News:: Review: The Walking Dead: A New Frontier: Thicker than Water

_{[This review contains spoilers for The Walking Dead Season One and Tales from the Borderlands.]}

When I said A New Frontier was shaping up to be the most consistently good Telltale game since the first season of The Walking Dead, some took that to mean I was calling A New Frontier the "best" Telltale game, over fan favorites like Tales from the Borderlands or The Walking Dead Season One. I can understand the confusion, since video games are an extremely iterative medium and proper usage of that iteration is often lauded by the games press.

But I chose my words very carefully – there's a crucial difference between "consistently good" and "the best." The former might not amaze quite as often as the latter, but you can reasonably expect the whole thing to be of a certain level of quality. To be even more explicit: I think Tales from the Borderlands is the best Telltale game, but it's not "consistently good" because the first couple episodes weren't up to the standards of the incredible back half.

Anyway, what I'm getting at is that I was wrong and A New Frontier kinda dropped the ball in this latest installment.

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News:: How is the community's Persona 5 social life?

I hope you've spent these past three weeks pouring your heart and soul into Persona 5, because the time has come. I've been teasing the end of this website for a while now, talking about how the fibers of civilization that hold this community together shall be torn asunder. Yes, it's time to talk about waifus. Or more specifically, your favorite Persona 5 characters.

[Spoilers ahead as we will be talking about important characters in Persona 5.]

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News:: Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia storms Japan

A quartet of new titles have finally topped Monster Hunter XX in Japan, with Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia leading the charge. Dark Souls III: The Fire Fades Edition, including all the DLC, joins a new Pro Yakyuu and Dungeon Travelers 2-2 after Fire Emblem. 

Also new this week were PaRappa the Rapper Remastered and Minna de Waiwai! Spleunker, edging into the top 10. Console sales remain relatively unchanged,  as the Switch keeps pounding away with another 48k.

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News:: Atlus has a slight change of heart regarding Persona 5 streaming

Along with restricting use of the PlayStation 4's built-in share feature for Persona 5, earlier this month Atlus issued harsh guidelines for folks who still intended to stream the game or upload footage.

It was the kind of thing reviewers with pre-release access to games are very much used to seeing ahead of launch -- "No major story spoilers," "limit each [video] to be at most 90 minutes long," etc. -- but not something companies tend to ask of their paying customers once a game is, well, out.

"This being a Japanese title with a single-playthrough story means our masters in Japan are very wary about it," Atlus said at the time. "Sharing is currently blocked through the native PS4 UI. If you decide to stream past 7/7 (I HIGHLY RECOMMEND NOT DOING THIS, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED), you do so at the risk of being issued a content ID claim or worse, a channel strike/account suspension."

Flash forward to today, and while players are maddeningly still unable to snap photos of Persona 5 using the PS4's share feature, Atlus has rethought its streaming guidelines.

Here's today's statement in full:

"When Persona 5 launched, we put out a set of video/streaming guidelines that we hoped would limit online spoilers for fans who have yet to play the game.

To our surprise, we then saw numerous reactive news articles go up, opinion videos post, and received many emails asking us to please change our Persona 5 streaming/video policy. We recognize that our fans are the reason why the game is the major worldwide success it is, and we continue to want them to be able to enjoy the game without fear of being spoiled. However, we also heard your issues with the guidelines and have decided to revise them. Because we want to give players the most access to the game while respecting the original goal, we're now asking players to refrain from streaming or posting video past the end of the in-game date of 11/19—when the main story gears up for the final act.

We also want to apologize to those of you who saw the previous guidelines blog post as threatening. We want to be transparent about what we do, and the reason we released the guidelines was to give streamers the right information up front. It was never our intention to threaten people with copyright strikes, but we clearly chose the wrong tone for how to communicate this.

Lastly, we want to thank our fans around the world for supporting Persona 5 and ATLUS. The game is a global success because of your passion for the series, and we're happy that so many of you are enjoying it."

Which, yeah, okay. I'm glad to see the company budge somewhat, but this approach was misguided from the onset. It's not too late to enable the share button. That's what I want most.

An Update on Persona 5 and Streaming [Atlus]

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News:: Don't get your hopes up for Alien: Isolation 2

In recent days, rumors have been abound that Creative Assembly was working on Alien: Isolation 2. It started with Official PlayStation Magazine writing (as reported by PlayStation Universe) "Our sources tell us that after work is finished on Halo Wars 2, a new Alien game may start development over at...Creative Assembly." We refrained from reporting this. Something didn't feel right.

