Wednesday, June 7, 2017

News:: Hey! Pikmin's amiibo functionality is neat, but basic

Nintendo loves to shove in amiibo support with nearly every game it releases now-a-days, so it was no surprise that Hey! Pikmin was going to end up with the feature. If you thought this was going to be reminiscent of Yoshi's Woolly World and give you character skins, then you'd be mistaken. No, the amiibo functionality in the upcoming puzzle platformer is a bit basic, though at least it provides something to do.

Courtesy of a new overview video on Nintendo of Japan's YouTube account, we can see that scanning an amiibo will place a statue of it in the level for you to find. Once you do, you'll gain Sparklium that you can use in-game (whatever that does).

Hey! Pikmin's amiibo functionality is neat, but basic screenshot

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News:: 'Wipeout' was born out of 'Mario Kart' and booze

If you were a console racing game fan in the '90s, there's a good chance that Wipeout is forever etched in your brain -- it's hard to forget that mix of sci-fi racing and genre-defining dance music. But how did it come to be? As it turns out, it was almost a happy accident. To mark the launch of Wipeout Omega Collection, Sony has posted a retrospective that reveals the oddball set of circumstances that led to the series' creation: alcohol, Mario Kart, CD technology and the movie Hackers all played important parts.

Source: PlayStation Blog



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News:: Hollow Knight lands its first free DLC pack in July

The developers of Hollow Knight are conspiring against my plans to hold off playing it until the distant Nintendo Switch port comes out. A free content pack, Hidden Dreams, is scheduled for PC in July.

  • 2 New Bosses - Leap into battle with the mightiest foes! These epic new duels will test even the most skilled of players. Each fight grants rewards to the victor, though note: Engaging with each imposing boss is entirely optional! Who are these enigmatic, impossible-to-discern figures? We're not telling! It’s up to you to find out this July!

  • 2 New Tracks - Epic battles need epic music and Chris's been preparing just that, with stirring new boss themes for each encounter! He's gone all out on these ones!

  • New Upgrade: Dream Gate - Discover a whole new method of traversing Hallownest! Slice through the Veil and travel in an instant from one corner of the kingdom to another.

  • A New Stag Station Uncovered - Hallownest’s stags once travelled the breadth of the kingdom, but with the departure of the King, one station was walled away, hidden from bugs and forgotten by stags, until now!

Some of you have already dug into the metroidvania and no doubt love it. Thankfully, you won't need to start anew to experience any of these additions -- the content is "accessible at any point in the game."

Hollow Knight Free Content Pack 01: Hidden Dreams [Steam]

Hollow Knight lands its first free DLC pack in July screenshot



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News:: This Dark Souls figure is kind of cute

Crazy armor designs are my favorite staple of the fantasy genre, so of course I had to post about Gecco's upcoming Siegmeyer figure. I haven't played Dark Souls so I can only assume he is a very fat man inside that fat suit of armor. It honestly looks like the Michelin Man banged an oil drum.

This Dark Souls figure is kind of cute screenshot

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News:: In Los Angeles on Monday? Drink Dtoid Dranks at Golden Gopher

We're having a thing at E3. You should come. RSVP here*

Come have a chillaxing, refreshing, possibly fatal non-dance party drink-up hosted by Destructoid's Editors and the Enthusiast Gaming Network. We're gathering in wrinkled clothing on Monday the 12th at The Golden Gopher, located just five minutes from the Silent Hill Convention Center. *Doors open at 8pm, no list. Bar closes at 2 A.M.

Map and Directions
417 W 8th St, Los Angeles, CA 90014
(213) 614-8001 

In Los Angeles on Monday? Drink Dtoid Dranks at Golden Gopher screenshot

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News:: Destructoid Community Interviews: Dango

Hello folks of world, Orochileona here, back once again with the ill behavior to bring you the next in the series of Community Interviews. You know the routine by now: grab a coffee, take a seat, and enjoy as we go through the looking glass of one member of Destructoid's lovable rogue's gallery. As always, your ongoing support keeps this train a'rollin, so thank you.

