News:: Gears of War 4 is getting a Horde update and a 10-hour trial soon

Heading into E3 2017, The Coalition is prepping its "biggest ever update" for Gears of War 4.

For current players, it's a Horde-centric call to action on June 6, with 15 new skills (3 for every class), the ability to push skills up to Level 6, new loot drops from bosses, increasingly absurd difficulties called Inconceivable and Ironman (also accessible for the campaign), and 20 new achievements.

For would-be players, a 10-hour trial for Xbox One and Windows 10 is coming with access to Act 1 of the story and all of Horde and Versus. That'll be downloadable from Friday, June 9 to Thursday, June 15 (though you don't have to put your time in during that window). What's more, "Everything you earn in the Trial is yours forever – including achievements, Cards, and Campaign progression."

Aside from cosmetics and Windows/Xbox cross-play in Ranked, the game is also adding two maps: the appropriately named Avalanche from Gears 3, and the close-quarters Rust Lung from Gears 3.

Amusingly, I bought Gears of War 4 in large part for Horde mode but, plot twist, I've yet to try it. Like, not even once! I intended to go through the campaign first to get my bearings, except instead of doing that, I put in no more than half an hour and proceeded to somehow never boot up the game again.

How's your year in video games going? Clearly, mine has been ridiculous.

Rise of the Horde [Gears of War]

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News:: See how Everybody's Golf is shaping up for mobile

You might recall that Sony has wide-ranging plans to bring properties like PaRappa the Rapper, Wild Arms, and No Heroes Allowed to mobile devices through its ForwardWorks subsidiary. Also on that list of titles is Everybody's Golf. It's first in line and it has a new trailer out this week.

Is this what you were expecting from a free-to-play mobile version? This is exactly what I was expecting, for better or worse. Assuming I can get along with the altered-for-touch-controls swing mechanic, I'd be down to mess with Everybody's Golf if and when it becomes available in the West.

On that note, ForwardWorks has opened pre-registration for iOS and Android users in Japan.

[Via Siliconera]

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News:: Rocket League's championship starts with a big Australian upset

Season 3 of Rocket League Championship Series has been running for three months, and it's all culminating in Los Angeles this weekend. The LAN just started and a champion will be crowned on Sunday. But there's already a surprise after the very first series.

This RLCS is the first time that the region of Oceania is included. They don't yet have the respect of North America and Europe, though. Only two Oceania teams were reserved spots at LAN, whereas the other regions each get four. Further, they have to play additional matches at the beginning of the tournament. The two best Oceania squads have to play the 4-seeds from the other regions.

Team Alpha Sydney is doing its part to win some respect for Oceania. It just beat North America's Denial Esports in its opening match. Down two games to one, Alpha Sydney won the fourth game to force a fifth. In the deciding game, it crushed Denial 5-1 to take the series.

It's an upset that some of the commentators saw coming. During a prediction segment, a few of them guessed Alpha Sydney would pull out the victory. However, another one of the commentators guessed that Oceania teams would take a combined two games off of the other regions. In a post-match interview, one of the Oceania players said "We proved we're not THAT bad."

The Australian pride was short-lived, though. Immediately after Alpha Sydney's win, fellow Aussies JAM Gaming got swept by Northern Gaming, scoring its first goal with 30 seconds left in the third match. One Australian team moves to the upper bracket, the other goes to the lower. It's a double elimination tournament, so JAM still stands a chance. But, they're going to have to put some balls in the back of the net or else their first trip to RLCS will be over in quick order. And it's a long flight back to Australia.

RLCS is happening all weekend long and can be streamed on Twitch.

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News:: Paradox franchise sale: Stellaris, Cities: Skylines, Europa IV up to 79% off

When Risk and Chess are not enough, Paradox Interactive is there to fill the strategy void in your life. This weekend GMG launched a wave of sales on Stellaris, Europa Univeralis IV, Cities Skylines, and Victoria II with discounts up to 79% off. Prices are at or better than we expect during the upcoming PC gaming summer sales.

Prices are fairly hot with a few titles hitting new lows. Stellaris did hit $12 at the Humble Store, but you needed a monthly subscription to get it at that price, so if you ignore the subscription price, the drop to $20.39 on last year's popular 4X space strategy title is still very decent.

