Is this Balan's final bout?

Man, Balan Wonderworld.

I mean, once the demo hit a lot of people weren't super enthusiastic about its success. Even when Squ??are Enix annou??nced that there would be changes based on demo feedback,  folks weren't hopeful that?? they'd essentially be able to overhau?l the entire game. Cue the Ron Howard voice: "they didn't."

It's a shame, because that lack of polish reflected in both the reviews for the game and in the sales figures, when Balan failed to chart in pretty much every consol??e's top-seller list. Now, Square Enix is pulling the demo, pre?sumably to put all of this behind them. Announced on the game's official Twitter account, the demo will be pulled from consoles at 23:59 JST today, with the Steam version of the demo scheduled for execution on April 15 at 2AM JST.

If you recall, there was actuall?y a small bonus included for demo players, which is go??ing to be detached from the trial going forward. The account confirms that the "trial benefits" will be distributed "at a later date," presumably as free DLC.

Again, it's a shame it all turned out like this. We need more mascot platformers in the industry, and one coming up short like Balan Wonderworld can deter others from creating more. At the end of the d?ay though the quality spoke for itself.

Balan Wonderworld [Twitter] Thanks John!

The post The hits keep coming: Square Enix is taking? down the Balan Wonderworl?d demo appeared first on Destructoid.

This runs off a laserdisc, y'all

In today's contest, you can win this officially licensed Dragon's Lair x RepliCade 1/6 scale arcade cabinet!

So, how many of you remember pumping quarters into Dragon's Lair just to die, over and over and over again? I remember seeing it in arcades, but never got around to playing it, myself. Guess I saved ?my parents qui??te a bit of spare change!

New Wave Toys have taken the classic arcade cabinet and shrunk it down to just a foot?? tall -- but don't worry, as it still plays the original arcade ROM. This beauty runs on a working mini laser disc, comes complete with little tokens, and best of all, can be plugged into a TV! Fan of the original or not, this is a really awesome collector's item that you can win totally free from your pals here at Dtoid!

This is the real deal, you guys?. Officially licensed by Digital Leisure and Dragon's Lair LLC, this 1/6 scale arcade cabinet runs the original laserdisc ROM found in the arcade to perfectly recreate the classic experience, at just a foot tall! All original sights and sounds are here, plus HDTV and external joystick connectivity to enjoy the game on the big screen. Check out some official features:

• Plays the original 1983 Dragon’s Lair arcade game
• Fully functional secondary scoreboard displays player’s scores, lives, and credits
• Traditional 4:3 Aspect Ratio on a gorgeous 4.2-inch screen
• Arcade Operator’s Menu featuring dip switch settings and cabinet controls
• Miniaturized 1/6 scale control panel featuring authentic ball-top joystick and action buttons
• Cabinet constructed from premium materials: wood, metal, and plastic
• Raised letter metal coin door with storage compartment
• Illuminated marquee and LED cabinet accents
• Signature amplified multi-speaker audio reproduction with volume control
• High-resolution cabinet art reproduction on quality 3M vinyl overlays
• Built-in lithium-ion rechargeable battery
• HDTV Connectivity
• USB Controller Support
• Mini Laserdisc player replica with rear cab storage drawer
• 100 Day New Wave Factory Warranty

T??his isn't the biggest thing we've given away, but it'??s definitely one of the coolest!

New Waves Toys pulled out all the stops on this premium package, which comes with everyt?hing you see above including:

• Replica LaserDisc Player with Remote Control
• Replica LaserDisc & Sleeve
• Micro USB Charge Cable
• Replica Operator’s Manual
• 4x Mini Tokens
• Daphne Kickplate Decal

You know what to do! Use the widget to enter??, and be sure to check in daily for extra entries. Click around, follow stuff, and answer my stupid question to earn even more chances to win.

We have one unit to give away; we'll draw a winner next Friday. As this is a physical prize, you must have a United States shipping address in order to win. Rules and regulations apply, yadda yadda yadda.

The Dragon's Lair x RepliCade mini arcade cabinet is available now from New Wave Toys.

Co??ntest: Win this Dra??gon's Lair x RepliCade fully-functional mini arcade cabinet

The post Contest: Win this Dragon’s Lair x RepliCade fully-functional mini arcade cabinet appeared first on Destructoid.

Get your quarters ready

Are we about to witness a new renaissance in arcade games? Enter the Gungeon: House of the Gundead is taking a huge risk and following in the footsteps of games like Killer Queen, launching into the physical world of arcade cabinets before it ever makes it to consoles. Jonathan Holmes and I got a chance to play together on the floor at P?AX East and surprisingly didn't do too awful!

Instead of a top-down view of the gungeon, you're playing in first-person and shooting your way into various rooms of your choosing. Occasionally, you can warp back to the main room, picking up chests with new guns along the way, and eventually unlocking the boss room. The bosses and enemies are still ridiculous and fun as they are in the original Enter the Gungeon, and the dodge element is still pr??esent as well, making the game a little more dynamic than a normal shooter. 

I'm a little curious to see how the game does -- given that it comes with a hefty cost of $4,999 (which is about average for an arcade cabinet ??of this caliber) coupled?? with the wilting arcade industry.

Although we couldn't confirm it, I'm sure after its initial launch, House of the Gundead will make its way ?to consoles, but for the time being you can hopefully play ?it in your local arcade this year!

The post Enter the Gungeon: House of the Gundead is a callback to arcade shoo?ters you love appeared first on Destructoid.

Seeeeeegggaaaa (mini)

I was very lucky to have the friends and relatives I had growing up. Although my parents could only afford the occasional console, I had the opportun??ity to experience pretty much every device (including ill-fated ones like the Wonderswan and Virtual Boy), despite growing up in a mostly Ninten??do household through the mid-'90s.

Any opportunity to play with a Sega Genesis was mesmerizing and magical: to the point where I even rented one at Blockbuster (with QuackShot!) to help with the wi?thdrawals. But as time went on I didn't have to worry about missing out, as Sega put their classics on pretty much every device known to man. The Sega Genesis Mini is yet another way to play them, but manages to rise to the level of the beloved Nintendo Classic Editions to cement its place?? in Mini history.

Sega Genesis Mini
Manufacturer: Sega
Released: September 19, 2019
MSRP: $79.99

My experience with Genesis was one by proxy that I slowly acquired over time. A little bit of General Chaos at a sleepover weekend, one-sitting sessions for each Sonic game: that sort of thing. But ????even with a lifetime of playing Sega games, some frequently come along and surprise me. The Sega Genesis Mini isn't just a way to relive the glory days, it has some legitimately good games packed into it.

For reference, the unit itself sports 256MB of RAM, 512MB of flash memory, and while Sega is manufacturing the console, the famed studio M2 is?? handling the ports. The Mini is 55% of the size of the original Genesis, with dimensions of 9.8 x 3.9 x 11.8 inches and 1.93 pounds: it's extremely light and easy to carry around. The cute little volume slider doesn't work, but the reset button does (it functionally does the same thing as holding down start for four seconds, bringing up a save/reset game/return to menu screen). Similarly, the cartridge door pops open and there's a side connector door hidden underneath for aesthetic purposes.

Here's what you get in the box:

• The console
• Two controllers (which vary by region)
• USB power adapter
• Power cable
• HDMI cable

Note that unlike a few other Minis (m??ost notably the NES and PlayStation models) you get two controllers and a power adapter respectively. In other words the entire thing is playable out of the box, as it should be. So let's talk about the controllers. The Sega Genesis remotes have been judged since the dawn of the console, and the A/B/C layout isn't going to please everyone even today. I've come to terms with it given that games are actually designed with this system in mind, and the titles on offer here don't feel like they ?necessarily need more buttons, even the RPGs.

It took a bit to get used to the placement again (when I bust out an old Sega console, it's usually my Saturn or Dreamcast), but I managed to do it, and I think you can too. Sadly if you want the six-button controller variants you'll have to buy them separately, or purchase the console in Japan, where they're included. I wish Sega did this worldwide (same thing for the gaudy but glorious non-functional "Tower of Power" kit), but again, the classic controllers are fine.

The Genesis Mini menus are about what you'd expect from a Mini console: basic settings include four save slots per game (with locks so you don't delete them), six language settings (Japanese, English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Korean), two aspect ratios (4:3/16:9) with a CRT filter, and two very basic wallpapers (the third option is a black screen). The worst part is easily the "instructional manual" section, which just directs folks to a QR code for online manuals (lame), though special menu music from Yuzo Koshiro of Streets of Rage II fame is a nice?? little ??touch I wish more retro projects had.

M2 ported 42 games to this console (here's a full list), and while I would have liked to see a few more gems, I think they mostly nailed it with the selection (for reference, the NES Mini had 30 games and the SNES model had 21). Breaking them down, 24 are single player only, which is a decent spread of multiplayer with 18 games that are 1-2 players (Sonic Spinball is actually 1-4). Naturally the staples are present: Alex Kidd, Sonic 1-2, Ecco. You've seen many of them before (even recently in the case of Castlevania Bloodlines with the Castlevania Collection) in various digital and physical re-releases that even span the Amazon Fire TV, or played them on other platforms, like Earthworm Jim.

But then there's some absolute gems like Mega Man: The Wily Wars, which is kind of a big deal for collectors, and not to mention a great platformer that itself is a very rare remake of the first three Mega Man games. You also get Landstalker and Light Crusader from Treasure, the latter of which is on Steam for 99 cents. Then another gem pops up when you're scrolling like Monster World IV (from the creators of Wonder Boy in Monster World, also a part of the Genesis Mini selection) that hasn't been widely released yet. Or more obscure games like Alisia Dragoon.

I was hoping to see more wild selections like the aforementioned General Chaos, Cyborg Justice, or even more strategy representation with games like Dune. But playing so many of these popular re-releases over again, I fell back in love. Columns still rules, as does Mean Bean Machine and Tetris (albeit one of the most barebones versions of the classic), the big puzzle trio of the pack. There's beat 'em ups and shooters, and Street Fighter 2, Eternal Champions, and Virtua Fighter 2 take care of fighters.

Although Castle of Illusion has seen the light of day before (it even got a remake), World of Illusion, the fun two player co-op follow-up with Donald Duck, is a classy pick. There were several games like Dynamite Headdy that I beat in one session and couldn't put down. Again, check the list: value is in the eye of the beholder. In my exp?erience the emulation is smooth and authentic. I'm sure someone is going to say "the music for [x] is actually 5.3 BPMs slower!" but?? the games work and I didn't encounter any major bugs.

The bar for these retro flights of fancy has basically been set at "don't screw it up," (::sitcom voice:: "Sony!"), and Sega managed to clear that requirement and then some. 42 games is a hefty collection for just a?bout anyone imaginable, from older enthusiasts looking to recreate their childhood or prospective newcomers. A few menu snafus and a regional controller issue aside, I've had a blast with the Sega Genesis Mini.

_{[This review is based on a retail edition of the hardware provided by the manufacturer.]}

The post Review: Sega Genesis Mini appeared first on Destructoid.

A real SNES cartridge for your crunch-time enjoyment!

Feel the crunch on your SNES with a brand-new copy of Fork Parker's Crunch Out!

Ok, so this one is pretty cool. Three awesome groups -- Devolver Digital (awesome publisher), Mega Cat Studios (awesome dev/pub/physical producer), and Take This (awesome charitable organization increasing support for mental health in the game industry) -- have teamed up to release Fork Parker's Crunch Out, a game mocking the games industry and its relentless cycle of ??crunch and churn!

We've got a real-life working SNES copy of the game to give away -- ?come win it!

Read all about the game? below! Just don't take any time off fr??om work.