Destructoid Community Interviews: Dango screenshot

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News:: Everything, which is a video game and not a movie, qualified for an Academy Award

Everything, the universe-spanning, philosophically-minded game from developer David OReilly is the first video game to qualify for an Academy Award. According to a tweet from OReilly, his game earned the Oscar nod after winning the Jury's Prize for Animation at the Vienna Shorts Festival. 

A press release by the Vienna Shorts Festival states that OReilly's work on an 11-minute short film/trailer for Everything took home the prize because "beyond being entertaining [it] has a strong poetic and philosophical theme. It serves a highly educational purpose, including an important political statement, that encourages to let our egos dissolve and gain a new perspective on the world." That's high praise for a video game.

Everything, which is a video game and not a movie, qualified for an Academy Award screenshot

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News:: Next weekish we're giving away a Nintendo Switch

We're doing the contest thing again, and this time you get to win a Switch right after E3! Your odds of winning are visible this time: your number of entries out of the total entries submitted below.

How to win: Tell a friend about the site with a verified social media profile using Gleam (terms and conditions) and you're in. Gleam will then draw a winner at random, and I'll announce the winner after E3. Good luck!

Next weekish we're giving away a Nintendo Switch screenshot



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News:: Red Hood hits Injustice 2 next week

If you bought the deluxe version of Injustice 2 or the $20 first character pack, you can play as the Red Hood ("AKA, Jason Todd, AKA, dead Robin," as Nic Rowen succinctly summed up) on June 13 according to NetherRealm's Ed Boon.

If you're just interested in the Red Hood -- and not Sub-Zero and Starfire -- you can buy him à la carte the following week. Nic's also got you covered with a preliminary breakdown on Red Hood's playstyle, if you're interested.

Red Hood hits Injustice 2 next week screenshot



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News:: Retroid tackles collecting tonight

Many thanks to everyone who's listened to Retroid's first episode. The reception seems to be mostly positive, and I'm glad that people are enjoying it. We want to keep things rolling along, and we're recording our second episode tonight.

Retroid tackles collecting tonight screenshot

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News:: Project Scorpio teasers might reveal release date, and take jabs at PS4 Pro

Microsoft recently uploaded a handful of promotional teaser videos for Project Scorpio. They're standard fare stuff -- 15-second clips that urge the viewer to "feel the power" ahead of Sunday's E3 press conference. It's a marketing tactic that we've seen a thousand times before.

Except, these may be slightly different. These may contain clues as to Project Scorpio's release date. Let's analyze the evidence.

First, here are three of the videos, which YouTube user "The Red Dragon" combined into one clip:

Project Scorpio teasers might reveal release date, and take jabs at PS4 Pro screenshot

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News:: Most of Mass Effect: Andromeda was put together in the last 18 months

Mass Effect: Andromeda started development five years ago, but most of the game came together in the final year and a half, according to "almost every" developer speaking to Kotaku anonymously in a lengthy expose on the struggles Andromeda went through to become BioWare's lowest-rated (on Metacritic) game.

Several sources described those 18 months as the worst period of development crunch they'd ever been a part of. "We'll put something together, and it’s been bug tested and signed off and approved," one developer said. We'd say, 'OK, we can now move on from that to the next thing.' And while our backs are turned, what we'd just put together falls apart." Appropriate for a game that was a laughing stock a week before launch.

"It really wasn’t until Mac Walters came on board—and that was very  much a reaction to the state of the critical path—he was really brought on board to give it direction and get it into shape," a developer said. "Before that it was quite rudderless."

The problems reportedly go back to the beginning. EA's vaunted Frostbite Engine is apparently no good for RPGs. "When it does something well [like vehicles, for example], it does it extremely well. When it doesn’t do something, it really doesn’t do something," one developer said. Andromeda need maps larger than Frostbite's maximum size and both "the save system, and various action-RPG mechanics" were reportedly difficult to implement. "The pain started with Dragon Age: Inquisition and continued on with Andromeda," a developer said about the engine.

There's all kinds of stuff going on in the Kotaku piece. Cut features. Significant time spent on procedurally-generated worlds that was all scrapped in 2015. Series producer and longtime BioWare employee Casey Hudson quit in 2014 as part of a greater rotating cast of leadership changes. "At least a dozen" by the end of 2014, and, unsurprisingly, the "animation team in particular was understaffed...and when people left, their positions sometimes weren't refilled."

