To Infinity and Beyond

Sony Interactive Entertainment has begun rolling out its revamped PlayStation Plus service in ?Asian territories. Launching now in eastern regions such as Hong Kong and Korea, with Japan to follow in a week's time, the revitalized subscriptio?n service promises to offer a massive catalog of new and classic PlayStation titles on tap.

To this end, Sony has shared the full list of titles that are available via the Asian version of the PS Plus service. The non-inclusive list currentl?y features over 200 PlayStation games, with maay more expected to join the party in the near future.

PlayStation Extra and Deluxe subscribers can enjoy a range of PS5 and PS4 releases, while Deluxe subscribers will also gain access to demo?s and trials, as well as an array of original PlayStation Classics. In addition, all subscribers �including those on the base level PlayStation Essential tier �will continue to receive "free" games on a monthly rotation.

You can check out the current list of PlayStation Plus releases for Hong Kong below, courtesy of Gematsu. The new PlayStation Plus service launches in Japan on June 1, America on?? June 13, and Europe on June 22. Sony has previously suggested that PlayStation Plus will host an eventual 400 titles over the course of its formative launch period.

PlayStation Plus Deluxe / Extra

PlayStation 5

• Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
• Assetto Corsa Competizione
• Balan Wonderworld
• Control: Ultimate Edition
• Death Stranding Director’s Cut
• Demon’s Souls
• Destruction AllStars
• Foreclosed
• Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut
• Ghostrunner
• GreedFall: Gold Edition
• Human Fall Flat
• I am Dead
• Kona
• Last Stop
• Lawn Mowing Simulator
• Maneater
• Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
• Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
• Monster Truck Championship
• Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate
• MXGP 2021
• NBA 2K22
• Observer: System Redux
• RIDE 4
• Saints Row: The Third Remastered
• Tennis World Tour 2
• The Artful Escape
• Tour de France 2021
• Warhammer: Chaosbane â€?Slayer Edition
• Werewolf: The Apocalypse â€?Earthblood
• WRC 10 FIA World Rally Championship
• Wreckfest

PlayStation 4

• ABZU
• Adr1ft
• Age of Wonders: Planetfall
• Alienation
• AO Tennis 2
• Ashen
• Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
• Assetto Corsa Competizione
• AVICII Invector
• Balan Wonderworld
• Batman: Arkham Knight
• Battle Chasers: Nightwar
• Bee Simulator
• Blasphemous
• Bloodborne
• Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
• Bomber Crew
• Bound
• Bound by Flame
• Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
• Caladrius Blaze
• Call of Cthulhu
• Child of Light
• Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon EVERY BUDDY!
• Chronos: Before the Ashes
• Cities: Skylines
• Concrete Genie: Digital Deluxe Edition
• Control: Ultimate Edition
• Damascus Gear: Operation Tokyo HD Edition
• Darksiders Genesis
• Darksiders III
• Days Gone
• Death end re;Quest2
• Death Stranding
• Deliver Us the Moon
• Desperados III
• Detroit: Become Human
• Dreamfall Chapters
• Dynasty Warriors 8 Empires
• Eagle Flight
• Elex
• Embr
• Entwined
• Everybody’s Golf
• Fade to Silence
• Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon: Classic Edition
• Far Cry 3: Classic Edition
• Far Cry 4
• Fighting EX Layer â€?Standard Version
• Final Fantasy IX
• Final Fantasy VII
• Final Fantasy VIII Remastered
• Final Fantasy X | X-2 HD Remaster
• Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age
• Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition
• FlatOut 4: Total Insanity
• For Honor
• For the King
• Foreclosed
• Friday the 13th: The Game
• Gabbuchi
• Get Even
• Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut
• Ghostrunner
• God of War (2018)
• Golf with Your Friends
• Graveyard Keeper
• Gravity Rush 2
• GreedFall
• GRIP: Combat Racing
• Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX
• Harvest Moon: Light of Hope Special Edition
• Hello Neighbor
• Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition
• Homefront: The Revolution
• Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition
• Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number
• Hotshot Racing
• How to Survive: Storm Warning Edition
• How to Survive 2
• Hue
• Human Fall Flat
• I am Dead
• inFAMOUS: First Light
• inFAMOUS: Second Son
• Injustice 2: Gods Among Us
• Journey to the Savage Planet
• Killzone: Shadow Fall
• Killzone: Shadow Fall Intercept
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance
• Kingdom: Two Crowns
• KNACK
• Kona
• Last Day of June
• Last Stop
• Lawn Mowing Simulator
• Left Alive
• Legendary Fishing
• LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham
• LittleBigPlanet 3
• Mafia III: Definitive Edition
• Magicka 2
• Maneater
• Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
• Marvel’s Spider-Man: Game of the Year Edition
• Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
• Matterfall
• MediEvil
• Megadimension Neptunia VII
• Mighty No. 9
• Monster Jam Steel Titans 2
• Monster Truck Championship
• Mortal Kombat 11
• Moving Out
• Mudrunner
• MXGP 2021
• My Friend Pedro
• My Time at Portia
• NBA 2K Playgrounds 2
• NBA 2K22
• Necromunda: Underhive Wars
• Observation
• Oddworld: New ‘nâ€?Tasty
• Outer Wilds
• Overcooked! 2
• Overpass
• Pathfinder: Kingmaker â€?Definitive Edition
• Payday 2: Crimewave Edition
• PGA Tour 2K21
• Pillars of Eternity: Complete Edition
• Pixel Piracy
• Portal Knights
• Prison Architect
• Project CARS 2
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• Relicta
• Resogun
• Returnal
• RIDE 4
• Risk Urban Assault
• Saints Row: The Third Remastered
• Secret Neighbor
• Shadow of the Beast
• Shadow of the Colossus
• Shadow Warrior 3
• Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom
• Sniper Elite 4
• SOMA
• South Park: The Fractured but Whole
• South Park: The Stick of Truth
• Space Crew: Legendary Edition
• Space Hulk: Deathwing â€?Enhanced Edition
• Space Hulk: Tactics
• Space Junkies
• Star Ocean First Departure R
• Star Trek: Bridge Crew
• Starlink: Battle for Atlas
• Steep
• Steins;Gate Elite
• Stellaris: Console Edition
• Surviving Mars
• Tearaway Unfolded
• Tennis World Tour 2
• Terraria
• The Artful Escape
• The Book of Unwritten Tales 2
• The Council â€?The Complete Season
• The Crew
• The Crew 2
• The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited
• The Fisherman â€?Fishing Planet
• The Last Guardian
• The LEGO Movie Videogame
• The Messenger
• The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories
• The Surge
• The Surge 2
• The Technomancer
• This is the Police
• This is the Police 2
• This War of Mine: The Little Ones
• Tom Clancy’s The Division
• Totally Reliable Delivery Service
• Tour de France 2021
• TowerFall Ascension
• Trackmania Turbo
• Transference
• Trials Fusion
• Trials of the Blood Dragon
• Trials Rising
• TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge 2
• Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
• Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
• Until Dawn
• Valiant Hearts: The Great War
• Vampyr
• Virginia
• Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor â€?Martyr
• Warhammer: Chaosbane
• Watch Dogs
• Werewolf: The Apocalypse â€?Earthblood
• Werewolves Within
• Windbound
• World of Final Fantasy
• WRC 10 FIA World Rally Championship
• Wreckfest
• XCOM 2
• Y School Heroes: Bustlinâ€?School life
• Yo-kai Watch 4++
• Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA
• ZOMBI
• Zombie Army 4: Dead War
• 11-11 Memories Retold
• 2Dark

Game Trials (Deluxe Subscription)

PlayStation 5

• Cyberpunk 2077
• ELEX 2
• Farming Simulator 22
• Horizon Forbidden West
• Hot Wheels Unleashed
• MotoGP 22
• Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands
• Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection
• WWE 2K22

PlayStation 4

• Biomutant
• Cyberpunk 2077
• ELEX 2
• Farming Simulator 22
• Horizon Forbidden West
• Hot Wheels Unleashed
• LEGO CITY Undercover
• MotoGP 22
• The Cruel King and the Great Hero
• Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands
• WWE 2K22

Classics (Deluxe Subscription)

PlayStation Emulated

• Ape Escape
• Disney PIXAR Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue
• Hot Shots Golf
• I.Q: Intelligent Qube
• Jumping Flash!
• Mr. Driller
• Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee
• Syphon Filter
• Tekken 2
• Wild Arms
• Worms Armageddon
• Worms World Party

PlayStation 2 Emulated

• Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
• Jak II
• Jak 3
• Jak X: Combat Racing

PSP Emulated

• echochrome

PlayStation 4

• Batman: Return to Arkham â€?Arkham Asylum
• Batman: Return to Arkham â€?Arkham City
• BEYOND: Two Souls
• BioShock Remastered
• BioShock 2 Remastered
• Bioshock Infinite: The Complete Edition
• Borderlands: The Handsome Collection
• Crysis Remastered
• Darksiders Warmastered Edition
• Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition
• Dead Nation: Apocalypse Edition
• Deadlight: Director’s Cut
• God of War III Remastered
• Gravity Rush Remastered
• Heavy Rain
• Hotline Miami
• Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning
• LEGO Harry Potter Collection
• LocoRoco Remastered
• LocoRoco 2 Remastered
• Mafia: Definitive Edition
• Mafia II: Definitive Edition
• Metro: Last Light Redux
• Metro 2033 Redux
• Outcast: Second Contact
• Patapon Remastered
• Patapon 2 Remastered
• Rainbow Moon
• Resident Evil
• The Last of Us Remastered
• The Last of Us: Left Behind
• Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection
• WipEout: Omega Collection

The post Revamped PlayStation Plus s?ervice confirms game library for Asia appeared first on Destructoid.

