Sunday, February 19, 2017

News:: Overwatch's Mei and Mercy will also become Nendoroids

Tracer will be the first in the Overwatch Nendoroid line, but she won't be alone for long. Good Smile Company revealed, via a poster at Toy Fair New York, that Mei and Mercy will be joining her!

Overwatch's Mei and Mercy will also become Nendoroids screenshot

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News:: Persona 5 figures are coming to steal your heart

A magical event called Wonder Festival took place this weekend, and toy collectors all over the world looked sadly at their wallets as they realized they had some tough financial decisions to make. Count me in that group, especially after seeing these goodies for the upcoming (or already-released if you're in Japan) Persona 5.

Persona 5 figures are coming to steal your heart screenshot

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News:: PREPARE TO FRIENDSHIP: Dtoid's Master Gaming Contact List

[Seriously, something about 2-week schedules really throw me off. But hey, look at those cute hats! The List will be updated into perpetuity -Panda]

Good morning/afteroon/tomorrow, my friends/robots/Gardevoir

It has been made aware to me that, just perhaps, you all enjoy video games. It might even be said that you... like to game with others? Now now, don't be that way, I don't mean to lump you into some sort of box. You're all just such lovely folks, it pains me to watch you, struggling in vain to connect with each other, striving to engage in...

PREPARE TO FRIENDSHIP: Dtoid's Master Gaming Contact List screenshot

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News:: What is your favorite multiplayer map?

As I've gotten older, I've found myself drawn towards online multiplayer games. For me, it's one of the only ways I can get together with friends and family who live hundreds of miles away. Most of the people in my life are into gaming, so it's always easy for us to find an hour each week to sit down and have a go at it in the various amazing spectacular games we play. With my nephew, I mostly play Star Wars Battlefront, with my friends it's usually Mario Kart 8.

When I do play private matches with them, we always find ourselves returning to the same levels, the same tracks, the same multiplayer maps. We all have our favorites, and that's what I wanted to know from the Destructoid staff this week. So I asked them what multiplayer maps, from any genre that isn't racing (I'll save that for a future post), is their absolute favorite. There was a bit of fighting over who got to write about one specific level, but as you'll see below, the is quite a wide array of great multiplayer levels from throughout the years.

What is your favorite multiplayer map? screenshot

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News:: Where Cards Fall tackles teenage angst

There's a certain sense of longing that comes with being a teenager. Every moment feels larger than your youthful existence; each thought a piece of the puzzle called growing up. Adolescence is the waking limbo of human life, where the transition from childhood wonder to the grind of adulthood is a trial in and of itself.

Where Cards Fall aims to capture the whimsy of teenage life. The narrative-driven puzzler challenges players to navigate the fragile bonds of youth by building houses of cards from character interactions and pointed memories.

Where Cards Fall tackles teenage angst screenshot

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News:: Pewdiepie apologizes for offensive jokes, claims media bias against him

There's a pretty interesting Youtube video about how "the marketplace of ideas" is a load of crap powerful enough to help get an unthinkable candidate elected president. It speaks to the idea that "The Discourse" in today's social media trickles down to what people talk about and think about in real life as well, leading them to prioritize whatever issues are propped up by celebrities and media talking heads at that time. Most people want to be heard, but unless you are talking about what everyone else is already talking about, no one is going to listen.

Case in point, the current kerfuffle between The Wall Street Journal and millionaire Lets Play personality Pewdiepie. After being celebrated by several Neo Nazi groups for some of his "shock humor" jokes, based in Anti-Semitic words and images, Pewdiepie was dropped by Disney and Youtube Red as a partner, though Pewdiepie's main Youtube channel remains relatively unchanged in the face of the "scandal". 

In the video below, Pewdiepie alternates between taking responsibility for the situation and blaming the Wall Street Journal for it. He feels that their attacks on him have been personal, and are out to try to damage his career. My guess is that this isn't the case. The Wall Street Journal has to know that this whole thing is going give both them and Pewdiepie a bump in viewership for as long as it lasts.  