The Story Behind Mass Effect: Andromeda's Troubled Five-Year Development [Kotaku]

Most of Mass Effect: Andromeda was put together in the last 18 months screenshot



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News:: New Gold PS4 1TB console now available at $50 off

On Friday, June 9 Sony is releasing a new Golden PlayStation 4 1TB "Limited Edition" console. The console will command a $299.99 MSRP, but as an introductory price through June 17, retailers are allowed to give it a $50 discount to $249.99. This console is now available at three big retailers for pre-order today: GameStop, Best Buy, and Amazon.

Interestingly, not all three retailers are showing the same June 9 release date. While it doesn't look like a typo, it appears GameStop is jumping the gun and are now offering the Gold 1TB PS4 one day early on Thursday, June 8 (tomorrow).

While the PS4 Slim 500GB has been at $250 before in various bundle formats (Uncharted 4, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, etc.), this is the first time you'll spot 1TB units at this price from major retailers. Note that this is a console only and it comes with zero games.

PS4 1TB Gold Console:

  • GameStop — $249.99 - releases 6/8  (list price $300)
  • Best Buy — $249.99 - releases 6/9  (list price $300)
  • Amazon — $249.99 - releases 6/9  (list price $300)

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New Gold PS4 1TB console now available at $50 off screenshot



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News:: Bloggers Wanted: Changes

These days, the game you buy at launch may not be the game you have months or years after release. For multiplayer titles, this is almost to be expected, even before the internet was something everyone had access to, you had fighting games with iterations and updates.

Street Fighter II came out in the early 90s, without Cammy or Fei Long, yet these days no one would really call it Street Fighter II without them thanks to Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers and then Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Turbo HD Remix and now Ultra Street Fighter II.

Bloggers Wanted: Changes screenshot

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News:: Path of Exile is still doing free-to-play right, especially with the Fall of Oriath expansion

It took me several years to get into Path of the Exile in earnest, but thanks to the efforts of Destructoid community member Stormworm, I was brought up to speed very quickly. As it turns out I know a lot of Path of Exile diehards, they just all think that no one plays it, and don't bring it up in casual conversation.

People should be talking about it more though, as it's one of the best examples of how to do a free-to-play game right at the moment, and it's a great tribute to dungeon crawlers of old like Diablo II. You also don't have to pay for expansions like The Fall of Oriath, which I had the ability to test this past week.

Path of Exile is still doing free-to-play right, especially with the Fall of Oriath expansion screenshot

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News:: Edmund McMillen's new game is a welcome sight for Super Meat Boy fans

Super Meat Boy and The Binding of Isaac designer Edmund McMillen has been off creating a new platformer with Tyler Glaiel (Closure, The Basement Collection) that fans of the former game will probably be way, way into. It's called The End is Nigh and it's coming to Steam on July 12, 2017 with a Nintendo Switch port and "possibly more" console versions happening sometime later.

Prior to today's reveal, the only thing I knew about the project was that it was a platformer that employed the vocal talents of Rich Evans from Red Letter Media. The End is Nigh is a 600+ level, 12+ chapter "sprawling adventure platformer where the player takes control over Ash, one of few 'things' that have 'survived' the 'end of the world.'" There are secrets to suss out and (what I imagine will be) infuriatingly just-out-of-reach collectibles to gather as well. Another bullet point? "Stress."

McMillen has more details in a separate blog post where he says The End is Nigh "embodies aspects of basically every game [he's] ever created." Some general housekeeping: this game is not 0urboros, although "themes from it did bleed a great deal into [Nigh]"; The Legend of Bum-bo is still happening; and from now on he intends to only "announce stuff a month or two before release."

The End Is Nigh [Steam]

Edmund McMillen's new game is a welcome sight for Super Meat Boy fans screenshot



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News:: Deal: Refurb Xbox One Elite Controller for only $80

There's no special holiday discount or gimmicky sale for this week, but Best Buy has made available the cheapest Xbox One Elite Wireless Controller to date by dropping refurbished units down to only $79.99. This is a historic low for the pricey controllers -- refurbished or new.

