Archive for Destructoid
Destructoid Blog: Wishes and Warthogs: Launch Night Confessions
Blog + Destructoid + Halo 3
09.30.2007 at 9:25 am
Learn about MechaMonkey’s Halo 3 launch night adventures in this well written blog entry.
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Taking a Good Look at the New Halo ARG
Destructoid + Halo 3
06.19.2007 at 11:13 am
Destructoid has posted a great breakdown of the new Halo ARG named Iris. Hop over for the full story.
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Ninja Pac-Man
Joystiq + Kotaku + Wii + Wii Fanboy + Destructoid
05.14.2007 at 6:53 pm
This weeks Virtual Consoles releases include Ninja Gaiden, Ninja Spirit and Pac-Man. What’s everyone saying?
“Ninjas always have to go around avenging things, tsch.”
“Needs more pirates. Hmm… maybe Pac Man is secretly a pirate. The levels do kind of look like pirate ships and the ghosts could be ninjas… wakka wakka arrr!”
“Take your pirate lovin’ FSM worshipping ass outta here. We gots no tolerance for yer “arrgh” lovin’ types around here.”
“For those wondering, Ninja Spirit does, in fact, kick serious levels of ass. It kind of feels like an updated version of Kung Fu (another Irem game), only with way more ninja action. The game had a wide variety of upgradable weapons, HUGE bosses, and ninja clones that were so cool that Tecmo shamelessly lifted them for the Ninja Gaiden series. Also worth mentioning: Ninja Spirit was one of the first games to score a perfect 10 in EGM.”
“Downloaded and been playing Ninja Spirit since noon. I had never played the TurboGrafx version, only the version in the arcade, and I must tell you all to stay away UNLESS you feel some sort of retro connection to the game.�I feel like I just wasted $6, but feel free to disagree if you find this fun upon downloading it. Just trying to share that I didn’t care for it.”
“What’s wrong with Ninja Spirit? I’m being serious, not flaming. It’s been a LONG time since I last played it on the TG16 and I remember it being a lot of fun. Has it just not aged well?��For the record, I’ll be grabbing Ninja Gaiden as soon as I get home from work. God, that game was so tough, but so much fun. I know my gamer reflexes haven’t kept up over the years, I’m sure I’ll get owned at it. Oh well.”
“I’ve gotten better at Ninja Gaiden over the years. The last time I hooked up our NES, I got two Worlds (?) beyond my old record.��I’m so glad to see Gaiden is up for download.”
“Ninja Gaiden? Yeah, I don’t really feel like throwing my wii-remote/classic controller setup through my TV in frustration after I get knocked off a 3 pixel wide platform by a perpetually respawning eagle for the 257,000th time.��The rest of you, have fun with that.”
“I still can’t get excited about games I already played years ago. I loved Ninja Gaiden, but it was hard enough when I was a lot younger than I am now. No way I want to revisit it.”
“I would suggest that rather than give into your hatred of birds and letting it damage your nice new HDTV, you focus on the zen aspect of the struggle itself.”
“Ninja Gaiden for me. Oh, how I must love to tortue myself. DAMN BIRDS!”
“i remember having my spirit broken time and time again by ninja gaiden as a young one.”
“I don’t know why, after all of these months of people talking about the birds in Ninja Gaiden, but I finally remembered how much I hated those birds and how many times I cursed at them and chucked my controller. I don’t remember so much about the game at this point, but I do remember that I never beat the very last stage.”
“Birds? Ninja Gaiden made me hate video games in general. It’s the only game that I’ve ever physically injured myself while playing. That said, I’m sure I’ll download it tonight.”
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FFX-2 is a Great Game
Destructoid
05.06.2007 at 9:12 am
FFX-2 isn’t all that bad, right? Bounce over to Destructoid for a great article arguing that very point.
“Final Fantasy X-2 is a strange beast in that no one really knows what to make of it. Gamespot, Game Rankings, and Metacritic gave it an 8.1, 86, and 85, respectively.* Inflated reviews aside, the general response from “real” reviewers was generally positive.
On the other hand, the collective gaming community seems to hate it with a fiery passion, with exclamations that Final Fantasy’s first sequel “doesn’t count” and that it was “Yuna’s Barbie dress-up” instead of “a real Final Fantasy.” Why the hate? And is it warranted?”
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Elite 360. Fanboy Reactions and Information
Xbox360 + Joystiq + Kotaku + Comments + PS3 Fanboy + Destructoid
03.28.2007 at 6:42 pm
The elite has been announced, revealed, birthed and smacked on the butt.
