News:: The 2001 Cyborg 009 series is making a comeback

When I started my anime collection, one of my goals was to purchase the uncut versions of my favorite shows from Cartoon Network's classic Toonami block. During this year's Otakon, the distributor Discotek Media talked about their plans to rescue Cyborg 009: The Cyborg Soldier. From the looks of it, I reached a new destination in my journey.

Unlike Columbia TriStar's release, we're getting the whole series on Blu-ray and DVD, which is amazing for those who caught the show in 2003. Since Netflix streamed Cyborg 009: Call of Justice and Cyborg 009 vs. Devilman, Discotek picked a good time to make this announcement.

Back then, I enjoyed the series' idea of having a group of people who were kidnapped and turned into cyborgs. Aside from seeing them use their superpowers to fight the evil group called Black Ghost, the anime focused on them trying to reintegrate into society. At the time, it was my first exposure to a title based on the late Shotaro Ishinomori's creations. After I became a tokusatsu fan, I started to appreciate more of his stuff, since the guy brought us the Kamen Rider franchise, along with the first two Super Sentai installments, Goranger and J.A.K.Q. Interestingly, two of his properties were referenced in VA-11 HALL-A.

Thanks to Discotek, I can continue with my quest to obtain my favorite Toonami titles. If it does well in North America, it would be neat if they could rescue the Kikaider anime. That way, people can own the two Ishinomori remakes from the 2000s.

Minovsky Article [Twitter]

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News:: Live Show: The GTFOMLG Show Episode 7.0

After a hellish weekend, I needed something relaxing to play on tonight's episode of The GTFOMLG Show. Thankfully, you wonderful peeps voted in Mario Golf: Advance Tour last week, and I really can't think of anything more chill than that. Tune into Dtoid.TV tonight at 7pm PST and we'll kick back while playing one of my all-time favorite golf games.

Other titles scheduled for this week include Wrath of the Black Manta (NES), The Simpsons: Hit & Run (PS2), and Star Wars (NES). As well, the poll for next week's game choices is up, and it's currently exploding (the arcade version of Willow seems to be a hot item), so be sure to get in and vote for your favorite by clicking right here. 

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News:: Pornbots are invading PSN

Just when you thought the internet couldn’t possibly get any creepier, pornbots have officially made their way onto PSN. 

I would have probably just brushed this story off as just a bunch of dumb nonsense, but this actually happened to me. It all started with a random user adding me to a group chat. I play games with various folks on the internet all the time, so this didn’t immediately raise any red flags. That changed rather quickly as the conversation evolved from innocent “school” talk to “how big is it?”

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News:: Everyone dies at the prison (including Jordan)

[Int. Court of law -- Day]

Judge: Mr. Makedonski, how do you explain this despicable act of team killing?

Brett: This isn't how trials work, your honor.

Judge: It's my courtroom and I'll hold you in contempt of court if you question the process again!

Brett: Damn, you're good, your honor.

Judge: I know. This job's more than just bangin' the hammer. Anyway, back to the question.

Brett: Uhh, it was basically a mercy killing! Jordan was going to die anyway.

Judge: You could've saved him.

Brett: Yeah, but it was at the prison and I was super jumpy because EVERYONE parachuted into the prison.

Judge: Still not good enough.

Brett: ...At least it was funny?

Judge: Hell yeah, IT WAS FUNNY! Good job shooting Jordan right in his stupid fucking face! I'm gonna make you my new bailiff.

Brett: Hell yeah, a judge who says "Hell yeah!"

[Fade out]

---

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News:: Slime Rancher now has a map and infinite gardens on Xbox One

Throughout the month, the first-person farming sim Slime Rancher is free to download for Xbox Live Gold subscribers (and hey, while you're here, nab the now-backward-compatible Bayonetta). It's a damn good get for folks who like having something breezy to wind down with at the end of a long day.

On that note, Slime Rancher just got the Navigation update on Xbox One.

You'll find the full details below, but highlights include bug fixes and optimizations (the game's performance can be hit or miss), a map that details any teleporters or extractors you've placed and slime keys and treasure pods you've collected, and the big one: infinite gardens.