Devolver Digital CFO Fork Parker enjoyed a life of luxury and spent his days watching the profits roll in from the lucrative indie game publishing industry. However, an upstart new publishing label threatens to take his beloved market share, forcing the handsome executive to take matters into his own hands and start 'motivating' his game developers by any means necessary. Meaningless elements like "artistic integrity" and "engaging gameplay" are out the window as efficiency and deadlines now dictate t??he studio's every move - welcome to crunch time.

• Furious task management and questionable motivation tactics are your tools. Coffee, discipline, and shock treatment are all in play if your team slips off their production schedule.
• Spend your profits from each game wisely - do you invest in a new espresso machine to keep the your dev team happy or buy some winged wingtips to help you zip around the office?
• Deploy strategic power-ups, like unpaid interns working for exposure and mandatory overtime to stay on track and hit that release date.
• Take executive action in exciting and intense mini-games to keep his office in order. When the internet drops out or your beloved wife calls in, only Fork and his pet piggy bank Pork Farker can save the game and the bottom line.

This is the ki?nd of quirky, goofy stuff I love putting up for grabs. I hope you enjoy it!

To enter to win your copy, use the widget below to leave your name and email address. You can enter daily for additional chances to win. For?? bonus entries, follow Devolver, Mega Cat, and Take This on Twitter, and share our contest post with your friends.

While you're waiting for the winner to be drawn, comment below telling us your fav??orite Devolver joint. There's plenty ??of games to choose from, so don't be shy!

We have one copy between Dto?id and Nintendo Enthusiast to give away. The game ?works on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, or any modern system that can play SNES games. The system must be NTSC-compatible. As this is a physical prize, you must have a United States shipping address in order to win. Our winner will be drawn on Wednesday, April 3.

You can buy Fork Parker's Crunch Out directly from Mega Cat Studios. 100% of Devolver's profits will? go toward the Take This o?rganization.

Contest: Win an SNES copy of Fork Parker'??s Crunch Out

The post Contest: Win an SNES copy of Fork Parker’s Crunch Out appeared first on Destructoid.

Genesis Does

You never forget your first favorite controller.

Mine was a Sega Genesis controller I got from the video store my mom worked at. It was no different than any other three-button gamepad except that i??t had red lettering. I was attached to it for whatever reason, and the Genesis controller has always been my favorite since. I love the rocker d-pad, the big, clicky, comfortable buttons. Sure, the layout is definitely not ideal for some games, and the six-button controller would come later for fighting games and improve immensely on the old design, but whatever the case, between Nintendo and Sega, I will always like Sega's controllers best.

So when Retro-Bit announced a partnership with Sega to make licensed Genesis and Saturn controllers, touting "Original Grade" quality, I was skeptical, to say the least. While it has upped its game over th??e years, Retro-Bit had some dismal early offerings for third-party controllers, and th?e ones since - while much, much better - still don't match the quality of the originals, even if they are a decent alternative.

When I got a box full of these at my doorstep, I said one thing: I wouldn't go easy on them. It's one thing to say you have a new controller, and something completel?y different to call it "Original Grade." If Retro-Bit had the confidence to claim that, then it should be judged accordingly, and with extreme prejudice.

Working from the outside in, the first notable thing is the outer packaging. The Sega seal of approval, coupled with a very familiar theme and design, makes these indistinguishable from the product you would see back in the nineties. We are actually dealing with four different controllers here, in two styles each: two Sega Genesis six-button USB controllers, in transparent blue or solid black with added L and R triggers and a different mode button placement, then the same controllers but identical to their Genesis layout and design, with a nine-pin Genesis output. Then we have two Sega Saturn controllers, in a black and transparent design, with USB and original Sega Saturn controller output options. So whether you use emulators, a?? Raspberry Pi, or the original hardware, Retro-Bit has you covered.

Starting w??ith the Saturn controllers, I tested both available PC color options on various Steam games and several emulators. For the Genesis options, I tested them out on PC and on original hardware. I will start with the Saturn controllers, since I am less familiar with them having not grown up with a Saturn, and then I'll move onto ?the Genesis controllers.

The main appeal of USB-connected Saturn controllers is likely going to be fo?r fighting games. Sega had an official Saturn controller with USB output released in Japan, and this was a p??opular choice for fighting game fans scouring eBay to pick up if they were looking for a solid fighting pad.

There are many people who say that the Saturn controller is the best controller ever made. After hours spent pushi??ng this controller to its limits, I can see why; the build quality is exceptional. So far as I can tell, it feels most similar to the Japanese Saturn controller, as I seem to remember the original North American Saturn controller being bulkier in its design. 

The real king here is the d-pad. The original Japanese Saturn controller's d-pad was exceptional, and Retro-Bit's pad feels identical. Since I have several to play with, I made sure to compare them between one another. Generally speaking, I have noticed a few times small differences in quality between products ??of the same kind from third-party manufacturers, but here, that was absolutely not the case. They were all masterfully built, consistent, and as far as I can tell, spot-on to the original design, with a generous 10-foot-long cable to boot.

Though I quickly fell in love with the controller and happily played Genesis games with it, testing inputs on Saturn is, again, not exactly my forte. (Street Fighter games, for example, had flawless input every time.) So there could be minor diffe?rences at play that a hardcore Saturn fan might notice which I didn'?t.

However, this is not the case with the Sega Genesis. I grew up with those controllers. I still play Sega games on a regular basis with them. And the controllers Retro-Bit has built here are a flawless fac??simile of the original design, down to each and every important detail, in my opi??nion.

In short, they are perfect.

This is a little shocking to be honest because while I like Retro-Bit as a company, and have enjoyed some of its products, I didn't expect accuracy or build quality on this level. I played some of the toughest games at my disposal, some requiring frame-perfect input, and even did a speedrun of Ecco the Dolphin. And there was not a flaw to be found here. I don't know the manufacturing ?process behind them, but I am? convinced that Retro-Bit simply got all the molds for the original design and just built them as if they were new old stock. They are that good.

It's a first, because while there are certainly halfway ??decent third-party options out there by Hyperkin, and 8bitdo, they are shades of what this product is. If Retro-Bit can do this for NES and Super Nintendo, it would fill a large gap in the market of picky nerds looking for proper, new controller options for their favorite old game systems.

I don't have much else to say here, because half the time, I forgot I was even using a Retro-Bit controller and just fell into the games as though they were being played on original hardware. And when you find yourself doing that instead of being distracted by a clicky button,?? a squishy d-pad, or bad inputs, that is a very good thing indeed.

Retro-Bit, simply put, has developed the only aftermarket Genesis and Saturn controllers worth buying. If you love these controllers, and if your own are worn down or if you want a good USB input option, I ca?nnot recommend these highly eno??ugh.

These controllers will be available for purchase in April from Ama??zon, Lukie Games, and CastleMania Ga??mes, and will retail between $14.99 and $24.99 (for the USB versions).

_{[This review is based on a review copy provided by the manufacturer.]}

The post Review: Retro-Bit Licensed Sega Genesis/Sega Sat??urn ?Controllers appeared first on Destructoid.

Happy Happy Joy Stick

One of my favorite games in the last few years is Elite Dangerous; a boring space trucking simulator which to some is going to be about as fun as filling in an Ex?cel spreadsheet. To me though, it's a kind of magic, spacefaring bliss, a relaxing way to get away from the world and pretend I am a daring Commander at the far reaches of the galaxy...one who needs to bring a supply of tobacco from one planet to another in record time.

Seriously, I have spent well over 150 hours playing Elite. And I couldn't actually tell you what kind of "progress" I have made. I buy lots of different ships, try out lots of professions, but I wouldn't call myself "hardcore." Still, I don't seem to get tired of it, and still haven't nailed down exactly what I want to excel in. I just enjoy the second life it provides, and while I have fidd??led with plenty of control schemes, nothing has been able to beat the cheap Hotas joystick I borrowed off a fr?iend to play it with.

Until, that is, I got a slightly-more-expensive joystick, the T.16000M FCS Hotas by Thrustmaster, which is practically made for Elite, and shows in every possible way, with a few head-?scratchin?g nitpicks.

T.16000M FCS HOTAS
Manufacturer: Thrustmaster
MSRP: $149.99

The one thing my old setup lacked was a few key buttons. Elite has a ton of controls. Many of them you won't use frequently enough for them to matter, but learning Elite and its function buttons on a standard controller is an?? absolute nightmare in the beginning. So the first and most immediate quality-of-life function this setup provided me was an absolute slew of buttons, with a bunch of them not preset to anything in particular. Immediately, I was unsatisfied with the default settings for this stick and wanted to customize it. But this can't be leveraged as a complaint; everyone plays their flight sims differently, and for the most part, Thrustmaster's defaults are not bad. But I can't imagine anyone getting one of these and NOT wanting to change it to some degree.

And there are tons of options here. The stick itself - which was a standalone product as evidenced by its slider which is practically useless when paired with the throttle since it serves the same function - has enough buttons to do practically anything. The hat switch is used by default for both navigational/menu settings, as well as to control power distribution between engines, weapons, and shields in Elite, and it feels extremely natural. Firegroups are controlled with one of the buttons on the top of the stick, as are secondary weapons, and of course, the trigger is your primary fir?e button, and also selects items in the menu. As such, you can perform the most basic functions with just the stick, and theoretically, you could play the game entirely that way if you were comfortable navigating the keyboard.

For VR players, this is probably not going to be a great option, and that's where the throttle comes into play. It has several buttons, toggles, hat switches, and even a fully analog stick on the back end, which can be used reasonably comfortably to handle left and right, as well as up and down thrusting. The toggle on the back end is tied to Supercruise and your Frame Shift Drive, and the back "pedal" buttons, a gigantic trigger on a pivot is used for...me?nu navigation?

Why? I couldn't really tell you. It feels like it would be better for left and right thru??st, but coupled with the analog stick, it would be very awkward. It seems like these triggers are wasted space for me so far, and are ultimately sort of awkward. Considering you have two hat switches that are entirely free on the throttle to allocate to whichever functions you wish, at the very least you do have plenty of ways to play with this, but that was the most awkward part of the whole thing for sure.

The thruster is set at zero when at its lowest position. Elite has reverse thrusting, and ?on the o??ther stick I used, the thruster being at the middle position was actually zero, and pulling it back further meant the ship going into reverse thrust. Here, you have a button to toggle reverse thrust, which I also found a bit awkward initially, but kinda got used to.

The stick feels absolutely fantastic. Yaw controls, and stick controls in general, were incredibly smooth, responsive, and 1:1 for what was happening on-screen. I was incredibly pleased by the way the stick felt, and the fact that it has removable hand rests to allow for lefties? to have a better time is a nice accessibility feature. It's a very plastic stick, but these lighter materials allow for a reduced overall cost.

For me, this is the absolute perfect, pinnacle way to play Elite. Although in my time with the T.16000M I never tested any other software, even the orange lighting and color scheme suggests very clearly what this unit was designed to do best. And I will shamelessly tout it as the best, most reasonably priced way to play Elite without any major concessions. Just let it be known that you will spend some time in the configuration menu - but it's Elite Dangerous. You are doomed to do that regardless of what control method you choose. I personally can't imagine playing Elite any other way at this point.

_{[This assessment is based on a retai?l build of the hardware provided by the manufacturer.]}

The post Review: T.16000M FCS Hotas appeared first on Destructoid.

Assassin's Feed

Did you know there's an Assassin's Creed board game in the works? I didn't. It's being made by a team of ex-Ubisoft developers, and it looks like it's loosely based on the game V-Commandos, which has been compared to video games like Commandos or Shadow Tactics. ??Basically, you control of team of assassins, each with his or her own special abilities, sneaking around, stealth killing dudes. Seems like a perfect fit for the franchise, right?

