Nothing to report

Fire Emblem Heroes is getting a new batch of heroes this week, chosen by popular vote. And one of them isn't the classic hero you'd expect, but a nameless NPC that became a fan-favorite: the Gatekeeper from Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

Earlier this year, Nintendo announced the winners of the fan poll for the Choose Your Legends event, which would add special versions of characters based on popular vote. On the women's side, Three Houses' Marianne came in first, followed by Eirika from The Sacred Stones. And in t??he men's division, the very well-known Marth?? came in second to the Gatekeeper, who swept the polls with a whopping 72,267 votes.

The Gatekeeper, voiced by Kyle McCarley and with art by Yamada Akihiro, arrives with abilities like the Charging Horn, Detailed Report, and Harsh Command+. More importantly, his attack looks like he opens the gates of Garreg Mach Monastery to let loose an army of Fire Emblem: Three Houses favorites. I think I saw Byleth, Sylvain, and Mer??cedes among the charging forces in the video.

//twitte?r.com/?FE_Heroes_EN/status/1427110366329270281

These four characters all get their own variants, or in the G??atekeeper's case their unit debut, as well as parts in a new story chapter, Howling Descent. The summoning event will go live on Aug. 17 at 12 a.m. PT, under the New Heroes: Keepers of Faith.

It's been only two years since Fire Emblem: Three Houses hit the Nintendo Switch, but it still stands out as a major entry for both the console and the series, at least in my book. It wasn't just a highly produced, sprawling story with branching stories and a time-skip setup that felt reminiscent of Genealogy of the Holy War (still wait??ing on that localization), but its characters were so memorable.

The Gatekeeper was certainly a bit of a fan-favorite, with his cheery "nothing to report," but seeing Marianne in the lineup here too has reminded me of all the excellent characters in this game. I'm glad the Gatekeeper is at least getting his due, and a spot in the massive "everybody's here" of Fire Emblem Heroes.

The post Fire Emblem: Three Houses’ beloved Gatekeeper arrives in Fire Emblem Heroes this week appeared first on Destructoid.

2020 Edition

You've already heard from the Destructoid staff regarding our favorite games that came out of the hellscape year 2020, but now it's time for your voice to be heard, Dtoid readers. That's right, it's time for the annual Community Game of the Year vote, and t?his year we're switching things up a bit.

For 2020, we're implementing a preferential voting mechanic so that you can pick not just one but three nominees for the Game of the Year. The vote is simple: select your top three?? games in the form provided her?e, and then when all is said and done on January 4, I'll tally up the votes in a? weighted vote.

Your first pick will receive three points, second choice two points, and third choice one point. The game that receives the most cumulative points by the jbsgame.community will then be declared the winner. Because of this, any vote that has a single game listed more than once will be invalidated. It's a long list of eligible games in the dropdown menu so I've provided a cumulative list here.

Additionally, for fun, you can tell us what your favorite game from a previous ye??ar that you played for the first time in 2020.

Voting will remain open until next Monday, January 4, 2021 at 18:00 Eastern tim??e, with the results to follow sometime that week.

The post It’s time to vote for Destructoid’s 2020 Community Game of the Year appeared first on Destructoid.

Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal

[Update: The winning title is Control, with about 40% of the votes, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy cam??e in a strong second. Thanks to everyone who voted! We'll? do this again soon, and don't worry, the runners-up will get their day!]

Friends, I'm not sure if I played anything this week. That's pretty wild, but I did have a lot to be getting on with, both on-site and in the weird technicolour mess that is my real life. I dropped into a few regulars - Street Fighter V, Streets of Rage 4, Rainbow Six Siege, etc - but I think I need to start something completely new, something that I can bash through in a week that wil?l stand far and away from my usual? haunts.

And that's where you come in. For the first time in this article's short history, I wanna ask all of you which of these "currently installed but never touched" PS4 games you think I should play next week. At the end of today, I'll see which title got the most votes, and will jump straight into said game within the next day or two. Yes - this weekend - YOU can control my life... or at least one really minor aspect of it. Be gentle with me.

Oh, and once you've voted, be sure to visit the comments below and let us know what you've been hitting this past week. Maybe you're grinding Marvel's Avengers, or maybe you're literally grinding Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 & 2. Are you out on the links in PGA 2K21, or out on the gridiron in Madden 21? Whatever it is that you're playing, old or new, fill? us in on the action!

Have a wonderful weekend, from all of us at Destructoid.

The post (Update) Whatcha been playi??ng this week, Destructoid? appeared first on Destructoid.

Okay who's the wise guy that voted for Skyrim?

Creating a list of the top 10 games for any given console is a difficult task. With the Nintendo 3DS, there are more than 1,000 titles eligible to make said list, covering everything from the console heavyweights like Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS all the way down to the small, obscure gems that blessed the 3DS eShop, like Attack of the Friday Monsters! With such a vast and eclectic catalog, I doubt any two top 10 lists would look exactly the same. Over the weekend, the jbsgame.community proved that to be true when it voted on its list of the 10 best games for the Nintendo 3DS after reading the titles chosen by the Destructoid staff.

A few titles appear on both lists, but it's clear from below our ?community has different priorities when it comes to playing games on their 3DS. If you've only just picked up your own Nintendo 3DS or 2DS and are wondering? what games to get for it, you really can't go wrong with the wonderful 10 titles listed below.

If anyone is wondering, this vote wasn't even close. It was Fire Emblem: Awakening all the way from the minute the poll opened. I want to thank everyone who participated in picking a community top 10 list and if you want to sound off on your persona??l favorite ga?mes for the 3DS, hit up the C-Blogs and start writing.

The post These are the 10 best Nintendo 3DS games accordi??ng to the jbsga??me.community appeared first on Destructoid.

Where's Vectorman?

The Mega Drive mini (known as the Genesis Mini for us Western folks) is still in production and Sega Japan is putting out some feelers for which games fans would like to see on the device. You'd think all the classics would be a given, but it appears as if we'll have to choose between Sonic 1 and Sonic 2 for the mini console. ?This ?is all according to a Twitter poll by the company that recently went live.

The choices come down to "Sonic vs Sonic 2," "Puyo Puyo vs Puyo Puyo Tsu," and "Shining Force vs Shining Force II." In every instance, I'd rather go for the superior sequel, but it is pretty shocking that all of the Sonic games won't be included on the device. I guess this is similar to how Sonic 3 & Knuckles isn't present on the recently released Sega Genesis Classics collection due to some copyright issue with t?he so?ngs.

While the polls are technically for the Japanese version of the device, anyone can vote and this will li?kely dictate the games that are included on the Western version of the micro-console. If you have ?any preference, you might as well let Sega know.

SEGA_OFFICIAL [Twitter]

The post Sega Japan is asking fans which games they w??ant on the Mega Drive mini appeared first on Destructoid.

Train or plane or ...

I never realized how much I missed that classic Animal Crossing experience until just this past week. For more than two months now, I've been putting in time daily into Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp as I've been foolishly pulled in by the limited time loot box items. Because I don't want to pay, I've star??ted up the app every three hours or so to complete whatever challenge is has going on for the week, slo??wly accruing those Leaf Tickets in a futile attempt to get a delightful looking bridge for my campsite. 750 ticket spent so far and no bridge.

It's certainly put a damper on my enthusiasm for this game, something that wasn't exactly all that rosy in recent weeks. It's also got me waxing poetically about my prior experience with the series, and right now I'm more excited for a new Animal Crossing than I have been at any point previously. I miss the museum, the coffee shop, attending birthday parties, and seeing all my fellow village??rs in their galoches when it starts to rain.

I've written about the upcoming Switch entry in the series once already and the Destructoid staff at large is quite excited about it. There's a lot of questions we need answers to -- Will it feature the bombastic graphics of the Animal Crossing track in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe? Will it just be an HD version of New Leaf? Will Nintendo add any of the microtransactions found in Pocket Camp? Can I create a black character without using a Mii M?ask? --  but I'm most interested in? how we'll arrive at our new town.

