Whoooo?

Earlier this year, we hosted a contest on the official Destructoid Twitch channel where several streamers battled it out to impress us with their skills and personalities to win $5,000. As of the time of writing, we’re currently hosting a second one, albeit ??with a more impressive $10,000 prize, spons??ored by Gfuel!

Although she didn’t win the contest, we were so impressed with one of the entrants – Anabela – that we’ve hired her to stream on our channel every single Friday.

Well, we decided that we should work on a t-shirt design for Anabela. Behold, the latest design for our ??merch store:

Created by Ashley Hay, our latest Whoooo? design is available to buy right now on the official Destructoid merch store, and can be printed on?? ?t-shirts, tote bags, face masks, hoodies and all sorts of other products.

The design itself features an in-joke with Anabela’s community on her own Twitch channel, although it’s like??ly to make it over to our own one. Besides, the owl featu??red on the design is kind of adorable.

As always, most of the profits from each product on our store go to the artists who designed them. So feel free to check out all of the lo?vely stuff that we have for s?ale.

The post Whooo is Anabela? Friday Night on Dto?id Twitch?? gets a shirt appeared first on Destructoid.

Available now at the Dtoid Merch shop

Once uttered by Boll,
Destructoid's famous motto.
“Also, cocks;” our phrase.

Our latest t-shirt,
Created by Ashley Hay,
Available now.

It's quite evident,
We're not ones for subtlety.
The message is clear.

Yet still it’s quite cute,
Just so highly endearing.
A classic, reborn.

In green, black, and white,
On mugs, towels, hoodies, and more,
From our new merch store.

Thanks for the feedback,
To those on our new forums,
It helped us a tonne.

On Dtoid's merch store,
There's many sexy designs.
Thanks for the support!

Shilling in haiku,
God help me, why’d I try this?
There's a clear reason.

Ghost of Tsushima,
Occupies all my free time.
I have a problem.

This post’s at an end.
So, in those immortal words;
“Also, cocks.” Goodbye.

The post Also, Cocks: The T-Shirt, and unfortunately there’s also a haiku appeared first on Destructoid.

Your name, as printed on an official Dtoid shirt

It’s finally here.

Back when we first announced the opening of our new? merch store, we mentioned that soon we’d soon be releasing a shirt featuring the names of many of our beloved ??community members. And here it is.

From today, you can now purchase a shirt design featuring our site mascot?, Mr. Destructoid, rendered in ASCII art made up of community member names.

Designed by Eric Weichhart, who our Twitch viewers may recognise as the guy who endlessly torments one of our two official streamers for your amusement, the jbsgame.community ASCII shirt is available in two colour schemes; white and green. You can get i??t printed on t-shirts (obviously)??, hoodies, stickers, and face masks.

Well over one hundred community members put their names down to be featured on this shirt design, and we legitimately couldn’t be happier with the turn-out. So, as a special bonus, from now until July 25, you can enter the promo code DTOIDFAM at the? checkout for 20% off your order for this shirt!

The post The long-awaited jbsgame.community ASCII shirt is fi?nally here! appeared first on Destructoid.

We're bringing back a design from 2014

Today, we’re b?ringing back a Destructoid shirt t?hat’s nostalgic in a couple of ways.

Designed by the highly talented Drew Wise and inspired by the box art for a certain retro games console, this shirt was fir?st featured on the Des??tructoid Store back in 2014.

The Pixel Destructoid is now available on our merch store, and can be printed on t-s?hirts, hoodies, m??ugs, and all sorts of other swag. And for those occasions where you do need to go out during this accused plague, you can look sexy as hell by wearing a face mask featuring this design.

On a semi-related note: we’re currently collecting feedback for our jbsgame.community ASCII shirt, now that all the names on it have been locked in. So head on over to our forums and let us know what you think!

The post Get retro once again ??with this classic Destruct??oid shirt appeared first on Destructoid.

An original T-Shirt designed by Triggerpigking

Today, we&rsqu?o;re introducing a brand new shirt design to the Destructoid merch store.

Designed by jbsgame.community member Triggerpigking, the shirt features our site mascot Mr. Destructoid, but in the style of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.

You might find yourself asking how such a design came into being. A while ago, the folks from our podcast, Podtoid, commissioned him to do the header image for their Twitter profile. An early prototype of the design was featured in the background? of the header picture, which we found to be amusing.

Suffice it to say, we just had to commission a full shirt design based off of it.

As with all other designs on?? our merch store, you can also get it printed on mugs, tote bags, cushions, and other goods! Along?side that, the majority of proceeds go towards the artist, so go show them a bit of love.

On a somewhat related note, we’re also collecting feedback on a brand new shirt based off of our long-standing site motto; “Also Cocks.” Feel free to check out the accompanying forum thread and let us know what you think.

The post Boys only want one thing and it’s Mr. Destructoid dressed as Mona Lisa appeared first on Destructoid.

Get your name printed on a Dtoid shirt!

