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Steam is pretty much thede factostandard for PC gaming these days. Even the most retail-loyal PC gamers likely have used it in some way, shape or form. Valve’s Steam-powered empire also dominates the digital distribution landscape.Brad Wardell of Stardock (which owns the Impulse digital platform) estimates that Steam has roughly 70% of market share. But it’s one thing to be the big kid in the playground. It’s another to start locking the other kids out....

Square Enix has opened theJapanese website forElevator Action Deluxe, giving us a look at… the classic arcade title. Right now, the teaser site only has a Flash animation that shows off visuals from the original early-80s arcade title. The words “He’ll be back” appear as the animation comes to a close, and we’re left hanging with some questions. Will this be a straight port, or can we expect a modern take on the classic?...

Katamari Damacycreator Keita Takahashi revealed the first snippets from his brand-new IP,Nobi Nobi Boy, at Tokyo’s PlayStation Premiere event yesterday. Snippets revealed include the title, the least descriptive pictures we’ve ever seen, andabsolutely nothing else. WhileIGN speculateson the title’s nature based on a translation of the word ‘nobi’ (apparently it means ‘to stretch’ in the King’s English), Destructoid isfarabove such amateur forecasting. Instead, we’d like to point out the physical similiarties shared by the titular character and many species of inch worm....

One of my favorite experiences at TGS didn’t happen at TGS. It happened at a strange restaurant where you order your food on an iPad and the beer flows like wine. That’s where I met up withTyrone Rodriguezand Mike Lambert (Cave StoryWiiWare), Hampus Söderström (Toribash), linzb0t (Travis Touchdown) and three developers from Nigoro; the companybehindLa Mulana. Tim Sheehy shot our whole discussion on video, but I haven’t heard from Tim since we left Tokyo....

Valve can now breathe a sigh of relief, because the profit-rending, company-crushing behemoth that was theLeft 4 Dead 2boycotthas officiallybeen killed. That’s right, Gabe Newell can have the first decent night’s sleep since E3, no longer weeping because a handful of people don’t like more of the game they enjoy. “The recently released Crash Course was just the start. Future updates will continue to roll in, and 4v4 matchmaking is first in line,”writesboycott leader Agent of Chaos....

LongtimeMadden NFLproducer Phil Frazier has left EA Sports, the company has announced. “We appreciate Phil’s 14 yeas of work on theMaddenfranchise and recognize he was looking for a new opportunity,” the company toldKotakuin a statement. “Our team is changing to tackle new opportunities and we’re confident in the new organizational structure and leadership we have in place.” Get it? “Tackle”? Clever. Best of luck to Frazier and to EA Sports, who have pretty big shoes to fill for future iterations of the franchise....

Thisisn’t the first timewe have run a story about a twisted Craigslist sex ad, and I personally hope it won’t be the last. We’ve spotted a “27-year-old professional male” who isseeking three womento roleplay as Naomi, Mei Ling and Meryl fromMetal Gear Solidwhile the placer of the ad portrays Solid Snake himself … and yes, he does make the joke about having a snake that is solid. Twice. Anyway, we thought we’d give the guy a helping hand....

Late last year, THQ ran a contest for itsWWE Smackdown vs. Rawcommunity, asking users to submit their best in-game created characters. The best of the bunch — submitted toTHQ’sSmackdown vs. Rawonline portal— would be turned into a one-of-a-kind figure by legendary toy manufacturer Mattel. Rudy Gutierrez was chosen as the winner, and his created wrestler, Widow, was delivered to him in action figure form just last week. It’s one thing to spend hours detailing your in-game avatar to fight the Undertaker in a “Hell in a Cell” match....

I’m going to pretend that you didn’t just see the wordMinecraftand boot the game up, knowing full well what I am about to write. Indeed, version 1.5 is live. Quite the day for this release to fall on, what withMortal KombatandPortal 2both being as excellent as they are.Minecraftnow does weather effects, achievements, statistics (don’t look at these, unless you want to feel tremendous amounts of shame), and more. The achievements are limited right now,with more on the way, but they currently seem like a great guiding force for players who haven’t bothered to learn crafting....

Minecraftmight be one of the most popular things on the web right now as far as gaming goes so it’s easy to forget that the game is still in alpha. Not for much longer, however! As it states over atThe Word of NotchtheMinecraftbeta will begin on December 20. The dark days of alpha are over. What does this mean exactly? The launch of beta will mean a larger focus on polish and content....

[It’s been a while since I’ve done aMonthly Musing, but I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to gush about my favorite face-melters from the chiptune days! — Tony] I love chiptunes, and not just because they awaken dormant emotions not felt since my formative gaming years. I admire the skill and fortitude demanded of chiptune artists, able to compose memorable tunes using the most cumbersome of tools. Remember, it was not long ago when game music was the domain of lone programmers rather than the multi-piece orchestras of today....

Before the live-actionMortal Kombatshort filmthat got dormant fans jazzed up aboutthe seriesagain, there wasMan Island. And what a glorious island it was. Mortal Kombat(2011) hits store shelves on April 19 in North America, and on the very same day,Mortal Kombat(the film) andMK: Annihilationare releasing on Blu-ray. If you pick up either movie, you’ll get aredeemable codefor an exclusive Jade character costume for the PlayStation 3 version of the game. Nothing in this world has prepared you for this kind of free movie throw-in....

A confused mother recently logged into theXbox.com forumsto find out why her son was banned from Xbox Live until the year 9999. Clearly a harsh punishment for any gamer, especially one who has paid for an XBL Gold subscription. As you can tell from the image above, this naive lady got more than she bargained for in an answer. It’s always got to beUNO, hasn’t it? I can’t think of any less erotic a scenario, yet this camera-enabled game is where all the perverts migrate....