Humble Bundle has raised millions for charities like the American Red Cross and Girls Who Code, but its latest offering is not only for a good cause -- it's making a political statement. The Humble Freedom Bundle is offering $600 worth of games and e-books for a minimum donation of $30, with the proceeds going to the ACLU, Doctors Without Borders and the International Rescue Committee.
Via: Ars Technica
Source: Humble Bundle
I noticed that my copy of Resident Evil 7 was updating tonight, so I hopped online to find patch notes, like you do. (Banned Footage Vol. 2 is due out tomorrow on PlayStation 4 -- I totally forgot! -- and the update is presumably in preparation of the DLC.) But instead of specific notes, I found something cooler during my browsing: a fan-made watchface similar to what Ethan and others have in the game.
The watchface is called Codex, and you can download it for Pebble Classic, Pebble Time, or Pebble 2.
I played plenty of Nintendo Switch titles during last month's launch event, but it was the mini-game collection 1-2 Switch that I couldn't get out of my head. (I suppose virtually milking a cow with highly suggestive gestures has a way of sticking with you.) It was unlike anything I've ever played -- it often has you glaring at your opponent and following audio queues, instead of looking at a TV screen. It's more like an actual party game, but instead of reading off cards or booklets, you're relying on a console.
Last week, Nintendo released some advertisements for the Switch in its home country. Earlier today, some English language commercials for the Switch were released, and they'll no doubt be unavoidable if you have a kid with any sort of screen in your house.
The commercials focus on Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Just Dance 2017 and the party game 1-2-Switch, and and the latter reuses a little bit of the video we'd already seen in the Switch's Super Bowl spot. On the plus side, the new ads show how easy it is to move from onscreen to personal play. However, despite the upbeat music and multi-ethnic parties going on, these new ads thrill me less than the Japanese commercials did. Maybe it's because these these don't show off quite as much new gameplay footage. Still, there are only 18 days until the Switch launches worldwide, and I can't deny I'm more than a little excited. You can check out the new commercials below.
[Header image by SittingOvationArt on Etsy]
No, it's not a Fallout crossover. In Pokémon Sun and Moon, Bottle Caps are used in Hyper Training to raise one of your creature's statistics to the maximum potential value. They're especially useful for people who want to use their Pokémon competitively, or take on some of the harder post-game content. They're exceedingly rare, so any opportunity to pick one up is welcome.
Starting today, code cards that grant a silver Bottle Cap are being distributed in physical game stores worldwide. In the U.S., Germany, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Ireland, and Italy you can pick one up at GameStop stores, in Canada you'll need to visit an EB Games. The codes are available at GAME stores in Spain and the U.K. French Pokémon trainers will need to visit a Micromania store, and Mexican players can get codes from GamePlanet. Finally, in Belgium and the Netherlands, the codes are available at Game Mania. Some countries had started their distributions before today, but codes should work in all territories at the time of this writing.
To use the Bottle Cap, head to the shopping mall at Hau'oli City and speak with Mr. Hyper. The creature you want to train has to be at level 100. The codes only work once per game, but don't expire until May 13. You should have a few weeks to go to your local game store and pick one up. The U.K. distribution is ending soonest on February 28, but most other regions will have codes available until at least March 5.
Snag a Bottle Cap at GameStop [Pokemon.com]
Pokémon Sun and Moon Bottle Cap Event [Serebii.net]
Long-time game designer Shigeru Miyamoto is not someone I can picture ever slowing down. Even when he's not at the Nintendo offices or traveling for work, the 64-year-old has a desire to keep busy.
Asked by Time about his hopes for the next 10 years in or outside of gaming, Miyamoto said, "As a company, we've carefully gotten ourselves involved in the mobile industry, and that's something that I was personally involved in. Then with the Nintendo Switch, the idea of having a console that's also a portable device, I think that opens up new doors to all kinds of possibilities. In the industry of fun, I think there's still a lot we can still explore. I think what I want to accomplish is kind of laying down the standards for what those possibilities are going to be over the next 10 years."
Amusingly, an unnamed Nintendo exec interjected with "Not your cat stool?" Miyamoto elaborated: "When I'm told that maybe I don't need to go to work for a few days, I worry that I don't have things to do, so I try to make sure there are things in my personal life that I can really work on too. So my garden looks really good now. I've been spending months just hoeing. [Laughs] And I made a cat hammock."
"I took a stool and then kind of pulled it apart and put it together so it's like a hammock for a cat," he explained. "Even when I place him in it he runs away. It's not quite there yet." This guy.