In the grand scheme of things, with a game you can play for dozens if not hundreds of hours, the opening 10 minutes of the title are inconsequential. And yet, my strongest memory of the original Animal Crossing is that initial train ride with Rover. It's burned into my mind and the same thing goes with Kapp'n's cab in Wild World, the school bus in City Folk, and the train's triumphant return in New Leaf. These trips represent the prologue to my new life, the start of what has mostly always been a cherished ?and downright wholesome experience unlike anything else the gaming industry is giving me.

Maybe nobody cares about this as much as I do, or it's not the most pressing thing about the great unknown that is Animal Crossing Switch, but I just thought I'd take this slow, Oscar weekend to ask you how you want your villager to arrive in your new town when Animal Crossing launches later this year. 

The post ??How d?o you want to arrive at your Animal Crossing Switch town? appeared first on Destructoid.

Wait... what IS Indivisible...?

Role-playing games are one of the most flexible genres because unlike shooters or platformers or sports games, they are less identified by what the player does and more by how the player does it. RPG elements have become commonplace in dozens of non-RPG franchises, but to classify the genre we use pretty much one rule: “You play as a character (or a party of characters) who gains ‘experience’ that raises their level and stats by doing normal gameplay, and these stats affect most of that gameplay.” Even RPGs that intentionally subvert this conve?ntion still follow it to a le??sser extent. Everything else is tentative, including what kind ?of gameplay the user plays with.

Traditionally, RPGs use turn-based gameplay to emulate the tabletop nature of the games that inspired them. But even as far back as Link’s Adventure on the NES, games have challenged the notion that these character progression and stat-based mechanics need to follow a turn-based structu?re. Real-time action RPGs have continued to grow more prominent r?elative to their turn-based counterparts.

So on a curious whim, I asked which of those two styles the jbsgame.community prefer?s in a Quickpost. Most replies sat on a situational “it depends” or otherwise expressed a lack of strong preference, which I should have expected as I don’t?? believe either is objectively better than the other. But out of the fraction of replies that leaned one way or the other, most preferred turn-based. As someone who leans towards action RPGs myself, that piqued my curiosity to dive deeper into the differences between them.

While I enjoy both styles, I have more interest in action RPGs largely because I prefer impulsive and reflex-based gameplay. I get antsy when I’m forced to do nothing, such as when I’m bouncing through the Mushroom Kingdom and I miss a platform that takes 20 seconds to rotate back. That has never ruled out turn-based gameplay for me, but it does mean I have less interest in games where I feel like I'm constantly waiting to repeatedly do the same t??hing. It feels more engaging to constantly evaluate the positions and animations of my enemies alongside the status of my party to react appropriately.

Turn-based strategy is only a small aspect of most of my favorite turn-based RPGs. Mario RPGs taught me to change up my strategies to the enemies I ??fought, but I had little incentive to think ahead. I grew up on Pokémon games thinking that power grinding was more rewarding than trying to outsmart equal-level foe??s. Dragon Quest V has a special place in my heart for its writing, but I almost never used most of my party’s spells and abilities. I’m usually able to apply the same few strateg??ies to most battles in these games, so I don’t feel as if making new strategies is worth the effort. By extension, I find turn-based systems less fun, challenging, and rewarding than battle systems based on thinking, acting, and reacting on the fly.

But that's just my perspective, and as I said at the top of the article, I posted this question to the jbsgame.community through a Quickpost. Right away, several of our most prominent members, including DeScruff, Samhain, Dr Mel, and absolutfreak, responded with varying levels of favoritism for turn-based games and a common complaint about why they dislike action games with multiple party members. In DeScruff's words, "I prefer turn b?ased, but action can be fun at times. Unless there are other party members... Then it almost HAS to be turn-based, and I have to be able to control them. I hate nothing more than suicidal AI, or AI that always gets in your way.&nbs??p;Evil? Wizard is about to throw big giant F-You fireball? You can count on the AI will find the nearest door and stand right there. 'What's that you need help? Na I'm just run around in circles??, my Fitbit wants me to do 10,000 steps a day.' 'You need to sneak past the guards and not kill them? Is th??at w??here you make a bunch of noise and charge at somebody 50 yards away?'"

I've never had AI encounters remotely as bad as those, so I can't empathize with the exact sentiment, but I am familiar with the general problem. Technically, turn-based RPGs also have a history of making players rely on AI for party members, but today pretty much every turn-??based game lets you manually control everyone for good reason. We’ve all watched the warrior repeatedly smack the fire-absorbing monster with his fire-imbued weapon. We’ve all had Donald heal us immediately after we cast Cure on ourselves. AI just rarely keeps up with the human-decision making processes that drive re?al-time games.

Despite wanting improved AI myself, that complaint has no effect on my preferences because my efficiency in combat relies mostly on my own performance, as I would expect in action gameplay. While all games should iron out the problems above, I think it’s best to balance an action-based game as if the player should be the most competent one in the party. Emphasizing action would be pointless if allies could automatically win the battle (or nearly win) without an active player. Though as a side note, absolutfreak mentioned wanting a return of Final Fantasy XII’s gambits, and that would be a great system to m??ake AI more reliable while still requiring time and effort?? to master it.

Yet, that was one of the two common explanations in favor of turn-based gameplay. The other is that turn-based combat does more to stimulate and challenge the brain. Another community member, Boxman, stated that many action RPGs are chaotic to the point where you can't do much other than hack and slash, writing, "Most action RPGs for me feel like a bunch of random ??nonsense is happening and it's hard to keep track of everything that's goin?g on." Dr. Mel preferred to think of RPG combat like a puzzle, or as user Perro summarized, "I like strategizing my attacks more than button mashing." Oddly, this also helped me realize why I don’t share that preference for turn-based gameplay. And it's not because I dislike thinking. I think.

It doesn’t surprise me that gameplay revolving around a metric ton of math feels more at home in a system that involves the brain more than the fingers. Some of us even explicitly enjoy action games more without RPG elements, as FakePlasticTree shared. "I like my action games to not have RPG mechanics (eyeing the new God of War) with a few exceptions like the Souls games. I love Atlus RPGs so turn based it is."

I believe that RPG elements can make for a ?great addition to the right action formula, it's just that statistical elements themselves are difficult to bring to their own potential in a system prioritizing dexterous gameplay. Rather, the number-crunching and resource managing elements of most RPGs is a more natural fit for ?gameplay that revolves around strategic planning and tactical foresight, much like the tabletop systems they were first derived from.

What did surprise me is that as I've already described, most turn-based RPGs I’ve played don’t reflect that. I basically button mashed my way through menus to win most turn-based fights, and button mashing is at its least interesting in menu navigation. Though, I have experienced one exception more in line with what most turn-based aficionados celebrate. In fact, I already praised Cosmic Star Heroine for this very reason, so I’ll elaborate here.

Cosmic Star Heroine is designed so that it’s impossible to repeat encounters unless you go out of your way to do so through menus, thus it’s much easier to avoid unintentionally (or intentionally) over-leve??ling yourself. This means I mor??e often relied on improving my strategies to overcome harder battles. And thanks to its plethora of simple mechanics, making strategies in this system is easy to learn but hard to master.

Each character has their own “Hyper Mode” rhythm that gives them a huge buff on certain turns, so maybe I should save my strongest attack for that.?? But I deal more damage as I gain Style from using abilities and my abilities go on cooldown until I defend for a turn, so maybe I can put off my heaviest attack for my second Hyper or spam Style buffs from other party members. But enemies inflicted with the defense down debuff will shake it off after a single hit, so maybe I ought to use a shield breaker on the turn immediately before that second Hyper. But maybe Z’Xorv is down to 3 HP a few turns into the fight and nobody but Dave can heal him, so maybe I should ignore that shield breaker to save his life instead. But most enemies also deal more damage as they gain Style, so maybe I should just deck th??e boss's lackey in the face before it mauls mine off.

My point being, this system made multi-turn strategizing satisfying and involving, unli??ke any other turn-based RPG I’ve played. It even kept me busy during enemy turns because I constantly paid attentio??n to how their actions would alter my plans. So I definitely understand and empathize with the appeal of a strategic battle system! But most of my favorite turn-based RPGs don’t instill a remotely similar feeling in me. Thus, my preference for action games could also be attributed to the fact that my extensive experiences in turn-based games rarely showed me their full potential. Maybe I just have a habit of grinding too much to have an incentive to strategize. Or maybe more RPGs need to go out of their way to make level grind??ing less prominent.

