UPDATE: Nike Auctions Shoes from Back to the
Future for Charity

post from The Escapist : Latest News on 08 September 2011 11:41:00 PM. © The Escapist : Latest News

Whoa! This is heavy. We might be able to step into Marty McFly's shoes before 2015.

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Activision wins rights to modernwarfare3.com...
finally

post from Destructoid on 08 September 2011 11:06:27 PM. © Destructoid

Activision wins rights to modernwarfare3.com... finally screenshot

Back in July, the domain Modernwarfare3.com surfaced and, funnily enough, it led users to the Battlefield 3 official site. It was discovered that a fan (not EA) had purchased the domain and thought it funny to bait Call of Duty fans for some laughs. Then there was the legal drama: Activision accused the domain's owner of having no rights to the domain as well as using it in bad faith, both valid complaints.

Nearly two months later, a verdict has been reached naming Activision the owner of a shiny new domain name. There's nothing there yet but hey, a battle was won. "Silly" seems too nice a word for this whole fiasco. There is, however, the matter of modernwarfare4.com which is just hilarious. Regardless, the full decision can be found here.

Activision ousts MW3.com owner [Eurogamer]

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Hands-on: Torchlight II

post from Destructoid on 08 September 2011 10:05:53 PM. © Destructoid

Hands-on: Torchlight II screenshot

By now, I'm sure many of you are already familiar with Torchlight, the inaugural opus of developer Runic Games. It was a class-based action RPG/dungeon-crawler that bears an uncanny resemblance to a hypothetical hybrid of Diablo and Gauntlet.

I played Torchlight 2 for about an hour at PAX 2011, experimenting with the Outlander (a lithe rogue-esque class) and the Embermage (a ranged magic class) in the game's second major area. The overworld is randomly generated using large pre-made chunks. So while a landmark might be in a different place with each playthrough, the landmark itself will be the same.

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Those familiar with the first title in the series will have no trouble with the new content. This really just is Torchlight with tighter graphics a MUCH bigger world, spells, items, talents, and content. And that's definitely not a bad thing.

I started my playtime with the Outlander, having a natural inclination for rogues. I had access to about a dozen different abilities that had some nice variation and gorgeous animations. Within a few minutes, I set off to challenge a boss in the area and had relatively little trouble. I don't know what difficulty I was on, but I could see the game being a bit too easy, especially if baddies don't scale with the number of players. The Embermage was fairly intuitive as well, and I had a lot of fun with rudimentary adventuring.

A lot of work has gone into making sure Torchlight 2 has replayability. When your characters hit the level cap (I was told to expect it to be around 50), they can confer buffs and perks to new characters. There's a match-making system, full modding support, and suite of other features to to ensure you get your money's worth, all for the paltry sum of $20.

Torchlight 2 is due out later this year. If you haven't played the first one, it's $15 on Steam, and it's really good, especially if you like dungeon crawlers.

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Asura's Wrath: New playable character, screens

post from Destructoid on 08 September 2011 10:05:53 PM. © Destructoid

Asura's Wrath: New playable character, screens screenshot

Capcom has unveiled a new playable character in their upcoming action title Asura's Wrath. And if you're familiar with the game's E3 trailer you just might recognize him. While the E3 footage illustrates a dramatic fight sequence between the two characters, this is the first real tidbit of information on the man behind the mask.

Yasha blames Asura for the death of his sister (Asura's Wife), but has yet to decide whether to take revenge on his brother-in-law or help him in the fight against the Shinkoku army. As far as gameplay goes, Yasha is said to sport a faster, more intense combat style.

More information about Yasha and Asura's Wrath will be unveiled next week at the Tokyo Game Show. We'll be sure to keep you informed when it does. In the meantime check out these awesome new screens in the gallery below.

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Team Meat, Zen Studios fight over Microsoft
treatment

post from Destructoid on 08 September 2011 08:05:34 PM. © Destructoid

Team Meat, Zen Studios fight over Microsoft treatment screenshot

Team Meat recently leveled some ire at Microsoft over the way that Super Meat Boy was allegedly treated on Xbox Live Arcade. Claiming that "near death experiences" were had during the SMB development cycle, Team Meat claims that it got "f*cked" by the 360 platform holder, and criticized the company's lack of support on Gamasutra.

Interestingly, the makers of Zen Pinball became an unexpected ally of Microsoft, and issued a statement to all press -- including Destructoid -- claiming that its own experience with Microsoft had been excellent, and that Team Meat got plenty of promotion. It even went so far as to imply that Team Meat was making dramatic statements for attention.

Then fighting happened.

Firstly, here's what Zen had to say on the matter ...

So this is a bit of a rant on the other side of the Team Meat negativity, a bit from emotion, a bit from truth:
There has been quite a bit of Microsoft backlash recently, highlighted by continous Team Meat bantering about near death experiences during Super Meat Boy dev cycles. While these highly dramatic rants make for controversial headlines and ultimately get good readership, we at Zen can offer a completely different side of the equation.
We had (and continue to have) an excellent experience working with Microsoft. Pinball FX2 came out during the same Game Feast promotion, and we had similiar support and promotion available to us as did everyone in our launch class (Comic Jumper, Super Meat Boy, Pinball FX2, Hydrophobia). If fact, if you want to argue, Super Meat Boy got the MOST promo out of thd deal as they were the poster child for the whole campaign (http://www.1up.com/news/microsoft-announces-fall-xbla-promo).
And sorry, not to brag but Pinball FX2 continues to be a top XBLA game week over week - even in the midst of Summer of Arcade (http://majornelson.com/2011/09/08/live-activity-for-week-of-august-29th/). Believe me, we did not figure all of this out ourselves, Microsoft and their brain trust had a LOT to do with it.
So why all the backlash? What are they not telling you? Is this a desperate attempt at marketing, PR...SALES? How come no one has mentioned that these guys have made millions - is it to protect their "we are indie and poor" image?
Also, PlayStation sure got off pretty easy with the whole PSN outage, there was not much follow up on the effect on digital publishers who had all their content released with no notification the Thursday night before E3. It's funny that PlayStation is now trying to convince everyone that Microsoft is keeping things back by disguising inferior technology...just sayin.
I would LOVE to share another side of the story. While it will not be controversial, it will be honest and true. If there is any interest, we are ready and willing to talk!
Best,
Mel