Aiming to further improve inclusivity in the region

Women in Games, the non-profit organization dedicated to opportunity and representation for women in the gaming industry, has announced th??at it will be opening a brand new chapter in Asia, h??oping to further promote and drive its goals within the region.

The brand new expansion will be helmed by Dan Sun, Di?versity & Inclusion Business Partner for Riot Games Asia, and Kah Hui Teo, Global Localisation Manager at Keywords Studios. The new division represents a huge and important step for the Women in Games organization on a global scale.

"These are exciting times for Women in Games as we continue to grow our community and our initiatives," said Women in Games CEO Marie-Claire Isaaman. "W??e are delighted to be announcing our fir?st Chapter in Asia, and look forward to working with Dan and Kah who will be helping us with our ambitions and goals of promoting and supporting women in the region."

"Women in Games Asia i?s the first international chapter to co-drive the Women in Games mission in the region," adds Dan Sun. "We commit to improving accessibility and inclusion from the gender perspective with grounded initiatives that provide our community with career development, networking, and industry recognition opportunities."

Women in Games will reach out to women within the Asian games industry via its monthly event "W Coffee" �a virtual meet-up for all associates to gather and discuss the important topics of gender pay disparity, education, inclusivity in the workplace, and finding opportunities for young women attempting to get a foothold in gaming. For more information on Women in Gaming, W Coffee, and chapter establishment, visit the official Women in Games website.

The post Women in Games organization establish new chap????ter in Asia appeared first on Destructoid.

Bad news for new show

This October was to see European trade show Gamescom branch out int?o a new territory with the launch of Gamescom Asia. Unfortunately, organisers have been forced to postpone the inaugural event as a result of the ongoing COVID-19/coronavirus pandemic.

"As much as we would have loved to bring the event to life this October, the current global crisis has forced us to recalibrate our wants for Gamescom Asia," said organiser Mathias Kuepper in a press statement. "The health and safety of our visitors, exhibitors and staff is? paramount. Moreover, for an inaugural event, we felt it was important to give the regional gaming community and fans the full experience of what an international event of this scale would be like, and not anything less."

Gamescom Asia is just one of many events that has cancelled plans in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Various video game trade shows including GDC, E3, SDCC, and the European Gamescom event have also been forced to take a backseat this year. While some are attempting to promote digital events in their stead, others are simply missing the year entirely, with plans to r??eturn in 2021.

??Gamescom Asia is now expected to launch in Singapore on October 17, 2021.

Gamescom Asia delayed until 2021 [GamesIndustry.biz]

The post Gamescom Asia inaugural event postponed to 2021 appeared first on Destructoid.

Viva la revolucion

There are always a few usual suspects competing with new releases at the top of the sales charts in any given month. Grand Theft Auto V, FIFA, Call of Duty -- these are all games that continue to sell well long beyond their launch window. Last month, a??n unexpected title showed up and took the top spot, although it probably drove hardly any revenue.

Assassin's Creed Unity, the 2014 Assassin's Creed that's still mocke?d to this day, wa?s the best-seller across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Australia, and Asia in February. That's because it was being hocked on Steam for less than a cent in both South Korea and Indonesia. That's, evidently, an offer that a lot of people couldn't refuse.

This is actually the second time within the past calendar year that Assassin's Creed Unity has seen a rapid swell in downloads. Ubisoft temporarily made it free last April following the fire at the Notre Dame. This sudd?en influx of purchases is born out of happier circumstances.

As for the rest of the best-sellers, it's mostly those games mentioned above with some more Ubisoft peppered in for good measure. After Assassin's Creed Unity, the top five is made up of Grand Theft Auto V, FIFA 20, Rainbow Six Siege, and The Division 2 in that order.

Assassin's Creed Unity was one of the best-sel??ling games?? in the world last month [GamesIndustry.biz]

The post Assassin’s Creed Unity was on top of the sales charts in February appeared first on Destructoid.

*But not pictured

Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan Asia held its annual PlayStation Awards ceremony, celebrating the highest-selling titles of the year, (regardless of their? year of release), across the?? Japanese and Asian markets.

As per usual, Platinum and Gold awards were offered to the big sellers, while special awards were handed out for markets such as online-only sales and VR and indie releases. While nothing quite hit the insanity of last year - where Capcom's Monster Hunter: World went Quadruple Platinum -  there were s??till plenty of heavy-hitters collecting gongs.

If you want to watc??h the three-hour ceremony, then it is available for viewing right here.

The 201??9 PlayStation Award Winners are as follows. All figures include digital downloads:

Platinum Prize:
Games that shipped more than one million u??nits in Japan/Asia.

• God of War
• Kingdom Hearts III
• Marvel’s Spider-Man
• NieR: Automata
• Red Dead Redemption 2

Gold Prize:
Games that have shipp??ed more than 500,000 units in Japan/Asi?a.

• Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
• Devil May Cry 5
• FIFA 19
• FIFA 20
• Monster Hunter World: Iceborne
• Pro Evolution Soccer 2019
• Resident Evil 2
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

PlayStation Network Award:
The top three best-selling games on the PlayStation Network, released between Octo?ber 1, 2018 and September 30, 2019??.

• FIFA 19
• Fortnite
• Monster Hunter World: Iceborne

PlayStation VR Award:
Games that saw success on the PlayStation VR, released between October 1, 2018 and September 30, 2019. (Last year's winners not applicable)

• Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown
• Astro Bot: Rescue Mission
• Beat Saber

Indie Games & Game Developer Award:
Games that saw success in PlayStation's indie catalog, released between October 1, 2018 and September 30, 2019.

• Hardcore Mecha
• Hollow Knight
• Human Fall Flat
• Overcooked! 2
• Unravel Two

PlayStation 25th Anniversary Special Award:

• Battle Arena Toshinden
• Dynasty Warriors 3
• Final Fantasy VII
• Metal Gear Solid
• Monster Hunter Freedom Unite
• Resident Evil
• Ridge Racer
• Yakuza

PlayStation 25th Anniversary Users�Choice Award:
The top five titles previous PlayStation Award winners as voted by Japan and Asia users.

• Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age
• God of War
• The Last of Us Remastered
• Marvel’s Spider-Man
• Monster Hunter World: Iceborne
• NieR: Automata
• Persona 5

The post Sony PlayStation Awards 2019 winners revealed appeared first on Destructoid.

BEACAUSE

This is quite a surprise! Square Enix Asia has announced that it will be releasing a physical double pack of Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII Remastered on the Switch. While that normally wouldn't concern us, the game will contain the full English translation on the cartrid??ge. Importers, your? time is now!

Play-Asia currently has a pre-order up for $49.99. That's a little bit more expensive than grabbing both digitally, but it will ensure that you have a hard copy of the games should anything funky happen with the eShop in the future. I'm not certain if a download code is provided for either game, but Square Enix does have a history of doing that with remastered releases (Final Fantasy X -X2 HD Remaster). Proceed with caution.

Square Enix Asia [Facebook]

The post Final Fantasy VII/VIII to get a physical Switch?? release in Asia with an English option appeared first on Destructoid.

May expand to different territories in the future

PUBG Corp has launched a beta for PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Lite in Thailand. This new version of PUBG is a low-spec, free-to-play iteration of the popular battle royale title. Based off of the current PC version, Lite resembles PUBG Mobile from its visual mak??eup. The idea is to provide a version of the game for ?players with weaker machines to get them playing.

The current build includes the original PUBG map (Erangel), its desert map (Miramar) and the training arena. Despite being graphically cut down, the game will still support 100-player matches with all of the other features from regular PUBG.

You can actually download the client and give it a shot. You'll need to set up a VPN to trick the servers into believing you're in Thailand, but that isn't especially hard to do. PUBG Corp does state it is looking to expand PUBG Lite into different territories, but this may only be for other Asian marke??ts instead of a worldwide release.

For now, we just have a trailer to get a short look at the game. It appears to be exactly like PUBG, just without the p??erformance issues. What a thought that is, right?

PUBG Lite is a free-to-play version for low-spec PCs, limited to T??hailand for ??now [VG 24/7]

The post PUBG Lite enters beta in Thailand, finally makes the ????game free-to-play appeared first on Destructoid.

(Games may not actually be from 2018)

We are right on the cu??sp of award season as the end of this long, long, long year approaches. Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan Asia are already way ahead of everybody, however, and have dished out their awards for some of the biggest selling titles available on thei??r black box.

