News:: 'PUBG' tests a replay feature as it creeps toward v1.0

Now that PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has launched in Early Access on Xbox One, its next milestone is an official retail release out of beta on the PC. That's expected to happen next week, but players who can't wait have a few new tweaks to try out on the 1.0 test servers, including a brand-new replay function. The option needs to be toggled on prior to the start of a match, but it records everything going on within 1km of the player.

That way, later you can fly through and see things you may have missed, or catch a replay from the angle of the people you were fighting, and there's a list of battles to make hopping around easy. We've recently seen Overwatch add broadcast-friendly tweaks, and with such a streamer-focused game it's no surprise that PUBG is going a similar route.

The other major change isn't ready to test yet, but now that the game features a whopping two maps, the developer says it will give players the ability to choose which one they play on. The problem is this might fragment the player base, with six different options of how to play (1-, 2- or 4-player and in either third or first person perspective) spread across two maps, and it's possible that first-person games could be shut down in some regions if there aren't enough people to feed 100 players in each battle royale session.

Source: PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (Steam)

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News:: 'L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files' is available now for HTC Vive

We were excited to hear that 2011 detective simulator L.A. Noire was headed to modern consoles and the HTC Vive for some VR action. The title received some visual upgrades, too, making the jump to PS4, Xbox One and the Switch a bit more graphically appealing. The Vive version is now available as a set of seven self-contained cases from the original game, remade for virtual reality and titled L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files.

Source: Rockstar Games

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News:: Review: HearthStone: Kobolds and Catacombs

Blizzard's HearthStone has gone through some major changes in the last year. The biggest shakeup saw the game disallowing many of its older cards in the standard gameplay modes, moving them to a separate format called "Wild." The regular updates the game recieves have also been changed. They used to alternate back and forth between campaigns and standard expansions, with the campaigns guaranteeing a specific set of cards for those who completed a series of puzzle battles. Over the last year, the development team has decided to move away from the story expansions, instead releasing just the standard expansions.

As a concession to those who preferred the old ways, the last two expansions have included a free mode similar to the older campaigns, though the reward has been randomized. The most recent freebie is some of the most fun I've had with HearthStone since I started playing, but it doesn't hide the fact that the game has become a lot less friendly to those who aren't willing to pay for digital cards.

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News:: How inevitable XCOM comparisons influence design decisions of turn-based tactical games

There's no getting around it: If you make a turn-based tactical strategy game, people are going to hold it up against XCOM. What other game is so dominant that it acts as a gatekeeper for the entire genre? Honestly, XCOM might stand alone in that regard.

So, when meeting with CreativeForge, a developer who specializes in turn-based tactical strategy, the comparison comes up. It has to come up. And the developer is intimately familiar with the standard-bearer.

We're playing Phantom Doctrine (full preview here) and talking with lead designer Kacper Szymczak about how his game is different than just XCOM with espionage instead of aliens. He doesn't mind the comparison. He relishes it, actually. He insists that being mentioned in the same sentence is an honor unto itself.

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News:: Set sea with your pals in a new ‘Adventure Time’ game

A new Adventure Time game is in the works and it features some maritime fun, a nameable boat and pirates. Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion begins with a flooded Land of Ooo and Adventure Time characters have to set off to figure out what's going on. You'll be able to play as Finn, Jake, Marceline and BMO as you battle pirates, add others to your crew and hunt for clues. And the boat you and your pals will be riding on -- you can enter to name it through a competition that opens today.

Source: Outright Games

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News:: Now you can unlock John Marston's revolver in GTA Online for eventual use in Red Dead 2

Rockstar has a new in-game item that ties its most recent, relevant, and popular games together (sorry LA Noire). John Marston's iconic sidearm is spanning across Red Dead Redemption, GTA Online, and the upcoming Red Dead sequel.

As of today, Rockstar has officially started a new treasure hunt event in GTA Online. It's for Red Dead's double-action revolver. Players can find it in GTA's Los Santos and use the gun to their heart's content.

