I need a dreamscraper

In today's contest you can win a Steam Early Access copy of surreal action-RPG Dreamscaper!

It feels like forever since we've given anything out around here. What's it been, like three days? Let's fix that by giving out copies of Dreamscaper, which just ??hit Steam Early Access. That'll scratch the it?ch!

Read all about it below:

Journey through twisted dream realms conjured by the subconscious mind of?? Cassidy, a young woman wrestling with her inner demons. Trapped in a traumatic loop where restless slumber brings forth dungeons teeming with nightmares and challenges to overcome, her only defense against the darkness is the power of lucid dreaming. Fortify Cassidy&rsquo?;s psychic abilities in the waking world by forging friendships, then strike back against her nocturnal foes in intense hack- and-slash combat.

Master an expressive battle system?? to fend off Cassidy’s enemies and rescue her from a dark fate. Wield imaginative weapons ranging from ethereal yo-yos to blazing finger guns while manipulating the elements, warping space, and even controlling time. Weave together these fantastical powers while using careful p?ositioning, precise timing, and quick reflexes to dodge, parry, and dispatch attackers.

Unlock ?persistent upgrades and harness their potent effects to vanquish horrifying bosses that embody negative emotions like isolation and loss. Explore breathtaking ever-changing dreamscapes reflective of real-world struggles to find a way out of this nightmarish cycle.

Fingers guns are the best weapon. Prove me wrong.

To enter to win a copy, comment below telling us a dream you had. It can be anything at all, so no need to fit a theme. I have weird dreams pretty much nightly at this point -- last night I dreamt I had to go to a school assembly in high school, which turned out to be a weird costume show. I wound up wearing a duck costume made out of loose-leaf paper halfway through, and made it my Halloween costum??e. Everyone at school was impressed, and I was quite confused. It's all too much.

We have five Steam Early Access copies of the game to give away, winners to be randomly selected this Friday. Make sure to comment using a Dtoid account with your current email address on file. If you're new, sign up here and get into the action!

Dreamscaper is available now via Steam Early Access. Head over to PC Invasion for more chances to win.

The post Contest: Win Dreamscaper for Steam appeared first on Destructoid.

I met the legendary Inafking once more for an unforgettable interview

Keiji Inafune, are you Kamen Rider?

"As a child, of course, I watched lots of Kamen Rider, so I love that show, but I unfortuna??tely cannot definitively say that I have experience being the masked rider. But I may at one time or another have ?worn a mask and a suit that was breakaway and gone into my nude form!"

That is an actual question I got to ask the outspoken former Capcom producer during an interview on Sunday, September 1, at the Grand Hyatt hotel smack in the middle of PAX Prime weekend. I never thought I would score the privilege of meeting my game industry hero in person, much less twice in just under three months. For all my whining and moaning, I really am a fortunate gu??y.

I maintained my composure long enough to make it through our half-hour session, during which I probed Inafune's brain about the recently announced Mighty No. 9 and other gaming happenings. Of course, I also came armed with a few Mega Man queries, the answers to which are nothing short of mind-blowing. Where do?es the nickname "Inafking" come from? Why does Mega Man's helmet have an exclamation mark on it? And why do the series' characters sometimes look like they're flashing gang signs?

Sitting all cool and collect in the corner of the room was Inafune, and at his side to serve as interpreter was former Capcom head of localization, Ben Judd. Filling out the room were various others project associates as well as a film crew capturing my every awkward second on camera. Oh God, if any of that footage shows up in the Mighty No. 9 making-of documentary, I will shut my??self in a hole for weeks. I could feel my breakfast churning; I willed it to stay down.

I naturally was wearing my limited-numbered Mighty No. 9 T-shirt, handed out to attendees of Inafune's panel the day prior. To say that everybody there was surprised by his Kickstarter reveal would be the understatement of the year. The room? erupted like Mount Vesuvius when the plucky android Beck made his grand debut.

That ball started rolling just this past spring. As Inafune recalled, "It really was a culmination of... everywhere I've gone in the past, after I left Capcom, fans would come up to me or media people would talk to me and they'd say, 'Oh, I loved Mega Man!' or, 'I loved Onimusha!' I don't know whether they were just being nice, but they really felt extremely passionate every time they'd say that. I'm sure they knew I wasn't?? at Capcom anymore and couldn't make it. It still stood that, obviously, their feelings were that they wanted something new but that had that classic feeling, and they wa??nted it out of me, but obviously there weren't many opportunities.

"However, when I learned of Kickstarter, it seemed a great way that I could first and foremost connect with the fans who were the people that kept talking to me about, 'Hey, you should do this! You should do this! You should do this!' This would allow me to eventually bridge that gap and do it with them directly, number one. Number two, the best thing about Kickstarter i?s you can launch something and you can see what the reaction is, and if the reaction isn't good then, you know, maybe that was just a few remote individual cases of people saying that."