Now, Eurogamer has come out to dash these rumors, and its logic seems far more likely to be accurate. Eurogamer has its own sources that say an Alien: Isolation sequel isn't currently in the works. The Halo Wars team has begun prototyping its next game but it isn't Alien-related.

Eurogamer also notes that almost no one from the Alien: Isolation design team is still employed at Creative Assembly. This is a studio whose bread and butter is strategy games; it makes sense that people who specialize in first-person survival horror wouldn't have a long-term home there. 

Another thing to take into consideration is that Eurogamer traditionally has an excellent record with reporting on rumors. It's one of those outlets with solid sources across the industry. Most importantly, Eurogamer usually doesn't weigh in on rumors unless it's reasonably sure it's correct. Through restraint and reliability, it has become a publication that's trusted more than most others.

But, the true nail in the Alien: Isolation 2 coffin might just be that Sega was never happy with the original's numbers. In May 2015, the publisher told investors that its sales were "weak" at 2.11 million units shipped (many of which were sold at a discounted price). If the mostly-critically-acclaimed Alien: Isolation couldn't sell to Sega's expectations, especially with a big marketing push behind it, it's understandable that the idea of a sequel wouldn't garner much faith.

There are plenty of reasons why this rumor is dead in the water, but there's a good reason as to why it took off in the first place: People want to believe. Alien: Isolation was a fantastic title, and the first video game to do Alien justice in a long time. Wanting more of that, even against all odds, is a perfectly reasonable reaction. But, it's probably not going to happen, at least in the near future.

Alien: Isolation 2 rumour isn't true [Eurogamer]

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News:: Hacker teen responsible for attacks on Sony, Minecraft, Microsoft jailed for two years

Adam Mudd, who created DDoS tool Titanium Stresser at age 16, has been sentenced to two years in jail, The Guardian reports.

Titanium Stresser, "carried out more than 1.7 [million] attacks on websites including Minecraft, Xbox Live and Microsoft and TeamSpeak." Judge Michael Topolski QC "said the effect of Mudd's crimes had wreaked havoc 'from Greenland to New Zealand, from Russia to Chile,' according to the Guardian. RuneScape alone was attacked 25,000 times and its owner spent nearly $8 million trying to defend itself.

Mudd, now 20-years-old, "carried out 594 of the distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks against 181 IP addresses between December 2013 and March 2015." He also made almost $500,000 (in US dollars and bitcoins) selling the program to others, though Mudd's lawyer argued that it wasn't about the money for the bullied teen who was "lost in an alternate reality" and "seeking friendship and status within the gaming community."

The judge didn't buy it, or accept Mudd's previously undiagnosed Asperger syndrome as an excuse for his actions, saying, "I’m entirely satisfied that [Mudd] knew full well and understood completely this was not a game for fun."

"I have a duty to the public who are worried about this, threatened by this, damaged by this all the time," Topolski said of his refusal to suspend the two year jail time, noting that his sentencing required a, "real element of deterrent."

Teenage hacker jailed for masterminding attacks on Sony and Microsoft [The Guardian]

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News:: Podtoid is recording, ask us questions!

We're recording Podtoid this fine afternoon and then I'm going to go watch Perfect Blue on the big screen for kicks. Please send us enough questions that we fear for our lives and sanity. You can leave them right in the comments or email us, podtoid[at]destructoid.com.

And while you wait to see if we answered your inquiry, check out the last episode of Podtoid, wherein we talked Persona 5 and which US presidents have had their ass eaten, and our review of Yooka-Laylee, a game I did not like.

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News:: You're not too old to play with Hot Wheels in 'Forza Horizon 3'

The second Forza Horizon 3 expansion is coming out soon and it's bringing a big dose of childhood nostalgia along with it. Hot Wheels and their iconic bright orange tracks arrive on May 9th as part of the Forza Horizon 3 Expansion Pass or as standalone DLC for $19.99.

Source: Microsoft

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News:: Localizer asks to be left off credits after developer removes accidental KKK reference

Localization is the process of adapting incidental details of a work to better fit the region it is being exported to. Sometimes it is done inelegantly, like when Pokemon's Brock holds a handful of onigiri (rice balls wrapped with dried seaweed) and expresses his love for jelly-filled donuts, but generally it is a useful process for preserving the intent of the original work.