Destructoid has brand new forums! To sign up, go to forums.jbsgame.com register for a new account, and bookmark that while you're at it. Please give us 24-48 hours to approve your account. The forums are now in public beta, but still not yet linked on our site navigation or anywhere but this post as we continue to test. Many thanks to everyone from Qtoid that has already registered and contributed feedback.

And yes, yes, we had forums in the past and they imploded (RIP). I'm told those forums are long gone. Starting from scratch as one of your new community managers, my goal is to make our forums the very best they can, and a truly welcoming place. We're starting over with slicker new softwar?e and a brand new moderation team, including fine folks like RiffRaff and all the Disqus mods you already know so well. Please lend us your full support.

Speaking of support, we’re also pleased to announce the opening of the brand new Destru??ctoid T-Shirt and Semi-Ero?tic Merchandise store. Tell your lover you need these items and be sure to use the code EARLYBIRDS to get free shipping within the continental US:

//teespring.com/stores/dtoid

We have mugs, wall throws, pillowcases, phone cases, posters, as well as other miscellaneous Destructoid-themed gear. Heck, you could redecorate a fair bit of your office and residence with our ever-foreboding robot mascot. If you enjoy what we do here at Destructoid, we'd love your support, as 100% of the proceeds go towards helping cover our server costs and supporting all of our writers through these wild times. We will also be doing regular giveaways so if you're broke we'll try to get you in our ge?ar one way or another, don't even sweat it.

It goes without saying that Destructoid needs your support as many of our sponsors all went into hiding with the rest of us during COVID, and we're certainly open to suggestions on other ways you'd prefer to support us if shirts are not your thing. If you can spare some shillings, awesome. We're also throwing work at our artist community: Over the next few months, we're going to be collaborating with various artists, including EricW (from Dtoid Twitch) and a collection of new shirts designed by the talented Ashley Hay, and re-colored limited designs from years past, so keep your e??yes peeled for those. These shirts will definitely make you 69% more attractive, as verified by ou??r data scientists and lawyers. If you'd like to pitch a Dtoid shirt or merch idea do find us in the new forums and send us your sketches.

As mentioned at the top of this story, you can get your name printed ??on an official piece of Destructoid merch??????????????????????????andise. You absolutely read that correctly.

Next month, we'll be releasing a shirt featuring our site mascot, Mr. Destructoid, re??ndered in ASCII art. The text used to create this image will be made up of usernames of jbsgame.community and our writers and co??ntributors.

To be featured in this design, all you have to do is follow these instructions. You have until the end of June. Follow the instructions there, and you may be featured on this new shirt. We'll be doing a contes??t to give some shirts away (as store credits) so if you buy one now you can win a different one later. 

Anyw??ay, that's a bit of everything then. New forums, new shop. It's a circus of values!

The post Last chance: Immortalize y?our name on the Destructoid Forums shirt appeared first on Destructoid.

Both are by a talented Dtoid community member!

Today, we’re proudly reintroducing two old school Destructoid shirt designs to our merch store – both of which were designed by Meanderbot; a highly talented member of our own community. 

The first shirt is a reference to an old Dtoid podcast where there was an oft-repeated plea: “Be Better People.” In his blog post promoting the shirt, Meanderbot implies that he felt inspired by this message. When you pick up a Destructoid shirt,? most ??proceeds go towards the artists, so show them some love!

The second of these shirts? Well, its inspirations are apparent from just a single glance, featuring Mr. ??Destructoid as the mascot for a specific Japan-exclusive attachment to a certain popular line of retro game consoles.

As with all other designs on our store, you can get them printed on mugs, phone cases, w??all tapestries, and all sorts of?? other Destructoid collectibles.

We’ll be c??ontinuing to add more designs to our merch store over the next few weeks and months. Some of which are returning designs, others are entirely new. You may even see more stuff by some familiar faces from within our site’s community, so keep your eyes out for those!

On a related note, there’s still a little bit of time left to put your name down to be ??featured?? on the upcoming jbsgame.community ASCII shirt. Feel free to head on over to our forums to find out how.

The post We’re bringing back two old school Destructoid shirts appeared first on Destructoid.

100% of profits will go to aid Black Lives Matter

About a week ago, we unveiled the new, official Destructoid merch store to the public. In the introduction post to it, I m??????????????????????????entioned that over the coming few weeks and months, we’d be int??roducing more designs.

Today, we’re starting to make good on that promise with a brand new design. For a limited time, we’ll be selling a fundraiser shirt supporting the Black Lives Matter Global Ne??t??work. It doesn't carry any company branding, and 100% of all proceeds will be donated to charity. Whatever gets the word out, we hope it helps.

This design is also available on hoodies, phone cases, and more. Like with ??the t-shirt, all proceeds will go to the Black Lives Matter Global Network.

The design was created in collaboration with Dtoid graphic designer Ashley and conceived by site founder, Niero, who added: “We wanted to create a shirt that says 'I'm not a racist piece of shit' but also 'I'm a gamer, tee-hee'.”

As many within the jbsgame.community will know, we’re a site that’s proud of its user-bas??e coming from m?any different backgrounds, beliefs, and nations. We hope you'll dig it and help us spread the message.