I suspect plenty of people are only now digging into Slime Rancher (I just started this weekend, after reading Joel's review), so the timing for this patch is much appreciated.

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News:: PlayStation has another press conference up its sleeve for Paris Games Week

Here's an under-appreciated fact about the video game marketing cycle: PlayStation usually holds four press conferences during any given calendar year. E3, Tokyo Game Show, Paris Games Week, and PlayStation Experience all have proper pressers and they all happen within six months of one another. That's bananas.

While E3, TGS, and PSX are all foregone conclusions, it's always a little up in the air as to what Sony plans for European conventions. In recent years, it has given up on gamescom and turned to Paris Games Week as the spot to really appeal to its European audience. That will hold true again in 2017.

Today, PlayStation began sending out invites for its Paris Games Week media event. It takes place on Monday October 30 at 17:00 CEST (8am Pacific). Some candidates for games we might see are: Detroit, God of War, The Last of Us 2, Media Molecule's Dreams, Days Gone, some VR projects, and, of course, Spider-Man.

As for gamescom, this is the third consecutive year that PlayStation isn't revealing anything new at Europe's largest video game convention. The most recent presser it held at gamescom was in 2014, the year that PT was announced and immediately released.

Xbox has a marginally larger gamescom presence this year, as it's holding a live event in Germany. It's not the sort of thing that qualifies as a press conference, but Xbox has said that new information will come out of the live show. It's becoming more and more clear that the biggest platform-holders don't see Europe's biggest game convention as the right place to reveal new stuff. 

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News:: Gaming chat app Discord starts shutting down racist accounts

Google and GoDaddy aren't the only internet companies dumping racists in light of the violence in Charlottesville. The team behind the gaming chat app Discord has shut down both accounts "associated with the events in Charlottesville" and the altright.com chat server. As the company explains, it plans to take action against "all forms of hate," and that its mission is "positivity and inclusivity" -- it doesn't believe gamers will feel welcome if racists have a home in the app.

Source: Discord (Twitter 1), (2), (3)

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News:: Co-op monster-raising RPG Re:Legend confirmed for Switch, PS4, and Xbox One

Ray summarized Re:Legend as "Monster Hunter meets Rune Factory," and that's apparently all it takes to get my attention these days. Well that, and the crucial fact that it's designed with cooperative multiplayer in mind. Farming, fishing, fighting and raising monsters -- these are all things I wanna do!

Magnus Games' Kickstarter campaign still has a solid 10 days left to go, but the studio met an important milestone: there's enough funding for all of the console stretch goals. With $243,000 raised and counting, Re:Legend is now coming to PC as well as Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

There are just a couple goals left to hit. Clearly, this multi-faceted life sim is resonating.

Update #20: All Console Stretch Goal Fish Caught & Week 1 Fanart Contest Winner! [Kickstarter]

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News:: Costume Quest iOS won't work on iOS 11

The newest version of the ever-changing iOS software for iPhones and iPads is on its way. Some may be unaware, however, that once installed, iOS 11 will prevent its users from launching 32-bit apps.

The folks over at Double Fine posted about this on their website, as a lot of their games and iOS apps are still 32-bit. They also point out that updating them to 64-bit is in most cases easier said than done.

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News:: Bandai Namco is teasing a new Dimps game

As much as I'd like to ignore teasers, sometimes, curiosity gets the better of me. That's the case with this short clip for "Projekt #1514," a new project from Bandai Namco and... Dimps? Huh.

The studio was last seen working on Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 and Street Fighter V. As far as this mystery game goes, I've seen a range of guesses from Freedom Wars to Time Crisis. Could it be?

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News:: We liked the name Battle.net so much that it's coming back

Branding is a funny thing. Sometimes bad but established branding is clearly better than good but new branding. Never discount the power of nostalgia, especially in a time when it's responsible for truckloads of reboots every year. We want what we like and change is bad.

