News:: Charismatic comic Thief of Thieves gets episodic game series

Robert Kirkman's suave Bondian comic book, Thief of Thieves, will be coming to a PC near you in video game form, courtesy of Skybound Entertainment.

Thief of Thieves, first published in 2012, is the story of debonair master-thief Conrad Paulson, who abandons his life of crime with plans for retirement, but not before ransacking the opulent homes of his fellow robbers, much to the anger of his former employers.

The video game, however, will see players take the role of Celia, Paulson's young protege, as she learns her trade from the master. The new trailer shows that the game has a classy, noir look, in keeping with its source material, and features Celia a-sneakin' and a-stealthin' around various locations, using strategic movement, disguises and shadows to avoid a variety of traps and armed guards.

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News:: Attack on Titan Season 2's opening gets a chiptune remix

When it comes to people who create chiptunes based on theme songs from TV shows, Studio Megaane is one of the best. The thing that makes his stuff spectacular is that he tends to capture the magic behind the original tracks' quality.

While Megaane specialises in tokusatsu and mecha anime music, he expanded into titles like My Hero Academia and Inspector Gadget. Speaking of trying different things, the guy uploaded a chiptune remix of Attack on Titan Season 2's opening theme, "Dedicate your Heart!," on his YouTube channel.

If it wasn't for my understanding of reality, I might've thought that Megaane threw Revo (Bravely Default's Composer) and Linked Horizon into a device that turned their performance into a chiptune track. Since the song's energetic feeling was close to the original, I can't wait to hear his future remixes for 2017.

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News:: Igarashi regrets establishing official Castlevania timeline and other tidbits from DYKG

If there was any time for Konami to announce it is making a new Castlevania game, that time would be now. The franchise is experiencing something of a resurgence at the moment with the short but sweet Netflix animated series that has already been renewed for a longer second season. Konami has said it would like to see the series on the Switch, despite its "power issues," though may I recommend just giving us Castlevania compilation I pitched a few months back.

Really I'll take anything at this point with the wait for Igarashi's Bloodstained feeling longer by the day. Even if that means just replaying all my old Castlevania games as I am very inclined to do after watching this Did You Know Gaming video on the series. While a lot of it focuses on Lords of Shadows, there are plenty of fun facts about the older superior titles as well.

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News:: Singer sues 'Fallout 4' publisher over use of a classic song

The Fallout game series is legendary for its use of music to set the post-apocalyptic mood, but it might have been a little too eager when creating the tone for Fallout 4. Singer Dion DiMucci has sued Fallout's publisher, ZeniMax, for allegedly using his 1961 hit "The Wanderer" for ads without verifying that he approved of the content. The artist contends that ZeniMax didn't bother honoring contract terms that let him refuse the use of his song in the promos, which he finds "morally indefensible." He's not objecting to the game itself -- rather, it's that the ads glorify the protagonist's violence "as sport" instead of focusing on the "struggle for survival." Clearly, he's not a fan of seeing his cherished, upbeat pop song playing as someone guns down mutants.

Source: Polygon

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News:: Minecraft: Story Mode Season 2 gets fun launch trailer

Telltale Games has released a new trailer to hype up season two of the popular Minecraft: Story Mode series, which launches next week.

The preview teases scenes from episode one of the five-part journey through Minecraft's cubic universe, which sees returning protagonist Jesse and pals team up with some mysterious newcomers for an all-new adventure.

As is par for the course with Telltale games, your decisions from season one will be implemented into the new narrative, though Telltale insists that new players will easily be able to dive right in, regardless of whether they experienced the previous season.

Minecraft: Story Mode Season 2: Episode 1 launches on July 11 for PS4, Xbox One, Mac, PC, iOS, and Android.

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News:: ARMS Twitter account teasing a radical new item

On Friday, the official Twitter account for ARMS posted a new tweet featuring a never-before-seen item. Initially showing off a fiery cage, one of the Helix clones from the game's 1 v 100 mode punches it a couple times, cracking it open to reveal the spoils within. A familiar mask floats where the cage once was, and it reaches out with its fist.

The helmet quickly takes over the clone, and becomes Hedlok, the true final boss of the game's Grand Prix and 1 v 100 modes.

