Interview: Where is Tommy in Prey 2

post from Destructoid on 18 June 2011 11:06:16 PM. © Destructoid

Interview: Where is Tommy in Prey 2? screenshot

Hollie asked Bethesda's Chris Rhinehart the question we've all had on our minds since Prey 2's reveal earlier this year, and it sounds like Tommy will play a pretty big part in it.

There's also talk about the open world design, player freedom in movement and choice, and all kinds of other things. Take a look!

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Assassin's Creed: Revelations 'Animus Edition'
looks wild

post from Destructoid on 18 June 2011 10:05:55 PM. © Destructoid

Assassin's Creed: Revelations 'Animus Edition' looks wild screenshot

Gamers are no strangers to wild special edition versions of Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed franchise. Hell, before the series was even a hit, the publisher released a version of the original in a special tin with an (underwhelming) figure of the game's lead.

It looks like Asssasin's Creed: Revelations might be getting the same treatment. An "Animus Edition" of the game has cropped up on GameStop Ireland's website, featuring a slew of goodies for roughly $143.

In addition to special packaging, we're talking a soundtrack, a short film called Assassin's Creed Embers, an "in-depth encyclopedia," and in-game content. That content includes a single-player mission set in the prison of Vlad the Impaler (awesome!), weapon upgrades, the "Armor of Brutus," and two multiplayer characters -- the Crusader and an "Ottoman" version of the Jester. Oh, and one "exclusive" customization item. Say all of that ten times fast.

It's unclear how much overlap there will be between this and the Revelations "Signature Edition," which is an auto-upgrade for folks who pre-order the game with GameStop in the United States. That edition will include an extra single-player mission, a multiplayer character, a short film, soundtrack, and some weapon upgrades. Sounds similar, but what of that fancy, fancy box?

We'll check in with Ubisoft to see what their plans are. But for now, it seems like Irish collectors are cashing in on that fabled luck of theirs.

Assassin's Creed Revelations 'Animus Edition' temps Irish fans [Joystiq]

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Bad Memory Escape 8

post from Escape Games 24 on 18 June 2011 09:06:49 PM. © Escape Games 24

Bad Memory Escape 8 is a next episode of Bad Memory Escape point and click room escape game series created by Ainars for Gongtats. Another person lost memory and your task is to guide this person to the freedom by collecting items and solving puzzles! Good Luck!Play This Game

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Weekend Mobile roundup: Father's Day edition

post from Destructoid on 18 June 2011 09:06:39 PM. © Destructoid

Weekend Mobile roundup: Father's Day edition screenshot

It's Father's Day tomorrow! I hope you remembered to do something nice for your dad or at least give him a call if he's still alive. And if you've grown apart, it would be as good a time as any to get over your differences before he dies. Alternatively, be exactly like your father was, make a whiny face like he did for three movies, and jump down a shaft.

This weekend I found out Grand Prix Story hit Android, Imaginary Range is now on Android, there's a couple of iPhone games, and Gameloft is holding a Father's Day sale on a bunch of their iOS games.

Weekend highlights:

Grand Prix Story (Android, $4.96)

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A new game by Kairosoft (Game Dev Story, Hot Springs Story) came out and it's on Android first? Shocking! Actually it's not that shocking, because the Story games were never tailored to any specific mobile platform by design. Because I don't have an Android phone -- or any phone that is worth a damn for that matter -- I couldn't check this out myself and it also passed under my radar.

It looks great though, and this time around you're managing your own racing team with some deeper options and harder gameplay. I've heard a few people say they couldn't get it to run on their older Android phone though, so it might be a good idea to search around a bit to see if there are known issues with this game and your phone model.

Skipping Stone (iPhone, $0.99)

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Not to be confused with Skipping Stones or Stone Skipper (yes really), Skipping Stone is a pretty simple yet colorful rhythm game. You're some kind of creature thing who has to skip on the water by tapping at the right moment. It sounded stupid to me, but I gave it a try nonetheless and it's not bad actually.

There's not a whole lot to it, although you get multipliers for doing three properly timed skips in a row and there are random bonuses to grab that give you a range of different effects and items. It's not a game you'll be playing for any long stretches of time, but it is one of those games that are great to just pass a few minutes while you wait for something.

The clean art style and the frantic music turn what could've been a really boring mechanic into a frantic timed tap fest. If you're in the market for a simple game that doesn't get old fast, but that you can keep playing on and off where it suits you, Skipping Stone is pretty decent.

UltraDeep (iPhone, $0.99)

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Another one of those tilt control jump/fall games, this time with doodle graphics. I'm terrible at tilt controls and quite frankly I hate them, so this was not a game for me. If you don't mind tilt controls though, it's pretty decent.