Proficient use reaps more rewards, though. The revolver has a challenge associated with it for getting 50 headshots on anything. Anyone who completes the challenge earns $250,000 in in-game currency. More importantly, doing it unlocks the gun in Red Dead Redemption 2 on PS4 and Xbox One. (It seems as if everything's funneled through Rockstar's Social Club.)

There's no mention of this being a timed event, so it seems like you're free to wait on your six-shootin' as long as you want. But it'll help Marston's ghost rest easy knowing that you're thinking of him while terrorizing the fine citizens of Los Santos.

Uncover the Double-Action Revolver [Rockstar Games]

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News:: Mount Your Friends 3D looks suitably ridiculous

I'm still cracking up at the full name for Stegersaurus Software's Mount Your Friends 3D: A Hard Man is Good to Climb. That wordplay is on point! The game itself is about what you would expect from a sequel. It's silly, beefy, super dangly, and still about climbing dudes, except now everything's in 3D.

Maybe don't watch the trailer in front of others.

This is slated for a Q1 2018 release on Steam with support for local and online multiplayer.

Mount Your Friends 3D: A Hard Man is Good to Climb [Steam]

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News:: I love this fish-headed Shovel Knight statue

Shovel Knight lends itself really well to collectibles and fans of First 4 Figures will have a few options to consider this month. They won't be cheap, granted, but these statues look pretty dang slick.

First 4 Figures will ship its line of 15.5-inch Shovel Knight statues in Q3 2018, with pre-orders open now. There's a regular Shovel Knight ($300), an Ornate Plate Armor edition ($300), a two-pack ($550), and an Exclusive edition with an extra "fish head" based on the character ???? (also available in gold).

The fish face is the perfect combination of creepy and cute. I adore it.

Shovel Knight [First 4 Figures]

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News:: Phantom Doctrine is like XCOM that trades aliens for spies and lies

It's nearly impossible to succinctly sum up Phantom Doctrine. "Turn-based tactical strategy game centered around Cold War-era conspiracy theories" is the closest I've gotten. That's still six (six?) adjectives and adverbs, and it doesn't get close to telling the whole story.

Pulling all the way back reveals Phantom Doctrine's most alluring promise. Developer CreativeForge is taking real events from the Cold War and repurposing them in an alternate history. In the game, you run a counter-intelligence agency called The Cabal who's out to expose the secrets of the world's most powerful agencies.

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News:: Microsoft will bundle PUBG with Xbox One X next week

Microsoft will soon run a holiday promotion for the recently released Xbox One X and the even more recently released battle royale shooter PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. From December 17 through December 31, in select regions, the game will be bundled with the console at no extra charge.

This is clearly less a showcase of the Xbox One X as a powerful gaming console and more about building on PUBG's momentum, especially while the game is only available on PC and Xbox One. According to Microsoft, the Game Preview version of PUBG had a million players in its first 48 hours.

To all of you who already jumped in and will miss this deal as a result, it seems you're out of luck.

Buy the World’s Most Powerful Console; Get the Hottest Multiplayer Game of 2017 [Xbox]

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News:: Buy an Xbox One X and get 'PUBG' free for a limited time

From December 17th through the 31st, Microsoft will give everyone who purchases an Xbox One X a copy of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. A post on Xbox Wire says that over a million people played the battle royale game within 48 hours of being available. Not bad for a game that hasn't even hit 1.0 yet. The move makes a lot of sense; the folks who've play PUBG in Early Access for almost a year are exactly the type of audience Microsoft has been targeting with its "most powerful console ever" One X marketing campaign. That said, the appeal lovably clunky game might be lost on the folks who are buying the $500 console just to show off their new 4K TV.

Source: Xbox Wire

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News:: BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle adds BlazBlue's Iron Tager, Makoto Nanaya, v-No.13, and Es

BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle is slowly coming along, but this latest batch of additions is all characters I didn't necessarily expect to see. Hopefully this means the final roster will be a larger one than expected as well. 

