News:: Splatoon 2's sneaker-sponsored Splatfest reaches its conclusion

This weekend, Japanese Splatoon 2 players met on the battlefield in the country's latest splatfest. The Nike-sponsored face-off asked: When it comes to your consumer choices, do you prefer buying "What's New" or "What's Popular"? I've said it before and I'll say it again, that's such an uninspiring topic, easily one of the worst to date.

Regardless, Japan's squid-kids went to war over the consumerist nightmare. Once the fumes cleared, Marina's "Team Popular" (sporting Air Max 95s) lost big time in the public vote, but just squeezed by in Solo and Team Play to take the 2 - 1 victory. Pearl's "Team New" (rockin' Air Max 270s) can console themselves with a 60% win in the public vote.

It was a close call, but chalk up a win for Marina and her trend-following sheep. Now, let's get back to more serious matters, such as which way you hang toilet paper. As least we got the cool header image above starring Off the Hook. It's FIRE... that's what the kids say... right?

Japanese splatfest results, Team Popular take the win [Splatoon2.ink]

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via destructoid https://www.destructoid.com/splatoon-2-s-sneaker-sponsored-splatfest-reaches-its-conclusion-495894.phtml

News:: Retro-fighter World Heroes 2 Jet now available on Nintendo Switch

Hamster have dropped another classic Neo Geo fighter onto the Nintendo Switch, with the oddly belated arrival of revamped sequel World Heroes 2 Jet.

Originally hitting arcades and the Neo Geo format in 1994, World Heroes 2 Jet is essentially a mildly tweaked update to, funnily enough, World Heroes 2. It had faster gameplay, a new dash ability and a few new roster members, such as evil American footballer Johnny Maximum.

It's not all additions however, as the game unfortunately loses the ridiculous "Death Match" mode from vanilla World Heroes 2, which had fighters battle in a hazard-filled arena. In its place is the weird "Entry to the Tournament" arcade mode, which sees players fight in a series of condition-based brawls.

The World Heroes series, for those less inclined, tells the story of a crazy scientist who gathers fighters from various time periods to engage in a fighting tournament. Jet sees the fighters return once again after receiving invitations by mysterious millionaire, "Mr. Z".

Known for its huge, colourful sprites and batshit crazy roster, the upgraded fighter is fun, but still couldn't fend off other fighters of the day, such as Mortal Kombat II and Super Street Fighter II. Already available on PS4 and Xbox One, World Heroes 2 Jet is now available on Nintendo Switch, priced at $8.

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via destructoid https://www.destructoid.com/retro-fighter-world-heroes-2-jet-now-available-on-nintendo-switch-495886.phtml

News:: If you could own just one arcade cabinet, which one would it be?

I came of age during the arcade scene resurgence of the early 90s brought on by the likes of Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, and the other games that helped birth the fighting game genre we all love today. For many years, I didn’t have access to a lot of arcade machines outside of the seedy pizza shop downtown and the huge Alfy’s in the next town over. When an actual arcade opened up a 20-minute bus ride away from me, I would go every chance I got. It’s where I first got my hands on Mortal Kombat II, Time Crisis, and that old VS Super Mario Bros. cabinet.

But the Alfy’s is where I have my absolute favorite arcade experience. This pizza parlor/buffet was the happening spot after church or for birthday parties. It had roughly six arcade games, including a four-player Ivan “Ironman” Stewart’s Super Off Road cabinet. This was “the” game to play anytime you were at Alfy’s. I’m surprised the machine didn’t break more because there wasn’t a visit to the joint where the machine wasn’t constantly in use. It was my favorite, until “it” arrived.

Destructoid has written about Ninja Baseball Bat Man before. It’s an extremely rare arcade machine with less than 50 being sold in the US. How my local shop ended up with one of them I’ll never know but I’m so glad it did because Ninja Baseball Bat Man is the best arcade game I’ve ever laid my hands on.

Created by Americans with a Japanese eye for visuals, Ninja Baseball Bat Man lets up to four players control baseball players as they work together to recover artifacts stolen from the Baseball Hall of Fame. It’s a splendidly dumb 90s game concept that modern games could learn a lesson from. Nothing in this game makes sense. Jose, Roger, Straw and Ryno -- and I was always Ryno -- are all baseball players, but America's most boring profession sport isn’t the theme of the game. Anything goes in NBBM as you fight guys with pumpkins for heads, an emaciated dog, a possessed violin, a sentient slot machine and whatever other magic mushroom-induced ideas that manifested in the minds of Irem’s US developers. It’s balls to the window to the wall crazy and I want it.

With so few cabinets in existence, I will probably never get a chance to own one or even see one in the flesh again. But damn, if I had the opportunity to own just one arcade cabinet, this would be it.