The immediate reaction was beyond positive -- the Kickstarter goal was already half met by the morning of my interview, and it was fully cleared not long after that. "By seeing the overall fan reaction, obviously that's not the case. The people that I met with up until now were a cross section? of a larger group of people that really want something like this." Seems like a lesson Capcom ought to take to heart!

Speaking of Capcom, Inafune was a bit hesitant to discuss his former employer and the treatment of the franchise he helped build. "Honestly, I created a policy after I left Capcom that any Mega Man ??games that would come out I would not play, because the second I play them, I'm going to formulate an opinion, will probably get very emotional, may not be in a good way. So sometimes ignorance really is bliss when it comes to how your creations are used after you no longer have control of them."

I of course had to ask if he was aware of Rockman Xover, to which he responded in the affirmative. He hasn't? touched it per his self-imposed policy. That's f??or the best, don't you think?

Outside of Capcom, we have ambitious fans working hard on unofficial titles, like Mega Man Unlimited and the demake of Mega Man Legends 3: Prototype Version , many of which rival the quality of Capcom's own efforts. Considering how Mighty No. 9 and the Legends 3 project were both conceived as a way for developers and fans to work together towards a common goal, I gauged that Inafune would greatly admire fan ??game makers' efforts.

"If you are a fan and you really want to make something like that that you love, then I think you should make it. Obviously that's going to be what makes you happy." Fairly decent response, but it's what he said next that I found extremely admirab?le.

"But if I was an IP holder and I saw that there was somebody that was that impassioned to work with the content, that they were willing to dedicate their own time and energy and potentially money to make it, then I think the smarter approach would be ??to contact them and see if there wasn't a way to do a project with them, very much like Kickstarter, get them somehow involved in it so that it really is you as a creator being [able] to make sure that you're controlling the quality and direction and stuff like that, but also getting lots of good fan input and really finding a perfect blend between fan and creator to make something very unique."

To Capcom's credit, the support of Street Fighter X Mega Man demonstrated some of that joint interaction. Also consider SEGA's recent Sonic CD and Sonic 1 remasters, which were spearheaded by members of the Sonic ?fan game community. Inafune sees the benefit of such close relationships with fa?ns, and I hope this attitude spreads even further throughout the industry.

This line of action of course stems from Inafune's dissatisfaction with Japanese game companies, leading to no shortage of damning remarks. But whether you think he's blowing smoke or has legitimate concerns, we can at least agree that his words are fueled by a desire to see the Japanese industry regain some of the influence and might it lost over the past few years, hence why he aims for evolution and innovation through his companies comcept and intercept.

Rather ironic that two of his current projects are a Ninja Gaiden spin-off and a Mega Man spiritual successor. But to be fair, he seems to believe that there is just as much room for innovation in the development process as there is in games themselves, which would explain the unorthodox foundations lying beneath Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z and Mighty No. 9.

By the way, you may remember another project that Inafune is heading: the high-seas 3DS adventure Kaio: King of Pirates. Though the game was originally scheduled for a 2012 release then later pushed back a year, its current status is a mystery. Is it vaporware?

According to Inafune, the situation is out of his hands. Publisher Marvelous has not announced a strategy for the game, thus any inquiries concerning Kaio would have to go through them. This situation reminds me of Yuji Naka's Rodea the Sky Soldier and its extended period of silence. Publisher Kadokawa recently re-confirmed the game's existence, so I have hope that Marvelous will make a similar statement i??n the near future.

Inafune may have harsh words for his Japanese brethren, but he's still supportive of those companies that attempt something a little more offbeat. Like, say, using his real-world likeness in a rather significant capacity. I'm talking about Idea Factory and the inclusion of Inafune as a laser-spewing summon in the Hyperdimension Neptunia series and as the main character's uncle in the visual novel Sweet Fuse. More bizarre than the typical cameo, no?

"We got this idea," Idea Factory said to him. "We kind of like you to be in the game as a character." They didn't think he'd agree to it, but Inafune was so pleased by their wild initiative that he responded with an emphatic,"Sure, let's do it! Why not? Sounds crazy and fun and new! At lea?st we're doing something new!" Is that innovation? Inafune believes so, but I don't think anyone else would say the cameos aren't at least bizarrely entertaining.

I also took a moment to inquire about his thoughts regarding PlatinumGames, considering their shared history at Capcom. "I think that they are a very talented group of people," he mused. "I've known them when they were all at Capcom and we were working together, so it's really hard to say what their strengths and weaknesses are, certainly in an interview like this. But I think that they have their own style and they're really good at that style. It's different from how I would necessarily build out or develop a game, but I think it certainly works for them and allows them to create something that's? very unique and cool for sure.