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood of Venice is on Kicks?tar??ter right now with six days left in the campaign, but it's already far surpassed its initial funding goal of about $100,000. At almost seven times the goal and still climbing, it has added a ton of stretch goals already. This thing is going to be just littered with plastic figures, including a giant tower! Yes, I will physically push the little people off it during a game.

It's almost serendipitous that we're hearing about this today, because the team plans to do a live stream of gameplay using a prototype. That's going on right now on the Kickstarter page.

The post Watch a live stream for the Assassin’s Creed board game right now appeared first on Destructoid.

Rub your head on the ceiling in plastic and cardboard

It's difficult to believe it's been seven years since Halfbrick's fantastic runner Jetpack Joyride originally released, but there it is. Time flies. I'm gett??ing so old.

It's also maybe a little difficult to fathom that a bite-sized phone game that has come and gone years ago is now getting the board game treatment. But that's exactly what's happening, because the Kickstarter for Jetpack Joyride (the board game) surpassed i?ts goal the day it launched. Here we are now with fewer than six hours left in the campaign, so I figured I'd let you all know in case you're interested in getting in before it closes.

It's especially interesting to see a video game focused on action? and reflexes translated to a format more often associated with careful planning and taking turns. Of course, this game eschews those conventions, going for a real-time free-for-all sort of design. It also transfers over some of the bits that made the original game so replayable: rota??ting challenges that ask you to do more than just get to the end.

Jetpack Joyride (the board game) is set to release next year.

The post Jetpack ?Joyride board game in fi??nal hours of Kickstarter appeared first on Destructoid.

The next great Japanese developer is about to make its name known

Cygames had a rather unassuming booth at this year's E3. Actually, "booth" would be the wrong word to describe it. It was a cubicle, hidden in plain sight with the other cubicles that ?filled the concourse of the Los Angeles Convention Center. It didn't need a big, flashy booth because it wasn't at E3 to hype the media up for an upcoming game. Rather, after years of getting its feet firmly planted in the mobile realm, this appearance at E3 was its way of laying the groundwork for what's to come. Sort of a tune-up of its seven trumpets.

David McCarthy, Director of Western Marketing for Cygames, was on hand to walk me through two of its games currently in development. While I can't tell you about everything I saw, I will say when I walked out of that hour-long meeting, my body warm from the sake I was served, I knew I had witnessed t??he birth of the ne??xt great Japanese developer.

Cygames put out its first game, the mobile title Rage of Bahamut, in 2011. Since then, the company has developed more than two dozen games. Almost all of them have been Japan-exclusive mobile titles. The few non-mobile games it's been a part of have been smaller projects like Wondership Q and one of those Idolmaster games. One of the few games from the company to release worldwide has worked out well. Shadowverse, a mobile CCG, made more than $100 million in its first year on the market and has become its own esport in Japan. This year the company is set to release Dragalia Lost in a partnership with Nintendo.

"We've had one big hit nearly every year since the company's been in existence, " McCarthy told me as he set up our first demonstration. "It's given us quite a prominence in Japan. In Japan, the company is very well know?n and has a solid reputation for delivering quality games. But not many people know about us outside of Japan."

Its biggest hit to date is Granblue Fantasy, a free-to-play gacha RPG that has spawned its ??own festival in Japan held in the same venue where the Tokyo Game Show is hosted every year. Since establishing itself several y??ears ago, the company has branched out into anything and everything the company's CEO finds interesting.

"Our CEO is just a guy who likes stuff and does what he likes," McCarthy explained. "We sponsor Juventus, which is one of the biggest soccer teams in the world. We sponsor a Street Fighter team because guys in our company like beat'em ups. We sponsor EVO, we sponsor a Magic the Gathering team because we have Magic players on staff working on Shadowverse. We do anime, manga, merchandise, live-action dramas; it's a very interesting com?pany."

McCarthy considers Cygames a creator-led company, something that will do it well going forward as it tries to expand its reach west with big, beautiful console games. One of the two titles in the works from the developer is Granblue Fantasy Project Re:Link. The game, currently planned for release on the PlayStation 4, is a collaboration between Cygames and another creator-led company, PlatinumGames. The title is still early in development, but what has been shown of it is absolu??tely breathtaking.

"This game really brings to life the mobile RPG," McCarthy said. "The mobile game is mostly static images and text, but this is what you'd imagine that world to look like. What we're hoping is Granblue Fantasy -- which has a rich story, rich characters, and rich setting -- ?we're hoping that by tying that together with PlatinumGames' action expertise we're going to come up with something that'll appeal to people worldwide."

McCarthy was scarce with more details for Project Re:Link. We do know Cygames is aiming to launch the title in Japanese, English, French, and a few other languages at the same time. Other than the video above, that's all the information they had to offer. As that trailer made its debut at last year's Granblue Fantasy festival, I wouldn't be surprised if we find out more ??at this year's event.&nbs?p;

The second title on display during my appointment was Project Awakening. This game has actually been known about for some time, but is, as McCarthy described it, about 1% developed at the moment. It's being headed up by one of the creators of the Fox Engine used in the most recent Metal Gear Solid titles. The team of development veterans making the game is taking a "best of both worlds" approach, marrying the conce??pts that drive western-style RPGs with the delicious action combat Japan has spent the past 30 years perfecting.

Unfortunately, I can't tell you much more than that. The game is still years away from completion and the video I was shown of it -- featuring a man fighting a dragon-type beast -- would be difficult, but not impossible, to create on moder??n console hardware. For as brief of this presentation was, I can't get one aspect of it out of my head: the man in the teaser video. I don't know if he's the lead character or something the player will be able to create, has a look about him I don't regularly see in gaming.

He doesn't look cool -- or at least attempts to like the new design of Devil May Cry 5's Nero -- and he doesn't come across as some gruff, harde?ned soldier. He's average looking in a w?ay I don't usually see in gaming, like if the actor who played Neville Longbottom stopped trying to appear sexy in gay magazines and instead spent his time plowing the land and churning butter. McCarthy spoke at length on how Cygames prides itself on its art and, having become accustomed to most Japanese-developed games sporting similar looking, almost interchangeable, characters, it's absolutely refreshing to see a developer go against the grain and give us this remarkably unremarkable everyman.

Cygames is on the verge of something big. With Project Awakening and Granblue Fantasy Project Re:Link -- as well as other, undisclosed titles the developer is working on --the company is investing time, money, and effort into creating games that can dominate consoles the same way it's dominated the mobile market. Remember the name Cygames ??now, because in a few years, you won't be able to ignore it.

The post Cygames has conquered mobile: Now it’s coming for consoles appeared first on Destructoid.

Taiwan in the '80s, here we come!

For those unaware, Detention was the first release from Taiwan-based developer Red Candle Games. It was a terrifying and extremely atmospheric point and click adventure set in 1960s Taiwan, during a time period known as the “White Terror.”

Now, for the newly announced Devotion, it would seem Red Candle Games is stick?ing to what they know best; their own native country, psychological horror, and atmospheric storytelling?. Once again returning to the setting of Taiwan, Devotion will have you puzzle solving and immersing yourself in an '80s Taiwanese lifestyle, all presented from a first-person perspective and in a realistic 3D art style.

“The story centers around a seemingly ordinary family of three t??hat lived in an old apartment complex. Explore the nostalgic house in the 80s where religion plays a significant role in their daily life. When one day the same house that once filled with joy and love had turned into a hell-like nightmare, and by venturing in the haunted and confined space, each puzzle leads you closer to the mysteries nes??ted deep inside.”

As of this writing, no platforms or release date have been announced. Personally, despite the teaser trailer not showing much, I'm very interested in how the studio approaches? this game. Specifically in how they might adapt what they've already done with Detention, but now in a first-person 3D space, enhancing the new art?? dir??ection.

Det??ention studio announces first-person horror game Dev??otion [Gematsu]

The post The studio behind Detention have announced their new first-p??erson horror game, Devotion appeared first on Destructoid.

Alexa, cross the rickety bridge

It may not be quite as versatile as the version Keegan-Michael Key showed off during Bethesda's E3 presentation, but Skyrim Very Special Edition is a very real, very playable game.  

Two paths lay before you, a spooky lighthouse and a Nord village. Which way do you go? This was the first question Alexa asked me as my adventure through Skyrim began. Naturally, I proceeded to the lighthouse, and before I knew it, I was slowly dulling out voice commands and moving deeper and deeper into this incredibly peculiar, choose-your-own-adventure version of Skyrim. 

Skyrim Very Special Edition 
Developer: Bethesda
Publisher: Bethesda
Released: June 10, 2018
MSRP: Free 

Credit has to be given to Bethesda here. They may have dragged the "Skyrim on everything" joke out behind the shed and put it out of its misery, but like any good comedian working with a tired punchline, they really committed to the bit. Skyrim Very Special Edition may not be much, however, you ca??n tell some work went into the project?, and the self-aware writing is the best part of it. 

Alexa makes comments about how you ignore the useless items in the inventory of the mudcrabs you've slain and how a feral Kahjiit looks at you like a ball of yarn, which I guess makes sense. There'??s even a joke buried in her??e about the old arrow to the knee bit, just in case you were worried that we finally put that one to bed. 

Encounters play out like an old-school text adventure. Y?ou're presented with two paths, and you choose which way you want to go. Randomized dungeons play out in the same fashion -- they all lead to the inevitable ending encounter -?- but selecting the rickety rope bridge over the windy plateau might lead to you facing off against a fledgling mage as opposed to a bandit. 

When you enter a combat encounter, you're given four choices: attack with a weapon, cast spell, use shut, or flee. You pick your move and the robotic dungeon master rolls some invisi??ble dice and tells you the results. Unfortunately, yelling "Fos Ro Dah" doesn't actually do anything in this version. Such a missed opportunity that one is.

You can play Skyrim Very Special Edition on any device capable of using Amazon Alexa, such as your Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, or even via your smartphone using the Alexa app. Merely tell Alexa to play Sky??rim, and you'll be slaying Falmer in no time. 

Skyrim Very Special Edition is a weird joke that just might have gone a little too far, but you have to respect Bethesda for sticking to the bit. Considering it'?s free there really is no reason for someone with a compatible de??vice not to check it out, even if just for a quick laugh. 

If you're expecting a fleshed out and full experience, prepare to be disappointed. That's not what this is, but if you're down to have a robot lady describe a fight with a saber-toothed cat to you and then talk a lot about the Forsworn, this is for you. Skyrim Very Special Edition is a unique experie??nce and the strangest fucking ?thing I've ever had the pleasure of reviewing.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the free-to-play game.]}

The post Review: Skyrim Very Special Edition appeared first on Destructoid.

Form over function

The Pocket Sprite looks like something that couldn't have existed 20 years ago. The miniature console resembles a Game Boy Color but is only about 1/6th the size. It started as a self-challenge by its designer to see how small he could compress the tech ins??ide and sti??ll have a functioning console. It looks great and, taken from a purely technical point of view, it's a triumph of technology. Unfortunately, if you actually want to play games on this thing, you're going to be disappointed.

Pocket Sprite
Developer: Pocket Sprite
Release: Begins shipping May 15, 2018
MSRP: $55 (Price will become $65 after crowdfunding is completed)

There's an old story I re?member my grandparents telling me, one that dates back to vaudeville days. A man had taught a dog to ride a bicycle and was trying to book his act with a theater. The dog was having trouble staying on the bike, and frequently fell off or crashed into obstacles. Still, the dog act became famous as it was something people had never seen before. Sometimes it's less impressive that an act is performed well than that it's performed at all.