The post Take This: Support #BlackLivesMatter with these charity shirts & more appeared first on Destructoid.

It's like we're paying for life support coverage

*sigh* Let's skip the pi??ss party this time and jump right to the nitty gritty.

A listing on Japanese online shop Rakuten has appeared for Rockman X Sound Box, set to arrive on December 18, 2013. The 12-disc set is likely a soundtrack collection that spans the entire breadth of the Mega Man X series.

You may remember that Capcom released a similar collection for the Classic series called Rockcan last year. It was 10 discs large, each disc containing the soundtrack from one of the ten main numbered entries. If Sound Box likewise devotes a single CD for each of the eight main X titles, that still leaves four discs remaining. Perhaps we'll even get music from the two Xtreme Game Boy Color games, Command Mission, and Maverick Hunter X, which would make this a much more comprehensive product than Rockcan was.

Sound Box is currently priced at ¥12,600 (~$128), a surprisingly low figure in relation to Rockcan's beefy ¥14,700 (~$150) tag. I was somehow able to ??justify the latter's purchase for mysel?f, even though I know some of you were less enthused. Perhaps the cost will be a lot easier to swallow this time around.

Rockman X Sound Box [Rakuten via The Mega Man Network]

The post Mega Man X? series to get a 12-disc music collec?tion appeared first on Destructoid.

Get equipped with Trap Card!

Jasco Games, the company currently making that Mega Man board game, is using the same license to produce a set of cards as part of its Universal Fighting System line. I say without any s?arcasm or cynicis??m that I think this is pretty cool.

Jasco is currently at Gen Con in Indiana showing off the Mega Man UFS cards to the public. Inside each of those spiffy ti??ns is a starter deck, three booster packs, three Robot Master promo cards, and a vinyl playmat. Art from both the games and the Archie comics adorn the merch, which ought to go on sale this October for $30 a tin.

I don't play CCGs, but I love card collecting. I haven't had a proper card colle??ction?? in years, so I'm due to get back in the habit. And maybe I'll try to learn the UFS rules at some point, too.

I stopped by the Jasco Games booth [attractive opposites via Rockman Corner]

The post Mega Man card game will make me even more poor appeared first on Destructoid.

Check out that hundred-dollar sheen

San Diego Comic-Con kicks off next week, and UDON will be there with a mountain of convention-exclusive tomes. Being the guy I am, I only have eyes for MM25: Mega Man & Mega Man X Official Complete Works, the 432-page follow-up to the art books previously released to celebrate the Blue Bomber's 20th birthday. While the regular riffraff can purchase a limp paperback version of MM25 come September, con attendees can snag this laser foil beauty.

I've added some glamor shots to the gallery -- I'm loving the schematic that appears on beneath the dust jacket. Also included are a few sample pages, most which we've already shared on Destructoid before. But only now am I taking a close look at these pages and noticing the original designs for the Mega Man 9 Robot Masters. Ocean Man inst?ead of Splash Woman? Plasma Man instead of Plug Man? Honey Woman instead of Hornet Man? It's Bizarro World, I tell ya!

The cost of such hardcover luxury is an insane $100, and any leftover copies will become available on UDON's online store. I'm afraid I'l??l have to cut out breakfast items from my shopping list for a couple of wee??ks.

Happy Birthday Mega Man! Video Game Icon turns 25 in ?Comic-Con Exclu??sive Art Book! [UDON Entertainment]

The post SDCC-exclusive Mega Man 25 art book looks sexy appeared first on Destructoid.

15 NEOGEO classics to cram down your piehole

The NEOGEO X is a curious piece of hardware. On one hand, it's a bit pricey for what it offers, especially considering that you can't pop in actual NEOGEO AES cartridges. On the other hand, goddamn, is it a sexy-looking piece!

The system came pre-loaded with 20 titles (plus a limited 21st game card for Ninja Master's), but a new "Mega Pack" scheduled to release across North America?? on June 25 will expand that library by 15. Coming out on the same day are five previou??sly announced "Classics" packs that break apart the "Mega Pack" collection as follows:

• Vol I: Sengoku, Metal Slug 2, Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy
• Vol II: Samurai Shodown III, Savage Reign, Super Sidekicks 3
• Vol III: The King of Fighters '96, Blazing Star, Kizuna Encounter
• Vol IV: Garou: Mark of the Wolves, Shock Troopers, World Heroes 2 Jet
• Vol V: The Last Blade, Blue's Journey, Art of Fighting 3
  

Every pack will include a travel charging cable and a system update that offers control tweaks, audio fixes, and even a new save state feature. According to Amazon, the "Classics" will each run $24.99, while the "Mega Pack" will run $79.99. Amazon also curiously lists the release date as June 6, but I'd trust the official press release over that.

The post NEOGEO X getting a 15-game ‘Mega Pack’ collection appeared first on Destructoid.