"I guess if I was going to say there's one area for improvement, maybe it's on how they produce things. They're great at building out great games, but they never rea?lly seem to hit the sales marks that they need to, so that gap needs to be decreased, shortened by stronger producers, etc. That will make their games hit a wider audience."

By this point in the interview, I was ready to pull out the big guns and seek answers to some long-standing Mega Man mysteries. I didn't get to ask as many of your questions as I would have liked,?? but I guarantee you'll?? be amazed at some of these responses nonetheless.

One of the weirdest things about playing NES games was how staff was listed by nicknam??es in the credits, and Inafune in particular was known as"Inafking." Where did that name come from, and why were some of the other names so strange?

"There was a series called Moomin. ?? It was an older series from a long time ago, and there was a character named 'Snufkin' in it that's this cool character. So 'Snufkin' and 'Inafking,' they're kind of like, oh, we're both these cool characters, this is how I like it!

"Back then?, of course, all the more? talented programmers, artists, etc. could have been headhunted, so the one internal rule was you have to come up with a name that is different enough that people won't know what your real name is. So long as you fulfill that criteria, you can be as crazy as anything, so everyone just went crazy and made whatever name they wanted to."

Regarding names, there has been confusion over whether the robo-dog Rush was named after the famous Canadian band. Inafune put the confusion to rest: "People think that most of the names were some sort of?? music-based names, but really Rock and Roll were only the key ones that were based on musical terms. If you think of Dr. Wily and Dr. Light, that's got nothing to do with music.

"I'm sorry to disappoint the fans, but actually Rush was not based on the band, Rush was based on a Capcom game called Rush & Crash [known as The Speed Rumbler outside of Japan -- Tony] that I really liked. Actually, the word 'Rush' sounds kind of like 'Lassie' [pronounced 'Rasshu' and 'Rasshi']. Back then, Las??sie was a very popular movie about a dog, of course,?? so it just fit as far as the phonetic flow of the word."

Videogame ch??aracter designs of yesteryear were often the r?esult of hardware limitations. Mega Man was no different; the "exclamation mark" protrusion on his helmet was one such element born of Inafune trying to draw around those constraints.

"This is probably a little known fact... it's true that I did not design Mega Man, but what happened was there was a planner [confirmed to be Akira Kitamura, credited as A.K. in Mega Man 1 and ?2] that whenever they made a Famicom character, they had to look at it on the screen and see how it popped, whether it was visible, whether you can play as it and it would pop off of the background. This planner put together a pixel character that really had good read against the Famicom backgrounds, then went to me and said, 'Okay, I want you to make a character that looks like [a] Famicom graphic could have come from that character.'

"So it was like a reverse character design, the fact that Mega Man's birth came from this pixelized character that the planner initially created, but the actual animation, the rendition of him as a character I did create. But I had to look at the pixels and try to envision what that would look like as a character, and all you can see from the pixels was that, okay, this was where the helmet was, then it looks like there's a line. And that's all you can really tell. So whe??n you're going to design a character, I literally could have put a triangle here or a square or an equal sign, it could have literally been whatever. So I just put what I thought matched well with the line, but it wasn't intentionally meant to be an exclamation mark or anything like that, unfortunately."

Some designs elements have more cultural origins. You may have noticed that many Mega Man series characters hold up this odd "W" hand gesture in the official art. This ??is Inafune's signature flourish, but no one really knew why ??he chose to draw hands that way... until now!

"First of all, doing this [throws up the hand gesture] looks cute! If you look at Disney characters, a lot of times they have three fingers or bigger fingers that makes them look kind of cute. In Japan, 'four' is a bad number, it means death, even though all of us as humans have four fingers [excluding the thumb].? Do??ing something like this which shows three makes it a safe number...

"There's some sort of weird prejudice that comes in... some bad meaning if you have four fingers instead of five. But by doing it this way, it would look kind of Disney-esque and cute, but you could still say that it was a perfect normal hand, they've got five fingers. Technically, it could have been these two fingers [index and middle] spread out like this or the end two fingers if you ca?n do that, but doing it in the middle is just better balance wise."

After that final question, I nervously pulled out my boxed copy of the original Famicom Rockman, had him sign it, and made my way out the room in what I hope was the most natural way possible. It probably wasn't, but I can only maintain some semblance of professionalism for s?o long.

Keiji Inafune, guys. Guys. Keiji Inafune. His brutal honesty about the game industr??y may not sit well with every?one, but c'mon! He's Keiji Inafune!