Let's take the upcoming Akiba's Beat, developed by Acquire and published by XSEED. One of the people who worked on localizing the game is Tom Lipschultz, though he is not credited in the game, nor will he be credited in future XSEED-published games, he explained in a lengthy forum post.

There was a sign in Akiba's Beat that read "KKK witches," a play on Japanese light switch manufacturer "NKK switches." It is not an intentional joke about the Ku Klux Klan; it's similar to when an anime has a burger joint in the background that's an upside down version of McDonald's golden arches. Take the familiar thing (NKK is Akihabara-based), then make sure you don't get sued. XSEED told Acquire via email that three sequential Ks, to an American audience, references the Ku Klux Klan.

"Acquire immediately responded that they had no idea the sign could be taken that way in English," XSEED executive vice president Ken Berry told Kotaku. After being informed of the meaning, and without further conversation, the developer changed the sign to read "ACQ witches."

Lipschultz decided to take a stand, however, calling the rewritten sign, "the most egregious change" in the game. Even though it was not an intentional reference by the developer, he thought, "'KKK witches' was pretty funny for its shock value" and considered, "the forceful change of this as an act of censorship," even though it was an accident on the developer's part and the developer chose to make the change when they were informed of the different meaning in this region.

Accordingly, Lipschultz asked to be removed from the Akiba's Beat credits, though partly because he initially thought XSEED had asked for the sign to be changed, rather than Acquire having done so of its own volition. Because of XSEED company policy, which Lipschultz knew in advance, he will no longer be credited on any XSEED game.

"Since the whole XSEED team is credited on each project by our official company title...we cannot be selective about which games people are credited in. If someone is ashamed to be associated with one of our games, then they are ashamed to be associated with the company as a whole and won't be credited in future games either," it reads.

Lipschultz, who previously almost quit the company over the character ages in the horny titty anime brawler Senran Kagura Burst being changed from the original 15-years-old to 18-years-old during localization, said of his "KKK witches" stand, "I feel it's a good symbolic gesture on my part, showing my commitment to my principles on this matter."

Localizer Asks To Be Removed From Game's Credits After Developers Erase KKK Reference [Kotaku]

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News:: Forza Horizon goes more unrealistic than ever with upcoming Hot Wheels add-on

Forza Horizon is a series that has always been rooted in the vaguely possible. Forza Motorsport is the simulation-heavy style where cars do what cars would do. Horizon is where you suspend your disbelief just a little bit because maybe a vehicle could fly off this ramp, do a bunch of cool tumbles, and eventually land right-side up.

For its final trick (presumably), Forza Horizon 3 is throwing the vaguely possible out the window in favor of the surely ridiculous. The last add-on to the Australia racer will be Hot Wheels-themed, putting 10 new cars on giant neon orange tracks to perform whatever insane stunts eight-year-olds can dream up. Corkscrews, loop-de-loops, half-pipes, and giant mechanical dinosaurs are all in play.

Forza Horizon 3: Hot Wheels releases on May 9 for $20 on Xbox One and Windows 10 PC. It's a fun premise but it's also one step too far removed from how we think about Forza Horizon. We'll find out in a couple weeks' time if that makes for an even more exciting expansion or if it ends up drifting so far that it feels like something else entirely.

Forza Horizon 3 Hot Wheels Expansion arrives May 9 [Xbox Wire]

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News:: Ready at Dawn's Deformers has had one troubled launch

Did you know that the studio behind The Order: 1886 has a new game out? It's true.

Released last week, Deformers is an altogether different concept from Ready at Dawn, trading out a cinematic romp through alternate-history London for little blob creatures that like to duke it out in arenas and also play soccer sometimes. I was looking forward to playing and reviewing the game, but at this rate, I don't think it's gonna happen. The odds are too stacked against me.

First, there were the matchmaking issues. Those seem to be mostly cleared up now, but the situation was dire for many players, myself included, during the first few days after launch. You simply couldn't get into a match, and as a result, you couldn't really do anything in Deformers. There isn't an option to compete against bots (even if you start a custom game and fill the room with bots, they sit still, acting only as practice targets). There's no ability to play splitscreen offline, either. It's server-dependent.