Grinding is effectively impossible in the tabletop RPGs that inspired them, whereas it’s normalized in video games. I might be on a weird tangent, but a player’s stats relative to their enemies has a big impact on how much they need to strategize and plan to overcome any disadvantages they might have. This means that the appeal of turn-based strategy largely hinges on whether or not a player sits a power level that requires effort to strategize. I theorize that if more ??RPG designers limit the player's ability to grow outside of the DM's intended difficulty curve, more players would find more reasons to appreciate turn-based combat. I'm not sure whether I would want that to become the?? new universal norm for RPG design, but I believe it would go a long way in making the true strengths of turn-based design shine.

Either way, I am only one person speaking in favor of action RPGs. Likewise, these comments speaking in favor of turn-based ones represent a tiny fraction of our community. So I’d like to propose the same questi??on to all of you. Which kind of RPG do you prefer and why?

The post Do you prefer turn-based RPGs or action RPGs? appeared first on Destructoid.

When Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate lands will we be fighting the LAGiacrus? ... I really wanted to write something peppy here okay

Nintendo is one of the few AAA companies that still understands the value of local multipla??yer, and that’s fantastic. Other companies should follow in its footsteps there. Nintendo also has built a reputation for having less reliable?? online netcode. That’s extremely problematic in a world where online connectivity becomes more prevalent every day.

Despite this, Nintendo is planning to join Sony and Microsoft by rolling out a required paid online service. That's acceptable, assuming that the money is spent towards improving that online… but Nintendo has never said it’s doing any such thing. The online plans mention cloud saves and some NES games (and probably other retro games to succeed the Virtual Console, not ??that we've seen any yet), but nothing about improving online stability. As long as the ??online is acceptable, I would probably cave anyway.

But right now, the Switch's online isn't acceptable. Sometimes it’s even unplayable, and the advice on Nintendo's support page hasn't helped me. While I’m not sure e?xactly how widespread this dilemma is, I know from previous discussions with our community this is not a unique problem.

Mario Tennis Aces got me excited for an online competitive scene unlike any other game in recent mem??ory. It's one of the first games I’ve bought in a long time specifically for online play. But any time I search for opponents in online normal or tournament matches, I always have zero to two bars of connectivity, maybe three if I'm lucky. The very few times I successfully connect to an opponent, the unreliable lag spoils those exciting mechanics with frustration and boredom. The notion that I'll have to pay for this unplayable netcode in the near future feels insulting.

While this is the worst online experience I’ve had with any Switch game, it’s not the only problematic one. I’ve had plenty of online fun with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Splatoon 2, but I regularly get disconnected during longer sessions. When I recently fired up MK8D to play with a friend, we found ourselves unable to keep our room open after about a dozen attempts. This was only a temporary issue, as I’ve since had more on?line races, but not without a few spontaneous connection failures as usu??al.

Of course, the common thread between these problems is that these are my problems. There are many ways to prop up my online quality to that of others, all of which are currently out of reach thanks to external factors. And yet, these personal circums??tances don't visibly impact my other consoles and devices.

My PC isn’t amazing, but it’s okay with staying online through most of the day. My PS4 isn’t able to use Share Play, but I can always get into an online lobby with ease. Earlier this year, I regularly dove into Monster Hunter World with my closest fri??ends over Discord calls. We never had any problems even if I hosted a room. These all still work fine today and they never gave me any need to upgrade my internet.

It’s not even necessarily an issue I have with the Nintendo Switch as a whole, but with Nintendo-developed games. I’ve tried out Fortnite briefly on both PS4 and Switch, and while the latter? had some glaring lag, I easily tolerated it. I was able to consistently get into and stay connected to matches. The fact that it’s easier to stay connected with 100 players than hold a two-player tennis match speaks leagu?es about this problem’s source.

Hey @Xbox, since we can play together in @Minecraft now, did you want to build something? pic.twitter.com/LIylWy3yXZ

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) June 21, 2018

We may have come to accept lesser online netcode out of Nintendo, but I expect it to exceed the standards set by other companies. Nintendo is one of the biggest video game companies in the world. I’m baffled that one of the leading giants in the gaming industry isn’t supporting its online as strong as its competitors. If Nintendo can re??cognize the wholesome joy of cross-platform online multiplayer, why isn’t it doing more to support that same joy within its own games?

I have no reason to spend money on a subscription service if the standard set by that service’s trial period is that it’s unplayable. I already have little-to-no interest in the Switch online service’s underwhelming offerings, though I’ll admit I was stubborn and had difficulty admitting it. Being able to play Smash Ultimate with online friends means enough to push me towards that subscription, but that becomes a moot point if I can't exp?ect to reliably play. The quality of those extras aren’t the crux of my problem, it’s really about the quality of the online? itself. But since they tie into the same concern of being forced to pay for normal online play, I’ll quickly sum up my own stance on this practice.

I’ll subscribe to a paid online service if I trust that my time with it will be better than it was before the service became a requirement (and that the price is worth those improvements). While I’m not sure whether the PS4’s online stability has improved over the PS3’s??, the monthly freebies have exposed me to many good games I may otherwise have never played. Thus I consider PSPlus to be worth it, though this is more subjective and personal than other justifications for subscribing. More relevant to my main argument, I’m confident PSPlus will upho?ld its promise of letting me play online.

I lack that confidence in the Switch’s online and I’ve only grown to doubt it more over time. I’ve tolerated maybe sometimes kinda working online in the past because it was an extra on top of games I bought mostly for single player. At the very least, I still had the chance to enjoy some shenanigans with my friends, which is the whole reason I advocate for adding online to more games. Paying for a maybe sometimes kinda working service should be unacceptable on principle. Even players with perfect connections have concerns with the infrastructure that Nintendo has yet to address, such as cheating vulnerabilities.

I expect that Nintendo will have to patch up its online quality sooner or? later. The company gets this complaint far too frequently to neglect it forever, especially since people will be paying for it soon. It’s not a question of “if” but “when," and experiences like mine are the most likely thing to influence the &ldqu??o;when”.

Having said al??l of that, my experience with the Switch’s online is just that: one experience. And now that you've read about my troubles, I want to hear from you. Is my experience common or not? If I’m a rare outlier, I’d love to be humiliated by this poll. I’ll be better off for upgrading my internet eventually anyway. But that’s no excuse for Nintendo's sub-par online performances.

The post How reliable is the Switch’s online? appeared first on Destructoid.

Spoiler: Correct answer is Donatello

Nintendo have announced a partnership with Nickelodeon to bring one of life's most important questions to arena-shooter Splatoon 2. Players in the U.S. and Europe will duke it out in a series of splatfests to decide who is the greatest Teenage Mutant Hero Turtle.

The first round takes place on the weekend of May 4 and will see cool-but-crude Raphael take on team leader Leonardo. One week la??ter, party dude Michelangelo will battle it out with Donatello, who does machines. I'll admit it hurts a little to see Pearl side with the wrong choice in that particular face-off.

The winning turtles in both rounds will then square off in the G?rand Finals one week later. In the U.S, each splatfest will run from 21:00 PT on the Friday until the same time on Saturday. In Europe, the splatfests will take place from 15:00 CET on the Saturday until the same time on the Sunday.

Who have you got in this? Although Donatello is my favourite, I'm totally calling an overall victory for edgy badass Raph. In ??any case, I'm certainly not sure about those character redesigns...

TMNT and Nintendo team up for Spl?atoon 2 splatfests [Nintendo Life]

The post Upcoming Splatoon 2 splatfests ask: Who’s your favourite Ninja Turtle? appeared first on Destructoid.

Pretty peeved right meow

Back in November, we reported that Arc System Works were holding a popularity poll for the wild and wacky cast of their anime fighter, BlazBlue. This week, the votes have been tallied and the results released. Something must've gone very wrong.

Y'see, best character Taokaka, who you all voted for, hasn't mad?e the Top 20. This is pretty baffling, and one can only assume that there's been some kind of mixup at the polling ?booths. Either way, this is the most disgusted I've been with a show of public opinion since Brexit.

In total, some 77,000 votes were calculated, though it is very important to point out that you could vote for a character every day, and thus many of those votes likely come from the same individuals. Presented for your consideration, here are the Top 20 ??most popular BlazBlue characters. Which, funnily enough, features a lot of attractive guys 'n' gals.