Follow through to the full interview for a discussion about HD Rumble, the late Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata's role in the creation of the Nintendo Switch, and Miyamoto's current thoughts on storytelling in video games, particularly with respect to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
10 Things Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto Told Us About Switch and More [Time]
Sniper Elite 4 is hitting the shelves at your local game store tomorrow for the typical console crowd, but for PC gamers, the fastest way to slay Nazis is to download the game. Best of all there's no need to pay full price on Steam as discounts up to 25% off are floating around the net from authorized digital retailers.
Green Man Gaming is known to be shipping keys instantly with its 20% price break. There you'll see the Standard Edition drop to $48 while Deluxe is $72. It has the same Target: Führer mission DLC and Camouflage Combat Rifles Pack pre-order bonuses as on Steam.
A good alternative, and arguably a better deal, is the Sweden-based GamersGate selling the title 25% off for both editions. This makes Standard only $45 while Deluxe drop under $70. You will get the same pre-order bonuses as you would on GMG or Steam.
Sniper Elite 4 PC/Steam Deals
The Good About-Video Games Writer in me says that I should pack this standard fare news post full of cool skateboarding terms like kickflip, grind, and elbow pads. Doing so demonstrates a familiarity with both video games and skateboarding, and you can't help but respect that kind of well-rounded individual. I am a fountain of knowledge.
But, some other part of me says that I shouldn't even try because I already wrote the perfect skateboarding headline two summers ago. Anything else is going to be a lesser attempt (yes, even that "fakie" bullshit at the top of this page). If you can't be the best, there's no point trying.
All of this to inform you that Skate 3 is now a part of EA Access on Xbox One. Even though it's an Xbox 360 title, it was added to the backward compatibility program late last year. Those two details combined mean that you could rent Skate 3, along with many other EA games, for $5 per month.
It's a fine get for EA Access, but it's supposedly not indication of another Skate game. EA told investors last month that Skate 4 isn't in production. Maybe that's some sly misdirection, it seems like it's going to take a 180 hard flip for EA to change its mind.
(Shoot, I did the thing I said I wouldn't do right there at the end.)
Skate 3 rolls onto the EA Access Vault [Eurogamer]
Dear Esther may not be that great of a game, but it did launch a fascination with an entire sub-genre. Dubbed the "Walking Simulator," these games weave a dramatic tale all while providing audiovisual feedback in lieu of traditional gameplay. Some are more successful than others, but Dear Esther gets a lot of hate for being boring.
While the Landmark Edition that launched on PS4 and Xbox One didn't seem to fix many issues with the game, it did at least improve the visuals and provide developer commentary. PC owners of the original release will be happy to know that, starting tomorrow, they'll receive this updated version of the game for free.
Team Cherry's Hollow Knight has come up a few times on Destuctoid these past couple years, and now we're in the home stretch. The 2D action-adventure game for PC and Mac is out on February 24, 2017.
The launch trailer is a great refresher. The art direction has stuck with me all this time, but I had forgotten about some core elements like the equippable "charms" and reassuring metroidvania map.
I'm thinking -- and hoping; always hoping! -- this will be a good one.
Look, we simply have too many copies of Halo Wars 2. We have one that got used for a review (coming soon!) and maybe there's another floating around somewhere, but 15 extras?! Too many. Something has to give.
Alright, it's kind of disingenuous for me to imply that our surplus is your gain. These codes were never actually for us. Amazon Games was nice enough to send 15 copies of Halo Wars 2 our way, but they were always intended for you. We're just the middleman.
If you want in on Halo's second shot at real-time strategy, we might be able to hook it up for free. (Alternatively, if you don't want to play the waiting game with your fingers crossed, here's where Amazon's selling Halo Wars 2.) Fifteen sounds like a lot, but you'll still need some luck on your side.
Here's how this will work: We're going to give away 10 of the 15 codes in this post. The other five are going to replies to this tweet. Feel free to enter both places! We're closing the contest on February 17, so get your entry in soon. That should be plenty of time to pre-load before the February 21 release date. Also, note that these are digital versions of the game, so they work through the Play Anywhere program on both Xbox One and Windows 10 PC.
All I need from you is a comment telling me what's your favorite Halo game or what's your favorite real-time strategy game. If you want to explain why, fantastic. You went above and beyond. Way to take the initiative. It won't help you win this contest, but it'll probably help you get that big promotion at work. Proves you're a real go-getter, a doer and not a talker. They could use leaders like you.
And, if you're lucky, you could get some experience leading troops around Halo Wars 2's battlefields.