We’ll start off with some Elite information. Over at GameSpot you’ll find a run down on the Elite including a feature comparison of each of the 3 Xbox SKUs and at 1up you’ll discover their ‘Better Value?’ write up.
And no OMG announcement would be complete without the run down of fanboy comments.
“Wait so with a wifi ($100) that’s 580 bux. oh for another 20 bux i can get a ps3 with bluray+gigabit lab+wireless+media readers?”
“what a bunch of whiners. Nothing can please you whiney brats. Don’t like it, don’t buy it. I’m happy to have options though. I’m betting a price drop for the premium and core tomorrow.”
“I think Microsoft is right, digital distribution is the way high-definition content is going. Certainly many like having the physical product, but… many more I think will enjoy just being able to download it and watch it and many other shows without having to even touch a disc. The 120GB hard drive is a definate improvement, but is still rather pricey. But… still a better deal than the 20GB hard drive, per GB… 8) I’m certainly interested in the possibilities of IPTV also; ‘be interesting to see how that works.”
“Damm you guys don’t get it. Since the PS3 is not really offering the 500$ unit as much and pushing the 60gb for 600$ more. A person wanting buy a console will still say.. WOW for 80$ more I get 6 times more HD space of xbox or twice the PS3 space + I get a HDMI cable.? Or should I get the 600$ PS3 + a 80$ Hdmi cable.? This is just a opinion after hearing less and less retailers are offering the 20gb ps3. For my brother who’s been waiting to see what the new xbox would offer he just decided to buy it now cause just 1 month ago he would of only gotten a 20gb xbox.”
“Wow, nickel-and-diming galore. Go on, Xbots, go on. Just don’t complain when you spend more then the PS3 for fewer features”
“Well, at least it comes with the HDMI cables.”
“an upgrade offer would be nice….”
Xbox 360 Fanboy
http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/2007/03/28/its-official-xbox-360-elite-with-hdmi-and-120gb-hdd/
“Damn, Anyone know how much you can get for the 360 if you went gamestop and traded it in?”
“I am a big MS fan*, but this was a stupid move. The right move would have been to drop the core move the premium price to 299 and sell the Elite for 399″
“Sooo, people bitch about not having HDMI and a bigger HDD, MS actually gives it to them, and people are still bitching? Wow. Seriously, if you didn’t expect it to cost more, you’re stupid. And with the 20 gig HDD going for $100 already, what did you expect? I didn’t realize that somehow MS went into everyone’s homes and disabled featues on current X360s; that what it seems like for some of the complainers, since that’s the only way MS could screw current owners.”
“Yeah Kudos for MS for making such an idiotic move… Seriously though.. if they included HDDVD and built in WIFI and REMAINED at 480 then its kinda a critical blow to PS3… This deal is better than PS3 20gig version though but no where near the 60gig version”
“I just bought a 360 like 3 months ago…. its definitely not worth it to get the elite, its not all that different to make me want to run to get the elite. if it had HD-DVD maybe. I dont consider this a competator to the PS3 what so ever. 120 gig hard drive? so what? thats pointless. Especially when you can get that separate.”
“You shouldn’t have to re-buy your console. It defeats the purpose. At least I can drop an size hard drive into my PS3 at a REASONABLE price.”
“MS isn’t saying 10 million people have to re-buy a console. Sony didn’t ask PS2 owners to re-buy the slim PS2 with integrated ethernet. They same reason Apple didn’t ask 60gig owners to re-buy the 80 gig. People, please stop talking about this. I own a premium 360 and i will never need a 20gig hard drive. However, a lot of people have taken advantage of the new television and movie downloads on Xbox Live.”
So what does everyone think? Personally, I’m out of HDMI inputs.
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PS3 Launch - Some of our Favorite Stories and Comments
PS3 + 1up + Kotaku + Fanboys + PS3 Fanboy + Destructoid
03.24.2007 at 7:38 pm
The PS3 has launched abroad and depending on what team you play for the launch was either a success or a horrible failure. Which amazes me since there was only one launch but oh well, start the spin, er, news posts!
In no real order:
Xbox Crashes French PS3 Launch - Kotaku
“At the PLAYSTATION 3 launch event in Paris, Microsoft found an opportunity to do a little guerilla marketing by sending French gamers queueing up for a PS3 a kind reminder via boat.”
-Comments
“lol! wow, microsoft marketing people are a bunch of dicks!”
“Absolutely hilarious. To be honest, though, Sony is killing themselves with their own product even without the help of MS.”
“pwned! No Nintendo party crasher?”
Easing Tired Bums At The UK PS3 Launch - Kotaku
“Seems there were around 50 or so people there for the bash, but in the midst of a cold, British night, conditions weren’t ideal. Luckily, some friendly chaps were on-hand giving out free camping chairs to the tired, would-be customers.”