1. Ragna the Bloodedge
2. Hazama
3. Hibiki Kohaku
4. Yuuki Terumi
5. Jin Kisaragi
6. Mai Natsume
7. Celica Ayasuki Mercury
8. Noel Vermillion
9. Nu-13
10. Es
11. Makoto Nanaya
12. Lambda-11
13. Tsubaki Yayoi
14. Rachel Alucard
15. Platinum the Trinity
16. Kokonoe
17. Hakumen
18. Nine the Phantom
19. Naoto Kurogane
20. Bullet

The BlazBlue crew will next be making an appearance in BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, which launches on PS4, PC and Nintendo Switch this Summer.

The post I demand a recount on BlazBlue ch??aracter popularity poll appeared first on Destructoid.

Where did your fighter place?

Back in October 2017, Capcom put out a poll asking fans to name their favourite Street Fighter character. Included were pretty much all characters from the mainline games and spin-off titles, even Captain Sawada from Street Fighter: The Movie got a look-in.

Over 150,000 fans voted and the results are now live. I will admit to being surprised by the top five. Not because they aren't great characters, but I thought it'd feature more OGs. Poster-boy Ryu only just scraped into the high rankings. Further down the rankings, some franchise veterans, such as Dhalsim, were beaten out by characters like Oni... ONI!

Of note, the previously-existing SF characters, who are available now as part of Street Fighter V's 2018 DLC, all made the top fifteen, funny that. I'd love to discuss the rankings further, but I can't bring myself to spoil it for you wonderful guys 'n??' gals, so check out the links below and see how your favourite fared.

Street Fighter character poll countdown (courtesy of EventHubs):

• #109 - #31
• #30 - #11
• #10 - #1

Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition is now available for PC and PS4 in North America. The PS4 physical and digital release is now delayed in Europe until January 19. But existing SFV owners can download the expansion today.

The post Capcom relea??se results of Street Fighter character popularity ??poll appeared first on Destructoid.

My original plan for this subheader was to write that everyone has Pokemon Gone to the polls but writing Pokemon without the accent feels wrong and this doesn't support utf-8

Crazy. There's no bette?r word to describe 2017. It was a crazy year. Good crazy in some places, like video games, and bad crazy in others.

Over the past few weeks, the community has been hard at work voting for their favorite games released in this wild, wild year... Also, hard at work reminding me that Doki Doki Literature Club should have been an option. Sometimes, people chose to vote multiple times for the same game, which made tallying pretty tricky. You know who yo??u are. But now, the results are finally in.

For those wondering how their voting power was used, here's a quick rundown. Basically, one po??int wa??s given to a game for each fifth-place vote, two points for each fourth-place vote, four points for each third-place vote, and so on. Amusingly, the top 5 you'll find below would have been the same if I just ranked the games by their number of first place votes...

I guess that makes these rankings extra valid!

Horizon: Zero Dawn is gorgeous, it??'s huge and it has robot dinosaurs. I haven't played it yet, but I can get behind at least two of these things! The PS4 exclusive made quite a splash when it launched in February, and its popularity among the community here shows it wasn't just a flash in the pan.

Guerrilla Games' previous title, Killzone: Shadow Fall, didn't quite stick the landing when it launched alongside? the PS4 in 2013. It's nice, seeing a return to form for the team!

Super Mario Odyssey needs no introduction. The first collectathon platformer in the series since Super Mario Sunshine on the GameCube, the game included elements of other masterpieces like Banjo-Kazooie and Crash: Mind over Mutant to great effect.

For me, the most interesting thing about Super Mario Odyssey will be its legacy in the long run. It's cert??ainly found a home within speed-running communities, and I'm also curious to see which ideas will carry on in future entries.

In any case, Super Mario Odyssey is arguably the Switch's biggest game of?? the year. It was by far the most popular exclusive on the system. But beyond that, it was an expansive, creative game that was a joy to play, especially after reaching post-game content. It's no wonder that it ended up in the community's top 5.

We've finally moved away from Atlus' endless stream of Persona 3 and Persona 4 spin-offs. We haven't quite reached the deluge of Persona 5 spin-offs yet. No, 2017 is this v??ery special year where a new entry is unleashed upon the world, a fresh start for everyone. Fresh-ish, since there were already tons of spoiler before? release date around the internet. The game's original release in Japan was last year after all.

Persona 5 went above and beyond when revamping the daily simulator formula introduced by Persona 3. Everything, fr?om hanging out with your friends to defeating demons in a parallel world, looks and flows better than ever before.

Personally, what I enjoyed most out of Persona 5's improvements is the return of proper level design in its dungeons, something that wasn't seen in the series since Persona 2: Eternal Punishment.

Also Kawakami.

NieR: Automata's popularity, especially on this website, keeps surprising me. In a good way, of course! Drakengard and the original NieR were far from mainstream successes, and even the game's announcement trailer during E3 2015 was suitably?? low-key and relaxing. 

It surpassed all estimations. With currently roughly 700k owners on Steam, and over 2 million copies in total as of Septe??mber. Who could have expected a sequel to a game ?barely anybody played to become such a hit?

But something along the way did make NieR: Automata a success despite all odds. Maybe it was getting Platinum Games on board, giving the game a lot more mechanical polish. Maybe it was the reviews, which were much kinder to the game than other Yoko Taro experiments. Maybe it was that the internet couldn't shut the he??ll up about 2B's butt.

In any cas??e, I'm glad it succeeded. And so is the jbsgame.community, judging by the game's second position in the poll.

Look, I wasn't a fan of Breath of the Wild. But I'd be lying if I said any other game felt like the biggest release of the year. It sold like crazy. People talked about it like crazy. It even got a 10/10 on the biggest and greatest video game website of all, Destructoid. Wait, it got two.

Breath of the Wild wasn't just a game, it was a phenomenon. No matter if someone hates or loves the game, you've already read their reasoning a billion times by now. There's no point i??n even getting into it. Even though the game had a Wii U version, it was the reason why most of my friends wanted a Nintendo Switch.

Don't lie, you saw this coming.

Ehhh, these community awards could have used a few more surprises, I hear you say. They're basically identical to the staff picks. You're ??not wrong! But I have some nifty trivia to show to you, who made it ?this far.

• PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds didn't get its chicken dinner

The game ended in 23rd place in the community vote, the worst position of all our PC GOTY nominees. Divinity: Original Sin II would have won the category instead, were the proletariat really ??in power. The RPG ended up in the seven?th position overall.

• Troll and I, or Knack II?

The latter ended up with significantly more votes. It was the 28th most popular game in the poll, while Troll and I had to go home with a measly 35th place. Now, the age-old ?question f??inally comes to a close.

It helps that Knack II can actually be enjoyed somewhat unironically.

• What if we used the average position to rank the games instead?

That's not the best system for a community vote like this... It's much easier for games with few votes to end up at the top??. But still, to satisfy your curiosity, the rankings would end up like this:

1. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2.16)
2. Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap (2.33)
3. NieR: Automata (2.45)
4. Persona 5 (2.46)
5. Horizon Zero Dawn (2.50)
6. Super Mario Odyssey (2.63)

Wonder Boy got all the way up there! Look? at it go. Incidentall??y, it was also the least voted game in the entire poll.

Well, that's it for this year's edition of the Community Choice Award! Let's ?hope 2018 is ano??ther great year for video games.

The post Destructoid’s 2017 Community Choice Award! appeared first on Destructoid.

Every day's a vote! Every vote's a win!

The results of?? the Destructoid staff GOTY picks on each platform have been revealed over the past few days. But who cares about these nerds anyway? Doesn't the community deserve a voice as well?

Why yes, it does.

So we're reaching to everyone with an online connection (unfortunately, we haven't figured out how to add an offline mode yet) to pick favorites in a selection of the most beloved games of the year. Will the community pick complet?ely different g?ames? Will our tastes align? I can't withstand this suspense!

