Joystiq Photo Album
Like all good photo albums, our look back at ten years of Joystiq is a hot mess of nostalgia, out-of-focus shots, and GIFs (you've been warned). Now, gather round and mind the edges. >>Joystiq Photo Album<<
Read MoreSinan Kubba
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Stories By Sinan Kubba
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Games of a Lifetime: Sinan's picks
After more than ten years devoted to video games and the people who make them, Joystiq is closing its doors. We won't be reporting on the best games of 2015, so join us for one last hurrah as the Joystiq family reveals their Games of a Lifetime. Repton Can you imagine the "Teens React to BBC Micro" video? With its properly floppy disks and its DOS-like start screen, that big beige box of the '80s was how my gaming life began. I could pick so many games I played on that machine, most of which no-one's heard of, but they'd all be inferior to Repton. The pseudo top-down, pseudo side-scrolling puzzler had its own space-time rules, According to Repton, a reptile in a yellow t-shirt can walk through the same square of dust that can support a whopping great boulder, or dozens of whopping great boulders at that. It didn't really make sense, but the cleverness of its puzzling design was undoubted. The very best levels required a chess-like effort of planning ahead, shifting specific boulders, clearing dust and freeing spirit sprites in the right order so you could grab every last one of the golden diamond jewels. I absolutely loved Repton and its inventive sequels; Repton 2 was an interconnected world of sub-levels, while other games even explored the future and Wild West. Without the BBC Micro and Repton in particular, I just wouldn't be where I am today.
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So, what's left to remaster?
Has there ever been a time when the word "remastered" was so prolific in the conversation, outside of the George Lucas household? Gaming was so incessantly nostalgic in 2014, you'd think it was closing after ten years. In just the last year we've seen polished-up re-releases for Saints Row 4, Resident Evil, The Last of Us, Grand Theft Auto 5, Halo 1-4, Fable, Diablo 3, Kingdom Hearts 2, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, Metro 2033, Metro: Last Light, Indigo Prophecy, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2, and many, many more. And don't forget, glossy PS4 and Xbox One encores for Dark Souls 2, Borderlands 2 and The Pre-Sequel are on their way in the next few months. Whether you like it or not - and I'm aware plenty do and plenty don't - gaming is still knee-deep in Remaster country. With the saying "When in Rome HD" in mind, I asked some of the Joystiq staff to tell me what games they'd most like to see remastered, however unlikely those remasters may be. Sure enough, most of them delved into the realm of pure fantasy.
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New Nintendo eShop releases: More of the Samus, please
$10 for the Metroid Prime: Trilogy on Wii U with apparently faster load times? Om nom nom. While we're talking, Nintendo, any word on a new Metr-hello? Anyone there? Oh well. So, check out this week's full list of new eShop releases below the break, as well as the last week of Nintendo's Throwback sale here. And a reminder: After 9AM PT/12PM ET on February 5, Metroid Prime Trilogy goes up to a regular price of $20. Get it while it's hot!
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Games with Gold freebie #IDARB (rick)rolls out early
PSA: An eight-player Xbox One sports-platformer that can summon a pixelated Rick Astley is available right now, and it's free to download for Xbox Live Gold members. I know it's hard to believe, dear reader, but it's not like I'd tell a lie and hurt you. #IDARB interweaves Twitch chat and Twitter hashtag integration with retro side-scrolling multiplayer and a big dose of humor, and it really seems quite nuts. As Joystiq's Danny Cowan describes in his preview, the gameplay is reminiscent of old-school multiplayer classics like NBA Jam, but there are a multitude of crazy twists and turns on tops. Things like arenas filling up with water, everyone turning into clowns and Twitch spectators being able to rickroll you. Despite releasing ahead of its original February window, #IDARB is next month's Games with Gold freebie for Xbox One. It'll stay free for Gold members throughout the month, after which it'll return to its regular price of $15/£12.
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Find a way to watch Life is Strange's launch trailer
In Life is Strange you don't need a Cher button to turn back time. The $5 first episode of the teen drama is available now on Steam, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and it's on the way to PS4 and PS3 later today. For more on Dontnod's new joint, make some time for our preview. [Image: Square Enix]
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Sega Sammy to cut hundreds of jobs in 'Digital' restructure
Sega Sammy is restructuring to prioritize "Digital Games," a reform that'll see it make job cuts including "soliciting voluntary retirement" for around 300 employees; 120 employees are due to be approached about voluntary retirement next month. Sega of America is among those to be hit by layoffs as it relocates from San Francisco to Southern California. Sega Sammy plans to now pursue growth in smartphone and PC online gaming, an area that's seen rising results for the company in recent years. Despite the success of some packaged games such as million-seller Alien: Isolation, Sega Sammy's consistently reported favorable results from the likes of Phantasy Star Online 2, Puyo Puyo Quest and Chain Chronicle.