You will sell a kidney to own Real Action Heroes Link

That Link figma by Max Factory which went on sale last year? It is now garbage. Find the closest waste receptacle and chuck that sh*t in there with extreme prejudice. That Link on Epona statue by First 4 Figures? It doesn't even have any points of articulation! Fasten a chain and use it as boat anchor. Because Medicom Toy has? officially unveiled the? greatest Link figurine of all time.

The latest piece in Medicom's Real Action Heroes line is Link based on his Skyward Sword incarnation. This beast stands at a whopping 30 cm tall (~12") and, unlike lesser wares from other hobby houses, is draped in real cloth for a level of unmatched authenticity. And look at that intricately detailed chain mail! Link a?lso comes with a full set of accessories, including a second face plate, Master Sword, Hylian Shield, Sacred Bow and an arrow, and the curious Beetl?e.

Here's the bad news: RAH Link will cost ¥20,790 (~$218). That is a lot, but look at it! LOOK AT IT!!! It's Biblical! People redecorate rooms around brilliance like this! Pre-order??s will open on March 24 for release in November, so start saving those pennies.

ご予約開始は3/24（日）から！メディコム・トイ RAH リンク 情報ご紹介！ [Digitamin Blog via Tomopop]

The post This is the greatest Link figurine of all time appeared first on Destructoid.

795 games for $5800

There is something v?ery awe-inspiring about seeing every game for a particular platform in one place, like looking out an airplane window while flying over a major city and feeling like a god who could reshape the land with but a breath. Does anyone else feel that way, or is it just m??e?

Over on eBay, hit-japan has the entire Japanese Game Boy Advanc??e software collection up for sale. That's 795 carts for $5800, or roughly $7.30 per cart. But hey, at least shipping is free and he's willing to negotiate on price! I somehow doubt you'll be able to talk him down to like a gra?nd or something, though.

How ??does the GBA software count compare to other Nintendo platforms? According to Wikipedia (which may not be completely accurate), there were 1055 Famicom games, 1442 ??Super Famicom games, 814 Game Boy games from all regions combined, and 1297 DS games just in the US. The big daddy of software, Sony's PlayStation 2, has seen over 2000 from all regions. And for kicks and giggles, the Virtual Boy only saw a pathetic 22.

Here's wh?at a ?complete Japanese GBA collection looks like [Tiny Cartridge]

The post Who wants to buy every Japanese GBA game ever? appeared first on Destructoid.

No, Xover doesn't count

You would think with the deluge of Mega Man merchandise in recent months that the franchise was celebrating some kind of anniversary or whatever. Bandai is poised to release Classic Mega Man in its D-Arts figurine line, an expanded edition of Mega Man Official Complete Works will be published soon, and the music of Mega Man 1-10 was compiled into one giant Rockcan.

That's not all! No less than five new albums are scheduled for the fall. This past week on October 10, a pair of 25th Anniversary Rockman CDs hit the scene. Coming in "Rock" and "Techno" flavors at ¥3150 (over $40) each, these albums contain contributions by notable Japanese composers, such as Yoshitaka Hirota (Shadow Hearts), Takeshi Hama (Devil May Cry), Kenji Ito (SaGa), Hitoshi Sakimoto (Final Fantasy XII), and many more.

Out of left field is the Rockman EXE Transmission Soundtrack on November 2 for ¥2625 (about $33.50). The 2003 GameCube game, better known as Mega Man Network Transmission out West, never received an official OST from Capcom. Co-composer Shinji Hosoe (also known for his recent work on Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors) was finally ab?le to? obtain the license to release this through his music company SuperSweep.

Finally, We Are ROCK-MEN! 2 and ROCKMAN HOLIC both arrive on December 19 for ¥2100 (about $26.75) and ¥1980 (about $25.25) respectively. ROCK-MEN! 2 is a follow-up to last year's We Are ROCK-MEN!, covers of Classic, X, and Legends tunes by an in-house Capcom band. HOLIC will predominantly feature vocal arrangements in jazz, rock, and dance styles, performed by doujin artists working with the SOUND HOLIC music label.

Even for an avid Mega Man nut like myself, this avalanche of goodies borders on excessive. Not that I won't ??get my hands on each item eventually, but Capcom isn't giving me a break! You know what's missing from the celebration, though?

A new game.

I know that Rockman Xover is coming soon, but even if -- and that's a huge "if" -- it winds up not being complete garbage, I can't picture it making any waves in the gaming community. And with Capcom's Senior Vice-President Christian Svensson telling us to "keep expectations in check" regarding a new game announ??cement, the o??utlook doesn't look rosy.

I've been thinking about this over the past few months, and I'm no longer sure I even want Capcom to announce a new Mega Man game. The company hasn't exactly done much to inspire confidence in any of its output outside of maybe Monster Hunter. Whether it's on-disc DLC in Street Fighter X Tekken, an update to Marvel vs. Capcom 3 not even a full year after the original's release, the negative critical reception of Resident Evil 6, the failure to properly sell fans on what's shaping to be a decent game in DmC, or the continued insistence that Lost Planet is any??thing better than a middle-?of-the-road series, Capcom seems to have lost all direction.