Stellaris

• Stellaris (Steam) — $20.39  (list price $40)
• Stellaris: Nova Edition (Steam) — $25.49  (list price $50)
• Stellaris: Galaxy Edition (Steam) — $29.75  (list price $70)
• Stellaris: Leviathans Story Pack (Steam) — $6.02  (list price $10)
• Stellaris Plantoids Species Pack (Steam) — $4.31  (list price $8)

Europa Universalis IV

• Europa Universalis IV (Steam) — $18  (list price $40)
• Europa Universalis IV Collection (Steam) — $27.20  (list price $100)
• Europa Universalis IV: Rights of Man Collection (Steam) — $15.07  (list price $25)
• Europa Universalis IV: Rights of Man (Steam) — $12.05  (list price $20)
• Europa Universalis IV: The Art of War Collection (Steam) — $11.25  (list price $25)
• Europa Universalis IV: The Art of War (Steam) — $9  (list price $20)
• Europa Universalis IV: Common Sense (Steam) — $6.75  (list price $15)
• Europa Universalis IV: Mare Nostrum (Steam) — $6.75  (list price $15)
• Europa Universalis IV: Cossacks Content Pack (Steam) — $3.60  (list price $8)

Cities Skylines

• Cities: Skylines - Natural Disasters (Steam) — $10.12  (list price $15)
• Cities: Skylines Deluxe Edition (Steam) — $8.50  (list price $40)
• Cities: Skylines (Steam) — $8.16  (list price $30)
• Cities: Skylines After Dark (Steam) — $6.75  (list price $15)
• Cities: Skylines - Snowfall (Steam) — $5.85  (list price $13)

Victoria II

• Victoria II (Steam) — $4.25  (list price $20)
• Victoria Collection (Steam) — $9  (list price $40)
• Victoria II: A Heart of Darkness Expansion (Steam) — $9  (list price $20)
• Victoria II: A House Divided (Steam) — $4  (list price $10)

While DLC and season passes may be the bane of many gamers, Paradox Interactive games live and breathe DLC content. Happily, each franchise's respective DLC is almost always on sale along with the base game, and you can usually distinguish the good and bad add-ons from a few quick glance at Steam's review aggregate.

These deals are all valid through this weekend only as they expire next Monday, June 5 at 9am Pacific.

Game deals from Dealzon. Sales help support Destructoid.

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News:: What other original Xbox games would you like to see remastered?

That headline is a bit disingenuous because it's not actually my question. It's the question of Code Mystics, the studio that headed up the recent free remaster of Phantom Dust for Xbox One. Admittedly, it holds more weight when the developer asks it. 

Still, Code Mystics wants to know what other original Xbox games you'd like to see remastered. The informal Twitter survey has a clear favorite. The people want From Software's Metal Wolf Chaos re-released. 

Obviously, there are more roadblocks in place for remasters than just listening to the crowd's choice. But, it's a fine way to reinforce where Microsoft should have its sights set. Also, there's a fair chance that Code Mystics is Xbox's new studio that makes old games new.

Anyway, it seems like a good topic of conversation for the weekend. What old Xbox games do you want to see make a comeback? Let's add to the survey.

@CodeMystics [Twitter]

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News:: Let it Die and Gravity Rush 2 seem like a good match

Where will Kat end up next? We've seen Gravity Rush 2 partner with the likes of NieR: Automata and Phantasy Star Online 2 in recent months, and now Grasshopper Manufacture is "teaming up for a collaboration" for its action-survival game Let it Die. That may be reason enough for a redownload.

LET IT DIE & Gravity Rush 2 will be teaming up for a collaboration. Get ready to dive into the action! More information will be coming soon! http://pic.twitter.com/bkJr2w6Pdx

— LET IT DIE The Game (@LETITDIETheGame) June 2, 2017

It's a total tease for the time being, but this hint-of-news-to-come warms my heart. The fact that we're hearing anything at all about the IP post-Gravity Rush 2 gives me a glimmer of hope for its future.

Let it Die [Twitter]

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News:: White Day: A Labyrinth Named School releases during that perfect August window

After nearly three months of silence, PQube has given the final release date for White Day: A Labyrinth Named School. The remake, which released in South Korea back in 2015, will arrive on PC and PlayStation 4 August 1 for North America, and August 4 for Europe. The PC version will receive a worldwide release on August 4.

Read more...

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News:: Watch Sam Lake dissect all of Remedy's games

Earlier this week, I published a piece about Remedy Entertainment creative director Sam Lake's presentation at Digital Dragons in Krakow, Poland. In it, I posit that Remedy's next game, currently codenamed P7, will share values with other Remedy titles because that's how the studio works. It'd be crazy to change now.

