It's 2018 and I'm still amazed at the number of official tokusatsu (live-action special effects) productions that have left Japan. Shout! Factory gave us some classic Super Sentai shows (Power Rangers' source material), Tsuburaya released a few Ultraman titles on streaming Websites, and Kraken Releasing brought the dark late-night franchise known as Garo to Blu-ray in North America.
While it's impressive to see these titles arrive in the West, there was one franchise that didn't cross the pond. Luckily, we can scratch Kamen Rider off the list since Kamen Rider Amazons is streaming on Amazon Prime in the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, the U.K., and Germany as Amazon Riders. This came as a surprise since it took a long time for them to give us an update on their plans to stream it outside of Japan. Thankfully, they didn't cancel the idea and we can see Toei's bug-eyed biker officially kick evil in the face.
One thing that sets Amazons apart from the other installments is that it's aimed towards older viewers, instead of younger ones. This works well with the fact that Amazon loves to rip his enemies into pieces, which was an element in the original Amazon series. While I'm not a fan of the name Amazon Riders, I'm happy to see another uncut Rider title in the West.
[Panda is playing Frostpunk and Battletech and will likely never be seen again.
The List will continue being updated as long as there is a use and 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...
When it became clear that vinyl wraps and other stickers were damaging the Switch, you could practically hear the wailing from console customizers everywhere. How were you supposed to add a personal touch to Nintendo's machine without giving it a permanent paint scheme? At last, there's light at the end of the tunnel. Dbrand is now offering Switch skins that it promises are "100% safe" for the system's plastic housing. The company said it spent a year working with 3M to create a "unique" adhesive that won't wreck the design.
Another round of ink-blasting fun has come to an end, as Japanese squid-kids have ended their latest 24-hour war on Nintendo's arena-shooter, Splatoon 2.
This time around the topic, sponsored by JAMSTECH: The Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, saw "Unknown Creatures" go head-to-head with "Advanced Technology". Asking players whether they prefer the weirdness of undiscovered nature or the scientific marvels of invention.
Now that the ink has dried, we can see that Team Marina's Advanced Technology has swept the board with a 3 - 0 victory. The world of computer science, intricate invention and space-age tech won not only the public vote, but also points for both Solo and Team Play. This should make Marina and her fans very happy, as this is the sweet DJ's first ever clean-sweep victory.
There are currently no more Splatfests waiting in the wings, but no doubt we'll be getting announcements of more topical warfare soon. After all, Pearl won't take this 3 - 0 drubbing lying down.
While there were plenty of people initially skeptical of its tonal shift, there's no denying that God of War has really taken off. Although quite a few members of the community had said they had no interest, the Quick Posts on Destructoid are, regardless, surprisingly full of praise.
A little over a decade ago, Midway – a company spiraling towards bankruptcy – dropped a trailer for what could have been, should have been its saving grace. This Is Vegas would be an open-world title set in Sin City where gaming’s most generic-ass looking mother fucker could do all the things fans of open-world games love to do: fight, gamble, race, and dance like nobody is watching. I think about the game whenever I am in Las Vegas which is where I am as of the time of publication.
I’m not big on gambling and I fucking hate cigarette smoke, but I love me some casinos. Maybe it’s my ADHD or my simple mind that is easily overcome with joy whenever I see bright, flashing lights and hear the buzzes and whirls of the slot machines, but there's something pleasing about making my way through the sea of hover rounds and cocktail girls as I wander a sea of penny slots. This Is Vegas would probably have been the most authentic recreation of the Vegas casino floor, but thanks to Midway going kaput and Warner Bros. killing the rumored $50 million project, we’ll never know. Instead, we have to settle for the other casinos video games have brought us, and as I thought of this week’s Destructoid Discusses question, I realized there are some pretty amazing takes on the setting in gaming.
From those old school Casino Kid and Vegas Stakes games that were just straight-up gambling simulators to Capital Cashino in 2017’s Yooka-Laylee, this medium has a long history with readying us for a life of lost wages. And in going through every example I could find, the one video game I keep going back to is Elite Beat Agents.