Last September, Blizzard announced that it was moving away from the name Battle.net for its online platform. In March, the launcher updated to call itself "Blizzard app." Nearly half a year later, the changes don't seem like they're sticking so Blizzard is willing to meet us halfway.

In a brief message, Blizzard tells us that it's going to bring back the name Battle.net by merging it with the new branding. "Moving forward, to help offset some of the original concerns we listed back in September, we will be connecting 'Blizzard' to 'Battle.net' in our logo for the service and in general when we refer to it in print: Blizzard Battle.net."

Battle.net's back, baby! And not a single soul outside of the Blizzard offices is going to bother referring to it as Blizzard Battle.net. Survey says: One more for the good guys!

Blizzard Battle.net Update [World of Warcraft]

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News:: See how Call of Duty: WWII is shaping up for its beta

Just over a week out from the Call of Duty: WWII private beta, Sledgehammer Games has a trailer up. As someone who doesn't tend to get down with Call of Duty these days, this footage looks good.

The beta's main draw, at least to my mind, is the chance to try the new War mode. It's a squad-centric objective-based mode where you'll work together to, say, take control of a manor, repair a bridge, or escort tanks. Some of the most fun I've had with Battlefield 1 is playing its immersive Operations mode, and I think it'll be a similar story with War mode in Call of Duty. The beta will also offer Team Deathmatch, Domination, and Hardpoint if you're more into the series' standard gametypes.

To gain access, you'll need to pre-order the game. The beta begins August 25 on PlayStation 4 and September 1 on Xbox One.

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News:: Takeshi's Challenge is getting a smartphone port in Japan

One of the most famously awful games ever made is Takeshi's Challenge on the Famicom. You can find many chronicles of people attempting to beat the game and getting horribly frustrated. The development cycle of the game, which was based on Takeshi Kitano's TV show, took a turn for the worst when the legendary director (a.k.a. Beat Takeshi) started to share his ideas for how he wanted the game to play.

I guess as a cruel joke, he deliberately made everything obscure and even gave players the ability to assault NPCs, typically resulting in getting your ass kicked at almost every turn. Due to that and a lot of various other reasons, the game has consistently been rated the #1 "kusoge" game (or poor quality) of all time in Famitsu magazine.

If you want to relive the horror of this title and happen to live in Japan, you can do so starting tomorrow. On August 15, Takeshi's Challenge will be getting ported to smartphones in the land of the rising sun. Along with containing all of the deliberately vague directions and controls, you'll also get widescreen support and a brand new level. Even more game to play!! You can nab it for a cool 840 yen, or roughly $7.50.

I just have to marvel at the existence of such a port. You'd think a game this terrible would be relegated to the past, but the age of smartphones has given rise to literally anything getting released. I mean, Takeshi's Challenge is bad, but it certainly has nothing on Steam Greenlight's deluge of awful.

Takeshi’s Challenge Headed To Smartphones With New Elements And Stage On August 15 In Japan [Siliconera]

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News:: Do you want more Conjuring/Annabelle movies?

I liked The Conjuring well enough, and I do find creepy dolls really creepy, but of all the horror franchises in existence to have a horror "universe" born out of it I would not for a moment have guessed it would be the one about a frumpy married couple who get rid of ghosts. For it's own part all four movies in the series have, at the very least been decent, so far, but I'm just not sure how far audiences will be willing to go with this. Then again, we're getting like a 20th Saw movie too so, who the hell knows anymore. 

Horror franchises do lend themselves to endless sequels considering there's always a fresh crop of idiots to terrorize in every film, but Annabelle is very different monster than the slasher killers of the 80s. She doesn't really move or anything, and now that we know how she was created where are we going to go with this? Then again, maybe her lag of stabby stabby kill kill will keep the franchise interesting. Seems audiences are still engaged anyway.

So who can't wait for The Sawing: Annabelle Meets Jigsaw? (Sidenote: Freddy vs. Jason is a modern masterpiece.)

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News:: Go play the Rayman Legends demo on Nintendo Switch

The demo for Rayman Legends: Definitive Edition is now live on Nintendo Switch, and with that, today just got a little brighter. Just head over to the eShop, go to "Coming Soon," and then shimmy on down past Troll and I and other listings until you find dear sweet Rayman. Or queue it up right here.