-Comments
“ahahahaha, between this and the boat, I <3 the 360 marketing team right now. I think they smell blood in the water.."
"Last time I checked, you badmouthed eachother in politics... I'm sure some may see it differently, but microsoft seems to be making an ass out of themselves. (boats with MS banners roaring past the ps3 release, chairs that have hidden meaning for PS3 Shoppers) Next MS is going to accuse the PS3 of druggin and beating hookers, and leaving them in the grass along the interstate to die. I can see it now..."Hookers are people too!""
UK Retailer Happy With PS3 Supply And Demand - Kotaku
“Sony’s PS3 launch hasn’t exactly been gangbusters. Still UK retailer GAME is pleased with the supply and the demand. There are more than enough consoles to go around.”
-Comments
“Yeah; ok keep spinning negativity on the whole thing; the truth is starting to come out about the european territory launch”
“I was wondering how exactly this situation could go through the spin machine and allow the speaker to retain a level of dignity, this is actually a pretty good attempt - AND they managed to smear the 360! Good work guys and girls.. now, back to reality, this is a horrendous, worldwide catastrophe for Sony, surely?”
“So the “marketing director” for a retailer that sells PS3s is telling us that Sony “withheld the release of the PS3 in order to build up stock levels for launch.” I think she means Sony “withheld the release of the PS3 to rip out the PS2 Chipsets (Emotion Engine) and jack up the price of the PS3 for launch.”"
“I’m not sure if this can be considered an honest comment from an official or just positive PR spin. While it is agreed that a good supply is essential on any launch day, it seems to me that if a product does not “sell out of stock” it would considered “bad” I suppose in a media and PR sense it’s bad, but from a financial stand point it does seem the better path to go, however Sony does have far more units available then Microsoft & XBOX360, i recall they mentioned around from 400-600 unit which includes pre-orders, if Sony Sells at leased half of that shipment by end of april, well…its profitable, although how much of that will make a dent in it’s spiralling debts in light of the recent “free HD TV” give-away stunt, which will give a strange signal to all those purchasing/or thinking of it, wondering why they didn’t get one is…..debatable…. ”
Worldwide PS3 Launch: Some Bang, Some Whimper - 1up
“Britain: The Good, Australia: The Bad, France: The Ugly
-Comments
“I find the stunt in Paris childish. Peter Moore is at it again. I remember when Sonic showed up at a Sony event when the PS2 was about to launch to say please buy a Dreamcast. It didnt work then and we gonna see if its gonna work now. Get over it Peter.”
“at my local eb store here in aussie land… number my bro was number 1 of like… 4? was 5 but some guy left to get the number one spot we showed up at 11:30…considering when I bought the Wii, I was 1 of like 50-60?”
PS3 launch fails across the pond; Where is your Phil Harrison now? - Destructoid
“Last night was the midnight launch of the PlayStation 3 for our overseas brethren in France and England, and the crowds that turned out were dismal, to say the least. Apparently one tenth of the people expected to be there actually showed up, and Sony was left with literal barges full of their newest console, at least in the land of wine and cheese.”
-Comments
“PS3 launch was a fizzer in Australia too. The major event had only 40 or so people buying a PS3 and maybe about 100 or more people looking on, getting free food, massages etc. Last year the 360 had over 1000 people at the same venue. The game sites and news over here could only report it as ‘modest’. You’d think at least a few journalists would use the world ‘failure’. But apparently none of them have any balls.”
“The official London event only had 120(ish) people turn up, which was a bit gutting. But everyone who did line up in Virgin Megastore did get a free Sony Bravia 46″ HDTV for nowt. response from forums here have generally praised sony for giving the TVs away but derided them for using it to take away coverage from the lackluster launch and we still don’t want the PS3… but do want the TVs.”
“this is living!”
Congratulations, Europe! Tell us your PS3 story! - PS3 Fanboy
“This is just a note to let all of the territories know that, at least a midnight our time, we’re going to give you a big “Congratulations!” flag and let you wave it all you want.”
-Comments
“Are you guy retarded? Barely anyone in Europe wanted a PS3.”
“Yeah! Just got my Aussie PS3! Awesome!!!”
“PS3 FTW! its too good just got mine and its the best purchase ive ever made for a console!”
“I just find it funny that some people are so against Sony that everything is bad whatever they are. In the US launch, people were killing each other to get their hands on a PS3 and they say that’s bad. In the UK launch, there is so much PS3’s to go around so people won’t be killing each other, and they still say it’s bad. So, tell me, what would have been a GOOD launch?”