Not long after this statement was made, Team Meat attacked the studio on Twitter:

so, what the fuck is your problem? you obviously have no fucking clue what we went through to talk shit like that publicly

I won't post the entire back and forth (You can check out Team Meat and Zen's Twitter profiles) but it's been a pretty nasty scuffle, especially on Team Meat's side. Zen is adamant that Microsoft is a great company to work with and that the Xbox Live Arcade development experience is a pleasant one, while the SMB crew insist that they were treated poorly.

The fight appears to have concluded with Team Meat calming down and asking for a Zen Pinball skin featuring Super Meat Boy, so the two parties may resolve things yet. Nevertheless, it's a fascinating little look at two studios who clearly have had vastly different experiences with Microsoft. It's certainly not the first time I've heard of folks having conflicting opinions on whether or not XBLA is worth developing for, and it likely won't be the last.

In any case, we're hoping to chat with both parties soon about the whole deal, because it's really pretty enthralling stuff.

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Bigpoint to big publishers: You're doing it wrong

post from Destructoid on 08 September 2011 08:05:34 PM. © Destructoid

Bigpoint to big publishers: You're doing it wrong screenshot

In an interview with Edge, Bigpoint boss, Philip Reisberger, had some less than flattering things to say about big publishers' approaches to f2p and premium content. I do love a good bit of smack talk. Reisberger thinks that EA, Valve, Ubisoft and their like are wrong to offer premium virtual goods when the items don't give the players an advantage.

It wouldn't ruin the game. If selling an advantage ruins the game, you haven't done the balancing right... It's a delicate balance, though, and that's why I love my game designers. All of them have understood how to do this. If you have a sophisticated approach to free-to-play games, in the end you can monetize everything.

That's right folks. Everything.

He believes that Bigpoint understands the business model better due to having never shipped a retail game before. But he seems to ignore that fact that the games he references are retail games or in Team Fortress 2's case, it was a retail game until recently. These, for the most part, are not free games, players have already spent money on them and thus would be less likely to accept severe limitations if they don't purchase the extra content.

Should the big publishers mimic Bigpoint's business model when it comes to f2p and premium content? Or will that lead to splitting these games' communities into the haves and have-nots?

Bigpoint: Publishers don't understand monetisation [Edge]

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Haunted Legends: The Bronze Horseman Collector's
Edition

post from Hidden Object Games and Free Downloadable Games at Fenomen-Games.com on 08 September 2011 08:00:00 PM. © Hidden Object Games and Free Downloadable Games at Fenomen-Games.com

A small town lies devastated after being ravaged by a terrible flood. The townsfolk hide away, whispering of the Bronze Horseman, who has come to pass judgment on the wicked! Summoned by the town's mayor, it is your duty to investigate the mystery and find his son, who has disappeared amidst the chaos. Help the small town using your Hidden Object talents in Haunted Legends: The Bronze Horseman!

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http://www.fenomen-games.com/haunted-legends-bronze-horseman.htm

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Trash Tycoon Review (Facebook)

post from Gamezebo: Casual Game Reviews, Previews, Cheats, Tips, Forums, Free Games, and More on 08 September 2011 07:15:02 PM. © Gamezebo: Casual Game Reviews, Previews, Cheats, Tips, Forums, Free Games, and More

Gamezebo Rating:

Instead of building a city, Trash Tycoon asks you to clean one up. The houses and streets are already there, but they?re a mess. It?s a game that attempts to teach players about the benefits of recycling, but it doesn?t really feel like an educational game. And that?s because, in spite of a few flaws and the fact that it doesn?t really do much new, Trash Tycoon is actually pretty fun.

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http://www.gamezebo.com/games/trash-tycoon/review

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Live with Sega: Will Rise of Nightmares be
Kinect's best

Live with Sega: Will Rise of Nightmares be Kinect's best? screenshot

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[Not sure what Mash Tactics is? I've included a clip from the most recent episode to show you just a glimpse of what you've been missing, you daft fool! You can see all of Destructoid's previously-aired live shows in our archives.]

Today, Mash Tactics is joined by representatives from Sega to play the new Kinect thriller, Rise of Nightmares. Here's your chance to see if Sega's new gore fest is hardcore enough to make you want to use your Kinect. Do you think Rise could be the first good "core" game for the little black bar? Do you think Microsoft's stab at motion control will ever get solid titles? Do you think I'm an idiot for not seeing how Dance Central already proves the Kinect's worth? Share your thoughts below in the comments!

Mash Tactics airs Monday through Friday at 4pm Pacific. Watch Jon Carnage and Pico Mause let loose with off-the-wall humor and discuss the issues of the day in the live chat on Destructoid's Twitch.tv channel. Also, there are videogames being played. Join us for your chance to win prizes, talk to industry guests, and witness all of the glorious antics.

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Watch live video from Destructoid on Justin.tv

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