Back in March, fans of Nintendo's latest console and open-world puzzle adventure games got some tough news: Tequila Works' highly anticipated indie title Rime would cost extra and arrive later on the Switch. Luckily for cash-strapped players who want to explore Rime's island environments on the go, a digital copy of the Switch port will now carry the same $29.99 price tag as the PS4 and Xbox One editions.
Source: Grey Box
It's been 17 years since The Sims was first released on PC but finally (finally) the venerable social simulator is going mobile. EA announced on Wednesday that it is bringing its truest port of the game to date to Android and iOS.
Via: CNet
Source: EA
It's been a good while since the second season of the anime KonoSuba ended, and we have yet to hear anything about a third installment getting green-lit. For now, the next best thing is that the show's visual novel game, KonoSuba: God's Blessing on this Wonderful World! Judgment on this Greedy Game!, hits Japan on Sept. 7 for the PS4 and PS Vita.
The neat part about 5pb.'s KonoSuba title is that it revolves around Kazuma encountering a cursed ring that causes him to steal everyone's underwear. In order for him to free himself from this burden, he'll need to cough up a large amount of money to lift the curse.
There's also an "underwear judgment" feature that helps you figure out the owners of the undies. If your deduction is correct, you'll receive a reward for your endeavors; however, if you make a wrong choice, then the prize is watching Kazutrash get punished.
From the looks of it, KonoSuba: God's Blessing on this Wonderful World! Judgment on this Greedy Game! might carry the anime's spirit. As a nice extra, first-run copies of the title include a code that lets players download a KonoSuba shooting game. If anything, this sounds like a nice way to get a double dose of Megumin's explosion spell.
KonoSuba game for PS4, PS Vita launches September 7 in Japan [Gematsu]
The eternal struggle between fans of EA's fast-paced, good-looking FIFA series and Konami's deeper, more realistic Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) video game titles rages across console and mobile versions. If you're a fan of the latter, you'll be happy to hear that Konami will bring Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 to iOS and Android later this month after a soft launch in Australia last December.
Source: Konami
Sloclap and Devolver Digital are bringing the online-centric combat game Absolver to PC and PlayStation 4 on August 29, 2017. I still mostly know this game as "the one with fisticuffs and funny masks," but you might remember Zack drawing comparisons to Dark Souls PvP and sweet old God Hand.
This overview gets into the meat of it, from moveset customization to fighting styles and stances:
Up until now, my main concern has been that I'll feel way out of my depth, but the way things are laid out in this video, I think it'll just take some patience up front and won't be too overwhelming.
"The core gameplay of Absolver is accessible and doesn't require high levels of dexterity to be played," says Sloclap's Pierre Tarno, "but players will be challenged on other skills; timing, reflexes, observation, and memory will all be put to the test, and with the interplay of all the different mechanics above, there is enough depth to make all fights unique."
Within a week of release, Prey has become the year's hottest speed-game.
Earlier this week, Destructoid reported on an impressive, twenty-two minute Prey speedrun. That's fast. Today, speedrunner Bjurnie holds the Prey world record, clocking in at nine minutes and fifty-five seconds. That's faster than my brain can comprehend.
Starting a professional esports team can be an expensive venture. A spot in League of Legends' League Championship Series is going for $1.8 million. However, Blizzard's sights are set considerably higher as it's asking more than 10 times that to take part in its upcoming Overwatch League.
According to a report from ESPN, Blizzard is having trouble signing teams for Overwatch League, which was announced at last year's BlizzCon. ESPN's sources point directly at the entry fee as the main culprit. Blizzard wants $20 million for a team, with that price increasing in bigger markets like New York and Los Angeles.
The other specifics don't sound very alluring either. It's said that teams aren't guaranteed revenue sharing until after 2021, and that the league would take 25 percent of the transaction if someone decided to sell their team to another party. It should be noted that Blizzard seems to be willing to work with buyers on a case-by-case basis. ESPN mentions that New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has a tentative agreement to purchase a team under the condition that his price matches the most favorable price that anyone else buys in for.