ARMSラボから告知です、しかもビデオつき！珍しいですね！
なになに…「前略。例のアレを、ファイター各位にも気軽にお試し頂けないか試験中。多数のご要望を頂き近日中に…」って、えぇー！
そんな要望聞いてねぇー誰だー！でもワタクシもちょっと試してみてぇー！ http://pic.twitter.com/aKpXfPHYG5

— ARMS（アームズ） (@ARMS_Cobutter) July 8, 2017

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News:: Your GaymerX Foundation donations are now tax deductible

Indie gaming company MidBoss formed the GaymerX Foundation in 2016 after years of running an annual convention for LGBTQIA game developers and fans. According to its website, it's "focused on the preservation and celebration of queer geek and gaming culture, through supporting current developers and archiving historically significant achievements in this field."

Now, the foundation has announced that it's officially recognized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, opening new opportunities to further its mission to promote diversity and to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community's place in the video game industry. For you, that means being able to write off donations made through the foundation's website or through its Patreon page.

Via: VentureBeat

Source: MidBoss

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News:: Layton's Mystery Journey will set you back $16 when it launches on mobile this month

Sitting nice and neatly in a row on my big-ass shelf of games is every entry in the Professor Layton franchise. From The Curious Village to the Azran Legacy, they sit there, waiting to be joined by Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires' Conspiracy, aka Lady Layton, aka Lady Layton: The Millionaire Ariadone's Conspiracy. That is supposed to hit the 3DS in the west sometime later this year, but on July 20 I'll be able to play through the whole game on my iPad. We've known it would have a worldwide launch on mobile this month, but now we know how much it will cost us.

Level-5 confirmed Layton's Mystery Journey will retail for $15.99. It's available now for preregistration on Google Play. Somehow, I expect the 3DS version to be the standard $39.99 price.

To celebrate this final stretch to the game's launch, the publisher dropped a new trailer for the game.

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News:: Cyber Gadget is making a Switch keyboard that can dock your Joy-Con

Cyber Gadget has announced a keyboard accessory for the Nintendo Switch that will allow you to dock your Joy-Con. You might remember HORI announcing a Switch keyboard last month. Their version, however, won't have these nifty slots for the detachable controllers. 

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News:: Review: Castlevania (Season 1)

Adi Shankar is quite a cult hit in film circles. He's made a name for himself by fully investing into properties he loves. It's a nerdy demeanor that's absolutely infectious as its led to his famous "Bootleg Universe," in which he's produced short films based on Venom, The Punisher, Judge Dredd, James Bond, and even Power Rangers (to a lesser extent). He's always been sort of an inspiration to me since it's the kind of stuff I'd like to make if I had his pull. 

When Shankar announced he was taking on Konami's Castlevania series for Netflix, it definitely raised a few eyebrows. Even with Warren Ellis attached to write (who's apparently working on an adaptation for the last decade), and Frederator Studios attached to animate, I still had this inkling feeling something wouldn't quite click here. 

It seems like Netflix wasn't too confident either. While the viewership for its first season was great enough to already get a second season (with double the episode order) in motion, Castlevania right now seems like a higher-budgeted version of Shankar's bootlegs. 

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News:: Destructoid Community Interviews: Kerrik52

Howdy ho, Orochileona here, crawling out of the dark space to bring you another Community Interview. This week has been a bit of a downer for some folk, but we can at least take comfort in each other and our wonderful community of like-minded miscreants. My sincerest wishes to anyone struggling right now. You'll get through it, friend.

I thought this time I'd throw in a C-C-Combo Breaker and chat with one of the newest members to our sorority house of no return. So put on your best hiking boots and throw up the devil horns for Kerrik52!

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News:: OkandOnsdag: Rounding up obscure games

_{[Flegma has been doing an interesting series of recaps for old and essentially forgotten games that we think would be interesting to share with the wider world. ~Marcel]}

You know Doom and Mario and Sonic and Willy, Uncharted and Warcraft and Sims and Larry, but do you recall the unsung games of the days long gone?

"OkändOnsdag" is hopefully Swedish and should translate to "Unknown Wednesday." I blame English language for not having a weekday that starts with O (Obscure) or U (Unknown). (EDIT: And myself for not thinking about "ForgottenFriday until after releasing this cblog.)

