You know we’ve been all hot and bothered lately for the maybe-not-coming-here Sega PS3 gameYakuza 3. Thedemo was just releasedon the Japanese PlayStation Network, so we pulled it down and gave it a spin. As a fan of the first two games, we had pretty high hopes for the PS3 debut for the series. But we went in knowing that almost nothing changed between the first two other than the story and setting....
Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin’is a surreal comedy series made by Anthony and Ashly Burch. They do a weekly podcast about the show, and everything else that comes to mind. God help the stream-of-consciousness style of these podcasts. A good portion of this week’s episode will mean absolutely nothing to you, as you are (A) not, as far as I can tell, either Ashly or myself and (B) probably not intimately familiar with our friends....
Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin’is a surreal comedy series made by Anthony and Ashly Burch. They do a (semi) weekly podcast. Ashly and myself enjoyDoctor Who. We’ve made very little secret of this throughout both seasons of “Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin.” We also typically end up discussing it in some way during the other HAWPcast episodes, so we figured, to hell with it — let’s just devote an entire episode to Doctor Who conversations and leave it at that....
According to Ubisoft, the nectar-sucking first person shooterHazeisgoing to remain a PS3 exclusivefor all time. It was expected to be a timed exclusive, but Ubisoft reps are now saying it will “never” go to another console. Those who want to play the adventures of Mr. Lightbulb Head will have no joy on the Xbox 360. The decision is said to be recent, but definite. So far, no official announcement has been made, but the reps were apparently very sure of themselves, so I guess we can expect to hear something soon....
Just one of what sounds like many planned updates for Uber Entertainment’sMonday Night Combathas gone live. It’s pretty much an all-encompassing patch, handling balancing to bugs to you name it, so the full list of notes can be found below. It isquite largefor an Xbox LIVE Arcade game. There’s also a spot of cool news for anyone who hasn’t purchasedMonday Night Combatyet! The demo version has been bumped from 30 minutes of playtime up to a full hour....
Square Enix has given us a huge batch of screenshots forFinal Fantasy XIV, the upcoming MMO that Yoichi Wada reckons will giveWoWa run for its money. Whether it can tackle Blizzard or not, one thing is clear — this is going to be one of the more beautiful looking MMOs on the market. The screens are pretty damn gorgeous, which is par for the course in a Square Enix game. The character customization we talked about the other day has been shown off in hi-res detail here as well, so verify to check those out if you’re planning a jaunt through another pay-as-you-go JRPG world....
The holiday cards are continuing to flow in, and we’re particularly fond of thisFallout 3-themed card from Bethesda Softworks. We’re not sure we’d be celebrating the holidays after a nuclear holocaust, but to each his own. For sure, having our own Mr. Handy serv-bot might make decorating the tree (and Black Friday shopping) much easier. It even looks like he’d help us unwrap gifts … or he’s unwrapping and enjoying gifts while we die of radiation poisoning out in the barren grounds of the Capital Wasteland....
Unsurprisingly, the secondset of Steam salesduring this five-day-long promotion in which a bunch of new deals are activated each day is another attention grabber. The $50 uber THQ collection that I mentioned last time is still available, and I still think you should purchase it. As for the limited-time-only stuff, there’sLeft 4 Dead 2for $37.49,Knights of the Old Republicfor $2.49, andDead Spacefor $14.99. There are a few more to pick from, but those were the select ones that really stand out in my mind....
I really can’t say it much simpler than that. If you like gaming on iOS devices, then Phosphor has a launch trailer forThe Dark Meadowthat I think you should see. Using the Unreal UDK, this is a horror/combat game with what looks like a really twisted story. The presentation is fantastic and the visuals are damn beautiful. Of course, the real test will come when we play it for ourselves, but I’m certainly excited to see what it delivers....
Another Friday means another Indie Nation, wherein we highlight cool, independently-made games that offer something you just can’t get from the mainstream. After last week’santi-JRPG clusterf*ck, I suggest something I hope we can all get behind:a platformer about saving puppies. I’m not suggestingRescue the Beaglesas some sort of sarcastic, cowardly diversion in the vein of posting pictures of kittens when a forum argument has gotten too intense, but because it’s surprisingly damn addictive....
“I don’t use specific fingers to hit the frets. I just let my fingers work together to finish the song.” Oh! Well that puts everything into perspective; completing Buckethead’s “Jordan” on Expert should be breeze now that I know I have to let my fingers work together. Silly me! Ben, I joke because you scare me. Please come over to my house and help me unlock some of these achievements....
While I’m personally more excited about the original work Nintendo can do with the Nintendo 3DS, I’ll take remakes of great games while we wait. Star Fox 64 3Dis a great example, and like the upcomingThe Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, it sounds like Nintendo is making sure the update offers something fresh for players new and old. Speaking to retailers at a briefing in Japan, Nintendo revealed a handful of new details about the upcoming game....
[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’re able to see all of Destructoid’s previously-aired live showsin our archives.] Today,Mash Tacticsis playing the sensational new zombie romp,Dead Island. Watch us struggle against the undead horde in a tropical paradise and maybe play with us over PSN.Even thoughDead Islandhas gained a lot ofpopularity, it suffered some considerablesetbacks....