It’s a crime the West never got a sequel to this game. Only a few pieces of media have made me legitimately cry: the Doctor Who episode “The Girl Who Waited,” the end of A.I. because I’m a pussy, and the “You’re the Inspiration” sequence in Elite Beat Agents. But that’s a topic for another time. For this piece, I want to focus on the “Rock This Town” sequence. Set to the Stray Cats classic -- but covered by Mark Latham -- this stage features a Vegas magician facing off against the Fullhouse Bandits after they take over the casino. How rude!
What follows is an absurd three and a half minutes of cheerleaders rooting on the magician as he uses his tricks to confound the bandits and save the casino. He throws his cards like Gambit, uses his wand to transform their weapons into pathetic flowers, and unleashes a steady stream of doves right out of his cape. What I love about it compared to other games that include the casino aesthetic is it doesn’t resign itself to focusing on the most obvious aspects of the setting. There are tons of games that have casino features with slot machines, but how many focus on those bad magician shows? It’s a different side of Vegas, one that’s ridiculous, hilarious, and more family-friendly than seeing people with obvious addictions losing their life savings before tricking themselves out on the streets to make ends meet.
Like I said above, it’s a crime we never got a sequel to Elite Beat Agents because I’d love to see a follow-up where the magician is a highflying act in Vegas, performing some David Copperfield nonsense as the cheerleaders hypnotize the audience into thinking he’s actually flying.
The past week in games has been all about strong, imposing men getting in touch with their softer side and nurturing their young – well, and cardboard boxes. Both Kiryu Kazuma in Yakuza 6 and Kratos in God of War may not quite be rocking the dad bod, with milk stains and baby sick down their ratty old t-shirt and heavy bags under their eyes, but they do learn a thing or two about how tough life as a father is. Overall, the impression I've gleaned from promo material for both games – I own neither, since I'm drowning in my backlog as it is – is that the protagonists fall into the massive pile of flawed father figures who are interesting to study but can hardly be reviled. Even if Kratos was an absolute bastard in God of War III.
However, some in-game portrayals of the parent-child relationship (note: I am not limiting myself to biological kin here) are so black-and-white appalling that it's safe to label the dad as a complete failure. Games are not short on blokes who commit felonies against their offspring and violate all paternal moral codes on a regular basis. Frankly, the average video game dad at least tries to look after their youngsters, and that's a damn sight better than what this scum bucket collectively musters when it comes to their kids.
So, who are these terrible fathers? I can think of five who are on my blacklist, and none of them have a shred of decency about them. Except the last entry, who in retrospect is nowhere near as bad as the others. Come on, dudes, it's Sunday – I had to find some space for a little bit of light relief in an otherwise sickening list.
Warning: as well as containing heavy spoilers for a number of games, this list includes a game that addresses child abuse and suicide. If this is likely to cause you distress, please stop reading here.
Nintendo Labo has a lot of stuff crammed into its box. I initially thought I'd sit down with my son today and whip up a few cardboard creations, play the games, and then write this review. After making our first larger Toy-Con, as Nintendo has named these projects, I was quickly disabused of that notion. The majority of the Toy-Con take more then 90 minutes to complete, according to the game, and the piano can take upwards of two-and-half hours.
That being said, the basics of Labo can be picked up in a few minutes, and I have been able to build and mess around with the Motorbike and RC Car Toy-Cons. Given that, I'm not quite ready to make a final ruling on Labo, but there's enough here to deliver something of an opinion on what exactly Nintendo has done here.
Do you remember the original Doom movie from 2005? You'd be forgiven if you didn't -- while it had recognizable stars (most notably Dwayne Johnson), it was a critical and commercial flop that only really found life after it left the big screen. However, that isn't stopping Hollywood from giving it another shot. After years of rumors, NBCUniversal has confirmed to Variety that a new Doom movie is in the works, no doubt meant to capitalize on the game series' revival. Actress Nina Bergman has already revealed that she'll play a role in the movie, which reportedly has a "super cool director."
It's tough to compete in the battle royale world, especially with Fortnite in the room. How do you convince players to try your game if they aren't immediately enraptured? Scavengers Studio knows how: give it away. The company has turned E3 darling The Darwin Project into a free-to-play title, with a new customization progression system coming on April 24th. Scavengers isn't shy about the reasoning, noting that a lack of players on some servers led to longer queues and trouble finding matches for the survival-themed brawler.