What do I have to do to be part of this monumental leap in democracy, you ask? Just vote in the poll below. You can pick up to your fi??ve favorite games, though you can use as much or as little voting power as you want. The choice is yours.&nb??sp;

The poll will be open until Monday, January 1st at 11:59 PM PST. Results will be revealed in a separate post after they are tallied. The options you'll be able to pick from are based on our GOTY nominees, with some highly requested games from the comment section like Troll and I mixed in. If I missed your favorite, please ごめん. 

Beyond the poll, I'm interested to hear what you have to say about your favorite game of the year in the com?ment section below! Especially if they're games that aren't in the poll above... In GOTY season, the most popular games get all the attention, so having an opportunity to read about neat games we might have otherwise missed is always appreciated!

(UPDATE: Voting's ??over! The results will be uploaded soon.)

The post Vote now for Destructoid’s 2017 Community Choice Award! appeared first on Destructoid.

Solid games all around

Say what you will about how lame video game awards shows can be, ??Geoff Keighley is definitely dedicated to making his event the best it can possibly be. Shedding the shackles of Spike TV has allowed?? him to produce a much better show in recent years. This is also reflected in the nominees for games, which is less focused on big budget titles and more on actual crowd pleasers. "Game of the Year 2017" is no different, though some people are a bit riled up about one nominee.

Keighley took to Twitter to list off what games will be vying for the ultimate prize this year and the list is: Legend of the Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, Horizon Zero Dawn, Persona 5 and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. That last one has Twitter up in a fit since it is still ??in Early-Access.

I can almost see their position (since I typically wouldn't nominate a game that may not even release in 2017), but PUBG has broken all kinds of sales records and is an incredibly addicting experience. I've spent more time with PUBG than I care to admit and I even watch a lot of streams dedicated to playing it based on how intense its moment to moment a??ction c?an be.

That being said, some of the other nominees for the various categories are questionable. How is Final Fantasy XV even in the running for anything when it released in 2016? Super Mario Run also makes an appearance despite the same stipulation; t??hat game released last year.

Whatever the case, I c?an't say I'm disappointed with any of the games up for "Game of the Year." Every single one is a worthy candidate and it will be interesting to see the fan reaction when one game wins over another.

Awards [The Game Awards]

The post Here are the nominees for ‘The Game Awards’ GOTY 2017 category appeared first on Destructoid.

Number 5 will surprise you!

To celebrate the release of Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux in Japan, Atlus has revealed the results of a recent popul??arity poll held in Japan. The poll ranked all 345 demons that will appear in the game, which is an impressive number. Rather than revealing just the top 10?? however, Atlus has the entire results shown in a video that goes for almost three hours.

If you have the ?time, you can catch the video below. The top ten starts at the 2:49:15 mark.

Now before you get up in arms about how x demon got y spot, it's important to remember that unlike the rest of the world, Japan has all the material for the franchise. This means that they've known some demons for much lo?nger, or have seen them in far more prominent roles, such as Loki in the original novels that started the franchise. There's a lot more going into each pick than you would initially suspect.

Without fu??rther delay, here are t??he top 10 most popular demons.

10th place: Loki

9th place: Moh Shuvuu

8th place: Beelzebub

7th place: Decarabia

6th place: Mothman

5th place: The mascot of Atlus, Jack Frost

4th place: Mastema

3rd place: Cu Chulainn

2nd place: Alice

And ??your winner, the most popular? demon as determined by Japan, is...

Mara!

What? Did you really think the giant penis monster on a chariot wouldn't win these polls? They've known her since it was just a penis with tentacles, of course she was the most likely one to win! There's an expensive statue for her for goodness sake. Also a reminder that Mara is portrayed as a goddess in Strange Journey, which is different from the usual portrayal.

If you're sad you don't have Mara goodness in your life right now, don't worry. Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux will be releasing worldwide next year, so you can take Mara in all her glory everywhere you go. If you absolutely need to see every detail of that glorious cock, Shin Megami Tensei V will be coming to the Nintendo Switch at some point in the future.

The post The most popu??lar Shin Megami Ten??sei demons in Japan have been revealed appeared first on Destructoid.

Stock jumps over 5%

Netflix is looking to enter the riot business. The company announced that its most popular plan, currently $9.99, will now cost $10.99 / mo. The premium plan w??hich allows simultaneously play on four screens (locations) will jump from $11.99 / mo. to $13.99.

That's no joke abou??t its stock price; the company hit an all-time high after the pla??n was announced.

No convenient graphic was av??ailable to demonstrate the impact on consumers' wallets, but somehow I suspect the effect will be minimal.

Let's conduct an informal, tot??ally unscientific poll: 

• Do you have Netflix? Y/N
• Will you keep it with new pricing? Y/N
• Whose account do you use to watch Netflix? (A) Parent (B) Significant other (C) Other family (D) Friend (E) There's something wrong with you and you pay for it yourself.

Greedy corporation Netflix is? taking all the tips from the strippers [USA Today]

The post Poll: Netflix raises cost of most?? popular plan by $1, what do you do? appeared first on Destructoid.

This one was personal

Recently, Nintendo polled Switch users to settle the age-old question, “is a hot dog a sandwich?” It’s no secret where I stand on this issue, but I’m happy to report that 54% of voters made the rig?ht choice. That’s right people! A hot dog is a sandwich!

The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (I still can’t believe this is actually a thing…) had previously stated that they were not, but they’ve got a brand to protect. I imagine they probably also don’t want to reprint all their t-shirts, banners, and various other paraphernalia to say, “The National Hot Dog and Sausage Sandwich Council.” An employee for NASA, on the other hand, clearly sided with the majority of Switch voters all the way back in 1970.

The sandwich wars have been raging over in the Quickposts and Cblogs for months now, so it’s great to finally have a solid win for #Te?amSandwich.

This tip came to us via, Destructoid user, LaTerry!

[Disclaimer: This is a highly controversial topic. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author alone and do not reflect the views of Destructoid, Enthusiast Gaming, or any of their affiliates in any way.]

The post Hot dogs are sandwiches appeared first on Destructoid.

There is always one

In a few months time, Targets, Best Buys, Wal-Marts and GameStops around the country will transform into Thunderdomes for the launch of the SNES Classic. When it was announced this week, the jokes started to fly. The poor handling of the NES Classic left a sour taste in many mouths. We all learned a lesson with that one an?d now we know going in Nintendo won't be making many SNES systems. But ??oh, what a system it is.

With just 21 games, including one that’s never been publicly released, the SNES Classic is a wonderful hodgepodge of some of the best games to hit the 16-bit wunderkind. There are many, many more that could and should be included, but for whatever reason failed to make the cut. From our list of the 30 best SNES games, I would most want to find room for the splendid TMNT: Turtles in Time. I mean the SNES was a beat ‘em up machine, a genre the Classic is missin??g.

Looking at the list, I asked myself what game I would take out of its line-up if, hypothetically, I were to add in Turtles in Time. No question, I would remove Super Mario Kart. Look, I get the game is groundbreaking, the first entry in one of the most beloved franchises in history, a series with no equal. I understand, but I also know should I ever get my hands on one of these, I will never play it. Why would I? I have Mario Kart 8 and it’s better than the or??iginal in every possible? way.

I brought this up in the staff chat and got some interesting responses. Occams said he could do without the Kirby games while Joel Peterson, whoever the fuck that is, said his least exciting title is Super Punch Out. Now I want to know what you think. If Nintendo magically gave us the ability to add in that one game we wanted at the expense of one of the included titles, which game would you take ou?t of the SNES Classic to make room for your favorite?

The post What game in ??the SNES Classic could you ho?nestly do without? appeared first on Destructoid.

No recounts

433 of you, the jbsgame.communi?ty, slaved over a hot keyboard in order to vo?te in our Best of E3 poll. And your winner is...

Super Mario Odyssey!

And really, it wasn't even close. In a total landslide victory, Odyssey took 206 of the 433 votes, totaling nearly 48% of respondents. For you numbers nerds out there, that's 172 votes more than the second-place finisher. I guess you guys are really stoked about a new Mario game!

What isn't a huge surprise is that Metroid: Samus Returns, the remake of the Game Boy classic Metroid II: Return of Samus, came in second.?? For what seems like the majority of my adult life (I'm 30, y'all) fans have been clamoring for Nintendo to do something with the oft-forgotten IP, so it makes total sense that folks would be excited for any news from the series. 

