Twitch just can’t seem to scrub porn off its platform. Thanks to the “Boost This Stream” feature the Amazon-owned company introduced last October, viewers are paying to promote, or “boost,” sexually explicit content onto the platform’s front page. Unsurprisingly, Twitch has paused the boosting feature indefinitely.
If you’ve played Borderlands, you’ve played Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands. Gearbox’s latest, a fantasy twist on the loot-shooting series for which the studio is known, feels a lot like the previous four games—and 400 expansions and events—in the series. You shoot a bazillion guns. You find a bazillion more.
We need a Zelda Maker, like, yesterday Zelda: Breath of the Wild ruins in Animal Crossing is a match made in...
The post These Zelda: Breath of the Wild ruins in Animal Crossing are delightful appeared first on Destructoid.
In an astounding feat of mental gymnastics, acclaimed video essayist The Intellectual Gamer's (TIG) latest YouTube video spends two hours and 42 minutes breaking down why Sifu reminds him of No Country For Old Men – the movie, not the book, as specified by TIG at minute 36.
The thesis of TIG's video, opened with a paragraph from Diana Athill's 2009 memoir, Somewhere Towards the End, which fades from the screen too quickly for the reader to finish, is such: "In Sifu, as you progress through the game, you get older and older. And also, you're in a country: China. Which, given the number of people you must fight in Sifu, you might say, is …" At this point, TIG lowers his voice to nearly a whisper to emphasize his point but mostly sounding creepy. "... no country for old men."
Throughout the video, found here at the link, TIG lays out his argument, never indicating what themes from either media are even remotely similar rather than drawing a parallel between the name No Country For Old Men and the fact that Sifu has a mostly-maligned mechanic where the character ages.
Bringing his thesis to a personal level and couched between ad reads for Manscaped and Nord VPN, TIG reveals we, too, are aging. "I'd like to leave you with one thought. All of us will be old one day," TIG astutely says in the video. "When that happens, what country will there be for us? Until then, I'll Sifu on the other side."
April Fools’ is finally upon us, or as our UK editor John Walker likes to call it: “International Lying Day.” Never fear, readers. We Kotaku bloggers are vigilantly keeping alert for any announcements that seem a little bit too good or too weird to be true. Not me, though. Some April Fools’ jokes are too good to not …
David Gaider and the team at Summerfall Games are combining their love of narrative and music with Stray Gods, a roleplaying musical. But fans who are familiar with Gaider’s past work as lead writer on Dragon Age will find that Summerfall Games is pursuing a similar route for how their story unfolds, albeit much more musically.
Stray Gods is the first game from Summerfall Studios, an Australian-based team of veterans and rising stars across the industry. Stray Gods centers on Grace, a singer who inherits the powers of the Last Muse. The problem is that Grace now has to convince the other gods that she wasn’t responsible for the Muse’s death.
As a narrative RPG, players will not only make dialogue choices but lyrical ones as well. And considering Gaider was the lead writer on Dragon Age, fans of his work at BioWare will find similarities in Stray Gods.
“If someone has played the Dragon Age games, the dialogue part of the game is going to feel very familiar to them,” Gaider tells IGN in an interview. “It is playing the dialogue portion with the story and making choices during the dialogue, having traits that determine sometimes which options are available to you, and it changes the story. Lots of branching along the way, so yeah, it will feel quite familiar.”
Today Mages revealed a lot of gameplay of its brand new science adventure visual novel Anonymous;Code.
“Brand new” may be fighting words for this game, considering that it was announced all the way back in 2015 (at some point, it was supposed to come on PS Vita).
Over the years, it was delayed, and then delayed again, and so forth, but it appears that this time it’s really on the final stretch.
In the video below you can see plenty of gameplay played directly by producer Chiyomaru Shikura. It’s the Nintendo Switch version and provides a deep look at what the game offers.
If you want to see more, you can also take a look at the previous trailer.
Anonymous;Code will release in Japan for PS4 and Nintendo Switch on July 28.
At the moment, no announcement has been made about a western localization, but lately, Spike Chunsoft has been rather good at bringing the franchise west, so there certainly is hope to see this one as well.