You collect diamonds on your path to the bottom, which fill up a bar that lets you blow through platforms and hazards in super hero mode. You can also use the diamonds to upgrade things like a longer super power bar to save up more diamonds, duration, other characters, and items to save your life. You can also configure the tilt sensitivity which is a huge plus.

The game does do a good job at providing incentives to keep on playing it through an in-game locator for your high score and through the upgrades, so if you dig this type of game it's worth a shot.

Imaginary Range (Android, free)

We've talked about Imaginary Range in a previous Weekend Mobile roundup, but it's finally on Android now. If you don't know what it is, it's Square Enix's mix of an interactive comic book with minigames that combine to tell a very Japanese story. It's great, free, and an innovative mix of elements that work well on the phone platform. Grab it!

Army of Darkness Defense (iPhone, free right now)

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I wasn't really impressed when I played this game for a few minutes to do the Free App of the Day post, but after having given it some more time I have to say this is not a bad game. It's still a simple game where you move left and right and shoot automatically, or chainsaw skeletons automatically if they get up close.

With the gold you collect you can upgrade your units, castle defenses and Ash himself. There's also only one level, which is pretty lame. But despite this not being a proper Evil Dead game, it's worth giving it a try. Some supporting characters from Army of Darkness make an appearance as powerful heroes, all the different types of enemies are here, and it's addictive to keep playing it and upgrading your stuff.

It should be said though, that if you just use Ash to keep the skeletons and Deadites at bay while you save up resources to upgrade the Smithy to the maximum level -- who generates resources to upgrade himself or buy units in a level -- every level is a cakewalk. You can just upgrade Ash to protect the Necronomicon long enough to get to that max Smithy level, after which your income flow is so high that you can just keep pooping out new units to easily win a level.

It's by no means the Evil Dead game we've been waiting for, but it pays tribute to a lot of aspects of the classic third movie and they did with the material what they could for this type of game. It's also free at the moment, so there's that.

Free games and deals:

First some more freebies I found. Burn the Rope (iPhone) is not as good as Burn it All by a long shot, but it's a kind of fun tilt control game where you rotate your device to make a flame burn upwards and burn some rope. I got tired of turning my iPod around all the time, but some of you might dig it.

Scene It: Movies 2 (iPhone) is the movie trivia stuff you'd expect. It's not great or as good as the console games, but it can help pass the time when you are watching a boring movie.

Gameloft deals (via Touch Arcade), all games are $0.99:

Eternal Legacy (iPhone, iPad) -- 3rd person action RPG
Fast Five: The Movie: The Official Game (iPhone, iPad) -- Split/Second
Fishing Kings (iPhone) -- Sega Bass Fishing
Gangstar: Miami Vindication (iPhone, iPad) -- GTA Vice City
NFL 2011 (iPhone, iPad) -- American Football
Order & Chaos Online (iPhone & iPad) -- World of Warcraft lite
Real Soccer (iPhone, iPad) -- Football
Spider-Man: Total Mayhem (iPhone, iPad)

Weekly news roundup:

Angry Birds passed 250 million downloads and Rovio is working on new games.
Buzz devs are working on iPhone and Kinect games.
VisionBalls tech uses the iPad camera to do hands-free gaming.

Notable updates:

Bumpy Road (iPhone & iPad, $2.99 -- universal app)

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A new update for Bumpy Road adds a new Sunday Trip Deluxe mode, which includes speed and brake "gizmos." I'm still loving Bumpy Road even though I can't seem to really get good at it, and it looks like they'll keep on updating this to keep the gameplay fresh. If the "higher than $1" price put you off before, perhaps that will convince you to try it out.

That's it for this weekend. If you know of a ridiculous or cool new Android or iOS game, hit me up on Twitter or send us an email. Or post it in the comments!

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Rumor: Game Republic Shuts Down

post from The Escapist : Latest News on 18 June 2011 08:45:00 PM. © The Escapist : Latest News

Its offices are for rent, its website is gone, and its CEO is missing. What happened to Game Republic?

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Bad Memory Escape 8 walkthrough

post from Escape Games 24 on 18 June 2011 08:05:31 PM. © Escape Games 24

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Stomp a goomba with these rad Mario shoes!

post from Destructoid on 18 June 2011 08:05:26 PM. © Destructoid

Stomp a goomba with these rad Mario shoes! screenshot

I wish I could pull off wearing a pair of shoes like this. I can officially say these Chuck Taylors are awesome, sporting a print of one of the most classic levels in the original Super Mario Bros. As a retro guy, I obviously love them.