As usual, awards were given to the following games based upon sales figures within the Japan/Asia Territories over the past 12 months. The biggest news from the event was Capcom's unit-shifter Monster Hunter World receiving a Quadruple Platinum award for selling over four million copies. This is the first time in seven years such an award has been given out, the last time being for, ironically, 2011's Monster Hunter Portable 3rd.

The 2018 PlayStation Award Winners are as follows. All fi??gures include digital downloads:

Quadruple Platinum Prize:
Games t??hat shipped more than four million units in Asia.

•  Monster Hunter: World

Platinum Prize:
Games that shipped mor??e than on??e million units in Asia.

•  The Last of Us Remastered
•  Persona 5

Gold Prize:
Games that have sh??ipped more than 500,000 units in Asia.

•  Super Robot Wars V (PS4/Vita)
•  Winning Eleven 2018
•  Gran Turismo Sport
•  Call of Duty WWII
•  God of War
•  Jikkyō Powerful Pro Yakyū 2018 (PS4/Vita)
•  Marvel's Spider-Man

PlayStation Network Award:
The top three best-selling games on the PlayStation Network?, released between October 1, 2017 and September 30, 2018.

•  FIFA 18
•  Monster Hunter: World
•  Fortnite

PlayStation VR Award:
Games that saw success on the PlayStation VR, released ??between October 1, 2017 and September 30, 2018.

•  No Heroes Allowed! VR
•  Gran Turismo Sport
•  The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR

Indie Games & Game Developer Award:
Games that saw success in PlayStation's indie catalog, released b??etween October 1, 2017 and September 30, 2018.

•  Ultimate Chicken Horse
•  ABZÛ
•  Dead Cells

User's Choice Award:
??Top 10 of games voted for by PlayStation fans in Asia. Eligible titles released between October 1, 2017 and September 30, 2018.

•  Assassin's Creed Origins
•  Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age
•  Yakuza Kiwami 2
•  Monster Hunter: World
•  Fortnite
•  God of War
•  Dark Souls Remastered
•  Detroit: Become Human
•  Marvel's Spider-Man
•  The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV: The End of Saga

The post Here are Sony’s PlayStation Award Winners for 2018 appeared first on Destructoid.

Prepare for the most epic neural handshakes

Content, content, content is what Netflix is all about, and the streaming behemoth is planning to offer a ton of original Asian shows and films. Included in that slew of content is an anime series continuing off of the Pacific Rim films, and an anime movie set in the universe of Netflix original series Altered Carbon.

Per THR, the Pacific Rim anime will follow two siblings, an "idealistic teenage boy and his naïve younger sister," as they fight through a hostile environment in a Jaeger while attempting to search for their parents. I presume much of the drama will stem from the two trying to become Drift-compatible. That series will be helmed by Craig Kyle (Thor: Ragnarok co-writer) and Greg Johnson (X-Men: Evolution) and produced by Legendary Entertainment.

Meanwhile, the Altered Carbon anime film will contain "new elements of the story mythology." The live-action series, based on a novel from Richard K. Morgan, centers around a Japanese man who, like many in the universe, can transfer his consciousness into new bodies, or "sleeves." Joel Kinnaman played the character's sleeve in season 1, with Anthony Mackie to take over in season 2. The anime film has Dai Sato (Cowboy Bebop) and Tsukasa Kondo attached as writers.

Netflix will have plenty of content to offer from or in-the-style-of  Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, and South Korea, and as a Filipino-American myself, it's cool to see a project called Trese in the mix, which centers on Filipino folklore and is based off a Filipino graphic novel. On the downside, there's just too much damn stuff on Netflix—I've come to a point where scrolling through titles is more time-consuming (and sometimes even more fun) than actually selecting and watching any of them. Still, as a fan of the Pacific Rim movies (even Uprising, despite the fact tha?t there were no uprisings in that film), it's neat to see the universe continue. I'm just crossing my fingers that Guillermo del Toro (and especially Charlie Day and Burn Gorman) ?are involved somehow.

'Pacific Rim' and 'Al?tered Carbon' Anime Projects Among Netflix's New Slate of Asian Origina?ls [THR]

The post Pacific Rim, Altered Carbon anime pro??jects will stream on Netflix appeared first on Destructoid.

Talk of Sales, Asia, and Smash Bros.

The developers at Secret Base have just launched a free patch for Streets of Red: Devil's Dare Deluxe th??at includes four new bosses as well as online leaderboards and new language options. Th??ey aren't charging more for this extra content though. Instead, they are putting the game on sale for 30% off until November 20. The only catch is, as of right now, the new content and sale are only for Switch owners.

Tobe, the game's creator, told us. "If sales on Switch after this patch go well, the next step is to bring all of the new Streets of Red content to the original Devil's Dare on PC before we look at PS4 again. The reason is a realistic one. While working on it, we weren't sure how well received the game will be given the overcrowded ??market these days, so it wasn't easy to build up enough funds to allow for free updates. It is only after the sales of the game on eShop came in that we saw that we could add this new content and still stay afloat."

"That being the case, we naturally decided to start from the Switch version, as that's where the majority of our audience is. The immediate next plan will be to try to get it on Steam, as we want to make it up to our PC gamers. And if that goes well too, maybe we can investigate how feasible it is to bring it to PS4. We ??apologize to our PS4 supporters, but I can hope that people can understand that we are a small team with limited resources and ??might not able to make everything happen, at least not all at once."

We also asked him why these four particular bosses w??ere chosen for the Halloween update, and if they may all make it into a Horror Vs. Video games parody party fighting game someday. He was very forthcoming. 

"Most might not know, but Streets of Red is actually the spiritual successor to our previous game Bitejacker, based on the show Bytejacker hosted and produced by Anthony Carboni. We brought over most of the bosses, but missed out on Z Warrior, and now seemed like a good time to bring h?im back in. Aside from that, we also have the Fish monster Mul Goemul and Sakura, who are both based on Asia themed monsters. Since we are based in Asia, I sort of wanted to showcase that. We are also releasing the game in Japan and China at the same time, so we also want to add something that they might find interesting and familiar."

As for the Smash Bros.-style four-player fighter, I have to admit that it was my idea. When I first played Devil's Dare forever ago, I immediately jumped to the idea of playing it against my friends as well as with them. At this rate, this is probably as close as we'll ever get to seeing Aliens/Predator/Freddy/Jason/Chucky/Ringu/Jim Sterling crossover, so they might as well fight each oth??er as well as their human victims, right?

When I asked Tobe if he'd ever thought of going this route, he said "I wasn't before, but maybe I should? Honestly, there's so much goodness from that time period, and I constantly draw reference and inspiration from that era. I have been thinking about working on a simple input fighting game, something between Smash Bros. and Divekick, so that might ?just be a thing. We'll see. Finge??rs crossed!"

The post The ??new Halloween bosses for Stre??ets of Red are Switch exclusive for now appeared first on Destructoid.

Plug pulled on spin-off's development

Last year, Electronic Arts announced it was teaming with Nexon to produce Titanfall Online, a spin-off game in Respawn Entertainment's popular mech shooter series??. However, it looks like the project has been shelved indefinitely.

Titanfall Online was supposed to be a free-to-play title - exclusive to the Asia territory - and has reportedly been in development for three years. However a rep for Nexon contacted website Game Focus to confirm that the decision was made to move on to other projects and direct th??e company's resources elsewhere.

Despite Titanfall's success, the brand's proposed spin-offs have not fared well. A tie-in card game was also cancelled at the end of 2017, leaving just mobile strategy title Titanfall Assault as the only side-project that made it to launch. Hopefully EA will pull things together for a new mainline game soon, as Titanfall 2 was pretty dang good, particularly its excellent single-player c??ampaign.

Free-to-play Titanfall Online cancelled [Kotaku / Game Focus]

The post Free-to??-?play project Titanfall Online has been canned appeared first on Destructoid.

Pursue historical knowledge, but do not pursue not Lu Bu

If I haven't been clear before, I'm Asian. Filipino to be exact. I'm also an absolute dork when it comes to history. Why do you think I write about Timeless so much? Hand me a book about the Crusades, the Byzantine ?Empire, the S??panish Inquisition, or the Sengoku Jidai, and I'd probably devour them whilst ignoring the world.

It just so happens one particular story heavily influenced me in my youth, pushing me into more historical discoveries. The story? Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Sanguo yanyi and Sanguozhi

I was a kid when my dad bought Koei's Romance of the Three Kingdoms II for the SNES. I couldn't understand the strategy and management sim mec??hanics at first, but I grew to love the story and the characters. I found out it was based on a n??ovel. I knew I had to get it so my mom and I roamed around Manila to look for a copy. We eventually found one in a dingy mall. It was an old copy complete with frayed edges and stained pages. It didn't matter, 10-year-old me teared up when I got the book.

That book is called "Sanguo yanyi” (The Three Kingdoms Narrative / Romance of the Three Kingdoms), written by Luo Guanzhong in the 14th century. It became a cultural phenomenon, considered as one of the "Four Pillars of Chinese Literature" alongside Journey to the West, Dream of the Red Chamber, and Water Margin; the latter of which is rumored to be another of Luo Guanzhong's works.