I thought about that story a lot while I was playing with the Pocket Sprite. The console is less than half the size of a business card and about the thickness of a DVD case. You could easily cover the device entirely with a standard Game Boy cartridge. It charges via USB rather than requiring batteries, and the internal power lasts considerably longer than your old Game Boy that would just suck down those double-As. The overall quality of the buttons and other components is solid. The system looks great, and it's impressive when yo?u're showing it off, but you probably won't want to spend more than a few minutes at a time playing with it.

Let's start with the good stuff the Pocket Sprite does. It has built-in emulators for the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Sega's Game Gear and Master System consoles. The screen is backlit at all times, and the internal battery lasts for hours without needing a recharge. It's not too hard to upload ROMs to the system using the included USB cable, though you'll need to connect the dev??ice to wi-fi in order to transfer data. The system menu is fairly easy to figure out, and games you load onto the device can be suspended and restored by tapping the menu button on top of the console. It's also open source, meaning it's possible to add other emulators for consoles like the Nintendo Entertainment System or anything else that doesn't require more than two buttons.

The Pocket Sprite's greatest strength is also its biggest downfall. The mai?n selling point is unquestionably how teeny-tiny it is, and it comes with a little strap so you can attach it to your keys or dangle it off your phone. It does a great job of grabbing people's attention, and if you pull it out in public you'll become the focal point of everyone in the room. The problem is, it's too small to act as a functional console. It does everything the developers say ?it will, but the dimensions of the device make playing with it annoying at best.

I loaded up several types of games to see how the Pocket Sprite would handle them. The tiny D-pad and buttons work OK, but trying to play anything which requires precision is an exercise in frustration. The D-pad is simply too small to register inputs accurately. There's no way to know if you're pushing right, up-right, or down-right until it's too late in most cases. This rules out most action games and platformers, and unfortunately, it even makes playing Tetris nearly impossible. 

Of course, there are lots of other genres represented on the Game Boy, and I thought perhaps the Pocket Sprite would handle a turn-based game better. The console comes with a version of 2048 already installed, after all. It does handle games of this nature better than action titles, but here I ran into a different problem. Most turn-based games are RPGs (like Dragon Quest or Pokémon) which have significant amounts of text onscreen. The problem here is that the text is so tiny it either becomes undecipherable or causes eyestrain after a few minutes trying to read it. Puzzlers like Picross aren't much better since it's too hard to read the numbers surrounding the grid. It's neat having a screen you can literally cover with a postage stamp, but games designed for a display nearly 10 times bigger ten??d to be illegible?.

Unfortunately, the problems with the display aren't limited to the device's minuscule size. The small OLED screen is 25 x 22 millimeters, cropped to a 5:4 ratio. The Game Boy's native resolution was 160 x 144 pixels, but the Pocket Sprite's screen is 96 x 64 pixels, and the ratios don't work out properly. The screen's dimensions end up cutting off some horizontal lines near the bottom of the display, which is usually where text appears in an RPG. It's also the most important part of the screen if you're trying to play something like Tetris. I couldn't find a way to change the resolution of the display, ?though it's possible someone will hack it in eventually. For n?ow, the missing scanlines make the system difficult to recommend.

The audio on the system is similarly compromised. The Game Boy was one of the first consoles ever to feature stereo sound, and the system is still used by chiptune artists to create music even today. The Pocket Sprite has a small ??speaker in the lower right, just like the Game Boy. Unf??ortunately, it lacks a headphone jack, and music coming out of the speaker sounds tinny and compressed. This is compounded by the fact that you'll almost certainly be covering up the speaker with your thumb as you play. There's an option in the menu to turn the sound off completely, and I ended up doing so fairly soon after booting up the console.

The Pocket Sprite is a cool proof-of-concept, demonstrating how far miniaturization tec?hnology has progressed. It's a neat party trick, not unlike that dog on the bicycle. It does what it says it does, and it's undeniably impressive to see it in action. But it's all for show, a textbook example of form dominating function. Ultimately, the Pocket Sprite is just too damn small for its?? own good. 

_{[This review is based on a preview version of the syst?em provide??d by the manufacturer.]}

The post Review: Pocket Sprite appeared first on Destructoid.

...And it can't get up

As we move forward in board gaming's cur????rent golden age, new games are coming out at an incredible pace. Even so, many provide only new dressing on existing ideas. Once in a while, something comes along that feels so new and different, it invents a genre. We saw it in 2008 with deck-building, then again in 2011 with the legacy concept.

To be fair, legacy games haven't exploded since Risk Legacy introduced permanence and destruction to a community that values keeping its entertainment in pristine shape, able to be played as originally intended in perpetuity. It wasn't until the past couple years we saw titles like Pandemic Legacy and Gloomhaven release.

But SeaFall was the one I was most excited for. Heck, it was my most anticipated game of 2015 (never mind that it eventually released in 2016). It was going to be the first fully original legacy design (where Risk and Pandemic are already things that existed before their legacy versions) and so it would be desi??gned from the ground up with a persistent campaign in mind.

It looked like it would meet my lofty expectations in the? beginning, but holy cow did it fall apart the furthe??r in we got.

SeaFall (Tabletop)
Designer: Rob Daviau
Publisher: Plaid Hat Games
Released: October 2016
MSRP: $79.99

SeaFall's first misstep happens before the box is even opened. It describes itself as being "4X-inspired," taking place across a vast uncharted sea during the age of sail. The 4X inspiration seems clear during the early games. There are four groups of actions a player can take, each represented by one?? of four different guilds.

The Explorer's Guild is the easiest to tie to one of the four Xs: explore. At the beginning of the campaign, ther??e ??are a handful of nearby islands, each with unknown sites ripe for discovery. Soon into the campaign, new islands with new special rules can be discovered as well.

The Builder's Guild actions are SeaFall's representat?ion of the second X: expand. By using money earned and goods traded for?, players can increase the capabilities of their ships and provinces.

The Merchant's Guild covers the th??ird X: exploit. By taking advantage of discovered island sites, players can set up trade routes to earn money and buy treasures.

The Soldier's Guild takes care of the ?final X: exterminate. Rather than peacefully trading with the locals, players can take what they want through force, but with this option comes the risk of failure and more resistance from the targets over the course of a campaign.

In theory, a winning strategy would be to dip into each of the four different guilds when the opportunities arise. And for the first?? few games, that idea works. There are several unlockable boxes that open up when certain conditions are met, and the first co??uple have something for everybody, regardless of which X is the preferred path to gaining glory points.

About one third of the way through the fifteen or so games that make up a campaign, that balance goes off the rails in a big way. Games end when one player reaches a target score, so it's a race to ge??t there. Eventually, the only viable way to keep up is through exploration, which results in huge swings of points, sometimes awarding as much as half the target score, and other times awarding nothing. Favoring one of the other guilds is a way to definitely lose, but favoring exploration still leaves fa??te up to chance.

One of the problems with this change in tempo is that it happens far enough into a campaign it may be counter to a player's initial long-term strategy, and that person will be playing catchup in terms of upgrades. After each game, players can improve their ships in one of four categ??ories, and if somebody bumps exploration early on, it grants a huge advantage later.

Speaking of catchup, there is a mechanism in place that offers a bit of rubber banding, but it's far too weak compared to the benefits a player gains for winning. Players who are behind the leader in total campaign glory points start the next game with bonus gold or resources, but winners can get the same through permanent upgrades. While the catchup mechanics may allow people trailing to eke out a victory later on, it does nothing to allow for a comeba??ck. Our campaign saw a severe runaway leader, where the overall winner was pretty clear halfway through -- and we still had about eight more games to play to see the end.

And these aren't short games. With a fully stacked game of five players, we had games last as long as five hours apiece. The irony is that while each game took way too long time-wise, the race-to-the-finish aspect of it and huge sw??ings in glory awards made it seem all too short turn-wise. Since the game ends abrupt?ly and sometimes with little warning, one could have a three-or-four-turn plan dashed and be left scrambling trying to find a way to scrounge up just a point or two in the last moments.

Something went awry in the development or testing, because in an early designer diary, Rob Daviau mentions that a typical game should last 12-to-15 tur?ns. We had one game go as long as 12 turns; most later games ended o??n turn 6 or 7. It's just enough time for somebody to get a windfall of points from some exploration target, but not enough to build an engine or feel accomplished.

If you're one to skip ahead to see the review score and then leave a comment, well, you won'??t?? see this paragraph. But on the off chance you do, know this: if I had rated this game after having only played one or two sessions, I would have given it an eight.

For a while, this game invaded my psyche, almost like an infection. In between sessions, I spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about strategies, plann?ing my opening moves, emailing the other people trailing behind the lead?er in an attempt to find a way to catch up, and even mathing out how we could most effectively gang up on the leader. I probably had more fun in between games thinking about it than during games actually playing it.

In the beginning, there is so much excitement when unlocking new content and rules, so much hope for where this story is going to take us all. By the end, all of those unknowns are crystallized into what SeaFall actually is, and all?? the wonder associated with it is lost, because it does not live up to the perhaps-unfair expectations I had in my h?ead.

It does some inventive things and contains some amazing moments, but i??t's such a slog to get through that the magic is gone by the time we closed up the box for good.

The post Review: SeaFall appeared first on Destructoid.

Size matters

Official controllers come in one shape, and one size. Most of us either aren't bothered by the fact, or have learned to work around it over the years. Being in the former camp, I've never really considered the need to help extend the grip of my standard controllers - after all, I have the small, soft hands of a pampered middle schooler. But the need is out there for some folks to find solutions that don't give their han?ds cramps during extended gaming sessions.

Enter Playbudz, a? company a??iming to find solutions to crampy hands with their rubber grip extenders. Just take note that your mileage may vary depending on the size of your paws.

Product: Playbudz Grip Extenders
Manufacturer: Playbudz
MSRP: $14.99

At 5'9", I'm not exactly a tall guy. I have the not-exactly-a-tall-guy's hands to match. So when I first got the rubber grips that essentially look like giant spur tips for a bass drum, I was a little skeptical. I also figured that in all fairness, I should get a report from a person who doesn't have to get a chair to reach the top shelf in his kitchen cabinet. So I'll provide some thoughts from th??e ground floor, and I'll have Token Tall Friend Eric report from the clouds.

First off, the extenders are essentially rubber tubes that slide over the grips of your controller. They're one size and are?? purported to fit most standard PlayStation and Xbox controllers from the past couple of generations, as well as Nintendo's Pro series of controllers for the Wii U and Switch. I tested mine out on my Dual?Shock 4 and Xbox 360 gamepad, and while it's a bit of an initial squeeze to get the suckers on there, they do stay pretty firmly in place once on. I didn't do any real switching back and forth between the two controllers, but with the different shape of the grips between the two models, the rubber seems like it would eventually loosen to lose its grip on the smaller of the two. It's something to look out for if you do plan on using the grips for more than one system.

As?? for the feel of the grips themselves, they do as advertised and provide extra room for your hands to hang onto the controller. As previously stated, I have very small, very un-presidential hands, so the design of the PlayStation 4 controller is already more than enough for me. While the grips were on, I didn't feel any real discomfort of any kind; the rubber used for the product is soft and provided just enough traction to keep my pinkie and ring finger from sliding around anywhere. And having that little extra bit to cling onto on the lower half of my hand helped me to relax my?? grip a bit, giving a less strenuous experience.

Unfortunately for me, the added length on the handle of the controller actually had the effect of spreading out my hand more than was comfortable. Hitting the face buttons and handling the sticks was no less of a task while using the grip extenders, but when I needed to use the shoulder butto??ns I found my index and middle fingers really having to reach much farther than they otherwise would. Having my hands wrap around the controller's natural grips and having my back fingers rest while not using the triggers comes naturally; adding extra grip spreads out my middle finger from my ring finger, making the extra reach a bit of a chore. It not only made me less responsive to the buttons when on them, but slightly increased the time it took me to find them. I stick mainly to single-?player games and co-op for multiplayer, so it was never exactly a dealbreaker for me. But if you're a competitive gamer with small hands like me, I can see this having an effect on twitch-based gameplay.