But I know if I wore these they just wouldn't look right. Same thing happens to me in certain kinds of hats. I tried to buy a hat once -- ya' know, the same kind that Luke wears in the Professor Layton games -- and I looked like a fool. So much so, that my friend told me to take it off and never, ever wear it again. Oof. Harsh.

But, anyway, these Super Mario Bros. shoes are amazing. Someone buy them so I can admire them and wish I was as cool as you.

The only thing that could top these would be Kuribo's Shoe shoes. I would totally wear those. Get to designin', Converse!

Converse x Super Mario Bros. Chuck Taylor Hi – Part 2 [Highsnobiety via Hayabusa]

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Weekend Destructainment: PIDGEY F**K YEAH!!!!

post from Destructoid on 18 June 2011 07:06:03 PM. © Destructoid

Weekend Destructainment: PIDGEY F**K YEAH!!!! screenshot

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Ash is continuing his adventure and this time discovering random battles. I had no idea there were AK-47s in Pokemon! What the hell!

Weekend Destructainment is GO! Immersion takes on Horde mode, drum covers fill your ear holes, the Game Genie series is back, El Shaddai's trailer gets mashed up, a one man band goes all Zelda, Cole Phelps is a douche, everyone loves Game of Thrones, Nick Chester is a lush and Freddie Wong went to E3.

Rooster Teeth's Immersion takes on the Horde mode.

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NukaCola is back with some videogame drum covers! This latest one is based on Castlevania II.

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The Game Genie, episode two. Thanks, Mike!

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El Shaddai trailer mashed up with Antonio Inoki's theme. Thanks, Felix!

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One man band does a cover of "Fairy Fountains" from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Thanks, David!

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Cole Phelps is kind of a dick in real life.

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8-bit remix of the Game of Thrones theme.

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Nick Chester is such a lush at the Harmonix party.

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Freddie Wong found the Half-Life 3 booth at E3!

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Beat the Level

Beat the Level is another addicting and challenging riddle type puzzle game. A short puzzle game where you have to use your brain (paired with your keyboard and mouse) to beat all 15 levels. Good luck and have fun! [Subbed by Shamono]Play Beat the Level

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The 3DS eShop, or why Nintendo has no f*cking
clue

The 3DS eShop, or why Nintendo has no f*cking clue screenshot

I am an idiot. Some of you are reading this now and your first thought is, "He finally admits it!" However, I have a specific reason for this self-deprecating opener. There was some part of me -- some naive, doe-eyed, expectant part of me -- that truly thought Nintendo was going to get its act together with the 3DS eShop.

For possibly demented reasons, when I heard that Nintendo intended to make serious strides with its digital offerings and give us something to make the 3DS a worthy download platform, I actually wanted to trust it. I wanted to think Nintendo knew what it was doing, had learned from its mistakes, and would kick righteous amounts of downloadable arse.

So like I said, I'm an idiot.

I'm not saying Nintendo's online plans are the worst plans I've ever seen. What I am saying, however, is that I could cut into my dick and bleed my dick's blood onto a brick of my own shit, and the resultant dickbloody shitbrick would make for a better online plan.

Alarm bells were ringing when it became apparent that Nintendo couldn't be bothered to have the store ready in time for the 3DS' launch. The 3DS released incomplete, as far as I'm concerned, especially for someone who primarily cared about the 3DS' potential for downloadable content (more fool me). For Nintendo to make such a big deal out of its eShop, only to wait almost two months after the 3DS' launch to set it live, is contemptibly preposterous.

And when it finally launched, did we get the pleasant browsing experience sorely lacking from previous Nintendo marketplaces? Did we buggery! The eShop is still pathetically half-baked and messy compared to pretty much every single rival. Games and categories are just thrown together in random order, all on a single row, so you can only get one item detailed on the screen at once, and you need to manually scroll through icons in order to get to where you want -- if you even know what you're looking for.

The arbitrary placement of categories absolutely astounds me. Right at the very end of this long parade of icons, you have the following items in order: For Your Road Trip, What We're Playing, Nintendo 3DS Games Coming Soon, Coming Soon to Nintendo eShop and ... Value Games. That's two release lists nestled in between two game genre categories, hidden at the end after a bunch of other nonsensically placed items. There's no order, no theme, nothing to justify the thoughtless placement of these icons. It's one of the sloppiest layouts I've ever seen.

Tapping on an icon in this single row brings us to another bunch of icons, again all arranged in a single row. If you don't know the exact name of what you want, then good luck finding it. Between vague category names like "For The Win" and "Nuthin' But Action," and the horrendously blinkered presentation of games, you're going to be screwed once the eShop's been around a while and amasses a wider selection.