When the most exciting product in a company's lineup is an HD remaster of a pair of niche fighting games, what kind of message does that send?

The post Tons of Meg?a Man music alb??ums en route, no game in sight appeared first on Destructoid.

This will be the third time we discuss this Mega Man soundtrack collection. There must be something wrong with me, because I already own pretty much all the music available in this collection. And by "own," I mean physically own. I went onto eBay, e-Capcom, and wherever else I needed to go in order to obtain a complete CD set. But as a collector, I also can't pass? up such a treasure, which is looking to be a step up from the merchandise already available.

The appropriately (and adorably) named Rockcan, as you may already be aware, is a compilation of the soundtracks from all 10 numbered Classic Mega Man games. In the weeks since its announcement, details have trickled down, shedding light on previously unknown content and allaying certain fears. Chief among my concerns was the fact that the officially released albums for Mega Man 1-8 had problems ranging from background static, stray sound effects, and other distracting hiccups due to poor recording techniques. After listening to the track samples on the product page linked above, I'm happy to report that the au??dio has been completely re-recorded and is completely free of those errors.

Each of the 10 discs contains a single game's soundtrack, and the discs for 1-6 also contain the arranged music from the Complete Works PlayStation ports. That's not all! An unused track from Mega Man 7 will be included, as will three exclusive tracks off the Sega Saturn version of Mega Man 8. Beyond that, two special promotional albums, produced by former Capcom in-house band Alph Lyla and released alongside Rockman 5 and 6, are being tossed in for good measure. Add to that the finalized can and CD label designs plus a booklet that will likely contain some art goodies, and the Rockcan doesn't sound too bad, does it?

There are, of course, some drawbacks keeping this from being the perfect Mega Man soundtrack collection. If you take a look at the full track list, you'll notice that the arranged versions of the Mega Man 1-3 OSTs are incomplete. This is not the fault of Capcom. For some reason, only Mega Man 4-6 received complete re-arrangements for the Complete Works versions. Mega Man 1-3 instead pulled music from the arcade titles Mega Man: The Power Battle and Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters. So in a way, it's like you are getting a partial soundtrack from two more games, which I can't see as a bad thing at all.

Nonetheless, there are plenty of other Mega Man games that I would have liked to see represented. The Game Boy series features a lot of fun, original music, yet it has never had a proper soundtrack release. Same with Mega Man & Bass, which is actually part of the main series canon and shouldn't have been disregarded. Hell, even the Sega Genesis-exclusive Mega Man: The Wily Wars could?? use some love. Quite the shame, though I'm certain Capcom had to draw the line somewhere.

Do I think the Rockcan is worth it? All in all, yeah, it is. But that's me. It'll be available on September 19 on e-Capcom for ¥14700 (about $185), but you can't order from the store without going through third-party channels like CDJapan, where the pre-order price st?ands at $221.69. I might be able to? swallow that number, but I doubt many others are.

I would like to point out that roughly $185 is not unreasonable when it concerns Japanese CDs. Here in the US, people start blow a fuse if they have to pay more than $15. However, you are lucky to find a Japanese CD for the equivalent of $30. All Japanese media is expensive compared to American media. While we are complaining about $60 game prices, the Japanese are paying $20 to $30 more for the same software. Taking all that into consideration, $18.50 per ?CD in a 10 CD collection is quite the bargain... for the Japanese.

Sure, you could point at the Street Fighter anniversary collection and remark about how much you're getting for $150. But remember, that's the localized price. If the Japanese are receiving the same set, I shudder to think how much they'll wind up paying. As for the Rockcan, ??it's all up to you if you are wil??ling to plunk down the green.

For me, sadly, there are no other options.

e-Capcom's Ro??ckcan Getting Loaded with Even More Music [The Mega Man Network]

The post I must be nuts to want to buy the Rockc??an OST collection appeared first on Destructoid.

_{[Header by Calvin Wong]}

Look, I've collected my fair share of uncommon videogames and trinkets. As someone who has parted with upwards of $300 on a single purchase, I understand t?he desire, the thrill of getting your hands on a unique relic that few others will ever so much as see with their own eyes. But when the price on such an item approaches the sticker value of your average compact car, even I begin to feel faint.

JJ Hendricks, a collector who nearly three years ago sold a Nintendo Campus Challenge 1991 NES cart for an insane $20,100, was able to score the ultra elusive PowerFest 94 SNES cart this past weekend for a cool 12 grand. PowerFest 94 was a Nintendo competition cartridge broken down into three rounds: the first level of Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, five laps in Super Mario Kart, and a home run derby in Ken Griffey, Jr. Presents Major League Baseball. The original 32 carts were all supposed to have been destroyed,?? and until JJ discovered this copy, only one other was know?n to still exist.

JJ's PowerFest 94 transaction wasn't an open-and-shut case. From the first contact with the Canadian seller to the private hotel meeting room payment, this roller coaster ride lasted 27 months. His story actually sounds like a Mafia deal in certain spots, though I figure he has to have some experience in organized crime ??to be able to roll like such a boss. And would believe that the seller originally asked for?? 50 large? Talk about your slick negotiations!