All in all, it's a product I'm sure will help some gamers, but wound up being a detriment to how I grip and play w?ith a controller. I have a hunch that those with bigger hands will get much more use out of this, but I'll let a representative of tall people everywhere speak on the matter.

Eric White

Background: I am 6'4", and on the surface I seem to? be the target market for these controller extenders. I have above-average sized hands, and though I’ve never had an issue using my PlayStation 4 controller, these extenders seemed to want to solve a problem that I didn’t have. In the end, they showed me that I had a small problem I never knew about??.

When Wes handed me this product for testing, I’ll admit - I laughed. It's just two ??little hobknobs that stick to the end of my controller. I couldn’t fathom ever walking throu?gh a store and immediately being drawn towards making a buying decision on sight.

Installing was a breeze. The two extenders simply slide on your controller handles and you can adjust to your comfort. When I grabbed the controller and begin to play, I felt strange.  Without looking at my hands, it felt like I was holding a new controller. I awkwardly ran through some Madden 18 and had trouble playing defense. As time went on my comfort increased to the point where I ?felt almost normal h?olding the controller.

I still couldn’t tell exactly what was different about using these extenders until I looked at my hands. Where I usually have to grip the contro??ller with my middle ??and ring fingers:

I was now gripping the c?ontroller with my ring and pinky fi?ngers without making a conscious choice.

As a result, my hands felt freer and more mobile while holding the controller, and I had an easier time reaching buttons I normally have to adjust my whole grip to hit. Was it game-changing? No. But as silly as the pr?oduct seemed at first glance, I understood the benefit and real??ized some of the small difficulties I have been ignoring while gaming.

The good:

• Simple to install and adjust.
• Has a noticeable affect on how you grip the controller.

The bad:

• Looks awkward and clunky on the controller.
• The material used tends to cause dirt and dust to easily stick to the extenders, and may need to be cleaned regularly.

In summary, if you can ignore the aesthetically-challenged part of the product, it does have some benefit. These aren&rsquo??;t just for us tall folk - take a look at how you hold your controller the next time you play. If you find your pinkies hovering as if it were tea time,? you may be interested in these extenders.

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

The post Review: Playbudz Grip Extenders appeared first on Destructoid.

It's gone. Gone forever. *weeps softly*

Back up your saves. Dust all your consoles. Buy protectors and scratch-proof cases. Eject your discs properly. Choose life.

??That's what all the clever clogs say, sometimes chastising you while you grieve. But some of us like to live life on the edge?. And then we have to deal with the consequences.

When you have a finite amount of time and money with which to play games, prob?lems with your hardware or twenty-hour save files that vanish into the ether can be a real sour note. If you're someone like me, who gets easily bored by repetition and replaying the exact same parts of games with the exact same outcomes, corrupted save files can be ruinous. I seek solace, though, in the fact that something similar has happened to nearly everyone and we can wallow in our misery together.

So, what tragic tales do I have to tell abou??t consoles consigned to the rubbish dump and lost progress? Pull up a pew, for I have quite a collection...

1. The "mouse poop Mega Drive" (Sonic 3, Columns, Aladdin, 2008)

Pretty self-expla??natory, actually, but my job is to regale you with a story, so let's have at it.

One thing that has stayed pretty constant between 16-year-old me and 26-year-old me is the crippling fear of tiny, scurrying things with wormy tails. I?t is my worst nightmare to go up into our loft an??d see a bunch of beady eyes staring back at me, pleading for food. I saw a rat at a garden centre once and nearly fainted. I hate the bastards.

My childhood home backs onto fields, so right on cue during my important school exams, we got an infestation of field mice in our attic. My mum found out because they apparently held nightly raves while wearing teeny-tiny clogs, and what she at first thought was the wind became your average Saturday night at the Haçienda. We just used our attic space for storag?e, rather than as a room we regularly accessed, which is why we never caught ?it earlier.

My parents spent the best part of six months running a makeshift rodent funeral home, armed to the teeth with garbage bags and gardening gloves, all while keeping it a secret from my very small sister and keeping me in the dark until my exams were over, lest I flunk out of the local comp from the trauma. By then, they had chewed through a whole bunch of our possessions, including important documents and a bag in which my aunt's Sega Mega Drive was carefully stowed away, along with cartridges of Sonic 3, Columns and Aladdin.

At the time, I shrugged the loss of the Mega Drive off. Sure, my formative years playing games centered around that console and watching my aunt battle against Eggman Nega, occasionally playing as Tails (the curse of the younger relative). But by that time, I was too busy listening to At the Drive-In, and dabbling in pungent perfume and bad eyeliner, to give it a second thought. It's only now that losing such a relic of my childhood really stings. I might get another Mega Drive at some point, but it'll take a while to get o?ver the irritation of something so importa??nt ending up on a landfill site.

2. The "re-animator" (2014, Pokémon Yellow, Game Boy Color)

This story starts with my ill-fated move to Trier for an internship in the summer of 2014, right at the start of my expat days in Germany. I made the trip with just a big suitcase and a stuffed backpack, which carried all the essentials I needed to emigrate. So, of course, I brought my lime-green Game Boy Color and a selection of cartridges for it. Sure, I didn't really play games at that point, but somehow, it felt like it would be important to me.

I was sitting on the balcony in my flat-share, starting up a game of my old friend, Pokémon Yellow, much to the bemusement of my room-mate and his visitor. (Retro-gaming was TOTALLY naff at that point.) I would chat with them a bit, and then glance back at the screen. Only to notice that the screen was off. I presumed I must have nudged the off-switch when setting it down on the bench but, lo and behold,?? every time I switched it on, it died after two minutes, colour draining from th?e crystals like blood draining from a corpse's face.

It was sad to see an old PAL suffer (groan), so I switched to another game with a heavy heart. The cart is still sitting on my shelf and I have hope that it's a battery issue. I don't know what I'm doing when it comes to fixing carts, so anything more complicated than that would?? be past the point of no return.? 

And, of course, I could buy a new cartridge for dirt-cheap or emulate. But eight-year-old me begged and cried and threw some frankly epic tantrums to get my Game Boy Color and a copy of Pokémon Yellow. I'm not giving up on you, old boy!

3. The "TEN. FUCKING. HOURS." (2015, Persona 4, PS3)

Most fans of the Shin Megami Tensei series would probably say that Persona 4 is a triumph. Not so much its sa?ve system, though.

I got the PS3 emulation of the vanilla version late 2015, completely unaware of a bug that can eat your save files. It's pretty well-documented online that saving comes with a risk of borking half your files on both the PS2 and PS3 version??s, and there was never a fix. And it happened to yours truly.

In total, I lost about ten hours of progress from my file being swallowed. I was beyond furious, but by that time I was so invested in the series (having ploughed 70-ish hours into Persona 3 a couple of months previously) that I soldiered on and started up a new game. From then on, I watched carefully for whether the save pop-up said "save successful", and made sure to save regularly and in multiple?? slots. It wasn't just the bug that screwed me over, but absolutely rookie save practices that I've since corrected. I think it even happened to me again after that first calamity, but I got lucky and rebooting my console made the file miraculously start working again.

Stil??l, Atlus, if you're going to put out a story-dense JRPG that leeches hundreds of hours from its devoted fans, at least get the chuffing save system right.

Save file corruption aren't the only "accidents" in the SMT series. Stupid Igor.

4. The "ill-fated hard-drive swap" (2017, Yakuza 5, PS3)

This one is sheer stupidity more than any of the others on this list. This time last year, I decided to swap out the hard drive on my rickety old PS3. The original hard-drive was a not-too-shabby 120GB (or 160GB? I forget), but it was choking under the heft of my Yakuza 5 digital download. Having discovered that the slimline models were easy to mod and could function well with even SSDs of up to 1.5TB, I got myself a 1TB SATA (yeah, I'm cheap), a screwdriver, and dug?? in.

To be fair, I did TRY to back up my data to an external hard-drive. I also had PS Plus to back up my saves, but on my old UK account, not the German a?ccount I had started using. When I tried to do the physical back-up, it was taking hours upon hours. I am a busy woman. As far as I could remember, all that was on the original hard drive was finished saves I had no intention of returning to.

Remember that Yakuza 5 download I mentioned? Y?eah... that was unfinished.

I was just at the point where Saejima is back in Sapporo, ready to kick some murderer arse after years in prison and surviving snowy wilderness after his Shawshank moment. I thoroughly detested that mountainside village section of the game, and rushed th??rough it as fast as I could. It bored me so, so very much. The thought of going through that again when I have so many other games sitting on my shelves just doesn't seem palatable – I've tried to start a new game, but not got very far. So, my haphazard console modification ruined one of Sega's finest series for me. Probably not forever, but for the time being.

What are your personal save-file/hardware tragedies? How did you recover from them? Let me know in the comments down below!

The post Game Over: a lame?nt on broken?? hardware and corrupted save files appeared first on Destructoid.

Have you ever been gifted a game riper than a Christmas Eve camembert?

When giving gifts at Christmas, it is the t?hought that counts. Especially in the time of trophies and achievements, unwrapping a mediocre game from a well-meaning great-aunt who asked the nice shop assistant for recommendations is not a big deal at all. However, it's still possible for a gift to be such a misfire that you wonder why your poor relative didn't just make life easier for themselves and get you a voucher. Or nothing at all.

When it comes to my Christmas duds, I cannot palm the responsibility for past Christmas disappointments off onto anyone else. All of the games that left a bitterer taste in my mouth than mushy Brussel sprouts did so because I did poor research when putting together my Christmas list, and Santa dutifully complied with what I had scribbled down. Now I (mostly) know better than to buy licensed games just because of the franchise they are attached to, or ??to buy a game because the cover is pretty. But that has been a toug?h lesson to learn.

So, which shoddy games did I struggle through with a sour face, one childhood Christmas Day? Keep reading, a??nd contribute yours ?in the comments!

1. The Simpsons Skateboarding (PS2, 2002)

As you can probably tell from the header image, I am that asshat who thinks it's clever to make Simpsons references several times a day. Well, I know it's asshat behaviour, but it's become so natural, I can't help myself anymore. So I did get suckered into purchasing a fair amount of dodgy Simpsons? merchandise, though thankfully not all of it.

Many Simpsons fans regard The Simpsons Wrestling as their nemesis, referring to the total inability to have any sort of functional wrestling bout, overpowered moves and characters, and toe-curling dialogue. I actually enjoyed the game a little (just a little) as a wee bairn. The one game that I couldn't stand was The Simpsons Skateboarding.

For the most part, I found the game unplayable. Grinding was a chore, eschewing the fluid movements you'd see in the Tony Hawk series. It felt like you were riding a piece of plywood with wheels stapled on, rather than a legitimate skateboard – and, I mean, Bart hardly looked like he invested in a full Element set-up, but playing on a wonky board is hardly fun. I barely gathered any in-game money to progress the story, since I just rode around Springfield most of the time, trying in vain to get used to the control scheme. I'm aware that licensed games are largely poor, but this was a spectacularly a?wful effort, regardless.

2. Rollercoaster World (PS2, 2003)

This is not an objectively bad game, and neither is entry #3 on my list below. However, at the time, I genuinely thought this? was an appalling game, so I was shocked to learn that others had a great time with it. While I can sort of understand that some parts of it may ?simply not be my cup of tea, I still thought it was a needlessly frustrating experience.