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News:: Twelve years later, Tibia's biggest secret seems like a letdown

The decade-long search for a solution to Tibia's biggest mystery is over. After countless hours, endless speculation, and a whole lot of grinding, player Dev Onica revealed what's on the other side of the game's fabled Gate of Expertise.

It should have been a monumental moment for Dev Onica and Tibia fans all over the world. Both the door, which only a level 999 player can open, and whatever's behind it, has long been regarded as the game's most alluring secret. But now that Dev Onica has crossed the threshold and revealed what's on the other side, the consensus is that Tibia's best-kept secret is pretty lame.

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News:: The future of Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces are coming out in a couple of months and the success of either (or both) will be a serious deciding factor in the continuing direction of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Sonic has had a tough go of it the last couple of years with the underwhelming (okay, let’s be real; it was fucking pathetic) Sonic Boom, which almost single-handedly doomed the Sonic brand into a future consisting only of bad mobile “runner” games.

Sega shocked everyone with the Sonic Mania trailer last year. We had a real, sprite-based Sonic the Hedgehog game coming out to all the major platforms headed by genius programmer Christian Whitehead, responsible for the amazing mobile Sonic ports, and the excellent release of Sonic CD on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, mobile, and PC. But I noticed something right away that had me a touch worried about this new direction even in my excited optimism for a new, proper 2D Sonic title.

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News:: Recommended Reading: Rebooting a hero in 'Spider-Man: Homecoming'

'Spider-Man: Homecoming'
Is One of the Best Superhero
Movies in Years
Christopher Orr,
The Atlantic

Well folks, the time has come. The team-up between Sony and Marvel for the third different take on Spider-Man debuted this week. So far, the reviews are mostly positive, noting that the duo created a compelling story line for Peter Parker with Tom Holland that establishes the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Don't take my word for it, The Atlantic has a full review (yep, spoilers) with all the details.

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News:: Next Up Hero is fun, but might be hamstrung by its online requirement

After the announcement this morning, I was interested by the ideas that Next Up Hero was tackling. Death really has become kind of pointless in modern gaming, so why not turn that into a game mechanic? That it was aiming at being a beat-'em-up is also gold for me, since I love the genre and its pick-up-and-play styling. Oddly, that isn’t the full story with Next Up Hero.

The game has an ambitious goal of incorporating online instances into level design that sees a community of people all working together to thwart enemies and bosses. Before I even got further into my playtime, I had to know if Next Up Hero was online-only. That is the biggest obstacle that will prevent a lot of people from becoming fans, and sadly, the game does require it.

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News:: Review: That's You

Party games that use your smart device are quickly becoming all the rage these days from the Jackbox Party Pack series to Use Your Words and others I'm sure I'm forgetting.

Not to be outdone, Sony has now got its hands in the very same cookie jar with hopes of turning filthy casuals into customers with a series of titles that use its new PlayLink technology to use phones and tablets as controllers. 

Turns out it did an alright job, which is how I feel about most of PlayStation's 'us too' game clones. Looking at you, PlayStation All-Stars.

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News:: Jeff Kaplan weighs in on Overwatch's balance and the dive meta

Forum threads complaining about game balance are a dime a dozen for any popular game, but it's always interesting when a developer or designer joins in. Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan did just that in the wake of Doomfist's release, sharing his perspective on the current meta, balance, and his ideas about the perception of balance on the forums.

Kaplan's post was mostly a response to complaints about the current “dive meta” of the game. This is a playstyle that focuses on teams of highly-mobile heroes such as Tracer, Winston, and D.Va who are used to blow through the front-line of the enemy team, pick off support heroes, and overwhelm the competition. While there is nothing exactly wrong or unfair about this playstyle, some Overwatch players have grown bored with what is considered a mandatory team composition for winning.

Well, bad news for those players, Kaplan and the Overwatch team don't plan on doing anything to artificially shake up the meta any time soon. 

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News:: The Morning After: Weekend Edition

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

Welcome to the weekend. Tesla's building a big battery Down Under and it's time to talk about what Jawbone's demise means for wearables.

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