How I Got Nintendo Powerfest 94 [PriceCharting]

The post Extra fancy??: rare PowerFest 94 SNES cart sells ?for $12K appeared first on Destructoid.

Ffffffuuu... there goes any chan??ce of ever being financially secure again! God dammit, Capcom!

It might have slipped your mind, what with Capcom trying its best to cancel any project with the Mega Man name attached, but this year marks the Blue Bomber's 25th anniversary. In lieu of a new game, Capcom has decided to compile the music from all ten Classic Mega Man titles on ten CDs. For Mega Man 1-6, both the original NES soundtracks and the arranged Complete Works PlayStation soundtracks?? are included, and the entire shebang is then stuffed into a sweet E-Tank tin.

With the exception of the Complete Works tracks, all this music has been made available in CD form in the past. However, previous releases of the 1-8? OSTs have been plagued by poor recordings, looping issues, and a bevy of intrusive sound effects. I doubt this new release will correct those errors, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

The collection is only being sold on the Japanese e-Capcom store for ¥14700 (about $185) on September 19. That's waaaaay too much money, ??even without considering the shipping an??d commission costs of buying through a proxy service! Unfortunately for a schmuck like me, even though I already own all the original soundtracks, my compulsive nature demands that I buy this tin. My wallet can't take much more of this madness.

25th Anniversary E Can Loaded with Music [The Mega Man Network]

The post This massive Mega Man OST collection will be my un??doing appeared first on Destructoid.

_{[When we're looking for blogs on a specific topic, we'll put out a Bloggers Wanted call. Check out the blog prompt, write your own response in the Community Blogs and tag it with the "Bloggers Wanted Essay Response" tag, and you may see your blog promoted to the front page. -- JRo]}

Diablo 3 releases tonight, and I will finally g??et the game I've been waiting almost twelve years for. I don't think I've been this excited for a game in a long time -- c?ertainly not since I've been an adult.

For Bloggers Wanted, I want you to tell me about the game or piece of gaming hardware you've been most excited for. It doesn't matter if it actually ended up being good or not; I want to hear about your hype and excitement. It can be? a recent thing, or something you really wanted as a kid. Tell us about it, why you were so pumped up for it, and whether it met your expectations or not.

To participate, just write a CBlog,  title it "Hype: [Your ?Blog's Title]", and select the Bloggers Wanted Essay Response tag. Throughout the week, keep an eye on the blogs and get some discussions going with your fellow Dtoiders!

The post Bloggers Wanted: Hype appeared first on Destructoid.

I wrote about those Portal 2 figurines earlier today, but I completely passed over this spectacular number that was included in the threeA photo batch as well. Remember that amazing Metal Gear Rex figure from a while back? ?What's Rex without his buddy Ray, eh?

You can find more images of Ray, Atlas, P-Body, and also the completed Rex model over here. Who knows how much the finalized Ray will cost, but if Rex's price tag is any ba??rometer, expect to skip your next car insurance paymen??t.

ReV??enture: Metal Gear RAY appe??ars in prototype form [Tomopop]

The post Metal Gear Ray figure looks great, even naked appeared first on Destructoid.

Metal Gear Solid fans who want their own little bipedal robot tank to terrorize the bookshelf ought to look forward to threeA Toys's impressive model of Metal Gear Rex from the PS1 classic. The photos below show an unpainted model, but already it's looking quite fantastic. You know that this figure is going to be quality when knowing that Ashley Wood, threeA co-founder and artist, was responsible for several official MGS comic adaptations, including PSP's Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel.

This beast stands 42 cm (about 16.5 inches) tall and features a spiffy light-up rail gun attachment. This quality comes at a hefty price, however. Word is that Rex, which goes on sale in January, will cost over $400! Holy bejeezus! I... well... you don't really need car insu?r??ance, do you? F*ck that little gecko, right?

New images of ThreeA's Metal Gear Rex revealed [Tomopop]

The post Met??al Gear Rex figure will send you to the poor house appeared first on Destructoid.

Once Upon a Pixel is my favorite gaming related video series on the internet. Unlike most shows about games and gamers, Once Upon a Pixel never goes for the cheap laugh or the unwarranted misappropriation of the source material. You wont see Sonic as a potty-mouthed lout or Mario as a blood thirsty maniac here. Although that kind of "kid friendly characters get mean and gross" comedy almost always gets a laugh, it rarely has much to say. With Once Upon a Pixel, ?Ashley and Anthony clearly wanted more than that. Sure the show is funny, but it's also a smart, heartfelt, and most importantly,?? genuine love letter to gaming.

That's why I'll be picking up their series now that it's on DVD. The bonus features alone mak??e it worth the purchase -- commentary from Anthony and Ashley, lessons on drawing your favorite videogame characters from Ashley, and all the art ?every used from the series ever created.

If that's not worth a few of your hard earned bucks, I ?don't kn??ow what is.