In the days since those matching issues have cleared up for me, I've been able to get into games on PlayStation 4 without much waiting around. But now I'm encountering another problem: crippling lag. My normal experience in Deformers is a few-second delay on my button inputs (leading to a glitchy sort of "teleporting" effect) and a character with a penchant for falling through the floor and randomly wandering off the stage to his demise. In short, it's unplayable. And while I don't believe this is the typical experience for the typical player, judging by the forums, I'm also not alone.

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News:: Hover: Revolt of Gamers is launching on May 31

It has been quite some time since we last reported on Hover: Revolt of Gamers. While I somewhat remember the announcement of the Jet Set Radio inspired indie game, I didn't realize it had been available on Early Access for almost two years. It looks like development is wrapping up as developers Midgar Studio and Fusty Game have announced it will be leaving Early Access on Steam May 31.

If you know nothing of the game (like me), then let this nice bullet pointed list fill you in on the features:

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News:: 'Danger Zone' turns the best part of 'Burnout' into a full game

It's been nine long years since we had a proper Burnout game. But when Paradise launched back in 2008 it didn't come with the franchise's trademark Crash Mode, the arcadey feature that tasked players with hurtling themselves through an intersection to cause as big of a car accident as possible. That debuted in 2002's Point of Impact, returning in Takedown in 2004 and Revenge a year later before it was scrapped for an inferior clone in Paradise. Well, today there's some good news: the latest project from former Burnout developers is Danger Zone, a game that sounds an awful lot like Crash Mode: The Game.

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News:: May's PS Plus lineup is somewhat decent

Seeing as how Microsoft set the bar pretty low level for May's Games with Gold, I guess Sony didn't need to do much to top them. While you could argue that the games on offer for Xbox One and 360 are better than this list, at least there are some decent titles on offer for Sony users.

PS4 users will be treated to Tales from the Borderlands and Abzu along with cross buy titles Laser Disco Defenders and Type:Rider on the Vita. PS3 users get Blood Knights and Port Royale 3, though I don't know how many people care about either of those games. If you happen to be in Europe, you'll be getting Alienation instead of Abzu on the PS4, which is a bit strange.

I do appreciate that Sony still offers something for Vita users, but I feel they should go back to exclusives for the system instead of simply offering up cross buy games. I know that gives more incentive to PS4 users, but there is a treasure trove of hidden Vita gems that is going unrepresented due to this policy of cross buy only titles.

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News:: PSA: Persona 5's free swimsuit DLC is out now

If you're knee deep in Persona 5 but feel like you haven't accomplished much yet, I feel you.

It's a long ass video game, made even longer when you're compelled to re-run dungeons to level up and wander around Tokyo aimlessly trying to court someone. But if you want to take a little break from the grind, you can do that by smiling and laughing at the swimsuit outfits for each of the Phantom Thief crew members, which is out now by way of free DLC.

Just hop on the PSN, download it, and be on your way. You can also grab the school uniform set if you're so inclined, and the Catherine themed digs next week -- but the latter will be a premium add-on.

Persona 5 [PlayStation Store]

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News:: Mass Effect: Andromeda is now 33% off for PS4 and Xbox One

We are now a solid month (give or take) past the release of BioWare's Mass Effect: Andromeda and, as if on cue, the game is getting a big price cut on physical copies of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions at GameStop.

The ubiquitous gaming retailer is slashing prices by 33% on console copies only in a week-long promotion. You can order online and receive free shipping by using code SAVER during checkout or simply choose to pick-up at your local store (if supplies are available).

The Deluxe Edition of Mass Effect: Andromeda is also on sale, with both copies slashed to $49.99 a piece -- a slightly smaller 28% price cut from the $69.99 Deluxe list price.

Mass Effect: Andromeda Deals

• Mass Effect Andromeda (PS4, Xbox One) — $39.99  (list price $60)
• Mass Effect Andromeda Deluxe Edition (PS4, Xbox One) — $49.99  (list price $70)

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News:: Yup, Call of Duty: WWII has Nazi Zombies

Just as a I thought the Call of Duty: WWII reveal event was winding down and I could tune out, Sledgehammer Games started talking about co-op and horror elements and then this ugly mug popped up.

Ah, gotcha. Nazi Zombies.

