The gaming world is huge. Between websites, Twitter, Facebook and all other platforms of exchange, keeping up with the ins and out of all things gaming-related is impossible. So we’re going to round-up quirky, interesting and breaking news of the (mostly) gaming persuasion for you to enjoy every week.
Currents
Whoops! Destiny Future Leaked.
Ah, the joys of the internet. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING is safe. This week started off with a bang when tons o’ future Destiny content leaked. Upcoming Destiny expansions The Dark Below and House of Wolves was set to introduce a variety of gameplay items, and now you can you can check them out over at Joystiq. Spoiler alert. I repeat, spoiler alert. But I took the plunge and read it. Because, masochism. (Catherine Ashley)
J-Pop, Coming to a 3DS Near You!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MpQSvaduzk
Japan’s cutest pop princess has teamed up with Nintendo to help promote the interchangeable outer faceplates (“Kisekae Plates”) of the new 3DS model. 38 designs when the system launches in Japan with 2 more becoming available in the future. Visit the official site to see all the designs and play with the mix-and-match possibilities yourself!
Check out the video above to see the Kawaii Queen give Mario, Isabelle, Link, Pikachu and other Nintendo characters the most adorable of makeovers. (Alicia Alexandra)
GUYS! The Pool Is Back!
Sim-ians, rejoice! The EA overlords have heard our pleas and have decided to bestow upon us the one feature we truly wanted in the Sims 4: the ability to murder via drowning. Yes, death by pool will once again be available. I’m looking at you, Mortimer Goth.
There is also a whole bunch of other things that we’ll be getting, including free Star Wars costumes. You can check it out in detail over here. (Catherine Ashley)
The Pokémon TCG Online Comes to iPad
Now you can catch’em all on the go! The official Pokémon TCG app released earlier this week, offering Trainers the same experience as the desktop game. The Pokémon Trainer Account system means that your card collection and game progress will be synced across both platforms, so you can pickup and go anywhere.
The app can be downloaded for FREE here. (Alicia Alexandra)
Hulkamania Comin’ To A Crazy Taxi Near You!
Great. The Crazy Taxi hive mind have figured out another way to ruin my childhood. This time, they’ve decided to bring in Hulk Hogan. Yup, they’ve announced that Hulkamania is descending upon Crazy Taxi: City Rush through this video that looks like a 90’s commercial for the gym. Man, I’m still licking my wounds from when I excitedly downloaded Crazy Taxi on XBLA only to find out that they axed the Offspring. Boo guys, boo. (via Gamespot) (Catherine Ashley)
Green Man Gaming is Getting Into the Publishing Business
Popular digital games distributor Green Man Gaming has launched Green Man Loaded, a program designed to help PC game developers finish and publish their projects. Green Man Loaded will offer developers financing options and access to BETA programs with users while allowing them to maintain full control of their IPs. (Alicia Alexandra)
Cryptarch Douche-Baggery No More
So @Bungie claims they’ve talked to the Cryptarch about decoding engrams, but who is really in charge over there? pic.twitter.com/qiMMjZ14QX
— Xav de Matos (@Xav) September 26, 2014
I’m kind of sad about this one. While I’d sit-rage when Rahool would decode my legendary engram into an uncommon fit for a level 12 Guardian, he (dare I say it?) grew on me. Also, his live-from-the-Tower Twitter account gave me quite a few chuckles (in a ragey, you-asshole way). But alas, the Era of the Cryptarch has ended and now it’s time for the Age of Guardians.
Bungie has released their recent Patch Notes, and you can check out what else they’ve tweaked. (Catherine Ashley)
Surprise! Microsoft jumps to Windows 10
Forget Windows 9. In an unexpected twist, Microsoft will be going straight to double digits from Windows 8 as it faces a challenging future for its operating system. Check out the details over at the Windows Blog! (Catherine Smith-Desbiens)
Star Citizen is THE Most Crowd-funded Thing
Sitting pretty at $56,000,000 raised so far, Star Citizen’s crowd funding success has been an ongoing but extremely successful venture. So successful that it’s earned them a spot in the Guinness Book of World as the largest crowd funding success to date. A letter from game creator Chris Roberts delves deeper into the plans for the future of the simulator game as well as his open thanks for their supportive fans (and their deep pockets.) (Alicia Alexandra)
Games, Games, Games
Zelda Fans are Making a 2D Version of Ocarina of Time for PC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F54t8K0af0o#t=42
A group of Legend of Zelda fans have come together to re-imagine Ocarina of Time as a 2D PC game. Built using content from previous Zelda games along with brand new art and music this fan project is a big undertaking. Hopefully we will see this project get to further stages before it makes it way onto Nintendo’s radar.