I believe the reason why Three Kingdoms captured my imagination was because it blended historicity and fantasy. Characters did exist during that time period, but at the same time, Guanzhong gave some superhuman strength, preternatural senses, and awe-inspiring intellect. It's part history encyclopedia, part soap opera, part myth. It's like if the Odyssey and the Iliad were melded with the War of the Roses and was set in China. Mix in some comic book bravado, cartoonish humor, battle reports, traditional folklore, and moral lessons -- that’s the wildly imaginative result Three Kingdoms is.

In contrast to the fictional recounting of "Sanguo yanyi," the "Sanguozhi" (Records of the Three Kingdoms) has a more straightforward description of historical events and characters.? It's more realistic and grounded, which means it cuts down the myths and legends of the time. "Sanguozhi" is highly different from Guanzhong's vision -- after all, the ?man was a known "Han Dynasty fanboy" which meant that he painted characters in a certain shade due to his political leanings.

It's a prolific story, one that has been told time and time again in a variety of video games, most notably the aforementioned Romance of the Three Kingdoms series and Dynasty Warriors. Next year, for the first time, the Total War franchise will take its turn at adapting Guanzhong's masterpiece, potentially opening ?it up to a new player b?ase who have yet to experience the saga of Lu Bu, Cao Cao, and the rest of the figures who warred across China. So for those unfamiliar with this tale, I've put together a lore guide to help prepare you for what is to come.

The Story Begins

The novel’s central theme ??is “A land united must divide; a land divided must unite.” An empire which enjoyed centuries of prosperity will fragment into various fiefdoms ruled by warlords and clans until such time that only three king?doms remained. From there, these three factions would experience their own internal and external strife until the land is united once more.

The story takes place in China from 169 to 280 AD. That aforementioned empire is the Han Dynasty whose power slowly waned. The "Mandate of Heaven," which the Chinese believe to be the divine right to rule ?by the emperor, was in doubt. Storms, earthquakes and strange omens precipitated an impending doom. It was in the form of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, led by a mystic known as Zhang Jiao. He believed h??imself to be the bringer of a righteous and just rule for the people. The masses flocked to him due to his miracles and soon Zhang Jiao had an army.

This gathering storm also introduced us to the personalities who would shape the land in the decades to come. Arrayed against Zhang Jiao and thousand?s of frenzied peasants and vagabonds was the might of the Imperial Army and various commanders -- Liu Bei, Cao Cao, Sun Jian, Dong Zhuo, and Lu Bu. Against the greatest people of the age, Zhang Jiao and his ??Yellow Turbans could do nothing but perish. Unfortunately, this great upheaval was but the first of many that would follow.

Liu Bei: The Scion of the Han

When a sandal-maker saw innocents were suffering, he swore an oath with two other men to become brothers in fighting to give the peo??ple a better future. This man was Liu Bei, a desc??endant of the founder of the Han Dynasty. His two sworn brothers were the ferocious Zhang Fei and peerless Guan Yu.

Liu Bei’s journeys would take him across China fighting revolts and bandits, or leading the peasantry away from war-torn territories. He would eventually meet Zhuge Liang, the Sleeping Dragon, considered as the greatest mind in the land and an equal to strategists such as Sun Tzu -- the bloke who wrote The Art of War??. Through trials and tribulations?, Liu Bei finally found a land of his own in the mountainous western regions of China.

This became known as the Kingdom of Shu-Han. Liu Bei's men believed him to be the continuation of the dying Han bloodline. For a time, the scion of the dynastic house was happy. H?is army had grown and his men were loyal. The mountains were almost impassable and guarded by crack hill troops. In previous decades, he was rarely a master of his domain, oftentimes just a subordinate or a minor lord serving his benefactor. One of those old benefactors was Cao Cao, a good friend, and an even greater enemy.

Cao Cao: Ambition, Pragmatism, Progress

A son of a minor government official, Cao Cao could have been a paper-pusher all his life had it not been for a stroke of luck. He had distinguished himself during the Yellow Turban rebellion and many capable men joined his band. In the years that followed, the chaos of the land allowed him to practice his wily schemes and plots.? He would gobble territory after territory, whittling down every lord he faced.

He had met Liu Bei on various occasions??. At times the two were allies, even sharing a meal and a drink, despite knowing that they would become bitter rivals in the years to come. Cao Cao would earn the Han descendant’s ire when his boundless ambitions stepped on the interests of the faltering dynasty. This was seen as a manifestation of pride and ruthlessness. Pragmatism was more coldness and a lack of empathy, and progress meant crushing long-held traditions.

Those ambitions led to his control of northern and central China decades later. The vast?? plains, fertile fields, and deserts became his power base -- the Kingdom of Cao-Wei. Out of the remaining factions that still vied for control, Cao-Wei was the strongest, incorporating heavy cavalry and armored troops in its near limitless armies. However, there remained a nagging problem, he was still unable to take over the ?Southlands.

The Sun Family: Lords of the Southlands

While Cao Cao and Liu Bei had humble b??eginnings, the Sun family maintained an important role governing the lands ?south of the Yangtze River. Their patriarch at the time, Sun Jian, managed to obtain The Imperial Seal after chaos erupted in the capital. The item was an important mark of rulership and a harbinger of destiny.

The Imperial Seal was bartered off by his son, Sun Ce, after?? Sun Jian's passing. This item was exchanged for a handful of soldiers which Sun Ce, now known a?s "The Tiger of Jiangdong," would lead to capture more territory. Although Sun Ce died just a few years later, his little brother Sun Quan would succeed him. Sun Quan would eventually lead the Southland in a long and prosperous reign, the mighty river defended by expert sailors and vile pirates.

This reign would?? see his beloved land of Eastern Wu compete in the three-way war for China. There were times when he fought ?alongside Liu Bei against Cao Cao, and there were times when he was buddies with Cao-Wei while dicking around with Shu-Han. Eastern Wu was basically that best friend you had whom you were always wary of in case you messed up and they’d backstab you.

Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu: The Tyrant and his "Son"

Every story needs a good villain, and Dong Zhuo plays the role perfectly. He's cartoonishly obese, tyrannical and corrupt; a real pussy grabber of a huma?n being. He has no redeemable qualities and nobody likes him.

After the Imperial victory against the Yellow Turban rebels, a regent attempted to cleanse the corruption in the court by eliminating the eunuchs. He enlisted the help of Dong Zhuo. Unfortunately, before the plan could come to fruition, the regent was ass?assinated by his would-be victims. Dong Zhuo happily marched in with his army. He took part in the saving of the capital by killing men without balls. Dong Zhuo managed to "rescue" the emp??eror, only to depose him with a puppet of his choosing years later. The madman knew no bounds, slaying entire families and abusing the emperor and his family.

Standing beside him was his adopted son, Lu Bu, considered the mightiest warrior in all of China. It was said that Lu Bu was equal to thousands of warriors, and he was gifted the finest steed, Red Hare -- "Among men, Lu Bu; among horses, Red Hare." Dong Zhuo consolidated his power base by placating Lu Bu and having him do the dirty work. No one could match Lu Bu in combat, not even those sent out by Liu Bei and the others. Since Lu Bu was nigh unbeatabl?e, Dong Zhuo had the land in a vice grip.

Cultural significance

As a pillar of Chinese literature, and by extension, East Asia’s, Three Kingdoms lore has become ingrained in socio-cultural consciousness. The ideals of serving the dynastic house, being in-tune with the needs ??of the people, the right to rule, views on foreign barbarians, the flaws of indecision, the dangers of ambition and pride, and the sense of wonder at every turn captured hearts, minds, and imaginations of countless folk throughout the centuries. Remember, the Chinese are known as “People of the Han” and the events that transpired during the time of the Han Dynasty are held in high regard even today.

Certain personalities were larger-than-life. They influenced common sayings and tropes. For instance, in the novel when characters were talking about Cao Cao and he walked in on them, the phra??se "Speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrives" was coined. It's the Chinese version of "Speak of the devil." ?Oh, and if someone were to display sheer genius, he would probably be called a "Kongming" -- the style name of Zhuge Liang, the Sleeping Dragon and Shu-Han's great strategist and minister.

However, no other figure casts quite a shadow more than Guan Yu, one of the three sworn brothers along with Liu Bei and Zhang Fei. Guan Yu's exploits in the novel -- killing mighty enemy generals, refusing Cao Cao's entreaties, going through a pass and facing commanders just to return to his bros, accepting death rather than surrender, etc. -- made him a paragon of loyalty and righteousness.

He was deified centuries later and became China's God of War, revered by millions. Because he was an exemplary model character, there were monuments were erected in his honor. It was also common to find statues of "Emperor/Lord Guan" in police stations and government offices. The Triad and other gangs also worshipped him as a symbol of brotherhood and not snitching out your gangmates. Oh, and if people were protesting on the streets, they offered obeisance so he can lend his martial might and bravery. That's pretty much why he's also one of the gods in the MOBA game SMITE, and why his name is one you should remember for Total War: Three Kingdoms.