This is one of those ports that I don't need to replay, but totally will. I'm mostly going to play in docked mode, so I won't make use of the touch screen for rope cutting, and I'm not really into Kung Foot, either, but eff it -- it's cooperative Rayman! I'll take any excuse to run through this game again.

The demo has three levels, including the smile-inducing Castle Rock, and it supports drop-in co-op.

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News:: Okami HD is making the jump to PS4/Xbox One

The godlike travels of Amaterasu are making the jump to current-gen consoles this holiday season. According to Kotaku UK, Okami HD will be getting a Christmas release on both PS4 and Xbox One.  There is no mention of whether or not this new port will feature PS4 Pro or Xbox One X support, which seems like a huge missed opportunity as the PS3 version actually renders in 4K before downsampling the graphics.

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News:: Titanfall Assault is like if Clash Royale shotgunned an energy drink

The Titanfall franchise has had a bit of a rough go of it, innit? The first game was hyped into the stratosphere and came crashing down to Earth not long after launch when players seem to just get bored of it all. Titanfall 2, inarguably a superior game from what everyone has told me, had the misfortune of launching near Gears of War 4 and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare while also having to compete with Overwatch for the attention of online multiplayer gamers. It was still successful, we’ve been told, and the franchise will continue sometime in the future. But for now, players looking for their next hit of the series will have to turn to mobile.

I’ve written about my love of Clash Royale before, arguing it’s probably the best free-to-play game on mobile. I’ve even said I’d rather more developers rip off that formula than some of the others the permeate the various app stores, i.e. clicker games. So I seem to have got my wish here with Titanfall Assault. It wears its inspirations on its sleeves, proudly aping the worldwide phenomenon while mixing in a few original ingredients. 

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News:: What we're playing: 'Tacoma,' 'Final Fantasy' and 'A Dark Room'

Welcome back to Gaming IRL, a monthly segment where several editors talk about what they've been playing in their downtime. This month, we've enjoyed (to varying degrees) two flavors of Final Fantasy, explored Fullbright's new game, Tacoma, and lost ourselves in a "button-tapping mash-up between an idle-clicker and a text adventure." To open proceedings, UK Bureau Chief Mat Smith talks about how, when it comes to Final Fantasy XII, third time's a charm.

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News:: Footballer Edgar Davids wins lawsuit over League of Legends skin

A Dutch court has ofund in favour of retired footballer Edgar Davids (pictured) in his lawsuit, filed against Riot Games, over a champion skin for a League of Legends character.

The "Striker Lucian" skin, which Riot themselves once admitted was designed in tribute to the former Ajax and Milan player, was found to infringe upon Davids' personal rights, in the ruling made last week. Riot must now reveal the amount of money made by the sales of said skin, so a percentage can be established as compensation.

League of Legends players have been very quick to point out that not only has Davids been aware of the skin since its release way back in 2014, but that he also thanked Riot for the tribute.

These after-the-fact lawsuits seem to be increasingly common these days, they are often swiftly brushed aside but, in this case at least, could cost Riot some serious dollars. Frankly, I'm sure that they have more than enough in the bank to bounce back from this, at any rate.

Edgar Davids win Riot Games lawsuit [Het Parool]

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News:: Sci-fi adventure Songbringer releases next month

Songbringer's brand of adventure seems larger than life. It's a trippy sci-fi journey across a randomly generated planet where secrets and meditative enlightenment are almost as common as combat and screen transitions.

According to publisher Double Eleven Games and sole developer Nathanael Weiss, players will be able to embark on Songbringer's intergalactic journey when it releases early next month. It'll land on PC and Xbox One on September 1, with the PS4 version to follow on September 5. 

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News:: Blizzard is once again resurrecting Warcraft III with updates over a decade on

I'll resist a tired "do you feel old joke" as much as I can, but it's hard to believe that Warcraft III was released 15 years ago last month. 