Season 2 is still slated for May Halo Infinite Season 2 details can’t come soon enough, and hopefully it improves...
The post After a mixed Season 1, Halo Infinite Season 2 details are coming soon appeared first on Destructoid.
The most despicable, awful and down right evil thing I’ve ever done in a video game was during a Dark Side playthrough of Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic. At the end of the side quest Honest Debt, you convince a man to either spare or gun down a rather horrible chap who wronged him greatly. There’s nothing particularly remarkable about that - I’ve encountered the same thing dozens of times in games - but what comes after is a real doozy.
Not content simply with nudging the fella into giving in to his worst impulses, I then proceeded to persuade him to wipe the very memory of his nemesis from the galaxy, up to and including hunting down his friends and family members. Bastilla Shan, noted Jedi do-gooder, pointed out that neither she nor the Jedi council would approve. I was giggling like a schoolgirl.
Geoff Keighley, host and creator of The Game Awards and G4TV.com, invited the Game Infarcer team to his Los Angeles apartment for an exclusive, early look at this year’s production of Summer Game Fest.
Keighley – best known for his long-time admiration of game designer Hideo Kojima, the long-time admirer of actor Norman Reedus, the long-time admirer of motorcycles – begins reading from a small teleprompter situated in the center of his living room.
“We’re really excited about SGF this year. The event will be in-person for the first time ever, and we’ve prepared an amazing show to celebrate,” Keighley says. In addition to exclusive reveals and updates to fan-favorite games, attendees can look forward to a Gillette-themed soft pretzel food truck and a black-tie mixer presented by Raid: Shadow Legends. “But that’s not all we have in store for you,” the showrunner excitedly tells us.
For the first time in the show’s 24-month history, Geoff Keighley himself will be taking to the stage for a heartfelt dance routine set to “WAP” by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion.
“It was tough to keep this under wraps for so long,” he explains. “On top of working with dozens of vendors, sponsors, and the entire cast of Fast & Furious 9, I had to watch a lot of video tutorials on TikTok. Needless to say, I’m so proud of the team for keeping this a secret until now.” Unaware we’re already friends on the popular social media app, Keighley briefly explains the concept of TikTok to me, likening it to “if Instagram had a baby with Just Dance.”
The summer getaway just got way bigger Today is April 1, or April Fool’s Day. Many game studios are publishing...
The post A Short Hike multiplayer mod adds many more birds to the mix appeared first on Destructoid.
With the release of Death Stranding Director's Cut on Wednesday, I've been reminded of two important things this week. Firstly, that Kojima's bonkers hiking postal sim is still one of the best open world games around. If you haven't read my full thoughts on the new Director's Cut, please do consider having a gander. The second most important thing is that Death Stranding's photo mode remains just glorious, brilliant fun, and it therefore felt appropriate, nay, necessary to give my good old BB Boys another trip for the album.
Platform:
PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PC, Mac
Publisher:
Square Enix
Developer:
Square Enix
Release:
Patch 6.1 of Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker is just two weeks away, and in today's Letter from the Producer Live presentation, Square Enix revealed the trailer for the upcoming content.
Titled "Newfound Adventure," the footage shown from the new quests, raids, and other content is refreshingly adventurous, especially after spending an entire expansion on saving the world and more from threats that have been building since the outset of Final Fantasy XIV in 2010. Now that those worries are behind us, it's going to feel nice to go on some light-hearted escapades.
100 points for a simple scavenger hunt There’s a new My Nintendo Kirby promo in town, and it’s just like...
The post There’s a My Nintendo Kirby and the Forgotten Land Platinum promo now appeared first on Destructoid.
People have been waiting for the GameStop bubble to pop for over a year now. Instead, the ailing brick and mortar video game retailer just posted another record week on Wall Street. Earnings are down. Employee morale is in the pits. But the company’s stock went from $78 per share last month to over $185 in early…
Platform:
PlayStation 3
Publisher:
Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer:
Eat Sleep Play
Release:
2011
Rating:
Mature
My wife left me three weeks ago.