My article was the abridged version, though. Of the transcript I had, I only ended up using a small fraction of Lake's words. Just the ones that I thought best got to the core of the message here. 

But, in that post, I promised I'd post the full video once it was uploaded. So, for anyone who wants to see the whole thing, here it is. It's long, but it's also great insight as to the shared structure of some fantastic games. For anyone who just wants to cut to the chase: The "striptease" starts at 13:40.

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News:: Valve's publishing fee for Steam Direct is $100 per game

Valve is moving away from Steam Greenlight as a public-facing tool for determining which games should be sold on Steam, and in its place, developers are getting Steam Direct.

Under this new initiative, instead of spending time garnering community support as a way onto Steam, devs will apply through Valve and pay a $100 publishing fee per game that's recoupable "after a game hits $1,000 in sales," per Ars Technica. (Greenlight has a $100 fee, but it's a one-time thing.)

We previously noted that the company was thinking of charging developers anywhere from $100 all the way up to $5,000 (!), per title, for its Steam Direct fee. Today, Valve says it was internally "hovering around the $500 mark, but the community conversation really challenged us to justify why the fee wasn't as low as possible, and to think about what we could do to make a low fee work."

"In the past, the challenge was to figure out what products should be on the Store," Valve said in a lengthy post. "Now, we think the challenge is to figure out what products a specific player wants to see."

With this fee-based approach to self-publishing and the fear of an even larger throwaway-game flood, Valve assures that it will "closely monitor the kinds of game submissions we're receiving, so that we're ready to implement more features like the the Trading Card changes we covered in the last blog post, which aim to reduce the financial incentives for bad actors to game the store algorithm."

It's still unclear when Steam Direct will roll out, but last we heard, the targeted launch window was this spring. Summarizing its plans, Valve said "We believe that if we inject human thinking into the Store algorithm, while at the same time increasing the transparency of its output, we'll have created a public process that will incrementally drive the Store to better serve everyone using it."

Steam Direct Fee & Upcoming Store Updates [Steam]

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News:: Big news: Gigantic should launch by the end of June

Motiga's free-to-play MOBA Gigantic has sort of been in a state of limbo for a while now. A series of beta events started in 2015. Microsoft eventually pulled out as the publisher. The studio suffered layoffs in February 2016 and March 2017 -- the most recent one affecting nearly a fifth of the team. Gigantic seemed kind of stuck.

Finally, there's light at the end of the tunnel. In a developer blog, Motiga reveals that Gigantic is currently scheduled to release by the end of June. "The team has been laser-focused on launching the game very soon. We're not quite ready to talk about a specific date, but things are on track for a major update before the end of the month," the post reads.

This, however, depends on the game passing Microsoft's certification process. That's not necessarily a given, as plenty of titles fail cert in their first submission. If that happens, Gigantic's proper release will almost certainly be pushed back into July.

The blog also mentions that Motiga reworked the new player onboarding experience. As the developer notes, Gigantic is a tough game to get the hang of right away, especially for people who are trying to play it like a hero shooter. Now, it'll supposedly do a better job of explaining the mechanics and systems to the player.

Those players will see for themselves if Gigantic is easy to grasp sometime in the near future when it releases on PC and Xbox One. Games like this need to have a lengthy lifespan after launch, constantly changing and evolving to stay relevant. But, considering what Gigantic has been through, making it to launch is in itself big news.

The State of Gigantic, June 2017 [Gigantic]

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News:: We have a new podcast and it's a spiritual successor to RetroForce Go

A long time ago, Destructoid hosted a podcast called RetroForce Go! It ran for 100 episodes and was beloved by legions, but nothing good lasts forever. However, just because something's gone doesn't mean you can't make something that's almost as good.

Retroid is meant to be a spiritual successor to RetroForce Go! and to that end, I was fortunate that Alex Ryan (aka Dyson) and Topher Cantler agreed to join me for the first episode, as did our own Jonathan Holmes. You can give our initial episode a listen below, or head to SoundCloud to download it directly.

Our intro music is the title theme from Sunsoft's Journey to Silius. We begin by talking about what RetroForce Go! was, its influence, and how Retroid came to be. The Twitch conversation I mentioned was archived and can be viewed here. 