"[O]ur co-operative mode delivers a unique storyline that's an all-new take on Nazi Zombies that we think fans are going to love," said studio head and co-founder Michael Condrey.

For now, though, all we have to go on is this image.

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News:: NieR: Automata's 2B outfit comes to Gravity Rush 2 next month

Even if it's not in the form of substantial expansions, I'm glad that Sony is still somewhat supporting Gravity Rush 2 -- the longer this game is in the spotlight, the better. Although most of that love has come in the form of costumes that's alright with me, especially when you consider this next one.

This cross-promotion is with none other than Square Enix, which will allow Kat to don the outfit of 2B from NieR: Automata. As a pair of PS4 exclusives it makes sense, and it'll drop on May 9 in the west for free.

If you're interested, there's also a sale on the base game for 20% off (40% with PS Plus) in Japan. It will likely be a worldwide thing in the coming days.

PlayStation [Twitter]

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News:: Call of Duty: WWII is officially launching on November 3, here is a trailer

That special Call of Duty reveal event is currently going on and it's full of cliched behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with people feigning excitement for the new game. It's basic marketing 101 stuff, but we did get a reveal trailer for the new game. While the trailer states "in-game footage," I'm not holding my breath.

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News:: The underwhelming contents of a seemingly-unopenable chest in Breath of the Wild have at last been revealed

Between Breath of the Wild's Aris Beach and Clarnet Coast lies an unassuming, yet somewhat mysterious, chest.

At first glance, it appears to be just like every other metallic chest that's submerged underwater, although this one also has the honour of being partly buried beneath the sandy ocean floor. Evidently, first impressions can be deceiving. You see, despite its modest appearance, this singular chest has chest has been the subject of great intrigue, simply because it's proven itself to be surprisingly difficult to reach through legitimate in-game means.

According to the game's logic, retrieving this chest should be a simple matter of utilising Link's Magnesis ability to pick it up from its watery home. While this would normally be an effective means of chest-recovery, this doesn't seem to be an effective solution to such a puzzle in this instance. Other methods such as bombing the chest, or attempting to retrieve it with the Cryonis skill, have also proven to be entirely ineffectual.

By utilising a bug that occurs when running the game under a specific version of the Cemu Wii U emulator (1.7.3d, specifically), a player by the name of Leonardo Ramallo has managed to reveal treasure contained within this chest. As well as posting a video demonstrating his opening of the chest in question, he also documented the mystery surrounding it, and the steps that he took to uncover its contents, on the Breath of the Wild subreddit.

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News:: 'Call of Duty: WWII' will take you back to Omaha Beach November 3rd

Call of Duty: WWII will launch November 3rd on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Additional details from the livestream are pouring in, but for now, feast your eyes on the new trailer.

Developing...

Source: Call of Duty (YouTube)

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News:: Get a new look at Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age

Man, I'm chomping at the bit to try Final Fantasy XII again. I've cleared it twice -- once at launch, and I had another go around four years back, but the new visuals, presumably quicker load times, and the International Version content is a nice incentive.

That said, XII still feels like one of the weaker entries to me. Its version of Ivalice wasn't as magical as Tactics' was, the story wasn't as original (for better and worse, given its less absurdist world) than other entries, and outside of Gambits its gameplay mostly feels like an extension of XI, which I played to death. Maybe some of those notions will change when I tackle Zodiac Age.

This new trailer is making a good case though, and we'll be able to see for ourselves when it arrives in the west on July 11 -- two days ahead of Japan.

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News:: New 3DS XL refurb units $30 off at Nintendo's outlet store

Head over to GameStop right now and try to buy a pre-owned New Nintendo 3DS XL unit. You'll pay a whopping $189.99. A minuscule $10 in savings from brand-new pricing at $199.99. It's an enticing deal that makes us wonder how GameStop competes, but so it goes. (Heck, even older 3DS XL pre-owned units are going for around $179.99.)

Indeed, discounts are rare on the New Nintendo 3DS XL and all the more so when they're directly from Nintendo. That's why it was a nice surprise this week to see Nintendo's eBay store hawking refurbished units of New Nintendo 3DS XL for $170 (thanks Nintendo for that nomenclature wonder).

Sorry, no Pokémon theme or a fancy model here. The $30 in savings applies only to your standard black refurbished units of the New Nintendo 3DS XL. These are reconditioned straight from Nintendo so they're back with the usual full one-year Nintendo warranty.