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Watch Marshawn Lynch play Mortal Kombat X, say more than 7 words
Yes, this Conan O'Brien "Clueless Gamer" bit features Mortal Kombat X (which, by the by, Ermac was just confirmed for). More importantly, we now know that sportsballer-of-few-words Marshawn Lynch likes to play Toad in Mario Kart, while Rob Gronkowski is all about the Bowser. For several reasons that shouldn't need elaboration, this video is possibly NSFW. [Image: WB]
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Nintendo Creators Program shares ad revenue with YouTube users
Nintendo unveiled its new revenue-sharing affiliate program for YouTube users, offering up to 70 percent of ad revenue to video makers using Nintendo-copyrighted content. The House of Mario's christened it the Nintendo Creators Program, and users with both Google and Paypal accounts can take the open beta for a spin right now. The beta is currently offering 60 percent of ad revenue for individual videos attached to the program, and 70 percent for channels. Nintendo will calculate revenue shares on a monthly basis before sending them out to video creators via Paypal. Furthermore, videos and channels have to be approved by Nintendo before the company begins doling out the cash, and the big N says that process can take up to three business days.
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Xbox Games with Gold in Feb: IDARB, Brothers, Sniper Elite V2
Heartstrings-tugger Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is one of three Games with Gold freebies for Xbox Live Gold subscribers next month. On Xbox 360 you can grab the Joystiq Top 10 of 2013 puzzle-platformer for zero centage between February 1-14. Then, after taking a deep breath, you can grab Sniper Elite V2 between February 15-28. As revealed last month, #IDARB's pixelated sportsball madness is also free through February for Gold members. The Xbox One eight-player side-scroller has a regular launch price of $15.
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Torchlight 2 is finally coming to Mac next week
Torchlight 2 for Mac hits Steam on Monday, February 2, just over 28 months to the day Runic said a Mac version would take a "couple of months at least." Why has it taken so dang long? Last we heard, the answer was "unexpected complexities." - that was back in August 2013. As for details... well, Mac owners, you've waited 861 days so far for Runic's action-RPG sequel. Apparently you have to wait a little bit longer for more info. Runic is not unaware that this development is somewhat surreal. Check out how the studio announced the news below the break.
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Watch Dragon's Dogma Online gameplay in the debut trailer
Going by its first trailer, Dragon's Dogma Online plays much like its name indicates. The newly unveiled RPG allows parties of up to four players to take on a variety of monsters, small and large - sometimes very large. Like in the original Dragon's Dogma, players can cling to bigger beasties and get their Wander on, as you can see in the video below the break. Along with the video, new screenshots some of the "Online" side including towns that players can congregate in and the chat windows pictured above. Finally, the trailer confirms initial reports that Dragon's Dogma Online is a free-to-play game for PS4, PS3, and Windows PC, and that it's coming to Japan this year. According to Capcom, a Western release isn't in the company's plans.
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PSN Store Update: Phrasing!
Alright, let's talk about dying lights, grim fandangos and how life is strange. No, not that recent rumor, silly-billy! We're totally referring to this week's new releases on the PlayStation Store, which include Techland's Dying Light ($60), the Grim Fandango remaster ($15) and the debut episode of teen drama Life is Strange ($5). All three of those are on PS4, while you'll also find Life is Strange on PS3 and Grim Fandango on Vita. By the by, Grim Fandango is cross-buy; if you buy it on PS4 you'll unlock it on Vita for free, and vice versa. Meanwhile, Life is Strange won't be available until Friday, January 30.