From 14:45 to 51:00 we talk about what the heck does "Retro" mean, anyway? Turns out it's pretty hard to define! We discuss vintage hardware, mechanics, Shovel Knight, Mega Man 9, Breath of the Wild, other open world games, Majora's Mask, and phone games.

Our interlude at 51:00 is the Town theme from Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap Remastered.

From 51:30 to 1:12:45 we talk about recent remakes and retro releases, and which games we would remaster.

The interlude at 1:12:45 is the song that plays on the NES Classic home screen.

From 1:13:15 to the end of the show we cover the NES Classic and decide that we're all Wii U hipsters.

Our ending music is NES Metroid Ending - arrange version by nicoMS0122 on YouTube.

We didn't have space in the show to get to your comments this time, but I intend to in future episodes. If you left a comment on the announcement article, don't worry, we'll get to those soon. You can also send comments to @RetroidPodcast on Twitter any time. I'm looking forward to doing more of these, so I hope you guys enjoy our first episode. Let me know what you think!

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News:: N++ is making the jump to Xbox One

It seems like Metanet is never going to be done with N++. Hot off the heels of the announcement of a free expansion to the game, N++ will now be landing on Xbox One as N++ Ultimate Edition. This version will include every bit of content released thus far. I'm sure Metanet will come up with another few thousand levels next year, though.

No firm release date was given, just a summer timeline. Seeing as how the PS4 version of the game has not yet received those bonus levels, I'm guessing this port will land at the same time as that update. Either way, its great to see this game on as many platforms as possible. N has remained a classic over the years and more people should play it.

Read more...

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News:: My Nintendo get some new rewards for June, hold your applause

My Nintendo is such a funny thing. Every time I look at it I just miss Club Nintendo, and pretty much everyone else in the comment section does too.

You don't know what you got 'til it's gone! There were so many issues with the service, especially in later years when they cut down on the cool Platinum rewards in favor of making them digital only (and underwhelming at that), but the idea of getting anything free is something I'd welcome back with open arms. When My Nintendo first arrived and we got WarioWare plus a brand new Twilight Princess Picross, things were looking up. Now...we have 15% off five year old games that power My Nintendo users likely own already.

So yeah, here's the new June updates for the service -- have at 'em!

June rewards [My Nintendo]

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News:: Japanese subway playing Final Fantasy music for 30th anniversary

Unlike Nintendo unto Metroid, Square Enix is keen on celebrating Final Fantasy's 30th anniversary (it barely missed the cut in December of 1987, but it counts!), as tons of festivities have already been rolled out over in Japan.

One little tribute involves jingles playing at Japanese subway stations, including victory fanfare and the main theme. These are located over at the Yokohama subway station if you're a Tokyo native, and will run until July 7.

With all of the ups and downs the series has had (mostly ups, really), I'm glad it's still around. While everyone has an affinity toward a specific game that impacted their life in some way, I'd like to think that all of them from the first to XI, skipping over to XIV (gasp) and into XV (double gasp), were memorable during some stage in my life.

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News:: Create a masterpiece on the Switch's touchscreen in 'Qbics Paint'

A new game coming to the Nintendo Switch promises to make good use of its touchscreen. Qbics Paint, developed by Abylight Studios, lets you sculpt and paint works of art from the comfort of your living room -- or wherever else you've toted your Switch.

Via: VentureBeat

Source: Abylight

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News:: Yet another Attack on Titan game is coming for 3DS

Although it took forever for Production I.G to finish season two of the Attack on Titan anime, pretty much everyone else hasn't wasted any time adapting games for it.

In addition to some visual novels there's also a 3DS game, a smartphone social release, tons of crossovers in projects like Dead or Alive or Phantasy Star Online 2, an upcoming Capcom arcade game, a Warriors adaptation from Omega Force, another 3DS game called Ecape from Certain Death that's out very soon, and now, Future Coordinates, also for the 3DS, due this year.

It's a lot to parse, that's for sure. We don't know much, but Future Coordinates is being developed by Spike Chunsoft as a follow-up to Humanity in Chains, so don't get too excited.

Attack on Titan [Spike Chunsoft]

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News:: Amazon Prime's gaming discount no longer works on toys-to-life or collector's editions

Whenever an issue arises I feel the need to keep people updated on the state of amiibo, but this particular tidbit involves pretty much everyone that uses Amazon Prime to order gaming related paraphernalia.