Humble Bundle has partnered with numerous game developers and authors to put on a week-long "Freedom" bundle to support the ACLU, Doctors Without Borders, and the International Rescue Committee in light of President Trump's immigration order. You in? Wait'll you see this list.
The bundle has a minimum buy-in of $30, which might seem steep, but all of proceeds go to those charities (you can split your payment between the three as you see fit) and the list of games, to say nothing of the eBooks, is rather astounding. You're getting your money's worth here.
Games
eBooks
Humble Bundle is matching charitable contributions up to $300,000, a cap that will likely have been met by the time you read this. There's potential for "more content" to join the bundle as well.
Humble Freedom Bundle [Humble Bundle]
Now that YouTube has dipped its toes into the wild world of original programming, the company has plans to launch four new shows this spring aimed at children and pre-teens. The YouTube Kids app will get two live-action and two animated series starring some popular YouTube creators including DanTDM and the hosts of TheAtlanticCraft, with more series scheduled to debut throughout the year.
Source: YouTube Blog
We already reported on the Rocket League themed Hot Wheels cars, but it looks like that product merger will be going in reverse, as well. Coming on February 21, you'll be able to buy Hot Wheels themed cars for use in Rocket League. The 'Twin Mill III' and 'Bone Shaker' cars will be available with exclusive wheels and stickers for $1.99 USD.
One of Amazon's upcoming original kids series should be very familiar to fans of a certain Double Fine title. The online retailer announced today that a Costume Quest animated children's series based on the popular video games will debut in 2018. Will McRobb of The Adventures of Pete and Pete fame will serve as executive producer while Frederator Studios (Adventure Time, The Fairly Odd Parents) will produce the show.
Via: Polygon
Source: Amazon
Just several weeks before launch, we finally know the basic gist of the plot to Super Bomberman R, which is hitting the Switch as a launch title. The evil Emperor Bugler has decided to resurrect the Five Dastardly Bombers and rule the universe, so it's up to the Bomberman Bros. to stop them.
The English voice cast reminds me of a really early '90s anime dubs, but the Japanese version is a little more polished (in terms of audio quality and enthusiasm). You can watch both below and read a preview of the game here. All there's left to do now is wait and see if it lives up to its nearly 34 year legacy.
Cartoons have been in an upswing in the last five years or so, and that's largely thanks to Frederator Studios. The company's Cartoon Hangover experiment on YouTube resulted in the fabulous Bee and Puppycat and Bravest Warriors, and that's not even including their TV contributions like Adventure Time and My Life as a Teenage Robot. It's pretty good to hear they're the ones handling an animated series based on Double Fine Productions' Costume Quest.
Debuting on Amazon Prime next year, the Costume Quest cartoon will be aimed at "six to eleven year olds," as the kids use strangely super-powered costumes to fight off baddies in their town of Auburn Pines, according to Business Wire. Coolest thing about the announcement overall is The Adventures of Pete and Pete's co-creator Will McRobb is attached as a story editor and executive producer. There's so much talent attached to this.
I'm sure Costume Quest can be a great cartoon for everyone, but something much more effective for kids. You can see the first bit of art from it in the gallery below (via Frederator Studios' Tumblr page). Besides, if Frederator's Fred Seibert's coy teasing may be inferred too much into, they might have something built more for adults on the horizon.
Amazon Studios Greenlights Two New Original Kids Series Pete the Cat and Costume Quest [Business Wire]
Food is pretty important in Final Fantasy XV -- and it's not just obvious Cup Noodle product placement either. Meals add to your vitality and strength, increase magical resistances and even offer the chance of more experience points to grow your team. They're integral to your near-daily camp-outs, when you recover from battles and thumb through all the photos your bros took. Each dish has different benefits, and there are a lot of ways to learn new meals, from eating your way around the restaurants of the world of Eos, to buying cookbooks and even just being "inspired" by poetry and random ingredients (often monster body parts) you pick up along the way.
FFXV also attempts to offer some sort of regional differentiation in cuisine as you road-trip across states and towns. Some dishes are simply more elaborate twists on meals you've already eaten, but they're nonetheless different, with different local fish or delicacies. But is it actually possible to cook such varied cuisine, from rice balls to delicate sweet pastries, on (Coleman-sponsored!) cooking equipment? I took my high-school home economics skills to my kitchen, to see how I stacked up against Ignis, the game's designated cook. He's a glasses-wearing, English-accented, car-driving butler type. And now my eternal rival.
The announcement video for Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers showcased several seconds of a first-person mode with Ryu. It was a clear tease, and now we have some more information on what that mode actually entails by way of the game's official boxart (even though it still doesn't have a release date).