Theme Park and Theme Park World are two of my favourite games, as they expertly combine a dry sense of humour with accessible, management sim gameplay. I revelled in rigging all the arcade games, making my chips salty to the point of endangering human life, and firing all my janitors in one fell swoop, so that the toilets deteriorated to mere portals of open sewage. Erecting twisty-turny rollercoasters was a fun perk, but that was never why I paid the cost of admission for the Theme Park games.

It makes sense, therefore, that I wouldn't enjoy a game that focuses on building the rollercoasters. Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 was too intricate and difficult for my liking, even though I could appreciate it as a brilliant game for those who could zoom in on that level of detail. But Rollercoaster World? I utterly detested the G-force system for building rollercoasters, as I could never figure out how to make the rides thrilling without concussing half of my clientele. It didn't feel fair, and it didn't feel fun. Being a little kid with no patience, I quickly discarded the game, and sold it two years ago?? for mere pence at the local CeX.

3. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (Game Boy Color, 2001)

This was the Christmas gift that kept on giving, as I have had only fleeting desires to play any form of Zelda game since. I have no doubt that it is a rollicking time for people who have a clue about the b??ackstory of Link and the princess, and don't need a gentle nu??dge or twenty in the right direction. But it served as a disheartening introduction to the series for me.

I remember wandering aimlessly around the village, just chopping vegetation down and hoarding rupees. Whenever I got into the first dungeon, I had no idea what I was doing and inevitably died about halfway in. I resorted to playing it as a primitive version of Stardew Valley, "harvesting" plants and talking to villagers until I got b??ored and switched it off a cou??ple of hours later. It's no wonder that I was put off the entire series for quite some time.

When I did try Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess around seven years later, my nervousness around the series was compounded, as I found the opening levels did nothing to engage me. One of these days, I will get round to buying a New 3DS and picking up Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask: then, hopefully, the curse will be lifted.

Which games were a complete let-down for you on Christmas Day? Did you ask for them, or were they a total surprise? Let me know in the comments down below!

The post Christmas duds: whi?ch?? terrible games have you received for Christmas? appeared first on Destructoid.

It's beginning to look a lot like Inaba

Quite shamefully, I only saw Die Hard for the first time two years ago, in December and in a packed movie theatre. It was only then that I could fully appreciate the classic argument that rages about the film. No, not whether Hans Gruber is actually a bit tasty (RIP Alan Rickman), but whether Die Hard is a Christmas film or not. 

The argument is really just an example of how the seasons and religious holidays interact with both films and computer games. If we happen to play something during our Christmas break, or it happens to be on in the background while we're opening our presents, then of course we begin to associate it with Santa and his reindeer. In my case, there are quite a few games that I will always look at as Christmas games, whether it's due to their atmosphere, certain levels or simply when I first played them. So, cut yoursel??f a slice of stollen and pour a glass of mulled wine, and let's get festive.

To find out about the (largely not very good) Die Hard games for various systems, I'd recommend watching this video and this video.

1. SSX 3 (PlaySt?ation 2/GameCube/Xbox/Game Boy Ad?vance/Gizmondo, EA Canada, 2003)

I'm not fortunate enough to have lived in any place where there is powdered snow on the ground throughout the whole of December. My hometown occasionally gets a bit of snow in January, but I've seen perhaps...one white Christmas there? Where I currently live, it just rains all the time, and when I lived in the south of Germany, the snow was sludgy and my bones hurt because of how cold it was. Anyway, time for less typical British talk about the weather and more talk about games. A game that revolves around snow typifies Christmas for me, and SSX 3 is precisely that game.

SSX 3 and its predecessor, SSX Tricky, weren't just games that allowed me to enjoy frosty surrounds with the radiator cranked up and a mug of tea; they are special to me because they were the first games I was genuinely any good at. As a child – and this is something that STILL comes back to haunt me  – I didn't own a wide variety of games, and played overwhelmingly during the school holidays. This meant that I was quite weak compared to my cohort, who would play a range of classics for hours after school and every weekend. So I carried this millstone around my neck of being "terrible at games". But I did play the SSX games for hours in a row during these holidays, if trop??hies had been a thing back in 2003, I definitely would have got Platinum in both of them.

But why is SSX 3 on this list instead of Tricky? Well, I think I played Tricky a lot during the summer holidays, so it got that tag attached to it instead. I also remember a level that involved snowboarding through arid canyons in Tricky, so it felt less tied to winter. It might have even been because SSX 3 felt more sedate and peaceful, as Christmas should be, while Moby Jones had definitely downed one too many Red Bulls in Tricky.

2. Pokémon Crystal (Game Boy Color, Game Freak, 2001)

As a child, Christmas time was always Pokémon time. Until I got Pokémon Yellow and Pokémon Pinball for Christmas 2000, I was the insufferable kid on the playground who would beg to borrow other people's handhelds. While those two games should, by rights, be Christmas games in my head, I actually played them to death the following summer instead. As a result, they will always remind me of a carefree summer holiday full of Mini Milk ice lollies, potato smiley faces and re-runs of the worst docu-soap ever made, Airline. 

But its older brother, Pokémon Crystal, strongly reminds me of the jolly fat man. I think by then I knew just how great playing through the whole of a Pokémon game would be, so I was hyped about getting it and spent a lot of chestnut-roasting time tied to my Game Boy. For reference, my Game Boy Color was always plugged into the wall at home so I wouldn't bankrupt my mother burning through millions of AA batteries (she got wise to rechargeable batteries by the time both me and my sister got Nintendo Wii). Of course, I soon realised Crystal was pretty much the same game as Pokémon Silver, which I'd already gotten for a previous Christmas, but hey, I was a dumb nine-year-old, ??and hey, it wasn't my hard-earned salary I was squandering. I was the WORST child.

3. Persona 4 Golden (PlayStation Vita, Atlus, 2012)

This is a fairly recent Christmas association for me, in part because I spent all of last Christmas – aside from the 25th, of course – playing it from start to finish. The PS TV is the perfect "portable home console", if such a thing can even be said to exist, so in a genius/idiot move, I brought it back to England with me. And I quickly resumed being The Worst Child Ever™ by telling my sister "No, you can't 'have a go' while I'm in the middle of the Kusumi-no-Okami boss battle, please go back to Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games".

It's also very Christmassy to me because I had already played the original Persona 4 release, so my goal was to experience everything new to the Vita version. This meant going on the ski-trip, as well as going for the True ending. Of course, all modern Persona games have integrated seasons, so there is always a Christmas section, but going away with?? th?e lads to faff about on wooden planks felt like a genuine Yuletide celebration. Admittedly, a Yuletide celebration with fighting and bloodshed (and GOOD GRIEF I hated going through that dungeon with limited SP – by far my least favourite in any of the games that I've played so far), but a cosy celebration nonetheless.

A special recommendation

OK, so by this point, your blood is probably boiling from the amount of CLEARLY non-Christmas games that I have hapha?zardly associated with the holidays. So, how about I recommend something that is genuinely tied to Xmas?

NiGHTS Into Dreams is the perfect game to play once the advent calendars and elves on shelves come out, even if you don't buy the Christmas-themed sampler disc. I had the pleasure of playing it on the Saturn at an exhibition a few months ago, and all the acrobatic, fast-paced gameplay is a great distraction from figuring out what to put under the tree for Great Aunt Flo (another set of knitting needles, perhaps?). What's more, you don't have to splash out on an unloved-thus-now-quite-rare-and-expensive console from yesteryear to experience the game: it's available on Steam, including the Christm??as Nights additional material, for less than the cost of a giant Toblerone. 

***

As we've seen, what counts as "festive" is very subjective and often has a lot to do with childhood memories. I have a lot of fond recollections of Decembers growing up, and a lot of this is all thanks to video games. This Christmas, I'll be following in the footsteps of Die Hard somewhat by finishing Metal Gear Solid 2 HD?? – because, really, getting the hostages out of B?ig Shell feels like John McClane freeing his wife from Nakatomi Plaza. That, and because "Christmas spirit" is absolutely what you make of it.

Oh, and Die Hard is DEFINITELY a Christmas film.

Which games do you associate with Christmas? Are there any games that you play every December? Let me know in the comments down below!

The post Christmas games that aren’t Christmas games appeared first on Destructoid.

Learn collective storytelling, Robit by bit

Tabletop role-playing has survived all th?ese years, through the advent of video games and the resurgence of board games starting in the 1990s. One reason it's still around is that it provides an experience those other media don't. It gives players a venue to tell a story as a group, to think laterally, and to play off each other's ideas.

One of the biggest barrier to entry into role-playing is the need for a dungeon/game master. And it's not just a DM the group needs for a successful campaign, but a good one. One who will provide interesting situations, force difficult decisions, and allow players the freedom to deviate from the pre-writte?n path.

Robit Riddle is trying to address both of these to an extent. Billed as a storytelling game, it serves up th??e skeleton of the story, but leaves the details to the di??ce and the imagination.

Robit Riddle
Designer: Kevin Craine
Publisher: Baba Geek Games
Players: 1 - 6
Play Time: 30 minutes

In the world of Robit Riddle, everybody is a robot. Not only are the sapient protagonists robots, but their pets are all mechanized animals called "Robits." (There is an especially adorable robo??t pig. I want it.) Problem is, one day all the Robits disappeared and nobody knows why. It's up to the plucky adventurers to f?igure it out and bring them home.

Taking on the role of the DM is a Choose Your Own Adventure-style book. Though it lacks the ability to react organically like a human would, it does allow for a bit of leeway in player decisions. There are flat decisions to make, taking players down one path or another, but there are also branches depending on skill tests that can b??e fudged with a bit of creative thinking.

In the example given by designer (and legendary jbsgame.community member) Kevin Craine, he needed four successes on four dice to ??open a door to explore an area further. Kevin rolled two successes, but then made up the difference with special character abilities called story cues. One character had mechanical skill, but that's not enough on its own to break through. Players are encouraged to examine the fully illustrated scenes and describe in a few sentences exactly how that expertise would help in the situation??.

Then, since we were still down one suc?cess, another play?er had to lend a hand, use one of his own skills, and build on the ideas the first set as a foundation. Our example was a simple one: the player noticed a wall panel near the door, and used his mechanical intuition to surmise that if the party could get that panel open, it could access the door. The second player used his physical strength to pry it open, and it ended up as a success. That whole scene was set by the single still image of the room -- there's nothing in the book explicitly tying the door to the panel.

As a reward for getting through the door, the active player was awarded with a new story cue ability. The old one was spent in the previous trial, so each character's skill set will evolve over the course of the game. Coming ??acros??s a similar situation in the future might play out completely differently, depending on who's doing the talking and which cards he has access to at the time.

Sure, it's no replacement for a real live DM, but Robit Riddle's ability to be freestyled like that is impressive. As an introduction to group storytellin?g, it provides just enough of a jumping off point to get beginners into the improvisational gaming mindset.

The subject matter and difficulty skews young, which could be a turnoff to some. Craine wanted to design a game that parents could play with their children. Robit Riddle's Kickstarter campaign was a decent success, so it looks like there's a market for gamers with sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, o??r other little ones who could stand to spend more time using their imaginations to solve problems.

The post Robit Riddle is a kid’s gateway into role-playing appeared first on Destructoid.

Dismantle the catriarchy

Asymmetry in board games is a tricky thing. Do it wrong, and asymmetry can lead to imbalance, which can lead to flipped tables and scattered pieces, or at the very least a muttering of "I'll never play that again." 

So most games that employ asymmetry go light on it. Maybe everybody is doing the same thing, but has different minor powers. Or everybody is cooperating toward the same goal and maj??or differences between players is there to all??ow for synergy rather than to promote imbalance.