What is a bit shocking to me is the game that tied for second place: Dragon Ball FighterZ (I will not rest until we officially refer to this as DBFz). There were quite a few heavy-hitters at this year's E3, but who'd have thunk that a stylistic mashup between the beloved anime franchise and Arc System Works' energetic approach to the fighting genre would hold its own against the likes of Metroid? I must admit that while I'm neither a fan of Dragon Ball nor of fighting games in general, DBFz really caught my eye with its crisp visuals and un??i?que presentation. 

As a minor note, everything I put on the initial list got at least one vote, save poor, poor Yoshi Switch. You guys couldn't throw him a bone? Also I'm a jerk and forgot Metroid: Sames Returns on the initial list, so I added it in about an hour after the original p?ost went live. It got three write-in votes in that time frame, so I added thos??e to the overall numbers for review above.

The full poll results are listed below. D??id the community get it right? Did somebody get criminally overlooked? Will my dad ever come home from buying cigarettes? Discuss in the comments below!

206 - Super Mario Odyssey

34 - Dragon Ball FighterZ

34 - Metoid: Samus Returns

22 - Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus

20 - Spider-Man

16 - Monster Hunter World

15 - Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

6 - God of War

6 - Sea of Thieves

6 - Splatoon 2

5 - Destiny 2

5 - Middle-earth: Shadow of War

4 - Assassin's Creed: Origins

4 - Days Gone

4 - Shadow of the Colossus

3 - The Evil Within 2

3 - Xenoblade Chronicles 2

2 - A Way Out

2 - Anthem

2 - Beyond Good and Evil 2

2 - Blade Strangers

2 - Everybody's Golf

2 - Forza 7

2 - Hunt: Showdown

2 - Life is Strange: Before the Storm

2 - Metroid Prime 4

2 - Ruiner

2 - Yakuza: Kiwami

1 - Crackdown 3

1 - Detroit: Become Human

1 - Devolver Digital (this is a studio...)

1 - Dishonored: Death of the Outsider

1 - Far Cry 5

1 - Hidden Agenda

1 - Killing Floor 2

1 - Kirby Switch

1 - Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite

1 - Metro: Exodus

1 - Moss

1 - Skull & Bones

1 - Sonic Mania

1 - South Park: The Fractured but Whole

1 - The Darwin Project

1 - The Last Night

1 - You Think This is a Game, Wes?!?

1 - Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana

0 - Yoshi Switch (lol)

The post Your winner for Destructoid’s E3 Community Choice Award is… appeared first on Destructoid.

Tell us what you love

Over the past three days,?? I’ve counted down Destructoid’s list of the top 10 games on the Wii U. It was a close vote and several outstanding titles just missed making the cut. Do you agree with us how we voted or is there a game we totally missed?

Now is your chance to voice your opinion in the jbsgame.community top 10 Wii U games poll?! Use the link at the bottom of the page to fill out your 10 favorite games for the Wii U. It does not matter the order you list them in, just make sure you only list one game per line or it won’t be counted.

Don't have 10 games you like? No problem. You're only required to list a minimum of one game as well as you?r Destructoi??d or Disqus username.

To help us tabulate these votes more quickly, please copy and paste the exact title of the game from the list here.

The poll is open until midnight PST on Sunday, April 16 and the results will be posted ??here sometime next week.

Cast your vote here.

The post Name your favorite Wii U games in the jbs??game.co?mmunity poll appeared first on Destructoid.

And people aren't happy

For the last few weeks, GameFAQs has been running a “Best. Game. Ever.” poll to celebrate its 20-year anniversary. It’s pitted classic against classic, Sonic against Mario, Final Fantasy against Zelda, Portal against BioShock to find the 'real' best game ever. At long last, the winner has been crowned,?? and it’s causing something of a stir.

After countless rounds of voting, the winning game was one that only released this year. One that not many people have had the chance to play yet, and certainly not one with the long-term popularity of Final Fantasy VII or Ocarina of Time.

The winner was Undertale.

Undertale’s success in the polls has caused a massive, internet-wide uproar all the way through the voting. On the one side are people who don’t feel that Undertale can really be called the “Best. Game. Ever.” if it only came out this year, and that the vote was ‘rigged’ due to the size of the fandom it currently has.

On the other, you'll find people defending Undertale, claiming it really is the best game ever, or you'll find people who are critical of gaming’s perceived obsession with nostalgia driving these kinds of polls to usually pick games like Ocarina of Time. And then there’s the?? rest of us sat in the middle, slightly bemused about the whole s?ituation.

I personally don’t have a horse in this race, as the game I consider the ‘best ever’ wasn’t even in the running (Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, if you’re curious). I love Undertale (and so did Ben), a??nd it's certainl??y one of the best games to come out this year in my book.

As much as I like Undertale though, this poll isn't confirmation that it’s “objectively good”, or that your favourite game is "objectively bad" because it lost to it. All it is confirmation of is that Undertale is really bloody popular at the moment.

So, what is your “Best. Game. Ever.”, and why is it Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory?

The post Undertale wins GameFAQs’ ‘Best. Game. Ever.’ poll appeared first on Destructoid.

Women vs. Men in Video Game Consoles

Would you believe me if I told you that more women own a home video game console in the United States than men? According to Pew Research Center's study of 1,907 adults ages 18 and older, that is indeed the case.

As you can see from the results, women own consoles at a rate of five percent more than men. Also, people that have some college experience but never completed it make up the majority of console owners, which makes you wonder if people dropped out to become a Guitar Hero.

Personally, I'd take these results with a grain of salt, as there are many factors to consider such as the sample size, if the consoles were bought for their kids, and the fact that Pew doesn't specify if they asked about every consol??e or just Xbox and PlayStati??on.

On top of that, for portable gaming devices, Pew lists the long-defunct PSP and the Sega Genesis, which as you know isn't even a portable console. Even if Pew had listed Sega's actual portable console, the Game Gear, it still would have been an odd listing for a survey in 2015. Now the Sega Nomad, that is where it was at! Plugging in another controller to play with a friend was the bomb, even if the battery life on th??e thing was garbage.

The Demographics of Device Ownership [Pew Research Center]

The post Survey: More women own a vi?deo g??ame console in the US than men appeared first on Destructoid.

What a year

It's the moment you've all been waiting for: the ?time to vote for your favo??rite game of E3!

Click below and make your selection, then tell us about it? in th??e comments! There's certainly no shortage of AMAZING games to choose from this year!

The post Vote now for the Destructoid E3 2015 Community Choice Award?! appeared first on Destructoid.

We snuck around the convention and surprised these 10 games

Recently, amidst the hubbub of PAX East news and previews, we had the audacity to ask you to vote for your favorite game on?? the show floor. The nerve of us! Forcing you to choose from such a vast array of amazing videogam??es!

Well, vote you did, and the results point to yet another amazing yea??r for gaming. Read on to see which awards took home the prize!

Before we unveil the winners, I would like to thank all the community members who helped Caitlin hand out awards to the developers. I hear it was a great time, and many of the d??evelopers were honored to receive their awards. Thanks again!

And now, without further adieu, your top 10 games of PAX East 2015, in order of votes receiv??ed!

Splatoon
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Necropolis
Enter the Gungeon
Xenoblade Chronicles 3D
Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows
Overwatch
Final Fantasy Type-0 HD
The Behemoth's "Game 4"
Code Name S.T.E.A.M.

Talk about an awesome group of games. Between this list and our staff's picks, 2015 is going to be a great year for gamers.

Thanks to everyone who t??ook the time to vote in our poll??!

The post Here are the winners of Destructoid’s PAX East 2015 community choice award! appeared first on Destructoid.

Democracy in action

Ah, PAX East. What a wonderful, sexy convention you are.

Are you in Boston this weekend, hanging out with fellow Dtoiders and having a blast? If so, I am totally jealous! Luckily for me and the millions of others in my shoes (why are all of you people in my shoes?!), we ca?n still enjoy PAX vicariously through the magic of the Destructoid PAX East?? 2015 community choice poll!

Below is a list of the games making an appearance at PAX East this year. Scroll on down and vote for your favorite! Did I miss your favorite? Shame on me! Please do write it in. We'll unveil the winn?er next week al?ongside all our official picks, so cast your votes soon!