I was heartbroken, completely taken aback – it truly came as a surprise. How did I end up here? Why had she decided to leave me? I know she mentioned something a few weeks ago about me not being present or something like that, but I can’t seem to recall what she said. Regardless, life hasn’t been the same since.
There’s a flame that shines in this eternal darkness I now feel, though: the light of the fire that burns atop Needle Kane’s head in Twisted Metal Black. I’m trying to work through all the ways I failed as a partner in marriage, but it’s Twisted Metal Black that leaves me resting each night feeling like the day I had just lived through was better than the one before it.
Today, on April Fool’s day, PlatinumGames has announced that they’ve got 9 new games in the works and that they are all a part of the NEO-Classic Arcade series. You can check out more about this totally legitimate announcement, including the names of the games, a brief description, and a comical trailer, right down below.
PlatinumGames’ NEO-CLASSIC ARCADE series carries on the spirit and fun of classic gaming using modern technology.
On February 22, 2022, the first title in the series, SOL CRESTA, was released. (Now available on Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Steam!)
And on April 1st, 2022, PlatinumGames announced new plans for the “NEO-CLASSIC ARCADE” series at the “SHOCKING 10: Announcement of 9 All New Titles” press conference. Check out the video from the press conference!
And breathe... We did it! We made it through the first three months of 2022, potentially the busiest first quarter of any year to date. By comparison, April 2022 almost seems a little light when it comes to new PC releases. Only one AAA blockbuster launching this month? How quaint.
Still, this relatively quiet period finally gives indie games a chance to breathe again. There are a ton of super interesting, smaller titles launching on PC this month that I’m excited to share with you all today. From epic turn-based RPGs based on English mythology to offbeat walking simulators about free will, there’s something for everyone launching on PC this month.
The Wide Wide World of Suda-Sports Is this another April Fools’ joke, or did that crazy sonofabitch actually go and...
The post Killer Badminton is your new No More Heroes Shadows of the Damned crossover appeared first on Destructoid.
It seems an extraordinary thing for it to be a news story that, one-and-a-half years after release, you can buy an Xbox. But we live in extraordinary times, and right now is the first time the Xbox Series X has ever been easily available. You can just buy one! You know, if you have a spare $500.
Platform:
PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4
Publisher:
PlayStation Studios
Developer:
Polyphony Digital
Release:
Popular Gran Turismo 7 streamer, LifeIsAHighway79, has seemingly been canceled after a disturbing discovery that he plays Forza Horizon 5 in his off-time.
LifeIsAHighway79, otherwise known as John Jacobs William, was finishing up a 13-hour stream of Gran Turismo 7 – where each time he lost a race he explained that the game was busted and “buggy as hell” – when he told his viewers that he needed to take a break and eat some “chicky nuggies” heavily dipped in BBQ sauce.
Record sales and profits paying off It has been an incredible few years for Capcom. While the launch of Street...
The post Capcom to raise all Japanese employees base salary by 30% appeared first on Destructoid.
The main consolation of disliking a genre is the childish fun you can have by describing it badly and pretending you don’t know its name. For example, there's probably a generally accepted term for RPGs about traipsing around dungeons killing rats, while turning and moving strictly at 90 degree angles. But I actually typed out "Dungeons of Gridlock" because I genuinely thought that's what Legend Of Grimrock was called. For once, I am not trying to annoy fans of a thing I generally hate.
That's because I've been playing Potato Flowers In Full Bloom, which is very much one of those games. And it’s the first I’ve ever enjoyed.
Today Square Enix hosted the 70th Final Fantasy XIV Letter From the Producer Live broadcast, focusing on upcoming update 6.1.
The update, about which we had heard plenty of information a month ago, will launch on PS5, PS4, and PC on April 12.
As usual, producer and director Naoki Yoshida and global community producer Toshio Murouchi provided plenty of details.
First of all, we learn that the main scenario quest part of the update will be quite sizable, so the new sidequests including the “Tataru’s Grand Endeavor” series will launch in a following 6.1X update.