It's rare to see a game attempt to do what Root is doing. It's a competitive game with substantial differences between the four player factions. Not only do they ha??ve different powers, but they score points by doing different things, have access to different sections on the cards, and even interact with the board in distinct ways. For the little time I got to spend with it at?? PAX Unplugged, I hope it works.

Root
Designer: Cole Wehrle
Publisher: Leder Games
Players: 2 - 4
Play time: 60 - 90 minutes

The centerpiece of a game of Root is a map of the forest each faction is tryin?g to control. The cats are the ruling class; they start the game with almost all of the territory, but are spread thinly throughout the forest. The cats score points by building structures, but have to balance production with recruitment and troop movement to maintain control of the supply lines.

The birds are,?? of course, the mortal enemies of the cats. They believe they have a birthright to the woodlands, and they begin with a large force concentrated in one area. They score points by capturing territory from the cats and putting up roosts of their own, which are used to recruit new troops.

While that big military clash is going on between the two predators, the woodland alliance represents the common folk, slowly building up a resistance to take the land for themselves. They score points by hatching conspiracies, undermining the actions of the cats? and birds without necessarily engaging in open combat.

Last is the vagabond, which contrasts with the other factions as it's only one character roaming the woods rather than a collective of like-minded animals. The vagabond scores victory points and acts as a sort of balancing force by helping or hurting enemy factions with pinpoint strikes. He can g??ive another player a card to gain favor with that faction, then later backstab them for more points.

The biggest initial draw of Root is probably its artwork. The anthropomorphic critters are incredibly cute, on par with those in Animal Crossing, but with a Robin Hood flair. The best part is the juxtaposition of the adorable cartoon animals and the more mat?ure themes of dominance, political intrigue, and civil unrest. These creatures will slit your throat and then smile and wink at the camera.

I would have loved to have played more than just the two-round demo at PAX Unplugged. Heck, ideally I would have played four full g?ames, once for each faction, just to get a good feel for exactly how they interact. For what it's worth, by the end of the brief demo each of the four players were within just a couple of victory points of one another. It appears balanced, at least at the start among a group of beginners.

Of course, the big worry is some game-breaking strategy will emerge, giving one faction clear advantage over the others. In theory, the vagabond should be able to counter that by helping the other players, and any three-or-more-player game has its own inherent balance of dogpiling on the leader. Leder Games has mostly succeeded with high asymmetry in the past with Vast, so there's a decent chance it delivers a balanced experience next year when it releases Root.

The post Root has cute animals and a vi??cious revolutionary uprising appeared first on Destructoid.

Putting the flow in flow chart

Superhot was slick as heck last year. The stark red-on-white low-poly models were one part of that, but the real draw was its unique "time only moves when you do" mechanic, allowing for careful planning and some Matrix-esque bullet-dodging. It took the first-person shooter almost in?to the realm of turn-based strategy.

So it makes a little bit of sense that Superhot: The Card Game is a thing. Car??d games are not going to replicate the rush of a clutch quickscope headshot or an airborne triple kill, but they sure as heck can manage the plan-and-execute loop of the thinking person's shooter.

Superhot: The Card Game
Designer: Manuel Correia
Publisher: Grey Fox Games
Players: 1 - 3
Play time: 20 - 40 minutes

For its small box and relatively little table space, Superhot runs on a complex engine. It's almost too confusing, at least initially. There are several places a card can be, but the main focus is on the obstacle line, a six-card tableau representing the nearest threats and tools in the environment. These cards translate Superhot's main conceit from ??digital to tabletop. Play one card and the line shifts one space. Play six cards and th??e entire line is wiped and replaced. Play none and there's a bit of a breather: nothing in the immediate environment was accomplished, but no bullets move any closer either.

It runs almost like a deck-building game, with one major change inspired by the video game source mate??rial: the tools at the player's disposal are fleeting. Take out a dude with a shotgun in the obstacle line and you get a shotgun to use. Use that shotgun once and it's spent, destined to eventually end up back in the line. There's a constant flow of using what's available to deal with what's next, then taking those cards to use in the future.

The last cool touch that brings the video game into the cards is the way enemies act. There are plenty of dudes with guns to be found, and while leaving them on the obstacle line allows them to shoot, those bullets don't show up until several turns later. Knowing there are bullets in the air,?? players can stock up on katanas or make sure to flip tables in time. If a bullet ever hits, it's just dead?? weight in the hand, taking up a spot and useless against future obstacles. Take a full hand of bullets and it's a loss. Makes sense.

At times it feels like treading water. During the PAX demo ??I had a ton of dudes with guns to deal with, and a random goal to destroy a certain number of obstacles. I'd spend most of my hand taking out the dudes, maneuver past the obstacles, and end up with a hand better suited for combat than for object manipulation. I eventually did make it past level one (where the demo ended), and it seems like levels two and three only get more difficult, with more objectives to complete.

Superhot: The Card Game advertises as accommodating from one to three players, but it seems like it's mostly built for solo play. With two players, it can be played cooperatively, with each player managing his own deck, or it can be played competitively, where one takes on the? role of the environment, choosing which cards to play instead of dealing them randomly. With three, it's like the two-player options put together: two people cooperating against one controlling the environment.

There are a lot of things Superhot: The Card Game does that can be t??ied back to its digital counterpart. There's the way time flows depending on the player and the way each situation is a t?actical puzzle to be solved. As an adaptation of systems, it's impressive. As a game that stands on its own, it doesn't look like it will ever be more than an okay little solitaire game featuring lots of red dudes with guns.

The post In Superhot: The Card Game,?? cards only move when you do appeared first on Destructoid.

Where worlds collide

When I found out that Harmonix was making a music-themed board game, I was all in. I am a gigantic fan of the Rock Band series (I bought an Xbox One specifically for Rock Band 4), and eat up as many music-heavy games that I can. After seeing DropMix in action, I kne??w I wanted to get my hands on it.

If you're a fan of music and mus??ic games, you'll want t?o do the same.

DropMix
MSRP: $99.99 (Game board and 60 cards), $14.99 for additional playlist packs
Release Date: September 24, 2017

One big caveat that always has to be made in instances like this is that not everyone will love the music selection available. The genres of hip-hop, rock, electronica, pop, and country are represented quite well here, though country has the fewest current cards (I have none, for example). I was provided with four playlist packs in addition to the sixty cards that come with the game itself. Personally, I very much enjoyed the music selection in DropMix, but obviously, everyone's tastes will ?vary.

When it comes down to it, it doesn't matter too much how well you know or even like the songs that are available. In DropMix, players only play one instrument from songs, combining them into a (hopefully) badass sounding mix. The board itself is made up of five slots, each with one or two colors associated with it. Each card also has a color on it and must be played on a space with the corresponding color. Yellow cards are lead melodies (usually vocals), red cards are melody loops, blue cards are beats and rhythms, and green cards are bass and harmonies. In addition, there are special wild ca?rds and white FX cards that can be played anywhere.

Each card also has a level on a scale of 1-3. This has an effect on some of the gameplay modes and also measures how prominent a specific card is in the mix. In general, vocals are often very prominent simply due to their nature while it can be difficult to hear what many of the green cards and?? especially FX cards sound like. The FX cards are exactly as they sound: they make smaller sound effect noises during the mix. Each card has an NFC chip inside of it that the board recognizes and plays. Cards can be placed right on top of one another and the board doesn't miss a beat. There are some reading issues as the cards stack up, but this is only an issue in Freestyle mode and quickly remedied. 

In order to play, you'll need to download the mobile app onto your phone/tablet. The board itself has a little angled notch to place your device since you'll need to see the screen to play the game itself. I highly recommend that you employ the use of a Bluetooth speaker unless your device has some really great speakers itself. This game is really only as a good as the speakers being used to blast your mix. With my phone (Nexus 5X),?? it was too hard to hear the individual tracks and appreciate the music I was creating. When I casted to my Google Home, the experience was leagues more enjoyable.

As a fan of many of the songs included in DropMix, I enjoyed myself the most just messing around in the game's Freestyle Mode. This is exactly what you'd expect: you can place any cards onto the board to simply create some exciting new mixes and listen to them. I've spent hours within this mode at a time, just creating background music while I watch sports on TV or work on the computer. Every once and a while, I'll search through the deck and thr??ow some new cards on the board and se??e what happens. 

It's possible to play with the tempo and key during Freestyle Mode as well. Pressing the large "DropMix" button will remix the sound a bit and choose a (seemingly random) bpm and key. Many times, this yields an awful result, but it's still great fun to see what comes out in ?the end. There are also wild cards that can be played on any space and will reset the tempo to match the song's intend??ed tempo. There's also a little flourish from the song as you put these down; placing down Disturbed's "Down with the Sickness" plays the iconic "ooh, wah-ah-ah-ah!" and yes, it is as amazing as it sounds.

There are two game modes: Party and Clash. Party Mode is a cooperative experience for?? up to five players. The screen on your device will show requests that any player can meet by playing an appropriate card. Requests start out harmless enough -- asking for specific colors, instrument types, or levels. Eventually, the requests will ask for two things at the same time, like a level 2 card of any color, and things start getting hectic. It may also ask ?to remove cards or to press the DropMix button, which will then select cards to be removed from the board and discarded.

There's a surprising layer of strategy involved in which cards are played. A major rule is that players cannot place a lower level card on top of ?a higher level one. Early on, as the game asks for cards of any level, it is up to the players to discuss who's card is best to place down as the time quickly ticks away. The quicker someone places down a card, the more points the team gets. Not placing a card (or placing an incorrect card) causes the team to get a strike and prevents "encores" (extra requests for more points) from happening. I personally had a really hard time distinguishing between the red and green cards on both the screen and in my hand, especially with the time limit in Party Mode. This is ??basically hard mode for colorblind players, and I avoid it entirely for this reason.

Clash Mode is the head-to-head gameplay mode for either 1v1, 2v1, or 2v2 scenarios. This is a much slower-paced game type which also has the benefit of allowing players to appreciate the mixes more. In Party Mode, I barely get to listen to what's being played since I'm looking at my cards or discussing the request. In Clash, everything is turn-based and it's possible to sit and listen whenever you prefer. Each team gets two actions on their turn. They can play a ca??rd (obeying the same level rules as Clash Mode) or press the DropMix ?button to potentially remove opponents cards.

While not as tactical as Party Mode, Clash offers a nice and relaxed competition that can create some interesting mixes. Playing cards grants teams points and occasionally specific colors will light up on the screen, rewarding bonus points for playing those specific colors. FX cards can also grant bonus points; each one has a unique modifier that might add?? extra turns or point rewards based on playing specific cards. Many of the same strategies from Party Mode also work here, but with as much time as you want to discuss thing?s with a partner. 

It's possible to save your mixes for when you've got an awesome jam going. These can be played back at any time and even shared with others. Just using the share button sends a link that requires the actual DropMix app to pla??y. I don't know about your friends, but mine certainly won't be ?downloading the app just to listen to my mixes. Luckily, there is an option to create a one-minute video and save it to your device to share however you want.

For better or worse, card collecting is at the heart of DropMix. There are "playlist packs" that include complete 15-card playlists and help keep the "booster pack" addiction to a minimum. I'm actually not even 100% sure that the discover packs function as random booster packs -- the store doesn't do a great job of describing them. Judging from the in-app compendium, there are a lot more cards either out there or coming, so ?if you're a completionist/collector, just be aware of the investment there. ??;

While you don't necessarily have to love every song chosen as part of DropMix, you do need to have an appreciation for music as a whole. The whole thing is quite expensive -- $100 for the game itself. It does come with a good amount and selection of cards, but s?eeing how many you're missing out on is bound to leave people feeling as if they need to get more. The three modes cover a wide amount of playstyles and it's always great to jump into Freestyle and just mess around.