There is an early demo available to play on the official OoT 2D site. (Alicia Alexandra)
Ultimate Fanboy/Fangirl Dream
This is pretty darn cool if I do say so myself. Deejoban Games is currently developing an innovative video game that is sure to please the masses: Elegy for a Dead World.
“Explore dead civilizations, write about what you find, and share your stories with the universe: a game about writing fiction.”
What makes this game so interesting is that it requires active participation by us, the gamers. An intricate part of the game is that you get to write the story as you play, basically having fan fiction woven into gameplay. They’re still running a campaign on their Kickstarter page if you want to learn more info and support their craft! (Catherine Ashley)
Assassin’s Creed on IOS
Assassin’s Creed will be launching their first game on a mobile device, the free-to-play Assassin’s Creed Identity. The iOS game will be set in Italy, and all you have to do is download 1 specific app. Check out The Escapist’s coverage for more details. Or you can check out this 22 minute video showcasing the gameplay. (Catherine Ashley)
Tetris: The Mofo-ing Movie
So, good news guys. The good folks over at The Wall Street Journal got an exclusive interview with Threshold Entertainment’s CEO about their upcoming movie: a live-action Tetris adaption. Yup, sometime, in some future, we’ll be getting a good 2 hours worth of real-life blocks dropping somewhere into something in a movie that 99.9% of people have never asked for. If you’re running out of ideas Hollywood, hit me up. I’m sure a story of my boring-ass life will be more exciting. (Catherine Ashley)
Half-Life 3 Confirmed? HA. No.
See more on Know Your Meme
Vice’s Brad Barrett posted a pretty cool article on whether or not Valve will ever release the mythical Half-Life sequel, Half-Life 3. He discusses three options as to why Valve has been more or less mum about the entire subject, even though “Half-Life 3” is the most recognizable internet meme/video game joke out there. If you’re a fan, or want to know why there’s a hype, check it out! (Catherine Ashley)
Culture in Gaming
Concordia Research On Online Vitriol Against Women In Gaming
Academics are now starting to respond and investigate the issues surrounding the ongoing #GamerGate. PhD candidate Natalie Zina Walschots is conducting her PhD on the intersection of Feminism and Video Games and is documenting the reactions to her work she receives over social media. Listen to the CBC sound clip, or check out CBC’s article about her discussing the issues women face when speaking about video games online. (Catherine Ashley)
Pac Man Fights Breast Cancer
To support Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Bandai has launched a fundraiser campaign beginning October 1st through to October 31st. They’ve created a new Pac Man map for mobile devices that you can purchase for 1$. All proceeds will be given to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. If you would like more information, head over here. (via Gamespot) (Catherine Ashley)
Free Syrian Army Uses PS Controller to Shoot Gun
Welp, I guess the DualShock 3 is good for other things than playing video game, such as making a DIY Tank and manning the machine gun with a PS controller. (via Destructoid) (Catherine Ashley)
Pharell, Anime and Videogames
Pharell has just released his new music video for his song “It Girl”. While I’m not really a fan of his music, I have to admit this video is pretty damn awesome. It’s a nice melange of happy happy colours, 16-bit graphics and anime. It even has cool old school video game sounds.
Check it out! (via Wired) (Catherine Ashley)
Funny
Portal Gun Battle
The Racka Racka YouTuber’s have come out with their latest video and it contains gun. Guns and Portal.
Their channel is actually pretty funny, containing other geeky videos such as a Star Wars vs. Harry Potter duel and an epic nerd battle. Check them out! (Catherine Ashley)
Man vs. Roller Coaster vs. Super Mario 3
This is just so ridiculous, yet so funny. The dudes over at Giant Bomb have decided to attempt an impossible challenge: who can get further in Super Mario 3 while riding the roller coaster. There’s a catch, however. You can only play while you’re on the roller coaster, and not when you get off. The video is a bit long, but skip over to minute 5 to when things get good. (via GiantBomb) (Catherine Ashley)
Ghost Sucks
Man, Peter Dinklage’s craptacular performance as Destiny’s most hated robot has started quite the trend. From memes, to jokes, Ghost has probably been in most reviewer’s top 5 criticisms of Destiny. Now, What Culture has decided to chronicle the worst celebrity voice actors to have ever graced our console. I hadn’t even realize some of these were celebrities. Check out the article here. (Catherine Ashley)
Pop culture references in Fallout New Vegas
Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas are in my top all-time favourite games. The humour, the desolate wastelands of DC and the Mojave desert, the awesome catchy music. To boot, there are a shit ton of pop culture references scattered around the world. Over at Dorkly, some genius catalogued the greatest references found in Fallout New Vegas including Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and tons o’ Monthy Python throwbacks. Check out it over here! (Catherine Ashley)