While the Overwatch League obviously has issues it needs to work through, Blizzard still seems committed to launching it in late 2017. Sources tell ESPN that they're doubtful this will end up happening considering how negotiations have been going. We'll find out in due time.
We reached out to Blizzard seeking comment on: The notion that the franchise fee is too high and that it's unfavorable to teams; why it's so high when compared to League of Legends's $1.8 million asking price; and the speculation that the Overwatch League won't launch on time. Blizzard has not responded at time of publishing. We'll update this story when/if we hear back.
Sources: Teams hesitant to buy into Overwatch League due to high cost, undesirable contract terms [ESPN]
While it's no Metal Rear Solid: The Phantom Peen, Brazzer's latest video game porn parody isn't as Mickey Mouse'd as The Princess's Peach: A XXX Parody. Or maybe it's just easier to put together a Morrigan costume that stands up to having identifiable signifiers even when the performer is mostly naked and banging (the stand-out hair, even if it's too blue, coupled with two pairs of bat wings doesn't quite interfere with porn the way Peach's bulky dress does).
Still, Morricunt vs. Dr. Poon also makes efforts to mimic the horizontal shot of a fighting game and even adds digital effects to the hits, according to the trailer, anyways (which is still incredibly NSFW and available on Brazzer's site).
The star of the show, though, has to be Doctor Doom built out of leftover costuming from Heath Ledger's A Knight's Tale. Don't you have a grail to seek out, Monty-Python-looking-ass motherfucker!
Also, why not Doctor Dom?
Between Job Simulator and Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality, Owlchemy Labs has been doing some cool stuff in the VR space. I'm curious to see what the team does next, especially in light of today's news that Google, which has its own Daydream virtual reality platform, acquired Owlchemy.
In its announcement post, the studio worked to alleviate fears about the acquisition:
"Our plan to build awesome things will continue forward stronger than ever. This means Owlchemy will continue building high quality VR content for platforms like the HTC Vive, Oculus Touch, and PlayStation VR. This means continuing to focus on hand interactions and high quality user experiences, like with Job Simulator. This means continuing our mission to build VR for everyone, and doing all of this as the same silly Owlchemy Labs you know and love. We are continuing to do all of this with even more support and focus on building awesome stuff. It’s incredibly exciting that Google and Owlchemy are so well aligned on our goals and vision for the future of VR."
I just want these folks to continue making interesting games on a variety of platforms. It sounds like that's the goal for both parties, and I hope things stay that way.
Owlchemy Labs and Google join forces for the future of VR [Owlchemy Labs]
If you aren't playing Mass Effect: Andromeda but still catch yourself keeping tabs on the patches, you and me both, buddy. BioWare has detailed its latest patch and efforts to balance the multiplayer.
Generally speaking, it's a lot of fixes for things that needed fixing: improvements to cinematic scenes, "particularly in the opening hours of the game"; conversation paths not being 'greyed out' if new content is available; and SAM shutting up about unread emails that don't actually exist, to name a few. But there are also quality-of-life changes like extra autosave slots and a toggle for motion blur.
If you've been waiting for NVIDIA to finally take the lid off of Volta, the next generation of its GPU technology, your day has finally come. Today at its GPU Technology Conference, the company announced the NVIDIA Tesla V100 data center GPU, the first processor to use its seventh-generation architecture. Like the Tesla P100 the processor is replacing, the Volta-powered GPU is designed specifically to power artificial intelligence and deep learning so, naturally, it's flush with power. Built on a 12nm process, the V100 boasts 5,120 CUDA Cores, 16GB of HBM2 memory, an updated NVLink 2.0 interface and is capable of a staggering 15 teraflops of computational power. Naturally, it's also the GPU that drives the company's updated DGX-1 supercomputer, too.
So, this is a good idea. Overkill Software is working on Payday VR for a beta release later this year, and as shown in this debut trailer, it'll support co-op play with the existing version of Payday 2.
Outside of what you can glean from this HTC Vive-centric video, the studio is promising to deliver "all your Payday content in VR" and says it will be "available to all Payday 2 owners."