BlazBlue's Iron Tager, Makoto, v-No.13, and Es join the previously announced:

BlazBlue: Ragna, Jin, Azrael, Rachel, Hazama, Noel.

Persona 4 Arena: Yu, Yosuke, Chie, Yukiko.

Under Night In-Birth: Hyde, Lynne, Waldstein, Gordeau

RWBY: Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee. 

BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle releases for PlayStation 4, Steam, and Nintendo Switch sometime next year.

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News:: Next week's Monster Hunter: World beta won't require PS Plus

Dang, I wish I hadn't deleted my beta client for Monster Hunter: World! The beta returns next Friday, December 22 at 9:00am Pacific for all PlayStation 4 owners, not just those with PlayStation Plus, and that includes multiplayer. If you participated in last weekend's test, you're already good to go.

Sharpen your Hammers! The #MHWorld Beta starts on Dec 22nd for ALL PS4 players! http://pic.twitter.com/VBfqg2iELb

— Monster Hunter (@monsterhunter) December 15, 2017

If this is your first time playing the World beta, you can begin pre-loading on December 18.

I'm not typically a Monster Hunter guy, but like Peter, I had a good (albeit shorter) time with World.

Monster Hunter [Twitter]

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News:: Another Adventure Time game is on the way, please don't be disappointing

Adventure Time games, with a few exceptions, just don't capture the essence of the show in any meaningful way. I mean that's a tall order, but it's one that many studios can fulfill, just not consistently. We've had myriad developers try their hand at the series, and at this point Cartoon Network is keen to just play the odds and keep fresh talent cycling in.

That's going to be the case with Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion, as Outright Games tags in for a spring 2018 release on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Switch. It's billed as an exploration heavy game, as players start off in the Land of Ooo, before moving to other lands and discovering why a flood has plagued the land. Finn, Jake, BMO, and Marceline are playable.

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News:: Contest: Win a Steam Key for Genetic Disaster

[Contest is over, folks! I replied to the winners below, so check your emails and get to playin' your new free game! Maybe y'all can party up and make new friends while you're at it? Thanks for reading Destructoid, everyone!]

Looking for a sweet free gift for the upcoming holiday season? Of course you are, ya cheap bastard! Give Mr. Destructoid a chance to stuff your stocking with a Steam copy of Genetic Disaster, celebrating its full release out of Early Access this Friday, December 15.

Team8 Studio's twin-stick [un]cooperative shooter pits you and up to four friends against hordes of unfortunate scientific experiments, giving you the opportunity to lay waste to both friend and foe alike using the game's myriad weapons and environmental traps. Also it's cartoony and cute and a little grotesque as a result, which is something that unfortunately isn't on any of the press releases. They should hire me for that kind of stuff.

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News:: Logging into WoW after a decade was quite the wake up call for one player

Although the World of Warcraft Classic servers on the way (they don't even have a window yet, but the project is confirmed), right now, Vanilla is officially (read: private servers exist but aren't supported by Blizzard) dead and buried. Unless, you're someone who hasn't logged on for 10 years.

This amazing post over on Reddit by ShutterBun brought back some memories, as they took a few screens of their character that had laid dormant for a decade after recently logging in. For those of you who never played they break down some of the highlights nicely, showing off dead achievements, pre-expansion flight paths, old reputation groups, valuable items that are now junk, and a few coveted pieces of loot.

Vanilla WoW is going to be a wakeup call for some people who had rose-tinted memories of it, but I can't wait to dive in and re-experience this moment in time.

Logged in after 10 years [Reddit]

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News:: Are you in for the dub or the sub for Dissidia Final Fantasy NT?

Square Enix just put out its newest story trailer for Dissidia Final Fantasy NT, and as expected, it's Sephiroth heavy. You'll get a good look at pretty much everyone though, as well as some straight gameplay. Noctis also makes a decent dent in the trailer, especially since he was announced only recently.