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via destructoid https://www.destructoid.com/if-you-could-own-just-one-arcade-cabinet-which-one-would-it-be--495071.phtml

News:: Hellblade is making the jump to Xbox One

The indie "double A" hit Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is now confirmed to be making the jump to Xbox One after a ratings board sort of leaked the existence of a port. The game will launch on April 11 and retail for the regular $29.99 and contain some Xbox One X enhancements in the form of various performance modes. Anyone that pre-orders the title or purchases it during the first week will receive a 10% discount.

The Xbox One X modes include "Enhanced Visuals" mode (which offers higher quality visual FX), "High Framerate" mode (which runs the game at 60 FPS) and "High Resolution" mode (which provides a dynamic 4K resolution for the game). There are no other improvements or additions mentioned for this port.

While I've still not managed to play Hellblade, I have a lot of respect for developer Ninja Theory breaking away from traditional game's publishing and forging its own path in this industry. It's nice to see a developer create its own vision and stick to it without publisher interference.

via destructoid https://www.destructoid.com/hellblade-is-making-the-jump-to-xbox-one-495898.phtml

News:: Five video game characters that make me want to get fit(ter)

There came a time in this girl's life when walking up a flight of stairs felt like climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, and the back-handed compliment "you don't sweat much for a fat lass" rang far too true. I've been on a massive fitness drive for the past nine months, and through a combination of completely changing my diet and not shying away from the cross-trainer, I've lost a good amount of weight. My next fitness goal is to get proper hench, or at least as hench as a puny five-foot maiden, who throws her neck out opening a jar of soup, can be.

One of my biggest fitness inspirations alongside Instagram models and stunt women is actually video game characters, since they've shaped my impression of what women's bodies look like since I was five years old. The fantasy of what fitness can mean gives me the strength to go for gold in my real-life workouts, even if I end up in a crumpled heap after my second attempt at a stomach crunch. There are plenty of female video game characters I consider strong, bold and brave, who have distinctly average bodies – but there are a few who are more muscular, more agile and more athletic.

So, mix up your protein shake of choice and chug it down, while I talk about my top five video game athletes of all time. Don’t think – feel. (Aww, come on, Charlotte, spoilers...)

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via destructoid https://www.destructoid.com/five-video-game-characters-that-make-me-want-to-get-fit-ter--495548.phtml

News:: SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy is getting an arcade release

At the succinctly titled "NESiCAxLive Presents The King of Fighters XIV Arcade Ver. Burn Two Fight 2018" tournament, held in Japan this weekend. SNK announced that their upcoming SNK Heroines tag-fighting title will receive an arcade release.

There were very little details forthcoming, other than the machine is expected to run on NESiCAxLive 2 hardware. Whether the arcade will be shipped anywhere outside of Japan is unknown. Although it's a very nice thought, I'm not holding my breath.

SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy is currently scheduled for release on PS4 and Nintendo Switch worldwide this Summer. The game stars some of SNK's famous poster gals, who are transported to magic castle to engage in team-based combat in wacky costumes. It looks like a lot of silly fun.

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via destructoid https://www.destructoid.com/snk-heroines-tag-team-frenzy-is-getting-an-arcade-release-495881.phtml

News:: Influence the next design of Destructoid.com, win $1,000

Redesign time! Later this year we're giving Destructoid a fresh coat of paint. You know the drill, we do this every few years as web and mobile technologies change so quickly.  UX and UI improvements aside, we're also doing a little back-end work to speed things along.

Its important to us that we get a ton of community feedback about what you like and don't like about our current site even before we get started, and that's where you come in. Let's kick this off right: Drop your comments below and show us the way. 

Of course, a comments thread is probably not the best way to get this done long-term, so we set up a dedicated project site where you can post ideas, sketches, and inspire the next Destructoid.  The most valuable person who helps our new site to life, as voted by our corporate overlords sponsoring this contest, will win $1,000.

What we're looking for: Inspiration.

We're not looking for a final design per se, though code examples and sketches are certainly welcome. I'd like to hear things like "I would use the site more often if we changed X" or "these colors/fonts would look better" or "I would like to be able to do X on my phone" or "doing X right now on the site is difficult" or "I prefer the design of these web sites", stuff like that.  Help point out where the site isn't its best yet and what we should do to fix that. Your most popular ideas will be sent to the talented team at LeverageIT to execute the final design, and Enthusiast Gaming bossman Menashe will award the cash prize to his favorite participant.  

How to get involved:  Join our project site and start posting away!  We'll announce a timeline and share internal designs in the coming days.  If you prefer to share your ideas privately, send them on down to community@destructoid.com with the subject line "New Destructoid Inspiration".  Good luck!

via destructoid https://www.destructoid.com/influence-the-next-design-of-destructoid-com-win-1-000-495724.phtml