The post Keiji Inafune dropped mad Mega Man secrets on me appeared first on Destructoid.

"Castlevania-ception"

This was my first MAGFest, and damn, it did not disappoint. So much hotness everywhere. For most people, it would be impossible to narrow dow??n the greatest moment of the show.

For me, it was simple.

I'm at the main concert stage listening to Bit Brigade, the band that deftly fuses videogame covers with live speedrunning, as the group performed Castlevania. I'm there with my good friend Patrick Kulikowski, writer for Pixelitis and VGdrum hero, when Pat taps me on the shoulder and tell??s me to look to our right.

Standing right next to us is Kinuyo Yamashita, the original composer for Castlevania.

I am standing immediately next to the composer of a game for which the soundtrack is currently being performed on stage by a live band while another dude is playing the game whose soundtrack is currently being performed by the band as the original composer of said game's soundtrack is watching the game and its music be?ing played live and...

BOOM.

The post My greatest MAGFest 11 moment appeared first on Destructoid.

Well I can't lie, I am currently sat at the dock outside my villa while my butler calls me a boat to take me to the conference centre ready f??or Namco Bandai's Level Up event -- and no, I'm neither lying nor exaggeratin??g. Dubai is rather wonderful. 

Namco Bandai is promising lots of new and exciting news to come from this event so don't forget to keep checking Destructoid for the latest news, follow me on twitter for latest up to the minute gossip --  ??in 140 characters or less and we have plenty of videos thanks to cameraman Daniel Carneiro also coming?? your way. 

The post Namco Bandai Level Up begins today! appeared first on Destructoid.

Want to see some 3D screenshots of Wii games running on the 3DS? Then download this win.zip file, copy the contents onto a SD card, insert the SD card into a 3DS, and there you go. It'll take a little while, as there are hundreds of screenshots here, but it's worth it.

I was especially pleased to see several Wii games that are bursting with creativity on the inside, but come off as a little scraggly on the outside. I'm talking about games like Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom, Sin and Punishment 2, Fragile Dreams, and No More Heroes 2. Love them all, but they've always been ugly ducklings, at lea??st by home console standards. With the aid of the 3DS, they all look genu?inely impressive.

Then there's shots of Wii games that have always looked awesome, like Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Muramasa, and Super Mario Galaxy. There's even a few GameCube games thrown in there for good measure, like F-Zero GX and Luigi's Mansion. All classics, and all look even?? more attractive in 3D.

I know the 3DS is already inundated with ports, but after seeing these screens, I'm dying for a few of these Wii/Gamecube titles to make the jump to the 3DS, particularly Fragile Dreams and No More Heroes 2. How about you? You up for some more Wii-to-3DS ports?

Images created by Eighteen [Thanks T3HM0RR0W and RexWolf2!]

The post See what Wii games would look like on the 3DS appeared first on Destructoid.

Hey guys! Guess what! We're doing another LIVE episode of The Destructoid Show, and this time around, it's at an hour more convenient for people who aren't unemployed la??yabou??ts! Er. It's um. It's later in the day.

Pop on over to our magnificent YouTube channel and watch us start some uncut, streaming trouble! We're going to be answering questions from the YouTube chat while we're doing the show. It should be very confusing and stressful for us, but we're pr??ofessionals, so go nuts.

And for those of you who are metric time, or fancy-shmancy non-American whatever, and it's late at night -- don't worry. We'll post a recorded episod??e for you to watch later. If it's any consolation, you probably live in a country with better healthcare than ours. 

The post The Destructoid Show: LIVE! starts at 3pm P?ST / 6p?m EST appeared first on Destructoid.

Update: Thanks for watching!  We'll do it again soon. 40's and blunts to all ?who joined us.

The Destructoid Show will broadcast LIVE on YouTube, like, right now. L?ive chat! Live questions! ??Madness!

Jump in at www.youtube.com/dtoid (or subscribe to get email reminders)

YouTube just formally announced their Live platform on Friday, so the fact? that we're beta testing it is a little bit insane. It's going to be happening at 12PM PST through our YouTube channel, and hopefully you guys'll be able to tune in.

If I get my ass kicked in front of the entire internet, I'm gonna go Michael Vick on my Emboa?r.

The post The Destructoid Show: LIVE! was a thing we did appeared first on Destructoid.

Do you live in the San Francisco area? Do you care about videogames? Then I know what you should be doing tonight. In a few hours, a panel of experts will be debating the constitutionality of banning violent and "pornographic" videogames. The debate should be interesting and?? enlighte??ning, regardless of what side of the argument you're on.

