten with the concept. It revolved around Drew, a headphone loving twenty-something lost in a world filled with dragons. With Thuban, an eventual friend and fire-breathing combat partner, he would scour floating islands and decimate mythical enemies large and small. Throughout the game you would control them both, slashing as Drew and throwing out commands to Thuban.
The Next Penelope, a Rock 'n' Roll Racing style game based on the epic The Odyssey, was pretty awesome. According to developer Aurelien Regard, it was also "always made for a Nintendo console" from the start, but it just hasn't worked out in nearly two years since the PC version dropped.
The difficulty apparently lies with HTML5. Regard has tried to move over Penelope with "multiple companies," and it hasn't worked out. However, he's praising Nintendo of Europe in the sense that they feel that a Switch version is possible, so he's looking into it.
This is just one of many, many indie titles that's ditching the Wii U, after Nintendo shared the news that they recently ceased production of the console entirely. I know it makes business sense, but it's still weird to me to see Nintendo just give up in light of all of this passion around them.
Penelope Wii U [Pastebin via Nintendo Life]