Have fun!

The post Vote now for Dtoid’s PAX East 2015 community choice award! appeared first on Destructoid.

We've shown you ours. Now you show us yours.

The dust has barely settled on 2014, but w?e at Destructoid are alrea??dy looking to the future! Why? Because the future is awesome. Duh.

The Dtoid staff have shared our personal picks for our most wanted games of 2015, and now it's your turn to share yours! To participate, just vote in the community poll below?! It's just that easy. Did we miss your?? game? What idiots we are! Please do us a favor and write it in the "other" slot and then reply to my comment below so I can add it!

Once you've voted, be sure to tell us your choice in the comments so we can all hnnnnnggg over videogames together. Have fun!

The post What is your most anticipated game of 2015? appeared first on Destructoid.

And the winner is...

What a wild year it's been for us gamers. In spite of all th?e insanity this industry inevitably attracts, when we look back on everything that h??as happened over the last 12 months, I think there's one thing we can all agree on: there were a lot of really, really good games released in 2014!

To help pay tribute to the thing that has brought us all together, over the past week Destructoid shared its official picks for best multiplayer design, best mechanics, best world design, best narrative design, and our overall game of the year, and several of our staff have shared their personal picks as well. But now, it's the moment you've been waiting for! We're finally ready to unveil YOUR pick for the best game of 2014!

And fo??r th??e first time in a long while, the stars have aligned...

A 10 out of 10 Destructoid review. Destructoid's Game of the Year 2014. And now, the jbsgame.community Choice Award for 2??014! Not a bad year for everyone's favorite gun-toting witch!

And what's not to like? Combining nearly-flawless gameplay, gorgeous art design, and one kick-ass protagonist, Bayonetta 2 embodies just about everything one thinks of when they think "videogame." I can't think of a better compl??iment than that!

So congratulations to Platinum Games and Bayonetta 2, the winner of the jbsgame.community Choice Awar?d for 2014!

----------

Wondering how the rest of the best fared? Here are the top 10?? runners-up, in order of votes rec??eived:

• Dragon Age: Inquisition
• Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
• The Wolf Among Us
• Dark Souls II
• Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
• The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
• The Walking Dead: Season 2
• Shovel Knight
• Alien: Isolation
• Mario Kart 8

From AAA to indie, platformer to racer, that is one stellar group of games! And, co?nsidering the above list constitutes nearly two-thirds (63%) of the total vote this year, one thing is for sure: you all have very similar tastes!

Thanks to all who voted, and we'll se?e you next?? year!

The post Destructoid’s Game of the Year 2014 Community Choice Award! appeared first on Destructoid.

The jbsgame.community Choice Award

Another year has come and?????????????????????????? gone and holy sh*t were a lot of videogames released in 2014. Did you folks play any this year? I played a few, but mostly I just watched Netflix because it has achievements now.

Anyway, some of you were bound to have played a videogame or two in 2014, and if so, we want to hear which one you thought was the best! To participate, just vote f?or your personal game of 2014 in the poll below, and then let us know your choice in the comments so we can all argue about it because, well, this is the Internet god dammit.

In the coming weeks, the Dtoid staff will be unveiling our own awards (we're doing things a bit differently thi??s year, so stay tuned for details!), after which we will count up the votes and unveil the official Destructoid Game of the Year 2014 Community Choice Award!

Have fun!

The post Vote now for your 2014 Game of the Year! appeared first on Destructoid.

10,000 Japanese players polled on PlayStation

Sony surveyed 10,000 Japanese PlayStation fans (via Gematsu) of all ages to decide the best PlayStation game over the past 20 years and Dragon Quest V took the top spot (Final Fantasy VII the second spot).

Among respondents in their 40's, however, Resident Evil took number one, with Dragon Quest V dropping down to two. Among teens, Dragon Quest VIII? took the top spot on a list (understandably) filled out with more PS2/PSP games. 

Momotaro Dentetsu 11: Black Bombee Arrives! also placed first in various categories, while Final Fantasy VII was the most clam??ored for r?emake. The poll results in full are below.

Most Popular Games Throughout PlayStation History

1. Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride (PS2)
2. Final Fantasy VII (PSone)
3. Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen (PSone)
4. Final Fantasy X (PS2)
5. Resident Evil (PSone)
6. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (PS2)
7. Final Fantasy (PSone)
8. Dragon Quest VII: Warriors of Eden (PSone)
9. Puyo Puyo! (PSone)
10. Tetris (PSone)
11. Final Fantasy IX (PSone)
12. Kingdom Hearts (PS2)
13. Final Fantasy VIII (PSone)
14. Pro Evolution Soccer 4 Liveware Evolution In Formation (PS2)
15. Gran Turismo (PSone)
16. Kingdom Hearts II (PS2)
17. Derby Stallion (PSone)
18. Dynasty Warriors (PSone)
19. Resident Evil 2 (PSone)
20. Hot Shots Golf (PSone)

Most Popular Games Throughout PlayStation History (Among people in their 40s)

1. Resident Evil (PSone)
2. Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride (PS2)
3. Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen (PSone)
4. Final Fantasy VII (PSone)
5. Final Fantasy (PSone)
6. Final Fantasy X (PS2)
7. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (PS2)
8. Puyo Puyo! (PSone)
9. Dragon Quest VII: Warriors of Eden (PSone)
10. Tetris (PSone)
11. Derby Stallion (PSone)
12. Gran Turismo (PSone)
13. Hot Shots Golf (PSone)
14. Resident Evil 2 (PSone)
15. Final Fantasy IV (PSone)
16. Crash Bandicoot (PSone)
17. PaRappa the Rappa (PSone)
18. Final Fantasy VIII (PSone)
19. My Summer Vacation (PSone)
20. Ridge Racer (PSone)

Most Popular Games Throughout PlayStation History (Among people in their teens)

1. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (PS2)
2. Kingdom Hearts II (PS2)
3. Monster Hunter Portable 3rd (PSP)
4. Monser Hunter Portable 2nd G (PSP)
5. Kingdom Hearts (PS2)
6. My Summer Vacation (PSone)
7. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2)
8. Dynasty Warriors (PSone)
9. Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride (PSone)
10. Resident Evil (PSone)
11. Resident Evil 4 (PS2)
12. Final Fantasy Type-0 (PSP)
13. Arc the Lad (PSone)
14. God Eater 2 (PSP)
15. Dragon Quest VII: Warriors of Eden (PSone)
16. Crash Bandicoot: Warped (PSone)
17. Grand Theft Auto V (PS3)
18. Pro Yakyuu Spirits 2014 (PS3, PS Vita, PSP)
19. Crash Bandicoot (PSone)
20. Taiko Drum Master: Appare Sandaime (PS2)

Most Moving Games Over Books and Movies

1. Final Fantasy X (PS2)
2. Final Fantasy VII (PSone)
3. Resident Evil (PSone)
4. Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride (PS2)
5. Final Fantasy (PSone)
6. Final Fantasy IX (PSone)
7. Final Fantasy VIII (PSone)
8. Arc the Lad (PSone)
9. Dragon Quest IV: Warriors of Eden (PSone)
10. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2)
11. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (PS2)
12. Kingdom Hearts II (PS2)
13. Kingdom Hearts (PS2)
14. Tales of the Abyss (PS2)
15. Final Fantasy IV (PSone)
16. Okami (PS2)
17. Final Fantasy XII (PS2)
18. Clannad (PS2)
19. Final Fantasy V (PSone)

Most Exhilarating Games

1. Momotaro Dentetsu 11: Black Bombee Arrives! (PS2)
2. Momotaro Dentetsu 7 (PSone)
3. Hot Shots Golf (PSone)
4. Puyo Puyo! (PSone)
5. Momotaro Densetsu (PSone)
6. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (PSP)
7. Resident Evil (PSone)
8. Pro Evolution Soccer 4 Liveware Evolution In Formation (PS2)
9. Monster Hunter Portable 3rd (PSP)
10. Dance Dance Revolution (PS2)
11. Bomberman (PSone)
12. Momotaro Dentetsu 16: Moving in Hokkaido! (PS2)
13. Itadaki Street Gorgeous King (PS2)
14. Taiko Drum Master: Appare Sandaime (PS2)
15. Street Fighter (PSone)
16. Momotaro Dentetsu 12: All Aboard for Western Japan! (PS2)
17. Momotaro Dentetsu X: Kyushu Version (PS2)
18. Arc the Lad (PSone)
19. Gran Turismo (PSone)
20. Momotaro Dentetsu USA (PS2)