Total War: Three Kingdoms

When Creative Assembly announced Total War: Three Kingdoms earlier this year, I basically called and messaged my friends to tell them how happy I was. They did not share in my enthusiasm as I mostly got "eye-roll" and "new phone, hu dis?" replies. As someone who's a fan of the Total War franchise and Three Kingdoms, this was a dream come true. It's as if the two most beautiful women in the world got it on, had a baby,?? and they both said I'm the father.

The Total War franchise, known for its historical depiction of various events and time periods before it delved into the world of fantasy with Total War: Warhammer is the perfect playground for exploring Three Kingdoms. History fans need not worry. While the game, by default, has a "Romanticised mode" where generals can take out thousands of lowly soldiers on their own, it still has a "Classic mode." This mode is reminiscent of previous Total War titles like Rome and Medieval where generals are flanked by bodyguards and can die if left defenseless. Although there might be some who worry that the franchise is taking a more "historically inaccurate take," the counterpoint is simply that Total War's sandbox gameplay has been approaching "historically inaccurate territory" since its inception. Plus, I don't think we'll see Three Kingdoms generals juggling two dozen spearmen in mid-air. That would be silly.

The video below depicting the Battle of Xiapi -- pronounced as "CRP" for some reason by the Total War dev trying hard to sound Chinese -- might seem like another regular RTS foray. It isn't. There's some Game of Thrones-level shit going on before that battle ??even took p??lace!

Why the lore matters

Dong Zhuo was already dead by then, betrayed by Lu Bu who then went on to capture one of Liu Bei's cities that the latter ended up serving him. Cao Cao had to get rid of that mighty thorn on his side so he plotted with Liu Bei. Around this time, another warlord -- the guy whom Sun Ce bartered The Imperial Seal with in exchange for soldiers -- declared himself em?peror. That meant Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Lu Bu, and Sun Ce had to ally against the usurper despite having their own grand designs and internal rivalries.

With that campaign over, Lu Bu retired to Xiapi. Cao Cao then sprung his trap along with Liu Bei.?? Lu Bu was hemmed in and he tried to renew his friendship with that aforementioned usurper only to get thwarted at every turn. Oh, and one of Cao Cao's generals lost an eye so the guy ate his own optic organ before spearing his opponent in the face! In the end, a strategic plan allowed for the invading army to flood the city. The “Sanguo yanyi” says it's one of Cao Cao's tricks; meanwhile, the “Sanguozhi” mentions that it's actually an act of nature. Whatever the case, Lu Bu, dazed and confused, was finally defeated. In the end, he begged for his life but Cao Cao and Liu Bei were both done suffering his betrayals. The strongest warrior in China was strangled.

Another casualty of the battle was Lu Bu's strategist, Chen Gong, who was one of Cao Cao's old friends who helped him escape from his failed assassination of Dong Zhuo many years ago. They found refuge in the home of a sworn brother of Cao Cao's dad. While resting, they overheard people talking about "killing" and "getting the knife ready" so they rushed in and murdered the entire household only to discover that they were getting a pig ready for the feast! Chen Gong was maddened by grief, but Cao Cao simply said that "he would rather betray the world, that let the world betray him." Chen Gong left Cao Cao in abject horror, knowing that he would become a great villain. Ironic??ally, he ended up serving Lu Bu. After the warlord's defeat, Chen Gong asked to be executed and Cao Cao was left in tears since he wanted to spare the life of his dear friend.

Whoa, it looks like I nerded out a bit there with too much information! As you can see, Three Kingdoms helped me fall in love with history when I was younger. I still recall grabbing several games that were based on the setting such as Dynasty Warriors and Kessen just so I could learn more about the time period. I freely admit, to my shame, that I even downloaded some shoddy Three Kingdoms freemium MMO games just because of the name. I also remember checking out various Three Kingdoms fan pages and "debate forums" such as The Scholars of Shen Zhou. Like I said, history dork.

Apart from checking out games, forums, and novels, I also delved into Three Kingdoms depictions in other media such as films and TV shows. For instance, Red Cliff is probably one of the best films I've watched. If you're a fan of history, you'd want to watch the two-part international version which is superior to the US cut. There's also the middling Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon flick which isn't as good but does scratch the itch. There are also several TV series based on the Three Kingdoms which have been uploaded on YouTube.  They range from classic versions to more modern remakes. There are even cartoons and anime such as a Gundam adaptation.

If you're interested in reading more about the wonderful and imaginative lore that’s near and dear to me, here??'s a free online version of “Sanguo ?yanyi." If you'd like to compare and contrast it with the purely historical narrative, the "Sanguozhi" has got you covered as well. Oh, and if you prefer to listen rather than read stuff, there's also a podcast that gets regularly updated and has over ??150 episodes.

Total War: Three Kingdoms is still months away, delayed until Spring 2019. I don't know if it will be amazing. I don't know if it'll be as bad as Rome II during launch or Dynasty Warriors 9 in its e??ntirety. All I know that the little ki?d in me who's been a fan for over two decades is extremely excited.

_{[Image source: Guan Yu statue courtesy of CCTV News China]}

The post Breaking do??wn the lore of Total W?ar: Three Kingdoms appeared first on Destructoid.

Selling like hotcakes, or dimsum, I guess

Fifteen years ago I fe?ll in love with a frog. And no, it's not a tale of myself being an Asian prince, and a warts-covered green amphibian turning into a princess. It was, literally, a frog -- a J. Frog if you will.

This frog was from a free-to-play massively multiplayer online game known as Gunbound, a Worms clone for the most part if Worms ha?d entertained me at all and if every selected character was unique. It was a turn-based game where players' avatars rode on mobile vehicles and attempted to shoot each other down with an assortment of attacks. The J. Frog that was my go-to mobile -- a green frog which spat out globules of gre??en or pink goo which rolled a certain direction while damaging your opponent. It was neither the strongest nor the best, but to me, it was the quirkiest and the most fun to use.

Gunbound pre-occupied my gaming time for a while during my college days. Its main source of revenue being microtransactions which allowed a player to purchase "cash" -- the premium currency as opposed to "gold", the regular in-game currency. Cash avatars and costumes boosted stats exponentially to the point that you would be nigh unstoppable. Certain ?perks included boosting your shields, your health, your overall damage, and yes, even how much of the terrain you could destroy -- which we called "bunge".

It was, in esse??nce, pay-to-win -??- and everyone loved it.

Now you might feel aghast at first, those three dreaded words "pa?y-to-win" feel like acid on the eyes when reading something, but let me ass??ure you that it was not as bad as people made it out to be especially in the East. While premium items did exist, many other items could be bought using gold, the regular currency, such as those aforementioned avatars and costumes, and even cosmetics such as background panels and effects.

The game also had "Avatar On" and "Avatar Off" servers. The former had every stat-boosting item enabled and was a brutal and competitive affair where the amount you spent usually equated to success. The latter had only gold and experience-boosting stats enabled and were for those wh?o didn't care much for stiff competition or spending. I've only spent around $8 in total, and I know others have spent heftier amounts in the store. That's fine, it's a free game after all.

What most people nowadays tend to forget is that the F2P and microtransaction model succeeded in Asia simply because most people lacked the finances to purchase monthly subscriptions with their credit cards, or buy consoles left and right. If you lived in a more affluent nation when you were a child, and you were looking to play v?ideo games, your parents might have bought you a Genesis or a SNES, a PlayStation, or an Xbox, or a Nintendo 64. You could wake up Christmas morning to find a new handheld or console.

As I mentioned in a previous Community Blog, I take the whole "F2P/MTX are cancers on the gaming industry" argument with a grain of salt. ??This is because I come from a poorer country. And people who live in poorer countries do not have that luxury o??r privilege the same way people in wealthier nations do. Let's take a look at the data:

• China's annual household income for urban families was 33,616 yuan in 2016. That's the equivalent of $5,262.
• In The Philippines, it's 267,000 PHP or $5,077 per year.
• For Malaysia, households received $15,759 back in 2016.
• In Thailand, 42% of households had an annual income ranging from $5,486 to $10,972.
• For Indonesia, the median is $3,488.
• Oh, and for Vietnam, monthly it's $150 per individual.

Conversely, takin??g a look at the statistics fo?r the west:

• For the United States, the annual household income is $59,039.
• In the United Kingdom, it's $37,112.
• In Canada, it's $54,289 for the median.
• For France, the annual disposabl??e income for h??ouseholds is $31,137. That's how much money those baguette lovers living in the same chateaus have after taxes have been deducted -- cash that remains to buy necessities such as clothing, water, and souffle.
• Australia's statistics would show roughly $39,687 (from a data of the weekly disposable income).
• Meanwhile neighboring New Zealand's annual net-adjusted disposable household income was at $30,563, and their economy is based entirely around sheep and Peter Jackson.
• Asia's powerhouses have also enjoyed comfortable living conditions. Japan's net adjusted disposable income was at $28,641, and South Korea's was at $21,723. Finally, Singapore's median monthly household income was $6,599, or $79,188 for the year -- thanks math!