Senator Leland Yee was supposed to be there, but was swapped out at the last minute for ??James ?Steyer, founder and CEO of Common Sense Media. That's a shame, a?s Yee is one of the most passionate and ??most potentially damaging anti-gaming public figures in politics today. The good news is that Cheryl K. Olsen, of Grand Theft Childhood fame (and inspiration for this episode of Constructoid), will be in attendance. She won't be speaking, but she will be around before and after the show? for in-person discussion with other attendees. If you're interested in the effects that videogames have on children and young adults, she's someone you should be paying attention to.

The post Public debate on vide??ogam?es and their effects on children appeared first on Destructoid.

Feeling a little bit under the weather this morning? Come and join Jordan Devore, the always lovely ImpossiblePlant and myself for Saturday Morning Hangover, a new weekly livestream on Destructoid's Justin.tv channel. Yay! 

From 10-12pm CouchToid will be playing the week's Xbox Live Indie Games for as long as we can stomach them. And then it's entirely likely that we'll be getting some time in on Earth Defense Force 2017, which is always good for a laugh.  So come hang out with us in the chat and give us hell over the video being choppy (something I've worked for five hours to fix and is as go?o??d as it's going to get today, thank you very much). 

Afterwards join Dtoid HQ for ??Splatterhouse hosted by Jon Carnage, Jonathan Holmes, Pico, and ??Venom.  We'll also be giving away some prizes and educating you on the world of wrestling.  Come hang out with us!

The post Dtoid Live: Saturday Morning Hangover! appeared first on Destructoid.

I'd wager the majority of you picked out a handful of videogame-y elements in Inception. With the DVD and Blu??-ray release almost upon us (December 8), the "Will there be a game?" discussion is starting back up again. This?? time, however, we have some definite answers from director Christopher Nolan.

Nolan, speaking to Entertainment Weekly, says "I always imagined Inception to be a world where a lot of other stories could take place. At the moment, the only direction we're channeling that is by developing a vi??deogame set in the world."

Work on the project is happening alongside an unnamed team of collaborators, and it's said to be "a longer-term proposition." In other words, we'll eventually get to play an Inception-based game, and?? oh God don't let it be an MMO as people keep su??ggesting.

Christopher Nolan on his 'last' Batman movie, an 'Inception' video??game, and that spinning top [Entertainment Weekly via Eurogamer]

The post Christopher Nolan is working on an Inception game appeared first on Destructoid.

Watch live video from Destructoid on Justin.tv

Got Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit on Xbox 360?  Jump into the game with us!  Don't have the game?  Hell, join us in the chat anyway and see if it's worth the dough.  Tonight Carnage, Venom, Pico, and Snakedude will be discussing the intrinsic artistry of racing franchises and their impact on the psyche of the contemporary gamer persona ... or we'll be racing cop cars and crashing into stuff.  We'll be starting at 6pm PST / 9pm EST on our Justin.tv/destructoid live channel, and r?acing under the gamertag Dtoid CTZ.  All our shows are archived so you can tune in anytime.

Live schedule this week:

Thursday 18th - Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit on Xbox 360 @ 6 PM

Friday, 19th - Glee: Karaoke Revolution on Wii @ 4 PM

Saturday, 20th - Maijin and the Forsaken Kingdom (win 8 copies!) PS3/360 - 12 PM - 8 PM

The post Game with us: Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit appeared first on Destructoid.

Minecraft developer Markus "Notch" Persson is doing extremely well for hims??elf. His game ??isn't even finished yet, and he's already surpassed 100,000 sales. On his blog, he's given us an update on where the money is going and what the future will hold.

"A close friend and I will be starting up a new company together," he writes. "That company will continue?? to develop Minecraft. I will be the main developer, and I will keep working on it just as I have now, but there will be people supporting me, such as an artist, a web site developer and a business guy to help sort out all deals and make sure that things like the Creeper plushies actually happens."

Notch's unnamed friend will lead development on a game they've been thinking of creating for years. It'll be created alongside Minecraft,?? and "everyone working at ?the company will be involved in both projects to some degree."

There's nothi??ng like a good living-t?he-dream story to start your day.

Hiring some people, gettin??g an?? office, and all that! [World of Notch via Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

The post Minecraft developer?? Notch is launching his own st?udio appeared first on Destructoid.

Seriously, this is becoming a real problem. There are some p??ictures from this trip where I'm made to look like an idiot that you guys are never going to see. Ever. ?In fact, I'm going to go and delete them from his camera right now so that they can't be used as blackmail at a later date. That goat will never be the same.

In the hall of oddities that is the North Hall of CES, we came across this ridiculous hat. What you can't see from the above image is that it's designed to house an iPhone at the front of the brim. The idea is that you can use it to watch whatever it is people watch on iPhones (you know wha??t my guess is) without disturbing others or dealing with other visual distractions. I have to admit, though, video did actually look pretty damn good while wearing the thing.