We've seen cross-platform play between the various headsets -- Ubisoft, in particular, has been great about this -- but I don't know that I've ever played a VR game cooperatively with non-VR owners. For all the baggage associated with the Payday name these days, I have to say, this is a nice move.
You might have heard rumblings about the puzzle-adventure game Rime costing more on Nintendo Switch than on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. There's been movement on that front, with publisher Grey Box altering the price point on the eShop and including a pack-in for physical Switch copies.
At it now stands, the eShop version of Rime will cost "$29.99 / €34.99 / £29.99, the same price as the game on other platforms." (Previously, it was set at $39.99 / €44.99 / £39.99.) This needed to happen.
As for the game's physical edition, the company says it "can't lower the price without selling at a loss," so its solution is going to be to include a redeemable code for the soundtrack.
"You will be able to download the music via Bandcamp in one of the multiple high-quality formats. The soundtrack is planned on being sold separately for $10 in the US (and equivalent prices elsewhere), and so the value you’re going to get out of this will be the same as somebody who purchased a different version of Rime, and then bought the soundtrack."
I wouldn't be surprised if we see other physical Switch games take a similar approach with pack-ins to help justify their higher pricing. As for Rime, well, here's hoping it turns out well!
RiME Pricing on Nintendo Switch [Rime]
The pseudo-sequel to Terraria, Starbound, is getting a new update that will allow for player created space stations. Using a snap module, players will be able to pick from a selection of different options to craft their very own home away from home. You'll start the process by launching some probe into space which then generates a spacebox with a teleporter. From there, you just get your Sims on and decorate to your heart's content!
Along with space stations comes player created mechs! That sounds awesome as hell. Not much is mentioned about that, but I'm sure it will work similar to how space stations are crafted, just on a much smaller scale. Developer Chucklefish is also working on fleshing out interplanetary activities so that the game more readily lives up to its name. Sounds like good stuff and it makes me more intrigued by this game.
There isn't a release date for the planned 1.3 update, but seeing as how Starbound has been receiving generous updates for years, I doubt most players will mind waiting a bit longer.
Starbound is adding player-built space stations [Rock, Paper, Shotgun]
The Choju-jinbutsu-giga is an ancient set of picture scrolls drawn around the 12th or 13th century Japan, also known as the Kamakura period (when first Shogun took over the country). The images of frolicking animals are considered by scholars to be the first traces of what evolved to become modern manga.
So why not take that and make it into a video game right? That's what Silver Star thought, and they will release it as a 700 yen ($6) tower defense game on the Nintendo 3DS eShop in Japan next week on May 17, 2017.
We're on chapter four of the Squid Sisters related prologue for Splatoon 2, and it's getting even more interesting.
To sum up the story so far, we're roughly nine months away from the conclusion of the last Splatfest (read: the last real life public event from the first game). Callie and Marie have started recording solo material instead of group work, which has helped elevate the extroverted nature of the former, as well as her confused contempt over losing that final Splatfest. Although they're roommates they find more ways to spend time apart from each other, culminating in Callie discovering Marie on a jaunt with Crusty Sean (the former shoe shop manager, as we learn in this episode), and not stopping to say "hello."
Chapter four sees the two attempting to hammer out their (unspoken) issues at the mall, while musing over the love lives of some of the other Inkopolis inhabitants. It's a pretty great way to get keyed up for Splatoon 2 if you haven't dug in already, and given that this is a series of short stories it's really easy to catch up.
Squid Sisters Stories [Nintendo]
Round two of Japan game sales this week, this time covering the actual Golden Week. So what did people buy? Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. A lot of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. No new games were released during the holidays, so people bought more Mario Kart. Even Mario Kart 7 returned to the top 20.
The Nintendo Switch's numbers leveled back down to 47,000, but Xbox One sales increased by 500% from the previous week, from 101 up to 677. We believe in you Xbox One!
While many sandbox-oriented games are filled to the brim with useless dots and objectives (the Ubisoft radio tower formula), the formula is also capable of creating some pretty great moments, especially when it comes to the competitive arena.
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, a game that's been getting a lot of buzz the past few months, is one of those experiences. Recalling some of the great Hunger Games-like moments from titles like Rust and DayZ, folks have been doing some pretty interesting things these past few months, like the ever-popular "pacifist runs."
