Hideo Kojima loves to make announcements, and we love to hear them since he’s usually talking about something good. This week the announcements came via theHidechannel Radio podcast and there are afew of them. To begin with it appears thatCastlevania: Lord of Shadowswill have a connection toMetal Gearin the from of voice actorsAkio Otsuka (voice of Solid Snake), Fujiwara Keiji (Drebin), Kikuchi (voice of Raven, Strangelove) and Mugihito (voice of Coldman)....

It’s a rare occasion indeed when we hear politicians talking about games and they are not blaming them for the impending apocalypse. Consider this one of those rare occasions. Shadow culture secretary, Ivan Lewis,called out the coalition governmentfor failing to support the creative industries, including the games development sector, after he launched the Labour party’s Creative Industries Network on Wednesday. The Conservative-led government has so far failed to provide the strategic leadership which is urgently required, and in education and the arts, they are implementing policies which are damaging the foundations of our creative success....

You know, if we’re ever to escape this MMO madness, you people are going to have to stop falling for every mom and pop gimmick that comes out each month. MMOs suck. End of discussion. Why do they suck? Well, it’s simple. They all boil down to the same boring rinse and repeat formula. Paint a turd gold, it’s still a turd. Why the rant? It seems as if the upcomingConanMMOisn’t dead on arrival after all....

Did you grab your copy yet of Splash Damage’s latest release, Brink? If so, stop by today and play online with your favorite least greatest but awesome duo, Carnage and Pico. If you are still trying to decide whether or not to throw down the cash, come check out our unbiased raw gameplay and decide for yourself. …Why are you still reading this? Go watch the show onJustin.Tv/Destructoid! 😀 [Join us for Mash Tactics every weekday at 4PM PST onJustin....

Lucha Libre: AAA Heroes of the Ringhas just got a ridiculous-yet-awesome pre-order bonus atGameStop. If you pre-order you will receive aLucha Librewrestling mask. Online pre-orders online get the Dr. Wagner mask while those who pre-order in-store will receive one of the four different masks shown above. Whatever you get you’ll be pretending to be a Mexican wrestler in your backyard in no time.* My interest level in Mexican wrestling is nil, and until this year’s E3 I didn’t even know thatLucha Libre: AAA Heroes of the Ringwas a thing....

ArtistRobert Sakalukknows how to make our hearts go aflutter. Pictured above is a rambunctious Big Daddy ofBioShockfame. If you look closely, youmaynotice that the Big Daddy has a sword and a shield. The reason for that is simple: Sakaluk is creating a set of pirate-themed figurines by converting models. As for why he chose to create a Big Daddy (and accompanying Little Sister) we’re not exactly sure. Doesn’t change how cool the dreaded beast of Rapture looks, though....

Microsoft has launched a new feature on its Web site calledFree Your Avatar, which allows gamers to import their Avatars and then create wallpapers and other pointless images for their own sick amusement. Theremustbe a reason they’d want to do this, but I cannot quite work it out yet. According to Microsoft, this service “will include a host of screensavers, wallpapers and festive cards to use as backgrounds, giving people the opportunity to get creative and have fun with the avatars....

Shigeru Miyamoto may be the top dog now when it comes to developers at Nintendo, but even he knows that all good things must come to an end. That end for him isn’t retirement though, it’s death. In anepic recent interviewhe explained that even after being retired he would never stop making games. “Well, I am one of the company workers and the company has to retire me some time. So from that perspective, yes I may have to retire from Nintendo some day....

Do you like explosions? Of course you do.Pixel art adventure gamesare fun and all, but sometimes I just need digital destruction to keep me amused. Throw in some slingshot game design, particle scatter physics, 30 levels and a level editor, and and you’ve gotBlosics 2. Different sized ammo pellets cost you more points, and the more blocks you can knock off the screen, the more points you earn. Each level challenges you to earn 100 points before progressing on, and eventually different blocks (red blocks knocked off the screen deduct points) and obstacles are introduced to make things even more hectic and exciting....

No Apparent Reason Parties, NARPs for short, are a long standing tradition here at Destructoid. NARPs are parties hosted by Dtoiders for Dtoiders and everyone is welcome to attend a party. It’s about playing games and interacting with other people all in the name of having a good time. There are a number of events happening in the next couple of weeks and they’re all leading up to PAX, the biggest gathering of Dtoiders yet....

Capcom certainly wasn’t kidding when it said developer Bionic Games had re-worked its Wii-exclusive,Spyborgs. As this new trailer shows, things are… different. The basic premised seems like it remains — a team of superheroes working together to stop a nefarious plot. You’ve got the ninja chick, Clandestine. You’ve got the rough-and-tumble robot, Bouncer. And then there’s Stinger, a firepower specialist who has a gun on his arm. It looks like a straight-up brawler, with big bosses, and cooperative finishing move attacks....

Sony is thinking of Dads and Grads with this new PSP Bundle, they say. This limited edition pack comes with a Piano Black PSP-3000, a 2GB Memory Stick Pro Duo,MLB 11 The ShowandGran Turismo. My Dad wouldn’t play either of those games, though I’d be happy with both. This bundle is coming to a retailer near you this June. Expect to pay $159 — not a bad deal! I think my dad would rather get a NGP preorder ticket, though....

So I’m sitting here watching thisTransformers: Revenge Of The Fallentrailer and thinking how boring this game looks. It really just looks a lot like the last game. They even recycle Optimus Prime’s “One shall stand, one shall fall” line. But then Soundwave’s voice comes on and I get chills. I know, I’m a nerd … shut up. Seeing the Decepticons wreck sh*t up actually got me excited for the game. It looks likeRampagewith robots!...