Not many board games have a long lifespan in my house. They get played for a while but eventually find their way into the closet, with a chance of seeing the light of day during small get-togethers and parties. DropMix is different. We'll set it up while sports are on TV or we're just killing time for 30-40 minutes. The uniqueness of each mix is exciting, and I'm constantly excited to find enjoyable combinations. DropMix feels le?ss like a board game to me and more like a (sometimes competitive) music simulator. If you truly do love music, creating and listening to new mixes will never get old.

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

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Making history

The legend of Star Fox 2 has been a popular Nintendo campfire story for over two decades. Set to be released two years after the original Star Fox, it was subsequently canned right before launch, and all of its development resources were m?ov??ed to the Nintendo 64.

But it never truly died. I still remember playing a ROM of the alpha edition that a friend had picked up, and the trials and tribulations? of its development cycle were basically an open book. It seemed like a taste was all we would get until Nintendo announced a limited release on new hardware -- a highly unconventional move that drew the ire of fans after the system sold out online in an instant.

Yes, Star Fox 2 is exclusive to the SNES Classic, a??nd it's worth giving a shot.

Star Fox 2 (SNES Mini)
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Released: September 29, 2016
MSRP: Exclusive to the $79.99 SNES Mini

Nintendo made all the right moves in making Star Fox 2 seem familiar to the first at a glance, while silently reworking th??e series from the ground-up mechanically. Sure, you're going t??o be hopping from planet to planet on an overworld, but now that map allows you to free-roam and pick your next jaunt. Space battles are still sprinkled in, but they're in first-person and have a more dogfight-like feel to them rather than extensions of the same planetary on-rails rumbles.

The same goes for the walker transformation sections and "all-range mode" areas, the latter of which was employed shortly after Star Fox 2 was canceled in Star Fox 64. Add in the power to select a character and a wingman (with two new faces, Miyu the lynx and Fay the dog) that each have unique statlines, and you have a smörgåsbord of alterations. It's obvious that Star Fox 2 is a highly ambitious endeavor, so let's talk about how those c?hanges stick.

Selecting a ship is somewhat of a sham because most of the crafts are the same with minor tweaks here and there, but the illusion of building a small party with your favorite characters works. Miyu is also my new best friend and I pick her consistently over Falc?o, Peppy, and Slippy, and if you so? choose, you can have your own personal bestie as a wingman.

As for the general flow, Star Fox 2 is a lot like the original but with a more open map, where Corneria is constantly being bombarded with missiles. Your job is to intercept them (an automated turret will help but needs to recharge from time to time) while taking down aircraft carriers and the plane?tary bases that launch them. It's as simple as selecting an area on the map and moving toward it, but again, the illusion of tension works in its favor -- the decision to press forward and ignore a missile or go back and prevent it was real.

Why does all of this matter? Well if Corneria's damage threshold crosses 100%, or you use up all your? live??s, the game is over. This element of permadeath might have turned people off from the original on native hardware, but on the modern SNES Classic (ha) you can utilize the save state func??tion to literally save yourself the heartache. You probably won't need it though as long as you're vigilant.

What I like most is that you'll be swapping between viewpoints and playstyles on a dime. Traditional first-person battles feel like smooth transitions, as do the classic third-person segments, some of which allow you to swap between a walker and an Arwing at the press of a button. The Star Wolf squad also adds some character to the game's typically faceless tank bosses, and some mini-exposition between levels make everything feel more RPG-like. Note how I said "RPG-like," because? this sequel is still incredibly truncated -- it'll take you around 30 minutes to beat it (though there are three difficulty levels and some hidden collectibles to find).

Star Fox 2 tries to do so much, and? it's clear that it took its toll on the SNES hardware, pushing it to its absolute limits. Nintendo didn't make any concessions with the Classic unit to compensate, as the low framerate is still a problem. Initiating a transformation into a walker for the first time is a pretty big moment, but when it's followed by massive slowdown my mood immediately sours. It's not that it's consistently unplayable, just uneven.

It's hard to tell how Star Fox 2 would have been received if it released as p??lanned. I think it would still have a following to t?his day due to its loose smattering of new ideas, but that's precisely why it would have its detractors as well.

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

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Playing with miniature power...again

The SNES Mini was inevitable. After the NES model rocked the world, and subsequently sold out everywhere, Nintendo would be stupid to not follow it up. Rumors flowed from retail spaces like GameStop that a follow-up was coming, and lo and beho??ld, it came.

Nintendo didn't n?eed to change much for the generational leap, but it did, slowly b??ut surely tweaking the "Mini" firmware in little ways that overshadow its younger brother.

I just hope they make more than 10 this time.

SNES Classic Edition
Manufacturer: Nintendo
Released: September 29, 2017
MSRP: $79.99

While little touches like a working eject button would be nice, I adore the small and functional design of the SNES Mini. When I saw that Nintendo was sending a three pound package I didn't think it could possibly be this little bundle of hardware, but including all packing materials, that's just how light this thing is. You could pa?lm it easily, even if you have little baby hands.

Some of the weight is taken up by not one, but two controllers, a massive upgrade from the NES Classic. One of my biggest gripes against that system was that controllers were exceedingly rare, and only providing one when two-player titles were such a big push felt like a big joke. In case you were confused, the controller slots can be accessed by pulling out the bottom port piece, a facade that hides Wii controller style ports. Yes, you can use these SNES remotes (which are now five feet long) for Virtual Console shena??nigans.

Once again the firmware is adorable, with a sleek, trimmed, and functional UI, and a cute theme song to boot. There's three display options -- ??CRT filter, 4:3, and Pixel Perfect -- and several frames to use (one of which is a lack thereof).  Watch the ??video below for a quick demonstration of how everything looks and feels. Beyond that, the "My Game Play Demo" is one of the only true extra features, a new addition that will play screensavers based on your save states.

Oh, and save states are a bit different this time around with a new "rewind" function built-in. The emulation style save functionality was always nice when it came baked into the NES Mini, but now that you can rewind those states in real-time it's even better. It's surprisingly comprehensive, as you can use the state to pick a point in time you want to continue from and select it instantaneously, complete with an old school rewind animation. I like to use it to go back to specific points in a boss fight I might really enjoy, and folks who are new to some of these games will love being able to actually say, beat Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts with it.

It needs to be said that the SNES Mini is $20 more than its predecessor, but given the sheer pedigree of its library, the cost increase is justified. This one has 21 games, fewer than the NES Mini, but the library is much more rounded, shirking many bite-sized arcade experiences for massive RPGs (FFIII, Mario RPG, Zelda: Link to the Past, Secret of Mana, Earthbound) and lengthier, meatier platformers (Super Mario World, Super Metroid, Donkey Kong Country, Mega Man X, Yoshi's Island).

I mean, you have some all-time greats in here, no hyperbole -- Mario RPG, Kirby Super Star, Donkey Kong Country, Mega Man X. Super Metroid. Final Fantasy VI (confusingly billed with the "old FFIII" moniker) -- these are games I've beaten at?? least 20 times each and will continue to play and show?? my kids.

While most of the picks are safe, you do have a few obscure ones in there like Super Punch Out!! (an upgrade that was slept-on compared to its meme-heavy NES predecessor) and Kirby's Dream Course. Perhaps the most obscure of all, and one that deserves a special mention, is Star Fox 2, a high profile cancellation which was never released before. You can find out more about that one in particular in my review.

Just like the NES rendition, how you choose to award value to a machine that's basically an official emulator box is entirely up to you. I could easily just p?op most of my hard copies into my original SNES and be perfectly fine playing on an old CRT. But the SNES Classic Edition is yet another way to introduce some GOATs to a new generation, and I'll happily g?o along with it.

Bring on the Nintendo 64 Classic.

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

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There it was, on the OnLive console, just calling me. "Please, somebody buy me!" An?d so I went for it.

UPDATE: OnLive is dead. Damn...

There is really no reason for me to play this game, other than compare it to a
city I recently visited. So I just rushed through the game until the southwest
bay wa?s unlo??ck, just enough to fake my knowledge about San Francisco.

But what about the game? It was fun. You drive around a lo?t.

Also, FOR DESTRUCTOID!!!

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Finally catching up with most of the holiday 2011 titles that I ca??red about, Saints Row: The Third comes into my life to brighten my day.  It isn't as colorful as Saints Row 2.?..or as crazy...or as funny...or as expansive...or as good.........but trust me, it's a must play!

Also, you're tearing me apart, Lisa!

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...Batman: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. Just finishing the title, that's all. It was a little too big for the textbo??x.

Well, I'm not expecting a very positive response on this one (or any of my videos for that matter) because I know how much you looooooove The Dark Knight. But you clicked on the video, you're going to hear an opini?on.

Now onto the Arkham games. Good stuff. Roc?kstready has created two landmark titles that any gamer can enjoy. Even those who have never touched a? comic book... me.

To stem some unnecessary hatred, I'll let you know that ?this video was released before Mass Effect 3. You'll see why this is important.

OnLive? Yeah, details on that later.

Also, look closely for corr??upted footage. At Storm Da??in Productions, corrupted footage = a two month delay. WOOO! I LOVE MY LIFE!

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The guys over at Spiral Game Studios sure know how to get me excited for something. First off, this trailer for Orion: Dino Beatdown has that obnoxious, over-the-top announcer who calls the Tyrannosaurus rex "Sally." T?hen they decide to show off the jetpacks and mechs all thrown inside huge open-world levels and that was all I needed. But when I saw you could get abducted by flying dinosaurs, I just lost it.

Another small detail mentioned in the trailer was for the continued support of free DLC. The first ann?ounced pack includes the Triceratops, Argentinosaurus, and Stegosaurus dinosaurs. They're all herbivores so they shouldn't terrorize us in the game, right? Even if they do, I still want this. I want it badly. Good thing it'll be out this month on Steam and OnLive for only $9.99.

The post New trai?ler for Orion?: Dino Beatdown is so ridiculous appeared first on Destructoid.

Remember Orion: Prelude, the Kickstarter-funded game with dinosaurs and jetpacks? Spiral Game Studios has a big update on that front. The team has shifted its attention and the end result is Orion: Dino Beatdown, a class-based first-person shooter with a sci-fi theme that's center??ed around cooperative play.

Under the original Prelude name, Spiral was hoping to reach consoles via digital distribution, though the current plan has been tweaked to Steam and OnLive. Given the $9.99 price tag and a promised "wealth of post-release support and content," that m??akes a lot of sen??se.

If you contributed to the February Kickstarter initiative, you'll receive a complimentary copy of Dino Beatdown. My main concern was that this project was too ambitious for its own good, but that's ?become less of a concern with this announcement.

The post Orion: Dino Beatdown sounds si??lly but looks promising appeared first on Destructoid.

The fart joke is one of the mighty pillars ?of comedy because it's so basic. Any embarrassing action accompanied by a sound effect is automatically rendered hilarious to all witnesses. And although good timing can amplify the effect, it's a joke that doesn't usually require any setu?p whatsoever. It just happens and it's funny.

Unless you're the gang at Casual Brothers, who decided that their fart-joke-cum-action-game Orcs Attack needed a bit of exposition. In this four-player co-op brawler coming to Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, PC and OnLive late in 2012, orcs driv??en out of their homes by ecologically-challenged humans have developed dangerously explosive flatulence due to consuming fruits grown in their now poisonous environment. Now they're turning the tables and using this new found anal armament to seek vengeance.

Looks silly, fun and very promising for a game with up to nearly a year remaining until release. Hell, the above video is footage from a demo level from E3 of last year, meaning ??things may have yet progressed quite significantly a??lready in the last six months. Worth keeping an eye on, I'd say.

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