The post Once Upon a Pixel Season 1 DVD now on sale appeared first on Destructoid.

Last week was insane, especially yesterday. The Destructoid (the show) was pretty nuts as well. We started giving away a bunch of rare Super Meat Boy, Super Mario, and Bit.Trip stuff, we reviewed Kinect and its launch games, there's a clip of zombie mode in Call of Duty Black Ops, Tara openly ?mocked a Microsoft big wig, Carnage got drunk, and so much more.

Did you miss any of that? Well, I got you covered. All of last week's episodes are right down there in "the f??ull story". Be sure to tell us what you thi?nk.

The post Dtoid (the show) week 4 reca?p: I t?hink my butt get big appeared first on Destructoid.

Sony has now launched an ??initiative they're calling the "PlayStation Logo Licensing Program." This means that you'll start seeing the PlayStation logo slapped across all manner of what the company is referring to as "lifestyle products."

That could (and does) mean practically anything could qualify. Imagine a world where you can drink coffee out of your branded mug while? wearing a branded T-shirt and branded shorts, standing on your branded floor mat in the middle of your kitchen?? (which probably has a PlayStation-branded toaster in it).

No? doubt this will be a nice little bit of extra cash in Sony's pocket. Me? I'm looking forward to the inevitable double-phallic PlayStation marital aid. I guess PlayStation really will do everything now.

PlayStation Shot Glasses? PlayStation Underwear? [Kotaku]

The post PlayStation-branded junk is in our future appeared first on Destructoid.

Hey, remember last night, when Jim told us about Sony regretting not publishing Demon's Souls themselves? Well, they can cry some more, because Atlu?s has been reporting rather grand g??ains of late.

Over the first half of this fiscal year, Atlus drew in about 378 million yen - or $4.3 million dollars - in operating profit. That's up a whopping 236% from last year.

Of course, $4.3 mil is pocket change compared to the kind of money big dogs like the Activisions and Sony Computer Entertainment(s) of the world deal in, but still, that's two hundred thirty-six percent. And most of that came from Atlus USA, raked in over the last quarter alone.

Big movers in that period included the PSP remake of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona (which Dale reviewed here), 101-in-1 Party Megamix (which totally flew under my radar), and of course Demon's Souls, the Cruel Little Dungeon-Crawler That Could. I'd bet that it had a significant part in that profit party, since it?'s one of the re?latively few full-price, current-generation releases the company has published so far.

See? This is what happens when you give a damn about your customers and know your audience. And with a bunch of other titles like 3D Dot Game Heroes, Persona 3 Portable, Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey (reviewed here), and Trauma Team in the pipeline, the?? rest of the yea??r looks promising, as well.

Congrats, guys. You earned this one.

Demon's Souls does well, Atlus swimming in profit [Siliconera]

The post Atlus makes mad bank, Sony kic?ks themselves harder appeared first on Destructoid.

Perhaps in anticipation of the (upcoming?) release of Samurai Basara: Samurai Heroes, for the PlayStation 3 and, oddly enough the Wii, or Battle Heroes, a PSP game in the same vein, Kaiyodo is producing a Power Shop set ?of Revoltech figures from the series.

Localized (poorly) as Devil Kings, Sengoku Basara are a set of hack-and-slash games that take place in the Sengoku period of Japan, featuring Date Masamune and Sanada Yukimura, two historical samurai tasked with killing the sh*t out of tons of dudes. While Sengoku Basara focused, more or less, on Japanese history, Devil Kings?? eventually turned into a weird, fantasy story tha?t takes place in Hell.

But, anyway, that's not what this post is about; it's about these awesome Revoltech figs of Yukimura and Masamune. And the real story isn't that they exist -- full color Sengoku Basara figs have been on sale for months now. The real treat are these new all-white colorways that ?go on sale at the end of the month. As with all Revoltechs, these figures are highly articulated and posable.

Hack-and-slash isn't exactlty my genre of choice -- there aren't enough Firaga spells or shotguns for my tastes -- but these Revoltechs are pretty nice looking. If you're more of a thinking man, Kaiyodo is also offering a Professor Layton Revoltech. If you've got a spare pile o?f cash laying around, you can buy both.

Or, y'know, ??buy me one. I particularly like ??the Date Masamune fig.

Pre-orders are available from Otactute and AmiAmi for about 2,400 yen.

Revoltech Sanada Yukimura & Date Masamune [alafista via Tomopop]

The post All-white Sengoku Basara/??Devil Kings Revoltechs available appeared first on Destructoid.

Yesterday, as the new issue of Weekly Famitsu hit Japanese news stands, details about two upcoming Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker PSP bundles began to leak out. Sony is selling a Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker Premium Pa?ckage priced at, roughly, $295 that will include the game, a camo-skinned PSP-3000, and a case.

Konami, the game's publisher, is selling its own, slightly more expensive bundle??: the Konami Style Special Limited Edition will include everything from the Sony bundle plus some dog tags, a PSP stand, and a booklet. Only 1974 ??of these will be created, sold only through Konami's online store.