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Shelter 2 'Cuteness' trailer is all about the lynx kitten fuzzies
Joystiq Trivia: Every morning I send Managing Editor Susan Arendt a cat gif to kick off the day. Like all good people, we share a love of cat gifs. This morning, I'm just sending her this aptly titled "Cuteness in Shelter 2" trailer. Because: d'awwww, lynx kittens. The wildlife survial sim and its lynx kitties are coming to Steam sometime next month. [Image: Might & Delight]
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1.84M New 3DS units shipped in 2014, Wii U up to 9.2M
The New 3DS is off to a "good start" according to Nintendo, after the enhanced handheld shipped 1.84 million units by the end of 2014. The company launched the New 3DS and its XL variant in Japan back in October, before bringing them to Australia the following month. The New 3DS' arrival helped take the "3DS family" beyond the 50 million mark, and as of December 31, 2014, the 3DS total is 50.41 million units shipped worldwide. On the other hand, Nintendo says 3DS sales haven't grown sufficiently in North America and Europe this fiscal year; both regions are waiting for the New 3DS to launch there next month. Between April and December 2014, Nintendo shifted 7.08 million 3DS systems worldwide. While the Wii U has gathered steam in recent months, it's still tracking a long way behind its handheld sibling. Nintendo shifted 1.91 million consoles worldwide during the busy holiday quarter of October to December 2014, taking its nine-month figures to 3.39 million, As of the end of 2014, its two-year lifetime total is 9.2 mllion systems and 52.87 million software units.
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Nintendo: Sales tracking below forecasts, weak yen drives profit
Nintendo reduced its annual sales forecast by 6.8 percent today, leading to a 50 percent drop in the projected operating profit for its core business. Nonetheless, the ever-weakening state of the yen is balancing that out by boosting the company's overseas earnings. According to its revised forecast, Nintendo now expects to earn a net profit of ¥30 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2015, which converts to around $255 million. That's up 50 percent from the company's previous projections, and a sharp contrast to the $229 million loss posted the previous fiscal year.
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Dying Light launch trailer shows catastrophe on a hot tin roof
Dead Island creator Techland is once again chucking a ton of undead at your face, but this time you have to freerun from them. "Go anywhere, climb anything," but try to stay alive, eh? Dying Light is available now on Steam for $60, with physical copies also out today in North and South America for PS4, Xbox One and PC. In Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and Africa you' can download it tomorrow, January 28, while disc versions are due on February 27. Slide below the break to check out the launch trailer, and when you're done with that, clamber over to the recent Joystiq Streams expedition through Techland's open world.
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Hyrule Warriors ships a million, celebrates with wallpaper party
Hyrule Warriors shipped a million units worldwide since it launched last fall, which equates to many, many millions of enemies taken out in the army-mashing crossover. Famitsu reported the milestone today, which we've confirmed with a Koei Tecmo Europe representative. Koei Tecmo is celebrating like cray by publishing a set of new wallpapers based on the Wii U brawler, and they're not bad desktop bling, it has to be said. Also, there's still plenty of steam in the game's DLC train; Majora's Mask content is due to arrive next week. And yes, the DLC features Tingle. Like absolutely everything should. [Image: Tecmo Koei]
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Dragon's Dogma Online announced
Dragon's Dogma Online is official, after Famitsu announced it's featuring the game in the latest issue of its magazine. The entry in Capcom's action-RPG series was much speculated after trademarks showed up in Europe and Japan last month. We're waiting on official details, but going by reports based on magazine scans, Dragon's Dogma Online is a free-to-play game for PS4, PS3, and PC. According to Siliconera, the game is due for release in Japan this year. While the European trademark may raise hopes for an international release, a Capcom UK representative told Eurogamer this morning there are no plans to release Dragon's Dogma Online in the West.
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The Witcher 3 on consoles can simulate world states, can't import Witcher 2 saves
On PC, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt can import a Witcher 2 save file to "impact your playthrough" of the third entry, but on consoles CD Projekt is taking a different approach. In a roundtable interview Level Designer Miles Tost told Joystiq that The Witcher 3 will look to simulate world states based on decisions taken in an in-game conversation. "The way how it works is that the game on the consoles will ask you whether you want to simulate a specific state of the world, coming from previous games," Tost explained. "If you choose 'yes,' then you will get a special conversation at one part of the game - I don't want to spoil where it happens. It's basically a conversation with a character and the conversation is about the adventures of Geralt of Rivia. And you can basically deny or confirm whatever [the character] has heard of whatever tales of [Geralt.] It's actually kind of a cute mechanic. If you don't want to simulate the state then this conversation doesn't take place."
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On track with the first three hours of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
There's an immediate intimacy to my first three or so hours with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and no, I don't mean the bare buttocks I see in one of the opening cut scenes. The third entry in CD Projekt's fantasy RPG series may offer a new open world that's umpteen times bigger than previous entries. Yet, following a story-driven tutorial, I end up losing myself to the very first landmark, the peasant village of White Orchard. It's a small riverside muddle of hovels, taverns and fields, its warm hues belying the deeper, darker stories within. There's the impulse to call my horse and gallop towards the horizon, but I find the village's multitude of side quests as welcoming as they are distracting, and certainly meaty enough to steer me away from temptation. Eventually I drag myself to the main quest and my first wild hunt of The Witcher 3, as I track and take on a huge, bloodthirsty griffin. But before all that, let's return to those buttocks...