Thankfully, you have a few choices below when it comes to catching up with NT. The first is the English rendition, and the second is the original Japanese audio. Feel free to listen to both below and choose for yourself in January when NT hits, as the game ships with dual audio.

I still can't get over "Teedus," but the dub is fine!

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News:: Fortnite Battle Royale introduces cosmetic 'Battle Pass'

Fortnite's Battle Royale mode continues to grow into its own game basically, as Epic launches patch 1.11 and heads into Season 2 and the new winter event.

This new season will bring the "Battle Pass" concept with it, which includes cosmetic items with an instant unlock, and an additional "level-up" system that grants more loot. Season 2 will run through February 20. Other optimizations are in tow like framerate enhancements, as well as bug fixes and some other minor balance changes.

What amazes me is Epic's open development process, which has quickly stamped out balance problems or bugs in a matter of days after the community has reported them.

Patch Notes [Fortnite]

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News:: How the 'Grinch bots' stole Christmas

Resellers have existed since way before the internet. But with the surge of online shopping, they have found the perfect weapon to aid their business: bots, automated software that can add products to a virtual cart and purchase them faster than any human. Even if your browser autofills personal information, like your address and credit card, and it only took you one minute to get to the checkout page -- that's too slow. Bots can buy almost anything in a matter of seconds, which is why they've become the ideal tool for people who make money by snatching up coveted items and selling them on eBay, Amazon and Craigslist for a profit.

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News:: A Dark Souls card game is on the way

Earlier this year a Dark Souls board game was released, and Steamforged Games is out for another round. 

Putting the licensed to further use, they're now set to release a Dark Souls card game into the world. It's a co-op game for one to four players, and will once again employ the fluff concept of gaining more experience (Souls) and loot to best the game's enemies -- the four bosses include Vordt of the Boreal Valley, Abyss Watcher, Pontiff Sulyvahn, and High Lord Wolnir. It was revealed back in August, but now they're ready to put it in stores "soon." The core set will include "over 400 cards," and there are no blind boxes/boosters to worry about.

To clarify, this is not the same publisher as the Bloodborne card game. That's being handled by the company CMON, and is set to receive a new expansion early next year.

Dark Souls Card Game [Steamforged]

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News:: Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition details new Extra Battle mode, costumes, and changes to Fight Money

Capcom's coming back to Street Fighter V in a major way soon, adding things fans of the series had wanted for a long time, so this extra mode could go far for getting into players' good graces again. There will be an "Extra Battle" mode with a specialty guest costume to buy at the the end of a four-week long challenge. As per Capcom:

• Each Crossover Costume requires you to complete four challenges that take place over the span of a month – one challenge per week.
• Each time you attempt one of these challenges, you must spend 2,500 Fight Money, In other words, if you successfully complete each of the weekly challenges in one go, you can get that Extra Battle Costume for 10,000 FM!
• Once you complete all four challenges, the Crossover Costume for that month is yours!
• These challenges are time exclusive, so make sure to log in each week to complete them, especially if you have your eyes on that month’s Crossover Costume.

Every so often there will be a "Golden Shadaloo Soldier" fight which can net players bonus fight money, though the way Fight Money is earned in general is changing as well: 

Beginning January 16, modes that offered one-time finite batches of Fight Money will no longer do so. This includes Character Stories, the General Story (A Shadow Falls), Trials, Survival, and Demonstrations – if you haven’t completed these modes yet, there’s still a few weeks left to do so before the changes occur in January!

If you’re a new player worried about getting enough Fight Money to get the Crossover Costumes, you still gain experience points from all modes except for the General Story. You receive Fight Money each time a character gains a level, and playing through each Character Story is a great way to quickly gain experience points for each character. Do this for all 28 characters and you’ll be the proud owner of at least 200,000 Fight Money. Combine this amount with Fight Money earned through online battles and recurring Missions and you’ll have plenty to use for Extra Battle Mode, additional characters and costumes!