Most Exhilarating Games Among the Showa Era

1. Momotaro Dentetsu 11: Black Bombee Arrives! (PS2)
2. Momotaro Dentetsu 7 (PSone)
3. Hot Shots Golf (PSone)
4. Puyo Puyo (PSone)
5. Momotaro Densetsu (PSone)
6. Resident Evil (PSone)
7. Pro Evolution Soccer 4 Liveware Evolution In Formation (PS2)
8. Dance Dance Revolution (PS2)
9. Bomberman (PS2)
10. Momotaro Dentetsu 16: Moving in Hokkaido! (PS2)
11. Itadaki Street Gorgeous King (PSone)
12. Street Fighter (PSone)
13. Momotaro Dentetsu X: Kyushu Version (PS2)
14. Gran Turismo (PSone)
15. Momotaro Dentetsu 12: All Aboard for Western Japan! (PS2)
16. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (PSP)
17. Arc the Lad (PSone)
18. PaRappa the Rappa (PSone)
19. Taiko Drum Master: Appare Sandaime (PS2)
20. Tetris (PSOne)

Most Exhilarating Games Among the Heisei Era

1. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (PSP)
2. Monster Hunter Portable 3rd (PSP)
3. Pro Evolution Soccer 4 Liveware Evolution In Formation (PS2)
4. Taiko Drum Master: Appare Sandaime (PS2)
5. Momotaro Dentetsu 7 (PS2)
6. Puyo Puyo! (PSone)
7. Puyo Puyo Fever (PS2)
8. Dynasty Warriors (PSone)
9. Momotaro Dentetsu 11: Black Bombee Arrives! (PS2)
10. Dance Dance Revolution (PS2)
11. Resident Evil (PSone)
12. Momotaro Dentetsu 12: All Aboard for Western Japan! (PS2)
13. Crash Team Racing (PSone)
14. Resident Evil 5 (PS3)
15. Momotaro Densetsu (PSone)
16. Momotaro Dentetsu 16: Moving in Hokkaido! (PS2)
17. Momotaro Dentetsu USA (PS2)
18. Arc the Lad (PSone)
19. Crash Bash (PSone)
20. Hot Shots Golf (PSone)

Most Exhilarating Games Among Men

1. Momotaro Dentetsu 11: Black Bombee Arrives! (PS2)
2. Hot Shots Golf (PSone)
3. Momotaro Dentetsu 7 (PS2)
4. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (PSP)
5. Pro Evolution Soccer 4 Liveware Evolution In Formation (PS2)
6. Resident Evil (PSone)
7. Momotaro Densetsu (PSone)
8. Monster Hunter Portable 3rd (PSP)
9. Puyo Puyo! (PSone)
10. Bomberman (PSone)
11. Itadaki Street Gorgeous King (PSone)
12. Momotaro Dentetsu 16: Moving in Hokkaido! (PS2)
13. Arc the Lad (PSone)
14. Gran Turismo (PSone)
15. Momotaro Dentetsu 12: All Aboard for Western Japan! (PS2)
16. Momotaro Dentetsu X: Kyushu Version (PS2)
17. Street Fighter (PSone)
18. Momotaro Dentetsu 15: Godai Bombi Toujou! No Maki (PS2)
19. Hot Shots Golf 2 (PSone)
20. Momotaro Dentetsu USA (PS2)

Most Exhilarating Games Among Women

1. Puyo Puyo! (PSone)
2. Momotaro Dentetsu 11: Black Bombee Arrives! (PS2)
3. Momotaro Densetsu (PSone)
4. Dance Dance Revolution (PS2)
5. Momotaro Dentetsu 7 (PS2)
6. Resident Evil (PSone)
7. Taiko Drum Master: Appare Sumaide (PS2)
8. Hot Shots Golf (PSone)
9. Monster Hunter Portalbe 3rd (PSP)
10. Puyo Puyo Tsu Ketteiban (PSone)
11. Bomberman (PSone)
12. Momotaro Dentetsu 16: Moving in Hokkaido! (PS2)
13. Crash Bandicoot (Psone)
14. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (PSP)
15. Itadaki Street Gorgeous King (PSone)
16. Tetris (PSone)
17. Puyo Puyo Fever (PSone)
18. Katamari Damacy (PS2)
19. Street Fighter (PSone)
20. Momotaro Dentetsu 12: All Aboard for Western Japan! (PS2)

Most Wanted Remake or Sequel

1. Final Fantasy VII (PSone)
2. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey the Cursed King (PS2)
3. Resident Evil (PSone)
4. Final Fantasy (PSone)
5. Gran Turismo 6 (PS3)
6. Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Sword (PS2)
7. Resident Evil 6 (PS3)
8. Kingdom Hearts II (PS2)
9. Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen (PSone)
10. Arc the Lad (PSone)
11. Final Fantasy IX (PSone)
12. Monster Hunter Portable 3rd (PSP)
13. Final Fantasy X (PS2)
14. Kingdom Hearts (PS2)
15. Xenogears (PSone)
16. Pro Evolution Soccer 4 Liveware Evoluition In Formation (PS2)
17. Final Fantasy VIII (PSone)
18. Dragon Quest VII: Warriors of Eden (PSone)
19. Final Fantasy VII International (PSone)
20. Gran Turismo (PSone)

Most Wanted Remake or Sequel Among Men

1. Final Fantasy VII (PSone)
2. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (PS2)
3. Gran Turismo 6 (PS3)
4. Resident Evil (PSone)
5. Final Fantasy (PSone)
6. Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride (PS2)
7. Resident Evil 6 (PS3)
8. Arc the Lad (PSone)
9. Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen (PSone)
10. Monster Hunter Portable 3rd (PSP)
11. Pro Evolution Soccer 4 Liveware Evolution In Formation (PS2)
12. Final Fantasy IX (PSone)
13. Gran Turismo (PSone)
14. Xenogears (PSone)
15. Densha de GO! (PSone)
16. Kingdom Hearts II (PS2)
17. Grand Theft Auto V (PS3)
18. Final Fantasy X (PS2)
19. Pro Yakyuu Spirits 2014 (PS3, PS Vita, PSP)
20. Dragon Quest VII: Warriors of Eden (PSone)

Most Wanted Remake or Sequel Among Women

1. Final Fantasy VII (PSone)
2. Final Fantasy (PSone)
3. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the CUrsed King (PS2)
4. Kingdom Hearts II (PS2)
5. Resident Evil (PSone)
6. Kingdom Hearts (PS2)
7. Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen (PSone)
8. Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Sword (PS2)
9. Resident Evil 6 (PS3)
10. Final Fantasy IX (PSone)
11. Arc the Lad (PSone)
12. Okami (PS2)
13. My Summer Vacation (PSone)
14. Final Fantasy X (PS2)
15. Final Fantasy VIII (PSone)
16. Dynasty Warriors (PSone)
17. Suikoden (PSone)
18. Tetris (PSone)
19. Monster Hunter Portable 3rd (PSP)
20. Tales of the Abyss (PS2)

10??,000 Japanese users surveyed in list of most popular PlaySta?tion games [Gematsu[

The post Poll: Final Fantasy VII most ??wanted remake, Dragon Quest V favorite PlayStation game appeared first on Destructoid.

Then defend your decision in the comments!

E3 has been all about the games this year, which means it's been a very good year to be a gamer indeed! Now that all the major press conferences have come and gone and the majority of the big reveals have made their marks, it's time once again for you to pick your favorite game of the show!

Below is a lengthy list of the games that will soon be joining your libraries. Which one are you the most excited for? Check the box and cast your vote! Then after you're done, go argue about your choice in the com?ments.

If you need a refresher about any of the games below, click here to check out our continuing E3 Unfiltered coverage. And stay tuned next week when we unveil the winner of the jbsgame.communit??y Choice Award for E3 2014!

The post Vote now for Destructoid’s E3 2014 Community Choice Award! appeared first on Destructoid.