That's well and good, but the main draw of special edition handhelds is how cool they look. With the cat out of the bag, Konami had to bu?ckle down and produce some pictures. Those pictures are sitting in the gallery below.

To be honest, I'm not really feeling the camouflage skin on the PSP: I think it's a little too busy and muddled. But, hey, the leather case in the Konami bundle is pure class. Wunderkind designer Hideo Kojima is convinced that Peace Walker will lead to PlayStat?ion Portable sales; having so many extras surely sweetens the pot.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and its bundles will be released in Japan in March. European and North American audiences can pick it up at the end of May.

First Look: Metal Gear Solid Peace?? Walker Special PSP [Andriasang]

The post Look!: th??e Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker PSP bundle appeared first on Destructoid.

Another week, another bunch of Rock Band DLC. If had any ideals, I'd refuse to post about DLC since it's obviously just a ploy by the Man to squeeze you for your precious banana dollars; but, apparently, this game is popular. You guys dig on Rock Band it seems. I'm a populist if nothing else.

I'm like, y'know, the Sarah Palin of Rock Band DLC posts on Destructoid.

The "big" news is that there's another Tom Petty pack, but we'll get back to him: what I'm really interested are two Phoenix songs making their Rock Band debut: "1901" and "Lisztomania." Both songs will also be available in Lego Rock Band.

I know I'll lose cred since it was in a Cadillac commercial, but "1901" was one of the catchiest songs of last year (and, t??o date, my only real experience with Phoenix, even though they've been around for almost a decade). Actually, Harmonix should release a "Cool Songs that were in Commercials" track pack -- it could feature Nick Drake, Seawolf, Architecture in Helsinki, and Blur, off the top of my head.

Rock Band obsessive Nick Chester thinks songs in commercials are lame, but he's o?bviously wrong.

But anyway, back to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Their second anthology pack comprises six live recordings of songs that don't include the words "Oh my my, oh hell yes." Which is too bad, because there's something satisfying about saying "oh hell yes," whatever the occasion. Here's the list (songs marked with + are also in Lego Rock Band):

"A Woman in Love" +

"Breakdown" +

"Century City" +

"Jammin' Me"

"Nightwatchman"

"The Waiting" +

There's also "Blue Jeans" by Silvertide available this week, but nobody's ever ??heard of them.

Individual tracks will be available on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and the Wii for $1.99, or however much moon money you need to make $1.99 on the 360 and the Wii. The?? Tom Petty track back will set you back a ten.

The post Rock B??and DLC: Phoenix and a live Tom Petty track pack appeared first on Destructoid.

Ok, let's be perfectly honest here: this Professor Layton Revoltech figure is on-fire hot. If I had a saltier lexicon, one surely unbefitting of a gentleman like Professor Layton, I'd say it was sh*thot. At the very least, I would explain the extent which it is so Raven.

Brass tacks: This buddy comes courtesy of Kaiyodo's Revoltech Yamaguchi line of figures. He's five inches tall, fully articulated, and comes with a handful of accessories: two faces (thinking and "I've got it!"), a coterie of hand gestures, his trusty notebook, a brick-patterned stand, and a cuppa, as w?ell as a table and chair in which to enjoy said cuppa.

I have to admit that I don't know much about Revoltech -- most of my collecting is done chez Kid Robot and tokidoki -- but Tiny Cartridge says the good Professor will only set you back a reasonable $26. I'm not even sure where you can pre-order this lovely pa?ckage -- I find my lack of Google-fu or Japanese language skills disturbing in this case.

The good news is that if any of you fine ??readers knows more about importing Japanese figures than I do, you can enlighten me about how to get my grubby, gaijin mitts on one. Even better news -- Professor Layton goes on s??ale in March, which is just in time for my birthday.

Which is actua??lly in M??ay, or whenever this figure goes on sale. Whichever comes first.

The new greatest figu??re ever made: Revoltech Professor Layton [Tomopop]

[Update: Pictures in the gallery! Also, reader Salty Soil has helpfully pointed out that pre-orders are available at AmiAmi. You can also snag this guy from Otacute and Hobby Search.]

The post So baller: Professor Layto??n Revoltech coming in March appeared first on Destructoid.

Isn't it crazy how a minigame from an unreleased Sega CD title has been so crucial in helping to raise money for charity? Don't get me wrong -- most of the credit goes to LoadingReadyRun, the group who us?es said minigame for its fundraiser -- but still. It's kinda hilarious how it all tu??rned out, in a way.

??It's the sort of inspirational story that would usually be made into a movie and even though I wouldn't go see the film in a theater, I'd appreciate that other people had the opportunity to learn more about such a heartwarming tale.

Getting back on topic, Wired reports that $132,608.94 was earned for Child's Play during the five-day-long Desert Bus event. We ti??p our hats to you?r unparalleled dedication and willingness to put your sanity at risk, good sirs.

Here's hoping next year wil??l be even more su??ccessful!

The post Desert Bus marathon raise??s over $132,000 for cha??rity appeared first on Destructoid.