Nevertheless, I want to know who buys this. I demand names. Of course, I would have said something similar about the Snuggie (Ion Audio is making an electric variety which I recommend you wear in the tub¹) never suspectin??g that my list of "people to maim" co??uld have grown so great and so quickly.

¹Wearing ??????????????????????????an electric Snuggie in a bathtub filled with water will probably kill y?ou, which I feel compelled to mention because I live in America. So, I'm not actually recommending it because I don't want to get sued.

The post CES 2010: W??hy do I let Dale convince me to look stupid? appeared first on Destructoid.

You know what sucks about real life? It's only from one perspective. Where are the variance in genres? You can only play real life in first person, and we all know too much of one type of genre gets boring. We need variety, and now we can have it. Introducing (a year or so after it was revealed) the Avatar Machine. This is a suit that allows the wearer to view himself in the third pe??rson, and the video above shows off its newest iteration. It's like putting yourself in a videogame of the real world.

While the technology is cool, creator (or possibly just video poster) Marc Owens own description? of the device hints at how disturbin??g putting yourself into third person actually is.

Avatar Machine is a wearable system which replicates the aesthetics and?? visuals of third person gaming, allowing the user to view themselves as a virtual character in real space via a head mounted interface. Th?e system potentially allows for a diminished sense of social responsibility, and could lead the user to demonstrate behaviors normally reserved for the gaming environment.

Not the greatest advertisement for the tech, con?sidering ditching social norms and moral behaviors isn't always the best idea. However, I doubt we will all be wearing these any time soon so mass marketability is most likely not the goal.

The post Experience the world in thi????rd person with Avatar Machine appeared first on Destructoid.

Despite popular opinion that dorks are always loners that fester in front of their computers playing WoW and not showering, they do sometimes fall in love and actually get married. In some cases, in fact, all those geeky skills can be used for great results, such as this marriage proposal in which a guy proposed to his girlfriend by homebrewing a copy of Bejeweled (from scratch!) and having a ring drop on?to the screen to ask for her hand.

Somehow this makes me feel that my fantasy of having a three-tiered wedding cake? in the shape of Midgar feel a little trite. At any rate, she said yes (what kind of properly geeky girl would say no to that?) Cheers to Bernie for raising the romance bar using homebr?ew. This ought to buzz up some talk about honorable mention of innovative usage!

[Via Wired-- thanks, Justin]

The post Nerd wins a??t sweetness, proposes using a hacked v??ersion of Bejeweled appeared first on Destructoid.

I'll be the first to admit that it's easy to lose perspective when you spend days writing about, talking about, and finally playing video games. Katamari Damacy's creator Keita Takahashi hasn't ??lost sight of anything, and he used his keynote speech at GameCity to remind his audience that there is more to life than videogames.

"It would be impossible for us to be here... if t??he world was not peaceful. If there was heavy fighting or pollution in the cities could we talk about video games like this? If you're suffering fr?om poverty and disease could you worry about collecting coins? I don't think so," he said.

"I might be being idealistic but I truly thi??nk so. Video gaming is goo??d but it's also a luxury. You can't play videogames unless you are financially well off," he added.

I get the g??uy's point, but really, if video games were a luxury, then someone needs to send over Robin Leach to my house.  

The Gamesindustry.biz post says that Takahashi spent the rest of his time on stage bashing his old game, Katamari Damacy (apparently he's "sick of Katamari Damacy"), and showing off his new one, Nobi Nobi Boy. 

The post ‘Videogames are a luxury’ says Katamari creator appeared first on Destructoid.

A couple of months ago, we told you about the departure of game maker David Jaffe (God of War, Twisted Metal) from Sony to start his own company with Scott Campbell, and they named it Eat Sleep Play. Now Level Up has the first look at the company's new logo.

As you can see, the logo is a pop top bottle cap. Pretty clever, eh? We'll let Eat Sleep P?lay explain what the logo represe?nts:

Well here it is, fresh out of the oven: the Eat Sleep Play logo! This little pop top represents the heart and soul of what our new company is about. Not only are sodas the drink of choice for game makers around ??the globe, but soda also represents fizzy, refreshing fun. That's what we hope people will think of every time they spot the logo. It should tell folks that while they may not be getting the most intellectually nourishing of products, they will be always be getting something that -- to us -- is much more important: fun. And in this day and age of overlong, overblown, overproduced epic games, isn't that refreshing? You know... like a soda?  

There it is. I'll be honest: I was thinking beer cap. And maybe that was intended -- kind of like a dual purpose logo. Beer is also fun, right? Either way, good job with the logo, gents. Good luck, a??nd we're looking forward to seeing some new games out of Eat Sleep Play.