It's called "Unleash! Ha-DO-ken," and will use the Joy-Con remotes. It seems to be a timed minigame, and will involve blowing up Shadaloo grunts by making actual fireball motions with the controllers. This is something that would feel right at home in Tekken as an unlockable.
Ultra Street Fighter II [Nintendo Everything]
For Honor's weekend open beta ended in the late afternoon on Sunday and the initial wave of purchases are pouring in (at least, that's what we're seeing anyways). Gamers that enjoyed Ubisoft's latest are giving the game a vote with their wallets, as the title has shot up to the top-selling spot on Steam, the Uplay Shop, and various other digital retailers.
While you were able to do an update from the closed beta to the open beta, for tomorrow's full release you'll need to re-download it all. The full game download clocks in at 29GB for the PC, but thankfully pre-loading has started since last Friday. If you have a slow connection, we'd suggest getting started tonight to get yourself ready in time for tomorrow's release.
Interestingly, in the UK/EU, we're spotting more aggressive discounts on For Honor's Deluxe Edition at select digital retailers. For example, GamersGate is currently only selling the Deluxe and Gold Edition in the UK, giving the Deluxe a 32% off discount while the Gold Edition of For Honor only receives a 21% off discount. (When Standard was available, it was being sold at 15% off only.)
The same story is occurring at GamesPlanet, where you'll find For Honor Deluxe Edition at 25% off and the Standard and Gold Edition at only 20% off. In our opinion, this is probably a smart move from the two digital retailers given Deluxe includes cosmetic items at best, and without the the bigger discount, they are much harder to justify picking up (whereas Gold Edition will include the Season Pass).
We've rounded up all the relevant PC deals below, from NA to UK to EU. If you spot some price discrepancies on release day tomorrow, let us know and we'll update accordingly.
For Honor PC North America Deals
GMG
GamersGate
For Honor PC UK/EU Deals
GamersGate ROW Only
GamesPlanet - ROW Only
Note that for the UK/EU deals at GamersGate and GamesPlanet, the Uplay keys are "rest of the world" and are region locked to Europe, Africa, Middle-East, Oceania, Japan, and South Korea. If you want the North American key, make sure you grab from the GMG or GamersGate (NA) links above.
Looking above, if you're a gamer in Europe, you really should just pick up the game in GBP and pay accordingly for the conversion. As of writing, the priciest copy of For Honor are the ones bought with Euro. Note that for the Deluxe pricing, that is NOT a typo for Standard Edition at GamesPlanet in Euro, they are indeed both priced at €47.99 - so uh, if you must pay in Euro and buy at GamesPlanet, you might as well get the Deluxe Edition.
Although I've been enjoying every character reveal thus far for Injustice 2, something's been missing. I've been hyped regardless, but none of the characters had "wowed" me yet. That is, until now. Coming off of a recent boon to his popularity from appearances in animated films like Justice League Dark (which was A-OK in my book because they fought a poop monster) and just being generally DC Comics' version of Shrek as he hates folks lazing about in his swamp, is Swamp Thing with the coolest moveset and animations so far.
I think the most impressive thing about this trailer, beyond his cool super, is how smoothly he's animated. Mixing some of Solomon Grundy's moveset from the previous game with a bit of Noob Saibot and his own crazy grapple aptitude, Swamp Thing is yet another hopeful example of the sequel moving away from the projectile heavy meta-game of the first. If not, at least there's a character with a long reach to turn the tables.
Injustice 2: Swamp Thing Gameplay Reveal Trailer (1080 60 fps) [IGN First]
A big part of the fun in Resident Evil 7 is the way it pays off the creeping tension with jolts of pure gore. It turns out, however, that gamers in Japan aren't getting quite the same effect. As the Censored Gaming group found out, several of the more shocking scenes of body horror have been dumbed down to TBS levels there.
Via: Polygon
Source: Censored Gaming (YouTube)
Despite sinking many hours into strategy RPGs (SRPGs) as a kid, I've never had a chance to play the Disgaea series. I've seen buddies play it and have casually followed the games as an onlooker, but the timing and console exclusivity never panned out for me. Then the first game was ported to the PC not too long ago, and I got really excited! Then I heard that the port was awful, and I got really sad.
Many of the original issues have since been addressed, but needless to say I was quite wary when approaching Disgaea 2 PC. After getting my hands on it now for some time, I can definitely say that I hope they continue to port the series at a steady pace.
