News:: Destructoid draws: Game franchises that touched our hearts

[The Destructoid community is home to some impressive artists. And what better way to share that skill than in a blog using a sexually suggestive subheader? ~Strider]

We all know the classic saying "Different strokes for different folks." Well, it got me thinking. What about brush strokes? And not the male brush you pervo, paint brushes. What if I asked a bunch of Destructoid users to tell me about a game series that are special to their heart, and ask them to draw a character from that series?

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News:: New GameStop policy requires employees to ask customers why the hell they still shop there (Fauxclusive)

Following a scathing report on a store policy that could lead employees to lie to customers, GameStop announced today a new policy that will require employees to ask customers why in God's name are they still shopping at GameStop.

Set to take effect this week, the policy is aimed at giving the company a look into how it's still around when there are so many vastly superior options for shoppers.

"Each day we're still in business is a blessing," explained GameStop spokesman Ted Fingerly, "because that means our customers haven't figured out that literally any other place they buy games is better than us. Seriously, there are still customers who come into our stores, wade their way through our vast selection of cheap, Chinese-made toys that have triple the amount of floor space than our Wii U and Vita sections, and pre-order games for full price. Do you know how much money they'd save if they went to Amazon or Best Buy? So this new policy will tell us exactly why they haven't wised up to that yet."

Fingerly noted that a decade ago, GameStop's existence made sense because it was the only place gamers could regularly trade-in games for store credit or a small amount of money. But now, even that doesn't make sense.

"How have these people not been clued into the fact they could take home five times as much money selling their games on eBay or Craigslist than what we pay out. That's where I sell all my old games. We're flabbergasted. All board meetings now are just us trying to figure out just how dumb this country is."

Fingerly says the policy will only be in effect for the next six months, after which the company will use the data to temporarily pause its ongoing transformation into the RadioShack of the video game industry.

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News:: Monster Hunter clone Dauntless seems perfect for players on a budget

For me, there's an important distinction between "budget-friendly" and "a budget game." The former may be a little sanded down or rough around the edges, but is an otherwise solid experience that can be had for a low price (or no price at all, in many cases). The latter is an unremarkable or messy game clearly made for pennies that is often written off because, well, you only paid like $15 for it at Walmart. A "budget-friendly" game is one you come to when you don't want to spend too much. A "budget game" is one you come to when you're curious why Samurai Jack wants to beat up Chowder and that $20 is just burning a hole in your pockets.

Based on my time with Dauntless, a four-player co-op action-adventure giant monster hunting game, I feel safe calling it "budget friendly." You can't get much cheaper than free, and as a nice bonus, playing the game ain't half bad either! It was pitched to me as a cross between Monster Hunter and Dark Souls, with a little bit of Destiny thrown right in. Of course the dev team would go right to those comparisons -- all three franchises have strong, devoted fanbases that you'd be a fool to not tap if your game was even a little bit similar in any way.

That comparison might be a little too ambitious. Yeah, you hunt monsters like Monster Hunter, you roll around a whole lot like in Dark Souls, and there's a hub world and loot system that will apparently resemble Destiny. So although the games look similar on paper, my PAX South demo failed to convince me that Dauntless will eclipse or even fully meet its inspirations.

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News:: Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind 15% off pre-order deal now available

Announced by Bethesda earlier this week - The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind has now made its way onto third party digital retailers. While the Steam Store has had the upgrade on tap since announcement, you can now by the "standalone" all-encompassing version which will grant you access to all previous Elder Scrolls Online content.

Listed at $60, The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind is now available at GMG with a 15% off discount to $50.99. The upgrade is discounted at $33.99, meaning you're paying an extra $17 for the complete access to Tamriel Unlimited (a game that has been discounted around $8 ~ $14).

Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind Pre-Order Deals

• Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind: Upgrade (Steam) — $33.99  (list price $40)
• Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind (Steam) — $50.99  (list price $60)
• Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind Collectors Edition (Steam) — $67.99  (list price $80)

So if Morrowind sounds right up your alley but you don't have Tamriel Unlimited, we'd suggest waiting for the next Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited sale, pick up that copy and then grab the upgrade copy of Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind.

For everyone else that doesn't want to deal with the hassle - the complete copy is available as of writing for $50.99.

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News:: How do you feel about rubber banding in games?

Ever screw up in race catastrophically and find that even after crashing 13 times it's still possible to not only catch up but actually win the race? You probably experienced what is referred to as rubber band AI, which is used primarily for racing games to keep the challenge at a consistent level through the race. The name comes from the mental image of the player's car being tied to an AI-controlled car by a rubber band, restricting any significant separation from occurring.

If you fall too far behind, the game slows the AI racers down to help you catch up and thus make the game less strict about crashing or making other mistakes. Conversely, some games will cause the AI racers to drive much faster than they normally should be able to if you happen to be too far ahead. 

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News:: Monster Boy is a medium-sized glass of room temperature tap water

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is a "spiritual successor" to the Wonder Boy franchise. It's a cute platformer where you can switch between animal transformations as the situation demands. You can butt-stomp enemies. It's set for release this year, and will be coming to consoles and PC. These are objective facts, as they relate to the video game Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom, which I saw at PAX South.

If you're a fan of the Wonder Boy games, then I hope you take some measure of joy in the knowledge that Ryuichi Nishizawa, a member of the original development team, is working on Monster Boy. As somebody who wasn't even alive during the era of the Mega Drive, that information doesn't even begin to scan for me, so I hope I've brightened somebody's day by a fractional amount.

I'm really struggling here, gang. Monster Boy feels like a licensed platformer for a French-Canadian animated series that doesn't exist -- a Flash game for a Spider Riders-style Saturday morning cartoon. It's such a middle-of-the-road experience, a 5/10 on the Destructoid review scale, a completely basic video game that will likely not inspire any strong feelings of emotion in most players. Except while you're playing as the Frog, that is. Swinging around with your tongue is pretty fun.

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News:: The Morning After: Weekend Edition

Letter from the Editor

"Fail fast, fail often" has become something of a Silicon Valley cliché. And yet, despite best efforts to embrace that mantra, our latest president has managed to make an enemy of many of the Valley's most influential players. The tech industry's biggest names spent the week reacting to and recovering from President Trump's executive order that temporarily prohibits US entry to refugees and citizens from a handful of Muslim countries. Apple, Microsoft, Google, Lyft, Uber and others provided legal and financial assistance to staff and others affected by the ban order.

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News:: American Pixels pays tribute to American game music

Mention a "video game music tribute album" and the first thing that usually comes to mind is a tribute to an old-school Japanese franchise, like The Legend of Zelda, Chrono Trigger, or Final Fantasy. Y'know games that working composers in their '30s would've played growing up.

American Pixels, the result of five years of work by composer Mazedude and his collaborators, is a bit of an outlier, not because of its interest in American-made games (there are plenty of tribute albums to those these days), but also to its game selection. You've got arrangements for music from Skyrim, but also a number of productions you wouldn't necessarily remember for their music, like Sam and Max, Maniac Mansion, and Advent Rising. Or at least, I don't remember those games for their music (and in the case of Advent Rising, for anything at all), but I have it on good authority that I'm a philistine, so what do I know.

The album is available for sampling and purchase on Bandcamp, so you can check out its odes to BioShock 2, DC Universe Online, and even Puzzlejuice over there to make your own decision.

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