It's also likely that the writers in question at the The Wall Street Journal just honestly believe that Pewdiepie has been insensitive to the seriousness of the growing normalization of Anti-Semetic and KKK/Nazi-themed messaging in the world today, and has played a part in normalizing them. The fact that Pewdiepie takes the time here to complain about how "The Media" tends to focus on how much money he has, and not how "cool his story is" speaks to why the WSJ writers may feel that way. This is all despite the fact that the media has, in fact, spent plenty of time talking about how cool his story is. For an apology video, Pewdiepie spends a whole lot of time painting himself as the victim here. 

Pewdiepie apologizes for offensive jokes, claims media bias against him screenshot

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News:: Ben Heck's Portable N64, part 2

When Ben began his Nintendo 64 build, he knew it wasn't going to be easy. In this episode, he shrinks down the size of the controller, embeds the RAM expansion and begins to construct the case with design cues from the Nintendo Switch. To embed the controller, he has to get creative: The notorious analogue stick needs to be reworked. Thanks to an Arduino Pro Micro, though, it can be replaced with a joystick from Sony's PlayStation Vita.

Further hackery comes in the form of a custom-made printed circuit board to house the controller chip, as the one from the original joypad is far too big. Unfortunately, there's one final problem to overcome, but you'll have to watch the episode to find out what it is. Do you have any ideas on how this portable console could have been built differently? Or have you made your own? Let us know over on the element14 Community.



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News:: Nintendo alleges that some Switch consoles were stolen from a U.S. distributor

Just a few days ago, a NeoGAF user by the handle of Hiphoptherobot managed to acquire a retail Nintendo Switch unit two weeks ahead of its official March 3 launch. At the time, his statements on the matter were somewhat vague, although he did say that an unnamed retailer had sent out the console earlier than he'd anticipated for whatever reason.

This early access to a currently unreleased console gave him a decent opportunity to release a video of himself flipping through the Switch's menus in order to provide a demonstration of the Switch's operating system in-action. This was alongside what appears to be an attempt to resell the console over Reddit, although contents of the post in question were subsequently deleted.

Well, it appears as if this situation was a lot more complex than initially suspected. Nintendo has recently revealed to IGN that the console featured in the video was allegedly stolen. In a statement made by the company, a small number of units were purportedly stolen by employees of a U.S. distributor of the console, with one of the devices later being resold. This unit in question, as implied by Nintendo, is the same device that was sold to, and demonstrated by, Hiphoptherobot.

Nintendo then went on to state that the individuals who allegedly made off with the devices were fired from their places of employment, and are currently under investigation by local law enforcement agencies.

"Earlier this week, individuals claimed to prematurely purchase a small number of Nintendo Switch systems from an unspecified retailer. Nintendo has determined these units were stolen in an isolated incident by employees of a U.S. distributor, with one system being illegally resold. The individuals involved have been identified, terminated from their place of employment and are under investigation by local law enforcement authorities on criminal charges."

To his credit, Hiphoptherobot did eventually send the console back to its manufacturer after coming to the realization that the unit that was sold to him was not acquired through legitimate means, stating that he no longer felt comfortable possessing the machine. Hiphoptherobot has also stated that he's not in any trouble with Nintendo now that the Switch hardware has been returned.

It should also be mentioned that possession of stolen property isn't exactly legal in many territories, so even if the NeoGAF user wanted to hold on to the console after finding out that the individual who sold it to him may not have acquired it legitimately, he more than likely wouldn't be able to.

I suppose that if you want to look on the bright side of the situation, this does seem to confirm that the video of the Nintendo Switch in-action wasn't, in fact, an incredibly elaborate forgery. Yay for that?

Nintendo alleges that some Switch consoles were stolen from a U.S. distributor screenshot

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