It is certainly an "improvement" over what we had with DSiWare, given that DSiWare was a steaming load of pig's cum, but it's far from adequate. Even rating titles -- a lauded new feature -- is an ability that's not immediately apparent to a casual user. You have to click a menu in the top left corner and look for "Rate Titles" in a drop-down list. Intuition tells us that you should be able to rate a game just by finding the product page, but that would make sense, so we can't have that.

Worse, though, is what an utter fucking hassle it is to buy something. The eShop misleads you into thinking there are two payment options -- credit cards or Nintendo Points. What it doesn't tell you is that existing Nintendo Point cards just don't work, something our own editor-in-chief found out to his wallet's detriment. Again, it would be too convenient and sensible to work on making current point cards work, so the 3DS will need its own special cards -- something the eShop doesn't bother explaining.

That's all fine and dandy except ... these 3DS point cards don't exist. At least, not yet. It's another case of Nintendo simply not having its shit together in time. (Update: Apparently, they have been spotted in stores, but they weren't really publicized and they're not everywhere. They're not even on Amazon yet. That's almost more annoying).

Instead, if you want to add funds to your eShop wallet (you can't just buy a game, you need to stockpile money in pre-set quantities) you've no choice but to reach for your credit cards. Also, you'll need to do this every time you add money to the eShop, because heaven forbid the 3DS give you the option of saving your details or making a persistent online account. I'm sure Nintendo can hide behind the guise of "customer safety" in this respect, but I call it "customer wanted to buy a game but had to put his card details in for the third time and lost his purchasing impulse as he leafed through his wallet."

Nintendo, I'm a grown man and I can look after my shit. At least give me an option to save my details for easy purchasing next time and let me deal with the risk -- a minimal risk at that, since I mostly use my 3DS near a power source for obvious reasons.

I'm also going to go on record as saying that, after two months waiting, having such a barren marketplace is a slap in the face. I was genuinely looking forward to Thursday, to see what brand new Virtual Console games or 3D NES Classics would appear, and I got ... Donkey Kong. Fucking Donkey Kong for the Game Boy. I grant you, it's a pretty cool game, but a single pretty cool game is nowhere near enough to satisfy my lengthy wait for substantial 3DS content.

At the very least, the eShop should have launched with more than four Game Boy games and a single NES title. That Nintendo's going to insist on a drip-feeding approach by giving us one or two downloadable games a week is frustrating beyond measure. Between the Game Boy, the Game Boy Color and the SEGA Game Gear, not to mention the NES' library, Nintendo has months and months of content. It can afford to release more than one or two games a week, and I dare say people would appreciate not having to wait an entire week to be let down that the single Game Boy titles they've been holding their breath for was something dumb.

Oh, and let us not forget to mention that Nintendo still won't pull its head out of its arse when it comes to international offerings. We're in a global market now, yet still I am told by my Australian friends that they don't get jack-shit on the eShop, while they get to read about what other territories are getting. While the offerings are poor in North America, they're even worse elsewhere. In a modern, open industry, this kind of backwards bullshit just isn't acceptable.

I wish I knew what Nintendo's damage was when it came to downloadable marketplaces. The search feature is a pain to use with its tiny little keyboard and results that are yet again arbitrarily lined into a single row, and the inability to queue downloads is yet another issue that we shouldn't be dealing with in 2011. Nintendo clearly knows what the competition is doing, whether it's Sony or Apple, and yet it seems to willfully refuse to compete on an efficient level. Nintendo claims that it's not concerned about the likes of mobile gaming, and it can keep telling itself that, but the truth is that mobile gaming utterly humiliates the 3DS right now.

But don't worry, we can watch a 3D trailer for Green Lantern, so that's alright!

Yet ... you know the worst part of it? The infuriatingly, utterly, incomprehensibly worst part? I am still excited for the eShop. Yes, somehow the thought of Nintendo offering original and classic downloadable gameplay turns me on like a motherfucker, and every Thursday -- like a newborn, yapping, excitable puppy -- I am going to turn my 3DS on with the hope that this week, finally, will be the week I get something awesome.

Nintendo has proven time and again that it either does not know how to handle digital distribution, or that it deliberately refuses to do so properly. Yet here I am, unable to stop myself from looking forward to the downloadable loot that the eShop could potentially offer. Here I am, still giddy to play the 3DS and wanting to find excuses to turn it on, no matter how hard Nintendo makes it for me to care.

Like I said, I'm an idiot. The people behind the eShop are clueless fuckwads, and I recognize that on an intellectual level. Yet the moment they stick Pokemon Red on there, they can have my money again. Because this is Nintendo, a company of idiots that makes idiots of us all.

Damn it.