At the time of writing, only 42 have been sold since they became available for sale this morning. The word from eBay is that there are 437 units Nintendo is releasing at this price, so the deal should last for a few days at the very least.

Note: if you must have the red model, you can also find it on Nintendo's store for the same $170, but for whatever mysterious reason, Nintendo's official store charges $5 for shipping, whereas shipping on eBay it's free for the black unit.

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News:: Three Fields announces Danger Zone, a spiritual successor to Burnout's crash mode

Three Fields Entertainment is a company most of you are probably not familiar with. Created by the heads of old-school Criterion Games, Fiona Sperry and Alex Ward, they've only released Dangerous Golf and Lethal VR thus far, but that is going to change soon. Eager to get back to their roots, the next game from the indie studio is being called a spiritual successor to Burnout's "Crash Mode." Danger Zone is a game about realistic crashes and causing mass havoc on the road.

There is a massive interview with the studio over on Eurogamer, but the information related to Danger Zone confirms that it will be on PS4 and PC only; no Xbox One or Switch ports are being worked on. The game will feature 20 junctions to crash in and will be more about realistic physics and destruction instead of Burnout's more exaggerated take on racing.

Multiplayer is also not included in the game, though that is due to the studio size (six people). They are hoping old fans will enjoy Danger Zone so that they can expand the concept for a potential sequel. Online leaderboards will be present for tracking high scores, though. The release date is set for May (next month!) and is priced at £9.99 (and will more than likely be $14.99 US).

It all sounds pretty great to me, apart from the information about how Three Fields hasn't really broken even with their previous two games. I don't know if immediately jumping into a Burnout successor would have been the right move, but I definitely would have been more likely to blindly try a racer by them had I known the pedigree of the team.

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News:: Awesomenauts is going free-to-play at last

On May 24, the 2D MOBA Awesomenauts is finally, thankfully going free-to-play.

That's a while from now, though. Why make the announcement so early? Ronimo is gearing up for the free-to-play transition with a beta update for current players available today, April 26. What to expect:

• A reworked tutorial and "beginner experience."
• A new progression system that tracks your profile and individual characters to award unlocks like currency bonuses, portraits, and character items.
• A new form of currency, "Awesomepoints," that's earned in-game through PvP matches or the new co-op vs. bots mode. You can use these points to buy characters, profile portraits, and drop pods.
• Medals for reaching specific milestones.
• The ability to buy playable characters and drop pods with real money, including an "All Nauts" pack that grants access to every current and future character. As before, cosmetic skins will only ever be purchasable with real-world currency.

According to the studio, "Nobody will lose any content during this transition. Existing players will automatically have all the content they previously owned unlocked. And as an additional thank-you, all players who have registered a copy of Awesomenauts on Steam before of April 26th will be granted 'Founder' status, with a unique medal. Players who own Awesomenauts and both the Starstorm and Overdrive expansions by May 24th will automatically be upgraded to the new 'Awesomenauts All Nauts Pack,' which will grant them all playable characters for free, forever."

I haven't played since Ronimo implemented its new matchmaking system. I'm way overdue.

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News:: How 'Puyo Puyo Tetris' tricked me into liking puzzle games

When Larry Kasanoff said he was turning the world's most iconic puzzle game into a trilogy of science fiction movies, I was speechless. After a disaster like Pixels, how could anybody look at Tetris and think there was a narrative to tell? The game may be a classic, but the narrative potential of organizing falling bricks into horizontal lines seemed weak to me. Then I played Puyo Puyo Tetris. Kasanoff's sci-fi epic still sounds terrible, but somehow it pulls off the impossible: It builds an entertaining narrative from an abstract puzzle game.

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News:: Review: Scanner Sombre

Scanner Sombre is the exact kind of game that's nearly impossible to write about. Or, it's the kind of game that's nearly impossible to write about without feeling guilty. It's very much an experimental piece, and getting any amount of that experience second-hand feels counterproductive to the point of it all.

There's a certain decay between playing Scanner Sombre and just reading my words about Scanner Sombre. That's how you know it's effective in what it sets out to accomplish. Nothing short of actually playing it will convey quite the right sensation. Still, novel as it is, it's the things Scanner Sombre doesn't do that glare the brightest.

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