For anyone worried about your current balance of Fight Money and League Points, they will remain intact and will not be affected by these changes.

Also beginning on January 16, when you purchase a new character with real money or via the Character Pass, you will receive that character’s Battle Costume and additional colors 3-10 for their Standard and Battle Costumes. If you earn Fight Money, you can also obtain characters’ Story Costumes.

Since Fight Money's going to be a lot more precious, costumes will also be easier to buy as well. Players will be able to view them in a 3D gallery before each purchase, and will be able to see the full spread of purchasable costumes for each character. 

Extra Battle will launch with Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition on January 16, and will be a free update to those who already own Street Fighter V. 

via Capcom-Unity

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News:: Xur is back today in Destiny 2 with brand new types of items

Xur, the creepy guy who sells players randomized special loot each week since the start of Destiny 1 (and by proxy, 2), is back once again today, but he's getting a few changes to make him more enticing.

For one the "Three of Coins" item returns, and now it'll just be a flat-rate buff that increases your chances of getting Exotics for four hours. It's not yet known what the percentage actually is (Bungie hides all that generally), so it could be an extra 1% buff, but hey, thousands of redditors will be doing Bungie's job of informing its playerbase and testing it themselves, so we should have hard facts soon.

Another change is a special engram (Fated) that will net you an Exotic you don't have yet. This item is account-wide, and will run you 95 Legendary Shards. Given that I only have six exotics left, including the Osiris additions, I'm thankful for this upfront alteration that means that I'll have everything in less than two months. "Exotic forgiveness" is coming sometime in January, which grants a higher chance to earn exotics you don't own already.

It's confirmed that Xur will not be located on Mercury, meaning anyone can access him even if you don't own the DLC.

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News:: Japan gets sweet phone case rewards with My Nintendo while the west gets...a tumbleweed

As seen on Japanese Nintendo, Japan is apparently rolling out a new (good) reward for My Nintendo users -- smartphone cases.

Five designs for Animal Crossing and one for Splatoon are available, and you can snag them for 50 Gold points each. There's also a Mario Pochi (coin) Bag if you want, but you'll need to pay shipping on that.

Meanwhile, in western land, we have...discounts, and the option to get really old 3DS and Wii U games. Switch rewards are listed as "coming soon," but I'm not holding out hope that they'll be rolling it out in earnest when that button does actually light up. One or two small things at a time that no one wants, that's the Nintendo way!

Nintendo smartphone cases [Japanese Nintendo]

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News:: The UK is getting a combined physical and digital games chart

A combined physical and digital games chart is finally coming to the UK. At the moment, the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) supplies GfK with exclusive data on boxed game sales. GfK's charts are considered the gold standard because of its relationship with the ERA, which counts GAME, Amazon and the nation's top supermarkets among its members. Now, the ERA has announced that its exclusivity deal with GfK will end in January 2019. Around the same time, it will start working with the Interactive Software Federation of Europe (ISFE) and data services provider B2Boost on charts that include both physical and digital sales.

Source: ERA, Gamesindustry.biz

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News:: Creepy platformer 'Inside' leaps from console to iOS

Inside was my favorite game from 2016. It's a short, atmospheric adventure by Playdead — the same studio behind the mesmerizing, monochromatic Limbo — with a truly thought-provoking ending. Even now, I think about the game's final moments and what some of the build-up meant. If you haven't played it before and own an iPhone or iPad, there's no better chance to jump in — the game is out on iOS today. It's free to start but requires a $6.99 fee to reach the end credits. Trust me, it's well worth the asking price; few puzzle-platformers are this hauntingly beautiful.

Source: Inside (iOS)

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News:: The Morning After: Friday, December 15th 2017

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

This Friday morning, we deal with how the FCC has repealed net neutrality and the repercussions of that. Disney is planning to buy a huge part of Fox, which would include the rights for the first Star Wars movies, X-Men, The Simpsons and countless others.

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