If you were a gamer who, for years, has been worried about what would happen to your favorite AAA-title, or what's next in store for major console offerings, imagine what goes on in the minds of people who cannot even afford those forms of entertainment? That's why people here chose the ones which required less spe??nding up front. That meant being able to enjoy games from the get-go without needing to buy a $250-400 console or a $40-60 game.

When taking a look at the games that are popular in The Philippines, China, Malaysia, Thailand, and Asia in general, many of these are using the free-to-play with microtransactions and cash shops model. And on the off-chance they had subscriptions, these weren't monthly nor annually, these were hourly-based. We called them "top-up cards" -- literally just cards which had an equivalent amount of game time. It signifies that playing games was done in bursts and not a massive "rest-of-the-week-or-month-or-year" i??nvest??ment.

Your expenses as a gamer would be relegated to buying said "top-up card", or perhaps a $0.50 equivalent of paying per-hour in a computer cafe. That's all there was to it. Mom and dad could hand you that measly amount, or perhaps they won't because of budgetary concerns for the family. Or you could save up with your daily allowance, or hustle to get a little extra cash on the side -- I personally had been selling trading cards when I was a kid, and the profits led to being able to play Contra and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Gamers in North America and Europe also grew up with the Marios and the Zeldas, the Crash Bandicoots and the Sonics, and games released on a specific date as promised. For many of us over in Southeast Asia, games were either delayed because of localization issues, they arrived fairly later than expected, or there simply were not enough supplies to begin with. I remember wanting to buy Donkey Kong Country for the SNES when I was 10 and my parents and I had to go around half a dozen malls in Manila just to find ??a single copy!

Since we're talking about mascots and common themes in games, the ones that are popular here have a distinctly Asian flavor and characteristic to them, whether it's chibi and anime-looking characters a la Ragnarok Online, combative high schoolers in Ran Online, or Gundam-esque mecha-bots in RF Online. Games set during the Three Kingdoms period of China, and anything related to Journey to the West, are also very well-lov??ed -- the two are cornerstones of Chinese literature, and by extension, East Asia's as well. We are, of course, talking about the freemium stuff outside of the offerings from Koei Tecmo. When your games arrive late, or the characters and stories are not quite relatable, you can bet we'd gravitate more towards those we're familiar with.

As for pay-to-win mechanics, those are a given. Another game I had been fond off, Ran Online, boasted such a system. The tamest offering in the bunch was a 7-day Rosary Bead which boosted your experience gains for the entire week. Checking other items, you'd find what we called "Booster Boxes," actual boxes which you could plop down in-game and receive ??a bonus for a short period of time.

My favorite pastime had been buying a dozen "Power Up" boxes, which increased player damage temporar?ily. I would sell these in the market (a zone where you could just leave your vendor character there selling items for in-game gold) right before a major PVP event. I would also look for items sold cheaply -- buy low, sell high. I did that every day and, at the end of the week, I'd look at how much gold I earned and then I'd sell that for real-world money. Some people prefer they receive the cash equivalent via cellphone load, or they could meet up in an internet cafe and make the transaction face-to-face.

I essentially learned more about doing business in a video game than I did in school. That's probably why I earned close to $1,000 in Diablo 3's Real Money ??Auction House in the first couple of months when it launched.

Speaking of Diablo 3 and Blizzard's games, did you know that they have a different pricing model in China? The game is free-to-play in China and supported by microtransactions such as costumes, wings, and various other add-ons. As for Blizzard's MMO juggernaut, World of Warcraft, its subscription model in China used "game time," the aforementioned hourly-based short bursts of play. And when the payment rate for a game-time increased and the subscription model was changed, a lot of Chinese players said goodbye to the game.

In China, where the number of gamers exceeds the populatio??n of the United States and Canada combine??d, this suggests that developers have to ad??just to the needs, wants, and financial capabilities of households. That's why localization experts find Chinese players li?ke freemium games with pay-to-win mechanics and monetization methods, and why it's important to know the culture so as to ascertain a game's potential success.

In The Philippines, our internet cafes were once filled with Ran Online, RF Online, MU Online, Flyff, Ragnarok, and of course, Gunbound. Each of?? these games had a select few players glittering with their [+9] Ultimate Swords or followed by fiery premium phoenixes or djinn. While some players scoffed at them for being "cashers" ("booooo!"), many instead flocked to them like an entourage asking: "huwaw! k0ya h0w 2 be U p0hwz?z?" -- "Oh man! How can I look so slick just like you, bruh?"

These concepts and mechanics are popular when you come from countries that have a majority of its population impoverished, or in cultures where money and property are seen as status symbols -- a started-from-the-bottom ("here's my crappy-dressed avatar") now-we're-here ("I'm decked in shinies, yo") sort of way. Dressing up, being strong, and showing off -- these were seen as the equivalencies of success and dedication and led to others becoming envious due to social comparisons.

Many gamers (predominantly from the west) feel that free-to-play and microtransactions are destroying the industry. In Asia, however, these a??re the ways in which we connect to the larger gaming world. These games -- with their simplistic graphics and features, with little-to-no-barriers to entry, with their sometimes questionable and dubious mechanics -- formed the backbone of the industry in this part of the world.

Our gaming scenes are dynamic and vibrant, and there's a lot of potential for bigger growth. Esports boomed simply because many games such as Counter-Strike, DOTA, and LOL are completely free. Facebook games, browser games, and mobile games are also successful. We have to make do with what's available, and we adjust according to our resources. And hey, when the gaming scenes in a dozen or so countries are on the up?-and-up, how can anyone thin??k that it's led to the ruination of the industry?

Criticizing F2P games negatively in general typically entails criticizing the people who play and enjoy them. That's not to say that F2P games with really terrible microtransactions shouldn't be criticized at all, just that it's worth delving into and discussing them without jumping the gun, outright hating everything in the genre, or thinking that the develope??rs who m?ake these types of games are "cancer." And most notably, when you consider how much the F2P business model has raked in for Zynga, Supercell, and King, it has proven to be extremely successful.

In t??he end, it's a matter of perspective. It's kind of like looking at the J.Frog -?- to some, it's just a silly, green frog; to others, that is the single greatest thing in all of gaming.

The post Views from the East: Free-to-play and ?Microtransactions appeared first on Destructoid.

Same day as Japan

Bandai Namco has announced that Full Metal Panic! Fight! Who Dares Wins will release on May 31 in Southeast Asia. This means that it will share the s??ame release date?? as the Japanese version of the game.The company has released a trailer as well, further detailing what kind of gameplay and plot elements players can expect.

You can find the trailer below. F??or those waiting for the upcoming anime, be warned there are spoilers for it within.

Given the long period of silence and lack of details, the trailer is very ??informative of what to expect in terms of gameplay. However, the trailer does confirm that old seasons and characters will be present, so the game's length will not be a problem. The only mi?ssing piece of the puzzle is if the legendary Bonta-kun will be included.

There is also one more item to note. In addition to a limited edition, Japan has had early purchase bonuses confirmed. These bonuses are limited to three custom weapons for units to equip. It's unknown if the Asia version will have them at th??is time, and if they'll be obtainable by playing the game normally.

It's nice to see the game getting a same-day release as Japan. If I had to guess, this was likely already being translated when Super Robot Wars X entered development, hence why that game is coming out a month after its Japanese release date. Still, better to wait and see what the end result is, as the companies translation history for the region is a little rocky.

The post Full Metal Panic! Fight! Who Dar?es Wins releases on M?ay 31 in Asia appeared first on Destructoid.

Let's blame this one on Decade

It's hard to believe we live in a world where a new Kamen Rider game was released in English. I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise since Bandai Namco's Singapore division localized a couple Super Robot Wars and Gundam titles in Asia.

My exposure to the franchise began with Saban's Masked Rider, the Americanized version of Kamen Rider Black RX. When I started college, I learned from a friend tha??t the show was adapted from an ongoing franchise in Japan. Eventually, I became addicted to its action and character-driven stories. In fact, some of its installments feature elements that appeal to older viewers. Also, I couldn't turn down the chance to see a program about bug-eyed bikers who kick their opponents to smithereens.

As a person who's seen a good amount of Rider shows, I was happy about Bandai Namco's decision to release Kamen Rider: Climax Fighters in English. Sadly, t??his arena brawler fails to do the franchise ju??stice.

Kamen Rider: Climax Fighters (PS4)
Developer: Eighting
Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
Released: December 7, 2017 (JP, SEA)
MSRP: $54.99

If there's one thing Climax Fighters failed to deliver on, it's a lack of the roster's essential abilities. In the Climax Hero fighting games, each Kamen Rider could switch forms during battle. This allowed players to catch their opponents off guard since each transformation has its unique traits. Instead of continuing this trend, Ei??ghting's latest game only lets you use their penultimate upgrade and their final suit, with the other versions appearing as moves.

Because of the small number of playable Rider Forms, Climax Fighters' characters felt incomplete. Players are limited to normal attacks and three special moves in battle, along wi?th two supers. Even though the system lets you knock y??our opponents across the field, there aren't enough mechanics to add variety to your combos. Your other actions are being able to dash, block, and sidestep. In the end, Eighting gathered the key aspects to make a decent arena brawler, but they failed to add the components to make people want to commit.