The Arkasodara quests will come in update 6.15 alongside the new Hildibrand series and new custom deliveries focusing on Ameliance Leveilleur.
Omega: Beyond the Rift will also come in a following 6.1X update.
‘Lotteries operate on a 9-day cycle ‘ [Update: Just in case there was any doubt, Square Enix once again provided another set...
The post Square Enix clarifies the upcoming Final Fantasy XIV housing lottery (Update) appeared first on Destructoid.
In an unexpected but mouth-watering development, From Software has partnered with Red Lobster to summon the restaurant’s single greatest asset to Elden Ring: delicious Cheddar Bay biscuits.
Coming in patch version 1.05, players exploring Liurnia of the Lakes will soon find oversized bipedal biscuit monsters roaming alongside the giant lobsters already terrorizing the area. These lip-smacking foes attack by pulling off pieces of themselves to lob at the player. When hit, your character is inflicted with the “hungry” status ailment, making them halt to obsessively devour the giant crumb. This leaves them vulnerable to attack by the bone-crushing lobsters, making them a deliciously deadly duo.
In a press release, Red Lobster describes these savory troublemakers as “buttery, house-made horrors that are ready to feast on your runes! Speaking of feasting, Lobsterfest is back at Red Lobster! Get your revenge on those mean (but tasty) crustaceans by indulging in our Lobster Lover's Dream® and our new Lobster-Topped Stuffed Flounder! Stay Tarnished, not Famished!”
Slaying these tasty terrors drops the limited-time “greasy butter finger” consumable multiplayer item. Using this item summons a dozen cheddar biscuit enemies into your friend’s sessions because, according to Red Lobster, “everyone loves the friend who requests more biscuits for the table.” You'll also be rewarded with the special “lean back and loosen belt” gesture.
To be frank, I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting myself into when I hopped into Neptunia x Senran Kagura: Ninja Wars. I’ve got a little bit of experience with the Hyperdimension Neptunia RPG series, having played a couple of entries before, but I was completely new to Senran Kagura despite having heard so much about it over the years.
The Neptunia series itself has always carried with it a certain tone of lightheartedness and easily digestible gameplay mechanics and story beats. The characters are the highlight of the series, each of them representing a different game console and trying to fight for control in a world that’s constantly ravaged by a console war.
On the flip side, Senran Kagura is slightly more grounded in premise, though just as flamboyant in its presentation. This series revolves around various groups of female shinobi warriors competing with each other for dominance. When I said grounded, I meant as grounded as you can possibly be in the world of over-the-top anime.
Neptunia x Senran Kagura: Ninja Wars brings both worlds together in a similarly wacky premise. This time, all the console girls have banded together in a war against the shinobi, though that conflict is quickly put to the side when a third part enters the fray. A group of mecha enemies threaten to destroy both factions, and the girls quickly band together and resolve to defeat the new faction led by Yoh Gamer (I’m not making this up) before resuming their own war.
Why start something that you know you'll never finish? An hour into Elden Ring, I already knew I'd be chipping away at this game for years. The temptation to move on from anything too tricky, the endless number of things to move on to, an ocean of a map, my own limited free time... I could tell this would be another Bloodborne, another Skyrim, another Minecraft, another thing I love where I'd never see the credits roll. In this way Elden Ring is a lot like Berserk, the legendary fantasy manga so closely threaded into the DNA of the FromSoft games that it can sometimes feel impossible to pull the two apart. I'll never finish Berserk either, though not for lack of trying. The author Kentaro Miura died last May at the age of 54. His manga, which ran for over thirty years, was never completed.
I'll be frank: Miura's death hit me like a truck. Unfair doesn't even begin to cover it. I will never know Miura and I envy those who did, but through his work I felt I understood him, at least a little bit. There's something very teenager-ish about early Berserk. It's a whole lot of angst and blood and frustration splattered willy-nilly on the page. As the series went on, though, it grew into something that cautiously examined or even regretted the tone of the early chapters. Protagonist Guts - and Miura, through him - seemed to lose interest in avenging what he'd lost and instead chose to focus on protecting what he had left. Unfathomable horrors both man-made and Lovecraftian, institutional religion, war, political intrigue, sexual assault, grief, trauma, love, betrayal; Berserk took everything on, all while looking the best that any comic has ever looked, ever. And you can quote me on that.