The post Eat Sleep Play logo unveiled appeared first on Destructoid.

Howard Phillip Lovecraft, who should need no introduction, kept?? a list of ideas.  As far as I am aware, all writers (and most artists) do this in one form or another.  I constantly struggle to keep my list compounded, as it organically tends to sprawl across several sketchbooks, notepads, and scraps of napkins and toilet paper.  I only wish I had thought to come up with such a sublime title for my own collection of nonsense; Lovecraft? called his “the Commonplace Book”:

LOVECRAFT'S COMMONPLACE BOOK is a written compilation of ideas: from 1919 to 1934, Lovecraft wrote down fragments, plot ideas and scenario outlines, all concrete elements he could put to use at any given time. The texts contain suggestions for story-writing as well as a list of 'horror fundamentals', intended to stimulate the imagination.

Gamers are generally surprised when the topic of new text-adventure games is brought up.  Familiar as we are with pioneers of gaming such as Zork, Leather Goddesses of Phobos, and the Hit??chhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the idea that anyone still enjoys a rousing session of “guess what I want you to type” is baffling to most of us.  

On the other hand, there is something to be said for any game that?? implants alien weevils in your head and expects you to type your way out of it. 

Far be it from me to criticize this particular genre too harshly, seeing as I am occasionally employed as a cover artist (recognize the goblins?) by one of the leading interactive fiction studios, but I have never been much of a textual gamer.  I readily admit to an Alice-in-Wonderlandian restlessness when presented with pictureless games, and favor my PSP over my DS primarily for reasons of graphics.  And so it was with trepidation that I undertook a couple minigames from the Commonplace Book Project.  I started with the website's most highly-acclaimed game, Dead Cities.  The game was built around a Commonplace entry that read "An impression - city in peril - dead city - equestrian statue - men in closed room - clattering of hooves heard from outside - marvel disclosed on looking out - doubtful ending."

 One t??ime I picked my nose and w??as rewarded with a better plot outline than that, but I digress.

The absolute worst part of any text adventure game is the absence of a DWIM button.  DWIM stands for Do What I Mean, and is usually overcome in the context of other genres by sheer firepower.  Interactive fiction demands that you conform exactly to your script.  The better the game, the more script branches have been set up for you.  In the case of Dead Cities, everything I typed was met with stubborn misunderstanding, confusion, or was entirely ignored a??s the game marched on, with or without my participation.

Wood-Panelled Hallway
The entranceway to the house, leading from th??e front door past the wooden stairs to the closed heavy oak door at the end. Various doors lead off on either side, with a long handrail running between them - clearly someone infirm has lived here long enough to adapt the place to their needs.

The rain continues outside unabated. Aside fro??m your coat, you brought scant other possessions worth listing.

The maid follows you inside, wiping water off her face with her apron.

> BITCH, GET ME A TOWEL
You seem to want to talk to someone, but I can’t see? whom.

Admittedly I was a little irritated at this point.&n?bsp; I wanted to explore the nuance of the game, not be led around by the nose.  I'm sorry I lost my temper; it won't happen again.  Ahem:

> MAID, GET ME A TOWEL
“I’m sure he’ll be very pleased to see you,”? the maid replies.

What?

> MAID, I WANT A GODDAMNED TOWEL
You don’t have anything to say.

I bloody well do!

The maid slams the front door behind you, shutting out the r??ain. “Nasty weather,” she complains. “Plays havoc with?? my teeth.”

> YOUR TEETH ARE HORRIBLE, OLD WOMAN

 Years later, after I had sat through an actual exchange in which the old man in question made me type through searching about seven different places in the room for a book that he was sitting on, and then actually type "NEXT PA?GE" several times in order to read the fucking thing, weird shit started to happen outside and I jumped through the window (like you do).&??nbsp; The old man was already out there in a hail of gravel, being slowly beaten to a pulp.  In an attempt to get some sense out of the old bat, I:

 > HIT ARKWRIGHT
You wrap your fingers around his throat and begin to squeeze. The old man’s eyes light up with the sharpest flame for just a second and then begin to fizzle away, much like the rain has evaporated into stone. As he falls, so does darkest night, the heaviest cloud. The hail beats at your body li??ke a drummer’s stick; you cling to the dead body in your hands for longer than you?? need to. Arkwright is quite dead, but as he predicted the world continues. The stone does not stop. You turn to flee, feeling a growing cold from inside your belly. A lack of action. A pause.

    *** The End ***
 

What?  Did I type STRANGLE or even KILL?  How dare you.  How dare you. 