The controller is only available for shipping and not for store pickup. Which means this is coming from Best Buy warehouse and not being stocked at local big-box stores.

In brand new condition, Best Buy, GameStop, Amazon, and others are all selling the Elite Controller at the usual $149.99 list price -- a price that's rarely discounted -- even though the Elite Controller has been out since October 2015.

As an open-box item, you can find it for $105 at select Best Buy locations, but otherwise, you're stuck paying full price short of holiday sales. As a refurbished product, the Elite Controller comes with a 90-day warranty. Here's the kicker: it's the same warranty length as buying a brand new controller for $70 more.

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Deal: Refurb Xbox One Elite Controller for only $80 screenshot



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News:: Further proof that Assassin's Creed: Origins exists

Everyone's saying it but Ubisoft: Assassin's Creed: Origins exists. We were confident when the first leak came back in early 2016. It seemed even more likely when we got further details last month. There was also this screenshot that surfaced. An ugly t-shirt even showed up.

The point is that, yes, Assassin's Creed: Origins is real and will almost certainly be officially revealed at Ubisoft's E3 press conference on Monday June 12. The latest indication is this shiny pre-order card from Target. Retailer leaks are usually pretty reliable.

A few miscellaneous items to unpack here:

Further proof that Assassin's Creed: Origins exists screenshot

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News:: This month's Yooka-Laylee patch is a good one

Yooka-Laylee is perhaps my biggest video game disappointment this year, but I think Playtonic can and will get the game to a much better place. The team has detailed a hefty content update releasing this month -- first on PC, then consoles -- that wastes no time addressing players' niggling complaints.

  • Brand new pause menu music
  • New optional camera mode with minimal assist
  • Pagies have added signposts to Hivory Towers to help guide players to new worlds
  • Design tweaks to all arcade games
  • Speed improvement to scrolling through Totals Menu
  • New option for shorter ‘gibberish’ voice sound FX
  • New speech volume option
  • New ability to speed through dialogue by holding Y
  • Cut-scenes can now be skipped with Y
  • New moves section added to pause menu, with image guide
  • Camera design improvements throughout game (less scripted cameras, door cams now appear behind player etc)
  • Restart option added in the pause menu during arcade games and Kartos challenges
  • ‘Sonar-able’ objects now have more clear visual identity
  • Laser move no longer requires player to crouch
  • Minecart control improvements and new visual effects
  • Transformation control improvements
  • Improved first-person aiming controls
  • New first-person aiming control options added
  • Improved flying controls
  • When transformed, collecting butterflies now restores energy
  • Hunter tonic now tracks the last 30 Quills and Casino Tokens, in addition to the Health and Power Extenders. It will also whistle at the location of the closest rare collectable.
  • Health UI is now always visible when low
  • Design tweaks in various areas (Black Hole in One, Gloomy Gem Grotto etc)
  • New icons added for keyboard/mouse controls
  • Improved Rampo boss fight
  • Added PC Display Settings to the in-game pause menu
  • Performance improvements
  • Audio improvements

This month's Yooka-Laylee patch is a good one screenshot

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News:: Minecraft: Story Mode’ season two arrives for summer vacation

If you loved Minecraft's first Story Mode, there's more on the way: A second season of Story Mode is coming this summer. The first episode, called "Hero in Residence," will be on sale July 11th.

Source: Minecraft



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News:: Death Stranding won't be at E3, but we got a new image

Well, dang. Hideo Kojima has made it clear that Death Stranding won't be at E3 2017.

"Bridges," huh? This isn't our first time seeing that word next to a spider web. It's also featured on the United Cities of America lapel pin worn by Guillermo del Toro's character in the most recent trailer.

Kojima followed up the tweet by saying the image is "the only new information I can present at this time." He'll be at E3 in another capacity, though: to chat with Kong: Skull Island director Jordan Vogt-Roberts as part of an hour-long one-on-one panel for E3 Coliseum on Wednesday, June 14 at 3:15pm Pacific. The pair will "discuss the fusion of gaming and cinema" and presumably have something to say about Vogt-Roberts' upcoming Metal Gear Solid movie.

I'm disappointed by the no-show news (I really want another trailer), but at least we got the heads up. There will be plenty of other cool things to see next week, whether you're in-person or at home.

