Jan 21, 2018 | Game ON news

Sunday, January 21, 2018

News:: Retailers GameStop & GAME to produce 'Totaku' figurine series

U.S. retailer GameStop, as well as GAME Spain, have listed a selection of new figurines for pre-order. The toys, representing numerous gaming characters, are the first in a new range named Totaku, designed by in-house outfit ThinkGeek.

The non-functional figures stand just under four inches tall and will retail for around $10 each. Style similarities to previous toy ranges, such as Nintendo amiibo and Disney Infinity, are readily apparent. Although the toys have no in-game usage, the Totaku bases can be interlocked, allowing collectors to build wacky crossover dioramas.

Retailers GameStop & GAME to produce 'Totaku' figurine series screenshot

News:: Contest: Win this Snorlax bean bag chair!

This is one of my favorite contest prizes ever. Seriously. Our friends over at Fun.com have graciously given us this wonderful Snorlax bean bag chair to give away to one very lucky Destructoid reader.

As a result, I'm quitting Dtoid and becoming a regular reader until the contest is over just so I can enter myself. I hope you'll all understand. I'll reinstate myself afterward. Don't worry.

Contest: Win this Snorlax bean bag chair! screenshot

News:: 18 indie games to look forward to in 2018

First of all, these are only games with an announced 2018 release date. None of this "when it's ready" stuff (I'm looking at you, Into the Breach). In fact, if all of these games don't release in 2018...I'll play through Troll and I again. That's how you know I mean business.

Oh please god let all of these games release this year...

I do this list each year, and I'm never sure how many games to include. This year, I figured 18 is a great number since, well, it's 2018! Plus, due to the aforementioned "they better come out or so help me" rule, I figured the fewer the better. So here are the games to mark on your calendars this year.

18 indie games to look forward to in 2018 screenshot

News:: What is your favorite bit of gaming fan service?

Writing about Super Smash Bros for an article covering fan service is a bit of a cop-out. The series is literally nothing but fan service. Since Melee, every Smash game has dived deeper and deeper into the history of Nintendo, pulling out references from nearly every product Nintendo has put out. There are callbacks to characters from games we haven't seen in years and products Nintendo hasn't made in decades, with Smash for Wii U and 3DS featuring the most extensive historical record the series has seen yet.

Really, going into this topic I was planning to write about Duck Hunt Dog calling in the NES Zapper Posse to blast his opponents away. As much as I love that, it ain't got nothing on Mega Man. Mega Man's Final Smash is a celebration of a series people assume Capcom didn't care about for the longest time. Hell, Mega Man's appearance in Smash is the most love and care given to the character in nearly a decade. With his unique move set, Mega Man easily outshone the other 3rd-Party guest characters. With his Final Smash, he outdid the rest of the cast.

I don't remember where I was when I first saw his final smash, but I do remember my jaw dropping and nearly crashing my browser reloading the YouTube clip. Even though I prefer other characters, I made myself get good with him just so I could see Mega Man, X, EXE, Volnutt, and Star Force come together in one spectacular finish. It's so frickin' good that if Mega Man returns in Smash Switch, I wouldn't mind if his Final Smash was left untouched.

What is your favorite bit of gaming fan service? screenshot

News:: PREPARE TO FRIENDSHIP: Dtoid's Master Gaming Contact List

_{[Holy crap, the Master List is almost exactly a year and a half old. To celebrate this, we are being rewarded with Monster Hunter World and Dragon Ball Fighter Z. What better way to bond with your friends than that?}

_{Also, thank you for your continued support of this list. It will continue being updated as long as there is a demand for it. -Panda]}

Good morning/afteroon/tomorrow, my friends/robots/Gardevoir/Current Dtoid Meme Here

It has been made aware to me that, just perhaps, you all enjoy video games. It might even be said that you... like to game with others? Now now, don't be that way, I don't mean to lump you into some sort of box. You're all just such lovely folks, it pains me to watch you, struggling in vain to connect with each other, striving to engage in...

PREPARE TO FRIENDSHIP: Dtoid's Master Gaming Contact List screenshot

News:: Jumanji re-imagined as Capcom brawler would make a lot of money

There was a time when the only micro-transactions in gaming were spent on continues, explicitly with quarters, each time you lost all your lives in an arcade game. Back then, Capcom's arcade division was hugely profitable, much more so than their console or mobile game outings are today. Their explicit mastery of producing state-of-the-art 2D sprite-based graphics and engineering game mechanics that compelled players to plunk more quarters-per-minute put them in a league of their own. Some records state that Street Fighter 2: Championship Edition made an estimated +2 billion dollars in arcades by the end of 1995, and's just one game.

While competitive fighting games were by far their most profitable outings, cooperative multi-player beat 'em ups came in a close second. By allowing four, five, or even six people to play at once, publishers could make four, five, or six times as much money in the same amount of time.

That's why I'm sure this theoretical Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle beat 'em up, crafted in the style of Capcom classics like Dungeons and Dragons: Shadows Over Mysteria and Cadillacs and Dinosaurs would be insanely profitable, regardless of when it was released. Sure, it would undoubtedly have made the most money if it were put out in arcades back in the 90s, but I think it could still do well today if released on Steam and consoles.

Jumanji re-imagined as Capcom brawler would make a lot of money screenshot

News:: Making the cocktails in 2064: Read Only Memories

Upon playing VA-11 HALL-A last year, I realised that I have very particular tastes: specifically, I love cyberpunk bartending and relationship simulators. It's barely an exaggeration to say it was the highlight of last year's gaming roster for me, with its nonsense ingredients, quirky patrons and existential pondering. So, when 2064: Read Only Memories came to the PS4 in Europe last month and to the Vita a few days ago, I finally got round to putting more puzzle pieces together in the joint universe of Neo-SF.

Such was my excitement that I decided it was time to break out the liquor cabinet (i.e. a bottle of Absolut that has been sat in our freezer for well over a year after a Halloween party) and try to recreate some of the beverages served in Neo-SF's hotspot, the Stardust. My goals? To do it on a pauper's budget, to make cocktails that even a moron such as myself could replicate, and not to barf. Of course, I got off to a good start on the third aim, given that I picked recipes containing 1) milk and 2) energy drinks.

So, were my attempts a success? Would Gus approve of my efforts, or did I make pure pig swill?

I'm pleased to report that all of my attempts were at least somewhat successful! So, instead of following my original plan of writing up a failed chemistry experiment, I'm going to give you the recipes for some delightful drinks to slurp down while chatting away with Turing. Enjoy!

Making the cocktails in 2064: Read Only Memories screenshot

News:: 50 Cent is interested in making another game

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand is possibly the greatest video game to ever tell the hardships of a man trying to retrieve his stolen property. But, it seems Fiddy himself has some new ideas for a third game -- just as long as the game is “unique,” and in whatever shape it takes, “extreme.”

In an interview with GameSpot, promoting the new movie Den of Thieves, 50 Cent discussed his interest in a third game and shared the idea of a concept similar to that of Tomorrow, Today (an upcoming superhero-themed show on Starz, based on a screenplay written by Fiddy about a prisoner who gets experimented on in an attempt to create the perfect human -- resulting in a crime-fighting hero who also just so happens to be on the run from the police).

50 Cent is interested in making another game screenshot

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Sunday, January 21, 2018