Why start something that you know you'll never finish? An hour into Elden Ring, I already knew I'd be chipping away at this game for years. The temptation to move on from anything too tricky, the endless number of things to move on to, an ocean of a map, my own limited free time... I could tell this would be another Bloodborne, another Skyrim, another Minecraft, another thing I love where I'd never see the credits roll. In this way Elden Ring is a lot like Berserk, the legendary fantasy manga so closely threaded into the DNA of the FromSoft games that it can sometimes feel impossible to pull the two apart. I'll never finish Berserk either, though not for lack of trying. The author Kentaro Miura died last May at the age of 54. His manga, which ran for over thirty years, was never completed.
I'll be frank: Miura's death hit me like a truck. Unfair doesn't even begin to cover it. I will never know Miura and I envy those who did, but through his work I felt I understood him, at least a little bit. There's something very teenager-ish about early Berserk. It's a whole lot of angst and blood and frustration splattered willy-nilly on the page. As the series went on, though, it grew into something that cautiously examined or even regretted the tone of the early chapters. Protagonist Guts - and Miura, through him - seemed to lose interest in avenging what he'd lost and instead chose to focus on protecting what he had left. Unfathomable horrors both man-made and Lovecraftian, institutional religion, war, political intrigue, sexual assault, grief, trauma, love, betrayal; Berserk took everything on, all while looking the best that any comic has ever looked, ever. And you can quote me on that.
Activision Blizzard will no longer require staff to be vaccinated against Covid, as the embattled Call of Duty and World of Warcraft company tries to encourage more people back into its offices from June.
The company said its move reflected similar changes made by other businesses across the US, in a company-wide email from exec Brian Bulatao, shared by ABK Worker Alliance's Jessica Gonzalez (thanks, Kotaku).
Bulatao's email began by suggesting conditions in the US were currently improving - despite the rising tide of new cases brought by the increasingly-dominant Omicron BA.2 subvariant, and the relatively low percentage of US citizens protected by a Covid booster dose.
Activision Blizzard will no longer require staff to be vaccinated against Covid, as the embattled Call of Duty and World of Warcraft company tries to encourage more people back into its offices from June.
The company said its move reflected similar changes made by other businesses across the US, in a company-wide email from exec Brian Bulatao, shared by ABK Worker Alliance's Jessica Gonzalez (thanks, Kotaku).
With so many key features that make a great gaming mouse, it's not often to find one that seems to check every box, particularly one on sale. But Razer have been making excellent mice for years now, and their DeathAdder V2 Pro is one of the best of the bunch at this price range.
Amazon currently have it reduced by nearly half price, down to just £66.99. And our US readers don't miss out on this deal either, as it's reduced by a similar margin to just $69.99.
Premium mice like this are hard to come by. First of all, it has a 20,000 DPI sensor for great levels of sensitivity and accuracy. And the chroma RGB lighting will ensure it looks like a great addition to any gaming setup.
With so many key features that make a great gaming mouse, it's not often to find one that seems to check every box, particularly one on sale. But Razer have been making excellent mice for years now, and their DeathAdder V2 Pro is one of the best of the bunch at this price range.
Amazon currently have it reduced by nearly half price, down to just £66.99. And our US readers don't miss out on this deal either, as it's reduced by a similar margin to just $69.99.
The Mystery Gift feature offers you the chance to download extra rewards for Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.
You do this by redeeming Mystery Gift codes or from downloading the item via the Internet using the Mystery Gift feature.
Below you'll find a list of the active Mystery Gift codes, along with instructions on how to redeem said codes and, if you haven't done so already, how to unlock the Mystery Gift feature.
What a cruel day for some people Today is the day of getting tricked that your favorite franchise is coming...
The post Here’s a big gaming April Fools’ Day 2022 recap appeared first on Destructoid.