Even when Eighting is at their worst, they did a decent job in making each Rider feel like their TV show counterpart. Because of their experience with the Climax Hero games and Battride War series, this feat is one of their specialties. For example, Kamen Rider Mach can fire his Banzai Bill-like projectiles at people and Ex-Aid collects power-ups after doing a special attack. On top of that, it was a nice treat to see each character use their ultimate finishing move to decimate their opponents, such as Ryuki Survive attacking people with his dragon motorcycle. Unfortunately, onc??e you se??e what every character has to offer, the game starts to lose its edge.

It doesn't help that there isn't enough content to keep people entertained for a long time. The closest thing to a campaign is the game's missions, which lets you partake in battles as a specific Rider. There are 70 stages, an??d it can take four or five hours to clear them all. Since you can't replay the levels as a different character, there's no reason for players to try them again.

One neat par?t about these segments is that you get to see the heroes engage in random conversations before the fight starts. Even though the team did a great job in taking the Riders' motif and personality into account for these scenes, they end before they reach their potential. At least, Bandai Namco's localization helped make thes??e conversations entertaining.

With the entire roster being available from the start, the purpose of clearing the missions is to unlock masks and belts for your chibi avatar/online profile. Outside of clearing challenges, your other options are facing one to three opponents online and offline. Due to Climax Fighters' small number of modes, I ma??naged to get a Platinum Trophy without mastering its mechanics.

Of course, it's not surprising for an underwhelming game to have an online mode with problems. While the regular matches allow you to join or form rooms to battle other players, the ranked fights are a different story. Just like picking a number at a bakery, you're forced to sit back while the game finds a random opponent. Even though Climax Fighters lets you do the one-player stuff while you?? wait for the match to start, this system doesn't benefit the people who cleared every mission.

Likely due to a small player base, it took me five days to find an opponent. While I wasn't disconnected from the match, it wasn't fun going up against a person while the whole game was lagging. The issue may have been caused by the person's connection, but it doesn't change the fact that it's a pain to do a ranked battle in Climax Fighters.

The strange part about Climax Fighters' roster is that the secondary Riders from Agito through Decade aren't present. Not I that have anything against the ones from Kamen Rider W through Ex-Aid, but I'm shocked that they didn't include the other supporting heroes. Seeing that the models of the returning characters are lifted from Kamen Rider: Battride War Genesis, Eighting might've?? not had enough time to complete the cast. Then again, a game with 27 fig??hters and Kamen Rider Black is a nice start for a new licensed title.

As a multiplayer game, Climax Fighters felt like it was missing a few key components. A majority of the Rider Forms only appear as moves, and the lack of essential modes (such as Training and Arcade Mode) hinders its replayability. In the end, the novelty of it being an English Kamen Rider title doesn't hide its status as a barebones arena ?brawler.

Since Eighting brought us great stuff like the Bloody Roar series and the two Marvel vs. Capcom 3 games, Toei and/or Bandai Namco likely gave the team an unfair deadline for Climax Fighters. If anything, this shows that th?e?y aren't the best match.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]} 

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Fourze is still the king

Kamen Rider fans in the West?? have it tough since we technically shouldn't exist. There are a few ways to get s??ome of the older shows, but usually a less than savory approach is needed to see any of the new stuff. Which also means, any game based on the property will never fully release domestically so interested tokusatsu fans are forced to import. 

At the very least, this trailer makes Kamen Rider: Climax Fighters look like a fun time. Along with confirming additional characters (a lot of the more popular secondary Riders like Meteor and Beast), the game itself is an arena fighter where you need to net a certain number of KOs to win, much like Dissidia Final Fantasy NT and Gundam Versus. 

And the fan service with those super attacks and form changes is definitely good, good, good, good stuff to see. Kamen Rider: Climax Fighters releases in Japan and Southeast Asia (with English subs)?? December 7.

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I was in the market for a new car, I guess

It's not so often that we see ridiculously expensive bundle packages for upcoming video games. THQ still holds the record with their Saints Row IV Million Dollar pack, but the Taiwanese market is getting a pretty excessive Gran Turismo Sport bundle of its own. It's not enough to include the game with a PS4 Pro, because that would be reasonable; no, this bundle includes basically everything needed to transform GT Sport into a real simulator as well as a car.

Not adopting any real special name, the Gran Turismo Sport Super Bundle includes the game with a 1,000,000 credit head start, a PS4 Pro, a full PlayStation VR bundle (that is the headset, two controllers and PlayStation Eye camera), a year of PlayStation Plus, a Sony Bravia 4K OLED television, the Thrustmaster T-GT race wheel, APIGA's AP1 racing seat and a brand new 2018 Mazda MX-5 with custom GT decals. This will retail for?? NT $1,398,000 (or roughly $46,300 USD).

In all honesty, that isn't the worst thing in the world, but you could actually acquire all of the individual pieces for a lot less. Hell, you could buy another Bravia 4K television with the savings and I know past Gran Turismo games supported multi-monitor modes. The most unappealing thing about this bundle, for me, is the Mazda included. I really don't like Mazda's, but they are one of the cheapest ways to feel like you're driving a sports car.

At any rate, I guess we can add this to the list of ludicrous collector's packages. I'm still waiting for a first-person shooter that will include an actu?al gun with its ?bundle.

'Gran Turismo Sport' Super Bundle comes with a real Mazda Miata [Auto Blog]

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...in Asia

Kamen Rider games are hard to come by domestically (seeing as how there's basically no support for the niche fandom here), but if you're willing to import, Namco Bandai just might've greased the wheels on their upcoming Kamen Rider: Climax Fighters for PS4. The Asia release of the game will come complete with English subtitles, so if you're willing to pay a little more for it (like me) then it's the closest we'll ever get to an English Kamen Rider game since, uh, Dragon Knight on the DS I think. 

For those interested in importing, Climax Fighters features 1-one-1 or two-on-tw??o fights (though I'm not sure how importing will affect online features) and it'll come complete with the form changes you've come to love from your Heisei favorites. 

Here are the characters announced. Kamen Rider: Climax Fighters rele??ases in Japan and Sou??theast Asia (with English subs, heck yeah) December 7.

• Kamen Rider Build
• Kamen Rider Ex-Aid
• Kamen Rider Ghost
• Kamen Rider Drive
• Kamen Rider Gaim
• Kamen Raider Wizard
• Kamen Rider Fourze (My boy) 
• Kamen Rider OOO
• Kamen Rider W
• Masked Rider Decade
• Masked Rider Kiva
• Masked Rider Den-O
• Masked Rider Ryuki
• Masked Rider Blade
• Masked Rider Faiz
• Masked Rider Hibiki
• Masked Rider Agito
• Masked Rider Kabuto
• Masked Rider Kuuga

Kamen Rider: Climax Fighters comi?ng to Asia in English December 7 [Gematsu]

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God-based fighter raising hell

Recently released one-on-one punch-up Fight of Gods was bound to court controversy. But, earlier today, Malaysia blocked access to the Steam store, n??ationwide, in response to the game's availability.

Malaysia's Dr Salleh Said Keruak has ca??lled for all previous downloads of the title to be declared void, or "Further action will be taken."

"Malaysians respect all cultural and religious sensitivities, and the sale and distribution of the religiously insensitive and blasphemous games must be stopped immediately," stated the Communications and Multimedia Minister. "It is in the public interest to ensure that immediate steps are taken so that such contents do not continue to harm others."

The publishers of the game, which sees figures such as Buddha, Zeus and Jesus Christ do battle with one another, quickly reached out to Steam to resolve the situation. It now appears that Steam has returned to live status in the region, with Fight of Gods obviously removed from sale.

A press statement from the publisher reads as follows: "Fight of Gods is a video game that takes a humorous approach to religion in ??the same way that other entertainment formats have – across television, film, books and theatre. The game is not promoting any religious agenda and is not desi?gned to offend.

The description of the game? on the digital platforms through which it is distributed provide clear guidance on the nature of the game and its content so that people can freely choose whether or not to play it. We fully respect the choice of those who would not wish to play it.

We are disappointed that such ??freedom of choice is not given to everyone and in particular that the game has been forcibly removed from sale in Malaysia, although no direct communication has been received by us as to the reasons for this. Nevertheless we respect any rules and censorship imposed in any given territory."

Malaysia blocks Steam [RiceDigital]

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Pound it in, boys and girls

Hell must be feeling a little chilly today, because the boys are back in town. By "boys", I am referring to Katsu and Don, the cutesy drum brothers that herald Bandai Namco's Taiko no Tatsujin rhythm game franchise. They're here to bring the percussion to PS4s across the seas, with the English-language release of Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum Session!, scheduled for later thi??s year in the Asia PlayStation Store.

Before now, the series has only left Japan once, in the form of 2004's PS2-based Taiko Drum Master. Drum Session is the first current-gen console entry, and boasts over 70 songs, including the Japanese version of Frozen's "Let It Go", "Zenzenzense" from monster anime hit Your Name., and even crossover songs from Hatsune Miku, Touhou Project, Doraemon, and Pikotaro, the "Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen" guy. Local and online two-player sessions will be s??upported, as well.