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'00001' Anniversary Edition PS4 sells for $128K in charity auction
The first-off-the-line Anniversary Edition PlayStation 4 went for ¥15.135 million in an online charity auction last night, which converts to a stunning $128,000. Sony Japan's auction ended this weekend with the huge bid on the special grey console, which is unit "00001" of 12,300. "We appreciate all who participated in the auction and are surprised at the highest bid price, which was higher than our expectations," a Sony representative told the Wall Street Journal, perhaps with an agape mouth and a lack of blinking.
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Theatrhythm's new DLC Beat stars The World Ends with You
Theatrhythm Curtain Call continues to ignore its Final Fantasy prefix by adding The World Ends with You music as part of the latest DLC batch. "Twister," the 2007 JRPG's theme song , and "Calling" are two of six new tracks available now in the 3DS rhythm game. As per the Shibuya-infused DS game, Twister is a Battle Music Sequence in Curtain Call while background tune Calling is a Field Music Sequence. The three other new BMS tunes are "Liberi Fatali" from Final Fantasy 8, "Final Confrontation" from Romancing SaGa 3, and "World Revolution" from Chrono Trigger. The sixth song and second FMS is "Wind Scene," also from Chrono Trigger. All six DLC songs are priced 99 cents (£0.89/€0.99). To remind yourself of TWEWY's J-pop music - your humble author would argue it's one of the best soundtracks you'll find on the DS - do the Twister again below the break. By the way, don't think the Curtain Call DLC train is stopping just yet. According to Square Enix, the game's next dollop of add-ons is planned to arrive on February 19.
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Jon Snow brings lack of knowledge to Game of Thrones Episode 2
The second episode of Telltale's six-part Game of Thrones saga debuts early next month, starting February 3 for PC, Mac, PS4 and PS3. Titled "The Lost Lords," the episode is also coming to Xbox One and 360 on February 4, iOS on February 5 and Android at a later date. The Lost Lords continues the story of House Forrester, a Westeros family who in history have aligned with the Starks - not always the wisest alignment, it has to be said. Telltale's game is interwoven with HBO's TV series, and the plot takes place between the end of the third season and the start of the fifth. If you've played the first episode then you've already had a few chit-chats with Cersei Lannister, her brother Tyrion, Margaery Tyrell and the huggably lovely Ramsay Snow. As the teaser trailer below the break reveals, another Snow is coming to the game in Episode 2.
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New Nintendo eShop releases: Half-price Punch-Out!!
You can grab a Little Mac takeaway right now, because Punch-Out!! is on the Wii U eShop with a $10 price tag. Like last week's Wii re-releases, the 2009 boxer is available at 50 percent off in its first week, but be warned: After 9AM PT/12PM ET on January 29 it goes up to $20. That offer is part of Nintendo's Throwback Sale, which you can check out here along with the last week of the current Super Indie Collection Sale. Otherwise, you'll find the complete list of this week's new eShop releases by ducking and weaving below the break.
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Spend 48 hours torturing loved ones for free in The Sims 4
- EA's latest addition to its Origin Game Time vault is The Sims 4, meaning you can download it now and enjoy a free 48 hours of playing God. To do just that, get your godly ass to Origin. Those 48 hours are real-time rather than in-game, so unless you're planning an unadvised binge you won't get the full two days of free-ness. You can start the free time whenever you want, however, as the 48-hour countdown only begins after you launch the game for the first time. Also, if you later buy The Sims 4 then your Game Time progress does transfer over.
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Evo 2015 line-up announced, double helping of Smash
Super Smash Bros Wii U and Melee are two of the nine games already confirmed for this year's Evolution Championship Series. As revealed during last night's Twitch stream, the line-up for Las Vegas this July also includes returning games Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Ultra Street Fighter 4 and Killer Instinct, The remaining four games are new for this year, and they are Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, Guilty Gear Xrd Sign, Mortal Kombat X and Tekken 7. Recent years have seen more games added closer to the event, though a roster of nine is already on the high end for an EVO championship. Whatever the full line-up proves to be, it's coming to the Bally's/Paris Las Vegas Casino, where the world's fighting game specialists will duke it out across July 17-19.
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