According to Amazon's updated terms of service (that you manually have to find by changing the default option of 2016 to 2017, sneaky), the 20% Prime discount for gaming no longer includes toys-to-life or collector's editions. The former includes amiibo, which is a pretty big bummer on top of the fact that Amazon is already slacking in that department as the only retailer with an exclusive that still hasn't made them widely available.

Your other alternative? Best Buy's Gamers Club Unlocked. It still currently works on amiibo, and pretty much everything else in that arena. I only picked up a membership because of the amiibo shortage and it's worked out nicely (but that's literally the only thing I use it for).

Gaming [Amazon] Thanks Dan!

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News:: This weekend's ARMS Testpunch adds Twintelle and 'Hoops'

While I wasn't really sold on ARMS from last week's Testpunch, it looks like Nintendo is adding a few more things to keep the hype train rolling. For this weekend's time slots, players will have access to the sexy character Twintelle as well as the Hoops game mode. Twintelle, specifically, was added due to fan feedback on wanting to try her.

Read more...

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News:: Now is a good time to chime in about Rime

There really isn't much to talk about in the video game world right now, because everybody is being so hush-hush in the lead up to E3. One of the games we talked about is Rime, which might be good or it might not. Brett doesn't know. (Chris says it's good.)

Otherwise, we hit a gamut of topics ranging from staying hydrated while exercising to having your spit sucked out of your mouth by a dental tool. Now that I've written that sentence I realize it's just either liquids going into or coming out of a mouth. Gross either way.

The episode also includes our newest segment Metacritic Morons, along with the long-running SATPOTPAQ and Podtoid Hot Dish. Give it a listen!

Subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or download it here.

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News:: 'Rime' goes DRM-free after hackers crack the game in days

That didn't take long. Rime developer Tequila Works promised earlier this week that it would remove Denuvo, the anti-tampering/DRM system on the Windows version of Rime, if someone cracked it. Just five days later, and that's already happened and the makers have already released an update that's DRM-free. Interestingly, the developer tweeted saying its publisher was the one promising to make the game DRM-free if cracked. The developer says it didn't implement the protection in the place. The tweet has since been deleted.

Via: Steam forums, Greybox (Rime)

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News:: EA's Need for Speed Payback racing toward November release

The next in Electronic Arts' long-running Need for Speed series is an "action driving fantasy" no doubt drawing comparisons to the huge Fast and Furious franchise. Need for Speed Payback, developed by Ghost Games, will follow three different characters (the "Racer, Showman, and Wheelman") who team together to pull off heists and whatnot to get back at a cartel.

Promising an open world environment and customization options, Ghost Games also tells of a neat gambling motif as betting on yourself earns you money for better parts. Pre-ordering Payback will net you the Platinum Car Pack which includes:

• 1969 Dodge Charger R/T
• 2008 Nissan 350Z
• 2016 Ford F-150 Raptor
• 2016 Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport
• 1967 Chevrolet Camaro SS (nice) 

There will also be a First Play Trial for EA Access and Origin subscribers starting November 2nd, in which they'll be able to play up to ten hours. As for everyone else, Need for Speed Payback will release November 10 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. 

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News:: Secret World has come a long way since I played it at launch

Secret World is getting another big update in the form of its "Legends" revamp, which is basically a relaunch of the whole shebang. It's getting a new storyline in the form of an eight episode campaign, as well as a new graphical style and a more modern combat system, which you can view below by way of a new trailer.

Having played Secret World at launch I was fairly underwhelmed back in 2012 and subsequently stopped playing after several months. But to see Funcom work on keeping this project alive over the course of four years has been something, and I'd give it another shot once it goes fully free-to-play.

Secret Worlds Legends will arrive on June 26.

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News:: ‘Need for Speed Payback’ adds higher stakes and familiar ideas

On paper, Need for Speed Payback sounds a lot like Grand Theft Auto V crossed with a modern Fast and the Furious movie. Tale of revenge? Check. Three distinct protagonists with differing skillsets? Check. Heist missions? You see where I'm going with this. There aren't a ton of other details to go on, but Electronic Arts says that the arcade racer will once again be open world and will feature "jaw-dropping set pieces." Like a submarine surfacing in an ice floe?

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News:: The Morning After: Friday, June 3rd 2017

Welcome to Friday. The big news you probably didn't miss is that the US is withdrawing from the Paris Accord: an international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions struck back in 2015. While that sinks in, we got more details and a price for the Nintendo Switch's online service, and investigate the past, present and future of the more intimate side of live-streaming video.

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