The party piece, though, is a special bundle edition that includes a bespoke Taiko Drum controller to bash on. I can't wait for some tween to use it to complete Bloodborne with in their free time.

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Unreal (engine) High School Girls!

I remember being super jazzed about the eventual release of Summer Lesson, and not just because the Tekken team's pet VR pr??oject would let me hang out with that most nonexistent of creatures: A pretty teen with no respect for personal space. I was also intrigued by the way it played with presence ?and used "people" to mess with your senses. 

Now that the game has a firm English-language release date, though, I'm thinking that ship may have sailed. By the time April 27th rolls around and Summer Lesson becomes available on the Asia PSN store (and on physical shelves alongside its DLC), there will have been several VR game experiences that go quite a bit further, and more besides on the less restricted Oculus and Steam VR platforms. Much as I??'m still looking forward to feel weird in the presence of "Hikari Miyamoto", it may not be enough anymore to just be able to nod yes or no to questions.

Then again, allowing folks to use their Move controller "hands??" might be a step too far? I'm not sure what the right answer would be in this case. I guess we'll see in a month, won't we?

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AKA The Dead or Alive Xtreme treatment

Last year I mentioned that Summer Lesson, a Project Morpheus tech demo cooked up by Bandai Namco's Tekken team and later expanded to a full game, looked like everything I wanted out of VR. That hasn't changed, as even after a year it's one of?? a relative minority of VR titles (much less ones with major publisher backing) that really tries to play ??with presence on the level of human interaction.

And now it looks like it's not just the Japanese-fluent who will be able to hang out with nonexistent schoolgirls, as the game will be getting an English-language localization. The catch is that it'll be available only in Southeast Asia, like Tecmo Koei did with Dead or Alive Xtreme 3. The region ?might seem like an odd fit to sell a VR-exclusive title to, given that a PSVR costs more than a month's salary for most Southeast Asians, but then again, it's not as if it's hard to? import things these days, so any English-speaker with a credit card and bandwidth can grab it when it comes out early 2017.

The announcement trailer, which you can see below, has some new footage, as well as some really rough Japanese-to-English subtitles. As in, rougher-than-Google-Translate-tier. The end of the trailer even teases what look like DLC scenarios that are pretty much just dates, t?oo. Not cool, Japan. She may not exist, but she's still in high school!

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Go with respect

While a handful of dictators have killed or been otherwise responsible for the deaths of many more millions of people, the estimated two million deaths under Pol Pot's?? reign in Cambodia is extreme in context, given that that number represents a fifth of the population at the time.

Of course the United States helped, with Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger killing an estimated 500,000 in Cold War carpet bombings of the then-neutral country that some historians argue helped the genocidal Khmer Rouge take power in the first place (the CIA itself agreed that using US bombings in its propaganda led to the successful recruitment of young men to the cause). That's to say nothing of the $85 million of US money that went to Pol Pot while he was in exile, or the later-revealed Margaret Thatcher-backing of the dictator (the British SAS actually trained Pol Pot forces), especially after the Iran-Contra affair meant Ronald Reagan couldn't be caught destabilizing further nations or canoodling with more murders. Real fucked up bit of history, anyhow. Read on if you want.

And if you visit the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, which is hosted on a former Khmer Rouge torture center and prison, you will be asked not to play Pokemon Go. The museum was the latest to ask people not to play the game, which launched in Cambodia last week, joining a list of sensitive establishments and memorials.

"We have guards on standby, any tourists holding iPhones or? iPads and playing this game will be asked to leave," museum director Chhay Visoth told Reuters. "This is a place of sorrow, not a place to play ga?mes."

The game was also banned? in the areas around memorials to Cambodia's "Killing Fields" whe?re over one million genocide victims are buried.

Cambodia bans Pokemon Go game at genocide museum [Reuters]

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Focused on supporting the Asian market

Arc System Works, the Yokohama-based studio best known for fighters like Guilty Gear and BlazBlue, is expandi??ng? its operations with a new "Asia Branch" located in Seoul, South Korea.

The satellite office opened today and will be providing the non-Japanese Asian market with additional customer support, licensing services, local?ization, IP development, and local marketing.

Arc System Works aims for the branch to pull in roughly 100 million yen during the?? 2016 fiscal year.

アークシステムワークス株式会社アジア支店開設のお知らせ [Arc System Works]

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Saudi player Jihad deals with PlayStation support

Jihad Al Mofadda, a 26-year-old from Saudi Arabia, has played under the PlayStation Network handle "iJihad" for seven years. Earlier this month he was met with a sudden, permanent ban on his account, as Al Mofadda chronicles on Reddit.

Al Mofadda contacted PlayStation customer support and was offered the chance to change his PSN name, which he tried to take, until, "Couple days no reply, or anything, suddenly another guy review the ticket...and revoke[s] the solution to make the ban permanent," as seen in this email. It explains that, in using his own given name, Al Mofadda was "in breach of our Terms of Service" because his name has "been deeme??d inappropriate and/or o?ffensive."

As he explained on Reddit, "Before you hate on me, please remember 26 years ago, this s**t was not like this. I've been named base??d on the true, non-religious meaning of the word, which is: Struggling & Putting an effort in doing something Noble, good and highly valued. Long story short, we're in 2016 :)."

The permanent ban restric??ted Al Mofadda from accessing any of his digital purchases, even while offline.

"Also ??why, legally, using my actual name, which has multiple good meanings, is breaking of ToS, because (ONLY in the past few years) it catch-up a bad meaning in the media?" Al Mofadda said. "Am I really breaking ToS by using a good meaning word, which is my actual name, because after couple years it was abused in a horrific way (which i'm extremely sickened to hear about)? I accept changing it and understand how people may find it offensive - only now - but? it's not because it is an actual offensive word, it's because only due to the media talks and how it is being used & framed in the past few years."

After enough coverage on this unfortunate bit of racism, PlayStation UK contacted Al ?Mofadda and let him change his PSN name, "but that has [its] costs."

"My Trophies will have Syncing problems and could disappea?r, Friends are gone and social communication is deleted!" he explains. This goes back to Sony's long-standing annoyance of not having a way that allows users to change their user names because of how the system was designed. "There's no other way to it," he said.

[Reddit]

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So you can import the Asian version

[Update: It sounds like the game is also in development for Xbox One.]

Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII has not been announced for a western release, but it sounds like you should be able to play the upcoming strategy game even if ??one never happens.

Today at Tokyo Game Show, Koei Tecmo revealed the title would be localized into English, Korean, and Chinese (traditional and simplified) for the PlayStation 4-exc??lusive Asian-region ??version.

The publisher currently hasn't announced whether a wider release is in the cards, but it did just bring the similar (and excellent) Nobunaga's Ambition: Sphere of Influence to the west this month.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a series of strategy games based on Luo Guanzhong's chronicle of the fall China's Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, which also inspired Omega Force's popular Dynasty Warriors franchi?se. ?It's currently celebrating its 30th anniversary.

Koei Tecmo plans to release Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII on December 10 in Japan for PlayStation 4, PlaySt??ation 3, and PC. The Asian version will launch the same day on PS4.

SCEJA hardware and software line-ups for the holiday?? sea??son [SCEJA via Gematsu]

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Titanfall-flavoured free-to-play PC action

Electronic Arts has teamed up with Nexon to bring a free-to-play version of Titanfall to Asia.

Details are scant, but we do know it'll be available on PC and called, unsurprisingly, Titanfall Online.

Talking to IGN, Nexon president and CEO Owen Mahoney said: “We look forward to working with th??e talented teams at Respawn and EA and leveraging Nexon’s free-to-play expertise to deliver a new and engaging online game based on Tita?nfall to the Asian market.” 

As for that other Titanfall game? We know a sequel is locked in, but as it didn't appear at E3, we're probably a long ways off a release.

If you could partner up any two developer and publisher compani??es, what would you choose and why?

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Launching May 2015

The Consumer Electronic Show is one of my favorite events. It was Destructoid's very first trade show, and we've been back every year we've been in business. While not necessarily a videogame trade show, it still brings us ?big gaming news. The dazzling gadgets and crazy press conferences are just icing on the cake. 

I wonder how much more crazy an Asian version of CES would be. We'll know next year as a new tradeshow has been announced, called CES Asia. Th??e event kicks off on May 25 of next year in Shanghai at the Shanghai New International Expo Center.

Like CES, this new event will feature the latest products and technologies from the tech world. As Japan and South K??orea are right next door, CES Asia should have a great showing even in its first year. 

China's economy is set to be the world's largest wit?h retail sales expected ??to exceed $154 billion this year. 

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In Asia

Before you get too excited, this Mario White 3DS XL is not being released in the U.S., but it is region coded for U.S. so feel free to import. Tiny Cartridge says that Southeast Asia is getting this release thanks to Maxsoft, the Nintendo distributor for that region. Sounds legit.

So if you are digging this pizza joint-looking 3DS (seriously, it looks like tab?lecloth) that was previously only available in China, now's your chance.

Funny: It comes with Pro Evolution Soccer 2011.

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