GAME says: PS3 launch stronger than the others! - PS3 Fanboy
“A good supply of consoles leads to less dissatisfied consumers. Says Anna Macario of GAME: “It’s very unusual that we’re going to be in a situation where we’ve got enough stock to fulfil demand in the short term – that’s never happened before.” She says that there won’t (read: shouldn’t) be any negativity against Sony for not supplying enough units.”
-Comments
“This is a rather pathetic attempt at spin. This was news YESTERDAY. All this tells us is Sony has the supply. We know nothing of the demand. Stop bullshitting us.”
“Sony should be praised for providing enough units. It’s really annoying to not be able to get a console, such as the case with the Wii still. I can’t imagine waiting in line for nothing *holds back smart ass remark*.”
“LOL its funny the ps3 can’t sit, stand, walk or even talk without some xbot getting upset about it. for the love of god if you people are so confident that the ps3 will fail then by all means let it fail! why the hell to you people find a great need to try and shit on everything the ps3 does if you are sure its going to flop? why try so hard to shit of something you don’t even plan to buy? is it because ps3 is strikingly similar to the ps2 in its early days and history might repeat itself? and you somehow feel threaten”
The Paris debacle — PS3 launch style! - PS3 Fanboy
“You’ve got to admit your defeats as well as your successes. Stepping away from the Fanboy section of this website’s title, we’re going to go over what Sony planned in Paris, then what became of what would have been totally awesome if done in the United States.”
-Comments
“Keep in mind that since there was actually adequate supply for this launch, people can forgo the insanity of the North American launch. The hardcore fans knew that since they’d reserved, they were guaranteed a console, and others that wanted one knew supply was good enough that they wouldn’t need to camp out two weeks in advance and riot.”
“Sony launched their console the way launches are supposed to be done. They screwed up in the US and had it not been right before Xmas they would have been better off waiting a little while so they could have released more games along side the PS3 at launch and had more consoles available. Of course fanboys everywhere are reporting that the PS3 launch is lame and nobody wants one. Idiots… Its damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Not enough supply and people whine or a healthy supply and fanboys claim that nobody wants one.”
“That’s because fanboys always need something to cry about :/ Seriously, they need to do something other than complain about their competition’s console and move out of their mom’s basement or something.”
“Print the WHOLE story, lol. They expected 3000 people and 40 showed up. Ya, the rest of the 2960 people ordered it online. That’s pretty pathetic, I don’t give a shit how much you like Crazy Ken, lol. Just sayin…”
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Video Game Reviews Suck (part two)
Review + Fanboys + Destructoid
03.15.2007 at 4:21 am
“There’s obviously no way to know for sure — if there was, we would have figured it out by now and the ratings thing would no longer be a problem. But we can hypothesize, can’t we? We can hypothesize until our fingers fall off.”
Which is what Destructoid is doing in their part two of “Why video game reviews suck”. So bounce over and read part one, if you already haven’t, and then check out part two.
Some items we find close to our hearts are:
Sean Fischer quote concerning journalistic integrity:
“There have been times where a game has been reviewed on websites in which I contribute that recieved a low score, and we were subsequently contacted by publisher with a statement of their surprise. The conflict here comes from the fact that no one wants to alienate their contacts. By currying favor with PR outlets you’re let in on more exclusive stories, more swag, plugs, and a plethora of perks. Maintaining journalistic integrity in such situations is difficult, especially when your community is small or when you personally rely on those contacts for a majority of your journalistic work. It’s a careful balancing act that journalists have always had to deal with.”
Destructoid’s thought that “Reviewers are pussies”:
“But suffice it to say that many reviewers — and this also ties into the whole “hype” thing — are terrified at the prospect of negatively reviewing a game in a popular franchise. Even if it’s flawed to the point of mediocrity (a la MGS2, which I enjoyed but would not rate higher than a 6), reviewers will still heap praise on a game (A) to avoid community backlash or (B) out of fear that their opinion is in the vast minority, which will make them appear to either have awful taste or a lack of video game knowledge. A video game journalist’s reputation is on the line with every review he or she writes. It isn’t shocking that sometimes the reviewer will hold back on his or her opinions for fear of tarnishing that reputation.”
And finally:
“But better yet, just get rid of scores altogether. Hundreds of gamers have suggested it. It’d cut down on fanboy BS (several people who sent me hate mail for my Zelda review only looked at the score, not the actual review), it would put a greater pressure on the reviewer to actually describe what the game feels like instead of just falling back on a randomly assigned numerical value, and it would get rid of the conundrum of measuring “fun”.”
It’s a great article so we suggest you defiantly go check it out.
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