Disheartened, I moved on to Ecdysis:

 Ecdysis is based on idea #221 of the Comm?onplace Book:  “Insects or other entities from sp??ace attack and penetrate a man’s head and cause him to remember alien and exotic things–possible displacement of personality.”

Jackpot!

> EAT LARVA
Which larva do?? you mean, the small larva, or the large l??arva?

> EAT SMALL LARVA
You grab the small larva and twist it, shake it, and smash it against the walls of the tunnel until it stops moving. Then you consume the creature, tearing it apart with your jaws and powerful tentacl?es. Viscera runs down your face. Finally you crack open its braincase, to get at the soft brain parts, which you consume with relish.

The other larva thrashes helplessly back and forth, unable to esca?pe, forced to watch you devour its broodma??te.

Now we're cooking with Lovecraft!  I would post more, but I frankly don't want to spoil it for you. Ecdysis is highly recommended.  There are multiple e??ndings, the parser seems to have a sense? of humor, and the writing and pacing is far superior to Dead Cities.  Give it a shot.

The Commonplace Book Project [Illuminated Lantern Publishing]

As an aside, if any of you are in the Bay Area tonight, I am having an art show opening in Berk??eley (Blow Salon, 2112 Berkeley Way).  Even if you're not big on art, I can guarantee the catering will be damn good.  Stop by and say hello, and see what I do when I'm not cellotaped to the underside of Niero's des?k. 

The post Inte??ractive Friction: Lovecraft??ian abortions resurrected as text-adventure games appeared first on Destructoid.

For the most part, eBay sucks. What was once a haven of bargains and rare ?finds for gamers has now turned into a free-for-all, and people are now selling crap like Jesus Cheetos and alien babies in a jar. It's a shame, really. That's why it's great to hear that one British gamer got the deal of the century from a recent auction.

The 16-year-old was lucky enough to be the last guy on earth to hop onto ?the PlayStation 2 wagon. His £95 (almost $200) winning bid for the console and two games seemed to be a ripoff at first, as the two games were missing. He made out like a bandit, though, as €65,400 ($90,000) was packed inside instead.

Like ?any sane people, the parents of this gamer contacted police as soon as they found out. Police are holding the c?ash until late September, but there's potential for the cash to go back to the family under the countries' Police Property Act. Hell, he could almost afford a PS3 with that kind of cash. (kidding!)

A spokesman for eBay said: "We know that eBay is ??a great place to pick up a bargain, although in this case, we agree that the contents of the parcel were somewhat unusual and we will assist with any inquiries the police may wish to make."

[via BBC ]

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If you're around the same age as myself or any other gamer that's been exposed to the industry since the 80s, then you're well aware that video game television shows suck major balls. Sure, there are a few gems here and there, but for the most part they tend to ?insult us and aim for the lowest common denominator.

Now, seeing as how the jbsgame.community is one of the savviest groups around, I thought it'd be appropriate to ask you how you'd build the best video game television show. What elements would you want to see in there? What sort of "attitude" should the show have? Would you want to see a daily show or just a weekly round-up? Got good ideas, we'd like to hear them ... because you neve??r know ??what's on the horizon here at Destructoid. *wink wink*

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Hooray pi?ctures! Not everything here at the GDC is breaking news, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t fun to be had. With industry parties every night, the mornings can be a little rough, and sometimes the free boxed lunches we get aren’t enough to cure a case of the cocktail flu. But hey, that’s the tough life we robots lead and we’re not complaining, we’re just happy to ?be here.

Have a look. There are plent?y of incriminating p?hotos of us along with some cameo shots of some famous type people.

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I attended a session at GDC today within the Serious Game Summit called Next Gen Conversational Characters for Serious Games. If you're choking on your own boredom alrea?dy, never fear: I promise to keep all the dry tidbits to myself. There was some material that got m?e thinking though, and I'll bet a large percent of gamers have thought about it too.

Speakers Michael Mateas and Andrew Stern created a game called Facade in which you interact with a couple who are clearly having marital challenges. How is that fun, you ask? Well, the game is bitingly funny, but what makes it even more unique i?t that it uses a concept called NLU (Natural Language Understanding) to allow the player to have an open-ended interaction with the characters. Instead of choosing your replies from a list of preset responses, you type anything you may want to say and the characters react in real time.

While the game certainly looks simple in appearance, I think this format of character interaction is a hidden gem. It leads me to thinking: How different could games be if they were less linear and more open ended in the way they played out? It reminds me a little bit of the Zork era, which seems all but lost. I for one have spent way too much time running around towns talking to ??boring inhabitants just so I could trigger some story event or clue. I could have been shaving my goddamn legs.

Are you tired of being trapped in linear structure in games, especially when interacting with characters? Or do you daydream about having interactions with game characte?rs that you don't jam the B button to skip?

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