A year later Blizzard would drop the Frozen Throne expansion, which would fundamentally alter the game as we know it, kickstarting many "use map settings" custom iterations, including the original DOTA and tower defense. It helped usher in entire genres -- and although the game itself isn't as popular as it used to be, it's still a powerhouse in its own right.

Well, Blizzard is still working on that powerhouse, and has implemented a PTR (public test realm) environment that include balance changes. Other big updates are coming in the future, including a matchmaking overhaul. We can only hope Diablo III and Overwatch will see the same level of care once Microsoft jumps to Windows 100 in a decade or so.

1.28.6 PTR [Battle.net]

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News:: Playtonic gives us a Yooka-Laylee Switch update, says port is in its final stages

Tucked away in their announcement of the "huge console patch" that just hit PS4 and Xbox One is a tiny update on how the Switch version of Yooka-Laylee is going.

In addition to providing a picture of a Nintendo Switch running the game (in one of the final levels), developer Playtonic also issued this statement: "The Playtonic team continues to work flat-out on the Nintendo Switch version of Yooka-Laylee. We’re aware of the huge demand for more news on this and appreciate your patience as we work out the final issues. As soon as we’re 100% confident with this version and everything is approved, we will make sure you’re first to know the release date!"

Well, that's pretty cut and dried. Now, we wait. For a release date...then we wait after that!

Huge Console Patch Out Now [Playtonic]

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News:: Samurai cat Jubei now dated for BlazBlue: Central Fiction

Revealed at the EVO tournament last month, Jubei, the redemptive, twin-tailed, feline warrior will be arriving to raise hell in BlazBlue: Central Fiction on August 31.

As stated on the Aksys Games twitter, Jubei will be arriving alongside update 2.0, bringing a host of balance changes and tweaks to the popular anime fighter. These system changes were recently fan-translated into a Google Doc, which can be found right here.

Whilst the 2.0 update will obviously be free, anyone wishing to inflict cat-astrophe upon their opposition will have to make plans right meow to stump up $8 for the paws.

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News:: Kamiya says NieR and its director saved Platinum Games

It's no doubt by now that NieR: Automata was a success, both critically and surprisingly enough -- even financially. Our own Chris Carter said NieR: Automata was the best Platinum game since Bayonetta 2. It even caught Square Enix themselves off guard, who stated that NieR: Automata was “generating sales significantly above expectations.” However, according to Platinum's Hideki Kamiya, NieR: Automata and director Yoko Taro straight up saved his studio.

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News:: Deadlight: Director's Cut currently free on GOG.com

Super-cheery survival horror game Deadlight: Director's Cut is currently free to download on that bastion of cheap, good times for the PC, GOG.com.

Tequila Works' bleak, post-apocalyptic wanderer is only going to be available at the low, low price of nothing for the next 48 hours, or 45:52:06 (at time of writing) to be precise. Please don't at me with pedantry.

Released back in 2012, Deadlight sees players control a young man traveling across the West Coast in an effort to find his family, who have gone missing during a horrifying viral outbreak that has turned much of the population into chilling reanimated creatures known as "Shadows."

So if you fancy a slice of spoopy adventure, and don't fancy paying for it, get over to GOG right now and pick it up before it's too late, for yourself or humanity.

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News:: Pixel art RPG ‘Songbringer’ arrives on PS4 September 5th

Fans of retro games have been looking forward to Songbringer, a pixelated sci-fi RPG, for awhile now. Today, PlayStation announced the game's release date: You'll be able to play Songbringer on your PS4 on September 5th.

Source: PlayStation Blog

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News:: NYC is getting a huge new VR conference this fall

In addition to an upcoming virtual reality hub at NYU, New York City will also host its first VR-focused convention later this year. The NYVR Expo, which will take place at the Javits Center from October 26th through 28th, aims to be the biggest virtual reality conference on the East Coast. It'll be a place for both newcomers and existing VR professionals to explore what's next in the burgeoning medium. And since the NYVR Expo will run alongside the PhotoPlus Expo at Javits, it will have easy reach to a wide audience of media enthusiasts.

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