Although many have tried to actually win by not even picking up (much less using) a deadly weapon, streamer Kurtjmac managed to actually win the entire battle royal in a duo game he entered with a companion. For those who aren't aware, games are massive in size (100 players is the max), and there can only be one winning team (or person) at the end. What makes Battlegrounds so hectic is that the "safe zone" is constantly switching, forcing its participants to move to new areas to facilitate combat, lest they get docked by a damage over time debuff.
That little twist (which has been done before, but arguably more effective here) is what makes the game so fun to watch. You really have to keep scrounging for more gear to survive, and by the end you'll probably be squaring off against some formidable people armed to the teeth. It's even tougher when you don't attack anyone and leave all of the good gear for others to scavenge, like Kurtjmac did here.
A word of warning -- the first 20 minutes or so are mostly spent wandering around, so skip ahead if you want to see some action. 30 minutes in (the final arena battle) is when the finale starts!
PC gamers waiting on a further price drop for Mass Effect: Andromeda are in luck but you have less than 24 hours to snag this deal. In a one-day-only flash sale, GMG has slashed the price of BioWare's latest to $34.99, which is 42% off the $60 list and a new low by a further 12% off. At this price point, fans of the series may just be able to move past some of Mass Effect: Andromeda's glaring flaws.
The deal is a part of GMG's Birthday Sale, celebrating the digital retailer's seventh birthday as a company. The sale will consist of seven days with fourteen deals (two every 24 hours). Today we're looking at the aforementioned cheap Andromeda and also on the Grand Theft Auto V Megalodon Bundle - both titles at their historic low point.
GMG Day 1 Birthday Sale
The Grand Theft Auto V Megalodon Bundle is a bundle containing Grand Theft Auto V and a Megalodon Shark Card. The Megalodon card is the largest GTA Online Shark Card available, granting the buyer $8,000,000 in in-game currency. Believe it or not, the in-game currency retails for $100. This is the cheapest the bundle has ever been and makes sense for those who still don't have GTA V in their gaming library. Note that the digital copy sold by GMG is a Rockstar Social Club key and not a Steam key.
Game deals from Dealzon. Sales help support Destructoid.
If you've ever been or want to visit Japan, like toys, and enjoy a little bit of that rush that comes with gambling, you should try out the gachapon machines. Though not exactly a secret anymore, it's fun putting in a couple dollars (that really feels like quarters since they're coins) to try and get the bite-sized toy or keychain you want. I almost never do sadly.
Now there will be Kirby: Planet Robobot machines featuring several of the robot versions found in game. All the robots look pretty sweet, I'd want a figure-sized one if I collected figures (I don't; I'm not that far gone yet), but I know when I try I'll end up with the standard Kirby with goggles.
Yesterday we learned that BioWare has delayed their new IP past March 2018, but thanks to an earnings call we now have a little more information as to why it was delayed. Specifically, that Mass Effect: Andromeda isn't to blame -- allegedly.
As we all know Andromeda was met with mixed responses. Even those who enjoyed it were no doubt disappointing that it wasn't everything it billed itself as, but EA CEO Andrew Wilson isn't fazed by it. Responding to an inquiry, he noted "The choice to move the new IP and what happened with Mass Effect are completely unrelated. The reality is, we have a creative process, as a company, creativity and pioneering is really important for us. Innovation in games is important more now than ever, and as a leader in the industry, we see it as our responsibility to innovate."
While it's great that EA's CEO didn't throw BioWare under the bus (at least publicly), someone has to be taking a hit for this. Even if Wilson feels that Andromeda was met by a "very passionate" fanbase, the lack of polish likely hurt EA's bottom line. I don't buy that the delay had nothing to do with Andromeda, but I do think it may have to do with a larger look and restructuring of BioWare as a whole.
EA Responds To Mass Effect: Andromeda's Mixed Reaction, Talks BioWare New IP Delay [GameSpot]
Anyone who has spoken with me in the past couple of months would know of my absolute adoration for NieR: Automata. In fact, it’s very likely that I’ve become unhealthily obsessed with it. To say that I regard it to be one of the better games in this current console generation would be an understatement, and I find myself utterly enamoured with its story, characters, world and its dark and often tragic themes.