Death Stranding won't be at E3, but we got a new image screenshot

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News:: Little Nightmares getting three new chapters via expansion pass

Little Nightmares was the best horror experience I've had since P.T. (I haven't played Resident Evil 7 yet to be fair), and I absolutely love watching people play through it for the first time on YouTube. It was short, but I put my foot down when people start begging a game to be longer: length is irrelevant to the quality of a game. So while I won't say it was too short, I will happily take extra content.

The DLC expansion pass, called Secrets of the Maw (the Maw being the large ship in which the main game takes place), adds three chapters to tell parallel stories that occur simultaneously as the base game. It can be prepurchased on June 9 for those who own the game. There will also be a Complete Edition that includes both the base game and the expansion pass, which also releases on June 9.

Little Nightmares getting three new chapters via expansion pass screenshot

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News:: New report claims that Xbox One owners spend less than 2% of their time using backward compatibility

Ars Technica has been busy gathering data from Xbox Live users by way of a third party, with a sample size of 900,000. All of it has been put together in the form of a study that's worth reading in its entirety, but there's several highlights worth mentioning.

For one, 1.5% of the time spent by users polled was spent on playing backward compatible games, while 16.5% was spent watching Netflix. 54.7% played actual Xbox One video games, and Madden, Rainbow Six Siege, Forza Horizon, and Battlefield 1 reigned over everything else. While it could be argued that some older gamers who may use backward compatibility more than others didn't partake in this study, a sample of nearly one million isn't anything to scoff at.

The actual study goes into more detail about how these numbers were reached, but suffice to say it's a nice trip down memory lane and even goes into some current Xbox 360 owner numbers. If I had to break down the time I spent on Xbox One I'd probably guess that 70% of my sessions are spent on Xbox One titles, 10% on apps, and 20% on backward compatibility.

Xbox Unleashed: Our deep-dive study of how millions use Xbox Live [Ars Technica]

New report claims that Xbox One owners spend less than 2% of their time using backward compatibility screenshot



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News:: Twitch gives up-and-coming-streamers a cut of game sales

There's an additional avenue for non-Partnered Twitch streamers to make money. Now, in addition to earning money via Bits, Affiliate streamers can earn a five percent revenue share when viewers buy the game they're streaming, directly from their channel. "All Affiliates are automatically enabled to start earning from game sales starting today," according to a press release. "They only need to be playing a game that is available for sale on Twitch for a purchase button to appear on their channel page."



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News:: Tekken 7 is king in Japan

Besides a few visual novels, the big releases last week were Tekken 7 and the Seiken Densetsu Collection. Naturally, they were the top two selling games that week, with Tekken 7 taking in nearly double that of Seiken Densetsu

Console sales remained relatively unchanged, with the Nintendo Switch moving a healthy 23,000+ units as gamers continue to line up for one.

Tekken 7 is king in Japan screenshot

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News:: Review: Monolith

The dungeons of Zelda, the cute characters of Undertale, and Geometry Wars had a threeway and gave birth to this wonderful roguelike that I've been having a deeply romantic affair with for the past couple weeks.

When I come home I just can't wait to get inside of it and go as deep as I can in its fiery dungeons while spraying my hot loads in every direction.

Review: Monolith screenshot

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News:: Pokken Tournament's special Wii U controller will allegedly work on Switch

Pokken DX was announced yesterday, slowly chipping away in part at the legacy of the Wii U, but one question was on all our minds -- what about that wacky Pokken controller that was modeled after the one used in Japanese arcades?

We've reached out to both Nintendo and Bandai Namco for comment, but in the meantime, reputable Pokemon news site Serebii has manage to confirm that the Wii U Pokken controller will work with the Switch DX version.

For science purposes I plugged my remote into the Switch (which slots nicely via USB), but failed to get it working in any capacity by way of the home screen. That's expected, because just like a few other specialized controllers it'll likely interact directly with Pokken DX. If you missed out on this (still widely available for roughly $25) remote don't worry, it's functional, but not needed outside of its novelty value.

Pokken [Serebii.net]

Pokken Tournament's special Wii U controller will allegedly work on Switch screenshot



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