One of my favorite things to do on YouTube is watch those "split-screen" music videos the likes of which Smooth McGroove has recently made more famous on the video game side.
Swedish band Wintergatan just put out an amazing video in the same style as well, and it somehow makes the relatively played-out Mega Man 2 Wily Castle theme fresh again. In addition to using a typewriter and a book of matches, they also utilize a "Modulin," which is a sort of geeky electric violin.
Even if hearing the most famous Wily theme makes you want to blow your ear drums out, it's worth the watch just for the technical wizardry alone. It's right up there with Freddie25's "Mega Man 9 Rock Medley" for me (which is probably my top Mega Man music video almost nine years running!).
Wintergatan [YouTube via Rockman Corner]
When it comes to the PS4 Pro's upcoming "Boost Mode" that's now in beta testing, there's only one genre I really care about in terms of any sort of performance enhancement -- action games. If you can make a mascot platformer slightly more enjoyable by clicking a button so be it, but getting Bloodborne or Dark Souls III to 60FPS would be a dream come true. Sadly, we're still not there yet.
Based on a test from Digital Foundry, the former doesn't really benefit from the Pro's boost other than keeping the framerate slightly closer to 30 -- load times are only one second faster. So it's something, I guess? The same goes for Dark Souls III -- there's no significant framerate enhancement past the 30 limit. The 60FPS-capable Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin is actually more stable, hitting that max framerate target more often than the base game, which can dip to 50FPS when there's lots of action on-screen.
It seems as if the only way we're going to get 60FPS Bloodborne is by way of an official From Software patch. A patch, mind, that seems unlikely as they haven't committed to anything as far back as the Pro's reveal. There's a few other tests in the video below, but Souls was one of the most-requested.
Turning classic games on their head can be a lot of fun. Genre flipping is always a risk, but if it pans out, it can create a whole new fanbase.
The creator of the Evan Yeti webcomic wants to do just that, tweeting out a work in progress screen of a first-person dungeon crawling take on Castlevania 3. He's basically calling the screen a draft at the moment, as the "map and HUD will be reworked a lot," but I like the idea, and the setpieces work even when transposed into a 3D environment.
The concept is to go with Etrian Odyssey style battles, with enemies placed on the minigame rather than randomly. I say "good luck!"
Evan Yeti [Twitter]
Here is my solemn promise to you: I will not write an article about how much it sucks to be single on Valentine's Day. I am, so I know firsthand that it does. I also know that nobody likes to be reminded of how lonely they are, but (anecdotally) the Internet has really cranked up the V-Day hate over the past couple years. Is 2017 not bleak enough? Can we not just let people do silly romantic things, even if this holiday has been co-opted by greeting card companies? Greeting card writers gotta eat too, you know?
Anyway, Niero (the man who owns this website and keeps messing with the way the front page looks) asked the Destructoid staff for some kind of "singles awareness day editorial." Since my schedule on this fine Sunday before Valentimes is open, at least until the WWE pay-per-view Elimination Chamber starts, I thought I would take up this task -- especially since Niero said it could be as "gonzo" as I wanted. I will hold him to this promise. Normally, I would make a preemptive apology to my editors, but they've been working for Destructoid a lot longer than I have; cashing checks that somebody else on this website already wrote is a rite of passage.
So! Here are five video games (or whatever) that might help you either loosen up or redirect that venom towards something else. Also, I don't want to hear word one from any of you about "game journalism lol" because I do plenty of actual games reporting on this website. Let me have this.
Human: Fall Flat is one of those games that has an incredibly on-the-nose title. It's a ragdoll puzzler, the kind of thing where your "human" will fall flat over and over again. Chances are that it's only through partial fault of your own. You could be better, but also the game makes everything intentionally difficult to accomplish. Like, running left to right has never been tough but QWOP does its damnedest to keep you from getting there.
Last year, Human: Fall Flat released on PC. Zack reviewed it and gave it an 8/10. Now, it's getting exposed to a wider audience. Sometime this spring, it's launching on both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
The console versions of Human: Fall Flat bring about an update in content. New puzzles and customization options were created for this occasion. Judging by this screenshot, some of it seems to be in an ancient ruins setting. Also, PC owners need not worry about missing out; the additional content will be rolled into the Steam version shortly after release.
With its open approach to puzzle solving mixed with its propensity for things to go horribly awry, Human: Fall Flat seems like a natural entertainer. After all, it's at its funniest when you're failing (or when you're succeeding in spite of yourself). Bringing that dynamic to more people seems like a good idea -- both from a business perspective and for those who just want more ragdoll violence.
