Hug my son? In this economy?
Who wants to help me move this weekend? I found (after 8 months) a place that is sickeningly expensive, because San Francisco is ruined, but not so expensive that I want to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge instead of continuing to look for a new place to live.
This is as close to a “win” as I get. Let me have it.
Here’s last week’s post. Let’s begin anew.
[We post a lot of articles here at Destructoid. The endless, ouroboros news cycle has us burning the snake at both ends, which will ultimately push big news, thoughtful original pieces, and all sorts of other great content off of the front page. Check here every Saturday for my attempt to rectify that.]
ORIGINAL CONTENT
DNA splicing will make you a better you in Subnautica – Hamza Aziz
Hamza “Sticky Fingers” Aziz is doing a real cool thing, visiting monthly with Unknown Worlds (Natural Selection II) during development of their new game Subnautica. It’s a rare look at the scruffy under development of game making while the process is actually going on, while ideas are being considered or tossed.
‘For NS2, we spent so much time fighting each other and just making gun based play. [I’m] just completely bored of that. I’m sure all the people here are too. When I think of things like DNA splicing and taking scientific readings off the bottom of the ocean, to me that’s much more interesting ideas. Something that we haven’t seen very much of.
Hardline 21: Battlefield, The Evil Without, and The Order: 1886 – Jordan, Steven, Hamza, Brett
Most of the interesting news is being saved for E3 in two weeks, but until then, Steven, Brett, and Hamza joined me to chat about the big Battlefield Hardline leak. Hardline on Hardline. We’re not changing our show’s name, EA. (Please don’t force us to do so.)
Just Saiyan: The Dragon Ball Raging Blast Saga episode 2 – Max Scoville, Bill Zoeker
If you missed it last week, Bill and I started an all Dragon Ball let’s-play/let’s-bullshit-about series called Just Saiyan, since we spend most of our workdays arguing like twelve-year-olds about whether or not Vegeta is cool. There are several dozen Dragon Ball Z games, so Bill and I are going on a “Mystical Adventure” and taking a “Grand Tour” of as many of these titles as possible. First up is Dragon Ball: Raging Blast on Xbox 360.
Reviews In Review: Wolfenstein The New Order, Transistor, Drakengard 3 – Ben Pack
Look, E3 is coming up soon and that means we’re about to get super excited about games. Let’s take a minute and be thankful for the games we have right now, ok?
PREVIEWS
The Evil Within seems like it forgot the ‘horror’ in ‘pure survival horror’ – Brett Makedonski
As a disclaimer of sorts, I was thrust into two levels at varying points of the story. Chapter 4 and Chapter 8 were the two sections shown, and both were ineffective at providing any scares, any true adrenaline-pumping moments, or really anything even noteworthy. For what it’s worth, maybe I was missing the context of the previous parts of the game that might give others an overarching sense of fear. As isolated incidents, they were just dull.
The Order: 1886 looks great from what little Sony will show us – Brett Makedonski
This is when the demo of The Order: 1886 ended — approximately five minutes after it began. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed — not in what I saw, that was mostly great, but in that I couldn’t spend more time with it. The cinematic approach to visuals looked fantastic in practice, and it seems as if the technology-driven weaponry will be a real treat to use. However, five minutes is a tiny sample size, especially for a game with this kind of potential.
Gateway drug: Company of Heroes 2: The Western Front Armies – Dale North
Standalone multiplayer release for Company of Heroes 2, The Western Front Armies, can serve as a gateway, bringing players over to the full Company of Heroes 2 experience. Its pricing is low enough ($12.99 for one army, or $19.99 for both) that even the curious can jump in and try their hand at WWII strategy from either the U.S. or German Oberkommando West viewpoints.
HOTTEST, SLIMIEST NEWS OF THE WEEK
Tuesday Newsday: Battlefield Hardline, The Order: 1886, The Evil Within, and LEGO Batman 3 – Max Scoville
Today on Tuesday Newsday, we go over two games that Brett Makedonski previewed, which have both been delayed, The Order: 1886 and The Evil Within. The new Battlefield is Hardline, seemingly a cops and robbers theme rather than the usual military approach. LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham has been announced, MapleStory 2 shows off its first gameplay, Star Wars: Attack Squadrons is cancelled, and Spintires is all about mud and dubstep, apparently.
Valve’s Steam Machine program and controller pushed back into 2015 – Hamza Aziz
‘We’re now using wireless prototype controllers to conduct live playtests, with everyone from industry professionals to die-hard gamers to casual gamers. It’s generating a ton of useful feedback, and it means we’ll be able to make the controller a lot better. Of course, it’s also keeping us pretty busy making all those improvements. Realistically, we’re now looking at a release window of 2015, not 2014.’
Super Smash Bros. on Wii U will be playable with GameCube controller – Brett Makedonski
When Super Smash Bros. on Wii U releases later this year, it’ll include optional support for one of the most beloved controllers of all time. That’s right, Nintendo’s found a way to bring the GameCube controller to the party.
Ciao, amiche.