Naturally, when I first heard about its now-released 3C3C1D119440927 DLC, I couldn’t help but find myself excited about it. Sure, it was advertised as an arena mode with an optional boss and a couple of costumes inspired by the previous NieR, but it was an expansion to a game that I hold in high regard, as well as a decent excuse to replay it.
Now that I’ve gone and replayed through the full game yet again, and now that I’ve had a chance to run through the DLC, do I think that it was worth my time and money? Well, yes. But there are a few small caveats.
Sega has been teasing this for some time now, but a Vanquish PC port this month seems like a sure thing. Beginning with an ominous "2017" tweet that featured the mark of the main antagonist from the game, they've since gone on to tweet out "05," and "25," the latter of which clearly shows some of the trademark boost effects.
Vanquish was somewhat slept on at release, so a fully featured, possibly 60FPS/4K PC port (if Bayonetta is anything to go by) will give it a second chance. Based on SteamSpy reports Bayonetta scored roughly 165,000 sales on the platform, which isn't bad for a port released nearly eight years after the original.
Sega [Twitter]
Looks like the Yo-kai Watch craze is fading away. In 2016's financial report, Bandai Namco listed earnings by IP. Gundam, Dragon Ball, and One Piece are as popular as ever, but Yo-kai Watch only pulled in just 10.4 billion yen, a third of what it made in the previous year and a fifth of it's peak year.
Many saw the Level-5 franchise centered around catching ghosts, or "Yo-kai," as a competitor to Pokémon, some even going so far as to call it the "Pokémon killer." It never came close in the west, but it was a mammoth in Japan. The series peaked around 2014 when the second game and anime debuted, raking in over 55.2 billion yen. The series is predicted drop further in 2017, to 63 billion yen.
In an age where technology is becoming increasingly wireless, it's baffling that Xbox One headsets still require either a transmitter or lengthy wires in order to work. Thankfully, LucidSound's latest is about to change that. Connecting directly to Xbox One (just like a controller), the LS35X is the first truly wireless audio peripheral on Microsoft's console. Interestingly, the headset is also confirmed to work with upcoming Xbox One successor-- Scorpio, making it the first peripheral announced for the mysterious hardware so far.
Remember Steve Burton? In addition to being a daytime TV star he also happens to voice Cloud Strife in basically everything, from Kingdom Hearts, to Advent Children, to Dissidia.
Well he's getting back into the booth so to speak, as he recently announced that he was doing some voice work for Cloud once again. Many speculate that it's for Final Fantasy VII Remake, because after all, he'd only need to do a little bit of work for each individual chapter of the game when they need him, but there's also a small chance that he's recording lines for a console release of Dissidia: Final Fantasy arcade.
Either way Square Enix has been committed to him for roughly the past 15 years, which is pretty impressive.
Steve Burton [Twitter]
Generally speaking, hospitals are places that people want to avoid if they can. There's no denying the necessity of these buildings, but it's unsettling if you really stop and think about how much disease and death occurs inside them every day. The discomfort everyone experiences when they walk through the doors makes them the perfect setting for horror games, but you don't often see an exploration of the space in other genres.
Rakuen, out today, is unusual in that it utilizes a hospital setting as a backdrop for a very different kind of game. It's clearly a personal story for the developer and publisher, Laura Shigihara, best known as the voice of the Sunflower in Plants Vs. Zombies and for her vocal work in games like To the Moon and Cosmic Star Heroine. Rakuen is relentlessly cute, but there's always a hidden edge, like a stiletto concealed inside a Hello Kitty doll. It's like nothing I've ever played before, and I'm still trying to decide whether it's genuinely heartrending or just maudlin and manipulative.
Welcome to your midweek. How's it gone so far? Microsoft's big annual conference kicks off today, and we've sniffed out what you can expect. We also get the full reveal of Amazon's Echo-with-a-screen. It's not pretty, but it does sound pretty smart.
